Introduction Aune, or Wuhan Ao Lai Er Technology Co., Ltd., as is the official name of the Company, is a brand dedicated to developedesktop and portable audio products, such as DACs, digital transports, music players, headphone amplifiers, etc. It is not as young of a Company, as people might think. In fact, this year it celebrates its 20th anniversary since its foundation in 2004. Among the Company’s six co-founders, there are experts in various audio related fields, such as hardware design, electro-acoustics design, programming, speaker design...

Introduction iBasso is a company that does not need any introduction. It is one of the Chinese leaders in the audio trade specializing in IEMs, DACs, amplifiers, DAPs, and accessories. In the past few years, it has presented some very nice DACs, among them DC03 and DC04; both were of great quality, with nice sound tuning, and got good reviews. Recently, iBasso presented DC03PRO and DC04PRO. By just looking at these new devices, you understand the high quality of the two products. And of course, a high-quality product is usually accompanied by...

Introduction Final needs no introduction, and I am really accustomed to be pleasantly surprised with any new product. Why? Simply because any Final product has two main characteristics: Top quality and great sound; in particular, a sound that is characterized by what I call “unique Final tonality”, which remains unchanged in all Final products through the years. It is a sound that is balanced, but at the same time natural and life like. Of course, not all Final products are the same. There are flagship products, like A8000, which has stellar sound...

Introduction Final is a well-known headphones and In-Ear Monitors (IEMs) manufacturer not because it is big, but because it has products of very high quality. Quality that extends from the way an IEM is made to the way it sounds. It is also a very unusual company, in the sense that it has $20.00-$30.00 models, with a performance that make you scratch your head on how they could be that good. On the other hand, Final also has a line of exquisite models, like the planar magnetic headphones D8000 or the flagship IEM A8000, that could take one to...

Introduction Final is a company that needs no introduction. It has a really long history in the audio industry, and in recent years it is specializing in the design and manufacture of IEMs and headphones. In IEMs, Final has given us such successful models like the E series or the more audiophile A series; while in headphones, the Sonorous series set a benchmark among dynamic headphones and the D8000 among planar ones. What is very unusual is that Final makes some truly humble models, like E1000, costing $25.00 and having a performance that worths...

Introduction I think that Questyle is one of these companies that has caused a sensation in the Hi-Fi world and for a good reason. The company was founded on December 12, 2012, and a year and a half later applied for a global PCT patent on “Current Mode Amplification (CMA)”, a new technology that essentially revolutionized how an amplifier works (more on that below), and since then it has been used in all Questyle products, desktop or mobile. Questyle products are designed to give the consumer the highest, yet trouble-free, audio quality, and they...

Introduction Final is a company that needs no introduction. It has a long history in the audio industry, and in the past several years it specializes in the design and manufacture of IEMs and headphones. I have reviewed some Final IEMs, ranging from the very modestly priced E2000C/E3000C to the Company’s flagship (and very expensive) A8000. Obviously, all these IEMs do not have the same performance. A8000 has a stellar performance in terms of balance, transparency, natural presentation and almost zero distortion; it is among the very best IEMs on...

Introduction The past few years we have a “big bang” in new In-Ear Monitors (IEMs), the vast majority of which are of good and quite a few of excellent quality; there are obviously different sound signatures for different tastes, but the quality of most of these IEMs is really good. Good quality IEMs created a need for good quality Digital to Analog Converters (DACs). Now, if you want to have just one DAC on the go and at home, then you need a mobile or portable DAC, what we usually call a “dongle”; and it is true that in recent years dongles...

Introduction Νot very long ago, I reviewed IKKO OH1 and OH10, and rather recently OH1s. I have to say that I was very pleased with all of them, particularly, with the latter. They all have a balanced sound, with tight and well-controlled bass, extended, but not harsh, highs, and mids that are not forward or recessed. OH1 and OH10 are on the warm side, while OH1s is more balanced, although some people might find it a bit cold. Transparency is better on OH1s, while soundstage, image,dynamics and separation are great and about the same in all three of...

Introduction CCZ is a bit of a inconspicuous company. The link www.cczhifi.com does not seem to lead anywhere, and in general it is rather difficult to find information on CCZ products. Nonetheless, I was invited to review a relatively new CCZ IEM, Coffee Bean, and I thought that I had no reason to refuse without checking it out. Description Coffee Bean is a single 10mm dual magnetic circuit dynamic driver, with a PU + PEEK composite diaphragm, intended to provide elastic and textured low frequencies, accurate resolution and rich details. The...

