In 2022, which feels like an eon ago in the fast moving world of IEMs, the original Performer5 was released and brought the mysterious IEM manufacturer AFUL into the limelight. Three years and a steady supply of memorable releases later, AFUL is no longer a stranger but a well-known and admired IEM R&D powerhouse within portable audio communities. And now, three years, they finally return to revamp and update their first release, the beginning of their epoch. Today, we will take a look at the brand new Performer5+2 and catch a glimpse of a new era...

Today, we look at Project M, a mid-fi offering from the veteran manufacturer DITA from Singapore. Forewords What I look for in an IEM is immersion. I want to feel the orchestra around my head, track individual instruments, and hear all of their textures and details. I’m not picky about tonality, as long as it does not make the orchestra, violin, cellos, and pianos sound wrong. I rate IEMs within with a consistent scale from 1 (Poor) to 3 (Good) to 5 (Outstanding). An overall ranking of 3/5 or above is considered positive. Ranking list and...

Today, we look at Voltage, a kilobuck entry from Penon. Forewords What I look for in an IEM is immersion. I want to feel the orchestra around my head, track individual instruments, and hear all of their textures and details. I’m not picky about tonality, as long as it is not make the orchestra, violin, cellos, and pianos sound wrong. I rate IEMs within with a consistent scale from 1 (Poor) to 3 (Good) to 5 (Outstanding). An overall ranking of 3/5 or above is considered positive. Ranking list and measurement database are on my IEM review blog. The...

ISN Audio H60 has received quite a bit of hype across personal audio communities. Finally, this IEM lands on my review desk. Has the hype been justified? Read on, my friends. Forewords What I look for in an IEM is immersion. I want to feel the orchestra around my head, track individual instruments, and hear all of their textures and details. I’m not picky about tonality, as long as it is not make the orchestra, violin, cellos, and pianos sound wrong. I rate IEMs within with a consistent scale from 1 (Poor) to 3 (Good) to 5 (Outstanding). An overall...

Today we look at CP54E, one of the high-end offering from the Dutch boutique CANPUR. Forewords What I look for in an IEM is immersion. I want to feel the orchestra around my head, track individual instruments, and hear all of their textures and details. I’m not picky about tonality, as long as it is not make the orchestra, violin, cellos, and pianos sound wrong. I rate IEMs within with a consistent scale from 1 (Poor) to 3 (Good) to 5 (Outstanding). An overall ranking of 3/5 or above is considered positive. Ranking list and measurement database...

What would the future of personal audio look like? Yes, we all know true-wireless stereo earphones (TWS) are taking over, pushing wired IEMs further and further into a niche market. But how about the future of wired IEMs themselves? What would be the next step? Today, we look at HiBy Xeno to catch of glimpse of a possible future. Forewords What I look for in an IEM is immersion. I want to feel the orchestra around my head, track individual instruments, and hear all of their textures and details. I’m not picky about tonality, as long as it does...

It is not an exaggeration to say that I have been waiting a few years to finally write this review article. The reasons were twofold. Firtsly, the product itself took a long time arrive: it has been more than one year and multiple releases between the moment AFUL teased their flagship 14-driver IEM Cantor and time when it is finally here on my desk. Secondly, ever since the time I started reviewing IEMs a few years back, I have been waiting for someone, somewhere, somehow, to make that IEM, the one that makes me say: “This is it!”. Needless to say...

To me, there has always been something alluring about the idea of “tribrid” IEMs, the ones that use a combination of three different types of drivers. No, featuring a tribrid design does not guarantee that an IEM would be exceptional. I like to think of a tribrid design as the potential to be exceptional, but whether that potential is realised is another matter entirely. Thus, tribrid IEMs sometimes feel like pricy lottery tickets in the audio world. Previously, Simgot has been able to bring quadbrid design down to the $135 price tag. This time, they...

Can we tune an IEM so that it performs better with FPS games? More importantly, can we do that without compromising its tonal balance and tonality? Apparently, ZiiGaat and Fresh Reviews believe so. Today, let’s have a look at the result of their collaboration - Arete. Forewords What I look for in an IEM is immersion. I want to feel the orchestra around my head, track individual instruments, and hear all of their textures and details. I’m not picky about tonality, as long as it is not make the orchestra, violin, cellos, and pianos sound wrong. I...

I’ve always considered “quadbrid” IEMs - those that combine four types of drivers - to be my personal “holy grail” IEMs. No, I’m not suggesting that an IEM automatically sounds phenomenal just because it has a quadbrid or tribrid configuration. What these IEMs possess is immense potential to be mind-blowing if manufacturers can overcome the seemingly insurmountable challenges of making various types of drivers perform at their full potential while working together cohesively to create a unified sound signature. Due, in part, to the complexity...

