tldr; LCD-2 refined. More detail, more money. Diminishing returns territory.
$1199.00 on AmazonScores based on sentiment analysis of topic-related comments
Best praise vs top criticism for Audeze LCD-3
“Audeze LCD is excellent for metal in my opinion. Absolutely love Slayer from my LCD-3.”
“So after craving another upgrade from my LCD-2 classic i gave the LCD-3 a try, got a used pair on eBay, older one with the old headband still (i swapped it) and i knew it was gonna have a Fazor but i was curious how it would sound. But all i heard was the harsh Treble. Really nasty Spike around 9Khz, not extreme but bad enough to ruin the enjoyment of any song that would hit this frequency a lot. No warranty and no returns since it was a private sale i did the only sensible thing: ~~sell them again~~ mess around with them potentially wasting over a thousand bucks. The Fazors are just glued onto the outside of the drivers with double-sided tape, easy to remove by just cutting through the glue with a small knife on either side and then carefully prying them off. After the surgery they are much closer to what i expected, just an overall upgraded version of what i had with the LCD-2c. They sound wider, bass sounds more textured, hard to describe but i like the mids more too. its not a big leap over the LCD-2c but it is a decent enough upgrade. Disclaimer: those are super old, the SN indicates its from around the time the Fazor was first added to the LCD-3 in the first place. and there were severe QC issues with them, pls don't destroy your more modern LCD-3 copying this post thinking you will get the same exact result. looking at the old Innerfidelity measurements of the LCD-3 and the Crinacle Graphs the LCD-3 from back then and the new ones are a whole different beast. You may end up ruining the sound of your headphones if you try this.”
345 Reddit opinions analyzed • Last updated 4/4/2026