IMR Audio OZAR - Limited Run Of Well-Rounded Basshead IEMs With the new year comes a new dawn, and Ozar is a limited-run IEM made by one of UK's finest IEM designers, IMR Audio. The price for Ozar is 400 GBP or about 500 USD. This puts it on the spot, as it has to fight with some of the best IEMs out there to shine, and I will be comparing it to Campfire Audio Holocene (650 USD), Moondrop Illumination (800 USD), and Metalure Wave (600 USD). Introduction IMR Audio is a boutique producer from UK, and it is run by the famous Mr. Bob, a man who's...

Plussound Copper+ - Time For Flagship Cable Magic Cables have always been a heated subject of conversation for music lovers, with some really passionate about them, and some reticent to speak their mind, and today's cable is a 24 AWG, UP-OCC Copper Wire, priced at 999 USD. This places the Copper+ at the top of the cables I reviewed to date, and we'll be exploring whether this has good effects on sound, also comparing the Copper+ with some more affordable competitor cables, namely the Ares Audio Sakeishi (450 USD), Effect Audio Evo 1 (440 USD), and...

Dethonray Prelude DTR1+ Music Player - Beautiful Music Box We're reviewing a music player priced at 1000 USD, and made for those who don't want no touchscreen, and who want a pure music experience with no distractions. This means that the first competitor it needs to have is QLS QA361 (700 USD), a DAP also made on this philosophy, but also high-end DAPs from this price bracket like FiiO M11 PRO (650 USD), iBasso DX240 (950 USD), and Lotoo PAW 6000 (1200 USD). For the pairings part of today's review, we will be doing pairings with Dethonray's own...

Soundmagic A30 DAC/AMP - Baguette Of Sonics Soundmagic A30 is a baguette-shaped DAC/AMP, just like NextDrive ones, and it is priced at 30 EUR / 50 USD. This would make it technically one of the most affordable DAC/AMP I reviewed to date, and I know very few DAC/AMPs at 50 USD to compare it to, so the review will focus on its sonics and usability alone. Introduction Sondmagic is a growing company from China, having both expensive and affordable products in their portfolio. They make the HP1000 I liked a lot, which is an amazing closed back...

Astell&Kern A&Ultima SP2000T - Tube & Solid State Blends Musically The best part about reviewing a 2500 USD Music Player with Hybrid Tube - Solid State tech inside is that you can compare it to pretty much everything else, and you still know it is going to be a fun trip. Today's review will focus on a true prime flagship, the SP2000T DAP, which features multiple bleeding edge technologies, including LDAC, Quad-DAC, a Triple AMP System, MQA support, BT Link, and Dual Wifi with both 2.4GHz, and 5GHz support. The price alone puts in as the most...

SMSL DO200 Balanced DAC - Finest MQA Performance Everywhere SMSL DO200 is a high-end balanced DAC priced 490 USD at the moment of writing today's full written review, and it comes with full balanced output, a high number of input interfaces, and the title of being the world's only DAC with MQA support across all its input interfaces. Given its price point, it will be compared to other similarly priced competitors, like Palab M1 Mini (500 USD), Aune S6 PRO (550 USD), and Singxer SDA-2 DAC (700 USD). Introduction I'm starting to get warmed up...

Violectric HPA V340 Headphone Amplifier / Preamplifier - German Musicality Germany has been the home to many technological wonders, and audio is part of that as well. The Violectric HPA V340 is priced at 1800 EURO, or roughly 2000 USD, and it is a full sized AMP, with PREAMP functions, high damping factor, and will be compared with Smyth A16 Realiser (4000 USD), AudioAnalogue AAdac (4000 USD), Wells Milo Solid State Amplifier (2200 USD), and Feliks Euforia Tube Amplifier (2000 USD). Since we're talking about such an interesting AMP, we will be...

Earsonics Corsa IEMs - Natural To The Maximum Earsonics Corsa is what you could call a natural, refined and tastefully french IEM, priced at 400 EUR / 450 USD, and it will be compared to other well performing competitors, like FiiO FH7 (450 USD), Unique Melody 3DT (400 USD), and Campfire Mammoth (650 USD). Introduction Earsonics is the kind of French company that you'd imagine serving their headphones to be tasted, in the same manner one tastes rare cheese and fine wine, with passion and fine taste. Thus, the company is known to provide...

allo Audio Revolution DAC - Warm Autumn Evening Code allo Audio decided to make something special with their Revolution DAC, and this is going to cost about 260 USD for the basic variant, but you'll need to pay about 320 USD if you want a remote control, and a Power Supply with it. Given its price point, it will be compared to Palab M1 Mini DAC/AMP (500 USD), Pro-Ject DAC BOX DS (430 USD), and iFi xDSD DAC/AMP (400 USD). Introduction ALLO Audio is really really reliable, they're a company that takes great pride in both measurements and...

Unique Melody Mest MKii IEMs - New Flagship Quadbrid Truly a revolutionary piece, the MKii of Mest from Unique Melody is priced at 1500 USD at the moment of writing this full written review, and it features four types of driver technologies, made to sound the most coherent, detailed yet natural of all the IEMs out there. This means that it is necessary to compare the Mest MKii with Final Audio A8000, Beyerdynamic Xelento, Clear Tune Monitors Da Vinci X, Rhapsodio Zombie, Lime Ears Aether R, and Audeze Euclid IEMs. So many different technologies...

