Meze 109 Pro – wooden wonder

Pic courtesy of Meze Audio website Introduction and acknowledgements Meze Audio are a brand I have known about for some time. What initially started as a Romanian boutique manufacturer making “off the shelf” headphone models back in 2009 has turned into one of the premier headphone and in ear manufacturers in the audiophile space. The... Continue Reading →

August 3, 2024 0

Spirit Torino Twin Pulse Beryllium (IEM) – so good they designed it twice

Tech specs Technology: Twin Pulse isobaric System Driver: 2x 10mm beryllium coated dynamic drivers Cable length: 1.2m Litz 392 cores OCC silver-plated + 8cores silver Impedance: 16 ohms Frequency response: 14-33.000 Hz calibrated on Isophonic curves Weight: (without cable) 6 g Efficiency: 114 dB@1k HZ, 1mW Price: 899 GBP (similar in euros) (Pic courtesy of... Continue Reading →

September 24, 2023 0

Dunu DK-4001 -hybrid excellence

Introduction and acknowledgment Dunu are a Chinese brand that as a UK based audiophile I had heard a lot about over the last few years, but not actually managed to hear until pretty recently. Coming across their Falcon-C model (review here) at Canjam London 2018, I was impressed enough with their approach to tuning and... Continue Reading →

August 26, 2019 0

Flares Gold – gold plated sound

Pros: organic tonality, detailed but not analytical sound, resolution, balanced tuning, bling factor, excellent imaging, stellar Bluetooth implementation Cons: Bespoke cable limits swapping options, apart from shells build isn't "premium", possibly too neutral for some, "audiophile" foam tips very fragile Price: £999 (Flare Audio website) Specifications Introduction I've always been fascinated by IEM technology various different... Continue Reading →

March 1, 2019 0

Campfire Audio Cascade – substance with style

Pros: Solid metal construction, stellar bass, outstanding physical texture to the sound, big sound, musical but balanced tuning, emotive midrange, crisp treble Cons: Bass will be too much for some, have to detach cables to fold and stow in carry case, pretty much nothing else Price: $799 Product site: https://campfireaudio.com/shop/cascade/ Acknowledgement These headphones have been provided... Continue Reading →

April 20, 2018 6

Focal Utopia: unboxing and initial impressions

After reviewing the HiFiMAN Susvara, I wondered, and I'm sure many readers on this blog wondered, which of the Focal Utopia and the Susvara would be king of the mountain. Unfortunately, during the Susvara review, I didn't have both on hand to compare. Now I do, but I'm not going to tell you the result... Continue Reading →