Audeze SINE Series
Sep 21, 2018 at 2:10 PM Post #4,261 of 4,774
I'm too lazy to read trough the whole thread...so which aftermarket pads sound most like stock pads? Over or on ear, does not matter. Stock ones are allmost over ear for me which puts all the pressure on the inner side of my earlobes. I also wear glasses so it doubles the discomfort.

Soundwise these are awesome. Very detailed. Maybe some unnatural boost at upper midrange which makes these bit unnatural sounding but it's not that bad.
 
Sep 21, 2018 at 2:34 PM Post #4,262 of 4,774
I'm too lazy to read trough the whole thread...so which aftermarket pads sound most like stock pads? Over or on ear, does not matter. Stock ones are allmost over ear for me which puts all the pressure on the inner side of my earlobes. I also wear glasses so it doubles the discomfort.

Soundwise these are awesome. Very detailed. Maybe some unnatural boost at upper midrange which makes these bit unnatural sounding but it's not that bad.

I tested auvarna and brainwavz and I sticked with the auvarna
 
Sep 21, 2018 at 3:42 PM Post #4,264 of 4,774
Sep 21, 2018 at 5:13 PM Post #4,266 of 4,774
You need to sacrifice the plastic parts too, cut them open and out the tightly on. Then add pads to those plastic parts:

Do you mean the plastic ring that comes with the Audioquest pads? From your photo, it looks like you made a cut in the plastic ring, fit it into the existing ear pad slot on the Sines, and then put the pads over top. Is this correct?

I just received my Audioquest pads and want to make sure I’m doing the mod right (check twice, cut once).
 
Sep 21, 2018 at 6:57 PM Post #4,267 of 4,774
Yes. Make cut so you can fit them deeply. I did use drop of super glue to make the join hold. That way you can open it if needed. Also those 4 blugs need to be cut off. You may want test the sound by using double sided tape to hold the pads in place. And if you like it do the heavier mod.
 
Sep 25, 2018 at 6:14 PM Post #4,268 of 4,774
SINE ALTERNATE EARPAD COMPARISON (Sine vs. Aurvana, Bluecell, Brainwavz)

I’m a big fan of these headphones, especially for rocking out. The sound has big impact with great clarity and details. On the downside, I get listening fatigue quickly from these, the earpads are less than ideal, and I find the treble a bit harsh. For example, for all day listening, I prefer my Sennheiser HD 6XX for their warmth, smoothness, and over the ear pads.

I’m grateful to Audeze for creating this opportunity to experience their house sound at a relatively low price point. Since I don’t need my headphones to be portable, what I might do next is upgrade to the LCD series (they caught me!) for what I’m assuming to be better all day comfort and even better sound.

In the meantime, to help combat the treble, I usually EQ the Sine down at 16Hz. To combat comfort, I’ve settled on the Aurvana earpads as below.

Ranked from best to worst. Measurements are mine using a little plastic ruler and lots of spare time:

#1 - Aurvana – Slightly bigger and more cushy /softer than Bluecell and Sine. Not nearly as cushy as Brainwavz, and not quite over the ear (your ears may vary). Wrap ears slightly better than Sine or Bluecell with a a wider and longer ID. Sound is “immediate” and “impactful”, which is similar to Bluecell and Sine. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say the sound might even be slightly better than stock pads with just the slightest extra amount of breathing room.
I.D.: 1.625”W x 2.0”L
O.D.: 3.125”W x 3.5”L x 0.7-0.75”H
Source: Amazon for $12.99: "Replacement Ear Pads Cushion seals For Creative Aurvana Live Headphones Headsets."

#2 - Bluecell – Slightly bigger and more cushy than Sine. Less cushy than others. After limited listening, I think the Aurvana are slightly more comfortable with similar if not same sound.
- I’m curious if anyone else finds these superior to the Aurvana in either comfort (I doubt that), or sound (maybe v. slightly better since v. slightly thinner than Aurvana?)
I.D.: 1.375”W x 1.4375”L
O.D.: 2.875”W x 3.375”L x 0.6”H
Source: Amazon for $5.99: "Bluecell Pair of Replacement Earpad Ear Pad for Sennheiser Hd202, Hd212, Hd212pro, Hd497, Eh150, Eh250,hd437,hd447, Hd62tv Headphones"

