Black Lacquer finish Introduction I have been a fan of TWS for some time now. This may surprise some of you. TWS has some limitations, theoretically at least. The bitter irony of having complete freedom from wires.....ahhh, lovely! Yet the restriction of not being able to enjoy the leaps and bounds that have been made in choosing from a plethora of near lossless bluetooth codecs. You see, bud 1 has to feed bud 2 with the info it needs. This is done using wires usually. No wires mean compromises have to take place. There isn't much space left inside...

Lotoo Two - S2 - the ultra portable Dac/Amp from the makers of the Paw Gold On my travels through the World of portable HiFi it was inevitable that I'd come across one of the range of pen sized top loaders out there. I have previously owned the Dragonfly Cobalt from Audioquest. You know, the one they rave about? The flagship of the Dragonfly range. It seems to me that before the Dragonfly there wasn't much call for these humble looking devices. Since the black, red and blue came out - boom! Tons of them. I sold my Cobalt. Ultimately I never really...

Lotoo's 6000 - A PAWs for thought With thanks to.... I would like to take this opportunity to thank both Lotoo and my intrepid friend Mark for providing me with this here sample review item as is known as the Lotoo Paw 6000 Digital Audio Player. All the usual caveats apply, whatever they may be. Introduction About me My name is Trev. I review stuff. I have no means of scientific analysis - you won't see me walking around in a lab coat in my videos. I do have some kit that I use to try and evidence what I am saying about audio gear, we can go...

Deva Pro just how good is it? Now you can hear for yourself Just the other day I got to thinking. How much do people agree or disagree with my words and speech? What happens once I set my thoughts on paper and publish them? Do people believe me? How easy is it to explain what something actually sounds like? And, by doing so, are we putting bias into our cherished readers minds? Well, of course we are. That is perhaps the purpose of a reviewer. A reviewer can take the marketing information from every company out there and give a more judged...

TWS TWS – the 2nd coming – Moondrop Sparks The Berylium coated Sparks from Moondrop Introduction This is a link for the Sparks, if you’re interested enough to part with some cash for them. Subjective Reviews was sent a pair in return for our unique take on all matters audio. In this case, ShenzhenAudio, a major supplier of portable audio in China, have asked me to put Moondrop’s first ever TWS offering under the microscope. This one is good enough in quality (berylium), features (VDSF tuning) and price (£65.40) for you to read on...

The HM1000 Red - the base model that is anything but basic is compared to the multi award winning Chord Mojo Chi-Fi v Brit-Fi - R2R v Delta Sigma - Who will win? Introduction I have in my hands the 3rd in the HM1000 series of dac/amps. I was the first person to be sent an HM1000 loaner and it feels like a long time ago! I have now been sent a loaner of their base model. This is the Red. The Red is the base model and retails at a slightly more wallet friendly price of $599. The difference between this and the flagship is in the preciousness...

CHINA IN YOUR HAND – HIDIZS AP80 PRO DIGITAL AUDIO PLAYER Fun size & feature packed A Facebook find – John Beagley -I bought the complete collection on Bandcamp With kind thanks from Yihua of Aoshida hi-fi, the AP80 Pro has a retail price of $169.99. In typical Chinese style, it represents a price level that seems way below it’s true worth. Far be it from me to give the game away so early on into my review, but I’m hoping you get the gist of what this is all about. See what I mean? USBC – for charging or Dac- Standard and balanced outputs...

About ACS ACS is a company that has, at least until recently, served the pro audio community with a range of Custom In Ear Monitor solutions. Andy Shiach is the founder, and he was there at the start of it all, in the 80s, when people were using adapted walkman earbuds, or simply going deaf very quickly and not using any hearing protection on stage. Pro Audio Custom In Ear Monitors were borne from reasons of safety. Etymotic, Sensaphonics and JHAudio were there near, or at the start, of the revolution. Without a doubt, ACS were in the mix. Andy...

No.2 product from Aoshida HiFi, with grateful thanks to Yihua, my newest convert to the Subjective mantra, who has supplied me with the little bar of Chinese goodness, the M100 DAC. Available at places like this Or this Or even from their main store I know. I surely have come across SMSL before. But, I'm struggling to remember when I have reviewed any of their stuff. No, having had a quick flick around t'internet, it appears I am a newcomer here. I've seen much but heard little, it would appear. They've been going since 2009, a long time in...

About everything Hi there and welcome to what I feel is an important chapter in the history of my reviews thus far. Few of us can have failed to see the stories coming out on the KB EAR BE-LIEVE. It's been hard for me to avoid reading too much about these, but, as you know, if there's any chance I can get hold of a pair to review, I really like to abstain from other folk's musings. This way, I give you a fresh insight into what you might be interested in buying. If you just want to know what it's all about, again, at least I should be original. This...

