THIEAUDIO Cypher

Introduction to the THIEAUDIO Cypher review

The THIEAUDIO Cypher is a $399 open-back dynamic headphone from a company most listeners associate with IEMs. Its relaxed, even tuning gives it a clear identity at this price. I found it particularly easy to listen to over long sessions, and the build quality impressed me from the moment I took it out of the box. The unusually large fit, amplifier requirements, and occasionally disconnected soundstage deserve just as much attention.

THIEAUDIO launched in 2019 and grew out of a group of DIY audio enthusiasts. The company is based in Shenzhen and describes its engineering team as a collaboration between people from China and South Korea. Its Monarch, Legacy, and Hype lines have made in-ear monitors the part of the range most people associate with the brand.

There is a history of full-size headphones here, too. The THIEAUDIO Cypher follows models such as the Phantom, Wraith, and Ghost, and marks the company’s return to the category. The reputation of its IEMs helps explain why there was so much interest in the THIEAUDIO Cypher ahead of its official unveiling. I was curious to see what the company’s idea of a reference headphone would sound like in this format.

Packaging and Build Quality

The THIEAUDIO Cypher I reviewed arrived in a box so slim that I thought I had received something else. I can’t remember the last time a pair of over-ear headphones came in a box this thin. It looks good, too, and inside there is a well-made soft brown leather case, the cable, and the headphones. The earcups lie flat inside the case, which makes it considerably easier to pack in a backpack or carry-on.

The build quality is excellent. The THIEAUDIO Cypher uses machined aluminum earcups with a distinctive cutout on each side. The headband combines stainless steel and carbon fiber with a genuine lambskin lining. It gives the headphones a solid feel in the hand, and I would be happy with this level of construction on something considerably more expensive.

The pads have a soft, suede-like velour surface and are of average depth. I found them considerably softer than the pads on the Meze 105 SILVA. They settle around my ears easily, so the headphones feel well seated without requiring much pressure from the headband.

The headband adjusts in clicks. My main issue with the design is how large it runs. I usually land around the middle of the adjustment range on other headphones, but I had to take the THIEAUDIO Cypher all the way down to its shortest setting. Anyone with a smaller head should pay close attention to the fit.

The included 1.5 m braided cable is good quality, supple, and easy to handle. Its 3.5 mm termination makes sense for compatibility with a wide range of sources. I would still have liked a 4.4 mm option in the box, especially given how much the THIEAUDIO Cypher can benefit from the extra power available on some devices’ balanced outputs.

Comfort

The THIEAUDIO Cypher weighs 411 g. That weight is distributed so evenly across my head that the headphones feel lighter once I put them on. The lambskin lining feels good against my head, the pads are soft, and the clamp is moderate. Once I had the fit right, I could spend a long time listening and barely notice the headphones were there.

The cable deserves some credit for that experience. I heard no cable noise in use, and the soft braid was easy to move around at my desk. It didn’t catch on the edge of the desk or the keyboard, which is exactly what I want from a stock cable.

Some passive isolation was another pleasant surprise. For an open-back headphone, the THIEAUDIO Cypher did a respectable job of taking the edge off my computer’s fan noise and the sound of cars outside. Those everyday sounds were easy to ignore while I was listening.

Tech

The THIEAUDIO Cypher is an open-back design with a newly developed 50 mm dynamic driver in each earcup. Its motor uses a 20-core N45 magnet array, and the diaphragm combines a semi-crystalline polymer with rubber. A copper-aluminum composite voice coil completes the assembly. THIEAUDIO credits the coil design with helping the driver respond to changes in the signal.

The manufacturer lists a nominal impedance of 32 ohms and a sensitivity of 96 dB (±3 dB). The memory foam pads attach magnetically, so they can be lifted off for replacement. The detachable cable connects to the headphones through two 3.5 mm plugs, one at each earcup.

THIEAUDIO describes the intended tuning as reference-oriented. That is a fair description of the overall balance I heard, and it also explains why the THIEAUDIO Cypher can take a little time to get used to.

Sound of the reviewed THIEAUDIO Cypher

Before the price was announced, I saw plenty of comments under early reviews guessing that the THIEAUDIO Cypher would cost $600 or more. I also came across reviewers who were much less taken with the sound. Having spent time with the headphones, I can see why the reactions were so different. The build feels expensive as soon as you handle them. The tuning takes longer to appreciate, especially if a strong first impression means deep bass and plenty of sparkle to you.

