[inthere]

  to those putting HM5 pads on the sine - aren't they extremely loose? 

They sure are for me-that's why I don't use them. Marshall Monitor pads are much more snug to me. They have to be because I travel with them

 

[Jbmorrey]

They sure are for me-that's why I don't use them. Marshall Monitor pads are much more snug to me. They have to be because I travel with them

I tried them as week and also found them to be very loose, I think I am going to try a pair of sennheiser momentum over ear pads and see how they work.

 

[inertianinja]

I tried them as week and also found them to be very loose, I think I am going to try a pair of sennheiser momentum over ear pads and see how they work.

 
OK. I wanted to make sure that I wasn't missing something.
 
I'm going to take a shot at designing some 3D printed adapters for the Sine to make it possible to mount bigger pads more securely. I've done it for Hifimans, SHP9500s, and the TH-X00, so we'll see how it goes. Might be able to get them to force a triangle shape too.
 
Personally I think the Audio-Technica MSR7 pads would be a great pairing.

 

[osanilevich]

Literally just unpacked mine. Severely disappointed with the sound. Is anyone else on this boat or does it take time for them to "break in" (I know its a contested topic but nonetheless, I think its a thing).

 

[osanilevich]

I also found the bass to be really lacking. Not that I expected thumping base but compared to my $300 Sony's it seems like entire layers of bass were 'removed' from the track when I put these on. The fact that it doesn't particularly make up for it in any other department leaves a lot to be desired 

 

[Sonic Defender]

  I also found the bass to be really lacking. Not that I expected thumping base but compared to my $300 Sony's it seems like entire layers of bass were 'removed' from the track when I put these on. The fact that it doesn't particularly make up for it in any other department leaves a lot to be desired 

Which Sony? I had the MDR 1A, which I liked quite a bit for sure, but the mid-bass is forward and made things kind of congested and a little wooly. I'm not saying this is the case, but if you have been listening to a headphone with fairly loose bass and a little bloated in the mid-bass (which is fairly common) you may find cleaner more balanced bass lacking in impact and quantity. I would say give a little time and try to see if you hear more detail and instrument separation in the lower frequencies which is often a nice planar trait. Ultimately the Sine may not be your cup of tea, but give it a little time.

 

[inthere]

  Literally just unpacked mine. Severely disappointed with the sound. Is anyone else on this boat or does it take time for them to "break in" (I know its a contested topic but nonetheless, I think its a thing).

What's your source?

 

[Jbmorrey]

Personally I think the Audio-Technica MSR7 pads would be a great pairing.

They might work as well, Amazon has measurements so I'll try to see which matches it best

James

 

[inertianinja]

They might work as well, Amazon has measurements so I'll try to see which matches it best

James

 
I tried a set of the MSR7 pads. Unfortunately they are loose as well, but I think the *pads* make more sense since they're less huge.
 
I screwed around with the 3D printing a bit, and I think I have the triangle shape down. I have to find a way to get them to mount properly now.

 

[Arttt]

@osanilevich 
 
Sine, if used with standard cable , very sensitive to the source and need amping, without Cipher cable , straight out of macbook pro headphone out  or iPad / iPhone  , Sine sounds very weak and dull,  flat soundstage , no bass , mids are grey and thin , no body to the sound, artificial treble ...
 
Cipher change all that to the better , Sine need some juice to sing...
Plugg Sine to a higher end system and it scale a lot !   You will be surprised how much bass and punch this little headphone can produce, when i plug it to my home system , sometimes i forget that Sine is on-ear ,  it sounds BIG and vivid with lots of tones and overtones in low end , bass has nice texture and many layers , mids are silky smooth , liquid sweet full-bodied and treble is detailed and refined , no digital glare or artificial crispiness here ...  little rolled off in treble but doesn't hurt the sound...
 
Burn in made big difference,  first out of box Sine sounds a little muffled and bass feels too warm , and doesn't extend low .
After 200 - 300 hours you get tight deep bass with clean sound picture , nicely balanced ...slightly on the warm side , a little dark , but very musical and i would say natural sounding.  Definitely  very enjoyable !
 
Make sure you plugg Sine to a decent source/amp, or get Cipher cable , and enjoy ...

 

[osanilevich]

  @osanilevich 
 
Sine, if used with standard cable , very sensitive to the source and need amping, without Cipher cable , straight out of macbook pro headphone out  or iPad / iPhone  , Sine sounds very weak and dull,  flat soundstage , no bass , mids are grey and thin , no body to the sound, artificial treble ...
 
Cipher change all that to the better , Sine need some juice to sing...
Plugg Sine to a higher end system and it scale a lot !   You will be surprised how much bass and punch this little headphone can produce, when i plug it to my home system , sometimes i forget that Sine is on-ear ,  it sounds BIG and vivid with lots of tones and overtones in low end , bass has nice texture and many layers , mids are silky smooth , liquid sweet full-bodied and treble is detailed and refined , no digital glare or artificial crispiness here ...  little rolled off in treble but doesn't hurt the sound...
 
Burn in made big difference,  first out of box Sine sounds a little muffled and bass feels too warm , and doesn't extend low .
After 200 - 300 hours you get tight deep bass with clean sound picture , nicely balanced ...slightly on the warm side , a little dark , but very musical and i would say natural sounding.  Definitely  very enjoyable !
 
Make sure you plugg Sine to a decent source/amp, or get Cipher cable , and enjoy ...

I use a Windows PC so I don't think a cipher cable will solve my problems. I'm hoping its a break in thing, the customer service rep said approx 100 hours. And do you mind explaining what you mean by 'scaling'? I currently just plug it into my computer, like my previous headsets (Sony MDR-1R is the most recent and they worked like a charm)

 

[Sonic Defender]

  I use a Windows PC so I don't think a cipher cable will solve my problems. I'm hoping its a break in thing, the customer service rep said approx 100 hours. And do you mind explaining what you mean by 'scaling'? I currently just plug it into my computer, like my previous headsets (Sony MDR-1R is the most recent and they worked like a charm)

Right into a sound card? Yikes, depending on the sound card of course that is certainly a potential issue.

 

[osanilevich]

So, as I understand it, as I get higher quality headphones I need external instruments to make them work? The thing that weirds me out is that the sound I got on older, supposedly lower end headsets were better than this headset even on the same computer

 

[Arttt]

@osanilevich 
 
Sine , out of your pc headphone out won't sound good no matter how much burn-in hours you will get ...
You need to get a dac/amp combo, the better amp you get the better sound you will get out of Sine.
 
By scaling i mean -  Sound quality will scale, depending on the gear you use with Sine.  
 
If you invest money in buying a high-end headphone, you need to invest money in geting amplifier to drive it and only then you will hear what those headphones can really do, otherwise you wasted money ...

 

[Sonic Defender]

  So, as I understand it, as I get higher quality headphones I need external instruments to make them work? The thing that weirds me out is that the sound I got on older, supposedly lower end headsets were better than this headset even on the same computer

Too an extent that is true, not always, and the law of diminishing returns is at play. I think the sound signature of your Sony when less than ideally driven was more pleasing to you than the Sine under-driven. As well, the Sony would be certainly much easier to drive than the Sine, significantly I expect. There are a few technical reasons that can explain how well a headphone and the amplifier interact, but while I'm not saying you would suddenly love the Sine from a better amp (doesn't have to be a mega-buck amp, even a FiiO 11K for instance) but the odds that the Sine wouldn't sound better to you are rather low.