REGAN CIPHER

About Me

Steve Angello correcting my mix! Cardiff 2009

Hi, I'm Regan Cipher - welcome to my long awaited blog and review site. Many of you will know me from my YouTube channel or presence on Head-Fi or Reddit, but a little bit of background - before I was analyzing frequency responses, I was creating them.

During the late 90's and early 2000's, I DJ'd to dancefloors in the UK, Ibiza, Scandinavia and Central Europe, and as a producer churned out a few minor releases. Whilst we didn't quite hit the heights of the likes of Calvin Harris and the Swedish House Mafia, we did share the decks with them a few times! This grounding gave me an intimate understanding of how music should sound on consumer audio gear.

I later assisted my good friend Kokiri as Tour Manager, keeping a toe in the music industry and providing feedback on his productions. You'll have probably noticed in the binaural sound samples I use in my reviews that Shazam won't find them - if that's the case, it's almost certainly something he or I made but didn't get round to releasing. Post-COVID, the tours have dried up and it was during the first lockdown that I started buying audio gear and wrote a few reviews on Head-Fi. Since then, I've gone through over 100 different sets of wireless earbuds, documenting my findings to help you guys see how much value you can get for your hard earned cash.

Mostly the channel focuses on TWS around the $30-150 mark, but I've also reviewed some ultra low-budget and some high-end stuff too, even straying into open-earbuds and other sports wearables. Check my 'Playlists' on YouTube - they very clearly categorise each video so you can focus on the stuff that interests you. In an era where social media has eroded our attention span to that of your average goldfish, I'm a bit old school - my reviews are long and detailed, but I do include chapters so if you're looking for something specific - how well a set performs on calls for example - don't fear - the chapters will rescue you from the extra three minutes you might have had to spend without them! :D

My Review Philosophy - Say No to 'Trust Me Bro'!

I see too many reviewers just giving subjective views on things like sound and active noise cancellation, which is not only unfair on the viewer, it's just plan lazy. Attributes like ANC and Transparency can be measured, and you can also measure certain driver characteristics, such as Frequency Response, Group Delay and True Harmonic distortion. Whilst these attributes won't determine absolutely that x earbud will sound better than y, they do help to explain why an earbud sounds the way it does - I'll do a blog post on this at some point, but basically, if you're the kind of person that likes to know a little bit about your earbuds, you'll hopefully enjoy my reviews, which aim to educate as well as inform. The subjective side is still important, and it's also possible to record the output of a TWS and provide those recordings to you guys, so that's what I do! My idea with the channel was always that I'd do the hard work of testing, measuring, presenting and explaining, but leave the ultimate purchase decisions to you, the viewer/listener, because we all have different ideas and thresholds of what sounds good and what attributes are important or acceptable.

I made the decision long ago that I wouldn't put any core content - like the measurements and recordings - behind a paywall, enabling everyone to consume and enjoy it without having to stump up for Patreon membership. That said, if you do feel like my work has helped you make the right decision, you can always contribute towards to the channel - 100% of donations go back towards testing MORE earbuds!

Review Ethics - Full Transparency

  • Products are mostly purchased by me, some are provided by manufacturers for review
  • All affiliate links are clearly marked
  • Review units are disclosed - my opinions are never for sale
  • I keep review units to ensure long-term testing and comparisons

No Paid Reviews: Manufacturers never see reviews before publication, and they don't influence ratings. If brands don't agree with my terms, I won't work with them. Over the last few years I've stopped working with some for even rushing me when I'm busy. I'm here to enjoy doing this and to help people, not profit.

Encouragingly, the overwhelming majority of brands agree to these terms. Obviously, I cannot fund the channel 100% out of my own pocket, so to help pay for new earbuds I sell some of what I receive to fellow audio enthusiasts at a vastly reduced rate after the comparison window is shut (e.g. when Air Pro 5 is released and I finish the comparison, I sell Air Pro 4 and keep Air Pro 5 until Air Pro 6). I receive a small kick-back from affiliate links but they're not specific to that product (i.e. if you buy something else, I still get a small percentage). I also accept donations via Ko-Fi if you feel like my reviews have helped you in some way.

Connect With Me

Support the Site

My reviews take a long time to create, and I don't fill them calls to action, requests to 'like and subscribe', references to content behind a paywall, etc! So instead, I'm going to beg for your recognition here! If you find my content helpful:

  • 🛒 Use my affiliate links when purchasing (costs you nothing extra)
  • 👍 Like the videos and subscribe on YouTube
  • ☕ Buy me a coffee on Ko-Fi!

Last updated: November 2025