Let's talk about fetishes. No, I'm not admitting to owning a waifu pillow... at least not yet. I mean audio fetishes, one of mine in particular being the benefits of solder joints vs friction-fit connections. My audio pals are sick of me saying it, but I don't like friction-fit modular plugs or ConX type connectors. Why? Because to my ears they sound worse than a solder joint in the same spot, and I know many audiophiles who agree. We've lacked hard data to validate our findings because everything's frustratingly subjective in this hobby, but at...

Do you listen to hear the music, or feel it? Recently I reviewed Penon's 4xDD Quattros and was starstruck from first listen, in fact they've become my #1 choice under $500. The Quattro magic lies in their tonality - effortlessly rendering instruments & voices in a way that feels right, but without sounding "correct" in audio parlance. Fascinating how when we absorb music what we hear, as opposed to what we feel, can be so different. Perhaps that's why less & less I enjoy earphones that portray melodies coldly & clinically. So when Penon sent me a...

How heavily should price influence our expectations? Recently NiceHCK were kind enough to send me a pair of F1 Pros which I reviewed & liked, along with another set of free earphones... the DB2s. Upon arrival I was shocked that their extravagant appearance belied their USD $22.99 pricetag, and was surprised to learn they sport a 1xDD 1xBA configuration when single-DDs are the norm at this price. Putting aside how they can even build them for so little, I pondered a philosophical question - how forgiving should we be of imperfection when price is...

Does your dongle dangle daily? I've been a Digital Audio Player user all the way back to the iPod days, but last year started using dongles with my Macbook & even conducted a dongle shootout recently. So when Penon offered to send their new OS133 dongle in exchange for a review I agreed, and was surprised upon glancing the price - just $34.90. The OS133 isn't the least inexpensive dongle but can't be far off, sitting at the opposite end of the spectrum from most sources I review. Its' shape is also a bit different, closer to a cable adapter than...

The path of innovation is a trek through the dark unknown, into the light of discovery. Years ago Campfire Audio released the Supermoon which captured attention for using a planar driver. Planars work differently than the usual dynamic drivers, and like balanced armatures respond faster than DDs but without the unsatisfying bass decay of BAs. Suddenly planars were perceived as the hot new innovation destined to permeate the market, yet predictions of planar supremacy proved unfounded. So when offered a set of the new ISN Neo3s that use a 1x Planar...

Earphone fit & comfort is critical for listening enjoyment – but you probably knew that already. What you mightn't know is how many brands of eartips are out there, how wildly they vary in shape, material and construction, and how dramatically those differences can affect what you hear! Being in the hobby for ages means you’ll probably wind up with a large eartip collection - they’re cheap enough to be great impulse buys with minimal post-purchase guilt, yet their sonic benefits can be huge. I’ve tried all the popular brands, but for the past year...

Occasionally something comes along that shifts your perspective, and nothing's quite the same again. I recently had such an experience I'd like to share with you. Since demoing Campfire Audio's USD $3375 Trifecta last year I found myself embroiled in controversy, and worse yet of my own making! Let me explain. Upon first hearing Trifecta at my local dealer they were terrible - nothing but a wall of bass, with no treble to speak of and drivers so slow I wondered if they were faulty. Repeated Trifecta demos with different sources over the...

How much do you need to pay for good sound? Depending on who you ask answers will vary, and the pace of technological improvement is making us revise our answers every year. Five years ago a few hundred spent on earphones didn't go far, and five years before that spending several hundred could land you IEMs that were objectively terrible. Fast forward to the present - ISN offered to send me a pair of their new USD $39 ISN Neo1 IEMs in exchange for a review, and if you read me gushing over their Neo5s (my favourite 2023 IEM under $500) you won't be...

Tonality vs Technicality - which camp are you in? Is it really a binary equation though? Sure, some listeners swear by transducers with supremely natural tonality even if technical performance is poor, and of course you'll find others who feel the opposite. However I suspect most of us fall somewhere in the middle of the spectrum, perhaps preferring IEMs that sound natural but accepting of those that don't if the technical performance tradeoff feels worth it. Which brings me to the F1 Pros NiceHCK sent in exchange for a review - equipped with a...

What influences earphone sound more – tuning, or technology? Last month I posted a lukewarm review of the Simgot EM6Ls tuned to match the Harman Curve, so when Simgot offered a pair of new EA1000s in exchange for a review apprehension filled me… would they have the same nasal Harman tonality, and if so how would they feel about another poor review? I began reading the impressions of others, and surprisingly EA1000 owners claimed they were a very different animal – what grabbed attention was their driver configuration; One single DD and a “Passive...

iFi Go Bar 10th Anniversary Review Last year iFi released a new dongle called the Go Bar, and to celebrate their 10th anniversary announced a 1000-unit limited edition many of us have since dubbed the ‘Gold Bar’ for obvious reasons. The regular Go Bar has a significant USD $329 pricetag, but this limited edition version increases that to USD $499, making it the most expensive USB-C dongle on the market I believe. So what are the differences? The gold version features a gold plated solid-copper chassis that doubles the weight, but provides...

