Audeze iSine 10

INTRODUCTION

In ear monitors have been popular as of lately with new companies bringing out their new top of the line in ear monitors. In ear monitors usually use dynamic or armature drivers. However, planar magnetic drivers commonly used in higher end audiophile grade headphones is not something you've seen before in an in ear. Audeze being one of the innovators and leaders of this kind of technology decided to make one. As of today, they have three in total. The isine 10, 20 and LCDi4.

DISCLAIMER

This unit was lent to me by bay bloor radio

ABOUT Audeze

from their website:

Audeze’s origins go back to 2008 when founders Sankar Thiagasamudram and Alexander Rosson met engineer Pete Uka who developed specialized flexible circuit materials for NASA. They quickly realized the material might be perfect for headphones. That’s when Dragoslav Colich, who has 30+ years’ experience in designing planar drivers, joined the team as CTO to create the LCD-1 headphone.

Then we created the legendary, award-winning LCD-2 and LCD-3 headphones, and the higher-efficiency LCD-X and XC models. More recently, we made planar magnetic technology accessible to a wider audience with the EL-8 and SINE series headphones. Audeze turned to their strategic partner Designworks, a BMW Group Subsidiary, for the cutting-edge industrial design for the new headphones as well as the Deckard DAC/Amplifier.

Audeze feature proprietary planar magnetic designs with extremely thin-film driver materials and powerful custom magnets. Planars overcome many limitations inherent in typical cone drivers; our lightweight diaphragms are, for example, faster and more responsive than heavier moving-coil or dome drivers. Planar magnetic diaphragm also have a voice-coil circuit spread across the diaphragm surface. The diaphragm’s voice-coil circuit interacts with the magnetic field to produce an electromagnetic force that moves the diaphragm back and forth creating the sound you hear when energized by an audio signal.

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

TECHNICAL DETAILS

• Style In-ear, universal fit
  Transducer type Planar magnetic, semi-open
  Magnetic structure Fluxor
  Magnet type High-grade neodymium
  Diaphragm type Ultra-thin Uniforce
  Transducer size 30mm
  Maximum power handling 3W
  Maximum SPL >120dB
  Frequency response 10Hz – 50kHz
  THD <0.1% @ 100dB
  Impedance 16 ohms
  Cable type non-microphonic
  Dimension 31mm x 35mm
  Weight 11g (per side)

WHERE DO I BUY IT?

Bay bloor radio in you are in Canada.

Here internationally

BUILD QUALITY

I apologize that pictures are not provided for this review. It was deleted before I could write this review. I will make sure to add in photos in the near future.

First off, I would say the build quality at this price range is excellent.

It is made of high quality plastic. Some of you are not keen to see plastic in a set of highly priced in ears but there is a reason to why highly reputable companies, including sennheiser use it. Especially here, it was a great choice of material to keep things light as possible because it does use planar magnetic drivers that are bigger. Audeze really wanted to punch in the idea that they can create something planar and not always heavy.

For those who found Audeze headphones really good sounding but just way too heavy to wear, this may just be something that may float your boat.

Cabling is simple with 2 pin connectors and this does mean you can use third party cables, if that is your thing.

Flat braided cables as typical of their cables and you can opt in for their EQ functionality lightning cable or just the 3.5mm cable.



I did feel like the tips included were all too big for secure fit and nozzle were too big for and typical spin fits or comply foams.

Also, it takes a bit of getting used to securing a good fit with the hooks provided.

PRACTIALLY

THE FIT: Fit is everything with the Isine10, you will love it if you can or you will hate it if you cannot. It is a big hit or a miss type of scenario. I would imagine Audeze will improve this in their future line ups.

SOUND ISOLATION: These are semi open back and does leak, despite what others say about these not leaking... which I found odd unless you listen to your music really quietly. These do leak and it was proved in my tests. You can do this easily... you can just turn your music off and talk to other without taking the isine10s off your ears, you will be able to hear everything perfectly fine. Try asking at least 10 individuals if they can hear your music.

PAIRING: These are not the hardest to drive but they are still planar magnetic and need some good sources and amps to really shine

SUGGESTED USE: Probably around the house or in the office where it doesn't matter if a little bit of music leaks out. If you are the type of person that is not keen to share your music taste, this may not be the right choice.

SOUND QUALITY

review without EQ

LOWS – Very solid presentation but not the best or punchiest. Quite simple and this region relies heavily on how well you get it to fit. Get the right fit and you will feel some great thumping and sub bass.

