Audeze iSINE20, in Ear, Semi Open Headphone, Standard Cable / 3.5 mm

Amateur audiophile enthusiast here. If you desire your hi-fi music to sound clear and crisp all while being portable and less cumbersome than a full sized hi-fi headphone, these might work out for you. Some issues where I see some others and I have experienced: fitment and bass [or lack of].Fitment issues: Overall, play with every accessory given and there should be some custom setup for you to wear these comfortablyEarLocks: I got unmatched ear lobe size and ear patterns,I trieds stuffing these in a various angles and it kind of worked, but only less than 1 hour and at the end my ear would be sore because the earlock was forced in a certain position.Ear Clips: These work reliably if you adjust them correctly. In my case, at first I read others bent their ear clips to shape their ear. I did that with the clear ones and it was a hit or miss ending with some ear pain where the clip end hooks on the edge of the ear. I tried the matte ear clips without modification and just rotated the clip almost horizontal to rest on my ear like eyeglasses, this has been working out the best for me; no pinched ears.ear tips: pretty much don't expect these to be like IEM style in your ear. For me, I'm not wedging the tip in my ear canal, it's more like just resting at the opening and sealing the opening snugly without pain. Trying out every single tip size and different insertion points is key to getting it dialed in right. Otherwise someone might just give up because smalls didn't fit them and they're not used to using the larger tips which might have solved their problem. Anyways, the take away here is it is possible to get these to fit without having ear pain from extended listening sessions. Okay now that comfort is taken care of..Bass: Currently this is a hit or miss for me. Furthermore, I am not using the CIPHER cable which is supposed to have custom EQ and DSP settings. I have experimented with EQ settings posted on the Head-Fi isine thread. The result is more lifelike. I can't describe it with my amateur audiophile knowledge, just youtube some isine reviews from some experienced people. But I would think these aren't for the listeners requiring heavy brain shaking bass.Audio: All previous headphones had this effect where there was some layer covering the sound not making it extra clear. This wasn't significantly noticeable until listening to the isine. All I can say is all music genres are enjoyable to listen to. I feel like I am listening to the music track as how it was meant to be heard as (every instrument being used being appreciated). Lyrics that were muffled before now sound clear enough to understand. I want to say it's because I bought some expensive headphones and trying to recoup the cost by using them more. But they sound pretty great. So I guess it's a win-win.semi-open design: sound leak is very light at 40% volume or less. anything higher and its a slight buzz within 4 feet.carry case: with foam block mold: i feel a pelican hardcase type would have been better and more convenient. The foam block protection is adequate but requires you to remove the ear clips and wind the cable. It only takes a few seconds but still..manual: on a USB stick.CIPHER cable: still have yet to use this feature.. supposed to give 24bit sound and fully unlock isine's potential. It's very possible I will be blown away once I try this mode out.. too bad it's for Apple only.Uses: I don't know how I got to this point dropping 6 bills for some high end portable sound. But it's like Z Reviews on youtube says, people send heavy money on watches and jewelry, why can't you have the best quality audio too. I've been enjoying every song these iSines put out and will be using them everyday and also every lunch break at work. Not so much for gym use for me, too expensive in that situation.Warranty: 3 years driver; 1 year everything else. That's pretty solid warranty, add an additional year when purchasing with a premium credit card offering extended warranty. Hopefully I don't have to warranty ever. But if you have been researching some users have had to send theirs in.I'll update when I use that CIPHER cable to see if there is a change..

Have had these less than 24 hours at this writing, and these are flat out excellent. I have written many high-end audio reviews on Amazon, for speakers, and open & closed back headphones. Current equipment is Oppo Planars, Shure 846, and Aurisonics and Beyer T5P.Sound: Treble, mids and bass...tonally accurate, lively, well extended across the spectrum.Fit for me: clear hooks and out of the box tips are fine; using shirt clip to support mike /controls on a loop on my upper chest. Sensation or feel of the actual earphones is light, effortless and unaware i'm wearing them!What I like most: These are most like my KEF LS50W, and my Oppo open back planners. Zero detectable distortion; i can increase the volume, and exponentially just have more music and fullness, no noise, sibilance or ear fatigue. Soundstage very broad, open airy, great instrument placement. Artists used to test, Katherine Jenkins, Amber Rubarth Binaurals, Noah Wall "Down Home Blues", Stevie Wonder , piano concerto no 1, 1812 Overture and the Eagles (last 4 Flac on Onkyo Player.) Other than any obvious drawback using these say for a sweaty workout, or in noisy environments, these are a Joy to listen to. While open backs have their drawbacks, they help somewhat for me, whom may feel claustrophobic listening to closed headphones or IEMs over time.At any rate out of the box, these compare to anything I have in the $700-1400 price range. Excellent for Classical to Rock, and high pitched female vocals, which are difficult not to sound fatiguing and sibilant in the presence of any distortion. Using on an iPhone 7, straight up with Cipher cable at factory EQ!These are likely my go to earphones on the move, which is most of the time, love them and highly recommend!UPDATE 8_16; 1 WEEK LATER...I noticed about 3 days of owning it seemed like they had lost mid range to bass. So experimented with tips, and tried the second tip up with the ridges, sound was rich and full, so ; and they sounded great but after an hour or so, hurt my ears. So i tried the second smooth silicone up from the smallest, and now wearing them a week, and the sound remains full, great base, excellent vocals, soundstage etc. and they are very comfortable even after hours. Walked at our mall, and they sounded rich and full, despite being able to hear prominent ambient sounds. Originally I had the shirt clip, below the controls on the earphone cord, and it bounced and was annoying, so i placed it about 11/2 inches above the controller, and it is fine.

