Intro Empire Ears (EE) are opening 2021 with some new and exciting products. One of them is the ESR MKII, the next iteration of their ESR (“Empire Studio Reference”) in-ear studio monitor. At a retail price of $1099, it sits somewhere in the middle of their studio-collection. This is a markup of $200 over its predecessor. While the original ESR had 3 balanced armature drivers, the 2021 ESR MKII sports a 5-driver hybrid design including 3 balanced armature drivers and 2 electrostatic drivers. The ESR MKII belongs to EE’s EP Series which is mainly...

Intro Empire Ears are opening 2021 with some new and exciting products. One of them is the BRAVADO MKII, the next iteration of their best-selling IEM. At a retail price of $799, it marks the starting point of their entire collection. This is a markup of $100 over its predecessor. The reason why is quickly explained: While the original Bravado had 2 drivers to get the job done, the 2021 model is way more complex being a 4-driver tribrid design. The BRAVADO MKII belongs to EE’s X Series which is mainly targeted at consumers rather than...

Intro Meet the latest entry in Empire Ears (EE) broad range of in-ear monitors (IEMs), the VALKYRIE MKII. At a retail price of $1599, it sits somewhere in the upper midrange of their offerings. The VALKYRIE MKII belongs to EE’s X Series which is mainly targeted at consumers rather than professionals. Those are covered by EE’s EP, or Empire Professional Series. Specifications 3 Driver, Tribrid IEM Design: Universal in-ear monitor 1 Next Generation W9+ Subwoofer - Sub-Bass/Bass 1 Proprietary Balanced Armature Driver - Mid 1 Premium Electrostatic...

Intro (Cable taken from Shozy Form 1.4) Black Hole (BH) is the latest in-ear monitor from Shozy. This rather unusual earphone was co-engineered with KOOK™ Electro-Acoustic Engineering Lab (USA). It features a single 10mm dynamic driver, has a semi-open-back design and comes in at $799. Shozy call it their most advanced In-ear design to date (Q4/2020) and have put a lot of effort and research into creating this unique IEM. Apparently they spent 2 years with tuning and re-shaping to achieve a sound signature and stage unknown for a single-driver...

Intro Meet the latest entry in Empire Ears (EE) broad range of in-ear monitors (IEMs), the Hero. At a retail price of $1349, it sits somewhere in the middle of their offerings. The HERO belongs to EE’s X Series which is, as far as I understand, mainly targeted at consumers rather than professionals. Those are covered by EE’s EP, or Empire Professional Series. Specifications 4 Proprietary Drivers, Hybrid Design: Universal in-ear monitor 1 Next Generation W9+ Subwoofer - Sub-Bass/Bass 3 Proprietary Balanced Armature Drivers - 1 Mid, 1 Mid-High...

Intro Meet the Odin, Empire Ears (EE) latest top-of-the-line (totl) in-ear monitor. At a retail price of $3390, it is currently their most expensive offering. The Odin features a crazy 11 drivers per unit including not one but two next-gen Weapon 9+ subwoofers. The Odin marks the top end of EE’s X-Series which is mainly targeted at consumers rather than professionals. Those are covered by EE’s EP-series, or Empire Professional Series. Specifications 11 Proprietary Drivers, Tribrid Design: Universal in-ear monitor 2 Next Generation W9+...

Introduction After a previous review of the Miter case for FiiO X7 MKII (https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/miter-standing-case-for-fiio-x7-mkii.22841/), I am back with yet another Miter case review. This time I was looking for a case for my new Astell & Kern KANN player. Again, there are not many options on the market: I found one from Miter and one from Dignis. I wanted to try both, so I ordered the Dignis directly and got a free sample from Miter for review purposes. Thanks to Joey from Miter to provide me with a blue case free of charge in...

Intro A bold claim. I was more than a bit skeptical when I read the following statement of the CEO of Flare Audio, Davies Roberts: „We believe that Flare Pro 2HD generates the highest quality sound ever heard in an earphone at any price point. In fact we are so confident of this, we are offering our first ever Sound Quality Guarantee“. Sure. Whatever. I had just bought a pair of Campfire Audio Dorados 3 months ago and was very happy and content with them sound-wise. But curiosity was nagging and since they offered a 30-day money back guarantee if...

MITER Standing case for FiiO X7 MKII http://miter.co.kr Price: around 30 US$ on Amazon Introduction After doing a review for the new FiiO X7 MKII here on Head-Fi, I was asked by Joey Lee of South Korea based company MITER if I could do a review of a protection case for named FiiO DAP that they manufacture. Since I was looking for alternatives to the included FiiO case anyway, I happily agreed. Joey was so nice to send me a grey colored case free of charge for review purposes. Disclaimer I am in no way associated with MITER and confirm that...

“Left-hand goosebumps” Retail price in Switzerland 699, - Swiss Francs which is 100 Francs more than the old model. Accessories in the box X7 MK II Player transparent soft plastic (silicone?) case faux black leather case with red stitching an (oddly large) screwdriver for switching amp modules 1 piece of metal cladding for older amp modules micro USB charging cable Coax-adapter Review gear FIIO X7 Mark II and FIIO X7 (old model) for comparison purposes AKG 701 over-ear headphones (62 ohm) Beyerdynamic T51P on-ear headphones...