DSD is all the rage these days. Despite there not being a whole lot of music available in the format (SACDs aside), DAC makers are jumping on the feature as fast as they can. And I can't blame them - aside from our "regular" music, we all love a little ear candy to show off the capabilities of our system.    Another thing that's quite popular? The ESS Sabre DACs. These Sabre chips show up in more and more products, eclipsing the the competition from Wolfson, Cirrus, Analog Devices, and Texas Instruments in desirability and "buzz" if not sheer...

      NuForce has an interesting history of success. On the one hand, they became famous on the strength of their relatively high end amps and preamps. They still sell plenty of models in their "reference" line, most of which cost at least several thousand dollars. In more recent times they seem to have focused on the opposite end of the market - the budget end - and have achieved success there as well. Products like their HDP, the various Icon compact amplifiers, their NE series of IEMs, and of course the uDac, have cemented their place as a...

    Cable upgrades - still a point of contention in audiophile circles. Some people swear by them, and some find them to be a complete waste. There are zealots on each side but many of us fall somewhere in the middle. I've written about this topic several times: once here where I was more on the skeptical side, and then later here where I was more willing to embrace the potential for improvement. Tyll Hertsens recently addressed the topic in a two part series - part 1 and part 2 which generated some interesting comments. My views on cables tend...

    The Audinst HUD-mx1 compact DAC/headphone amp was a great little unit. It also happened to be one of the very first reviews that I did at HeadFi. In the subsequent years I've gone on to review dozens of other products from amps to DACs to headphones and more, and I also went on to become something of a "real" reviewer at InnerFidelity. Through all that, I've never stopped recommending the Audinst mx1 as a cheap, reliable unit that sounds good and doesn't take up much space.   Audinst later went on to release a portable amp (the AMP-HP)...

    I've had some surprisingly good experiences with NuForce products lately. Their DDA-100 (review pending) is a spectacular all in one integrated. Their Cube compact speaker, which seemed like a toy when I first saw it, is actually rather enjoyable and proves very useful in a number of situations. Their LPS-1 power supply feeds an Auraliti PK90 music server in my reference system and offers a noticeable step up from the stock wall wart. That's 3 for 3 so far - a good record.    When they offered to send me a review sample of their new...

        HiFiMAN needs no introduction around here, so I'll simply share my opinion briefly. In my mind, not only are they one of the premier manufacturers of headphones and related gear, but - and this is possibly more important - they deserve a lot of credit for helping advance the headphone industry in general. Of course, they aren't alone in this category. Plenty of others have done amazing things over the last few years. But I can't think of anyone who even approaches the broad portfolio of HiFiMAN. They have gear competing for...

  iHiFi 960       I wrote at length about a quirky DAP from China called the iHiFi812v2 in THIS review. It's a great sounding unit with a few quirks that I can easily live with considering the positives it has. My biggest complaint - by far - has to do with the digital output, or more specifically the lack of digital ouput. I'm used to my QLS QA350 (another relatively obscure Chinese DAP) with coaxial and optical SPDIF outputs. Since the 812v2 looks very similar to the QA350, my brain just expects at least one digital out to be there...

    Not to pat myself on the back too much, but I was one of the very first people to review the Invicta DAC from Resonessence Labs ($3999). I found it to be exceptionally good - competing with and even surpassing several of my other DACs which cost significantly more. The Invicta system went on to become a very successful product, well reviewed by numerous other publications and (more importantly) highly enjoyed by lots of users.  One complaint, if we can call it that, about the Invicta was that it offered more than some people needed. This...

          In my review of the Shonyun 301 Pro desktop amplifier, I gave it high marks for sound quality but noted some issues in terms of build quality. I also felt that the price was somewhat ambitious considering that Shonyun is a newcomer to the HeadFi scene. Still, it's a rather enjoyable amp that I continue to use and appreciate on a regular basis. It sounds especially good with the latest LCD-2 which I recently acquired.    Shonyun doesn't merely offer one amp but rather has three different models. The 301 is their desktop...

  93spec pure silver CIEM cable       Premium cables - probably the single most controversial category in audio, unless we count some of the more dubious "tweaks" out there like magic rocks and green CD pens. But only a very small contingency of folks actually believe in those types of things - upgraded cables are far more mainstream.    It's easy to write people off who rabidly believe - or disbelieve - in cables making an audible difference. Some of these people bring it on themselves, practically becoming caricatures in the...

