Views 3,526 Dan Clark Audio Expanse is a $3999 USD pair of high-end flagship headphones designed around Dan Clark Audio’s all-new 4th generation of planar magnetic drivers and the company’s breakthrough in Acoustic Metamaterial Tuning system, delivering a stunning presentation and depth. Today we will review the new DCA Expanse …
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HIFIMAN EF499 HiFi DAC Headphone AMP Review – Music Nectar Sweet Spot
Views 4,636 HIFIMAN EF499 is a $299 USD Entry-Level R-2R DAC / Headphone Amplifier, with a powerful 4.35 W headphone output, and a full-black, vertical design. Given the price point, and the quality of the unit, we will also compare the EF499 with other similarly priced DAC / AMPs, including …
FiiO FT1 HiFi Headphones Review – Wooden Temple Of Dynamics
Views 6,875 FiiO FT1 is a $159 USD pair of over-the-ear headphones with wooden earcups, detachable cable and dynamic drivers, made from American walnut solid-wood cups, and today we will review the FT1 and explore where they stand in the vast world of headphones and if they’re fit to be …
Creative Sound Blaster AE-9 PCIe Sound Card – Ultimate 32-Bit Xamp Music Explosion
Views 5,651 Creative Sound Blaster AE-9 is a $350 USD PCIe Internal Sound Card with an external console controller, a full audio kit designed to be your DAC/AMP with a rich selection of software features, as well as lots of driving power, Xamp, BiAMP, Line Out, and many more features …
EPZ x Tipsy Star One Hi Fi IEMs – Xingxiao No. 1 Beaming Iridescence
Views 9,540 EPZ x Tipsy Star One is a $89 USD entry-level level pair of IEMs, with a high impedance, high sensitivity, dual magnetic circuit dual cavity dynamic driver. Today we will review the Star One and explore how it sounds like as well as how it compares to the …
HIFIMAN Mini Shangri-La Headphone System – Brilliant Electrostatic HIFI Delight
Views 24,686 HIFIMAN Mini Shangri-La is a 2300 USD Electrostatic headphone system, composed of the Mini Shangri-La Headphones which cost 1100 USD, and the Electrostatic Amplifier which costs 1500 USD, with the system having a better price combined than if you bought each individually. Today we are going to review …
ECdesigns PowerDAC-SX Stereo HIFI Integrated DAC – Ultimate Levels Of Power And Control
Views 27,968 ECdesigns PowerDAC-SX is a 3450 EURO / $3700 USD DAC which can directly drive speakers, and balanced headphones without using any amplifiers. It comes with a remote, and it is one of the most interesting and unique stereo sound reproduction solutions in the whole world. Today we will …
Burson PlayMate 2 DAC / AMP – Incredible Efficiency And Precision
Views 24,880 Burson Playmate 2 is a $544 USD DAC / Headphone Amplifier, with a huge driving power for headphones, and a full metallic chassis, but also with modular OP-AMPs for you to tune and sound and enjoy it in your own favorite flavor. Today we will review the PlayMate …
HIFIMAN Svanar Wireless LE Luxury Edition – Chocolate Case For Punchy Sound
Views 19,554 HIFIMAN Svanar Wireless LE Luxury Edition is a $199 USD pair of TWS or True Wireless In-Ear Monitors / IEMs, with a Luxury build, including a beautiful brown transport case, the same IEM shells as all the other Svanar wireless on the outside, but a different tuning and …
HIFIMAN Prelude Pre / Amp – Bold Leader Headphone Amplifier
Views 31,121 HIFIMAN Prelude is a $2499 USD full Class A Headphone Amplifier, with a Mos-Fet High Current Output, which can convert even the single ended input to fully balanced, with ALPS Potentiometer, and a whopping 10W of power into a 32 OHM impedance. We are reviewing the leader of …
Hiby R4 Hifi Android DAP – Class A AMP, 4-Way DAC
Views 22,870 Hiby R4 is a $249 USD high-quality DAP or Digital Audio Player, with a 4-Way DAC configuration, Class A Headphone Amplifier, and with a beautiful, industrial and ergonomic design. Today we will test it in-depth and compare the R4 to other similarly priced DAPs, including Hiby Digital M300 …
Creative Sound Blaster X5 – Delightful Music Comes From Unexpected DAC / AMP / Sound Card
Views 22,045 Creative Sound Blaster X5 is a $299 USD high-quality Sound Card / DAC / AMP mainly aimed at gamers and audiophiles, or rather a hybrid of the two, with a 4.4mm balanced headphone output, RCA outputs, mic input, and with a selection of other features that may come …
Aune Yuki DAC / AMP – Beautiful Looking But Serious Sounding Dongle
