ZIIGAAT CINNO: Penta-driver IEM with Intriguing Tonality

Oi! mates, I would like to present another product review article for this month and this one is from ZIIGAAT. I previously did a product review on this audio brand and in my opinion, I find it quite a performer for its price as it is also quite a budget-friendly one that gives a good sound quality.

If you are curious about what the word ZIIGAAT means as it sounds more like a random salad letter but there's a meaning to this. It means Zero-in on Ideas, Innovate, Growth and Achieve All Together (it is quite a wordy one) and it seems that it is also this audio company's philosophy on pursuing audio excellence.

This is ZIIGAAT Cinno, this is their entry-level offering with a hybrid driver configuration. This model has a standard set-up consisting of a single dynamic driver and 4 balanced armature drivers which make a total number of 5 drivers (in my own speculation, Cinno was supposedly to be name “Cinco” which means “five” in both Spanish and Portuguese cardinal number as it pertains to a number of drivers that were implemented inside). The dynamic driver is a 10mm dual-chambered with a LCP diaphragm which will be solely responsible for lows while the rest of the frequencies will be handled by “custom” balanced armature drivers. These drivers were connected into a passive crossover network to deliver a more cohesive and harmonious sonic quality.

The drivers were encapsulated in a modified UIEM-style acrylic resin shell chassis whose size is quite compact that it offers a better fitting and comfort into my lugholes with its lightweight. The choice of its size is ergonomically well-thought out on how it rests well into my ear canal to give the best secured fitting and to achieve a good noise passive isolation. The overall design of the shell appears to be more minimalist with a company logo printed on its faceplate.

This set uses a 0.78 bi-pin connector as it is more of a standard where you can interchange it with other third-party cables easily. Speaking of its stock cable, this one one is actually quite good for its asking price as this one has a 2-core silver-plated copper wirings that were insulated with PVC coating and its termination plug is a standard 3.5mm single-ended that underwent a gold-plating process for better resistance on corrosion and better conductivity.

The product packaging of ZIIGAAT Cinno is rather spartan with bare-bones inclusion inside. It was packed in a small box with a theme design that harkened back to the 80's theme.

Here are following contents inside the box:

● Pair of ZIIGAAT Cinno IEM

● Stock cable

● Extra 2 pairs of ear tips of different standard sizes.

● Warranty certificate

On power scaling, this set can be amplified by devices with decent power output like smartphones and tablets but you need to crank a bit of a volume level just to add more amplitude scale to sound more fuller with better dynamics.

As for tonality, The ZIIGAAT Cinno has a sonic profile of having a mild u-shaped sound in a warmish-balanced tuning which gives us a taste of musical analogue-ish vintage sound. In my ears, there's a slight emphasis on lows, a linear yet a tad warm midrange and an even and smooth treble response.

LOWS/BASS:

It appears that bass response of this set is quite well-balanced as it presents both sub-bass and mid-bass equally on the overall sound of its frequency spectrum. It has punchy, lucid and cleanliness on its bass response where it has a good rumble and reverberation on its sub-bass that were produced by instruments such as synthesisers, drum machines and low tone bass guitars.

Mid-bass appears to have an ample texture and is somehow well-controlled as it gives some adequate note weight on bass kick drums, bass guitars and bass-baritone vocals. Bass kick drums have a thudding and rumbling albeit there are some instances that they sound a bit hollow, bass guitars seem to have resonant and sombre sound on them on fretting, slapping or strumming on its strings, and then on bass-baritones vocals appears to have a decent depth as their voices have some rumbling and resonant but it has a less darker tone and weight on it.

MIDRANGE:

While it appears that the midrange presentation is quite linear and just a little bit recessed, it has a warmth and ample texture that will benefit mostly on male vocals and some instruments like brasses. But I also noticed that it is also less energetic, insufficiently bright and lacks liveliness to the point its sound lacklustre that affects the expressiveness and intensity on most type female vocals, strings and woodwinds.

As I mentioned that it will be more appealing to male vocals as baritones have smooth and warm sound on them with decent depth on volume while tenors, depends of a some certain subtypes have rich, dense and emotive that will beneficial on dramatic tenors and heldentenors, but on spinto, lyric and leggiero tenors sounds less brighter, ringing and dazzling that was part of their distinctive timbre, and then on countertenors, they have a tender and graceful voices but it sounds less affectionate and appeal. On females vocals, contraltos have rich and lushness on their vocal quality while the mezzo-sopranos have a quite too smooth and velvety sound on their vocal but like the countertenors, it is lacking of emotion and less expressive sound. The soprano vocals seems the particular vocal type that take the hit on how this set was tuned, while it sound decently on dramatic sopranos as they have an emotive, sweet and rich vocals on them, but on lyric, soubrette and coloratura sopranos, they sound a bit subdued and lethargic as they definitely lack of gleaming and shining qualities on them.