MIDS – I found these to be a little too mid-centric with vocal a little recessed. it is either that this region is too forward or everything else is recessed. All in all this mid region seems to be the most unreliable in its presentation as imaging did not seem to be on par with other in ear monitors I've reviewed.

HIGHS – Well extended but lacks sparkle and a little recessed.

I was not aware of being able to EQ with 3.5mm cables from your DAP or what have you. Audeze do have put out their recommended EQ setting on headfi forums for those that are not keen on lightning cables. I would love to see the EQ settings come back and hit hard for those of us that would not like to see the 3.5mm terminations taken over entirely.

SOUNDSTAGE/IMAGING/SEPARATION:

• Sound stage is larger than most in ear monitors in this price range but I do have to disagree with it being an in ear headphone. I would say this falls closer to an in ear still. I will be reviewing the LCDI4 soon, as I hope that will be a different story.
• Imaging was not the best, with center imaging being the most lacking in presentation
• Separation was descent but again, not the best I have seen in this price range.

FINAL THOUGHTS

This is their first in ear monitor and world's first planar one. I would say this is a great start and I would love to see them improve with community feedback.

A little bit about me:
Hey fellow headfiers! The name is Neil, a normal music loving lad who works here in Japan. I commute everyday and I am always searching for the best value for my music needs.
I currently use the IE800 and P1 as my daily commute drivers, and I use the HD800 and 650/6XX for my home listening.
 
(I apologize in advance for bad grammar, this was originally posted in the Audeze Isine thread and I just decided to also post it as a review.)
 
 
REVIEW/UNBOXING:
 
Immediately unboxed the iSine 10 after receiving it from amazon japan.
Here are some photos of the product. 
 
BOX
 

 
INSIDE THE BOX
 

 
 
OPENED WITH ALL ACCESSORIES OUT
 

 
THE EARPHONES ITSELF
 

 
QUICK REVIEW/IMPRESSIONS/ANALYSIS
 
This review was based upon listening in different situations and using different cables and sources.
(I apologize in advance if I have a lot of grammatical errors, English is not my first language.)

CABLES USED:
 
Audeze Cipher Lightning cable
Audeze Standard 3.5mm Analog Cable
3rd Party Silver 2-pin cable
3rd Party Standard 2-pin cable
 
SOURCES (FLAC/TIDAL/LOSSLESS/320MP3's were used)
 
iPhone 6
iPhone 6s+
Oppo HA-2 SE
Woo Audio WA7
Little DOT MKII
Schiit Magni 2
 
IEMS/HEADPHONES COMPARED WITH:
 
IE800 (Own it)
Mee Audio Pinnacle P1 (Own it)
SE 846 (Currently don't have it with me anymore but I owned it before for about half a year and used it as a comparison)
JVC FX1100 (Auditioned it for about 2-3hours)
NOBLE Audio Kasier K10U (Bought it, used it for a couple of weeks then decided to return it)
JH AUDIO LAYLA Version 1 (Auditioned it for 15-20minutes)
Oriolus MKII (Auditioned it for about 2-3hours)
AKG K712pros (Own it)
HD800 SD MOD (Own it)
HD6XX/650 (Own it)
FOSTEX T50RP MKIII with alcantara pads (Own it)
 
 
BUILD
 
The iSine 10 is the first ever planar magnetic IEM to be released. It also has an open design which makes it very unique in the world of IEM's.
The iSine 10 is built with sturdy plastic that feels very light when held, it might somehow feel flimsy due to its very light weight.
Because of the materials used for the purpose of making the IEM light, the iSine 10 might not be that sturdy and the build might be underwhelming for some especially at this price point.
You definitely should be careful when handling these IEM's, be careful not to drop it or sit on it. 
(Unlike the Mee audio Pinnacle P1 which is built like a 1000$ IEM or better just for a 100$)
 
DESIGN:
 
The design on the iSine 10 and iSine 20 is not for everyone. Some might find the design good looking, and some might find it hideous. 
Personally I think they are okay, they somehow look badass and sleek when you are wearing them. Definitely a head turner IEM, everyone will surely be looking at you when they see you wearing this outside (Although you probably wont, I'll get on that later) . To each his own, everybody will probably have an opinion about the design of the iSine's, but in the end, 
most of the hardcore audiophiles wouldn't care about what a product looks anyway.
 