Cayin RU7 Review Last year Cayin announced their new N7 player, the first on the market to utilise a 1bit DSD DAC. Rather than employ an off-the-shelf DAC chip from AKM, Cirrus Logic or ESS, the N7 uses 128 precision resistors to convert PCM data into DSD format, in a manner reminiscent of, yet distinct from R2R players. I’ve yet to try the N7 but have read positive reports of its’ tonality in particular, so when Cayin announced their new RU7 dongle would also feature the same 1bit approach I was intrigued. The problem with dongles is there’s so...

Luxury & Precision W4 Review Luxury & Precision is a rather esoteric audio brand famous for R2R digital audio players with sublimely natural sound signatures & stratospheric price tags. The W4 is the successor to L&P’s W2 dongle, and its’ USD $449 price attracts almost as much attention as the W4’s unique appearance that’s reminiscent of the Astell & Kern SR35 I recently reviewed. This Luxury & Precision W4 was generously loaned to me for this review by Head-Fi poster grumpy123, and I’m extremely keen to see if it can live up to its’ steep asking...

Penon Tail Review One of the nice things about this hobby is watching the endless march of technology render quality sound we would’ve paid a fortune for years ago become available for a mere fraction of the cost. This is especially relevant to dongles, which have really gained popularity among audiophiles over the past several years. It’s no surprise Penon have jumped onboard by developing their own Tail dongle. At under USD $75 its quite affordable, so when they offered to send me one in exchange for a review I was keen to learn how it stacks...

Penon ASOS is an unashamedly chunky 8 wire, 24AWG OCC copper litz & SPC cable with a slightly higher price of USD $169. Make no mistake, ASOS is a substantial cable that's thoroughly deserving of behemoth status. If the cable reminds you of Effect Audio's Cadmus 8 wire cable you're not alone, because hardware aside the appearance & weight of both are nearly identical. I was surprised when Penon sent me the ASOS in exchange for a review because they've focused on smaller 2 or 4 wire cables lately, so it's nice seeing them release a proper 8 wire...

The Simgot LC7 is a fairly beefy 18AWG two wire combination of OFC & SPC wire conductors, with a modest price of USD $69. The cable boasts a total of 732 individual cores, so there's quite a lot of metal here which should in theory conduct electrons very effectively. I've always found thicker & heavier cables deliver better IEM performance, though there's often an ergonomic price to be paid. Simgot sent me the LC7 in exchange for a review and it's the first of their cables I've tried, so I've no idea what to expect... at first glance it certainly...

Does a recipe for making great art exist? If it does, wouldn't following it produce art that lacks originality and is no longer great? As someone who enjoys earphones purely as a consumer I have no idea what goes into making them. Is tuning IEMs a process of art or science, and is the final result all that matters? Such thoughts occurred when SIMGOT reached out to me, offering to send a pair of their EM6L IEMs in exchange for a review. I assented, knowing nothing about the product and little of the brand. Whilst awaiting their arrival a friend...

I've often wondered why sequels invariably suck. The's lots of ways following up a big success can go wrong: Temptation to duplicate your previous formula... risk of producing a similar but inferior copy. Desire to try something completely different... risk it won't match your existing fans' taste. Pressure to add a new selling point but keep things the same... risk questionable stuff gets added just to differentiate from the original. Why do I mention this? Back in October Penon Audio sent me a pair of ISN Neo5s which remain my #1 budget IEM...

One of the hobby's great ironies is how many of us spent years, even decades assembling vast music collections... that now gather dust while we use streaming platforms instead. This year I became a convert of Apple Music and have hardly touched my FLAC/DSD albums since. So weeks ago when I was offered a free Xuelin Clear in exchange for a review I wondered if it'd be worth it. No android? No streaming?? No touchscreen?!? I try to keep an open mind but it didn't seem promising. Then the Clear arrived, so I grudgingly took it out of the box, plugged...

Once in awhile something special comes along in this hobby, and you usually know it right away. During a recent visit to my local dealer Addicted to Audio, a staff member happened to mention trying a pre-release Noble Audio earphone called Spartacus, and being floored by its' performance for a relatively modest price by high-end IEM standards. Having never owned a Noble IEM my curiosity was piqued, but I'll admit to being skeptical the staffer's vaunted praise was warranted - we've all been impressed by an audio gadget that wowed us on first...