[howdy]

If they have the LCD-4 as well I'd give that a listen too, see how similar it is, seeing as though the i4 is in line with the LCD series

Sure will. They have a lot of higher end electronics, I have been there in the past for hours on end.

 

[Deftone]

Its only 6000 dollars for both

 

[sorrick]

My LCD-i4 arrived today. The accolades from other early listeners are well deserved. These things are fantastic. Right off the bat from the packaging they felt special. It is similar to the packaging that the isine20's come in in general design (magnetic closure folio type outer box that opens to uncover a clear plastic display box with the headphones on top and the leather carrying case below). The earphones themselves feel more solid and substantial than the isine 20s (weight-wise they feel similar, maybe a touch heavier). The cable is very nice too. I did not find it to be stiff or very microphonic (definitely less microphonic than the 3.5mm cable that came with the isine's) and mine fit snugly into the earphone body.

But the important part is of course how they sound, and they sound spectacular. The best way to describe it is that the sound is bigger in just about every way. More clarity, more resolution, more shimmer and sparkle in the treble, deeper and bigger bass, more nuanced midrange, and bigger soundstage. I was listening to the isine20's when the lcd-i4 package arrived and I was thinking the 20's sounded pretty great. Then I switched over to the i4's and they just took everything to another level. When I switched back to the isine20's I still thought that the 20's sounded pretty great, but there was just so much more there with the i4s that the isine 20's weren't quite reproducing (both in terms of resolving detail as well as the character of the sound reproduction. The best way I can describe it is that it is like flooring a german car that has a 2-level throttle. You floor it and think you're going pretty fast but then you realize there is a whole second level to the throttle that goes from, "wow this is fast" to "holy crap, I think I need clean pair of underwear." I also had a similar experience as Cagin in that for the first 30min to hour of listening to them, I was too taken with the reproduction of the music to do 'critical listening'...I was just in pure enjoyment mode.

I was initially listening to tidal out of my iPhone to a cozoy rei, which sounded way better than it should have considering the day/amp does not have an internal battery but then switched out the REI for the Mojo. The i4's scaled appropriately and I heard better instrument separation, better dynamics and Prat, and a more 3-dimensional soundstage. I also listened to some tidal mqa masters off of my MacBook pro through the Mojo to the i4's, which also sounded spectacular. I listened to a wide range of stuff, rock, pop, hip-hop, jazz, classical, EDM the i4's sounded sublime no matter what I threw at them. I have along trip coming up next week, so I should be able to do some more comparisons, particularly between the i4's and my Noble Encores. I thought the encores had better resolution clarity, treble, and bass texture than the isine 20's (isines beat the encores on bass impact and soundstage), but I think the story will be different compared to the i4s.

 

[sorrick]

One other thing to note that I neglected to mention above is that while I find that the isine 20's really benefitted from some sort of eq to get the most out of them (either through the cyber cable or through the mojo with an eq profile from the source similar to those discussed at length in the isine thread), I found the voicing of the i4's to be just about what I would consider ideal, no eq necessary. After I had listened to them for a few hours and had gotten over the initial wow, I really couldn't find any aspect of the sound where I thought, "I wish they had a little more x". I bought these hoping they would be true endgame earphones/headphones and after a few hours of listening, I think I may indeed have spotted my white whale.

 

[rskbug]

Sorrick, would you say is it possible (in theory atleast) to EQ the isine 20's so that it starts sounding pretty close or similar to i4's.
Differences still would be there of course though.

 

[wasupdog]

One other thing to note that I neglected to mention above is that while I find that the isine 20's really benefitted from some sort of eq to get the most out of them (either through the cyber cable or through the mojo with an eq profile from the source similar to those discussed at length in the isine thread), I found the voicing of the i4's to be just about what I would consider ideal, no eq necessary. After I had listened to them for a few hours and had gotten over the initial wow, I really couldn't find any aspect of the sound where I thought, "I wish they had a little more x". I bought these hoping they would be true endgame earphones/headphones and after a few hours of listening, I think I may indeed have spotted my white whale.

was just about to ask you that lol. it's pretty much required to eq the isine 20.

