Reviewed by SatorArepo

After premium and premium iems and few flagships, Earacoustic finally released entry level iem with super budget price nad decent quality for this price range, Cipher is entry iem, very energetic, bassy and oriented toward mids with ok amount of details, tuning have all core qualities of Earacoustic, and great design, very recognizable for Earacoustic style.

Company:
Earacoustic is new rebranded name of TFZ company, in last half year or more releasing really unique iems by great quality and price, and design, for almost a year, they dominate with premium look and quality, and to be honest they have some really nice budget iems, but now even for super entry level. In the audiophile world most of us already know about TFZ or Earacoustic, but for you who are new, its old company and experience for creating unique and stylish iems.

Disclaimer:
I got a Cipher sample for an honest review, I'm not paid for this review or compensated in any other way, the review is based on my experience listening and testing Cipher for an extended period of time.

Pros:

Super Affordable
Great Vocals
Almost basshead grade
Accessories
Comfortable
Plenty Colors
3.5 and Type C version

Cons:

Non removable cable
Not most detailed
No 4.4 option

Unboxing, Design, Specs, and Other:
Unboxing is very simple but yet with enough protection, with small card box sturdy enough to survive transport, you get standard papers with colab and other, leather pouch with button, pair of iem with eartips on it, additional little plastic bag with 3 pairs in normal sizes, pretty basic for this price range.

Design:
Design have some similarities like all Eurocoustic products, faceplate have nice diamond alike decoration with glowing stones and written zkaaai(google out its some Chinese Singer, i have listen few songs really nice vocal), shell is from some plastic silicone very friendly and smaller than classic Earacoustic iems, no cnc or metal, so no reason to be big shell, nozzles are from metal along with griller, there is small hole on iem for driver compression/decompression, there isn't cradle since cable is fixed, its decent cable for price range with a mic, and i have 3.5 version, there is also type c version, no chin slider. So pretty moderate and yet really beautiful design for such inexpensive products, Earacoustic don't give up from their original style and design!

Specs:
Borrowed from Earacoustic site, feel free to visit them for more info and better photos or just browse out.

Driver Unit: 10mm Nano-Crystal Ceramic Dome + Flexible Polymer Polyurethane Surround.
Magnetic Circuit Design: Dual Magnetic Circuit & Dual Cavity TeslaNeodymium Magnet.
Frequency Response: 5Hz-30kHz
Impedance: 22 ohm
Power and Maximum Power: 3mW/5mW
Sensitivity:110dB/mW(3.5mm Version)|113dB/mW (Type-C Version)Cable:1.5m 5-core silver-plated 2-pair twisted cable (3.5mm Version).3m 6-core silverplated 2-pair twisted cable (Type-C Version).
Headphone Interface: Non-replaceable Cable.
Optional Plug Types: 3.5mm DC 4-pole Gold-Plated Type-C Digital Decoding Version.

Comfort:
Super light and comfortable, I have worn them for more than 4 hours, never got any irritation or discomfort, everything is fine and perfect, shell design is slightly slimmish on some edges, so it will fit on even smaller ears without any problems.

Driveability and Scaling:
Easy to drive with almost basic dongle or even phone only, i haven't found any problems, sure i have tested on some better sources just to see quality, and yes they will scale but due to budget version, dont expect too much, it will be very normal scaling like with any budget iem, just enough to give little edge and more enjoyment.

Pairing:
Due to neutral and little bit neutral warm signature, this iem can be paired with almost anything, from colder sources to some super lush or warmer, it will perform really nice without crippling or messing with original sound signature, even i have maintain neutral source just to better experience Cipher itself.

Burning:
Usually I put in place a burning period of better quality drivers, and here I skipped with the thought that it's a budget one, no need to be burned... But after some period like 20-30h of listening, iem slightly changed sound on better, settling bass to be more rounder and in my experience better, while vocals stay unchanged.

Driver Composition:
Classic dynamic driver, but with Nano Crystal Ceramic Dome, these type of drivers are very famous for precision and better clarity and details, it's not like standard Earacoustic setup driver, i have feeling this is more like experimental but for this price range doing much better job than its expected.

Gear:
I have used standard gear from my collection from low dongles to budget daps, and some desktop dacs for local music and music over spotify and youtube, on phones UAPP and Fiio Music App.

Fiio JM21, KA11, JA11, Retro Nano,
Tempotec V3 Blaze, V1, Sonata BHD
Fosi SK02 for desktop

Stock eartips for realistic review
Phones, LG V50 and Motorola G54


General Sound Impression:
Before i spent so much time with budget iems, and last few months i have reviewed some really nice budget and premium and few flagship iems, so reviewing super inexpensive iem like Cipher is little big different so have in mind, when i speak and describe this will be for this price range, Cipher is really good for price but cant compete vs V1 or VSA MAX or SPA Limited. Sound signature is neutral and leaning little bit towards warmish, but not so much just fine layer, very similar like you have it on VSA MAX, bass is super explosive but controlled almost bass grade for budget bass lovers, mids are energetic little bit forward with good amount of engagement, while highs are slightly moderated, with good amount of bright, not most detailed, but still preserving some technical aspects and provides you with realistic and musical experience.