THIEAUDIO’s description of a reference tuning makes sense to me. The THIEAUDIO Cypher keeps the different parts of a mix in proportion. Bass guitar has enough body to hold its place, voices sound full enough to feel natural, and the top end rarely calls attention to itself. There’s a slightly analog quality to the way the headphones round off the edges of sounds. The overall balance is even, with a little extra presence in the midbass and a gentle cooling toward the upper mids. Fine detail is fairly ordinary for the price, particularly in vocals and treble.

Coming straight from a livelier headphone, the THIEAUDIO Cypher can sound a little dull. The lack of emphasis in the sub-bass is easy to notice at first, especially on music where a deep kick or synth bass usually makes the biggest impression. I appreciated the balance more after spending time with it and then switching back to another pair. The change made it easier to hear how gently the THIEAUDIO Cypher handles voices and how naturally bass guitar sits alongside them. The presentation has enough weight for me, and its relaxed character makes it easy to go from one album to the next.

The THIEAUDIO Cypher was also more demanding of amplification than I expected from a dynamic headphone. The biggest difference I heard between sources was in the shape and texture of bass notes. With some of the portable gear I tested, the low end sounded a little loose. A capable desktop amplifier gave me a better sense of what the tuning was doing, particularly in the midbass.

Bass

Bass guitar is the first thing I’d point to when describing the low end of the THIEAUDIO Cypher. There’s a natural sense of weight to the body of a note, and with a good amplifier, the texture of the string is easy to pick up. The midbass has a little more presence than the sub-bass. That balance gives a bass line enough substance to follow its changes in pitch and rhythm. The deepest notes are audible, though their physical presence is modest. Once I had adjusted to that balance, I found the amount of bass about right.

The quality of the bass became clearer as I moved between amplifiers. On the weaker pairings, the beginnings of notes had slightly looser outlines, especially when bass sounds arrived in quick succession. With more capable amplification, I could hear the texture within a note more clearly, and it was easier to follow the point where one note gave way to the next. The THIEAUDIO Cypher still has a relatively rounded attack and an unhurried sense of timing. Its bass has definition with a good source and retains the natural softness that makes this tuning enjoyable.

The kick sits a little further back in the balance. It marks out the beat, but the THIEAUDIO Cypher gives it a gentler impact, so it rarely becomes the most prominent part of the groove. I hear that particularly when a kick and a bass line are competing for attention. There’s enough weight to keep the rhythm moving, and the character of the bass line tends to come through first.

Muse’s “Hysteria” plays to that strength, with the bass guitar retaining its shape as the rest of the band fills in around it. Kendrick Lamar’s “HUMBLE.” puts more emphasis on the deepest hits, and the THIEAUDIO Cypher keeps the beat clear while giving those hits a relatively modest sense of physical impact.

The midrange is where I find it easiest to settle into the sound of the THIEAUDIO Cypher. It’s orderly across different kinds of music, and there’s a gradual shift toward a slightly cooler tone in the upper mids. That shift is subtle. The body of a voice still comes through, and the change becomes easier to notice as instruments move into their higher registers. The balance works well with both voices and guitars, even when the recording already puts them close together.

Vocals usually sit quite close. That position gives a singer plenty of presence, while the texture of the voice is relatively smooth. The THIEAUDIO Cypher makes it easy to follow the way a line is phrased or how a singer changes emphasis. The little changes in grain and roughness within a note come through less distinctly. A more textured recording retains its general character, with some of the coarser detail softened. I’d rate the midrange resolution as average. Its appeal is the tone and the intimacy, which remain easy to enjoy for a long session.

Guitars have a little more definition to their attack. There’s enough of the initial pluck or pick sound to hear the shape of a phrase, and chords have some body behind them. The overall presentation is still smooth, so the edge of an electric guitar is less pronounced than it would be on a more forward headphone. I like that balance when a guitar and a close vocal share the middle of a mix. The guitar still has a distinct character, and the voice keeps its place.

I went back to Fontaines D.C.’s “Starburster” after I started watching MobLand. The THIEAUDIO Cypher brings the vocal close, so its restless phrasing comes through clearly even as some of the grain in the delivery is smoothed over.

Treble

The treble is more subdued than the midrange. From the neutral and natural-sounding sources I used, it generally sat behind voices and the body of instruments. There’s enough presence to hear a cymbal or the higher harmonics of a guitar, but those sounds rarely dominate the balance. Certain notes can have a slightly nasal quality. I noticed it occasionally rather than hearing it as a constant feature of the tuning.

Treble resolution is about average on those pairings. I can hear the main strike of a cymbal and its metallic tone. The finer shimmer around that strike is less defined, especially once the arrangement gets busy. On a brighter source, the extension is easier to hear and there’s a little more separation between different upper-register sounds. The FiiO K5 Pro was a good example in my setup. It gave the top end more presence and made quieter details easier to pick out.

