Audeze sent me my "fixed" LCD-3s almost immediately after receiving my "veiled" pair. I think the super fast turnaround is awesome. It's probable that they've already handled a few returns on similarily "veiled" LCD3s, so they were ready for it. And also because they've fixed the issue - whatever it was. I don't expect Audeze to be totally forthcoming on detailed reasons for the veil because that is their prerogative. I'm betting they've gotten more than a few returns knowing that most owners are lurkers on HF.
BTW, I have no intention on posting any more than what I already have on HF. I can't stand that thread anymore. I keep unsubscribing, but the minute one of you guys (I have most of you on follow on HF) posts something in that thread, I get re-subscribed. I get highly annoyed when concerned owners are discussing the issue at hand, and some random dude suddenly pops up and says something to the effect of this: "you know, I was looking out my window, in awe of the arctic sunset (or $20,000 Esoteric CD player - which BTW doesn't sound
that good), when I realized the LCD3 is indeed the most awesome thing in the world which sounds the most natural and real to me, just like the ..." or whatever. As I said, I'm keeping away from that thread (maybe not - if I get good direct questions.)
The LCD3s came back with the same see-through foam (in front of the driver) and the same very squishy pads. What this tells us is that the problem was not a pad or foam issue as speculated on HF. It must have been a driver issue - and could very well be possibly related to the driver failure's they've had.
As far as tonal balance (I haven't measured them yet) they don't sound too different from my veiled pair other than they have a slight midrange shout very similar in nature to that of the HP1000's. It's that not bad at all and I doubt most people will be able to hear it (especially Canadians
.) I'm betting these measure overall more similarly to the LCD3r1 than a r2 on a FR graph. Getting back to this midrange shout - it's not too different from the 2nd pair that I measured earlier:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/580283/lcd3-measurements/150#post_8149681 and
http://www.head-fi.org/t/580283/lcd3-measurements/150#post_8149711. I hope the ringing doesn't measure too badly. I could hear it on Adele's 21, but not Tracy Chapman's first CD. Even if I can't hear it, I just like to know it measures well. Haha!
The LCD3.2 (for lack of better way of putting it) sounds very much like the mid-centric headphone that the r1 was, but with greater clarity, speed, and detail retrieval. It does the "plankton" and ambience thing just as good as the HD800. I would almost even dare say it has the speed and clarity of the 007, but without the mid-bass mud (of the O2mk2), and with the trademark Audeze low-bass with zero distortion. (a head to head comparison would be in order to confirm.) I can now totally see why people at CanJam were comparing these to the STAX O2s - and why JPnums and Jude liked them so much.
As far the the bass getting in the way, the LCD3.2 no longer has the "subwoofer + am radio" sound - that analogy I made in the past. These do NOT require any TP mod. Now I think any LCD3 that requires a TP mod is defective and should be sent back to Audeze for inspection. The new pair appear to have much more air - high treble. I need to confirm this via comparison to my other headphones.
FYI - I j
ust woke up from a nap. I fell asleep while listening to them. Something I do with my HD800s all the time because I don't wan't to take them off. This is a good sign. Headphones don't last long on my head unless I like them. The D7000 lasted 30 seconds. The ED8 lasted 10.
