[EagleWings]

In terms of sound, no. The cipher cable improves the sound slightly from mids being bloomy without any EQ, but in general they don't sound really resolving or transparent at all. Tonality is off, and I can't belive these are on top of the list of Crin's list, and state that tonality is fixed with the cipher cable, which is not. There's nothing tonally correct or transparent sounding about these. What's up with the ridiculous price for such performance?

As we can see, their EQ doesn't fix the broken response.

I am aware that you are using a 711 coupler and your rig is kind-of calibrated, as you have compared your measurements with that of few others in the ER2SE tour. So I am not going to call out your rig and discredit your measurements. But there are certain things that look off:

1. First is the dip at 6kHz looks over pronounced in your measurement. I can't even begin to guess what is causing this. I was initially considering the possibility that your unit might be defective. But both sides measure somewhat similarly, so there is a high chance it is not a defective unit.

2) The cipher cable doesn't seem to be fixing the things it should. The cipher cable is supposed to tame down the 1.5kHz peak and add a bump at 3kHz and fill out the 4-7kHz dip. One of the members here measured the i4 with and without the cipher cable. He seems to have deleted his post, but I had saved the measurement he posted. His rig was a MiniDSP's EARS. The pronounced treble peaks shown in the below graphs are artefacts of the EARS rig. You can read about it on the blog-that-must-not-be-named. But what this measurement shows is the difference between the i4 stock FR and the i4+CipherCable FR.



3) i4+CipherCable should measure somewhat close to how the iSine20+CipherCable measures. Here are 2 sources to show you the difference between the iSine20's stock FR and iSine20+CipherCable FR:
i) https://crinacle.com/graphs/audeze-isine-20/
ii) https://www.innerfidelity.com/content/audeze-isine-20-planar-magnetic-ear-earphone-page-2

4) As for the Reveal plug-in, are you keeping the Mix dial at 100%Dry or 100%Wet? That matters because 100% Dry means no EQ and 100% Wet is the full EQ. It seems like you have kept the dial at 100% Dry, because your measurement shows hardly any difference with the Reveal plug-in.

Once again, I am not trying to discredit your measurement. Just trying to figure out why we are seeing anomalies.

 

[Infoseeker]

Wouldn't it make more sense that there is differences from 1 lot of the units to the next.

Also with these units now approaching 2 years old that they are may not be durable with their micro thin diaphragm? Like a layer of dust. Or even the smallest of humidity leaving a water stain. Or they may age.

 

[staticdynamo]

Is MiniDSP's EARS so reliable? I read an article at soundstage! https://www.soundstagesolo.com/index.php/features/152?comment_id=241
The last judging method is listening. I believe in my premium cable.
By the way, new iSINE accessory kit is so good. New eafins and curved earhooks improve bass response pretty well. Also stereo image,
I think.






If you care about small dust and humidity, why not using some cleaners and earphone dryers?
They work pretty well.

 

[jlbrach]

the earfins while not perfect are for me soooo much better than the ear hooks which never quite worked for me

 

[EagleWings]

This week marks 2 years of owning the LCDi4 and in these 2 years, it has become my single most favorite portable audio gear till date. Ever since having a baby last fall, I have started prioritizing convenience as much as sound quality. And that’s where the cipher cable has been a life saver. iPhone > CipherCable > LCDi4 chain is possibly the apex, when it comes to getting the best sound quality out of a convenient portable setup. While IEMs are actually more convenient than the i4, I got to try some of the highly regarded TOTL IEMs in these 2 years and, to me, none came close to matching the overall fidelity of the i4. Full-size headphones do have the advantage of having a better presentation than the i4, but they don’t offer the same level of convenience as the i4.

Isolation is one limiting factor as to where you could use these. But I am willing to overlook that because, this open-back design is one of the 2 aspects that gives the i4 its distinct advantage over the traditional IEMs. If there is one thing that I don’t like about the i4, it is the build quality. Because of its delicate construction and the lack of isolation, LCDi4 is more appropriate for indoor use and should be seen as a tiny open-back headphone, rather than a large open-back IEM.

 

[cj3209]

...Full-size headphones do have the advantage of having a better presentation than the i4, but they don’t offer the same level of convenience as the i4.

...this open-back design is one of the 2 aspects that gives the i4 its distinct advantage over the traditional IEMs. If there is one thing that I don’t like about the i4, it is the build quality. Because of its delicate construction and the lack of isolation, LCDi4 is more appropriate for indoor use and should be seen as a tiny open-back headphone, rather than a large open-back IEM.

I totally agree with the above...

 

[lithiumnk]

This week marks 2 years of owning the LCDi4 and in these 2 years, it has become my single most favorite portable audio gear till date. Ever since having a baby last fall, I have started prioritizing convenience as much as sound quality. And that’s where the cipher cable has been a life saver. iPhone > CipherCable > LCDi4 chain is possibly the apex, when it comes to getting the best sound quality out of a convenient portable setup. While IEMs are actually more convenient than the i4, I got to try some of the highly regarded TOTL IEMs in these 2 years and, to me, none came close to matching the overall fidelity of the i4. Full-size headphones do have the advantage of having a better presentation than the i4, but they don’t offer the same level of convenience as the i4.