As for instruments, the brasses have an ample density and warmth on their tonal colour as trumpets have full and substantial sound on them while the horns have rounded and ponderous sound, and trombones have solid and tense and yet in some cases, it has softness on their notation attack. Percussives like snares, tom-toms, field drums and kettledrums, a shuffling sound on snares, a warm and resonant sound on tom-toms, a sonorous yet sombre sound on field drums and a dull and mellow sound on kettledrums. Woodwinds like piccolos, concert flutes and clarinets sounds less brighter, too soft and melancholic respectively while strings like guitars and violins, they sound too warm and buttery as it lacks of crisp and ceiling sound on the guitars and  a less vibrant and austere sounding of violins. Meanwhile, pianos' sound somehow has a balanced tone but less expressive and a bit less engaging sounding.

HIGHS/TREBLE:

It appears that upper-mids up to the presence in the treble region are attenuated and a bit smooth and too relaxed sounding that its sound borderline dark that some vocal definition and instrumental attacks sounds a bit distant, dull and lacks finesse. In other words, it sounds too safe that it wont give us more engaging and crisper sound but somehow its intended tuning will be more friendly towards treble-sensitive folk out there as it doesn't have some edgy, sharp and piercing sound that harshness and sibilances are practically devoid.

On the brilliance part of the treble region, sparkle is quite  inadequate and the airy extension seems rather modest as it somehow affects the tonal colour of some instruments. Cymbals strike sounds soughing and lustrous while hi-hats lose some of its sizzle and buzzing sound. Glockenspiels sound rather lustrous than brilliant that they should sound while celestas have too soft or glassy sound on them.

SOUNDSTAGE, IMAGING AND OTHER TECHNICALITIES:

Overall, it has an average to above average sound/speaker stage size as I perceive a good height and depth while a moderate wideness from left to right as it gives me fairly middling headroom.

While it presented me a concave-like presentation on stereo imaging as I was able to estimate the positioning of vocals and instrument but not the most accurate way to be discernible as I struggled a bit . Another thing that I should address on this set regarding of technical aspect is the layering, while it has a decent separation of instruments, the layering is a bit vague and less refined as it projects a rather two layers than usual 3 or more tonal and frequency  arrangement that will affect the playback quality of some complex multi-instrumental tracks like orchestras or jazz that they might sound muddled, disarrayed or distorted.

Somehow its hybrid driver seems to have a good cohesive performance; it delivers a fast, precise and crisp sound. Meanwhile on resolution capabilities, while it has textured and good tension on macro-dynamics but on micro-detailing aspect, it is quite a bit blunted as it wasn't able to extract much of nuances and intricacies of infos from an audio track.

PEER COMPARISONS:

SIMGOT EM6L

● Like the Cinno, It also has five (5) hybrid driver set-up as it consists of one (1)  dynamic driver and four (4) balanced armature driver set-up. The difference are that this set has a shell made of metal chassis and it uses a QDC-type 2-pin connector. It appears that it has better accessories but it is quite more pricey.

● EM6L follows a usual popular tuning that most sets have in this price range, the Harman target curve. It has more sub-bass focus tuning just like a typical Harman tuning, a leaner, cleaner yet a bit dry midrange and an accented upper-mids to presence part of religion that gives for crisp, brighter and detail on some female vocals and instruments and a bit airier treble extension compared to Cinno.

● As for technicalities, EM6L has some similarities with Cinno in terms of performance but stereo imaging is somehow superior to the former and it has even better separation, though layering capabilities on both sets are comparable.

TANGZU FU DU VERSE I

● Another hybrid driver IEM that is also comparable with the Cinno as it has also a acrylic resin shell but the difference was that FU DU has a lesser quantity of drivers as it has one (1) dynamic driver and two (2) balanced armature drivers and also it has a metal alloy faceplate. And also, FU DU has more inclusions and it has better stock ear tips to choose from.

● FU DU has a U-shaped warmish-balanced tuning similar to the Cinno but it has more texture, more depth and even warmer tuning. It has more body on its bass and midrange as it has more authority and impactful bass response, warmer and lush midrange. In treble response, despite smoothness and relaxed treble response, it appears that it has a bit more elevation on the upper-mids but the treble air appears to have modest extension just like the Cinno.