I wanted to give these a 5 star review but I cant. If purely on sound and comfort then I do give them a 5, but for everything else, I give them a 4 or less. I should not have to be frustrated by a $600 pair of earphones. The first thing you will find when you open them is that the ear tips are thrown loose in a small plastic bag. It is like a puzzle to try to match up the sizes. I still am not sure if I have two exact same sizes on at the same time. I have a much cheaper set of ear phones where they are on pegs so you can at least not have to deal with that. The other complaint I had was, I pre watched the videos on their web site and read the online manual, about the cipher cable and its functionality so when I got these I was all set up to start listening. The cipher cable has three simple buttons for volumn up and down and to answer calls. It turns out though that they have added a 4th button. It is there to mute phone calls. Now I have never had to mute a phone call, so I find this button useless, in fact, I find the 4th button a nuisance. Whenever you want to use the volumn down button, you have to fumble around so that you do not accidentally hit the new button. I see no use for it at all. And finally, the app that you download, does not always work right for me. When it does work, there is a firmware upgrade option within the app that is not even functional. I emailed them about this and got a response that it is an apple issue. If apple will not let the firmware upgrade even work, then why have it at all. All that being said, I am keeping these, because of the sound. I have never heard anything like it in an earphone. Extremely crisp and clear with excellent highs. While the bass is adequate, I would like just a little more.

I like the open sound similar but can’t compare to my Stax SR007 or the Hifiman electrostatic headphones. The fit and sound improves with form fitting foam ear tips. Also it is kind of hard to use it during exercise.

Zuerst mal zu mir: ich würde mich selbst nicht als "Audiophil" bezeichnen. Ich mag guten Klang von Kopfhörern/Lautsprechern... aber ein Experte durch und durch bin ich nicht.Setup:Ich verwende den Fiio Q1 Mark ii und hauptsächlich Tidal, jedoch habe ich auch ein paar DSD Testdaten verwendet um keinen Bottleneck zu bekommen von der Qualität der Titel.Verpackung:Die Verpackung wirkt Ok, ich persönlich finde Verpackungen nicht sonderlich wichtig, es war alle sauber, schön verpackt. Erster Eindruck war also Ok.Größe/Gewicht:Auf den Bildern habe ich mir die Dinger ein bisschen größer vorgestellt, also war ich positiv überrascht als ich sah, dass diese doch kleiner sind, außerdem fand ich die Kopfhörer leichter als sie aussahen.Tragekomfort:Ich muss ehrlich gestehen, der Tragekomfort könnte besser sein! Ich habe 1 Woche gebraucht bis ich mit den mitgelieferten Ohrbügel eine Einstellung gefunden habe, mit der ich länger Musik hören kann ohne ein unangenehmes Gefühl zu haben. Möglicherweise musste ich mich auch nur an die Bügel gewöhnen, weil ich sonst nie Bügelkopfhörer habe. Ich würde aber trotzdem hier die größte Schwäche der Kopfhörer feststellen, sie werden einfach nicht jeden passen.Mobilität:Ich bin es gewöhnt, meine Kopfhörer einfach in die Hosentasche zu stecken, dies geht mit diesen nicht mehr. Die Angst diese Kopfhörer kaputt zu machen ist zu groß, also verwende ich diese Kopfhörer eher daheim bzw. wenn ich eine Tasche dabei habe, wo ich diese Kopfhörer sicher verstauen kann. (Bin männlich und habe oft keine Tasche/Rucksack etc dabei und in den Hosensäcken ist nicht genug Platz).Sound:Erstmal wow. Man würde nie denken, dass man In-Ear Kopfhörer verwendet. Es hört sich alles so anders an zu typischen In-Ear Kopfhörer. Die Präzession/Bühne.... einfach alles beeindruckend.Normalerweise höre ich hauptsächlich Pop, jedoch mit diesen Kopfhörern höre ich gerne klassische Musik, die Instrumente hören sich so präzise/echt an, dass wenn man die Augen schließt, denken könnte es spielt jemand direkt vor einen.Generell habe ich in den letzten Wochen alle möglichen Songs (durch alle Genre außer Techno…) durchgespielt und der Isine 20 liefert immer Top Leistung, alles hört sich gut an. Hier bin ich wunschlos glücklich (kleinere Anpassungen via Equalizer kann jeder für sich selbst entscheiden, ich finde es nicht unbedingt notwendig).Umgebungslautstärke:Nachdem die Kopfhörer nicht geschlossen sind, hört man selbst die Geräusche von draußen und dies kann z.b. in der Ubahn schon störend werden, jedoch finde ich es im Straßenverkehr teilweise sehr angenehm! Man fühlt sich nicht komplett abgeschottet.Der Sound der rausdringt hält sich in Grenzen, natürlich Abhängig von der Lautstärke die man verwendet. In der Arbeit (4 Mann Büro) stört es niemanden, wenn ich die Kopfhörer verwende und in einer normalen Lautstärke verwende (bei uns ist aber ziemlich ruhig).Fazit:Ich persönlich bin begeistert (habe die Kopfhörer im Warehousedeal für 350€ bekommen) und bereue diesen Kauf nicht! Das einzige Problem was ich sehe ist der Tragekomfort. Der Sound ist mMn. phänomenal und auch die Qualität finde ich für gut. Von meiner Seite aus gibt es eine klare Kaufempfehlung.