Isolation is one limiting factor as to where you could use these. But I am willing to overlook that because, this open-back design is one of the 2 aspects that gives the i4 its distinct advantage over the traditional IEMs. If there is one thing that I don’t like about the i4, it is the build quality. Because of its delicate construction and the lack of isolation, LCDi4 is more appropriate for indoor use and should be seen as a tiny open-back headphone, rather than a large open-back IEM.

You are absolutely right.
I made a big jump from dunu 2000j to lcdi4 in Aug'17 & I am very happy with my investment. I had my i4 replaced due to some crinkling noise after a month. Audeze support team arranged for pick up & replaced with a brand new i4 in 7-10 days i.e. India-US-India .I have never experienced such quality after sales service from any brand (domestic/international).
One thing common with many iems is the scalability with better gear stops after some time. But with lcdi4 I cannot see an end. They respond very well to quality amplification (dedicated/desktop).
I hope audeze corrects the need for EQ in future upgrades.

 

[joshnor713]

I hope audeze corrects the need for EQ in future upgrades.

^ This. I love the open-back, IEM concept. But can't justify buying, esp at this price, until Audeze actually completes engineering of its driver output instead of patching it up with EQ.

 

[MacedonianHero]

This week marks 2 years of owning the LCDi4 and in these 2 years, it has become my single most favorite portable audio gear till date. Ever since having a baby last fall, I have started prioritizing convenience as much as sound quality. And that’s where the cipher cable has been a life saver. iPhone > CipherCable > LCDi4 chain is possibly the apex, when it comes to getting the best sound quality out of a convenient portable setup. While IEMs are actually more convenient than the i4, I got to try some of the highly regarded TOTL IEMs in these 2 years and, to me, none came close to matching the overall fidelity of the i4. Full-size headphones do have the advantage of having a better presentation than the i4, but they don’t offer the same level of convenience as the i4.

Isolation is one limiting factor as to where you could use these. But I am willing to overlook that because, this open-back design is one of the 2 aspects that gives the i4 its distinct advantage over the traditional IEMs. If there is one thing that I don’t like about the i4, it is the build quality. Because of its delicate construction and the lack of isolation, LCDi4 is more appropriate for indoor use and should be seen as a tiny open-back headphone, rather than a large open-back IEM.

I totally agree! To date, I have not heard a better in-ear yet!

 

[Spie1904]

Does the lcdi4 pair well with sp1000m or is it really more optimal with cypher via iPhone?

 

[Devodonaldson]

Does the lcdi4 pair well with sp1000m or is it really more optimal with cypher via iPhone?

Do the sp1000m have a built in eq? If they have either a parametric eq or a 10band equalizer,then it will definitely be better than cipher cable. The cipher cable makes preferred adjustments to the i4 to bring closer to Target Harman response. Thais can be done with eq, and the best XAC/Amp combo you can do this with, the better. Cipher is limited to 24/48, and the DAC is only ok, but the eq in the cable gives it a good leg up.

 

[Spie1904]

Do the sp1000m have a built in eq? If they have either a parametric eq or a 10band equalizer,then it will definitely be better than cipher cable. The cipher cable makes preferred adjustments to the i4 to bring closer to Target Harman response. Thais can be done with eq, and the best XAC/Amp combo you can do this with, the better. Cipher is limited to 24/48, and the DAC is only ok, but the eq in the cable gives it a good leg up.

It has a passive EQ (10 band and parametric) but only up to -5 or +5 db.
Would that be sufficient?

 

[EagleWings]

The problem with A&K DAPs’ EQ is, it is not very effective. Even a 5dB adjustment hardly brings about any change.

 

[Spie1904]

The problem with A&K DAPs’ EQ is, it is not very effective. Even a 5dB adjustment hardly brings about any change.

I see, in that case it's not the best option and I should probably look for a ciem for all day comfort at work

 

[Devodonaldson]

It has a passive EQ (10 band and parametric) but only up to -5 or +5 db.
Would that be sufficient?

Good enough. None of my eq settings are are greater than the absolute value of 6. Copied from a message I sent to another individual also using the monolith portable DAC, here are my eq settings: Low shelf eq 130hz +4 (anything between +2 and +4 should be good. I like a little extra oomph, cuz I listen to a lot of hip hop and r&b) PEQ1 FREQ 2.9K GAIN +6 Q1.9. PEQ2 FREQ 10K GAIN -6 Q3.2 (REMOVES THat hard treble peak, but doesn't remove the treble sparkle or clarity) PEQ3 FREQ 1.3K GAIN -6 (ANYWHERE FROM -2 TO -6. I LIKE MY MIDS RECESSED. MIDS ON i4 are forward.