[trellus]

I remember reading not too many pages back the official Audeze claim is that they certainly tuned the drivers to be used with a regular analog cable and that the extra tuning via the Cipher cable is just a little icing on the cake.

Not a case of some dramatic difference with cable EQ making up for deficiencies in the design that make it obvious that it's a low quality sound without active electronics a la Parrot Zik which I have and which sound like garbage in passive mode (but quite delicious with all the DSP wizardry on).

I'm sure it's a cost saving measure, much cheaper and easier to equalizer a power source like a dac than build a better driver. Never know if audeze will come out with an app or something to equalize the isine for android since it looks like there's too many different android systems to come up with a usable dac cable right now. Although most non paid reviewers have stated it's not very comfortable and very poor at sound isolation so it doesn't serve a great purpose for me as a portable IEM, might as well just use my headphones if it's just as poor with isolating.

 

[pkcpga]

I remember reading not too many pages back the official Audeze claim is that they certainly tuned the drivers to be used with a regular analog cable and that the extra tuning via the Cipher cable is just a little icing on the cake.

Not a case of some dramatic difference with cable EQ making up for deficiencies in the design that make it obvious that it's a low quality sound without active electronics a la Parrot Zik which I have and which sound like garbage in passive mode (but quite delicious with all the DSP wizardry on).

Haven't tried yet but hopefully will soon. Only going by reviewers comments on how the isine sounds veiled without the use of the chipher cable. So until the IEM is released and more than 3 formal reviews are available I have no choice but to believe those reviewers comments on veiled sound without the chipher cable to be fairly accurate and I'll wait until the IEM is finally released. But I don't buy into hype without any evidence to back it, I own audeze headphones and I tried the sine over ear headphones and was very unimpressed with them compared to my audeze full size headphones so I'll wait until they can be demod to buy into hype.

 

[Audeze]

I'm sure it's a cost saving measure, much cheaper and easier to equalizer a power source like a dac than build a better driver. 

This is not true at all. We have mentioned it previously in this thread. We design the drivers to achieve the best possible sound. We have measured hundreds of IEMs this past year. The iSine10 with just the analog cable has lower distortion than most (if not all) in-ear headphones including units that cost almost 8X the iSine. Any headphone (not just Audeze) will have idiosyncrasies.  Show us any make and model and we can make them sound better. Many manufacturers (especially small Audiophile manufacturers) do not have the capability to implement these easily. But over the next few years as digital connections (Lightning, USB-C, Bluetooth etc) become more prevalent, these type of DSP solutions will become available more.
 
Take a look at the graphs below. They compare the iSine10 with analog cable to an electrostatic and a high end BA system. Both cost several times more than iSine10. Trust us, these are not cost saving measures.
 

 

 

[pkcpga]

This is not true at all. We have mentioned it previously in this thread. We design the drivers to achieve the best possible sound. We have measured hundreds of IEMs this past year. The iSine10 with just the analog cable has lower distortion than most (if not all) in-ear headphones including units that cost almost 8X the iSine. Any headphone (not just Audeze) will have idiosyncrasies.  Show us any make and model and we can make them sound better. Many manufacturers (especially small Audiophile manufacturers) do not have the capability to implement these easily. But over the next few years as digital connections (Lightning, USB-C, Bluetooth etc) become more prevalent, these type of DSP solutions will become available more.

Take a look at the graphs below. They compare the iSine10 with analog cable to an electrostatic and a high end BA system. Both cost several times more than iSine10. Trust us, these are not cost saving measures.




[COLOR=FF4400]
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I'll wait for non bias measurements and more reviews before final judgement but reviews so far have been contradictory. With most commenting on veiled sound without the chipher cable and great sound with the chipher minus the lack of sound isolation. So until they are available to hear, I'll reserve my final opinion but based on limited reviews that are not semi sponsored sounds like hype. Also sounds like a very specific customer since all reviewers state they are not sound isolating enough for public places and they are IEM's so one would expect enough isolation to not have to raise volume to damaging levels to listen in public without disturbing people around you. But also this is just based on very few available reviews. I tend to jump into buying new products but I'm skeptical here since there's no real tour for them or common listeners reviews, along with the contradictory reviews available. Hopefully dealers will get product soon, I have a few dealers by me in the northeast. When will they become available in dealers?

 

[Toom]

I always wondered if IEM makers tune them in non-silent environments, i.e those which replicate the likely conditions normal people will use them in. You don't need to be a rocket scientist to realise the vast majority use IEMs when out and about, hence V shaped tuning being much more popular than a more neutral one which will sound anaemic in the real world. Please note, I have always hated the snobbery implicit in the word 'consumerist' as it's used across this site, so I have avoided it. Who among us is not a consumer?

Anyway, I assume the cipher cable tuning adds more of a V shape EQ, hence it sounding less veiled? As it seems there is precious little isolation with the iSines, this would seem even more necessary to ensure music is pleasurable in outside environments. So yeah, a shame that there is no Android equivalent, but i guess the clue is in the very title of the IEM which market segment it is being targeted at initially.

As an HTC 10 user, this rules me out of wanting to try them, sadly. That and the fact they look pretty fragile and knowing how clumsy I am they wouldn't last five minutes

Besides, all the talk of their openness of sound is hardly a revolutionary aspect, given there are mountains of earbuds (as opposed to IEMs) out there which provide this. I would be interested to know if any of the connoisseurs from the earbud thread here have been able to compare the iSines against the top end earbuds?

 

[all999]

Are the included tips silicone or foams?

