The blockbuster budget battle - Hidizs MS1 Galaxy v Moondrop Chu - both £19.99 Hidizs are a Chinese Company. That means they can somehow produce decent stuff at ridiculously low prices. Products that a ChiFi enthusiast can get excited about are available at under £20. How do they do it? I don’t know, but I’m not complaining! These were sent to me for a review by Hidizs, and were accompanied by their stylish AP80 Pro Digital Audio Player. This AP80 Pro replaces a review model I have had for some time. Unfortunately I put it in the washing machine...

Single Dynamic Driver IEM with 3 differently tuned nozzles - £219.99 Simgot - Fermat's Last Theorem With gratitude to Simgot for including myself in their reviewer distribution, I hereby contribute my take on Fermat's Theorem. No money has been exchanged in return for this, or any other review, for that matter. Simgot also provided me with the LC7 cable. I worked out that this constituted a grand total of 9 listening modes. I did them all, just for you. First off, you'll want to know why this IEM is called Fermat's Theorem. The Fermat is also...

Simgot EM6L Phoenix £104 1 DD 4 BA 3D Resin Printed 2 Pin IEM In a rush? What better companion to share the stress with than an IEM? Pop em in your ears, plug em into your phone. Voíla! Instant music, great distraction. Now, where was I? Thanking Simgot Audio for their kindly review model of just such a thingey; the Simgot EM6L "Phoenix". It is a 1 DD 4 BA Hybrid IEM. To which I mean 1 dynamic driver, for the low end frequencies, and 4 Balanced Armature Drivers for the rest. This is per side, not in total. You get the 5 for £104, at the last time...

SHARE In which I thank my suppliers and give a casual introduction and generally set the tone for the musings which will follow I got married in 2019. Typically of me it was a laid back experience where things just seemed to fall into place. That is, until HiFIMan came along. The esteemed company started really upping their game. There were headphones, Dacs, Amps coming out of that factory faster than the reviewers could keep up with. I have had a close relationship with HiFiMan for many years, but 2019 was when it got serious. I can remember the...

EXCLUSIVE WORLD FIRST LOOK AT HIFIMAN SVANAR R2R TWS EARBUDS Hello my name is Trev, AKA Takeanidea AKA The Geekologist. If you want a straight up straight down take on things, you have arrrived at the right place on the World Wide Web. Congratulations. You have found me. Today, I’ve been given the opportunity of a sneak preview of the HiFiMan Svanar Wireless . Loyal followers will note my previous review of the £2000 Svanar Wired Model. HiFiMan realise this is not the price point they can realistically achieve for a bluetooth earphone, as, of...

Lavricables Grand Series The great cable debate This is all about a custom cable. Before we start, there is a great deal of debate on this subject, and I won't be shying away from that. The elephant in the room is the custom cable that replaces the freely supplied stock cable that came with your already expensive headphones. The one function of the custom cable is to improve the sound quality of your headphones. There are a huge variety of opinions out there as to whether the cable alone can make any difference to the sound quality of a headphone...

The legend gets Stealth Magnets Introducing Version 3 of HiFiMan's HE1000 And in they come with stealth magnets for the 1000s. HiFiMan are interfering with a truly cherished headphone! First of all, let me justify this lofty comment. The HE1000 - this is the one - this is the striking design, the mega hyped teardrop Planar that offered to knock the HD800 off it's pedestal, the one that we all wanted, before it came to market, because we KNEW that Fang (CEO and Genius behind HiFiMan) was on to something. I cannot begin to tell you how much I...

It looks battery operated but it needs the mains Introduction Kindly provided by aoshida-audio.com , this is the latest SMSL, the MKII version of the DO200 has had an overhaul. The DO200 MKII is available here - https://aoshida-audio.com/products/smsl-do200-mkii-mqa-audio-dac and is currently (06/01/23) on sale at $459. The review will focus on the bits and bobs that make up this DAC, how well it works , what it sounds like, and how it matches up to the competition. SMSL are a company based in China. Aoshida sent me the C100, which I reviewed last...

Introduction No palms have been greased with wads of dirty cash to enable this review to spring forth from the creative centre of yours truly. Nevertheless, without the kindness and loyalty from aoshida-audio.com, this SMSL would have waited far longer to be unveiled to the World of Portable Audio, and that would have been a shame, wouldn't it? Thank you to my friends from China who have sent me a sample to bring to your attention - the SMSL C100 is the focus of our first look at 2023. The micro DAC can be found exclusively on aoshida's store, just...

Can a sub £200 do it all and still deliver? I was approached by Simgot recently through the hallowed pages of head-fi. The introduction has resulted in my being able to bring you the latest, and greatest, this company has yet built. I bought an EN700 Bass IEM on impulse several years ago. I liked the sound of it, despite it's obvious affinity with lower frequencies. I still have it knocking around the offices, and have customised the body shell, which, although it has my favourite pebble shape, had this urge to keep pushing away from my inner ear...

