[sup27606]

Aynone tried the sine and shure se 846? Im considering selling my shures and get the sine.I have come to the conclusion that i dont like in ears cause of diss comfort.The sine looks like an good portable headphone for walking around.How is the isolation? it dont have to be super,want to to hear cars and stuff around me,but of course not destroying the the music completly.

I agree with whoever said Sine is not comfortable to wear for a long time. The discomfort is proportional to the diameter of the head. Also, noise isolation wise, Sine comes nowhere near an IEM. If that's where you are coming from, you will notice a big difference. That said, I have walked around with Sine on noisy roads, and the noise isolation depends on the music being played. High frequency noise is suppressed more than the low frequency ones. So if your music includes many bass notes, they will be more drowned in the background noise than high frequency cymbals for instance. Overall, the sound will lose some of its weight and impact and could sound thin due to interference from low frequency noise.

May I add, that replacing the earpads with (third party) around ear versions may improve the noise isolation. Such options were discussed in great lengths in this thread a while ago.

 

[tmarshl]

Aynone tried the sine and shure se 846? Im considering selling my shures and get the sine.I have come to the conclusion that i dont like in ears cause of diss comfort.The sine looks like an good portable headphone for walking around.How is the isolation? it dont have to be super,want to to hear cars and stuff around me,but of course not destroying the the music completly.

I came to the same conclusion regarding the discomfort of in-ear headphones, and have sold my JH13 ciems. I listen to the Sines with pleasure and no pain since I replaced the Sine ear pads with ATH MSR7 earpads.

 

[captblaze]

I agree with whoever said Sine is not comfortable to wear for a long time. The discomfort is proportional to the diameter of the head. Also, noise isolation wise, Sine comes nowhere near an IEM. If that's where you are coming from, you will notice a big difference. That said, I have walked around with Sine on noisy roads, and the noise isolation depends on the music being played. High frequency noise is suppressed more than the low frequency ones. So if your music includes many bass notes, they will be more drowned in the background noise than high frequency cymbals for instance. Overall, the sound will lose some of its weight and impact and could sound thin due to interference from low frequency noise.

May I add, that replacing the earpads with (third party) around ear versions may improve the noise isolation. Such options were discussed in great lengths in this thread a while ago.

 
 

  Aynone tried the sine and shure se 846? Im considering selling my shures and get the sine.I have come to the conclusion that i dont like in ears cause of diss comfort.The sine looks like an good portable headphone for walking around.How is the isolation? it dont have to be super,want to to hear cars and stuff around me,but of course not destroying the the music completly.

 
 

I came to the same conclusion regarding the discomfort of in-ear headphones, and have sold my JH13 ciems. I listen to the Sines with pleasure and no pain since I replaced the Sine ear pads with ATH MSR7 earpads.

 
When you describe discomfort with IEMs, do you mean from sound pressure, or from fit?

 

[tmarshl]

When you describe discomfort with IEMs, do you mean from sound pressure, or from fit?

For me it was fit. Had two refits and never got them rtight. Perhaps it is my weird ear canal shape.

 

[Tajz]

For me it was fit. Had two refits and never got them rtight. Perhaps it is my weird ear canal shape.

Yea the only concern of sine is slight discomfort. Just try it urself. I hope audeze release bigger version of earpad. The sound is superb.

 

[Lohb]

For any of you Sine owners following the iSine is the IEM end adapter the same as The Sine cable plugs judging by proto photos and is it a proprietary connector or just the standard 2-pin cable ?
I want to build a balanced cable and not sure where to source the male plugs from, for a DIY cable.

 

[jeffri]

For any of you Sine owners following the iSine is the IEM end adapter the same as The Sine cable plugs judging by proto photos and is it a proprietary connector or just the standard 2-pin cable ?
I want to build a balanced cable and not sure where to source the male plugs from, for a DIY cable.

Sine is using 3.5mm plug, iSine seems to be standard 2-pin.

 

[Jbmorrey]

So I know there has already been a lot of discussion here in regards to the Cipher cable and portable amps, I am considering the Cipher cable, because of the convenience, however is the cipher no better than putting something like a little Fiio E6 in line? Or would you say the cipher cable makes a more significant improvement in sound over a basic portable amp? I don't currently have a portable amp, and a lot of comparisons I have read is with the Mojo and such, which are pretty nice expensive portable amps.
So if I got a portable amp instead, I could not get anything more than $100 or so item.
 
Thanks,
James

 

[sup27606]

So I know there has already been a lot of discussion here in regards to the Cipher cable and portable amps, I am considering the Cipher cable, because of the convenience, however is the cipher no better than putting something like a little Fiio E6 in line? Or would you say the cipher cable makes a more significant improvement in sound over a basic portable amp? I don't currently have a portable amp, and a lot of comparisons I have read is with the Mojo and such, which are pretty nice expensive portable amps.
So if I got a portable amp instead, I could not get anything more than $100 or so item.