I particularly enjoyed the THIEAUDIO Cypher with older jazz. The cymbals keep their place in the rhythm, and there’s a gentle sheen above the body of the kit. I can follow the accents without the ride or the hi-hat drawing my ear away from the rest of the playing. On Rihanna’s “Only Girl (In the World),” there’s enough brightness in the synths to give the chorus its lift, with their sharper edges kept fairly soft.

The most unusual thing about the THIEAUDIO Cypher is how distinctly it separates left and right. Individual sounds placed to either side are easy to tell apart. Following a sound as it moves across the stereo field can be more difficult. With an exposed vocal, I sometimes get a clear sense of where the voice starts and where it ends up, with very little sense of the positions it passes through. The movement feels like a jump. On some recordings, the two sides can feel almost independent of one another.

This is most noticeable to me when there’s little else in the mix to give the voice a position. In busier arrangements I tend to pay less attention to it, especially when the main vocal stays put. A voice that remains in one place can have a pleasing sense of intimacy. When the recording relies on movement from side to side, the transition is less convincing. I hear the placement at either end more clearly than the movement in between.

The overall scale is respectable for a $399 dynamic headphone. Most of the presentation takes place fairly close and in front of me, with very little activity behind. Depth is average. There’s some distance between the foreground and the sounds that sit further back, but the space between those layers feels modest. The proximity of the midrange works well within that perspective, particularly on records where the vocal is meant to feel close.

I enjoy that intimacy with some of my music. The limitations become more obvious on recordings that depend on a gradual change in position or a strong sense of depth. At this price, some competing headphones draw those positions more precisely or give the mix more room to spread out. That makes the soundstage the most significant compromise for me, even though I’m happy with its size on a lot of recordings.

Pairings

I mainly tested the THIEAUDIO Cypher with the xDuoo XA-02, and the headphones scaled well when I moved to the HiFiMAN Serenade Wireless. The bass was the clearest indication of how the pairing was working. A capable amplifier gives the low end more texture and a firmer shape, which helps the rest of the relatively restrained tuning make sense.

Some of the portable sources I tried felt a little underpowered. This is where a balanced cable with a 4.4 mm plug could be useful, provided the source offers more power from its balanced output. I would have liked that option with the supplied cable.

I also tested the THIEAUDIO Cypher with a FiiO K5 Pro I borrowed from a friend. It turned out to be a very enjoyable match. The FiiO opened up the sound and moved the presentation toward a more neutral balance. Some of the easy, natural quality I liked with my other sources was less apparent, while the top end had more presence and fine detail was easier to hear.

Comparisons 

VS Meze 105 Silva and Meze 105 AER

I would put the THIEAUDIO Cypher between the two Meze 105 models in sound. It also sits between them at the US prices I checked. Meze listed the 105 AER at $299 on sale, down from its regular $399, and the 105 SILVA at $499.

The Meze 105 SILVA leans more toward neutrality to my ears. It has less of the slightly analog character I hear from the THIEAUDIO Cypher. The 105 AER is the more playful of the three, with a stronger low end and a more saturated midrange that make it feel livelier. The THIEAUDIO Cypher is the one I would reach for when I want the upper end to take a step back. That relaxed balance is a large part of its appeal.

VS HiFiMAN Ananda Unveiled

The HiFiMAN Ananda Unveiled is one of my favorite headphones from the brand. It retrieves more detail than the THIEAUDIO Cypher, has excellent bass, and presents the music across a much larger stage. Those are worthwhile advantages if you listen for the space around instruments and the smaller details of a recording.

The THIEAUDIO Cypher has an ease and naturalness that can matter more than those strengths on an everyday listen. I can use it for long sessions without listening fatigue. The way it presents detail makes it easier to settle into the music, even if it resolves less of it than the HiFiMAN. The THIEAUDIO Cypher is also much better built, which is an advantage I notice every time I pick it up.

The THIEAUDIO Cypher is a very good return to full-size headphones from THIEAUDIO. The relaxed, natural tonality makes it easy to spend time with, and the exceptional comfort on my head helps just as much. Construction quality is excellent by any reasonable standard for a $399 headphone. I only wish the headband adjustment covered smaller heads as well as larger ones.

I would pair the THIEAUDIO Cypher with a capable amplifier to get the best out of its bass. The stronger left and right separation can leave the soundstage feeling disconnected, its depth is average, and I would have liked better detail retrieval. If you value a smooth midrange and a laid-back presentation for long listening sessions, the THIEAUDIO Cypher is very easy to enjoy.

Recommended.