iFi iDSD Signature is a glorious transportable DAC/amp.
iFi Micro iDSD Signature review: Swiss Army knife of headphone audio 2.0
HiFiMAN Jade II Electrostatic Headphone and Amplifier Review: inviting electrostat
Pros: Silky mids, balanced sound signature, fluid and detailed treble, treble that contrasts favourably to other electrostats, comfortable earpads, lightweight, that cool jade green dust-cover on the drivers Cons: Tangle prone flat cable, amp isn’t completely silent and takes several hours to warm up (leave it on if you like listening), not as comfortable as... Continue Reading →
iBasso DC02 vs. xDuoo LinK Review: little dongles that can
Introduction I never expected that I’d be reviewing two USB-C dongles when I already have a pretty good phone for audio, but here I am with two units bestowed by HiFiGo to compare in the circa $50 portable DAC/Amp market. I’m looking forward to seeing how these do in a quick set of tests. Specifications... Continue Reading →
SOUNDAWARE P1 Headphone Amplifier Review: big power, big performance
Pros: Powerful (drives Susvara easily), clean neutral sound, transparent, compact, nice construction with no visible screws, attractive smokey glass display top, balanced inputs and outputs alongside single ended inputs and outputs, 2 gain settings Cons: Not very useful as pre-amp due to no remote control, not built for low impedance sensitive IEMs, input selection button... Continue Reading →
Aune S6: warm, thick, impressive low end grunt
Pros: Full bodied sound, nice information display, balanced inputs and outputs, digital numeric volume display Cons: single-ended sound is foggy, soft treble, only DSD128 (DoP), volume control has no feel to it, could have more bass and treble extension List Price: $569 (Penon Audio, affiliate link) Product Website: http://en.auneaudio.com Rating Disclaimer: ratings are subjective. Audio... Continue Reading →
XIAUDIO (Eleven Audio) Formula S: Power and clarity sublimated
Pros: Crystal clear, exceptional imaging and depth, resolution and detail (especially bass texture) power for HiFiMAN Susvara, grace for Focal Utopia, excellent outputs, built like a tank Cons: not for low impedance high sensitivity IEMs, price List Price: $3499 Product Website: http://www.theevolutionofsound.com/xiaudio-formula-s/ Introduction Alex Twister introduced me to Michael Xiao, proprietor of Eleven Audio, formerly... Continue Reading →
iFi Nano iDSD Black Label: great genes in this DAC family, wallet happy price
Pros: Excellent transparent sound, small size, outstanding price, driving power for HD600, iEMatch built in, iPurifier built in, excellent 3.5mm line-out, two good filters, huge format compatibility Cons: Silk-screen writing is damn near impossible to read, doesn’t come with short OTG cable (one would be better than none), doesn’t come with USB3.0 adaptor so not... Continue Reading →
CMOYBB DIY kit by JDS Labs
Acknowledgement JDS Labs provided me with this kit to build and review. Big thanks to John for helping to support the DIY ecosystem and make the review possible! Introduction The CMoy amplifier, first published in 2001 by its namesake Chu Moy, is a mainstay of DIY headphone amplification. This humble amp has sailed a thousand... Continue Reading →
Pocket Class A DIY Headphone Amp by XRK971
I crossed paths with XRK971 a few months ago on the diyaudio.com forums as we worked concurrently on Class A single-ended headphone designs. Although we did not collaborate and our parts choices differed, our overall topologies share a strong resemblance. After chatting a bit, we exchanged some parts so that each could hear what the... Continue Reading →
glassmonkey
jackpot77
TheOneInYellow
trekasaurus
Timothy Cose
Audio Primate 