6 sides to every story A little bit about me, a little bit about the people who sent this to me. I have still yet to make my first million from the reviewing malarky - in fact I have yet to make my first anything. I still go to work hoping that someone somewhere will recognise my astonishing brilliance in bringing life to this rather quirky hobby we all have, and, I dunno, whisk me off to some swanky hotel and start throwing money at me in ways that one would only normally see on a monopoly board. Sadly, it hasn't happened just yet. So we plod on...

Introduction I am a wealthy man, if wealth is measured by happiness. If wealth is also defined by the number of review items I have been sent over the last decade, then yes, I may also be considered abundant with riches. This particular pocket sized product has been kindly provided by aoshida audio Not only that, but it is for sale right at this very moment and can be found precisely here That means if you are interested in finding out much it costs ($114 as of launch) and you must have it, I have put you right already and thank you for your time...

Reviewed - finally The bestest seller ever I know. I get to talk about lots of HiFiMan stuff. It may seem like I snap my fingers and all this stuff comes winging it's way to me. You just do not know the blood sweat and tears that goes into the turmoil of arranging one of these reviews, just for YOU dear reader! There is not enough space within the confines of these venerable pages to describe the struggle. I hope you find that the pain comes through in the emotion that pours from my every word adds a little something, a little "Trev", to the...

A Closed Subject HiFiMan Sundara Closed Introduced July 2022 Included - this headphone stand I'm surprised to be the first to do it, having felt that I was somewhat late to the party, but here's my take on the review sample of the Sundara Closed, which is now on sale in all decent outlets. Introduction HiFiMan have found another way to reinvent the wheel. They have added to their small selection of Closed Back Headphones, of which the HE-R9 is the least ($369) and the HE-R10P ($5500) the most expensive. Why the wild diversity in price? One...

Close up showing proof of Summer I decided to get this review done while the Sun is still shining in the UK. I have a shoutout first of all to BQEYZ. Thank you donating peoples of China. I would like to humbly remind people out there who care about my wealth and prestige; no sadly, this review package has not been sent with a boat or sports car or big ole gold chain. I am still not a richer man by receiving these - it's sad isn't it? They found me and they sent me these to get the word out - if it's not already out there, that is. If it is -...

EXCLUSIVE LOOK AT SMSL C200 DSD512 DACAMP This will be my 4th look at SMSL DacAmps and I’ve not been let down yet so… here’s hoping. The C200 incorporates many of the features of the D0 and H0100 stack that I reviewed not too long ago in these here parts. SMSL have taken $100 off and streamlined the stack into a fetching 1 piece, retailing at $219 via this link to my suppliers, https://aoshida-audio.com/products/smsl-c200?DIST=REM%3D Whilst I am not paid for my review, or any writing I do come to that, I am, as a rule, supplied items in return for...

The DAC v No DAC debate I submit the following evidence m'lord.... With grateful thanks to those lovely people at Fiio who have sent this to me in return for an in depth analysis and no holds barred breakdown of all that is good (and bad) in the audio industry today, I bring you the ultra portable Dac/Amp, the Jade Audio KA1. Jade Audio is a cut price subsidiary of Fiio. Designed for the budget end of the market, nevertheless there could be something here for the sceptics among you who wish to dip their toes in the water, to see what the fuss is...

HiFiMan GR8 - what happens when a hi-fi company gets involved in bone conduction headphones I need not give you much of an introduction to HiFiMan. I have worked with them on reviews for 6 years. This is why I am able to bring some exclusives from time to time. This is one. I have been sent a sample of what HiFiMan have been selling in India only up til now. They intend to introduce the GR8 to the rest of the World in due course, so this is my chance to introduce it to the headfi community. About bone conduction headphones Bone conduction...

The TWS market. Where do we start? It exploded. The Wireless World has taken over. Yes, we cling on to the cabled IEMs and headphones and hi-fi's we love, but are we still represenatative? Let's face it - we're not. Audio companies of repute have recognised the need to cater for the growing interest in a life without the need of lots of wires. No-one in the audio industry can afford to ignore what is happening. Everyone eants less clutter - less fuss. Therefore, bluetooth is the way to go. And you and I should encourage it. The reason? Because the...

SENNHEISER MOMENTUM The case is fabric and feels like home I took a stroll to the TWS market. And I came back with 2 new buddies. The first, which I hope you’ve made yourselves familiar with already; the Galaxy Buds Pro. This, the Sennheiser Momentum version 1, is the 2nd. I shall use this article to gently critique between the 2. Although the Sennheiser has been superseded by a version 2, it remains popular and is still being sold at most good stores everywhere. That being said… your intrepid adventurer took a chance and bought these on eBay...