VE Monk+ first impressions, $25 IEM shootout

Yep, it's another earbud, and this one might be the most famous earbud outside of the ones that come with an iPhone. The VE Monk+ are made by Venture Electronics, the baby of Wild Lee, as he's known on Facebook. Venture Electronics has quite a following because Lee tells it how he sees it and... Continue Reading →

August 15, 2018 12

Jackpot77’s Canjam London 2018 impressions (part one) – StealthSonics, JH Audio, InEar, Jomo Audio

Introduction There is a special place in most European Head-Fi'ers hearts for the global institution that is Canjam. Living in a country where trialling in ear monitors in most stores is prohibited on hygeine grounds, it is the one time of year where you can get to hear all of the new stuff from brands... Continue Reading →

August 3, 2018 3

Magaosi BK50 unboxing and first impressions, $50 IEM shootout

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 as you’d like it... Continue Reading →

August 3, 2018 15

TY Hi-Z HP-32 first impressions, $25 IEM shootout

Introduction Now I know, some of you have looked at the picture and the product that I'm doing impressions for this week and have gone: "that's not an IEM, that's an earbud!" I regret to inform you that there is a substantial proportion of the population that thinks that any in ear speaker is an... Continue Reading →

August 1, 2018 10

CanJam London 2018, Part 2: Chord, Meze, Campfire, Cayin, HiFiMAN, ZMF Audio, Effect Audio, DITA, 64Audio, Advanced Sound, Jerry Harvey Audio, AKG

One day! So much to do. Better get right into it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6auk1TkGtVQ Chord + Meze The Meze Empyrean, Meze's upcoming $3000 flagship was dotted all over the floor. Meze even had their own room. I never made it upstairs to that room, but I was listening to some Campfire Audio gear with the HiFi Headphones... Continue Reading →

July 30, 2018 3

xDuoo EP1 initial impression, $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 →

July 27, 2018 13

FiiO F1 first 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 →

July 25, 2018 10

CanJam London 2018, Part 1: Vision Ears, Shanling, Unique Melody, Jomo Audio, Empire Ears, JPS Labs, and 600 Reapers

This year I only had one day for CanJam, so I made a checklist of things that I wanted to hear and the pictures I needed to take. I had 34 items on my list to hit in a little over 8 hours. I hit that number, I think, but not all the ones I... Continue Reading →