I wouldn’t rule out the Fostex TH-900mk2: its SQ is as good or better than that of the Audeze LCD-XC, they cost basically the same and weigh half; besides, I think they’re really beautiful.
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Actually about £600 more than the LDC-XC 
Wow! Here in Spain, same price; but it is true that, for the time being, without offers in one or the other model.
I agree try before buy is preferable (not that I did, lol…but I read every review I could lay mitts on).
The thing about Audeze’s weight, especially the XC, is that it really is down to individual tolerances…I’d read so much about how heavy the XC’s were, that I was really surprised how comfortable they were for me. The weight doesn’t seem an issue - for me. I’m no muscleneck, but I do find them very comfortable - the thick, soft, leather pads do help here a lot. But again, for me…ymmv, as the Yanks say.
For example, a lot of people get on with on-ear 'phones, but they drive me to distraction - so painful on my ears after just a few minutes! Cant wear em, even if they sound great…
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I know what you mean… when I was in hospital a few weeks ago I was using on-ear 'phones (SR80 Grado) which, up until this time, I thought were very comfortable. After a couple of days of wearing them for several hours a day they were no longer comfortable; in fact they were painful to wear. In the end I got SWMBO to bring in her cheap over the ear 'phones.
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Yeah, my Grado 125 are in the box!
Purely on comfort. I tried bowls, but never found them good to wear either.
The Audeze are like a huge (and they are big!) comfy armchair in comparison…
Apologies Richard, didnt realise that was an out of bounds term! Rehoming box, then. But not here, I hasten to add…
Just keeping you within bounds of the forum rules… 
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Without breaking the bank, any suggestions for headphone cable extension (1/4" to 1/4") ? I’ll probably end up needing 4 to 5m.
Grade do one about £40 nice quality.
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Cheers…
Steve
Steve - i’ll be interested in what you end up with. As others have said, an audition (or a seller with a good returns policy) is needed as comfort is as important as SQ. I remember trying a pair of Grado GS1000 a few years ago and although they sounded a lot of fun, they were awful (for me) to wear - just very uncomfortable.
I have in ears for work (Shure SE846) as these are discrete and provide the noise isolation needed in an open plan office as well as sublime SQ fronted by the gold brick Sony 1Z. At home i have Sony MDR Z1R - these are semi open, provide enough isolation from outside noise and more importantly they don’t leak noise either. Excellent sound quality aside, they are very comfortable to wear for long periods and combined with a Mytek Brooklyn DAC + (and Chord Shawcan headphone cable - thanks Bruce for the recommendation) provide me with a fantastic personal setup which stops me disturbing Mrs n.
For all the other times and for sharing with friends, the lounge system (Devialet and Shahinian) does the business. We’re detached, so noise isn’t an issue but there are times when headphones are more appropriate and can provide a level of immersion in the music which can be very addictive.
My recommendation would be to try out a few models and see what you think. It’s nice to be able to have the options to move to more personal listening when circumstance dictate and with the right headphones, you can ge the same (albeit with a different presentation) enjoyment you get from a speaker setup.
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The headphone journey has come to a pause…
I just got the call that my new streamer/dac is in stock and should be with me later this week!
So that’s like 2 months early!
I think I’ll be fully occupied playing with the new dac so the headphone idea is pushed back for a while.
To be continued…
I have a pretty decent hifi system in a separate basement room, but i find I very seldom use it. Even in a separate room its not often I am able to turn up the volume to decent levels and not disturb the rest of the family. It gets used mainly for when like minded friends come over and we spin some vinyl together after a few drinks. Its much easier to have a listen using a decent pair of headphones, which is what I’ve been spending my hifi funds on in the last year or so. In that time I’ve built my headphone system up to Chord M Scaler/TT2 driving Abyss 1266 TC headphones streaming Tidal. I find this system very convenient to use and very satisfying. It gets used 10 times more than my hifi.
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