Audeze SINE Impressions and Discussions

Discussion in 'IEMs and Portable Gear' started by Griffon, Mar 22, 2016.

  1. Griffon

    Griffon 2nd biggest asshole on SBAF

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    I actually bought one pair. Added parts are in yellow. Title was changed accordingly.

    Source: Pono, AK100ii, iPhone 6, Modi 2U - Black Diamond Prototype. Music ranges from 12 Nights in Hollywood to James Blake. No Lightening Cipher cable.

    I've never had a good chance to listen to PM3 so I don't do any comparison.


    FWIW, I've never been touched by Audeze. I found the whole LCD series to be overpriced and mediocre, never have made me WOW. EL8 open was similar, while EL8 closed was absolutely shit.

    Short listening session, so take it with however much salt as you wish.

    TL;DR: It's like HD650 and Jupiter had a child. Sans a magnitude of resolution.

    - Very nice design and material selection. Seems quite durable.Not comfortable for me (w/glasses), but without glasses they feel decent. By correct placement they feel very good for hours of listening. OK clamping force. Light weight. Isolation is one magnitude less than good IEMs. For example, the announcement in the trains remains recognizable.
    - The Z-shaped connectors on the earcups seemed extremely stupid to me.
    - Neutral to super slight bright. I don't think mikoss will be bothered by this amount of brightness. No ear-bleeding spike detected. There are very infrequent flash moments of brightness but that's about it.
    - Nothing seemed to be obviously fucked up in FR. Overall flat-ish. Distortion seemed low-ish, good clarity. Actually very good clarity. I'm sure I can nitpick after a longer listen, but it's a "budget" "truely portable" Audeze, so I'm being less bitchy than usual.
    - Meh soundstage. Not a big deal. But the ortho kind "sound of wall" has quite some presence. Also, switching directly from HD650, I felt that things were immediately crammed into a smaller space, but in a good way - the tone was very rich, and imaging didn't fall apart.
    - The "Audeze bass" seems to be there. Swing and slam baby! Minor bloominess might be impedance mismatch with Pono. Not offensive. The bass definitely has a very minor but very tastefully and quality done boost, reminding me of hearing Jupiter when I came from UERM. Low end extension feels deeper than HD650, while high end extension is average (but enough). Vs HD650, SINE seems to have more lower treble/higher mid energy; but lacking is some air. It also could use a bit more forwardness in midrange. Such a combination probably indicates a gentle U-shaped FR, and when done well, this kind is highly engaging.
    - Smooth, but please also take Pono into consideration. The smoothness is close to HD650.
    - Freaking awesome not-one-note presentation, and freaking awesome note separation and articulation. Continuous but not continuous. I like it. Let's not talk about microdetails, but macrodetails seem spectacular.
    - With better equipment SINE scales to some degree. iPhone powers it loud and fine, but with more juice comes more goodness.
    - Ultimately, this is NOT a very resolving can, nor is it anywhere near "reference". SINE is, IMHO, a remarkable can which has f'ing nailed a fun, engaging and smooth sound signature for the modern porta-philes.
     
    Last edited: Mar 26, 2016
  2. YtseJammer

    YtseJammer Almost "Made"

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    I'm very impressed by the SINE so far, don't laugh but I think that they are Audeze's best product since the LCD-2 Rev.2!

    I will write my impressions later this evening..
     
  3. TwoEars

    TwoEars Friend

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    I see that they're sold as "on-ear" but they look quite large. Do your ears fit inside the cups or is it strictly on-ear?
     
  4. Tyll Hertsens

    Tyll Hertsens Grandpappy of the hobby - Special Friend

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    Interesting headphone. There is an LC network internally.
     
  5. YtseJammer

    YtseJammer Almost "Made"

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    On-ear but they more comfortable than the Momentum over-ear 1st gen.
     
  6. Pyruvate

    Pyruvate Friend

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    I second this. My two favorite Audezes!
     
  7. Griffon

    Griffon 2nd biggest asshole on SBAF

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    The pricing of SINE at $499 with a lightening cable is quite appealing actually. I'm curious about the internal LC network. Could you please elaborate a bit more?
     
  8. GettingBuckets

    GettingBuckets Almost "Made"

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    If only they were over-ear... To this day, I cannot stand wearing on-ear cans for any amount of time. It seems like they should have just canned the El-8 closed and made these their closed signature budget headphones instead.
     
  9. YtseJammer

    YtseJammer Almost "Made"

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    I also cannot stand on-ear cans but so far I can tolerate the SINE. ;)
     
  10. rott

    rott Secretly hates other millenials - Friend

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    Has anyone had the opportunity to try these with the Cipher cable?
     
  11. Tyll Hertsens

    Tyll Hertsens Grandpappy of the hobby - Special Friend

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    Not yet. Must dig into it a bit more....but it's there. Not saying it's good or bad though, so far I'm enjoying them quite a bit.
     
  12. YtseJammer

    YtseJammer Almost "Made"

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    The Cipher is still not available. I'm wondering if I should buy the Pono or wait for the Cipher cable.

    https://www.audeze.com/products/accessories
     
  13. YtseJammer

    YtseJammer Almost "Made"

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    Here are my thoughts about the SINE after 2 days :

    PROS
    • The sound signature is very engaging and fun.
    • They kept me engaged with my music, where the PM-3 felt too dry and unexciting.
    • Much better tonality than the EL-8.
    • Crystal clear highs and great midrange. (More clarity than the PM-3)
    • Superb imaging.
    • Great extension at both ends. (The bass is amazing)
    CONS
    • Small soundstage. (About the same size as the PM-3)
    • No carrying case included. (They should have included a case like the one that is coming with the PM-3)
    • Not as comfortable as the PM-3 but still quite comfortable for on-ear headphones.

    I will repeat myself but I seriously think that it's the best product from Audeze since the LCD-2 Rev.2!
     
  14. burnspbesq

    burnspbesq Friend

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    Yes, but only for a few minutes, as the iPad at the Audeze table had no music on it with which I was familiar (and I couldn't get a good enough Wi-Fi signal to downoad the app--yes, there's an app that is apparently required to make it work).

    I can confirm that it works, and that it doesn't do anything obviously horrible to the sound of a headphone that I like enough to buy.
     
  15. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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    The advertising says "world's first on-ear planar"... but didn't the Fostex T10 beat them to it by several decades?
     
  16. JewBear

    JewBear Almost "Made"

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    Hows the isolation of these compared to say the PM-3?
     
  17. YtseJammer

    YtseJammer Almost "Made"

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    The isolation is quite good but the seal is slightly better with the PM-3.
     
  18. Zed Bopp

    Zed Bopp Friend

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    I'm interested in these too, here's hoping the price doesn't get a great hike here in the EU. That's pretty much what has kept me from buying PM3s: 399 bucks vs 530 euros - not fair, at all.
     
  19. TheBarnard

    TheBarnard Friend

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    What's an LC network
     
  20. Torq

    Torq MOT: Headphone.com

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    In it's simplest form, it's an inductor (L) and capacitor (C) pair that forms an oscillator or resonator. The application of that oscillator depends on several factors and might be implemented as a filter or an amplifier (other possibilities as well).

    I'm interested to hear more about this ... particularly as to whether it's always in-circuit or if it's related to the use of the Cypher cable.
     

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