[RAQemUP]

Assuming it's the same case as the iSINEs, you shouldn't use the included leather case without the inner insert. This it because if the accessories come off, they will fall out of the rather large open holes in the corner potentially making the iSINE/i4 unusable till you purchase the correct tips/ear clips from Audeze.

Edit: Oh and Audeze said the magnets won't damage each other when they magnetize to each other in the iSINE thread.

 

[jayboy76]

it's day 2 of me owning it.

Immediately, I like how they don't sound like iems at all but more like on-ears. Saying they can sound like an over-ears is subjective. I'm saying this from memory but they sound bigger than the 3Fs, not wider, but bigger, more holographic soundstage. I can truly place instruments in the proper soundstage with the i4s. I still own the 3Fs as I like their more intimate closed-in warm sound so it's hard to draw comparisons.

I'm also a part time music producer so when I mix down tracks I try to mix for PRAT. The i4s have amazing PRAT and can easily fight with HEKs on speed and rhythm. From what I recall listening to HEKs, I find their soundstage too wide and spacious for music I listen to which are vocals, acoustics and complex jazz arrangements that call for a slightly more intimate sound staging.

More to come but this is based on my memory over slightly more than 3hrs of time w the i4 without comparing. Was listening at a Low volume on the QP1R so I can't comment yet confidently if it will drive it well. This is also another interesting pt of the i4s, I can listen at Low to moderate levels and I don't have to strain to hear the instruments or vocals, very impressive and I like to listen loud! I need to hear more with my desktop system in the next few days and I hope this initial thoughts flesh out more.

They come with only the 3.5mm SE cable which I like a lot and will try Moon Audio's silver dragons balanced with them for synergy later.

 

[Sarnia]

I came across an interesting situation I never had to think about w planars being all headphones in the past.

I carry the i4s in the leather case without the plastic holder as the latch doesn't patch well w the holder plus I hate having to remove and re-insert the ear hooks each time.

Question is I notice the 2 sides do stick together due to the magnets on the outer backs pulling them together quite tightly I must say. Do you all think that will have any impact to the Drivers over time when stored like this?

No, earlier in the thread Audeze advised that it's not an issue.

 

[jayboy76]

No, earlier in the thread Audeze advised that it's not an issue.

Thanks Sarnia, so sorry I missed that, I did read through all the threads....backwards though!

 

[Gowry]

I'm also a strong believer in eq., provided you have a high grade transparent eq. I used two resonance filters with the Isine20 which evened them out nicely. I can't really find anything to equalize on the i4 and find they perform the best without it.

Can you say more about how to set up a resonance filter for the isine 20? This seems like the main problem I have with these. I'm thinking about getting the i4, but it's a big step up.

 

[commtrd]

I decided to just trade in the iSine20 for the LCDi4. Not too excited about buying something then having to EQ it to get best results from it. Is this unreasonable? Going off of reviews on the i4 sounds like no EQ necessary to get best results. Anyway will see how it goes with Mojo driving.

 

[davehutch]

I decided to just trade in the iSine20 for the LCDi4. Not too excited about buying something then having to EQ it to get best results from it. Is this unreasonable? Going off of reviews on the i4 sounds like no EQ necessary to get best results. Anyway will see how it goes with Mojo driving.

So, do I understand this correctly that the LCD-i4 doesn't need EQ because it has a thinner diaphragm? What else in the LCD-i4 is so different that it doesn't need EQ. Audeze themselves say that the iSine needs EQ in order to bring back the lost frequencies that would normally be present in full-sized headphones due to the interaction of the physical ear parts. Why should the LCD-i4 be different, as it's still the same sound tube directly into the ear canal.

 

[x RELIC x]

Well, I finally received the i4...

One word... SUBLIME.

I liked them enough to purchase them after a demo on the Deckard amp and the AK Kann at meet conditions, but at home with my gear... just WOW!

Seriously good.

Oh, and for those that say they are difficult to drive you must be nuts, or listen far too loud. Maybe compared to super sensitive IEMs they need more volume, but in general they are easy to drive, based on the specs and the volume I listen to them at (see pic below for my volume levels. Anyway, incredibly happy to have this quality of sound with this form factor. Spacious, articulate, balanced sound, mmmmmm.

 

[Arysyn]

Could someone who has the i4 do a frequency response test of it? I'd really like to see its sound signature.