Views 23,028 Aune Yuki is a $179 USD Dongle DAC AMP with a dual DAC inside, and with a 4 x 4 Transistors design. Today we will be reviewing the Yuki and comparing it to other dongles and similarly priced sources including Hiby R3 II (179 USD), Audioengine D1 (169 …
IKKO ITX05 Docking Station – Super Visuals, Better Sound
Views 18,933 IKKO ITX05 is a $349 USD docking station, with a 4.4mm balanced headphone output, USB DAC functions, and a few other interesting features under the hood. Today we will focus on reviewing it, and comparing it to other high-quality USB DAC/AMPs including Aune X1s GT (349 USD), ifi …
FiiO BTR15 Bluetooth Receiver – Absolutely Wireless DAC/AMP
Views 34,512 FiiO BTR15 is a $119 USD / EURO Bluetooth DAC / AMP / Receiver, with a super light design, and an upgrade from the popular BTR5 model, with an improved design and overall abilities. Today we are putting it to test, diving into an in-depth review, and comparing …
Tozo Golden X1 TWS – Hybrid Bluetooth ANC LDAC Sound
Views 23,964 Tozo Golden X1 is a $149 USD pair of IEMs or in-ear monitors, with an interesting transport case that has a display to tell you how much battery they have left, with a hybrid BA + 12mm dynamic driver setup, and with some of the better ergonomics out …
HIFIMAN EF600 DAC / Headphone AMP – Towering R2R Music Excellence
Views 28,022 HIFIMAN EF600 is a $799 USD high-end desktop DAC / Headphone amplifier, with a vertical design, Himalaya Ladder DACs, and with a design to maximize desktop space. Today we will be reviewing it and comparing it to other high-end desktop DAC/AMPs, including Aune S9C PRO (699 USD), FiiO …
Shanling UA1 Plus Dongle DAC – Driving Power Figuratively Speaking
Views 27,385 Shanling UA1 Plus is a $49 USD Dongle DAC AMP with a Dual CS43131 DAC, and high resolution decoding abilities. Today we’re going to be reviewing it, and also compare it to Shanling UA2 Plus (89 USD), ddHIFI TC35C (49 USD), and iFi Go Link (59 USD). …
Aperion Audio RST MKII – 3-Inch Aluminum Ribbon Super Tweeter Precision Master
Views 29,814 Aperion Audio RST MKII is a $649 USD / 649 EURO pair of supertweeters, designed for bringing some extra high-end extension, air and clarity to any speaker system. The price is for a pair, and sadly I don’t really have anything similar to compare them to, but what …
Sennheiser IE900 Flagship In-Ear Monitors – Orchestral Majesty
Views 32,157 Sennheiser Ie900 is the $1499 USD flagship IEM designed by the ultra-popular audio company Sennheiser, which comes with both balanced and SE cables, a single dynamic driver, and with one of the best designs we’ve seen out there. Today we will be reviewing them, and also comparing the …
HIFIMAN Arya Organic – Stealth, Nano, And Comfort
Views 29,090 HIFIMAN Arya Organic is a $1299 USD pair of open-back planar magnetic headphones, with exceptional sonic performance, good price / performance ratio, and the latest iteration of the HIFIAN Arya series. While we already reviewed the Ananda Nano, and it was the most pleasing of the Nano series, …
Letshuoer Cadenza 12 – Wise But Delicate Flagship
Views 28,295 Letshuoer Cadenza 12 is a $ 2299 USD Flagship IEM or In-Ear Monitor with twelve drivers playing in each ear, a titanium chassis, and a six-way electronic Crossover, five acoustic bores, and the top performer from Letshuoer. It comes to challenge all the other flagship IEMs so today …
SVS Prime Wireless Pro Powered Speakers – Hifi Magic All Inclusive
Views 29,423 SVS Prime Wireless Pro is a $899 USD (internationally, without VAT), 4999 RON (Romania, AVstore, final price) pair of high-end speakers with a package that includes literally everything you may require, including the speakers, 200W Active Power (50W x 4 , 4 – Way stereo integrated amplifiers), Wireless …
FiiO K9 PRO ESS DAC / AMP – Sound Versatility Unbound
Views 33,006 FiiO K9 PRO ESS is a $849 USD DAC / Headphone Amplifier with a multitude of inputs and outputs, a bulky but cool design, and with enough driving power to deal with most headphones out there. Although the XLR port is covered in most photos, and in most …
Shanling H5 Portable DAC / AMP – Multi Tone Of Warmth
Views 32,528 Shanling H5 is a $369 USD DAC / AMP designed with portability in mind, offering a rich selection of inputs and outputs, a lower power than H7, but still enough for most planar magnetic headphones, with RCA, Balanced 4.4mm, and Single Ended 3.5mm Outputs. With a battery life …