Suono fantastico, l’ultima revisione mancano gli earlock quelli archetti di gomma o silicone , ci sono solo quelli di plastica overear che dopo un ora di ascolto le orecchie iniziano a bruciare. Ottimo ma inusabile avviato il reso.

Klanglich Top. Man kann mit dem Equalizer rumspielen und die anderen Frequenzen werden nicht mitverzehrt. Hört sich besser an wenn man einen guten DAC benutzt.Diese Kopfhörer sind komplett offen. Man hört somit alles. Ich empfinde dies nicht als einen Minuspunkt. Im Gegenteil. Ich mag, dass ich noch die Umweltgeräusche höre. Bei anderen Kopfhörern die starker isolieren, habe ich nach einer Weile ein Gefühl der Abschottung bekommen. Sprich, ich war da, aber da ein Sinn (der Hörsinn) komplett durch Musik ersetzt wurde kam mir meine Umwelt wie ein Film vor. Ich mag, dass ich bei den iSine 20 noch die Umwelt höre und meine Musik ein Teil der Umwelt wird.Leider ist die Haltbarkeit dieser Kopfhörer in Bezug auf Kabel, Stecker, Tips und die Gummi-Halterungen nicht auf dem Level eines 500€ Produktes.Ich habe das Problem, dass mir die Gummi-Halterungen um den Kopfhörer am Ohr zu befestigen und die Tips, welche ins Ohr gehen abfallen und ich diese dann verliere.Ich bin mittlerweile bei meinem letzten Set von Tips angelangt, die eigentlich zu groß sind für meine Ohren. Wenn ich diese Tips auch verliere muss ich schauen wie ich an neue Tips komme. Wobei ich es nicht einsehe neue Tips bei einem so teuren Kopfhörer zu bestellen, nur weil diese abfallen.Auch ist der Klinkenstecker nach einem 3/4 Jahr kaputt und funktioniert nur auf einer Seite.Das Kabel hat eine nicht vertrauenserweckende Gummi-Ummantelung. Das Kabel sieht nicht wie ein professionelles Audio Kabel aus, wie ich es zb. von meinen Westone UM3X kenne.Für 500€ wünsche ich mir ein besseres Kabel, einen haltbareren Stecker und Tips die nicht abfallen.Klanglich 5 Sterne1 Stern Abzug für abfallende Tips1 Stern Abzug für das Kabel, welches nach 9 Monaten einen Wackelkontakt bekommen hat

Wow. These are truly amazing. The best iem's I've heard. They don't sound like iem's as such but more like full size open planar's. It is Premium product not sound and build wise.It has a large expansive soundstage with clarity and musicality. The sound is tight across bass, midrange and highs. I can't really criticise it sound wise. If you can get the Cipher cable it is astounding and has been tuned really well by the guys at Audeze. My only caveat is if you can try them before you buy because the fit is different to anything most will have tried. The earhooks and assorted other bits and bobs will help get a great fit but it takes time to get accustomed to them at first.For the price you MUST get these nothing touches them under £1000 possibly at any price. They're that good.-paul-