Audeze iSINE 10 & iSINE 20: Audeze releases two new IEM planar magnetic earphones
Mar 25, 2017 at 4:11 AM Post #1,846 of 7,347
Demoed both for a short while,and here are my impressions
-Isine20 has a very huge soundstage for an in ear, comparable to open back headphones. This is shocking. The top end has a lot of extension and air without being aggressive or spiky. Some open backs like hd 598 will have more soundstage width, but it's still comparable to open backs in general.
-sound is balanced, smooth and a little warm
-the sub bass extends very low and bass is impactful. This is surprising as i don't think I got a good seal with the iems.
-very very comfortable with the ear hooks , it dissappears as soon as you out them on. Tho I have to remove my spectacles when putting them on, and my specs sit a little loose over the earhooks

Comparisons with isine10
-20 is more balanced with good extension on both ends, 10 has lesser airy treble
-10 sounds more muffled, has thicker midrange (a bit like shure)
-20 is more refined and balanced, 10 is more fun and edgy

Overall I think both are very good for the price with soundstage much much much better than the competition. Maybe these are good for a walk in the park/streets/anywhere outside except in noisy areas like crowded trains
 
Mar 25, 2017 at 10:15 AM Post #1,848 of 7,347
I just spent a couple of hours with my iSine 10 and wow!. I was looking for an IEM that will provide a portable "audiophile" experience and the iSine 10 is the one. It even sounds better across the board in sound quality than all my other open/closed headphones (Monolith M1060, Argon, V-Moda M100, ATH-M50x, X2 and Shure SE215). I can't believe that such a small package will provide such sound stage, detail, transparency and visceral impact.
I don't mind the fact that it is not completely sealing and actually I consider it an advantage if you walk around wearing it. My Shure SE215 is very isolating and that does not make me feel comfortable walking around and crossing streets. you need to hear what is going on around you to avoid trouble :wink:
Sound leakage is minimal unless you are blasting your ears in a a quiet place. if you are outdoor or in a coffee shop, I would not imagine anyone will be able to hear it.
I would say that the iSine 10 is my personal end game when it comes to IEMs. I tried the iSine 20 a while ago and I can tell you that the iSine 10 is your best choice out of the two given its price and what it can deliver.
I am sure that sound quality will not be the reason to consider other IEMs at any price level.
 
Mar 25, 2017 at 5:24 PM Post #1,849 of 7,347
Did anyone have the opposite impression, coming away feeling the 20 was significantly better? Or is this the early consensus?

 
Me!
 
I love my treble but having been long accustomed to the likes of the ER4S and CK10, the i10's treble just sounds like it's trying too hard.
 
The i20 (which I own) is all about control, detail and nuance across the board - treble, bass and everything in between. I've listened to the 20s daily for almost 3 months now and they never sound like they're working flat out. They make the ability to render extreme frequencies accurately seem like the most natural thing on earth - which leaves more room for musicality imo.
 
  This is confusing now. I am willing to wait for the i20 if only it is a significant step up . My country still ducking has no i20 stock, only i10. Also, Audeze does not want to answer me regarding that. Sad. 
I am actually planning to grab the i10s next week, now I don't know if i should. Metal - fi review says that the soundstage of the i10s is iem like. really? is there a huge difference in the soundstage between the i10 and the i20? I am mainly grabbing them for the soundstage. 
Also, bass control is very important to me.

 
I'd wait if I were you. I count myself extremely fortunate to have been able to get my 20s very early on, but where I live, I would not have been able to return them if I had changed my mind.
It also meant that I spent a good many hours A/Bing the 10s and 20s before making my decision. (But having chosen now, the store isn't getting them back, even if they took returns. Hell no.)
 
Anyway - as several others have said, the soundstage of these creatures is immense. I've never heard IEMs sound like these. Much more like open cans. The 10s give the impression of a marginally larger soundstage, maybe because of their leaner sound. The 20s are a bit warmer but I'd argue that it makes for a more natural soundstage even if it's slightly less strikingly wide.
 
And well, bass control, see above.
 
Mar 26, 2017 at 5:33 PM Post #1,852 of 7,347
I placed an order for the iSine 20's the other day. It was a toss up between these or the Sennheiser IE800's. I'm hoping I made the right decision. There are very few comparison's in this forum.
 
Mar 26, 2017 at 6:13 PM Post #1,853 of 7,347
I find it interesting that people seem to think about the sound of the 20s and 10s so differently. Some say the 10 sounds "airier", some the 20s. 
Some say the bass is more present on the 10s, some on the 20s. 
 
Ordered the 10s by myself and can`t wait.
 
Mar 26, 2017 at 6:45 PM Post #1,854 of 7,347
I find it interesting that people seem to think about the sound of the 20s and 10s so differently. Some say the 10 sounds "airier", some the 20s. 
Some say the bass is more present on the 10s, some on the 20s. 

