Audeze LCD-S20 Review

Design

• Industrial, heavyweight design
• Premium feel
• Headband adjustment is a bit finicky

In spite of their more ‘affordable’ price tag in Audeze circles, the LCD-S20 don’t exactly feel it. There’s minimal plastic used in their construction, with the frame a sea of magnesium, aluminium and steel that has an industrial quality to it in terms of look and feel.

There’s very little in the way of styling or chic, with a two-tone black and silver colourway reflective of their designation as professional headphones. In that regard, they remind me of an old Saab or Volvo, and the type of clientele they’re designed to attract.

The above comment isn’t to say the LCD-S20 don’t look the part, because they do, but it’s a restrained and functional aesthetic that’s a far cry from the Bowers & Wilkins and Focal cans in a similar price range. In short, they look and feel rather nice.

The by-product of using predominantly thick metals in their chassis is that these Audeze headphones weigh a lot, tipping the scales at just over half a kilo, which feels like a lot on your head for extended periods.

Headband adjustment is a little finicky, with three slots for the suspension element underneath the main metal frame to fit different-sized heads. It works well enough and is similar to the band featured on Audeze’s Maxwell gaming headset.

Adjustment otherwise is quite minimal, with some more room for swivel to conform to your head, but they won’t lay flat for easy storage. In addition, the LCD-S20 don’t come with a carrying case for easy travel, so are designed purely for use at home or in a studio.

The earcups are a plush leatherette, with pleasantly squidgy and roomy inners to give your ears plenty of space. They feel deep and provide a good seal for passive noise isolation so you can listen in peace.

They are magnetically removable with a simple pull, so you can swap them out for aftermarket ones that should be available from other brands, such as Dekoni Audio, that have provided similar implements for Audeze headphones in the past.

Specification 

• Handy 3.5mm or 6.35mm connectivity options
• Easy to drive
• SLAM tech present for a cleaner, more pronounced low-end

The LCD-S20 comes with a singular 3.5mm TRS stereo jack connector that plugs into either earcup, with a pleasantly textured double-braided wire jacket that houses high-purity copper wire for connectivity. 

The main cable terminates with a 6.35mm or ¼-inch connector designed for being plugged into pro-grade equipment, confirming the position of these cans for more specialist purposes. You do get a handy adapter to convert this to a more standard 3.5mm jack for connecting to a DAP, amp or other piece of equipment.

Driver-wise, the LCD-S20 has a set of planar magnetic cans. These work slightly differently from the typical dynamic drivers in other headphones. To be specific, it’s by suspending the headphones’ diaphragm material between magnetic fields, which cause vibration, while dynamic drivers work by placing the driver over a coil that is pulled by a magnet.

Planar magnetics tend to need a little more surface area to work, hence why the LCD-S20 is a bit heavier and bulkier than other closed-back cans.

Sensitivity is a 93dB, while the 18-ohm impedance means these will be nice and easy to drive, whether you want to use a proper DAP or amp or even just bung them straight into a smartphone or laptop. I had no trouble doing so with my FiiO M11S or even into my MacBook Pro while I was working.

The LCD-S20 also benefits from Audeze’s clever SLAM technology that was previously present on the brand’s flagship electrostatic CRBN2 headphones. This enhances their low-end below the 100Hz mark for more low-end presence without distortion and a cleaner overall result. 

The way it works is with a silver plate around the driver assembly with tuned physical channels and two venting ports on either ear cup that act as a method of relieving pressure on the drivers when the headphones are worn.

Sound Quality

• Robust low end
• Slightly darker top-end
• Rich and smooth mid-range

The LCD-S20 are marketed as a set of headphones pushed more towards use for specialist audio work in studios rather than generalist listening. With this in mind, their profile as offering more of a dark and smooth sound is reminiscent of higher-end Audeze cans of old, and I’d wager it is stronger for more generalist listening as opposed to the studio work Audeze is shooting for.

The big thing about these Audeze cans is their low end, which carries a lot of presence and atmosphere. Granted, they aren’t real bass monsters to the point where the powerful grunt of Geddy Lee’s bassline on Rush’s YYZ or the strength and weight of Tony Levin’s funktastic work on Peter Gabriel’s Sledgehammer is overpowering.

Instead, it’s refined and smooth, but with a pleasant weight that caters well to my usual mix of progressive and alternative rock tastes.

The consequence of the more prominent low end of the LCD-S20 is that they can be a little darker in tone, meaning the treble frequencies aren’t quite as emphasised as with other cans. It lends the constant cymbal hits in tracks such as The Strokes’ Heart In A Cage to be pushed back into the mix a tad, where they can be more prominent in headphones that are tuned to be a tad brighter.

It’s a similar story with the competing sounds in the intro on Steely Dan’s Do It Again – the LCD-S20 are insightful, although they aren’t perhaps as bright or as engaging as more analytical or energetic choices.

For a set of closed backs, the soundstage and width are lovely. This was proven with the competing percussion elements in Steely Dan’s Do It Again to be given plenty of room to breathe, while a live cut of George Benson’s Affirmation revealed some lovely detail on the crowd’s laughter, hand claps, and the depth of the song’s percussion tones.

You will get a wider and more insightful presentation with the open-back MM-100 model Audeze also offers, but the LCD-S20 provides a sterling effort.

The LCD-S20’s mid-range handling is rich and smooth, too, with pleasant levels of detail and felt pushed forward in the mix. This was evident in the luscious three-part harmonies at the forefront of the Bee Gees’ Too Much Heaven. In Jack Johnson’s Tape Deck, this became apparent with his vocals and the track’s bongo work that felt right at the front in among the wider soundstage of the track’s harmonica.

Should you buy it?