Thanks,
James

Hi James,
I don't think it is the problem of basic vs advanced. It is the optimal power requirement of a planar magnetic like Sine. While I did not test the Fiio E6, I did try the E7 which did not sound good at all. The issue I think is in delivering the power that this thing needs to sound dynamic and punchy. 500 mW - 1 W. As stated on the Audeze website. If you get a headphone amp that delivers sufficient power, provided it has good reviews, I think it would sound good with Sine.

I recently tested the Fiio E12 with Sine (I am going to post a detailed impression soon) based on suggestions from knowledgeable people here, and it sounded better than the cipher cable, no doubt. E12 specs rate a max power > 880 mW at 32 ohms and it is available at Amazon for about $100. I also used a separate DAC with it, and I think that's important.

 

[Jbmorrey]

Hi James,
I don't think it is the problem of basic vs advanced. It is the optimal power requirement of a planar magnetic like Sine. While I did not test the Fiio E6, I did try the E7 which did not sound good at all. The issue I think is in delivering the power that this thing needs to sound dynamic and punchy. 500 mW - 1 W. As stated on the Audeze website. If you get a headphone amp that delivers sufficient power, provided it has good reviews, I think it would sound good with Sine.

I recently tested the Fiio E12 with Sine (I am going to post a detailed impression soon) based on suggestions from knowledgeable people here, and it sounded better than the cipher cable, no doubt. E12 specs rate a max power > 880 mW at 32 ohms and it is available at Amazon for about $100. I also used a separate DAC with it, and I think that's important.

That makes sense. I am just wondering just how much better is the E12(your example) to the Cipher....One really strong point to the Cipher cable is that it's just a cable as compared to remembering to charge your E12. then you would still need to add a DAC to the mix, at this point it's just not as portable as I would like.  Strange that Audeze made this cable for the headphones, but did not make it powerful enough to sound optimal. .

 

[sup27606]

That makes sense. I am just wondering just how much better is the E12(your example) to the Cipher....One really strong point to the Cipher cable is that it's just a cable as compared to remembering to charge your E12. then you would still need to add a DAC to the mix, at this point it's just not as portable as I would like.  Strange that Audeze made this cable for the headphones, but did not make it powerful enough to sound optimal. .

I think, the cipher cable holds on it's own pretty well, specially when considering the benefits of portability that you mentioned. It does sound quite good. However when you hear other amps, you know there can be better options as far as sound is concerned. I think the cipher cable was optimized to sound good without having an additional battery or drawing high power from portable devices. I use the cipher cable on the go, but while at home or work, I use the Fiio E12.

Answering your question about how better E12 is, it is in the resolution and retrieval of details, dynamic range and a slightly wider soundstage compared to cipher. There could be other improvements but I haven't had the time to notice them yet.

If portability is a concern, apogee groove could be an option, although it is more expensive and does not have microphone for calls.

 

[Arun26]

Guys, can any one suggest me a budget(~100$) 2.5mm trrs balanced cable for the Sine to go with DP X1. 

 

[Slaphead]

That makes sense. I am just wondering just how much better is the E12(your example) to the Cipher....One really strong point to the Cipher cable is that it's just a cable as compared to remembering to charge your E12. then you would still need to add a DAC to the mix, at this point it's just not as portable as I would like.  Strange that Audeze made this cable for the headphones, but did not make it powerful enough to sound optimal. .

Well, they can only make it as powerful as the power it's allowed to draw, which, in the case of the Lightning port is 100mA at 5V. Basically half a Watt.

While that may seem plenty to power headphones, you have to remember that the Cipher has to handle DAC and DSP functions as well as amplification duties, and also that pulling a constant 100mA from the lightning port is likely to have a detrimental effect on the battery life of the iToy, which if it's an iPhone is already pretty bad. So it's likely that the Cipher is pulling less than the maximum allowed by Apple in order to preserve as much battery life as possible.

Also remember that the SINE is first and foremost a fashion headphone, albeit one that sounds very good. That means you audiophile guys aren't the target market for this headphone - it's sold in Apple stores after all.

That said the Cipher cable provides a decent boost in both volume and quality than what you would get out of the iToy's headphone out, so it's not like it's bad.

 

[Jbmorrey]

Thanks to everyone for clearing up my concerns. I plan on getting the Cipher cable, I think the added advantage of the portability factor makes it a good upgrade from how I am currently using them with the headphone jack. I just wanted to make sure I understood the differences.
 
James

 

[sup27606]

  Thanks to everyone for clearing up my concerns. I plan on getting the Cipher cable, I think the added advantage of the portability factor makes it a good upgrade from how I am currently using them with the headphone jack. I just wanted to make sure I understood the differences.
 
James

One note, if you have already bought the Sine without the cipher cable, I believe there is no current option to buy the cipher cable standalone and add it later. Only thing to do here is I think to exchange with the cipher Sine model if you are within the window.