I don't think that Sivga Audio requires any introduction here. The company is well-known for a bunch of really successful releases in different price tiers. The most recent one, named SV023 is a company's mid-segment offering for those who'd like to see an open-back design. Walnut cups of these cans hold 50 mm LCP composite diaphragm plated with Beryllium coating drivers, tuned to deliver natural sound. As usual, I'd like to thank Sivga Audio for providing me with these headphones for review in exchange for my honest (but unavoidably subjective)...

iBasso engineers are well known for two things. The first is their fundamental approach to the tuning of their solutions that may take even several years. The second is the ability to get their own sound. It is no surprise that their new headphones benefit from both things. I would like to thank iBasso for providing me a review sample in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion. To begin with, it is necessary to say that SR1 model has been tuned for almost a year and engineers had tried many transducers before they finished with the...

Last year Cayin celebrated the 25th birthday, and because of that, they have decided to produce several top-tier devices that would be able to show their gained experience and potential. Cayin N8 is one of those devices. I got this DAP as a loan from my friends at Era-in-ear.com, they are Cayin distributors in Ukraine, and I like to thank them for an opportunity to review N8. The player will be returned to them in a few days. After seeing the first photos of this DAP, the audience’s feelings have been mixed because of the unusual design of the...

Hidizs obviously enjoyed the idea of Kickstart platform preorders for their new projects. After a successful campaign for their Hidizs AP80 player, they decided to try the same approach for their new IEMs and started the crowdfunding for two new models. Today we will take a closer look at the junior model. I would like to thank Hidizs for providing me with a review sample of MS1 in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion. Both IEMs adopted the codename - Mermaid. In fact, they look rather similar both in terms of appearance and packaging. The...

Tin Audio were never overambitious and never tried to seize the unseizable. They have found their way - to build relatively cheap IEM models with neutral sound signature - and follow it. After having released two successful models - T2 and T2Pro they decided to try to build hybrid IEMs and released T3. I received TinAudio T3 as a free sample in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion. IEMs are available from AliExpress for $70. Usually at the beginning of my reviews I speak about some technical peculiarities of the models, but in this case...

Having spent a week with these earphones I’ve found myself thinking that probably A6 is what LZ has been trying to create for few years — hybrid model, showing the best side of each of three drivers types that are used here. Yes, you've got it right, this model uses a dynamic driver, four balanced armatures and piezoelectric super twitter simultaneously. Sounds intriguing, isn't it? Before I proceed, I would like to thank LinsoulTech for providing me a review sample in exchange for my honest opinion. IEMs can be purchased in their stores on Amazon...

A long, long time ago… In the old year of 2014, famous company Infomedia started a subsidiary company named Lotoo and announced digital audio player that became on the best portable audio devices ever created. The new gadget, named Lotoo Paw Gold had a pretty "refreshing" price tag of $2400, I could be wrong, but at that moment it was the most expensive DAP on the market. A long time passed since then, but LPG still was a great option for those who wanted great sound quality. But feature-wise, Paw was pretty outdated: small screen, button-based...

QLS (or Quloos) isn't a new company in the portable audio market. Their QLS360 became very popular among those who wanted good sound at an affordable price. Limited edition, appeared in about a year enforced their positions, bringing more fans to company's camp, but many people were waiting for an entirely new model, and in 2018 they presented it. After spending few months with a new model, named QLS361 I found that it was the best DAP of the year for me (I didn't test new Lotoo and Cayin flagships in 2018), and now I want to share my experience with...

Last year, when Sonion announced their self-biased electrostatic driver, it was just a matter of time, until many IEM makers will employ it in their products. Аs it often happened, Shozy was the first company released such model. The first version of hybrid dynamic/electrostatic IEMs named Pola had rounded metal case, it was shown on few exhibitions, and after that, Shozy took a time-out and reworked that model using more traditional casing, and now I can tell about my impressions with this pretty unique earphones. Disclaimer: I got this IEMs with a...

Sometimes I wonder, how Chinese manufacturers come out with that names: TRN, BGVP, BQEYZ… But despite the naming, usually that new models are indeed impressive, and BGVP DMG that I want to tell about is no exception. Before I proceed, I'd like to thank DD Audio store for providing me review sample in exchange for my honest opinion. DMGs are the most recent addition to BGVP lineup, per each ear this model utilizes two double BA speakers and double-diaphragm dynamic driver. So, in total, it gives us six drivers per side. Some "famous brand" would ask...