 

[commtrd]

Can you say more about how to set up a resonance filter for the isine 20? This seems like the main problem I have with these. I'm thinking about getting the i4, but it's a big step up.

Yes it is quite a bit larger commitment. And some answers to the requisite need for EQ on iSine20 would be welcome also. As far as the i4, seems the general consensus is that it is all that SQ wise with no real need for equalization. Kind of bothersome to have to spend another two thousand dollars to get a set that does not need EQ. Oh well. Anyway Moon Audio agreed to take back the iSine20s to swap for the i4.

 

[edwardsean]

Yes it is quite a bit larger commitment. And some answers to the requisite need for EQ on iSine20 would be welcome also. As far as the i4, seems the general consensus is that it is all that SQ wise with no real need for equalization. Kind of bothersome to have to spend another two thousand dollars to get a set that does not need EQ. Oh well. Anyway Moon Audio agreed to take back the iSine20s to swap for the i4.

I'm so sorry, when I got the i4s I deleted my EQ profile for the iSine20. I wouldn't want to give you an estimate because this kind of EQ really needs to be applied somewhat surgically. If done improperly you end up throwing away more good than bad fin the frequencies.

The thing is the i4 compared to iSine is about so much more than a more neutral EQ curve, but everyone has to make their own decisions.

 

[james444]

This post has measurements of the iSine 10 and 20:
https://www.head-fi.org/f/threads/c...11-iems-measured.830062/page-19#post-13585405

The emphasis around 1.5kHz coincides with the reedy tonality I heard when I auditioned them. That would be my starting point for EQ.

 

[commtrd]

I will be happy if the i4 are not so bass light in other words sound like a regular Audeze product.
Of course the relative lack of bass in the iSine20 being my humble opinion but otherwise they sounded really nice. Now traversing back to Moon Audio. Hoping i4 will have more bass quantity with tight control.

 

[Sarnia]

I will be happy if the i4 are not so bass light in other words sound like a regular Audeze product.
Of course the relative lack of bass in the iSine20 being my humble opinion but otherwise they sounded really nice. Now traversing back to Moon Audio. Hoping i4 will have more bass quantity with tight control.

I don't find the iSine 20 to be bass light, but I do add a bit of bass with EQ.

Neither the iSine 20 or the LCD-i4 "need" EQ. I can quite happily listen to both without. Both do step up a level with a bit of EQ to taste though. It's just the icing on the cake. The LCD-i4 do have very, very tight control.

 

[ciukas]

Received my i4s yesterday. Felt like I received a nice leather bound book. I love it. Almost made me want to tuck it in my library. Unfortunately got held up till late so I ended staying up late marveling at the sheer power and musicality of the i4... missed my morning workout bc of it.

Some of my initial impressions:

Prepare to be pleasantly surprised!

I will be happy if the i4 are not so bass light in other words sound like a regular Audeze product.
Of course the relative lack of bass in the iSine20 being my humble opinion but otherwise they sounded really nice. Now traversing back to Moon Audio. Hoping i4 will have more bass quantity with tight control.

@davehutch You were right. Not only surprised but blown away by the quality, depth and impact of the bass. A few posters mentioned the clean, punch, and taut bass - and yes, it is all that - but just wow, the i4 definitely have the means to rattle your brains if you have tracks demanding it. This whole time I thought my shure se846 were excellent in the bass section, especially in the iem sphere. se846 is up there. Well, it got left behind in the dust.. it's not even close. The bass depth and impact is much much stronger in the i4. I dont usually listen to hardcore techno in my leisure time, I go to Berlin for that.. I just dont see how bass heads could want more out of headphones unless they're prepared for bleeding into the mids. I'm new to EQ, but I totally buy the 900hz to 5hz flat bass response claim... and I'm curious to see how it'd take EQ. I don't have my LCD2 w me but from the feeling of auditory experience from the se846 to LCD2 wasnt nearly this drastic in the bass area. I remember wanting the LCD-X after hearing my friend's cans back in Paris but not anymore. I'm very happy w the i4's bass response.

I can't imagine how hard hitting the Abyss and LCD 4 must be. Anyone have the i4 and any of those two beasts and care to comment?

Agree, powered by the hUGO2, the i4 was a totally different animal compared to powered by my AK SP1000. Night & day !