● On the technical side, FU DU has a similar technical performance with the Cinno from sound/speaker staging, stereo imaging, separation and layering. Though on resolution capability, FU DU have more solid macro-dynamics and a tad better micro-detail retrieval than Cinno.

As I will deliver a final verdict about this product, it appears that ZIIGAAT has a different approach on how this set will be marketed in an even more tighter and competitive portable audio market. While most and current IEMs in under $200 that still aligns with popular tuning curve that is too familiar due to its safe tuning and became a bit more stale, ZIIGAAT offers a set with an alternative tuning which sounds somehow balanced with good musicality and more engaging that a treble-sensitives folk will surely enjoy although it will probably appealing to most experienced audio enthusiast out there due to some inherent lacklustre aspect on its intended tuning.

ZIIGAAT Cinno is now available at LINSOUL, check out the unaffiliated link that I have provided below.

★★ZIIGAAT CINNO - LINSOUL★★

SPECIFICATION:

MODEL: ZIIGAAT CINNO

IMPEDANCE: 32Ω

SENSITIVITY: 107dB

FREQUENCY RESPONSE: 20Hz – 20KHz

CABLE LENGTH: 1.2M

PIN TYPE: 0.78mm 2-PIN CONNECTOR

PLUG TYPE: 3.5mm

DRIVER UNIT(S): (1) DYNAMIC DRIVER + (4) BALANCED ARMATURE DRIVERS

PROS:

● Compact yet fairly solid acrylic resin shell chassis.

● Its size gives a quite comfortable wear and offers a good noise isolation.

● Good quality stock cable.

● Atypical kind of tuning which is quite uncommon within its price segment.

● Punchy and well-controlled bass response

● Lush and velvety midrange.

● Apparently it has a natural tone and timbre  on male vocals and brass instruments.

● Smooth treble response

● Not a hint of sibilance or harshness at all.

● Some of its technical aspects appear to be capable enough for its price.

● A good recommendation for treble-sensitive folk out there.

CONS:

● Inclusions are quite meagre for its price segment.

● Too smooth and relaxed treble tuning will not give that crisp, energetic and definition on some female vocals and instruments, especially woodwinds and strings.

● A bit dull, a tad muted and less engaging tonality for adherent treble heads.

● Definitely needs more improvement on accuracy on stereo imaging, separation and layering.

● Not the best on micro-detail retrieval for a hybrid set in this price segment.

Some Tracks Tested: ( * = 16-bit FLAC, ** = 24-bit FLAC, *'* = MQA, '*' = DSD, *'= .WAV)

Alison Krauss -When You Say Nothing At All *

Jade Wiedlin - Blue Kiss**

Led Zeppelin - When The Levee Breaks **

Mountain - Mississippi Queen *

Queen - Killer Queen **

Guns N' Roses - Patience *'*

Eric Clapton - Tears in Heaven '*'

Sergio Mendes- Never Gonna Let You Go '*'

Pearl Jam - Daughter **

Roselia - Hidamari Rhodonite *

Assassin - Fight (To Stop The Tyranny)*

Celtic Frost- Visual Aggression *

New Order - Blue Monday *

The Corrs- What Can I do (unplugged version) *

Jimi Hendrix Experience - Voodoo Child *

The Madness- Buggy Trousers *

Metallica - Motorbreath **

Mariah Carey- Always Be My Baby *

Destiny's Child - Say My Name *

Malice Mizer- Au Revoir *

Mozart - Lacrimosa *

New York Philharmonic Orchestra - Dvorak- Symphony 9 " From the New World." *

Eva Cassidy - Fields of Gold (Sting cover)*

Michael Jackson - Give In To Me *

Exciter - Violence and Force *

Diana Krall - Stop This World **

Debbie Gibson - Foolish Beat *'*

The Sisters of Mercy – Lucretia My Reflection**

Suzanne Vega – Luka **

Lauren Christy – Steep *

Ottoman Mehter - Hucum Marsi *

Diana Damrau - Mozart: Die Zauberflöte*

P.S.

I am not affiliated to ZIIGAAT nor receive monetary incentives and financial gains as they provide me a review unit for an exchange of factual and sincere feedback from yours truly.

Once again, I would like to send my gratitude to KAREENA TANG from LINSOUL for providing this review unit. I truly appreciate her generosity and trust towards me and other reviewers.