CCA CX10, at all good shops now CCA are no strangers here. They have crossed my path on a few occasions now. I have dissected a C4, C10, C10 Pro, and a C12. There were parellels to be drawn from all models. All are hybrids. All are cheap for what they offer. All have cheap, bland packaging and bare bones for accesories. There are no frills to be had here. The romance only happens when you push the shells into the ears. I hasten to say, that is not the case for the CCA C4. That was not a great experience. It was too bassy and screechy, and cost about...

BLON BL-01 Budget beating blockbuster Coiled and ready to pounce Blon are a company with a steadily building reputation for value for money IEMs. They have been going since 2014, and are, you guessed it, a Chinese company. It seems most things come from that corner of the globe and head into the hands of the subjectivist. With many thanks from our suppliers, I have the 2nd BLON product to come into our offices; the BL-01. Why 01 is after the BT-03 model is a mystery to me, in much the same way as most Chinese companies seem to name their...

The time has come. Never before has a headphone received such bad publicity before it has been officially released. For the reasons why, we need to open our history books. Let me tell you a story.... Sony MDR-R10 Some 30 years ago, Sony was at it's creative peak. It released a flagship Headphone. That headphone was the MDR-R10. The launch date was 1989 and just 2000 were made. The limited numbers are just 1 of the elements that have combined to create an almost mythical status to these cans. The headphones had a distinctive appearance. The cups...

KB – EAR LARK HYBRID IEM HYBRID 1 DD 1 BA $32 The latest IEM to hit the offices of Subjective, these are preceded by many many superlatives on many many online entries. I’ve done all I can to avoid the reviews and thus avoid the hype. I bring this to you being aware of the above but being ignorant of the reasons why and I hope this can give you the insight that you have come to expect from this site. Above all else, we want to give you our opinions. Regurgitating others’ views is not what we do. It’s not smart. And it’s not art. I find reviews...

Introduction Just how curvy is good? My first venture with Moondrop. During the course of this review I’ll discuss the new way forward in tuning hybrid in ear monitors. Stay tuned for further thrills and excitement. With thanks to my suppliers Shenzhen Audio, (link to their website),the latest Moondrop offering, the Blessing 2, is now available to all and sundry. Shenzhen has sent me the Blessing 2 in return for an honest and unbiased written article to be submitted here within a fairly reasonable time frame. To their credit they have not expected...

HiFiMan HE400i 2020 $169 for a decent planar magnetic full-size headphone? Introduction The usual caveats apply; I'm a reviewer so I get sent stuff. HiFiMan have been very loyal to me and also to many of us on headfi, and we're appreciative I'm sure of the faith they put in us, and I'm also pretty certain of that some of the feedback goes into making their products even better. Of course, that could be why we have arrived at 2020 version of a good seller for them of the HE400, one of their baseline models. The reason why the question mark over the...

NM2+ Single DD IEM from NF Acoustics – mid tier ChiFi challenger Introduction The reason why it makes sense to read this review. It’s subjective. That ensures a certain level of professionalism and a modicum of tongue in cheek. It’s also a fact that I don’t read or watch any reviews of any of the product that turns up on this page. My words, my opinions, my original videos. They might stray from the other opinions out there, but if you read something at a later date that sounds similar to what I’ve said ; well, I’m flattered! I shan’t be...

CCA C10 Pro – the $40 Chi Fi Multi Driver Marvel Tested against the CCA C10 at $38 5 Drivers $40 needs no amping This area of the market is one of the most hotly contested, with every Chinese Company trying to find ways to outdo each other, to squeeze that last bit of value from their designs. This does mean that compromises have to be made. Something has to give. For a profit to be made, surely it can’t be perfect. Or can it? About the C10 Pro The Pro version of the C10 has the same number of drivers. It’s not a 10 driver model; I...

Introduction HiFiman's TWS 800 have been sent to me as a review sample. I write this to you with my own opinion and nothing more. I have read no other articles on these as is my preference for all things I review. Other than researching the technical information and reading the instructions supplied I come to you with fresh ears, unspoilt by the opinions of others. About the TWS 800 This is HiFiMan's 2nd TWS model. Their 1st, the TWS 600, is still on sale, and, if you're lucky, may be at a heavily discounted price from it's debut at $199. The TWS...

Duna Luna - Omega Clarity in an IEM Introduction The Dunu Luna has been made available to myself and others who applied in the headfi loaner tour. It is, in the next few days at least, on its way to the next person on the Tour, the great @dill3000 😇 and then onto my equally qualified friend @Ithilstone. I thank Dunu for choosing me. I know there are a great many other reviews out there of the Luna already, many of which, I am sure, I shall look forward to reading in the days and weeks to come. I haven't read any reviews of the Duna so far. Why not...