[coolcat]

  I've had $1000 Westone es5 customs for years now.  They were/are considered excellent.  I of course eq'd them heavily, but i loved them and had not been impressed at all by anything else until I tried the 20's.  I eq these heavily as well, but I'd take them over my customs any day unless I need/want isolation, which turns out is not very often. 
 
as a further reference, at one point I owned LCD2-rev2's and the es5's at the same time and decided to sell the LCD-2's b/c i could get the es-5's sounding so close with eq that the large cans became impractical. 

I used to own the ES5 too, but they are in the universal form (demo unit from a shop). I still like the bass of the ES5 more than the iSine20, but the rest, IMHO, the iSine20 is a lot better. Still, I think ES5 are great iems, I really love their mid. I used to own JH13,JH16, 1964ears V6stage too , ES5 was my favorite out of them. 

 

[coolcat]

I had the 64 Audio U6s and thought they were the most natural sounding items until I heard the 20s. Have spent a lot of time with the u12s as well and yeah they've got nothing on the Isines, except maybe slightly better treble extension.

Soundwise, I like U12 and iSine20 equally. To me, they have the same weak point and it is bass. U12's bass does lack impact, it is too soft eventhough it has weight.
iSine20's bass is impactful, but a little bit more body would be good for a basshead like me. Well the price gap between them is so big, I'm glad I sold the U12 and after that bought the iSine20, it saved me a lot of money.   

 

[UNOE]

Apple codec at 256 should sound the same as mp3 at 320, this is what most people would say and design of the codec should be similar at those bitrates.  The best lossy codec in my opinion besides wavepak is Apple codec with variable bitrate at 127 preset, which yields a variable bitrate of 300kbps to 450kbps or so.

I can tell 320kbps mp3 and 256kbps AAC apart from Lossless.  But testing my self blind on AAC with variable 127 preset, I can not hear difference vs lossless.  It does a great job of encoding.  I wish Apple Music changed to this format or lossless.

Thanks. What's your impressions on Apple Music vs Tidal Hifi (lossless)

I have shared accounts for both. I pay $2.50 for Apple Music because I share with family of 6 friends. Has great selection. Tidal has masters though now.

Sound wise Tidal is better it's not a secret is just the type of files they use. Listen to cd of yours through iTunes then use iTunes to rip the same cd from iTunes with aac 256 setting iTunes. That will give you the difference from Tidal listening to the actual cd through iTunes vs Apple Music listening to aac 256.

 

[rcl5555]

I bought a 2 pin iem balanced cable from Surf cables.  I came within a few days and it sounds great with my iSIne 20s.  They will custom make a balanced cable with any termination you want.

 

[wdh777]

Any updates on the LCD i3?

 

[jay567]

Thanks for great inputs guys. Much appreciated and now I can't wait to try these out! Noob Q, what is so special about the cipher cable? Is it because of software on iOS app or silver/material thing?

 

[BlinkST]

Thanks for great inputs guys. Much appreciated and now I can't wait to try these out! Noob Q, what is so special about the cipher cable? Is it because of software on iOS app or silver/material thing?

Custom EQ magic and hi-res + more power to drive the headphones. neilmanalo's post mentioned a bit about it.
 

  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 screwin 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 bass is now better than the IE800 and SE846 bass, Very punchy and fast, and also has a lot of oomph to it. (In a good way)
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 head other TOTL IEM's but compared to everything I heard, the IE800's beats SE846 and K10U's subbass.
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, heard the Oriolus, owned the SE846 and I all ditched them because I still think that the IE800's were better to my preference and genre (Classical/acoustic/EDM) and the price of the other IEM's were not as justifiable, (I bought my IE800 second hand for like 350$)
Bought the P1, because they sounded similar and actually better than the SE846, and at for 120$. Still use it 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. 

 

[ANDEROAN]

  Soundwise, I like U12 and iSine20 equally. To me, they have the same weak point and it is bass. U12's bass does lack impact, it is too soft eventhough it has weight.
iSine20's bass is impactful, but a little bit more body would be good for a basshead like me. Well the price gap between them is so big, I'm glad I sold the U12 and after that bought the iSine20, it saved me a lot of money.   

 
I recommend trying a ZO, preferably the v1, the most visceral out of them all, I wish they could have maintained it's original footprint, but the two where made for each other,  
 
but the ZOv1 is making all the difference in the world with the bass, well the whole sound spectrum really, it thickens everything up,  usually I call the ZO music mortar, it fills in ALL the gaps and connects ALL the music together nicely without coloring/covering anything over,
 
but with these i20's the ZO is working on a whole other level, the i20 gobbles it all up, it turns it into a FULL and RICH sound, with a huge soundstage, I get goosebumps when I have them on,

 

[coolcat]

   
I recommend trying a ZO, preferably the v1, the most visceral out of them all, I wish they could have maintained it's original footprint, but the two where made for each other,  
 
 

Thank you, I think that would be a great match, a bass amp is really interesting product to use with the iSine12

 

[JPizzzle]

Did anyone else notice the isine 20 pictures on audezes website now show it with black plastic. @audeze did you change the color of the housing?

 

[Audeze]

Did anyone else notice the isine 20 pictures on audezes website now show it with black plastic. @audeze did you change the color of the housing?

No. Just some website updating issue. Color has not changed. 

 

[Audeze]

Any US based iSine owners here want to beta test some new stuff ? (No..we are not changing the iSines). If interested, please PM your shipping address. It will take a few weeks to get it out.  If the beta tests work out, you can post about them and keep them. We will arbitrarily select 3 beta testers.  

 

[Evshrug]

Any US based iSine owners here want to beta test some new stuff ? (No..we are not changing the iSines). If interested, please PM your shipping address. It will take a few weeks to get it out.  If the beta tests work out, you can post about them and keep them. We will arbitrarily select 3 beta testers.  

What about people that liked the iSine during CanJam

The beta may be for an accessory, but I figure, no harm in asking Hopefully it's more VR-supporting stuff!

 

[dryvadeum]

Any US based iSine owners here want to beta test some new stuff ? (No..we are not changing the iSines). If interested, please PM your shipping address. It will take a few weeks to get it out.  If the beta tests work out, you can post about them and keep them. We will arbitrarily select 3 beta testers.  

You wouldn't consider electing one international tester?

 

[Carabei]

@Audeze Hello, could you tell if connection between iSines and Cipher is single ended or balanced?