It’s easy to be stuck in a rut and feel cynical that nothing ever changes when you see the same old thing over and over again. The hyper-competitive “mid-fi” market of the IEM world can induce this feeling in its followers and fans alike, due to the rapid and frequent releases of mostly good but somewhat homogeneous IEMs. But every once in a while, something comes along to shake things up. Today, we’ll take a look at the Juzear 61T “Butterfly,” one of my recent surprises. Forewords What I look for in an IEM is immersion. I want to feel the...

Today, we look Splendor II, a single DD IEM from the Chi-Fi manufacturer Intuaura. It’s a fun one. Let’s talk about it. Forewords What I look for in an IEM is immersion. I want to feel the orchestra around my head, track individual instruments, and hear all of their textures and details. I’m not picky about tonality, as long as it is not make the orchestra, violin, cellos, and pianos sound wrong. I rate IEMs within with a consistent scale from 1 (Poor) to 3 (Good) to 5 (Outstanding). An overall ranking of 3/5 or above is considered positive...

No matter how I look at it, the economy does not look bright when I write this review. This means audiophiles need to tighten their wallets, and manufacturers need to find a way to squeeze through this tightening, generally by releasing more budget-friendly entries. Today, we look at Pilgrim, the latest entry in this incredibly crowded market from the illustrious Eastern boutique Elysian Acoustic Labs. Forewords What I look for in an IEM is immersion. I want to feel the orchestra around my head, track individual instruments, and hear all of their...

If you have ever talked about IEMs with me, you would likely notice two points: (1) I have a soft spot for the IEM manufacturer AFUL, and (2) I constantly refresh the news to wait for the release of the mythical AFUL flagship IEM - Cantor. So, needless to say, I was a bit disappointed when latest release from AFUL was not Cantor, but a 3-driver hybrid IEM named Explorer. Is it a distraction when the Cantor is getting ready for the limelight or another tour de force like the Magic One last year? Let’s read on to find out, my friends. Forewords...

Collaboration Once upon a time, the concept of a collaboration between a manufacturer and a reviewer to build an In-Ear Monitor (IEM) was a rare occurrence and a promising sign of a breakthrough in sonic performance and price-to-value ratio. However, collaborations have become much more common today, which may have diminished their initial excitement. Yet, there is a less common form of collaboration that I find more intriguing: partnerships between manufacturers themselves. Today, we’ll be examining the result of such a collaboration between HiBy...

Let’s cut to the chase. Simgot’s sub-flagship IEM, the EA1000, codename “Fermat”, is a huge surprise for me and has quickly become one of my favorite single dynamic driver (DD) IEMs. How come? Let’s talk about it. (Yes, the IEM is surprised too) Forewords What I look for in an IEM is immersion. I want to feel the orchestra around my head, track individual instruments, and hear all of their textures and details. I’m not picky about tonality, as long as it is not make the orchestra, violin, cellos, and pianos sound wrong. I rate IEMs within with a...

It is very likely that your experience with this IEM would be very different from mine. The most tricky thing about reading and writing reviews of IEMs is that they are personal audio devices. The “personal” aspect here goes beyond one’s preference for a a particular musical genres, a band, or a singer. No. It’s the shape of one’s ears, the place where they listen to music, the device from which they get the audio signal, and even the loudness at which they listen that paints a very different sonic picture for each listener. That has been the case...

Do MP3 players (sorry, Digital Audio Player - DAP) have a place in 2024? To me, the concept of DAP, especially in an age where smartphones are pervasive, has always been bourgeois and thus boasts a correspondingly high price tag. Nowhere is the poor price/performance ratio of DAP more prominent than in the high-end DAPs with wireless communication capabilities and full Android OS. With the newly released R4, can HiBy change the status quo? Let’s find out. Preambles In this review, I use the term “source” to denote a DAC+amp combo for brevity and...

Have you observed an interesting pattern in the audio hobby world in recent years? Any skilful IEM manufacturer would eventually develop electronics to accompany their IEMs. Moondrop was, perhaps, the pioneer of this trend with MOONRIVER2 and has continued with DSP-enabled products ever since. AFUL created Snowy Night to accompany their Magic One IEM. KiwiEars developed the “gamepad dongle” Allegro. Today, we look at Simgot’s dongle, the DEW4X. Preambles In this review, I use the term “source” to denote a DAC+amp combo for brevity and...

There is an inherent beauty, a classical beauty, in doing things right. To optimise. To be efficient. To get the most out of the least. Classically beautiful. That’s how I think about a new wave of IEM boutiques run by young teams with a strong engineering background and a good taste of aural experiences. A while ago, I have had the pleasure to test and write about Helios from Symphonium, a Singaporean IEM manufacturers whose pride is engineering excellence. In the following months, inspired by my experience with Helios, I added its budget-friendly...