I recently took delivery of the Schiit Vali 2+ headphone amplifier. After giving it a good workout, I'm happy to share my impressions of it. TL;DR In the audiophile world, we often equate price with audio quality. We can spend thousands of dollars to gain those last few percentage points of improvement. I've even gone down this road myself. Well, the Schiit Vali 2+ is a $149US amplifier that destroys this belief system. I'm sure some people have crossed it off their lists simply because of its price, but it is a masterpiece and should not be...

Background: If you've read any of my recent reviews and posts, you'll see that I've been on mid-fi journey during the last year of our pandemic. I've been seriously procrastinating when it comes to re-padding my headphones (although I just sunk $70 US into my Sennheiser HD 650 to re-pad the ear cups and headband) and I have been investing in mid-fi headphones with those diverted funds. I like trying out new sound flavors and rediscovering my music collection. Also, as price goes up, my reviews become more critical. I gave some extremely favorable...

I've been in possession of the Philips SHP9600 for a few days now and I wanted to post a review. I'm not much of a believer in break-in, so take the youth of these headphones with a grain of salt as it potentially affects your own dogma. Disclaimer: I have several other headphones that cost many times more. I bought these for mixed usage and I came into my purchase with very tempered expectations. I mainly intended for this purchase to act as my movie headphones when plugged into my Yamaha RX-V485 receiver with Silent Cinema. I had been using the...

TL;DR These have no business sounding this good for $100 US. Background Context Before I jump into my review, I feel it's important to give some context about myself that ultimately influenced my review. I used to be active on these forums for years, and I thought I did a decent job of building a mostly endgame system for myself within my budget: Teac HA-501 amp, Schiit Gumby mulitbit, HD 600, HD 650, Shure 1540, DT990/600, and LCD-2F. I even had a Trafomatic amp in rotation before it developed a static. Still never got that repaired, mainly...

I recently picked up the JBL Everest Elite 300 On-Ear Bluetooth Noise Canceling Headphones for $209.99 from the local Best Buy. They are a new product, and since they haven't been discussed around here, I thought I'd post my brief impressions for the holiday shopping season.   TLDR; In short, I really like them. They are going to be my go-to travel and portable headphones for quite some time. They sound very similar to the V-Moda Crossfade M-80s, which I also really like. The JBLs appear to be pretty rugged and can survive years of regular, and...

Much has already been written about the Schiit Gungnir Multibit (Gumby), so I'm not going to reinvent the wheel here. Rather, I'll briefly discuss my interpretations on various questions, opinions, and disputes that are central to people's decisions regarding buying this DAC.   My evaluation system   Source: iPod Classic ---> Apple lossless ---> Pure i20 dock ---> optical ---> Gumby ---> XLR ---> Teac HA-501 ---> Audeze LCD-2F     When evaluating DACs, it's important to use the correct resolution of expectations. DACs won't have drastically...

The Audeze LCD 2.2 is one of the most popular headphones on Head-Fi. Much has already been written about them, so adding yet another review may not offer anything new or different. However, when the 2.2 line was upgraded to include Fazor technology, the reviews were a little more divided. Some loved the upgrade. Others hated it and felt the non-Fazor model was better.   Which is it?   Well, I can't answer that because I've never heard the non-Fazor model. But, I can tell you the Fazor version is fabulous.   Evaluation Setup:   Amplifier: TEAC...

I recently took delivery of the TEAC HA-501.  After giving it a good workout, I am happy to share my impressions about it.   TL;DR   This is one impressive amplifier.  It has clean, refined power.  It is very musical with a hint of warmness and smoothness, while retaining a high level of detail.  It is very transparent and essentially disappears from the chain.  Highly recommended.    Picture of My System   In the picture, you can see the TEAC HA-501, Bifrost Uber, iPod Classic, Pure i20, Trafomatic Head One, and Shure SRH1540.  ...

**I edited this review on 2/28/14 to include some new thoughts.  I placed the edits at the bottom of this review**   This review is a little unique for me.  Firstly, I'm more comfortable and experienced at writing reviews of amplifiers and DACs.  Writing a headphone review is a new thing for me.  Secondly, this is my first foray into premium closed headphones.  I've heard many closed cans in my day, but my premium cans have always been open.  This is my first attempt at analyzing flagship closed cans.   Review system:   Trafomatic Head One and...

Holy Schiit!   That's the first thing that came to mind when I connected the Bifrost Uber to my system and gave it a listen.  Here's a rundown of a few things.   Amp: Trafomatic Head One Cans: Sennheiser HD600 Old DAC: V-DAC ii with V-PSU ii Apple lossless -> iPod Classic -> Pure i20 dock -> coaxial connection   For a long time, I felt my rig was basically end game.  But, over time, I began to notice some weaknesses in my overall sound, which I started to attribute to the V-DAC.  Some of the hailed strengths started to be weaknesses to me...

I recently took delivery of the V-DAC II and put it through the paces.  I have a good feeling for its sound and wanted to share them here.   First, a word about how I review gear.  I don't spend weeks going back and forth doing A/B comparisons.  Rather, I use a certain set of gear for quite some time and really get to know how it works.  I know how my favorite songs sound inside and out.  Then, I put a new component into the chain and listen to my favorite songs.  I'll immediately form an opinion of the changes.  I'll listen for a while to the...

I've had my Trafomatic Experience Head One for a few days now and have put some hours on it.  I bought it secondhand, complete with tubes, so I'm assuming it has already been fully burned in.  I'm posting my impressions here in a little mini-review.  It is driving my HD600s, which I find to be a match made in heaven.   To understand where I'm coming from, I'll give a little bit of a background about me.  I grew up with Walkman cassette players and Discman CD players.  I listened to most of my music that way, complete with the cheap $1 headphones...