[Frank88]

Generally speaking (in lots of areas of consumer products, not just this one) the higher up you go in terms of price, the less you're getting when you increase your budget by a given amount. And there are lots of good reasons to stick with budget gear! Especially if you want to experiment with different sound signatures, etc. If you haven't already, might be worth taking a look at "chi-fi" earbuds and IEMs by brands like Venture Electronics, KZ, Shozy, etc. Nice (but still affordable) earbuds are especially good competitors to the iSine because they can have excellent soundstage.

So true. So true. I have gone full circle over the years and am back to re-discovering budget gear in portable hifi. It's great. I can afford to try different designs in headphones, DAPs and dac/amps, where before each was a single major investment. I live in Canada but travel to US a couple times a year to visit family. Before I go, I always buy a couple items on-line and ship to the house to get the good US prices and save on shipping/duty. If I buy something that isn't my cup of tea, it's no major loss, and there's usually someone in the family more than happy to receive an audio gift. It's rekindled my interest in the hobby.

 

[JLoud]

I have found that if your listening to compressed music the difference or advantage of better gear is lessened. My LCD-4 doesn't sound much better than my LCD-2 with mp3's. If your going to listen to streaming or lower quality files off your phone your better off spending your money on something other than high quality phones.

 

[Frank88]

The ubiquitous streaming of compressed music caused my interest in high end headphones and home audio to stall, but now we can buy HiRes DAPs and quality desktop dac/amps at reasonable prices, and I am back listening critically again. When you compare what we used to pay for source gear for home audio, it's pretty amazing what's available today. I am not only thrilled to be able to enjoy planar magnetic headphones (and a variety of sound isolating IEMs), but I also am spending more time again with my home audio gear. I simply take a portable player feeding digital signal into a decent dac/amp and plug the rig into one of my two home systems and it sounds fantastic. (My large room system is Audio Research amps with Martin Logan electrostatics, the small room system is Monarchy monoblocks with Totem Model One Signatures.)

 

[Frank88]

I would think if your listen to very poor quality audio this may be the case. if you listen to good quality music with a good dac / amp then there is no comparison at all. I thought my onemore triple drivers were ok before I got the isine 10 I tried them recently and they are unlistenable I was laughing after listening for 5 seconds and took them off never to be worn again.

Same here regarding the 1more triples. I was amazed that we could buy triple driver IEMs for less than $100 (I bought mine from Costco of all places for $79.99). I still reach for the 1Mores occasionally because they are so lightweight but I don't use them for serious listening.

 

[Wildcatsare1]

Hey Guys, I was listening to my iSine 20s with the Cipher 2 at work and the right Earpiece went silent. Switched the L/R connection to see if it was the cable, nope, still nothing. Has anyone else experienced anything like this?

 

[AlwaysForward]

Hey Guys, I was listening to my iSine 20s with the Cipher 2 at work and the right Earpiece went silent. Switched the L/R connection to see if it was the cable, nope, still nothing. Has anyone else experienced anything like this?

You probably had a driver failure. Contact Audeze support and they’ll fix you right up.

Happened to me early into my ownership. I emailed them pretty flustered and they not only took care of me quickly but reassured that the 3 year warranty RESETS when there’s a defect like this.

That is sterling support after the sale right there.

 

[Richter Di]

NEW VERSION OF FIRMWARE 6.1.5 FOR CIPHER V2

For those of you who feel Cipher V2 sounds off or very close to the analog cable, we found that there was an issue in the way the firmware was setup on the cloud and it prevented the default tuning from being pushed. Please update to 6.1.5, it should resolve the issue. If firmware update fails or gets stuck the first time, unplug cable, close app, plug cable, open app and try again. /it should go through.

Thanks to @hotteen for his help (and persistence) to bring this to our attention.

@bussola and @tgx78 -- Based on what you reported earlier, in retrospect, your cable may have been affected by the same issue.

Did not work on my iPad Air always stated failed update on step 3.
With iPhone 7 it worked on the first try.
Much improved sound. Thanks. Not so muddy any longer.

 

[Richter Di]

I have to give some props to Cipher V2. Wow. Everything just sound BIGGER. As if I couldn't get enough of these before. People talk about the "wow" fading on headphones but here we are 8 months later and I'm still all goosebumps over the isine20.

Yes! Since I have them I hear very seldom with my other headphones. The iSine20 are just too good and too comfortable and too practical.
I can’t use my HD 800 when walking the dog.
Plus interaction with the environment is so easy with them. Just genius.