Burson Funk Amplifier for Speakers, Headphones & IEMs - Let's Jazz Burson Funk is a high-end amplifier for Stereo and Headphones, with a starting price of 550 USD, and depending on the configuration, able to reach 750 USD. It will be compared to other amplifiers, like Aune S6 PRO, Hagerman Tuba, and Audio-GD Master 19. Introduction I have always been enthusiastic about Burson products, and their Funk makes no exception being an exceptionally musical one, with a good price tag, and tons of power under the belt, not to mention the high...

Sendy Audio Peacock - Flagship Of Music Sendy Audio Peacock is the latest headphone from Sendy Audio and it is priced at about 1500 USD at the moment of writing this full written review (USA), and 1750 USD (Europe after taxes). The main comparisons will be with Kennerton Thror (3000 USD), Audeze LCD MX4 (3000 USD), Rosson RAD-0 (2600 USD), Spirit Torino SuperLeggera (2000 USD), and Crosszone CZ-1 (2000 USD). We will also be having pairings with Astell&Kern SE180 (1500 USD), Analog Audio AAdac (4000 USD), Keces S3 (1300 USD), and Lotoo PAW6000...

Soundmagic ST80 Sport Earphones - Not So Fast, Punk ST80 is the new sporty IEM from Soundmagic, a company focused on an awesome selection of products. This one is a really entry-level one, priced at 56 USD, and today's review will mostly focus on it as my collection of reviews about products priced similarly is rather thin. Introduction Soundmagic is a nice company from China, and they offer a wide range of products, from entry-level gems, all the way to some pretty amazing headphones, like their HP1000 series. ST80 sits right in the...

Palab M1 Mini DAC/AMP - Beats The Chord In Music Palab M1 mini is a DAC/AMP made by Palab, and it is no secret that it is a mighty good one, with a price tag of 500 USD, MQA decoding abilities, and a Balanced output. The main comparisons included in today's review will be with really capable competitors, Chord Mojo, iFi xDSD, and FiiO Q5S. Introduction Palab is not exactly a new player, but this is the first time In hear about them, and the first time I have the chance to review one of their products, with the M1 Mini being the first of a...

xDuoo MT-602 Tube Headphone Amp - Freak Trickster MT-602 is a headphone amplifier with tubes on a budget, priced at 100 USD, and it comes with two 6J1 Tubes, runs in class A, and will be compared to JDS Labs Atom AMP+, Soundavo HP-1 DAC-AMP, and xDuoo TA-10 Headphone AMP, also with tubes. Introduction xDuoo generally does not fail, but this time around they made a rather odd device. It goes to show that there is an actual limit to how much you can squeeze from a low price, and how much you can optimise things...

Effect Audio EVO 1 Series Cable - To The Maximum Cables Even More Cables should be the title for today's written review as I take a deeper dive with EVO One from Effect Audio, one of the oldest and most trusted cable makers in the whole world. Today's cable costs about 440 USD, and it will be compared to Ares Audio Sakeishi, Dunu Hulk, and FiiO LC 2.5D Silver Cable. For pairings, we will be going with Campfire Vega 2020, FiiO FH5S, and Audeze Euclid. Introduction Effect Audio has been in business for many years now, and they have cables...

Astell & Kern A&Futura SE180 Music Player - Alpha DAP Incoming This one is going to be good, a DAP costing about 1500 USD, with replaceable DAC / AMP modules, and with Astell & Kern software, so today's review will be a full fledged, full-length one, with comparisons between SE180 and iBasso DX 300 (1200 USD), Lotoo Paw 6000 (1200 USD), HIFIMAN R2R2000 (2500 USD), FiiO M11 PRO (650 USD), and QLS QA 361 (800 USD). Since we're looking at a high-end DAP with tons of driving abilities, I will be doing pairings (Yay!), with Sendy Audio Peacock...

Crosszone CZ-10 Headphones - Soundstage Excelsior CZ-10 is a breath of fresh air, as I've only reviewed open-back headphones for most of this year, so having something closed back, or at least semi open is refreshing. This is a proper Japanese headphone, high-end with all the bells and whistles, priced at 900 USD, and has a magnesium alloy frame, two drivers per each cup, and they will be compared to Underwood HIFI LSA HP-1 (1400 USD), HIFIMAN He6SE (1800 USD), Crosszone CZ-1 (2000 USD), and Spirit Torino Super Leggera (2000 USD)...

IKKO OH10 Obsidian IEMs - Detail Resolution Maxima Ikko designed an IEM with a rather uninspired name for the presentation, as Obsidian does not necessarily explain the whole story, and the price of 160 USD is way lower than the quality I am hearing from the OH10. The main comparisons will be with Optimisation Elements Tita, BQEYZ Spring 2, BGVP Art Magic VG4. Introduction IKKO is not a big house name yet, but with the stuff they have been releasing lately, they might as well become one of the best known names...

Spirit Torino Super Leggera - Blue Is The New Awesome Spirit Torino Super Leggera is a really unique headphone, made to sound and feel like an Italian Sports car, and it is priced at 2000 USD. The tech inside includes a Mono Drive Spirit System, and they have two cables made by Portento Audio, and will be compared to the best flagships from across the world. The comparison list includes Rosson RAD-0, HIFIMAN He6SE, Kennerton Thror, and even HIFIMAN Arya. The pairing list will include iBasso DX300, FiiO M11 PRO, and HIFIMAN R2R2000...