[MICHAELSD]

The Sine is an incredible, high quality headphone. Did they blow me away like I wanted? No, even if they are better than my other headphones in certain ways and decidedly high-end for its size. They are a quality portable package that Audeze should be proud of.

Haven’t had a chance to try the EL-8 Ti yet but I’ve wanted these headphones for years for the design alone. Other reviews indicate that I may end up disappointed; regardless, I won’t let other opinions color my judgement. I will admit aesthetic swayed my decision a bit.

I would have stepped up to the LCD-2C if my inclination wasn’t for the Cipher cable and the BMW Designworks design. Could easily sell my other headphones to justify it, not sure yet if that’s what I want to do.

 

[MICHAELSD]

Maybe the EL-8 Titanium didn’t compete well at $799 thus the negative reviews, but with the Cipher cable the sound quality is downright magical. IMO the build, design, and sound make it a compelling package at $799 and a downright steal at $199. Every frequency is represented incredibly well.

Five minutes in and I’d have to say that the EL-8 is the best headphone I’ve ever used. Holy crap the quality is just amazing. I bought the Sine too since the reviews made me concerned about the EL-8 but the EL-8 is literally like an i8 on my head. Incredible quality. Severely underrated.

 

[MICHAELSD]

Anybody who’s ever given the EL-8 Titanium a negative review after listening with a Cipher cable should lose all credibility. Maybe Audeze tweaked the sound since then, but what I’m hearing is absolutely magical. Comfort and weight distribution is top-notch too, the EL-8 feels perfectly lightweight despite its size and weight.

Underrated headphone with one of the most gorgeous designs ever. This is the wow I was looking for. Nice job with these, Audeze. Can’t even begin to describe the sound. Amazing.

 

[trellus]

Anybody who’s ever given the EL-8 Titanium a negative review after listening with a Cipher cable should lose all credibility. Maybe Audeze tweaked the sound since then, but what I’m hearing is absolutely magical. Comfort and weight distribution is top-notch too, the EL-8 feels perfectly lightweight despite its size and weight.

Underrated headphone with one of the most gorgeous designs ever. This is the wow I was looking for. Nice job with these, Audeze. Can’t even begin to describe the sound. Amazing.

What’s the sound like from a decent DAC and amp with the normal cable?

 

[clerkpalmer]

Anybody who’s ever given the EL-8 Titanium a negative review after listening with a Cipher cable should lose all credibility. Maybe Audeze tweaked the sound since then, but what I’m hearing is absolutely magical. Comfort and weight distribution is top-notch too, the EL-8 feels perfectly lightweight despite its size and weight.

Underrated headphone with one of the most gorgeous designs ever. This is the wow I was looking for. Nice job with these, Audeze. Can’t even begin to describe the sound. Amazing.

And what app are you using and how is the volume level? I found cipher and tidal has very low volume on my sine.

 

[Sweetmeat]

What’s the sound like from a decent DAC and amp with the normal cable?

I listen to my EL-8C at work all day through my Burson mini-Conductor with Sabre DAC and they are awesome.

Very similar FR to my LCD-3: crisp clean highs with no sibilance whatsoever, famous Audeze mids, strong musical bass not quite as deep as the LCD-3.

Compare favorably to my LCD-XC which are too bright from that amp.

 

[nrbatista]

Does Onkyo work on iPhone? On a side note, I've really been enjoying these headphones. I switch back and forth between these and my iSine 20s and I honestly love them both for different reasons. the 20s definitely sound better via cipher. The cipher on the sines is a limiting factor. With limited funds, I purchased a Fiio A5 to increase the power and the Sines are significantly better with this setup. The cipher is probably best saved for the road on the Sines whereas on the 20s the cipher is a killer match.

 

[nrbatista]

Hello all, I’m considering a pair of Sines’s or EL-8 Titanium’s to leverage the lightning connector of my iDevice while at the office. I read many reviews of both headphones and the reviews point clearly towards the Sines. I would naturally prefer the over the ear design of the EL-8’s as it’s more comfortable but I read that the EL-8’s connectors are finicky and may break or disconnect themselves from the ear cups. Regarding Sines, the number of people that changed their pads is a sign that comfort is not their most positive point, but all of the positive reviews around the Sine’s left me wondering if the Sines wouldn’t be the best option after all.

So my question is, which one is the best overall in terms of sound signature, comfort and durability?

I have a LCD-XC at home.

 

[antdroid]

Hello all, I’m considering a pair of Sines’s or EL-8 Titanium’s to leverage the lightning connector of my iDevice while at the office. I read many reviews of both headphones and the reviews point clearly towards the Sines. I would naturally prefer the over the ear design of the EL-8’s as it’s more comfortable but I read that the EL-8’s connectors are finicky and may break or disconnect themselves from the ear cups. Regarding Sines, the number of people that changed their pads is a sign that comfort is not their most positive point, but all of the positive reviews around the Sine’s left me wondering if the Sines wouldn’t be the best option after all.

