BACKGROUND Ever since the introduction of the 3.5mm headphone-jack-omitted iPhone 7 in 2016, along with the subsequent release of competing smartphones following suit, the market for affordable bluetooth earphones has grown substantially. I originally dismissed bluetooth earphones and headphones as being inferior to their wired counterparts in both convenience (they must be charged) and in sound quality. Ever since I bought my iPhone 7, however, being all but forced to use wireless headphones (lest I use that pesky little lightning-to-3.5mm dongle)...

DISCLAIMER: This is a unit that Smartomi sent to me to review. Design The MOTTO are wireless Bluetooth earphones that have a dongle on the end, attached to two-foot cables that terminate to an inner-ear-outer-ear earbud. The earbud design is somewhat reminiscent to Sony earphones, and has a spun metal decorate cap on the end. The MOTTO’s dongle is made from plastic and houses the internal lithium polymer battery, the play/pause/power/pairing button, a volume rocker switch, and a slider switch that turns the noise cancelling mode on or off. On...

Design The WIT is not a hugely revolutionary design, but is solidly made. The body of the earpieces is a satin plastic finish, and the back decorative plates are made from brushed aluminum. The cable is soft coated, with a plastic remote dongle with satisfyingly tactile large silicon buttons that are easy to feel. The buttons are a standard 3 button affair, with the top and bottom being volume control, and the center being controlling play/pause, on/off, and pairing. One thing to note is that the center button has no functionality as a Siri control...

Introduction To preface this review, I have owned a number of headphones prior to buying the DT1990 Pros. I owned Beyers including the DT990 Pro, the DT880 Pro, and the DT150 Pro. I also owned the Sennheiser HD580 and HD650, and until recently, I was a huge fan of AKGs, having the K702 65th Anniversary, the K612, the K7XX and the K712 Pro. Believe me when I say this: the DT 1990 Pro is the best sounding neutral headphone I have ever bought, beating out my Audioquest Nighthawk (my comparison will come in a different article) to be my open back home...

Putting the Mojo into Perspective:   The Mojo competes more with high-end portable DAC/amps like the Centrance HIfi-M8, the Cypher Labs Theorem 720 (now discontinued), and the considerably more expensive Sony PHA-3. So when considering those competitor prices, the 600 dollar MSRP of the Mojo does not seem as exorbitant. In addition, it is about 1/4th the price of the Chord Hugo, and while it may not have as many features like RCA line out, the Mojo is a great compromise.   Build Quality:   Made in England, The Mojo is about the size of a stack...

Allow me to preface this review with some background information.   I have experience listening to different present-day AKGs, including the Q701 Quincy Jones Signature, the K702 65th Anniversary Edition (Austrian-made), the K7XX Massdrop First Edition, the K240 Studio, and the K612 Pro. The K7-Series, while highly detailed and comfortable, proved to be a mixed bag for me sonically, with the models being either too intimate sounding, too mid-forward, or too dark. I did believe that these flaws belied a truly great-sounding headphone lurking...

I recently had the honor of fostering a mid-production pair of bass-light Sony MDR-R10s in my home for a few days before sending them to my friend overseas. While I wasn't able to listen to them for an extremely prolonged time, I did have some time to listen to them with my system and with my own music. And I'm delighted to say that this headphone indeed lived up to its hype of being a dynamic legend.    A Brief History   The Sony MDR-R10 was conceived and designed as a sort of halo model or flagship product from Sony and its designer, Koji...

Background After owning the HD650, I found that at times on my system, there was a little too much thickness and darkness. So I wanted to try another Sennheiser that had more forwardness to the treble and mids, and was leaning more toward the neutral side. I also didn't want a bright headphone; I usually hate bright headphones, as they give me stabbing pain in my ears. I prefer the smoothness of Sennheisers, even if they lack a little excitement for certain moods. The HD580 Precision was released somewhere around 1991, and it marked a change in...

Before the Lyr 2 I owned two hybrid headphone amplifiers: the Hifiman EF2A, and the Maverick Audio A1. What both those entry level amplifiers lacked was the power and sonic dynamics to drive my mid-level headphones to their true potential. They were either too aggressive, or too soft and lush sounding. But due to my variety of both high impedance and low impedance headphones, I wanted to stick to hybrid amplifiers, and simply move up the ladder. I was gifted a Schiit Audio Lyr 2 in December, after deciding between it and the Garage1217 Project Ember...

To start this review off, I've owned several AKGs, including the Q701 Quincy Jones, the K702 65th Anniversary, K240 MK II, and until a few months ago, the K612 Pro. I was craving another AKG, and before I pulled the trigger on the pumpkin-colored USD 350-400 K712 Pro, the internet bulk buying site Massdrop announced that they were partnering with AKG to make the special edition K7XX Massdrop Edition. Made in China instead of Austria, I was originally skeptical that AKG was able to hold up their claim that they made a 200 dollar version of their 500...

