Introduction and background To satisfy the requirements of the recent iFi Neo iDSD loaner tour, the following is my review of the iFi Neo iDSD. I reached out to iFi to request participation in the tour and was given 1 week to evaluate the equipment. No direct compensation is being provided for this review, although tour participants are being entered in a drawing to win a Neo iDSD by random draw. My personal preferences and biases place a stronger emphasis on (pseudo) stereo imaging and the dynamic/transient characteristics of the...

Introduction and background Burson Audio contacted me with an opportunity to review the Burson Playmate Amp/DAC combo. Although I originally had no intention of trying any recent Burson products, I decided to oblige because I'm always up for trying out new equipment. I've previously owned a Burson Soloist several years ago which was a favorable experience, but had since moved on to various tube and hybrid amps. Recently I've returned to a more solid-state emphasis with focus on balancing subjective performance with value. I went into this...

First of all, special thanks to Todd at TTVJ Audio for the opportunity to participate in this loaner program. Introduction: The Sangaku is the first Apex Hifi product I have had the opportunity to audition. It is one of, if not the first headphone amps to utilize the new Korg Nutube, which is a miniaturized vacuum tube based on previous Vacuum Fluorescent Display. It uses much less power and generates less heat than traditional tubes. But what is especially unique about the Nutube is that it is technically a directly heated...

First off, special thanks to Todd at TTVJ for allowing me to take part in the HE-1000 loaner program. This will be short and sweet, as I realized I'm not as good at coming up with reviews as I thought I might be. I primarily compared this to my Sennheiser HD800. Utilizing a Schiit Yggdrasil as DAC and Trafomatic head 2 on 4 Pin XLR out. The HE-1000 has an unmistakable planar signature, such as it's lightning fast transient speeds, and ability to really dig into the bass. Unlike many planar headphones I've listened to, it also does quite well...