FIT/COMFORT:
 
Fit
The fit on the iSine's are a little weird, especially the first time you try it. You might need to take time to find the right accessories to get a good fit. I think the earhooks that they come with are good enough to fit most people though. The feeling when you wear them is really awkward, it feels like they are somehow loose and might just fall off. But despite the awkward feeling to the fit, they are actually very secure, you can even run 
with it (Ran and biked with it myself), just probably not with the cipher cable because the dac/module part of the cable is a bit heavy. 
 
Comfot
These IEM's are okay when it comes to comfort, the comfort is decent enough for you to be able to wear them for long periods of time. They are not the most comfortable because of the awkward fit and feeling while wearing them, but you won't get fatigue or anything while wearing them because of the reason that they are very light. They are even lighter compared to some much smaller IEM's which is very impressive to say the least. 
 
ISOLATION/LEAKAGE:
 
Probably my biggest gripe when it comes to the iSine's are the isolation and leakage. The isolation is so-so, this is all because of the open design. The open design makes the IEM sound really good and really gives you great sound stage and air. The downside to that is the isolation and leakage, they are pretty much like open back headphones in an IEM form. The isolation is okay when you are listening at medium levels, but you should still expect to hear some noises especially when you are using it on the go. Like I said, it's very similar to an open back headphone, it doesn't really block out external noises but its very good when you listen to it a quiet area. You can get decent isolation when you are listening to medium to high volume, the downside to that is the leakage that it will produce. The leakage is similar to an earphone/earbud or probably a tad louder because of its openness. If you turn up the volume to normal listening levels, you can expect that people 2-3 feet away from you can probably already hear the leakage that they produce. These somehow beats the purpose of an IEM, because most of us use IEM's on the go and to isolate external noises. Especially in my case, I don't want to be disrespectful to the people beside me in the train while I'm on my way to work. That's why I only listen to it at low volumes when I am on the train which really is a bummer. So if you're planning to use these outside or on the go, it might not be the best choice. 
 
SOUND:
 
First Impressions:
 
So when I first tried it, it didn't really blow me away, they were decent and acceptable at its price range. The only thing I was impressed with was the soundstage, its probably the largest I've heard in an IEM. Even larger than the Layla and IE800.(Probably because they're open)
If you've heard the T50RP MKIII with alcantara pads, its like an IEM version of it with better sub bass and wider soundstage. Slightly warm, detailed, the mids were slightly forward in a good musical way, and the bass was good.
One thing to take note though is that I was only using the normal analog cable and it was plugged in into my iPhone. So I tried it with different sources.
 
With different amps  Magni/WA7/OPPO HA2SE + 3rd Party Cables
 
My iPhone + OPPO HA2SE made it sound better with the analog cable, the soundstage and details were brought up a little more. at this moment I can see why these IEM's were so hyped, even here in Japan.
It just sounded so sparkly, planar fast, and so wide. its still a little warm, but is so buttery warm that it just feels so good. I'm not really good with words and such so I can't really use complicated terminologies to describe how they sound. But to me they just sound good, they sound like an openback headphone in an IEM form with planar goodness. You need to hear these for yourself.
 
I tried it with solid state amps like the magni (I'm sorry if I don't have any other Solidstate portables) it made them a bit more detailed and the bass is now more pronounced, I'd imagine this is what other solid state portable would also do.
But I still like it better with the OPPO. So I also decided to pair them with tube amps, like the WA7 and my little dot MKII, and yes, tubes pair with these great. It becomes a lot warmer, and will probably go very well jazz, acoustic genres.
Some might find it too warm using the normal analog cable when paired with a tube, but I think that that will all come down to preference.
 
So I tried different cables, I used my silver 2-pin cable. the sound is still good, but the difference is very minimal, I'd say that the details are much more pronounced now with the silver cable, but that could just be in my head.
Nonetheless, it still sounded really good. And at this point I was already happy with the purchase. I never though it could be better than this, but I was wronged.
 
 
Cipher Cable:
 