        The Shonyun 301 - this amp was sent to me for review along with the 306 portable amp. Like most readers I had never heard of the brand Shonyun. The packaging looked professional though, and the person sending it gave it a high recommendation, so I figured I'd give it a try without bringing any pre-conceived ideas into it. This was hard to do based on the outward appearance of the unit, which didn't seem to fit the sound it produced. But I'm getting ahead of myself - allow me to start from the beginning.   DESIGN Shonyun is a...

  1964 Ears V3             It seems like only yesterday that 1964 Ears came on the scene as one of several new startup companies in the field of custom IEMs. Sure, there were some established players on the market such as Ultimate Ears and Westone, but 1964 Ears (along with Unique Melody) was part of a new wave of players that really started driving down prices and making the use of custom ear-monitors more widespread. Many other new companies have arrived in the several years that 1964 has been on the market, and we hadn't seen...

  iHiFi 812 V2           The market for high-quality portable DAP units is steadily growing. Go back a few years and most people around here were running an iPod with a line-out dock to a portable amp, or something similar. Since then we've seen the release of various HiFiMAN units, the Colorfly C4, various Studio and RoCoo models from HiSound, and now the iBasso DX100. We've also seen the relatively unknown QLS QA350 come out of nowhere and offer features that few could match (but also some significant trade-offs) at a really low...

          This thread is now updated to a full review. Some of the posts that follow were done prior to the full review being posted, so if things seem a little confusing, it's because the review was added later.    Starting from the beginning: Lear is a custom IEM company out of Hong Kong. You may recall the name from my prior review of their mid-range LCM-2b model. This new release is the flagship LCM-5, with the 5 referring to the 5 balanced armature drivers in each side.    On price: the LCM-5 costs 6,888 HKD plus 200 HKD for...

For those interested in using their phone as their main audio source, the Meizu MX 4-core is my top recommendation. It ticks all the boxes for a quality phone - responsive interface, nice screen, camera that is actually useful, good amount of memory, etc. But there are plenty of nice phones out there. What sets this one apart is the audio quality - it's really good!   Straight from the headphone jack, this thing sounds superb. It's clean, clear, and has a black background. It has a good amount of volume too, able to comfortably drive plenty of...

      Tube buffers used to be somewhat popular around here, among other places. There was the popular Musical Fidelity X-10 v3 as well as a few models from Chinese company Yaqin, and plenty of people swore by them. But that popularity seems to have disappeared and you rarely hear about these things anymore. I've been playing with this unit for a few months, so I'm finally ready to post some thoughts. The product is labeled as YiXin Audio MDS-623 and sells for around $160  (By the way - that listing has some of the most...

          Dr. Moulton of Heir Audio frequently browses HeadFi. I'm sure he couldn't help but notice that when folks post pictures of their beautiful Heir Audio custom IEMs, they are often accompanied by an aftermarket cable from one of the many firms who make that sort of thing. His response? Release a high quality IEM cable of his own. It makes perfect sense - as a maker of audio gear, when you see a need in the market, you fill that need.   But how to keep from becoming just another pretty cable in the sea of brands that compete in...

            I've been out of the loop for a while when it comes to budget IEMs. Back in the day, the low priced options were simply not very good. I remember paying $40 for the V-MODA Bass Freq as a workout IEM because I liked the massive impact, though it was obviously not an "all purpose" type IEM. I used them with my Creative Zen Micro Photo which I believe was $300 for the 6GB model, just to put things in perspective. I knew things had improved since then, but I didn't realize just how much IEM you could get for so little money...

        It's official - I now own more custom IEMs from Heir Audio than I ever have from any other company. Prior to this my record was two sets of Westones and two pair from Ultimate Ears. With the recent acquisition of the Heir Audo 4.A, I now have three sets of Heir Audio customs. Why so many? It's simple really: I'm a custom IEM nut, and Heir Audio makes excellent custom IEMs. See how that works?   First, a quick recap: Heir Audio is a relatively new custom IEM company based out of China. The brains behind the operation is Dr. John...

          At this point, and on this forum, I don't think Yulong Audio needs much of an introduction by now. While mainstream audiophiledom may have no clue about the brand, HeadFi members know better. We've embraced several of their excellent offerings - especially the D100 DAC. With their latest D18 DAC – the most affordable DAC on the market featuring the ESS Sabre ES9018 chip - they've shown themselves capable of producing a true high-end product while still keeping the price relatively affordable.   Yulong now has a matching...