Pros: Superlative upper mids, superlative treble, cymbals and violins are voiced wonderfully, drum timbre, excellent instrument separation, good stage depth, nice looks, well-controlled bass with good extension, beautiful leather case, Linum SuperBaX cable has great sound and fantastic ergonomics, less wax build-up with porcelain Cons: touch of warmth can lean a bit away from neutral,... Continue Reading →
Double Helix Cables Symbiote SP v3 OCC Silver Type 4 Litz IEM Cable (8-Braid): extravagantly beautiful
Pros: Gorgeous, top notch wire, refreshing company, excellent resolution and stage, made in USA (for those who care) Cons: Expensive, law of diminishing returns, slight treble emphasis List Price: $789.99 (for 8-braid, $409.99 for quad braid) Product Website: https://doublehelixcables.com/product/dhc-symbiote-sp-v3-occ-silver-type-4-litz-iem-cable/ Rating Disclaimer: ratings are subjective. Audio quality and value do not mean the same thing across... Continue Reading →
Indulgence Show 2017: luscious speakers, hot headphones and cool IEMs. Time to listen. (Part 3)
This was the first show I went to as a member of the press, so I should press on, however slow. Audio Sanctuary and all the other sponsors put on a helluva show and I enjoyed myself, in spite of never feeling like I had enough time to explore everything while having the conversations I... Continue Reading →
Effect Audio Ares II+: Smooth shimmering heavy metal value
Pros: Beautiful, a bit more airy and detailed than stock cable, smoothed some sharper treble on Kaiser Encore, perfect size pins, precise tight bass with good impact, bigger stage than stock Cons: chunky, a bit heavy on the ear, paint wears off easily, 2-pin connector shell is glued List Price: $219.90 Acknowledgment I received the... Continue Reading →
Unboxing: Double Helix Cables Symbiote SP V3 OCC Silver Type 4 Litz IEM Cable 8-braid
Peter Bradstock of Double Helix Cables doesn't bullshit. He just makes awesome cables from the most conductive materials available. He uses OCC and Type 4 Litz because these improve sound not because they look fancy. Peter is super refreshing to talk to. He doesn't sell snake-oil, he just sells well-made (in the USA) cables that... Continue Reading →
Shanling M2s gear gallery and first impressions: a pint-sized performer
In a little bit of a different take on gear galleries, this post has some initial impressions. Things I like: Tiny. Super tiny. This thing is smaller than a pack of cards. It looks like the perfect mate to a Mojo. Can be used as external DAC Bluetooth receive and transmit (Cayin N3 does this... Continue Reading →