 

[xuan87]

I always wondered if IEM makers tune them in non-silent environments, i.e those which replicate the likely conditions normal people will use them in. You don't need to be a rocket scientist to realise the vast majority use IEMs when out and about, hence V shaped tuning being much more popular than a more neutral one which will sound anaemic in the real world. Please note, I have always hated the snobbery implicit in the word 'consumerist' as it's used across this site, so I have avoided it. Who among us is not a consumer?

Anyway, I assume the cipher cable tuning adds more of a V shape EQ, hence it sounding less veiled? As it seems there is precious little isolation with the iSines, this would seem even more necessary to ensure music is pleasurable in outside environments. So yeah, a shame that there is no Android equivalent, but i guess the clue is in the very title of the IEM which market segment it is being targeted at initially.

As an HTC 10 user, this rules me out of wanting to try them, sadly. That and the fact they look pretty fragile and knowing how clumsy I am they wouldn't last five minutes

Besides, all the talk of their openness of sound is hardly a revolutionary aspect, given there are mountains of earbuds (as opposed to IEMs) out there which provide this. I would be interested to know if any of the connoisseurs from the earbud thread here have been able to compare the iSines against the top end earbuds?

 
V shape EQ has nothing to do with veiled or non-veiled sound. There are plenty of flat IEMs that are most definitely not veiled.
 
I am also very concerned with the durability of these earphones. The demo units I've tried have very very loose connectors and they definitely won't have stayed in if I was walking; the movement of the cable would have jerked them out. Even gordec highlighted this in his review, quoting him: The cable insert actually started to crack a little when I accidentally inserted it in the wrong orientation. I wish Audeze could use metal for the external housing.
 
Since I'm only interested in the Type C Cipher cable and I absolutely have no interest in using them with the analog cable, I will sit back and wait to see if there are any durability complaints brought up by iPhone users.

 

[headwhacker]

My iSine10 just arrived

 

[cocolinho]

@headwhacker
where did you get them from? Thanks

 

[Deftone]

I'll wait for non bias measurements and more reviews before final judgement but reviews so far have been contradictory. With most commenting on veiled sound without the chipher cable and great sound with the chipher minus the lack of sound isolation. So until they are available to hear, I'll reserve my final opinion but based on limited reviews that are not semi sponsored sounds like hype. Also sounds like a very specific customer since all reviewers state they are not sound isolating enough for public places and they are IEM's so one would expect enough isolation to not have to raise volume to damaging levels to listen in public without disturbing people around you. But also this is just based on very few available reviews. I tend to jump into buying new products but I'm skeptical here since there's no real tour for them or common listeners reviews, along with the contradictory reviews available. Hopefully dealers will get product soon, I have a few dealers by me in the northeast. When will they become available in dealers?

 
i agree with with this because a lot of reviewers are scared to tell it how it really is incase they dont get any more free products.
 

I always wondered if IEM makers tune them in non-silent environments, i.e those which replicate the likely conditions normal people will use them in. You don't need to be a rocket scientist to realise the vast majority use IEMs when out and about, hence V shaped tuning being much more popular than a more neutral one which will sound anaemic in the real world. Please note, I have always hated the snobbery implicit in the word 'consumerist' as it's used across this site, so I have avoided it. Who among us is not a consumer?

 
yes they do, the ie800 got a big bass boost because of this.

 

[headwhacker]

I just used my iSine10 on my commute going home (train and and bus). The isolation is as expected like an open-back headphone. However, the leakage is very minimal. With my normal listening volume, the music can't be heard much from 1 foot away from the ear. Tried that from a coffee shop which which is failrly quiet with only a few people talking The sound leakage is very soft, so it should not disturb anyone sitting next to you, especially on a train or bus which already has a higher ambient noise. However, the leakage is noticeable in a quiet room like a bedroom.

 

[headwhacker]

  @headwhacker
where did you get them from? Thanks

A local distributor in Singapore

 

[Satsugai]

I don't get the hate for the mandatory (lets be honest) Cypher dac/amp.
 
There are several headphones which require a special amp / dac / cable, and I don't see pitchforks being raised for them. (in before "but they cost more / are higher end / are special somehow, so that makes it okay!")
 
We are early adopters. There is always an early adopter tax of some kind. Just be thankful that the early adopter tax didn't come in the form of a ridiculous price.
 

   
My only hate is that it's only available with a lightning plug right now.
 

 
as xuan87 points out, this is the problem at its heart. If there was a USB (of some variant) connector available, then this would go from an iDevice only set of headphones to a muuuch larger audience. Heck, it can't even connect to a Mac computer.  The lightning adapter needs to die already.

 

[xuan87]

  I don't get the hate for the mandatory (lets be honest) Cypher dac/amp.
 
There are several headphones which require a special amp / dac / cable, and I don't see pitchforks being raised for them. (in before "but they cost more / are higher end / are special somehow, so that makes it okay!")
 
We are early adopters. There is always an early adopter tax of some kind. Just be thankful that the early adopter tax didn't come in the form of a ridiculous price.

 
My only hate is that it's only available with a lightning plug right now.

 

[Tom Yum Goong]

  I just used my iSine10 on my commute going home (train and and bus). The isolation is as expected like an open-back headphone. However, the leakage is very minimal. With my normal listening volume, the music can't be heard much from 1 foot away from the ear. Tried that from a coffee shop which which is failrly quiet with only a few people talking The sound leakage is very soft, so it should not disturb anyone sitting next to you, especially on a train or bus which already has a higher ambient noise. However, the leakage is noticeable in a quiet room like a bedroom.

Which means.....?