Audeze LCD-MX4

Pro Audio Times is an independent publication that does not accept advertising or affiliate commissions. We appreciate manufacturers who provide review samples to facilitate unbiased product evaluations. A big thanks to Audeze for sending us this LCD-MX4.

The MX4 Is an over-ear, open back headphone that features a planar magnetic transducer and double fluxor magnet array.

Released in 2018, the LCD-MX4 was positioned as a more evolved, lighter, easier-to-drive successor to the Audeze LCD-4. At 575g, the MX4 is still weighty, but ear pads and headband are comfortable, making for good ergonomics.

With a 20 ohm impedance and a sensitivity of 105 dB/1mW, the MX4 is relatively efficient, but it benefits from a dedicated amplifier that can provide ample power and current.

It has has a premium, utilitarian, functional aesthetic. A magnesium and carbon fiber frame promises lasting durability.

Driver design includes a “Uniforce diaphragm”, which ensures that the magnetic force acting on the diaphragm is evenly distributed across its surface. This reduces resonance oscillation, which lowers distortion and improves dynamics, transient response and imaging.

Sound

A punchy and expansive low end delivers the attack and weight of kick drums and the satisfying protraction of bass notes. Low mids are deep and responsive, supporting the cadence of the music without fog or contortion. The midrange is boundlessly open and illuminating, bringing out the beauty and lyricism of the melody lines. With slightly tempered upper mids, vocals and instruments are free of shrill, grain and squawk, but resolution is still impressive. Even the most delicate bow movements of a violin or the softest inflections of a voice are precisely articulated. Highs have just the right amount of detail and airiness without refractory issues like smear or sheen. This headphone can be used for hours without ear strain.

No matter what type of music it is–pop, rock, indie-folk, classical, jazz, EDM, house, techno, hip hop–the MX4 produces a big, halo-like topography. Imaging is well extended without any artificial asymmetries.

Comparisons with other Audeze headphones

The LCD-X is another Audeze open-back that shares the same diaphragm as the MX4, but with different magnets. The MX4, with its magnesium chassis and carbon fiber suspension headband, is lighter than the aluminum and steel LCD-X. This makes the MX4 more amenable to longer listening sessions. Sonically the LCD-X stands on its own with a full, textured bass that gives the illusion of room-like boundary behaviors, but compared with the MX4, the LCD-X is more contained in the midrange and less substantive in the highs. Where the LCD-X casts an image that is more focused and compacted into the frontal sphere, the MX4 yields a soundscape that expands into wider lateral planes.

Audeze’s closed-back LCD-XC offers good isolation, detail retrieval and linearity, with a presentation that is thinner and more granular than the MX4. Some people might prefer the XC’s tightness and elevated upper midrange, but the MX4 eclipses it in tonal purity and scale.

For mastering, the MX4 inspires confidence. It melds the lows, mids and highs into a seamless organic whole with minimal frequency aberration. One can zero in on subtle timbres, amplitude variances, transient contours, and dimensional cues. This is an analytical headphone and yet it manages to sound effortlessly unstressed, giving the listener the feeling of sitting on a big, comfortable couch.

Audeze has many fine offerings to suit subjective tastes. With its distinctively vast, unvexed presentation and smoothly rendered technicalities, the MX4 is a personal favorite.