The week’s episode of The Occasional Podcast greets us with two headphone reviews of recent and notable open-back designs. The Audeze LCD-1 and Rosson Audio Designs RAD-0 share some similar roots, but diverge steeply on many other subjects (including price).
While the Audeze LCD-1 attempts to tackle the lucrative, but competitive $500 mark for personal audio enthusiasts, the RAD-0 has a more bespoke approach to design and cost. For those familiar with both company’s RAD founder Alex Rosson started working at Audeze and was among the founding cast of the LA-OC based company. His first dip into the market appears at the higher end of the hobby, with most headphones costing around $2,600. A look at his product page gives you a better idea of the custom leanings he has chosen, no two headphones appear at first glance to be colored the same.
The Audeze LCD-1 is unique in its open back, yet portable execution. While some may be quick to point out that open-back bleed isn’t conducive to planes, trains and audio mobiles, the addition of portability really doesn’t hurt anyone in the market for a high performance open back piece.
You can check out all the hands-on commentary for both these headphones on the newest episode of The Occasional Podcast. Also included is a special bonus interview with two outstanding gents from the high-end of two channel. Damon Von Schweikert and Leif Swanson from Von Schweikert Audio dive deep into their knowledge base of loudspeaker design to drop some know-how on us all.
You can stream it all direct from the embed below or subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast platform including iTunes, Android, Google, Deezer, Spotify, iHeartRadio and more.