Introduction iBasso is a company that does not need any introduction. It is one of the Chinese leaders in the audio trade specializing in DAPs, amplifiers, IEMs and accessories. In the past few years, it has presented some very nice IEM sets, among them IT01 and IT01s; both were single dynamic driver IEMs with a very nice sound tuning that got very good reviews. Recently, iBasso replaced IT01s with IT01X; the “X” in life always stands for the “unknown” or the “surprise” if you want to. When I saw a brief description of it, I immediately understood...

Introduction I honestly do not know much about HZSOUND. It is a bit of an obscure company having a website in Chinese and English, although in the English version many things are in Chinese, and they have some products that it is hard to find, even in AliExpress. So, I could overpass them and go to the next IEM maker; after all there so many of them! All this until about a year ago, when they presented a model which goes by the name “Heart Mirror”. In Buddhist religion, the meaning of “Heart Mirror” is that a pure heart is a mirror of what is...

Introduction I have heard a lot about BLON IEMs, in particular, BL-03, BL-05 and its upgrade BL-05s; each of these three models has its own fans. I really cannot tell you which one I would like myself, as I never had the chance to try anyone of the three; however, BLON products were always in my radar. I was quite impressed by the people standing behind this young company, which counts less than 10 years, since 2014; these are either people envying traditional Chinese art culture and modern music or experienced engineers, who combined forces to...

Introduction It was not long ago that I reviewed IKKO OH1 and OH10, and I was impressed by both of them. They have a balanced and pleasantly warm sound, with tight and well-controlled bass, extended, but not harsh, highs, and mids that are not forward and not recessed. It is pretty much what one could call “U” shape sound, but one that is highly transparent, with very big soundstage, both in width and depth, very nice image, great dynamics, excellent separation and, overall, very engaging. Furthermore, both OH1 and OH10 are of unsurpassed quality...

Introduction Maybe the name EarMen does not ring a bell to everyone. Although, it is a relatively young company, it had a lot of activity since it was founded just a few years ago. Of course, this is no by accident; EarMen has an older sibling, Auris Audio, which is famous for making tube amplifiers characterized by their emphasis on purity of sound. The idea behind every Auris product is to perfect neutral, natural and clean sound and package the final product in a stylish and quality design that please the eyes and last for many, many years to...

Introduction Maybe the name EarMen does not ring a bell to everyone. Although, it is a relatively young company, it had a lot of activity since it was founded just a few years ago. Of course, this is no by accident; EarMen has an older sibling, Auris Audio, which is famous for making tube amplifiers characterized by their emphasis on purity of sound. The idea behind every Auris product is to perfect neutral, natural and clean sound and package the final product in a stylish and quality design that please the eyes and last for many, many years to...

Introduction Guangzhou DD Electronics Technology Co., Ltd., aka ddHiFi, is a young company, established in 2017, specializing in the design and making of audiophile products, in particular, DACs, cables, earphones and accessories. The founder of the company had previously working experience in both OPPO and FiiO. ddHiFi is dedicated to make user-friendly products, of high quality and great sound, by paying attention to the materials used and to all production details, while at the same time controlling carefully the cost, such that the resulting...

Introduction iBasso was founded in 2006, and in a mere 15 years became one of the most respected designer and manufacturer of digital audio players (DAPs), headphone amplifiers and digital to analog converters (DACs). In 2011, it successfully bypassed the Android ALSA driver and developed the world's first 24bit / 192kHz Android audio player. This was a milestone for high-resolution portable audio players, that enabled high-resolution online streaming. However, iBasso also designs and manufactures in-ear monitors (IEMs), and full-sized headphones...

Introduction IKKO Audio is a very young company, established just a few years ago, and it has already left its footprint in the audio industry; it makes mainly IEMs and headphone DACs and Amplifiers. I think it is accurate to say that in just a few years where others would do steps IKKO has done jumps. The company’s flagship IEM is OH7, which is based on a single dynamic driver; it has a performance and also an MSRP that puts it in the “upper level league”, and it certainly deserves a separate review. Two much more reasonably priced IEMs are OH1...

Introduction IKKO Audio is a very young company, established just a few years ago, and it has already left its footprint in the audio industry; it makes mainly IEMs and headphone DACs and Amplifiers. I think it is accurate to say that in just a few years where others would do steps IKKO has done jumps. The company’s flagship IEM is OH7, which is based on a single dynamic driver; it has a performance and also an MSRP that puts it in the “upper level league”, and it certainly deserves a separate review. Two much more reasonably priced IEMs are OH1...