Low's:
Even its low budget iem, Earacoustic here haven't lost any time to implement little bit new approach with ceramic dome diaphragm, bass is tight and punchy with some explosive elements just to compensate control and create better engagement, slam is fast with a lot of energy and sometimes even too much, decay natural and maybe little bit faster rolled off, due to stiffness of driver diaphragm, its completely different experience especially for this price range, textures are mediocre and this is expected like 2-3 bass instruments, but on some tracks possible even 4. Sub-bass very accurate with nice control, just enough physical touch with a good amount of rumble, some nice details are noticeable but not always more like hit and miss. Mid-bass pretty decent executed with enough power to create impact, controlled so it will not bleed over mids, maybe little bit on some tracks, but due to strong vocal presentation this will be barely noticeable, physical touch on mid-bass very present and you will feel it, even whole presentation of whole low area is slightly back, but due to nice extension and punchiness of driver its prominent on some tracks.


Mid's:
Crown Jewel of Cipher, full of surprise, and very mixed impression with positive and very remarkable spots, while in some areas just performing for this price range. Female vocals best part of mid area, very sweet and warm, like butter, clear and a lot of details and some unique textures due to warmth around it, every lyrics is easy to catch, remind me of some budget great v0cal iem, presentation slightly forward but not too much, just on right spot with right amount to be emotional and create slight excitement, timbre on both vocals is natural and very rawish, giving even more realistic feeling. Male vocals are powerful but with enough clarity, baritones average with enough depthness but lacking some resonative unique voice for these vocals, tenors have good amount of power and details, without sounding too sibilant or sharp. Instruments have natural timbre, and separation is kind of ok, with some slight bleed out which occasionally happens, but not always, and due to driver diaphragm some instruments will really surprise you with some good performances, like piano where attack is instant, giving nice precision and sharpness and decay is more than ok, violins have really nice emotional touch, and little bit again missing resonative touch, very noticeable with wooden instruments and body inside, everything on Cipher is here, but sometimes lacking just little bit to perfect.


High's:
Very moderated and balanced, the whole emphasis is on mids and lows, the whole action of tilt is there happening, while highs have just decent extension, and again this extension is for this price range. Cipher is very smooth, it will not fatigue, it will perform really nice and long. Low treble is average with nice connection and plenty of details connecting nicely and having nice transitions from upper mids to lower treble, maybe could be a little bit better but again. Mid treble is slightly brightish just to be enough clear, its little bit but small grain aggressive, but overall not bad. Upper treble decent amount of air and space, not superb, just enough to be in good balance with other areas. Sparkle is almost average with a decent amount of energy, but gives a good and realistic feeling. Resolution and details, some details are here, maybe on type c version is much better, details are here, but not so much, and some micro details popping out, but it's rather hit and miss. Overall the high area is well executed, just enough to be more musical and less technical.


Transients:
Surprisingly very fast and precise, very possible due to driver diaphragm, these diaphragms are already proven for great speed and precision resulting in fast transient response, initial bite is super fast, not like on balanced armature drivers or planar, but impressive for price range, and decay is above average.


Dynamics:
Very good, top peak is reached very fast without any effort, and shift back is ok, Macro Dynamic have good amount of power at top, but its not best optimized to go into further higher volumes, more you go some distortions will happen, but for some good 70-80 percent its really nice explosive with good amount of power. Micro Dynamic is slightly better with more subtle details and textures, very gentle and fragile on some tracks, and I had it was like listening to some more expensive iems, even a few times I forgot and wasn't sure which iem i have in my ears, so they did really nice micro dynamics. Overall ratio is like 40 for Macro and like 60 for Micro Dynamics, still great for this budget and iem performances in total.


Soundstage and Imaging:
Pretty decent with some normal and good oriented soundstage, with logical boundaries and edges which are defined just to be normal, its classic 3d with more accent on width than on depth, height is ok, but not impressive like width, vocals are presented to be on center of stage, while instruments are little bit backward, and on some tracks on same line like vocal performers, you like listener you are very close to sweet spot, so pretty neat organized for such iem. Imaging is ok, separation is more than ok, no mixing among instruments, sometimes space is so tight and and mentally looks they are bleeding over each other or mixing, and maybe they do, its very hard to determine mentally, but overall its nice organized, while their location is very easy to pinpoint, with great directional accuracy and less distance. Proportionality is average, slightly some instruments will appear mentally bigger than others, but it will not be a big deal due to nice execution of vocals around it. Shifts none, unless some of them are moving or studio imperfection due to recording. Layering average, with just first two rows maybe third, after its miss and hit, still there is good directional logic, but distance is completely blurred, so overall Cipher is really good performer in this area for price and performances, it's not excelling but rather providing you with decent experience, always wanted for any purpose.

EarAcoustic Audio Products at KEEPHIFI

Conclusion:
Its always nice to see how companies deliver entry level iem, just to give chance to budget lovers to have opportunity to have something from premium company, it was really nice and refreshing to see how Earacoustic still designing and fighting for every budget tier, while still preserving quality and core values.