#3 - Sine – Smallest - Least cushy. Closest to Bluecell. Feel tight, but not painful. There is some cushion here. Not much though. Ears feel compressed. Feel like my ears are practically hitting the drivers.
- Is this design flawed? A little too close to the ears? A little too tight and sound a little too immediate? Did the Audeze engineers get this wrong? Or are they supposed to be like this for close fit portable use and most impactful sound? For both sound and comfort I prefer the extra thickness in the Aurvanas.
I.D.: 1.3125”W x 1.75”L
O.D.: 2.875”W x 3.5”L x 0.5625”H

#4 - Brainwavz Angled HM5 – Biggest - Super cushy and huge. Like giant pillows. Almost comical. Too cushy maybe, if that’s possible. For example, I think I like my 6xx stock pads better, and they are not this soft. Sound is not bad, just inferior to other pads. It’s more distant. Think reverb. Sound might also be “softer” and more “rounded”, with less impact. I guess it’s possible for someone to either like this sound, or not be bothered by it. Personally I think it’s different enough from the stock sound to be a bad alternative. PM me if you WTB.
I.D.: 1.5”W x 2.75”L
O.D.: 3.375”W x 4.375”L x 1.0”-1.5”H
Source: I can’t remember. I know they cost more than the Aurvana and Bluecell, like ~$25. Bummer.

Conclusion: I think the Aurvana are the best compromise for both sound and comfort. There might be zero impact to the sound from both the Aurvana and the Bluecell. I’m curious to know what other people think. The Brainwavz absolutely impact sound. Does anyone think the stock Sine pads sound better than the Aurvana or Bluecell?

PICS:
1.) Top view - Sine have an S. Brainwavz are giant. Wrinkled=Aurvana. Not wrinikled=Bluecell.
2.) Side view - From left to right, thinnest to thickest: Sine, Bluecell, Aurvana, Brainwavz.

SINE pad top view.jpg
upload_2018-9-25_16-19-4.png
 
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Sep 25, 2018 at 10:36 PM Post #4,269 of 4,774
SINE ALTERNATE EARPAD COMPARISON (Sine vs. Aurvana, Bluecell, Brainwavz)

Conclusion: I think the Aurvana are the best compromise for both sound and comfort. There might be zero impact to the sound from both the Aurvana and the Bluecell. I’m curious to know what other people think. The Brainwavz absolutely impact sound. Does anyone think the stock Sine pads sound better than the Aurvana or Bluecell?




Great post! I have yet to try to Aurvana pads but if I end up keeping the Sine headphones I surely will at some point. I just got the mobius so it's becoming redundant to have both. Not sure which I will keep.

The Brainwavz pads are horrendous for this headphone in terms of the comical look and the sound degradation. I am currently using the Bluecell pads and I really like it since it fits and looks like it matches the Sine very well, but the opening for the Aurvana pads looks wider which would be nice. I dont have any comfort issues with the bluecell ones though, so I'm pretty happy with them.
 
Sep 26, 2018 at 11:31 AM Post #4,270 of 4,774
antdroid,
Very difficult to decide between Sine and Mobius if you don't want to keep both. I chose Sine and sold my Mobius. Just have to look at your usage case and sound preference. Seems like the easy answer would be to keep the Mobius 'cause it has so many extra features not on the Sine. But when I compared I found that the Sine does things with accuracy/clarity/details & impact that the Mobius can't. At least to my ears. My only regret may be wondering if the Mobius is better at mids and lows and if I would have enjoyed that more over time. On the other hand, I think there might be benefits to being able to use an external amp and DAC with the Sine also. This could be part of why I hear things differently with each phone.

Yeah, I bought the Bluecell based on your recommendation. No big deal at $5.99, and fun to compare. The Bluecell are certainly OK. However, if $12.99 doesn't bother you, and you wear the headphones a lot, I think the Aurvana are a small step up from the Bluecell in comfort and worth the purchase. The slight amount of extra size and padding makes a difference, and I don't think the sound is different. I actually think the sound might be slightly better with the Bluecell & Aurvana vs. stock. Just a little extra room for the sound and your ears to breathe, but not too much like the crazy Brainwavz. I went back to stock yesterday to remember how they were and this is exactly my impression; the stock pads really take minimum size to the bare minimum!
 