 

[sorrick]

Sorrick, would you say is it possible (in theory atleast) to EQ the isine 20's so that it starts sounding pretty close or similar to i4's.
Differences still would be there of course though.

TL;DR: No.

The i4 outresolves the isine 20s, has bigger/more spacialy accurate soundstage, better clarity, more transparency, deeper and more impactful bass (without being overpowering), more sparkle in the treble, better decay, better dynamic range, and more textured midrange.

You can eq the isines (either by using the cypher cable with its built in eq or through eq at your source) to get a sound signature/voicing that many (including me) think sounds better than straight out of the 3.5mm cable, but the i4 is on another level. It is unmistakeably better.

 

[rskbug]

Can't wait to hear these skylarks.

 

[kubig123]

Tired to wait for the new Hugo, I connected my WM1Z to the Cavalli Liquid Carbon through and 4.4mm to RCA cable, it's not the best setup but this is what I have available right now.

I have to say that result the power of the LC to the i4 is outstanding, compare to the Paw Gold and/or the WM1Z, the bass has more present still without being overwhelming, the stage acquire even more space.
Playing the same song I can hear details that I never heard before with any DAP.


Overall they provide much more details than driven by a portable DAP.

The LDCi4 surprised me how much power they can take and the more, the better they sound.

 

[dip registered]

Things are looking up for these!

 

[x RELIC x]

I'm very tempted by these, and once I say that it's very bad.... for my wallet.

 

[reddog]

I'm very tempted by these, and once I say that it's very bad.... for my wallet.

Yes my poor wallet squealed like a pig, when I pulled the trigger on these IEM's. Hmm time for my romen noodle supper..

 

[Richter Di]

TL;DR: No.

The i4 outresolves the isine 20s, has bigger/more spacialy accurate soundstage, better clarity, more transparency, deeper and more impactful bass (without being overpowering), more sparkle in the treble, better decay, better dynamic range, and more textured midrange.

You can eq the isines (either by using the cypher cable with its built in eq or through eq at your source) to get a sound signature/voicing that many (including me) think sounds better than straight out of the 3.5mm cable, but the i4 is on another level. It is unmistakeably better.

I fully agree. There is so much more authoritiy with the i4. It is like you listened to some great mid-sized speakers all the time an thought they were great, but then you listen to some big boys who are from the same family but have much more deep bass and life like quality.

 

[Richter Di]

One other thing to note that I neglected to mention above is that while I find that the isine 20's really benefitted from some sort of eq to get the most out of them (either through the cyber cable or through the mojo with an eq profile from the source similar to those discussed at length in the isine thread), I found the voicing of the i4's to be just about what I would consider ideal, no eq necessary. After I had listened to them for a few hours and had gotten over the initial wow, I really couldn't find any aspect of the sound where I thought, "I wish they had a little more x". I bought these hoping they would be true endgame earphones/headphones and after a few hours of listening, I think I may indeed have spotted my white whale.

While I agree with the rest of your observations I have to admit I prefered EQing them. The curve I used looked similar to the one KMann / Karthick send me after I had auditioned the LCD i4, so I will need to go back to try them out.
https://cdn.head-fi.org/a/9955066.png

 

[canali]

the question is still out there, however:
sure the lcd i4 is better than the i20...but is it worth 4-5x the price 'better'?
my gut reaction is dubious from reading these comparative posts.
and i realize that 'worth it' is very relative to each person:
for some it's 20% improvement..others 30-50%. ...and for the die hards even 10% better is paying a huge increase in cash for.0

personally going 400-500% in price increase would have to warrant at least a 50%-75% SQ increase..
but unfortunately as we know in audio, the SQ % jumps often don't match the huge jump in $$$
..esp given how well the isine 20 already allegedly performs.