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Sound Quality
A lot of good technology in these cans, but sound quality is where the rubber hits the road. Let's see how the LCD-4 faired in listening tests.

Bass - Most open headphone have troubles getting good bass extension; many sealed headphones get good extension, but few do so without some lack of coherent clarity. The LCD-4 pretty much nails it in the bass. Tight, clean, flat, and extended. Of course, I tend to like a little (3dB or so) bass elevation below 120Hz, but no open headphone that I know of can even draw a flat line below 100Hz, much less have a bit of boost…

I need to say this right at the top so it doesn't get missed: If you're an audio pro, you need to give these headphones a listen. It's incredibly rare to find a sealed headphone that is so on-target tonally and relatively open sounding. This will be the headphone I take to trade shows to tryout amps and upstream gear in a noisy environment. A truly awesome tool.

Now that I've spoiled the suspense I'll start from the beginning.

Mr. Speakers Ether C ($1499 and up with cable options)
The Mr. Speakers Ether C is a…

Sound Quality
The Mr. Speakers Ether C is hands-down the best sealed full-size headphone I've ever heard...easily. It sounds much more like an open headphone—there's no congestion; little unevenness; and it throws a decent image. Tonal neutrality is very good, only slightly lean sounding. Vocals are uncannily organic.

Before I tell you the modest ways in which this headphone misses the mark, I need to talk about my subjective experience with the Ether C. I have two sets of music I listen to for evaluative listening: One is a set of about 25 short (10-25 second) snippets I use…

Raw frequency response plots show a bass response that's fairly flat for a sealed headphone. Some wiggles in the bass due to pad bounce are quite normal in a sealed can. While I did hear the bass as being a tad soft, bass is quite well behaved and well extended. The Harman target response would want the bass to be elevated 3-5 dB below 150Hz, and I did hear these cans as a little bass-light.

Raw response above 300Hz shows an ever-increasing response to the peak at 3.5kHz; this is near ideal according…

Editor's note: After my review of the LCD-4, Audeze emailed me concerning discrepancies between my measurements and theirs. Numerous fairly technical emails were exchanged, I sent a number of Excel spreadsheets of my measurements for their use in comparisons, and there certainly does seem to be a discrepancy between measurements.

The folks at Audeze asked if they could write an article about these measurement observations and their response to my LCD-4 review. I said, "Of course, I've got plenty to learn on this subject." This article is Audeze's response.

How much do…

Audeze SINE ($449, $499 w/Lightning cable)
On-Ear sealed headphones are in a bit of a "bastard child" headphone category. They exist mainly for the convenience of small size for portable use, and no self-respecting headphone enthusiast thinks this is a category that promises great sound. Well...the Audeze SINE might just change all that. This is a really cool headphone.

My first thought upon opening the box was, "Man, this is a sexy little headphone! It's like a sports car for your head." This should come as no surprise since…

Sound Quality - Stock Cable
I always find it a treat to hear a headphone like I've never heard before. The Audeze SINE certainly fits that description. In my experience, on-ear headphone usually don't deliver a very good sense of coherence across the audio spectrum. Sometimes the bass is distorted and disconnected from the mid-range; sometimes the treble goes missing or sounds papery; sometimes the mid-range is too…

Raw frequency response plots show movement of the headphone on the head has little affect on response other than in the very low bass indicating a well designed on-ear pad. Raw response is near flat from 30Hz to 1kHz with very little in the way of fluctuation—this is an unusually even response for a headphone of this type.

Harman target response would have a 3dB boost in the bass below 150Hz and a gently rising response from 400Hz to 1kHz. In comparison the SINE is a little low in bass response and…

HiFiMAN Edition X ($1799)
HiFiMAN touts this headphone as great for direct play from portable devices—and I'll agree, it does play very well directly from a tablet or phone. Pretty nice not to have the burden and expense of having to carry around a portable amp, but at $1800 it doesn't really seem like a more affordable solution. And then, it's an open headphone while most portable cans are sealed to get rid of environmental noise. So...this is a flagship headphone for use with portable devices indoors? I'm not sure what to…

Sound Quality
Alrighty then, let's plug this $1800 headphone into my Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and...holy smoke, these sound good...really good. Relaxed; not in your face; very easy listening. Quite often a headphone with those characteristics also ends up sounding boring...not so with the Edition X, they just sound gentle.

It's not often I get a headphone that just invites me to listen and not worry about the wrong bits...at all. This headphone plays right at my penchant for a slightly relaxed, laid-back sound. And, seriously, I've not heard a headphone before that played so…