So I know that not a lot of people are into apple products, especially the audiophile community. But I am an iPhone user myself. I just got so used to it because the iPhone 4 was my first smart phone when I was like 16-17 or something.
I thought these cable was made just so that you can use it with the iPhone 7 coz it had no jack. Boy I was wronged. These cables is what made these IEMS great to F***in exceptional.
I paired the cipher cable with my iPhone and the first thing I noticed is that they are now a lot louder, like 100% louder, I was at like 25-35% volume and I was already on par with my normal listening levels compared with the analog cable at 70-80%.
So these just blew my mind away, The soundstage is now much more expanded, the instrument separation and imaging is now much more pronounced (Probably because the cipher made the sound signature brighter and livelier.)
I don't know if its in the firmware EQ or the cables, but the cipher cable just changed it so much.
The mids are still slightly forward but there is much more emotion and weight to it, as well as the treble and highs. It became much more detailed and much more airy in a sense.
The warmth was reduced a little bit with the Cipher cable, this is probably because the cipher cable makes it sound brighter and more solid state-ish.
The bass is now also better, what surprised me the most is the change in sub bass, don't get me wrong, there are still other better IEM's there that are probably better than these when it comes to bass. But the bass on these with the cipher cable is just so good. The cipher cable added more extension and weight to the sub bass, its still punchy and planar fast but with more OOMPH.
It is now better than the IE800 and SE846 bass IMO, For me the IE800's subbass was the best, even better than the K10U, the subbass extension of the IE800 was the best to my preference. I haven't heard other TOTL IEM's but compared to everything I heard, the IE800's beats SE846 and K10U's subbass.(I even heard the JVCFX1100 which is known for their gorgeous bass, but I find them too warm and too bass heavy, this somehow veiled the other frequencies IMO, that's why I still chose the IE800 over it.)
But the subbass of the ISINE10 is now just awfully good, probably the same decay and extension as the IE800 but with more life to it. 
 
The soundstage is really good but it still won't beat a good overear HP soundstage like the HD800/K712/Fidelio. I'd say the soundstage compared to a headphone would be like a 650/6XX or even wider because the imaging and separation is just so good on these, especially with the Cipher cable.
At this price point these IEM's are now a steal with the cipher cable IMO. Would they still be a steal and a good price to performance ratio without the cipher cable? I'd say yes, some would argue but I think they're are still really good especially when you pair it with a good DAP/AMP.
I only have the OPPO HA-2SE as a portable amp, and I was already astounded with how they sounded with it using different cables. What more if you pair it with a high end DAP, and use a better cable.
 
I know that I might be all saying this just to justify my own purchase, but trust me, I'm not exaggerating about how good they are, with or without the cipher cable. I'm really actually critical when it comes to IEM's.
I liked the K10U's but I ditched em (Really good but too expensive, price to performance not justifiable IMO), heard the Oriolus MKII I liked them a lot, but the price didn't do it justice when you compare it something like the IE800, sure it's better than the IE800 in a lot of ways but I got my Ie800 for 350$ and the oriolus was like 950$. I was gonna buy them already but a couple of Japanese audiophiles warned me that the shells tend to crack easily which made me decide not to buy them. Owned the SE846 for a couple of months and I really liked them, this was my IEM before the IE800, ended up selling them when I heard the IE800. (They're probably equally good, but the sound signature and the wider soundstage of the IE800 was a better pair to my preference.)
I all ditched them because I still think that the IE800's was the best value wise and preference wise (Classical/acoustic/EDM)  the price of the other IEM's were not as justifiable, like I said, I want the best value for my audio gear. (I bought my IE800 second hand for like 350$)
Bought the P1, because it sounded similar and is actually better than the SE846 when amped properly, and at only for 120$. I still use it up today when I want a different sound signature.
Heard the Layla for about 10-15 minutes but I'd say I was more surprised and wowed by the iSIne10 especially because of their price! That's why I'm saying these are a steal at its price point. 
 
Can't really add more about the sound with cipher cable, but all I have to say is you gotta hear for yourself. They are still good without it but I'd say these are made to listen with the cipher cables, thats why I hope they make one soon that would be compatible with other devices.
IMO they are 30-40% better with the cipher cable and thats what make these babies all worth it. 
 
CONCLUSION:

After 2 weeks of use, I decided to return my iSine's because of the reason that I won't have any use for them. I can't really use them outside and while on commute because of its open design/leakage and lack of isolation. 
I can use them at home but I have tons of headphones that would be better for home listening.
I would really love to have them in my collection because of their great sound, but I'd rather pay my bills first than to buy something that I wouldn't even use.
The iSine sits in my top 3 of all the the IEM's I've heard so far, beating some competitors over 2-3x its price range. I would love to hear the isine 20's for comparison though (Although I hear that the upgrade to isine 20 is not that worth it)
If you're planning to buy these for portability, I'd rather test them first if I were you. Yes they are very portable and easy to drive, but the isolation and leakage might throw you off especially if you are planning to use these outdoors while commuting.
 
If you have any questions feel free to ask me! Hope this quick review helps some of you guys who are still thinking about buying it.
(Trust me its worth it ) 
 
(EDIT: Review is being edited overtime )