Ordered the 10s by myself and can`t wait.


can't rely on people opinion, most of the time either mids bass or sparkle is best other things is met or second best. Flare is best for mids, pm4 for bass and fidue a73 for sparkle. With things like audeze it's difficult cause I used lcd2 those things are epic across the board
 
Mar 26, 2017 at 7:04 PM Post #1,855 of 7,347
can't rely on people opinion, most of the time either mids bass or sparkle is best other things is met or second best. Flare is best for mids, pm4 for bass and fidue a73 for sparkle. With things like audeze it's difficult cause I used lcd2 those things are epic across the board

i guess the isine 20s are basically the iem version of the EL 8....that is the impression i got from Audeze, too.
and that set of cans sounds pretty damned good for it's price point, too.
 
i got to hear the isine 20s yesterday, but not for very long...they don't feel light (not heavy either)
...feel like the weight of a quarter coin. and i like that substance feeling, actually.
fit in my ears no problems with the ear hooks.(already used the ear hooks for ipod earbuds for gym)
fab bottom end kick, good detail...i'll go and have another listen next week.
i already have the FLC 8S and some incoming Aurisonics 1-plus so have no real need at this point for more....
 
also awaiting the lcd i3 coming out in the summer or fall.
if these current isines already kick as they do for their price point, then Audeze has set the bar high for the lcd i3 @ US$2500ish 
eek.gif

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1283955-REG/audeze_110_ie_1020_01_lcd_i3_in_ears_with_lighting.html
 
too bad there wasn't something in between price point wise....
 
Mar 26, 2017 at 9:51 PM Post #1,856 of 7,347
I placed an order for the iSine 20's the other day. It was a toss up between these or the Sennheiser IE800's. I'm hoping I made the right decision. There are very few comparison's in this forum.

 


Both of them are very good iem, my experiences:

IS 20s: has very big width & height, no sibilance, warmer sound. Ears painful after >1 hour
IE 800: Easy to fit & super comfy, narrow space thus the sound more focus & clearer. Slightly has more ssssss
 
Mar 26, 2017 at 10:27 PM Post #1,857 of 7,347
I placed an order for the iSine 20's the other day. It was a toss up between these or the Sennheiser IE800's. I'm hoping I made the right decision. There are very few comparison's in this forum.

 


Both of them are very good iem, my experiences:

IS 20s: has very big width & height, no sibilance, warmer sound. Ears painful after >1 hour
IE 800: Easy to fit & super comfy, narrow space thus the sound more focus & clearer. Slightly has more ssssss


So based on your listening experience are they different enough to own both?
 
Mar 27, 2017 at 6:21 AM Post #1,858 of 7,347
Lost count as to what day this is with my iSine 20's but once again I find myself in the recliner and listening with the iSine 20's.

There is just something really magical about these. I love the way they handle all the range of frequencies and the overall musicality and dynamics. Stunning.
 
Mar 27, 2017 at 10:50 AM Post #1,859 of 7,347
  Both are matched within +- 0.5dB. But in many cases less than the official line +/- 0.5 dB. We have an automated program that sorts and finds the closest match. 

Audeze,
 
Thanks!
 
+/-0.5dB difference between the left and right is good enough for me...
ksc75smile.gif

 
Mar 27, 2017 at 4:44 PM Post #1,860 of 7,347
After having spent almost a week with an isine 20 I guess it's time for some impressions.
 
I had: HD800, two pair of LCD3 ( both failed because of the infamous drivers issue, I properly said no more audeze back then,but I really wanted to try this new isine) and currently owning a Stax Lambda Pro. the dinamics cans were amped with a bryston headphone amp, source ayre qb9 dac. About iem: I own a Stax SR002 ( audeze surely took some design inspiration) and also had a noble 4 universal, a shure 425, and flare r2pro.   I'm a novice sound engineer, even tough I have a degree, that does not mean my hearing is better than yours, but that I am really really trained to listen closely.
 
How do the isine 20 sound?   sometimes very good, sometimes not .   why?
 
I think there is some sort of hollow or maybe it is a resonance, I really can't figure it out as it is first time I encounter such phenomenon, affecting a small portion of what I believe to be mid bass frequencies, resulting in an inflated sound, circumscribed on a small frequency portion compared to all the spectrum, so you can get over it (for portable use)
Not the voices, they sound very good. Can it be a problem of my ear canal? I don't think so, as it is the first time I'm experiencing that issue. Does that problem affect all recordings? No, fortunately and strangely. Have I tried all different tips? Yes.
What cable are you employing? Analog cable, as I find the cypher cable to be too aggressive and even with narrow soundstage, that is a big disappointment because everyone was praising its remarkable improvement over the standard minijack... ( and that digital cable is also too heavy, applying a lot of pressure on the twopin connectors engaging point) even tough that silly "resonance" is not there on the audeze proprietary eq, so they must know about it!
 
Apart from that issue this iem sounds so good. The best thing I like about sound is depth of imaging, and they represent it pretty well. Not to talk about soundstage, its strong point. I may prefer it over the hd800 soundstage, as I found it to be too artificial, always sounding with the same amount of it, doesn't matter it's a classical records or Aphex Twin. Instead I find the isine 20 to be a bit more "right" and "fair" in that regard, with also more life and passion going on in the music. This is absolutely not an analitical iem, but you can still hear everything and beyond and have fun.
 
No, they are not comfortable (to me), sadly, but you get over the little pain to enjoy them.  And please don't ask me to compare them to lcd 3.
 
Other impressions don't come to my mind now, maybe I will write some more. cheers
 

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