iSine 10 vs my DAC/CEC amp/k702

Just wanted to share some initial impressions.
I am just getting back into the hifi thing after many years away. I dusted off my CEC HD53 amp, music streamer ii, and akg k702 setup and signed up for tidal recently. Definitely been enjoying it again. Well obviously more listening leads to more gear searching and I came across the Audeze iSine series and they seemed well liked. I bought the isine 10 b stock for $149 with cipher v1 cable two weeks ago. Seemed too good to pass up.
Just did some comparisons with my dac amp akg combo and it’s crazy how much better the isine 10 sounds streaming tidal on my iPhone.
Honesty I’m completely stunned. It’s better in almost every way except staging. The akg is still more open sounding but to a fault. Not as present, A bit distant. The Audeze has better bass definition, deeper bass, more presence in the midrange and highs and just overall far more involving, especially and moderate volumes. Totally amazing value.

When I plugged the isine10 into the amp with the analog cable the sound was thin and generally not impressive. The akg definitely wins when the isine isn’t connected to the cipher cable.

Best $150 I’ve ever spent in this crazy expensive hobby.

 

The better performance of the iSine 10 via cipher cable is not surprising given that the cable includes Audeze's equalization settings. If I recall correctly, it actually uses the same settings as in Reveal (https://imgur.com/a/MFLnI), which includes a 2db bass boost and some major treble adjustment. Here's another comparison with the effects of the EQ vs. someone's measurements. (No clue who this is, but I've had good results EQing my iSine with these plots as reference)

It looks like this is your first post, so you should probably introduce yourself over in https://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/new-members-introduce-yourself.17/

 

So I should match my app EQ to that chart? Is that how that works?

 

Only if you want to use the analog cable with a DAC/Amp and have it sound close to the cipher cable.

The electronics in the cipher cable apply Audeze's EQ automatically, and then the iphone app lets you set up an additional 10-band EQ on top of that.

 

Gotcha! Thanks for the tip!