This isn’t a reboot. It’s a revolution: an adjustment to changing tastes and smaller wallets. And here at this site, we are very much in favour of anything that lets more people through the door, that lowers the barrier to entry and allows everyone to experience what hardcore audiophiles already know to be good. There are smart ways to do it, and there are dumb ways to do it, and this is very much in the former category. In our opinion, this is one of the best pairs of headphones available on the market today, and although we might catch quite a bit of flack for this, it’s one of the best models that AUDEZE have ever made. AUDEZE stuck the landing. They kept everything we liked, and made it cheaper. And for under a grand, nothing sounds as good as these.

While I would consider this a slightly warm headphone, with a somewhat laid back presence region, it delivers a very snappy listening experience. Bass is very tight and well textured; midrange is nicely neutral; presence region is a bit laid back. Treble region tends to sound a bit grainy to me; I'd call it a slightly dry presentation. The LCD2 Classic has extremely low distortion and, to me, this provides a clarity the ties the sound together well despite any modest treble grain or presence area tonal imbalance. I find this to be a great rock and pop headphone—the somewhat relaxed response 4kHz to 6kHz does a good job of filtering out the hash often found with this genre.

Audeze’s LCD2 Classic cans are exactly the sort of product that could exist merely to cash in on a famous name and pedigree. The Audeze LCD-2, released in 2009, announced the company’s existence to the audiophile world and earned many reviewers’ acclaim as one of the best pairs of headphones on the market. Now, the California company wants us to believe that its Classic variant has kept the signature LCD-2 sound intact while simplifying the design and slashing the price from $999 to a more attainable $799. But is the quality still there? In a word, yes. In two words, hell yes.

They’re both beautiful and great in every way, but emotionally they’re not the same. Audeze and the LCD2 did so much for the personal audio world and back then this really was an eye opener. The original LCD2 might actually be one of the most sexy headphones ever built. A true icon.

They sound very good on their own and absolutely come to life with a custom EQ. While it’s true that they’re more expensive than some of the competition in this space, the experience is nothing short of impressive and provides an outstanding listening experience, whether you’re spending hours listening to your favorite songs or slipping away into a virtual world.

The Audeze LCD-2C impress with premium design, robust build, and a distinctive dark, smooth sound. Ideal for audiophiles valuing immersive audio, though audio pros should test them for work suitability due to their unique tuning. Despite not being considered 'neutral,' the LCD-2C shine in staging, warmth, and auditory detail—a hallmark of Audeze. While not universally appealing, their greatness ensures a permanent spot in my collection, likely resonating with others who appreciate their unique charm.

Whilst you can definitely get a very good tonality out of it with EQ, it really lacks the technical performance and finesse that the standard LCD-2 brings to the table. If the LCD-2C was still available for its original pre-order price of $599, I think it would actually be a much better option, especially if you are comfortable with EQ. However, at its current $799 price tag and in the current headphone market, I really don’t think that buying LCD-2C makes much sense. From Audeze themselves there is the awesome LCD-GX ($899), which at only one hundred more dollars provides better technical performance, better ergonomics thanks to its magnesium chassis, and a much more natural, agreeable tonality that–ironically–I think sounds more like what listeners expect the LCD-2C to sound like. In that price range there is also the excellent Ananda from HiFiMan, which at $699 offers outstanding technical performance and one of the best natural frequency responses I have heard in a headphone. If you are looking for a headphone with great technical performance with a warm, relaxed tonality or an intro to Audeze, I think that the best options are the LCD-GX which I find to be a great introduction to the LCD series, or just go straight to the standard LCD-2 if you are fine with using some EQ.

The LCD 2 Classic are comfortable, have a decent soundstage, great imaging distortion, and consistency. That said, they have a warm sound profile that lacks thump and rumble, which is expected from open-back headphones. They also have a recessed treble range, so vocals and lead instruments sound veiled, while sibilants like cymbals are dull. On the upside, their mid range is very flat and neutral, so vocals and lead instruments sound clear and accurate.