I bought the HD650 after owning a number of equally good headphones, including the Beyerdynamic DT880 Pro, DT990 Pro, AKG K702 65th Anniversary, and AKG K612 Pro. I'd have to say that while the HD650 has many competitors nowadays that it didn't have when it debuted in 2003; especially lower than its MSRP of USD 500, it nonetheless holds its own and still offers qualities that many of them do not offer.    The HD650 is the most recent incarnation of its family of headphones. The basic driver design and headband design as far as I can tell dates back...

I will get my bias out of the way first: I really enjoy the sound of many Sennheisers, and in my opinion the Momentum Full Size is the best sounding portable I have tried, and the best all-round sounding consumer-targeted portable headphone on the market.    Appearance-wise the Momentum is, as I mentioned, an exquisite feeling headphone. It reminds me of that modernist British industrial design that is the Bowers and Wilkins P5 and P7, but more classic or vintage looking (cough cough hipster) and with aluminum instead of stainless steel. The...

I have owned several other AKGs, including the K240s, the K702 65th Anniversaries, the and Q701 Quincy Jones Signatures (basically the same thing as an updated K701/702). The K612s sound-wise lie somewhere between the K240s and the K7-series, while having a unique sound signature of their own.    Build: Made in Austria, and very close to the K7-series, but not exactly. They feel high quality, but not quite as exquisite. The plastic on the ear cups is of a slightly lesser quality compared to the K7s, but is still good quality nonetheless. The...

There's not a whole lot I can say about these. I think they are an excellent compact headphone to have in a bag on the go, they are affordable, sound good with everything, and are a definite step up from the crummy earphones that come with most cell phones and iPods.

I bought the DT990s for use with bass music such as hip-hop, drum and bass and electronic dance music to compliment my AKG K702 65th Anniversies, which I have since sold.    Build and comfort: the build on the DT990s is excellent like most Beyers, and is made in Heilbronn, Germany. It is made from high impact plastic for the cups and spring steel for the headband and bales (yolks), with replaceable velour ear pads and a replaceable vinyl headband pad. The headphones are very grippy and tight, so that may be an issue for you guys who are sensitive...

I purchased the MA900s to go along with my AKG K702 65 Anniversaries, as I wanted a headphone which didn't require amping and would be a little more musical with synths (AKGs tend to be too honest and 2D and untextured sounding with electronic and synthesized bass, and prefer instruments more). And so far, my impressions are that these are a great open-back, all-rounders for beginning audiophiles who want a headphone that goes well with almost every genre (save for bottom heavy stuff like dubstep and more mainstream rap) but do not have the amps and...

I purchased the DT880 Pros as my first open/semi open headphones, after returning the DT770 Pro 80s due to earaches from the excessive bass. I am a bit of an analytical headphone person with certain genres I listen to. When I first tried the DT880s, I was impressed, but after listening for a while, the shortcomings became more apparent.    For sub bass, these are probably the most sub-bassy analytical heaphones I have owned. There are more bassy analytical cans, however. The problem I had with the DT880s were the earpads. It's not that they...

I chose the HD380 Pros to replace my Audio-Technica M50s, and have not looked back ever since (except to compare the M50s to the HD380s with songs). Sound-wise the Senns are superior to the M50s in every way. More realistic bass, non-flabby but without losing impact, MUCH better mids, more refined treble, and the ear cups on the 380s are tremendously better than those on the M50s. Whereas the M50s sound best with electronic music such as house, drum n' bass and trance, the HD380 Pros are not only good for those genres, but are great for R&B, rock...

I purchased the HD518s for a good price lightly used, and have been very satisfied with them. They are darker Sennheisers, and have the signature Senn smooth sound. I have never owned Senns before, so these were my first pair. I am fairly used to how AKGs sound, so when I first listened to the HD518s, they initially wowed me with how smooth their mids and highs were, and how strong the bass was. There definitely is a "wow" factor when you first listen to them, especially if you listen to brighter, leaner sounding headphones. They are all plastic, but...

UPDATE: I made a few updates after comparing the Annies to other headphones in the my collection, and running them on my Maverick Audio A1 hybrid amp.   The K702 "Annies" are basically the sonic precursor to the K712 Pros, which just rolled off the assembly line. Think of them as a Quincy Jones Q701 but with squishier ear pads, no headband bumps, softer, less sibilant highs, a little more mid bass, more intimate vocals, and a thicker sound. Instruments don't quite float in the air like they do with the Q701, but to me, the less bright highs and...