[Satsugai]

 

Thanks for clarifying in an official post. Will users be able to order CYPHER cables with some variant of USB at any point? (Android / Mac / PC / etc...)

 

[Audeze]

Yes. We plan to have them. But we are still waiting for several things to coalesce. The Android support with various models is still difficult and the audio standard in many devices is only 16 bit. The intel spec for USB_C is still not published. 

 

[Riley Beale]

Removed

 

[Br777]

 

 
to be clear about the cipher lightning cable eq:
are you saying that your "house eq"  is now the baseline sound and that any eq'ing we do or save onto the cable with the app will be "on top" of that, or do we also have to option to start with only sound of the headphones and eq from there?
 
thanks

 

[Audeze]

Yes. The house EQ is the baseline and is designed to be neutral. Any EQ from the app will be on top of it.  
 
 
Quote:

   
to be clear about the cipher lightning cable eq:
are you saying that your "house eq"  is now the baseline sound and that any eq'ing we do or save onto the cable with the app will be "on top" of that, or do we also have to option to start with only sound of the headphones and eq from there?
 
thanks

 

[Br777]

 

 
 
Are you wiling to somehow share that eq curve with us so that we could implement it when using the normal cable?   I want to make sure i get the same sound out of these no matter where i use them.
 
also do you know or will you release the efficiency ratings?
 
thanks again.

 

[Audeze]

We will certainly consider it. 
 
Sensitivity for the iSine10 and 20 is 110dB/1mW at 1KHz. This is Ear Drum Reference point measurement (DRP). 
 
 
Quote:

   
 
Are you wiling to somehow share that eq curve with us so that we could implement it when using the normal cable?   I want to make sure i get the same sound out of these no matter where i use them.
 
also do you know or will you release the efficiency ratings?
 
thanks again.

 

[xuan87]

  So wait.
 
You put cable A into player A, then cable B into player B, and you're trying to compare the cables. Like, it's not occurring to you that a proprietary cable going direct digital into an iPhone might be changing things somehow. 
 
Put the 3.5mm into your iPhone and compare it then. 

 

 
This.  You cant completely change players and then say its *just* the cable.  I have no doubts the DAC in the cable is tuned quite extensively, but its not a for sure conclusion without testing on the same device...

 
Putting the 3.5mm into the iPhone is not going to be more similar to the lightning cable just because they are both from an iPhone. That's cause when using the lightning cable, the iPhone is just acting as a source/transport, the sound quality (for lack of a better word), will still be generated by the DAC/amp in the lightning cable.
 
The reason why most of my comparison is done using my DPX1 rather than the iPhone is because the Dac/amp in the DPX1 is better than the DAC/amp in the iPhone.
 
Although you could be arguing that the transport or the source will make a huge difference in sound, which in my opinion doesn't (because they are basically feeding the same 1s and 0s).
 
But what I didn't mention, is that I did get a quick 5 secs listen to verify using the 3.5mm cable in my iPhone and yes, it still sounds like *****.
 
My point here is the differences between the lightning and 3.5mm cables (regardless of sources) are huge! I personally find the differences between the two units to be larger than the differences between the iSine 10 and 20 on the same cables. Normally you'll hear a larger differences comparing between two different earphone models than comparing between two different sources on the same earphones.
 

  Yes. We plan to have them. But we are still waiting for several things to coalesce. The Android support with various models is still difficult and the audio standard in many devices is only 16 bit. The intel spec for USB_C is still not published. 

While it will be great to have a USB C cable for my Nexus 5X and future Google Pixel, it does seem like it will get a while before such a cable is made available.
 

 

 
I love the neutral tuning that you went for on the lightning cable and won't be adding any EQ on top of that. I only hope that for your android cables, you will aim for the same tuning as the default sound.

 

[lostman]

Hmm... that's troubling. I only heard the iSine on lightning cable but I'm not planning on using it with lightning. I mostly use my laptop.
 
Maybe you can shed some light here: why tune them to sound good with the lightning cable? Could the *headphones themselves* be tuned to have that good sound you're describing? I would like USB-C cable for laptop/phone but won't hold my breath for that.
 
Well, at least there's this 30 day return window to try things out.

