Replacing Cables and Headbands

This heading may seem quite innocuous; however, it is a tale of two separate hassles and how Audeze customer service handled them. The first of these stems from some users discovering that the mini-XLR cable connectors on the headphones are not threaded in, of which several photos made their way online. The internal connectors are glued in place, which seems fitting since we just discussed how and why the ear pads are glued in, and a typical user who doesn't connect and disconnect the cables often would not run into this issue at all. Having spoken to a customer service representative for Audeze without revealing who I am, the issue also seems to have been limited to a small batch. Indeed, my own unit seems just fine even though these photos made me baby them more. I also found that the standard Audeze cable that ships with the likes of the LCD-X or XC was a tighter fit, and the premium cable was fine.

Audeze is now using even stronger glue, although I of course would have liked a more permanent fix in the form of threads on the frame, which seems harder to implement, and one of the reasons my review took a long time is that I wanted to see how the company would handle affected cases. I am happy to report that every single affected user had a new LCD-5 unit sent out in exchange for the older one at no cost to the owner, and that the updated glue seems to have done the job as there have not been many, if any at all, reported incidents this past month.


I also want to show how to get around this issue if you feel the cable connector is in too tightly. The nature of these mini-XLR connectors allows for the inner barrel to easily be loosened, having actual threads in there. This then allows you to pull out the internal wiring, leaving behind the empty shell. With nothing inside to prevent the securement clip from traveling the whole way when pressed in, the shell can now be taken out. It's a hassle no doubt, and one that should never have to be taken for headphones that passed QC, let alone a flagship headphones such as the LCD-5, but with this temporary fix, Audeze's exemplary customer service, and the longer-lasting fix implemented, I feel better about moving past this issue.


The second item of interest is another case of Audeze responding to customer feedback in the best-possible way. You see, all those new parts and the novel LCD-5 design emphasizing a good seal meant that folks blessed with larger heads found the LCD-5 less comfortable over longer periods of time primarily because of the increased clamp force from the headband, which was slightly exaggerated by the highly contoured ear pads as the increased clamp force on a lower contact area directly led to higher pressure around the ears. Audeze took this to heart as it spent a month coming up with a solution: a replacement headband with slightly less clamp force, and it again swapped out the newer headband for the older one free of charge. Keep in mind that a carbon fiber and leather headband assembly usually costs ~$500, and seen above is the replacement kit that shipped out. This was the second reason I delayed this review, so that I may get the kit in to test the LCD-5 in the configuration customers will have rather than the launch configuration most reviews covered.

Removing the stock headband is extremely simple courtesy the two threaded nuts holding the yoke rods in place. Simply unscrew them and the entire ear cup and yoke section slides off the headband as seen above. This gives us a closer look at the new planar magnetic drivers used for the LCD-5, and I will say that the sheen between the magnets is not actually the backdrop, but a protective screen keeping the magnets and diaphragm clean. There are a total of seven of the newly designed Audeze Fazors for the Fluxor magnets per side, which are clearly low in profile and wide; they are not going to leave sharp marks on your ears akin to what some people found with the LCD-R and its sharp Fazors. A this point, you are ready to open up the replacement headband kit, which comes with an Allen key for installation.


Above are the two headbands, with the newer headband below the older one in the first two photos and to the left in the final one. It may not be obvious, but the newer headband is ever-so-slightly wider in its circumference. This means the two end points where it meets the ear cups are slightly further spread apart than on the newer headband, which results in the lower clamping force promised by Audeze. Otherwise, the two are identical in composition, function, and form.


There was no need to use the Allen key to tighten the hex screws on the front, which had been done before shipping by Audeze to ensure the leather band would not come out anytime soon. But, and this is where I was originally an idiot and Audeze's customer service came in handy again, there's an internal screw off to the side of the headband which pokes into the recess where the aluminium yoke rod goes into. Be sure to turn it inward a bit until you feel the yoke touching it as it goes in and upward, and then tighten further depending on how much movement you want for the yoke rod for sizing. Once you've settled on your preferred sizing steps, tighten further to minimize the yoke rods working themselves loose, although the notches carved into the rods prevent it anyway. At this point, the process is finished.

So I found myself talking to Audeze customer service on two different occasions, and I used my personal name and email address to avoid any favorable treatment. Of course, I had to mention that this is a review sample when the time came for them to ask for a copy of my receipt to process the replacement headband assembly, but I am left confident that any paying customer will be treated like a VIP regardless, which is an absolute must for what is essentially a luxury item, and the customer service went a long way in changing the public opinion on what could have been disastrous for LCD-5 sales.