Many thanks to the people at ETA for organizing a loner for ETA's newest release, the “O2”. I imagine anyone reading this would be familiar with ETA by now, but there is lots of excellent information to be found on their website if you're not familiar with them ( https://etaheadphones.com/pages/about-us / https://etaheadphones.com/pages/meet-the-team ). Like the Mini, this is an on ear headphone but the design is wholly new and created to maximize airflow, among other things. However just like the OG Mini, this was designed from the ground up by the...

I’ll start as I usually do with sincere thanks to ZMF for allowing this amazing headphone to go out on loan. They were generous enough to allow a considerable amount of time in order to put it through it’s paces and I sincerely enjoyed my time with them. There’s a lot of info already out there about the Caldera's development and construction, I think it's worth reading & watching: https://www.zmfheadphones.com/caldera-acoustic-design https://www.zmfheadphones.com/measurements Fit, Comfort and build ZMF has a reputation for making headphones that...

I’ll start as I usually do with sincere thanks to Meze & Andy Kong for organizing this loaner tour. They were generous enough to allow us about 2 weeks with the Meze Liric to put it through it’s paces and I did indeed enjoy my time with them. There’s a lot of info already out there about the Liric construction and design so I’ll only touch on that as necessary. For more information, check out Meze’s dedicated Liric website: https://mezeaudio.com/collections/all/products/liric Fit and Comfort One thing I’ve always appreciated about Meze is their...

Intro As always I’ll begin with sincere thanks to Zach & all of ZMF for their generosity. Somehow I was fortunate enough to be on the loaner for the Atrium, one of ZMF’s newest and co-flagship with the Verite lineup. The Atrium is a departure from other ZMF headphones in a variety of ways.The concept behind the Atrium includes a new patent pending dampening/airflow scheme combined with an updated biocellulose driver, and the result is IMO a captivating listening experience. I won’t go into the details of the Atrium nor the patent since so...

Intro The Sennheiser HD650 has been a standard for audiophiles since its introduction 14 or 15 years ago. Because of its already stellar sound as well as being relatively easy to disassemble, the 650 has also been a staple for headphone DIYers everywhere. The JAR650 (JAR stands for Jupiter Audio Research) is one of the newest takes on a HD650 mod, but this one isn’t geared toward the DIY community so much as those looking to maximize the sound of their 650 or anyone looking to buy one of the best sounding headphones I’ve heard. (Photo courtesy of...

Let me start by sincerely thanking Unique Melody and Lawrence (cotnijoe) for organizing this tour. I have (gratefully) been selected to participate in this Headphone Tour, during which I am able to listen to the Mason V3 for 2 weeks then ship them off to the next lucky participant. The only requirement is to post the review which you see here. Having the opportunity to sample TOTL equipment in the comfort of my own home, with my own source and music, is an absolute joy for which I am truly grateful. Personally I’ve been gravitating away from IEM...

In early 2016, I had the pleasure of participating in the Meze 99 Classic tour. To say I was impressed would be an understatement. A new release from a relatively unknown company that sounded that good was impressive, not just to me but to many of those who had the pleasure of hearing them. When I heard that Meze had planned to release a less expensive version, ($249 USD MSRP, and an advertised $50 discount for Black Friday 2017) I was excited to sign up for the Neo tour. To see how the 99 Neo stacks up to its more famous older brother, read on. I...

Let me start by sincerely thanking Youhey Ohnagi for contacting me on Facebook. I had heard of Ocharaku before, but have never had any direct experience with them, nor have I seen or heard any of their products at any meets or shows. I’m guessing that because I am on the Head-Fi forum on Facebook that Youhey decided to offer me some time with the Flat4-KEYAKI Plus. Whatever the reason, I am certainly glad I got a chance to listen. I was given 10 days to listen to the Ocharaku Flat4-KEYAKI, after which I retuned them to CD Japan (from whence they...

DAPs are our portable music companions. Many will rely on their smartphones for musical enjoyment on the go, but I like to have something a little better sounding, with a bit more power. On the more affordable end of the DAP spectrum, Cayin is offering the N3. Chock full of features, and a MSRP of only $149(USD), read on to find out if Cayin took a big bite out of the Law of Diminishing Returns. The Cayin N3 is on loan from Cayin for a listening tour. I receive no other compensation than my time with the unit in exchange for the review you are now...

Anyone that has been around this hobby for a while knows that there are many different things that influence the quality of sound we get from our gear. Countless articles are written about different amps, dacs, ear tips, ear pads, cables, etc. and the added nuances they can bring to the listening experience. All of these items have a primary function, ear comfort, isolation, signal transmission, signal conversion etc., with changing the sound supposedly being a secondary benefit. The ifi iTube2 is the only piece of equipment other than an equalizer...