Sep 26, 2018 at 12:43 PM Post #4,271 of 4,774
antdroid,
Very difficult to decide between Sine and Mobius if you don't want to keep both. I chose Sine and sold my Mobius. Just have to look at your usage case and sound preference. Seems like the easy answer would be to keep the Mobius 'cause it has so many extra features not on the Sine. But when I compared I found that the Sine does things with accuracy/clarity/details & impact that the Mobius can't. At least to my ears. My only regret may be wondering if the Mobius is better at mids and lows and if I would have enjoyed that more over time. On the other hand, I think there might be benefits to being able to use an external amp and DAC with the Sine also. This could be part of why I hear things differently with each phone.

Yeah, I bought the Bluecell based on your recommendation. No big deal at $5.99, and fun to compare. The Bluecell are certainly OK. However, if $12.99 doesn't bother you, and you wear the headphones a lot, I think the Aurvana are a small step up from the Bluecell in comfort and worth the purchase. The slight amount of extra size and padding makes a difference, and I don't think the sound is different. I actually think the sound might be slightly better with the Bluecell & Aurvana vs. stock. Just a little extra room for the sound and your ears to breathe, but not too much like the crazy Brainwavz. I went back to stock yesterday to remember how they were and this is exactly my impression; the stock pads really take minimum size to the bare minimum!

Cool, thanks for your thoughts. I do find the Sine to be better extended and airy on the upper end which helps with the little details. The Mobius does have a better low end and lower-mids which make it sound warmer and fuller in presentation. Otherwise, I find them very similar in sound, or similar enough. The Sine is definitely a much more attractive and smaller headphone, while the Mobius is fantastic as a bluetooth headphone. I don't use it for gaming so thats partially why I find it redundant. I guess I need to decide how much bluetooth is important to me. :)

As far as the pads go, money isnt the issue. It's just another thing to buy and store away. Haha. I get funny looks from my fiancee whenever a package comes and it ends up being a Headphone Pad. She's always wondering why I have an obsession with pads. haha. I think also, when I was looking for pads, I wasnt able to find the Aurvana pads sold separately. So glad to see them now.
 
Sep 28, 2018 at 12:03 PM Post #4,272 of 4,774
One of my stock pads is torn slightly in the inner part... still usable but I will need pads in some time soon...
I really can not decide which one to get!
I am not using the Sines on the go so doesn’t need to be stock like in terms of size...
 
Sep 28, 2018 at 9:47 PM Post #4,273 of 4,774
antdroid,
Very difficult to decide between Sine and Mobius if you don't want to keep both. I chose Sine and sold my Mobius. Just have to look at your usage case and sound preference. Seems like the easy answer would be to keep the Mobius 'cause it has so many extra features not on the Sine. But when I compared I found that the Sine does things with accuracy/clarity/details & impact that the Mobius can't. At least to my ears. My only regret may be wondering if the Mobius is better at mids and lows and if I would have enjoyed that more over time. On the other hand, I think there might be benefits to being able to use an external amp and DAC with the Sine also. This could be part of why I hear things differently with each phone.

Yeah, I bought the Bluecell based on your recommendation. No big deal at $5.99, and fun to compare. The Bluecell are certainly OK. However, if $12.99 doesn't bother you, and you wear the headphones a lot, I think the Aurvana are a small step up from the Bluecell in comfort and worth the purchase. The slight amount of extra size and padding makes a difference, and I don't think the sound is different. I actually think the sound might be slightly better with the Bluecell & Aurvana vs. stock. Just a little extra room for the sound and your ears to breathe, but not too much like the crazy Brainwavz. I went back to stock yesterday to remember how they were and this is exactly my impression; the stock pads really take minimum size to the bare minimum!

Well, I went ahead and bought the Aurvana pads. I needed just a few more bucks to get free same day delivery on Prime so I added it to my cart. BEZOS got me again! (daily occurrence)

Anyway, I am a believer. :) The sound is pretty much the same as the Bluecell one I posted about earlier, but its opening is just slightly larger. So win-win.
 
Oct 3, 2018 at 3:05 AM Post #4,275 of 4,774
does anyone have a link for Aurvana pads from Europe?
thnx!!!!!!!!!!!

I don’t know about aurvana but Vesper Audio’s ear pads for the Sine are great construction and a decent price with tons of customization options. They make over ear pads for them which help with isolation. Worth checking out. Every pair is handmade though, so expect a lead time of a few weeks to get them in hand.
 

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