@bmichels Yes, although I havent received my Hugo 2 yet, I can feel my i4 being shackled by my RWAK240. It's definitely not happy with what I'm feeding it. That's not to say it doesnt sound good but I can tell it's definitely being held back.

I share a very samevlife-style - ie lot of travelling and I am regularly lcd x or x with me. latter one now broken. very interested in your views when you got them. i used isine 10 for some time, plastic broke - quality? Hence I bought sim campfire lyra and vega, interested in any views.

I only owned the LCD2. The i4 seems well built. It's not quite the sensual tactile feedback I would expect from the Hugo 2 but I dont anticipate any external durability issue with the i4.. I'll be getting a pelican case when traveling so I'm not too concerned on that front. It comes with a nice cable, the connectors fit in perfectly and do not come off too easily. So far so good.

I respectfully disagree. Ambient background noise will always be an issue for any open/semi-open phone like the i4. The more noise the more you will lose of low-level detail. Consider how much cost and technical expertise goes into preserving and extracting that low-level detail from DACs to amps to cables to transducers like the i4. This detail will get proportionally masked by noise bleeding in. There is a reason Jude brought the i4s into an (excuse me, freaking) anechoic chamber, which is not really a sustainable solution for most people.

If you are considering these as your only IEM and you travel a lot to and through noisy environments I would caution against getting swept up in the euphoria here. At the same time... the i4 is... euphoric.

Especially if you have other IEMs for noisy environments a certain amount of loss of detail is a worthwhile tradeoff for the sound of the i4s in tolerable situations. However, just like all open phones, the i4 shines in silence. The i4 is worth getting to quieter places and I would think most headfiers have a room where at least a door can temporally separate them from screaming children, animals, heavy machinery, barbarians at the gate, zombie hordes, you know, the rest of life outside of headfi. Mine is soundproofed.

@edwardsean Just to add to what your post - I mostly agree with what you wrote. But with the background ambient sounds of heavy raindrops and the air con at low speed, and I'm still getting a lot more resolution and body from the i4 versus my sealed shure se846 iem. The i4 outperforms the se846 in every way other than sealing from external noise. That said, as much pity I feel for my se846, it's definitely not an iem replacement. Places like the airplane and other modes of public transportation would be a better fit for iem. The i4 is not an iem replacement, I thought that much was obvious.

Imo, the i4 is a miniaturization of the open air LCD series. Up till now, the options were either premium iems or open/closed over the ear headphones for superlative sound quality. Now, the i4 can comfortably sit alongside my iem in my bag or jacket pocket, smth unthinkable with the big LCD headphones. I do not own nor have I heard the LCD4, but I suppose carrying the i4 is like having a lot of the LCD series performance in your pocket and in some cases more of. The i4 is so much more convenient to live with, and not to mention much easier to drive than the LCD4. Risk looking like a reclusive shut in at your office, cafe, etc with big technical cans. Not so much w the i4. Oh, small bonus: your hair gets to stay perfect.

Last year, Nvidia achieved a breakthrough in mobile gpu performance, finally bridging the gap between its desktop GPUs and its mobile counterpart. Finally, one could have the gaming performance of a full fledged Nvidia 1080GTX in a mobile form factor w very little performancemobile cost. Whereas just two years ago, the disparity in desktop vs mobile components were often greater than 50%, that gap has now been reduced to within 10%. And with well cooled laptops, an overclocked mobile 1080gtx even meets or exceeds a stock desktop 1080GTX. Of course, all this miniaturization in performance comes with a price premium.

Might not be the best analogy, but that's how I see the i4s. For the first time, a rather small in ear headphone can compete against the open air big boys in slam, soundstage, imaging, etc. Of course, one could argue the very best iems could compete in resolution, speed, etc... but that's not the point bc of inherent iem limitations. Just like the Nvidia example, all this small form package performance comes w a price premium. I havent got the LCD-X/3 to do an A/B comparison, so I cant confidently say the i4 bests them, but I certainly believe it comes very close, and it's a price premium I'm willing to pay for. Obvious caveat is that everyone's situation is different etc, redundant pricing inane discussions, blah blah blah...

It is very easy to identify from the packaging. The plastic holders for the LCDi4 has two small holes on either side to ensure there is no seal inside it. We will post some pictures tomorrow.

I think Audeze was referring the two small holes in the picture below