The apple earpods are by no means bad at all. Their sound is open with a touch of warmth in the lower mids and slight treble brightness, relatively comfortable for those with small ears, don't require foam tips to sound good like most cheap earbuds, and they're cheap to replace. I have little complaints with the earpods because they sound pleasant in a quiet listening environment. Of course their only downfall is their horrible durability, lack of isolation and sub-bass roll-off. I believe this roll-off and lack of isolation is what causes people to crank their music to deafening levels in public transportation.

The lack of instrument separation, odd housing resonance and lack of micro-detail is easy to overlook after an hour of adjusting to the sound of an Apple Earpods. However that doesn't mean I get an odd itch to grab a better headphone/earphone with better capabilities.

You completely nailed it. Thanks.

 

[FooFighter]

Life Tour Album of Panic at the disco sounds like you are standing at first row
After firmware update Cipher V2 has definitely gained body on my Isine 20
Am rarely listening to my old rig after I got those babies

 

[vampirehunterd]

I traded for some Isine 10s about a month ago and I absolutely love them. The person I got them from included some modified ear hooks with memory wire/heat shrink tubing that make them very comfortable to wear and they stay locked in position. I remember seeing comments questioning the design and practicality of an open IEM that looked like mini Tie Fighter wings but I've found they work well for me in a variety of scenarios. These are my go to headphone for housework, dog walks, exercising and work when I'm away from my desk. Being able to hear some of my surroundings is actually a boon from a safety standpoint and I'm still amazed at the sound quality these pump out. I primarily pair them with an AK Jr for portable use and Grace M9XX for home use. I was also fortunate to get a thinner and shorter homemade cable as part of the trade since I am not a fan of the length or composition of the Audeze standard cable. At some point I hope I can add the Isine 20 to my collection.

 

[bogdanopolis]

Hi Guys,
currently I am listening to my iSine 10 from Cipher V1 and wondering should I upgrade to Cipher V2 or buy the iFi Micro iDSD BL?
With witch combination are the iSine 10's sounding better?

 

[FooFighter]

Hi Guys,
currently I am listening to my iSine 10 from Cipher V1 and wondering should I upgrade to Cipher V2 or buy the iFi Micro iDSD BL?
With witch combination are the iSine 10's sounding better?

Either stay with Cipher if you want to stay mobile using an I-device, V2 Cipher is an improvement according to most people in this forum or you will need some parametric eq software on your PC/Mac like roon if you want to use an external DAC/amp otherwise you will be dissatisfied.
You can search this forum for the keyword "roon" to get a quick overview about the last option

 

[bogdanopolis]

Either stay with Cipher if you want to stay mobile using an I-device, V2 Cipher is an improvement according to most people in this forum or you will need some parametric eq software on your PC/Mac like roon if you want to use an external DAC/amp otherwise you will be dissatisfied.
You can search this forum for the keyword "roon" to get a quick overview about the last option

Thanks for the feedback FooFighter.
I will only use the iSine in combination with the iPhone and Apple Music, therefore I will try to buy the CipherV2 cable.

 

[howdy]

Thanks for the feedback FooFighter.
I will only use the iSine in combination with the iPhone and Apple Music, therefore I will try to buy the CipherV2 cable.

If I was in your situation I would go for the ifi dsd it has tons of options and it has plenty of power that these need. Also bass boost and can used on other gear.

 

[FooFighter]

If I was in your situation I would go for the ifi dsd it has tons of options and it has plenty of power that these need. Also bass boost and can used on other gear.

I agree in terms of versatility and quality but for stationary use only if it is for the Isine 10/20 as you will need an extra PC with an eq app like roon. I own an IDSD Micro 1st Gen myself driving my LCD 2. As this model has a quite linear eq it is fine to be driven without additional equalizing.
For the Isines they will sound bad without equalizing, the IDSD alone cannot compensate without additional EQ which IOS cannot provide for Apple Music as a source.
So if you
a. don't own or plan to buy additional high end head phones
b. are not planning to play HIRES audio files as Cipher cannot decode these but better dacs like IDSD can
c. want to stay lightweight without additional PC/MAC running EQ software
I don't recommend the IDSD only for the Isine 10.

I am nowadays listening to the Cipher V2 and Isine 20 80% of my time as its so easy carrying these around in the limited time outside working hours doing house work or laying in bed reading etc.
And I would even dare to say for this price they are hard to be topped.

As someone else was writing before in this forum, the higher you get with investments in gears the less improvements are there IMHO plus really good source material is needed to make these differences audible costing you extra money plus having the needed silent environment and time sitting in an armchair next to your high fidelity equipment zoo...

@bogdanopolis
One additional note regarding the Cipher V2 if you plan to buy from Audeze for reduced 60 Eur.
Please look at the shipping costs / taxes!
I paid double the price only because of import taxes and additional FedEx fee for lending me the tax money...