Pros: I can listen to sensitive IEMs on the Questyle QP2R now without being swallowed by hiss, nice diamond dust feel and look to the casing, simple to use, lightweight, takes pressure off of 2.5mm jack Cons: 2.5mm jack isn’t flush with barrel, original iEMatch less expensive List Price: $69 Product Website: https://ifi-audio.com/portfolio-view/accessory-iematch2-5 Rating Disclaimer:... Continue Reading →
Audeze iSINE 10 – a DSPlanar in ear experience
Pros: Open sound, that planar bass texture, clarity resolution for the price, no distortion audible at any volume, ability to take EQ like a chameleon Cons: Fit is fiddly, lack of isolation, need EQ applied to sound their best (either Cipher cable or parametric) List Price: $399 Product Website: https://www.audeze.com/products/isine-series/isine10-ear-headphone Rating Disclaimer: ratings are subjective.... Continue Reading →
QP2R Cases: Miter vs. Spyker
Introduction The Questyle QP2R is a nice-looking piece of kit, and I want to keep it that way, so I was already looking for a case for it before anybody offered me one to review. I looked at Dignis, but they were way expensive, unavailable, or both. I looked at Miter, but I wasn’t sure... Continue Reading →
Interview with Tatco Ma of Lear
Introduction I like to reach out to companies that I view as doing innovative things. I gained interest in 64Audio when they worked with ADEL to relieve pneumatic pressure on the tympanic membrane with the potential to save hearing. I followed Noble for their gorgeous designs. I checked out oBravo because they were the first... Continue Reading →
Focal Elear: dynamism with a dash of French flair
Pros: Incredible dynamics and punch, crisp and detailed sound, good balance through the frequencies, rock solid build and comfort, decent bass weight, highly engaging sound Cons: Small soundstage for an open-back, dip in upper mids may not be to everyone’s taste, “always on” dynamics make this a little excitable for more mellow genres Price: £769 ($799,... Continue Reading →
Dawnwood GT-36, unboxing and initial impressions, $50 IEM shootout
$50 IEM shootout pre-amble One of the coolest phenomenons in audio right now is the big improvements moving forward in the budget sector. $100 headphones can and do compete with $400 headphones, and $25 headphones sometimes compete with $200 headphones. It’s a great time to be an audiophile, even if your budget isn’t as large... Continue Reading →
Ausdom M05: Not Just Good Bluetooth Headphones, Good Headphones. Perfect for night-time movies.
Pros: good soundstage and imaging, forward mids (excellent for movies), nice mids for drums/percussion/vocals, engaging sound, good aptX Bluetooth implementation, easy controls Cons: midbass bleed, leaky, bit of bass looseness, some static and transmission artefacts, forward mids (if you aren't into that) List Price: $40 (Amazon) Product Website: https://www.ausdom.com/ Rating Disclaimer: ratings are subjective. Audio quality and... Continue Reading →
Bristol Sound & Vision 2018: Pioneer, Audio Technica, Quad, Ophidian Audio, Acoustic Energy, Prism Sound (part 2)
Read further for tiny speakers with big sound and professional audio produced for consumers. There's headphones too. Pioneer The Pioneer setup was running the SE-Master 1 (£1699) from the Pioneer U-05 (£540) DAC/Headphone Amp combo with the Pioneer XDP-300R (£459). I’ve checked all these elements out before, but haven’t covered them for the blog. I... Continue Reading →
Penon IEM (v2) – unboxing and initial impressions ($25 IEM shootout)
$25 IEM shootout pre-amble One of the coolest phenomenons in audio right now is the big improvements moving forward in the budget sector. $100 headphones can and do compete with $400 headphones, and $25 headphones sometimes compete with $200 headphones. It’s a great time to be an audiophile, even if your budget isn’t as large... Continue Reading →