Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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Thanks to Audeze for sending the LCD-S20 for review!

Buy from Audio46 (affiliate link): audio46.com/products/audeze-lcd-s20-closed-back-planar-headphones?ref=reviewsbywavetheory

Buy from Amazon (affiliate link): amzn.to/47BDm9J

Buy from Audeze: audeze.com/products/lcd-s20

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Test Gear…

All music would have been lossless or hi-rez FLAC or DSD files played locally, or in the case of some FLAC, streamed from Qobuz. In all desktop applications files were played through Roon. In DAP situations, files were played from microSD storage.

Chain 1...

FiiO M21: youtu.be/22bHTUv3G8k

Chain 2...

FiiO SR11 (youtu.be/YuagbK8p0FA) USB output into Schiit Mimir (youtu.be/JnT_3HpAHt0) or FiiO Warmer R2R DAC (youtu.be/7gL2kCq2KyY) into both Asgard X (youtu.be/n8H8SN3Rdf4) & Jotunheim 3 (youtu.be/GhLNMFzcr74)

Chain 3…

Sonore opticalRendu USB into Berkeley Alpha USB DDC (youtu.be/94AvDeeRjHA); AES into Berkeley Alpha S2 DAC (youtu.be/JY3c4HEyH0s); XLR into LTA Z10e amp (youtu.be/Bft6HUsYDhE)

My Fiio FT1 Review: youtu.be/_WiTDktQcAE

Audiophile Ninja Shuriken Cable: audiophileninja.com/product/3-5mm-trrs-headphone-cable

Austrian OC-16 Condenser Mic (affiliate link): amzn.to/4d9VCKW
IK Multimedia iRig Pro audio interface (affiliate link): amzn.to/4pnL51f


Mia Edenberg & Benjamin Shielden’s Work: hyperfollow.com/edenbergshielden

Timestamps...

00:00 Intro, Pricing, Disclaimer
02:09 Shameless Self Promotion
02:36 Different Structure & Takeaways
04:49 About the LCD-S20
07:44 Cabling is Different
09:53 Sound
16:11 Sound Leak Demos
22:08 Sound Leak Analysis & Why It Matters
25:51 For Audiophiles?