The item for review is the Shanling UP, which is a Dragonfly-esque USB DAC/amp for use from a computer or mobile phone. A huge thank you goes to nmatheis for lending out the UP for the purposes of this review. Shanling is a relatively lesser known audio company that has actually been in existence in one form or another since 1988, officially taking the name Shanling in 1996. Recently Shanling has been making a bit of a buzz in the personal audio world with their DAPs (I own the M2), and now they have introduced their first portable DAC/amp, the UP...

It is with great pleasure, and with thanks to RHA (as well as nmatheis for helping to organize the North American leg) that I can say that I have been selected to take part in the RHA listening tour. During this tour, I have 10 Days to listen to & evaluate the CL750, CL1 ceramic earphones, and the Dacamp L1, a digital-to-analogue converter with class AB amplifiers. Although I am very grateful to be able to participate in this tour, I receive no compensation other than the joy of listening to these items in the comfort of my own home, and the...

It is with great pleasure, and with thanks to RHA (as well as nmatheis for helping to organize the North American leg) that I can say that I have been selected to take part in the RHA listening tour. During this tour, I have 10 Days to listen to & evaluate the CL750, CL1 ceramic earphones, and the Dacamp L1, a digital-to-analogue converter with class AB amplifiers. Although I am very grateful to be able to participate in this tour, I receive no compensation other than the joy of listening to these items in the comfort of my own home, and the...

It is with great pleasure, and with thanks to RHA (as well as nmatheis for helping to organize the North American leg) that I can say that I have been selected to take part in the RHA listening tour. During this tour, I have 10 Days to listen to & evaluate the CL750, CL1 ceramic earphones, and the Dacamp L1, a digital-to-analogue converter with class AB amplifiers. Although I am very grateful to be able to participate in this tour, I receive no compensation other than the joy of listening to these items in the comfort of my own home, and the...

It is with great pleasure that I can say that I have been selected to take part in the iFi Micro iDSD Black Label listening tour. My thanks to Lawrence from iFi for helping to organize the USA East leg of the tour. What this means, is that I have 1 week to listen to & evaluate the ifi Micro iDSD Black Label, which is a DAC utilizing a dual core Burr-Brown DSD512/PCM768/2xDXD chip and headphone amplifier. Although I am very grateful to be able to participate in this tour, I receive no compensation other than the joy of listening in the comfort of my...

       Let me start by sincerely thanking Meze for organizing this tour. I have (gratefully) been selected to participate in this Headphone Tour, during which I am able to listen to and keep the 11 Neo. The only requirement is to post the review which you see here. Having the opportunity to sample equipment in the comfort of my own home, with my own source and music, is an absolute joy for which I am truly grateful. The Meze 11 Neo’s MSRP is $59 (USD) and can be found here...

       Let me start by sincerely thanking Meze for organizing this tour. I have (gratefully) been selected to participate in this Headphone Tour, during which I am able to listen to and keep the 12 Classic. The only requirement is to post the review which you see here. Having the opportunity to sample equipment in the comfort of my own home, with my own source and music, is an absolute joy for which I am truly grateful. The Meze 12 Classic’s MSRP is $79 (USD) and can be found here...

       Let me start by sincerely thanking Luke for organizing this tour. I have (gratefully) been selected to participate in this Headphone Tour, during which I am able to listen to the Aria for one week, at which time I am to mail the earphones to the next participant on the tour (done). The only requirement is to post the review which you see here. Having the opportunity to sample TOTL equipment (or a step below in this case) in the comfort of my own home is an absolute joy for which I am truly grateful. The depths of that gratitude will not...

If you would have asked me a couple of months ago about Meze (I’ve read it is pronounced meh-zeh) I would have thought you were referencing a Sci-Fi character I’ve never heard of. To spite the fact that Meze has been around since at least 2009, they certainly haven’t been a household name, nor have I read much about them here or on any other audio website. After hearing the Classic 99s, I’d say that’s about to change (at the very least here on Head-Fi).   Meze has created a simply beautiful (IMO) headphone with a MSRP of $309 (USD).I don’t often...

       Having participated in the Oppo PM3 lending program, I was afforded a good amount of time to demo this headphone more extensively and under better conditions than in a store or headphone meet. I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect. All the usual suspects in reviewing were chiming in with positive reviews, yet here on Head-Fi, I noticed a number of opinions counter to these. The most common observation I read was that of the headphone being boring, or lifeless. Once I spent some time with these ‘phones in hand (and on my ears) I decided I’d...