Flares Pro: the best Bluetooth headphones I’ve heard

Pros: Extraordinarily clear in Bluetooth, excellent resolution and speed, accurate timbre, black background, completely non-fatiguing, tiny and comfortable, cool packaging, super ergonomic tips, great Bluetooth range and battery life Cons: rolled off sub-bass, microphonic cable, USB micro, prone to electrical interference in Bluetooth, ugly poor quality cables List Price: £349 ($399) Product Website: https://www.flareaudio.com/products/flares Rating... Continue Reading →

October 1, 2018 0

AKG N90Q – the tunable TOTL over-ear

Pros: Tunable sound, noise cancelling in a TOTL headphone, high detail levels, dynamic sound, packed with unusual tech, bomb proof storage case and bags of accessories Cons: Tuning capability less useful at the extremes, flimsy 2.5mm cable connectors, thin cables, onboard DAC not same quality as rest of package, slightly dry tinge to the sound... Continue Reading →

May 21, 2018 0

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 →

March 29, 2018 0

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 →

March 14, 2018 2

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 →

March 9, 2018 0

1MORE MK802 Bluetooth Headphone: Rock The Bass Boost! Roll the features.

Pros: Bass boost switch is awesome and sure to be a huge crowd pleaser, excellent battery life and range, neutral presentation, flexibility, nice looks Cons: App is not useful, average soundstage, slightly recessed mids, some physical ear fatigue, bass cut switch is nasty List Price: $149.99 (Amazon) Rating Disclaimer: ratings are subjective. Audio quality and... Continue Reading →

February 2, 2018 0

Unique Melody ME.1: a spacious stage with an organic and euphonic sound

Pros: Big sound stage, smooth organic sound, no harshness to be found, euphonic, comfortable, open but not leaky Cons: Some detail is lost to give the euphonic sound, not extended on either side of the audio spectrum, source has bigger than average impact on sound (matching is important), isolation, big shell will not fit some... Continue Reading →

January 15, 2018 4

The HiFiMAN Susvara – a breathtakingly beautiful and breathtakingly expensive headphone

Pros: Detailed like an electron microscope, mostly flat frequency response, excellent sound stage height/depth/width, layering and instrument separation, incisive speed without excess, impeccable attack and decay, like being there (miniaturised) Cons: $6000, $6000, difficult to drive well (I still don’t know if I did) List Price: $6000 Product website: http://store.hifiman.com/index.php/susvara.html Introduction I’ve been a big... Continue Reading →

December 28, 2017 7

RHA CL1: the Richard Dawkins of IEMs: insensitive, brilliant, and not everyone’s cup of tea

Pros: Excellent clarity and treble extension, good quality and quantity of bass Cons: intimate sound-stage; recessed mids; some mids details fade, veil or disappear; underdriven by many DACs and DAPs; need forward mids to sound totally right List Price: £349.95 (on RHA’s website)($449.95 from Moon audio in USA) Acknowledgment The RHA CL1 was provided to... Continue Reading →