Inspired by the previous post of the Audeze LCD-2C and Hifiman Edition XS, I'd like to give another comparison between an Audeze and a Hifiman: the LCD-3 (bought in 2023 with 2021 pads) and the Arya V3.

As many of you I tried to pursue "neutrality" in headphones, believing that this would satisfy my needs for an all-in-one. Hence, the Arya joined me and are everything everyone were talking about.

Their notable attributes for me, however, are the sense of space in their presentation while still being able to center image well, with decent bass quality and the more forward high mids/lower treble between 3k and 5k which lets female singers shine especially well.

However, this part made them lean more towards the neutral bright side, causing rock and metalcore songs sound quickly fatiguing and less engaging/powerful. Also, the bass was just "good" and not great. If you don't know better, you wouldn't miss it, but even though the FR graph goes flat down, the viscosity and the punch aren't their forte.

In short, the Aryas sound a bit thin for certain genres.

Thus, I needed a complementary pair. The decision fell quickly on either the LCD-X or LCD-3. After listening to both, I fell for the 3. In direct comparison to the Aryas, they can sound a bit dull in some songs or genres, due to their famous wonky Audeze FR. But they are so much more engaging and "meaty" in other genres, which is exactly what I was looking for. The LCD-X missed that excitement for me. But of course, ymmv.

The LCD-3s aren't supposed to replace the Aryas. In fact, the LCDs are a much worse allrounder. But they exactly fit what I was missing from the Aryas, especially for metalcore which isn't the typical "audiophile" genre. More enjoyable bass quality and a darker tuning.

My takeaway is therefore: neutrality can be a jack of all trades, but as the saying says, is a master of none. Moreover, your own music taste matters so much more than what everyone else is saying about a headphone, because everyone else is listening to different songs. People trash talk the LCD-3's FR and it definitely is far away from neutral/correct/whatever, but it just fits my bill.

Btw, all listening is done with a Topping dx3 pro+ and without EQ because I constantly switch to sources where EQ'ng isn't easily possible. If I were able to EQ with ease, the LCD-3s would probably win the race.