It's not the first Meze's attempt to offer a balanced cable, some time ago, they created great cable, but its price is pretty high, compared with more than affordable 99 Series headphones. So, Meze decided to create a new cable with a better price range, and now we've got it. First of all, I'd like to thank Meze Audio for providing me this cable's sample in exchange to my honest and unbiased opinion. Of course, $99 is much better than $199, but maybe it's because the new cable is 2 times worse? Well, I can say: no. New cable offers a perfect...

In my recent review of Penon's OS849 cable, I've already shared my opinion about cables and their impact on sound. I won't repeat it once again, but in short: I'm making blind A/B tests to describe the difference between cables, and changes are often audible, but I doubt that changes are implied be cable materials directly. Changes are caused by cable's electrical parameters difference, and that parameters can be caused by material, so, silver, gold, and other components affect sound only indirectly. Before I proceed to the central part of the...

When it comes to the cables, I'm always holding skeptical positions. I do believe that cable can change a sound, but I don't believe in "universal changes," especially those based on the material. You know, all that stories about "silver improves treble" or "copper adds more lows." Of course, it's quite possible that copper wire will add base, but often it won't. Also, pretty logical, that some cable can change the sound of different IEMs similarly, but also pretty expectable that changes will be different. The portable audio rig is a system with 3...

Ceramic drivers in the role of high-frequency tweeters in the portable audio are no longer a novelty; they were used by both the Japanese from Radius and the Chinese from 1More, wherein achieving excellent results in a treble area. However, I somehow did not find the model, which, in addition to the "tops" had well developed the other parts of the diapason. Now such model has appeared, so let's talk about it. First of all, I'd like to thank IMR Acoustics for providing me a free sample in exchange to my honest and unbiased opinion. IMR Acoustics R1...

Many years of friendship connects me with Ambient Acoustics Laboratory from Kyiv. Once upon a time, I've started my journey to the world of customs with their 4-driver model AM4. Then it was upgraded to 6 drivers, to 10… Once you get locked into multi-driver CIEMs, the tendency is to push it as far as you can. As usual, the primary audience of the laboratory were professionals: musicians, singers, sound engineers, but about two years ago, AA created the unique line of IEMs, dedicated to music listening enthusiasts. This models gathered all existing...

It's always good to start a review with some bold statement. Here it is: I think theBit is the only company that can compete with A&K in the DAP world. There are few other companies, offering competitive solutions, but only theBit managed to create product both stylish, comfortable in use, and delivering top-tier sound. Of course, I'm speaking about OPUS#2, but entry-level OPUS#1 was a great model, but… What time is it? Upgrade time! So, please welcome OPUS#1S. First of all, I'd like to thank theBit for providing me with the sample of OPUS#1S for...

Pretty long ago I've had an outstanding experience with Lear's IEMs: AE1d, LUF-4, BD4.2 — all of those models offered perfect price/quality ratio. Lear also released few exciting models with NatroSound technology. But for last few years I didn't hear much from Lear, but meanwhile, they've released few worthy models, one of which I'd like to review today. It's 3-driver hybrid model Kaleido. First of all, I'd like to thank Lear for providing me with the Kaleido sample for exchange to my honest and unbiased review. First of all, let's talk about...

I always was a great fan of any "limited editions" and other "exclusive" stuff. So, when my friends from Portativ.ua (Ukrainian distributor of Campfire Audio) told me that they got in stock Pacific Blue version of Andromedas I've decided to sold mine regular ones and upgrade. I'm not sure, are they yet available anywhere (besides actually Portativ.ua), but I'll share my impressions anyway. As I didn't write my feelings on regular Andromedas too, I'll try to make this review two-in-one, because the difference is tiny (but anyway noticeable). First of...

Well, waiting for this DAP's release gave experience, similar to watching good drama TV series (BTW, am I the only one who thinks that the best drama ever is "BoJack Horseman"?) — full of twists, emotions and waiting. Announced in 2015, Explorer was re-worked, participated in crowdfunding and finally made it's way to customers. First of all, I'd like to thank Echobox for providing me a review sample in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion. Currently, Explorer seems to be getting quite extreme opinions varying from love to almost loathing. I...

I won't make this review really big, if you want more details about the box, unpack impressions and other stuff like that, there already are few really good and in-depth reviews, done by other head-fiers. I'll try to summarize most subjective things — audio and other personal impressions. First of all, I'd like to thank Dunu for providing me a review sample in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion. So, brief part: package and accessories set: really good. Nice box, lots of tips, great storage box. The only question is — why the hell Max...