 

[Audeze]

>> why tune them to sound good with the lightning cable? 
We make sure the headphones sound as good as possible without any electronics. Not just our headphones, any headphone will have non-linearities - we run into basic physics. If you see Tyll's Innerfidelity notes or Bob Katz reviews, you will notice even for their best ranked headphones, they give some EQ options. When we have a digitial output and control over the signal, we now have the ability to nail the FR perfectly. So why not ?
 
We just want tor reiterate, the base iSine headphones will sound very very good. The tuning on the digital cables is the cherry on the top. 
 
Audeze is pioneering these options for customers. But with more and more digital connection options for mobile players (USBC, BT 5.0, Lightning),  DSP capability will be available for headphone users. In future, we plan to release new firmware for the Cipher cables that offer even more features that simply is not possible with analog connections. 
 
 
Quote:

  Hmm... that's troubling. I only heard the iSine on lightning cable but I'm not planning on using it with lightning. I mostly use my laptop.
 
Maybe you can shed some light here: why tune them to sound good with the lightning cable? Could the *headphones themselves* be tuned to have that good sound you're describing? I would like USB-C cable for laptop/phone but won't hold my breath for that.
 
Well, at least there's this 30 day return window to try things out.

 

[xuan87]

  Hmm... that's troubling. I only heard the iSine on lightning cable but I'm not planning on using it with lightning. I mostly use my laptop.
 
Maybe you can shed some light here: why tune them to sound good with the lightning cable? Could the *headphones themselves* be tuned to have that good sound you're describing? I would like USB-C cable for laptop/phone but won't hold my breath for that.
 
Well, at least there's this 30 day return window to try things out.

 
I don't think it's possible to tune something to ONLY sound good with a particular DAC/amp, and sound horrible with everything else. The only exception might be a lack of power.
 
But in this case, I wasn't maxing out the volume on my DPX1 so it's not like the iSine are very hard to drive. I listened to full size headphones like the Sennheiser HD650 and Creative EMU headphones on my DPX1 on the same day and they sound amazing powered from a DAP.
 
TLR I'm confused by what I heard 

 

[lostman]

I really hope lightning will just die. Apple put themselves in a weird situation with new Macbooks which are all USB-C now. But iPhone still has lightning. So if you have USB-C phone (Nexus, Pixel) and new Macbook, the experience is *better* than new Macbook and iPhone. iPhone 7S with USB-C? Or will they continue to stick to lightning "just because".
 
I understand that lightning is slightly better (even the connector itself is slightly nicer IMHO). But the world where you only need one cable for anything and everything is a pretty neat one.
 
</rant>
 

 

[xuan87]

  I really hope lightning will just die. Apple put themselves in a weird situation with new Macbooks which are all USB-C now. But iPhone still has lightning. So if you have USB-C phone (Nexus, Pixel) and new Macbook, the experience is *better* than new Macbook and iPhone. iPhone 7S with USB-C? Or will they continue to stick to lightning "just because".
 
I understand that lightning is slightly better (even the connector itself is slightly nicer IMHO). But the world where you only need one cable for anything and everything is a pretty neat one.
 
</rant>
 

 
Unfortunately lightning won't die anytime soon. That's because Apple won't be able to license the USB C like they can for the lightning, thus losing out on all the potential monies that they are currently making.
 
In a perfect world, all audio manufacturers will come together to boycott creating lightning products, and all users will boycott iphones until they get rid of the proprietary connector but yea... we all know that's never happening.
 
I too wish that everyone will move faster towards USB C.

 

[bifeo001]

Unfortunately lightning won't die anytime soon. That's because Apple won't be able to license the USB C like they can for the lightning, thus losing out on all the potential monies that they are currently making.

In a perfect world, all audio manufacturers will come together to boycott creating lightning products, and all users will boycott iphones until they get rid of the proprietary connector but yea... we all know that's never happening.

I too wish that everyone will move faster towards USB C.

Hey Xuan87,
Could elaborate more on the sound quality on the isine 10 and 20?

 

[potatoe94]

Oh man ... I paired it with the iFi iDSD Micro and tried both , i immediately like the 10 more than the 20 . The 20 seem to sound extremely thin , lacks body , warmth and emotion . The 10s are worth a shot with a narrower , more intimate soundstage , has a nice warmth and emotion to it .

But i am not going to get any because i would be a disturbance to listen in a library . And the noise would be a disturbance to me on the subway .

I cannot find a proper place to use it unless i am confined up in my room