So my question is, which one is the best overall in terms of sound signature, comfort and durability?

I have a LCD-XC at home.

I haven't listened to the EL-8 yet but I am thinking of getting one. The Sine sounds good in my opinion though, but is not super comfortable stock. The ear pads are just a really weird shape to be comfortable, as they are not quite on-ear with donut shape and just a tad too small to be over-ear. It works a lot better with a pad replacement (ATH-MSR7 generic pads) + adapter to secure it to the ear cups. It's incredibly comfortable after that for me and no sound quality loss.

 

[SDBiotek]

Hello all, I’m considering a pair of Sines’s or EL-8 Titanium’s to leverage the lightning connector of my iDevice while at the office. I read many reviews of both headphones and the reviews point clearly towards the Sines. I would naturally prefer the over the ear design of the EL-8’s as it’s more comfortable but I read that the EL-8’s connectors are finicky and may break or disconnect themselves from the ear cups. Regarding Sines, the number of people that changed their pads is a sign that comfort is not their most positive point, but all of the positive reviews around the Sine’s left me wondering if the Sines wouldn’t be the best option after all.

So my question is, which one is the best overall in terms of sound signature, comfort and durability?

I have a LCD-XC at home.

I have the Sine, El8 (not titanium, though) and the XC. I can't answer for comfort, that will vary wildly from person to person. I prefer the around ear fit of the EL8, but am used to the semi on-ear fit of the Sine. The EL8 sounds more like the XC to me, more open and probably a bit more detailed than the Sine. The Sine sounds more fun and has more of an up-front presentation. I only use mine with standard cables, so I can't comment on using lightning cables. I wouldn't worry about durability of either. The very early EL8s had some connector issues, but that was fixed a long time ago. But honestly, the Mr. Speakers Aeon closed back has pretty much superceded the other two for me, for overall neutrality and comfort.

 

[DJtheAudiophile]

.

 

[MICHAELSD]

What’s the sound like from a decent DAC and amp with the normal cable?

Not the right person to ask since one of the reasons I bought the EL-8 Titanium is for the amp/DAC built into the Cipher which is probably the best way to drive the EL-8, impressively enough. In fact, I don’t even have a headphone amp and the Cipher cable helps me avoid falling down the rabbit hole of that area of the audiophile hobby .

 

[MICHAELSD]

I listen to my EL-8C at work all day through my Burson mini-Conductor with Sabre DAC and they are awesome.

Very similar FR to my LCD-3: crisp clean highs with no sibilance whatsoever, famous Audeze mids, strong musical bass not quite as deep as the LCD-3.

Compare favorably to my LCD-XC which are too bright from that amp.

Impressive answer considering I haven’t heard a lot of reviewers compare the EL-8 as favorably to the LCD line.

It always floors me how subjective this hobby is. Everybody has different preferences on the Audeze lineup, with some even preferring the Sine or iSine’s sound over its bigger brothers.

After trying the Sine and iSine10 I’m happy to say that I found my preference with the EL-8 Titanium.

 

[MICHAELSD]

Hello all, I’m considering a pair of Sines’s or EL-8 Titanium’s to leverage the lightning connector of my iDevice while at the office. I read many reviews of both headphones and the reviews point clearly towards the Sines. I would naturally prefer the over the ear design of the EL-8’s as it’s more comfortable but I read that the EL-8’s connectors are finicky and may break or disconnect themselves from the ear cups. Regarding Sines, the number of people that changed their pads is a sign that comfort is not their most positive point, but all of the positive reviews around the Sine’s left me wondering if the Sines wouldn’t be the best option after all.

So my question is, which one is the best overall in terms of sound signature, comfort and durability?

I have a LCD-XC at home.

The EL-8 is an amazing-sounding headphone and the best with the Cipher cable I’ve heard, but portable is the last way I’d classify it. It feels like a high-end luxury item designed to be used with white gloves, to me at least.

If you do like in-ear monitors you should give the iSine lineup a try as it could be closer to what you’re looking for. Sound signature will come down to preference; regardless, the Cipher cable provides a lively, detail-resolving sound with all of the Audeze headphones that it drives.

Comfort is remarkable with the EL-8 due to the large earcups which are made of a luxuriously soft memory foam. Sine is fine if you take a break after a few songs, and the iSine will be very subjective — I hated the fit but I imagine if you can get it to work for you it’d be ideal for an office environment.

 

[DJtheAudiophile]

Selling my near mint Sines for a good price in the for sale/trade forums if anybody is interested.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/fs-audeze-sine.868406/