Introduction When iFi audio announced it was working on a "Pro" line of audiophile products, two thoughts immediately came to mind: 1) it seemed like a natural progression for them since their micro line had pretty much rewrote the book on what entry- to mid-level audio can sound like almost overnight and 2) they needed to get this "right". By "right" I meant that the Pro line had to sound better than the micro one in every possible way, be just as if not more feature rich, and target a price range that was within striking distance of your average...

Introduction When Audeze introduced their iSine series about a year ago, there were actually three different models announced: the i10, the i20, and the LCDi3. Most of you however, probably remember reading only about the i10 and i20 since those pairs were the only ones in actual production and ready for review. I myself reviewed both pairs and to make a really long story short, walked away considerably impressed. Not only do both models outperform most IEMs in their class, but rival many full sized headphones too. Fast forward to today: Audeze just...

IntroductionOver the last few years, Audeze has gotten a lot traction in the prosumer marketplace. It first started with the EL-8 series ($699), an open-back and closed headphone design that featured many of Audeze's planar magnetic technologies all wrapped in a snazzy German designed package. Perhaps even more importantly though, the EL-8 also became the launching pad for the CIPHER, a 24-bit DAC with DSP Lightning cable that provides an end-to-end audiophile class solution for any iDevice. Then of course came the SINE ($449), the world's first...

Introduction As I sure many of you are already acutely aware of, we're big fans of iFi Audio. You see unlike a lot of vendors who treat their circuit designs as if they were highly classified secrets, iFi is very open and honest about all of their products. In fact, iFi is one of the few companies I know of that even freely shares high-resolution pictures of every circuit board they fabricate. Couple that with the fact that these Brits are very community focused, vetting feature and collecting feedback constantly, makes iFi, at least to our ears, one...

IntroductionWhen I first reviewed Schiit Audio's original Modi/Vali stack many moons ago, I walked away very impressed to say the least. Not only was it a cost effective solution for the budding audiophile, but it sounded better than a lot of other systems for a fraction of the price. However, Schiit's entry level stack still had some major drawbacks. First, the number of inputs and outputs on the Modi were quite limited preventing it really from being a general purpose standalone DAC. Secondly, though the Vali offered up some very pleasant analog...

Introduction When I recently reviewed Audeze's new flagship, the LCD-4, I kinda, sorta knew that my review would mostly fall on deaf ears. I mean let's all be honest now. Not too many people are in the market for a four thousand dollar pair of headphones - audiophile or not. And the truth is Audeze is quite aware of that fact too, which is why that's not the only headphone they make. In fact, over the last few years, Audeze has introduced a number of products outside of their critically acclaimed LCD line. In 2015, Audeze introduced the EL-8, a...

Introduction It has been a little over ten years since I listened to Rust In Peace in its entirety through Sennheiser's much coveted Orpheus system. And since then, I have been spending the better part of the last decade trying to recapture that sound. If you haven't heard of Sennheiser's much revered Orpheus system, I'm not surprised. Only 300 were made back in the 90s, and each system cost approximately $16,000 dollars a pop, consisting of a pair of electrostatic headphones and matching tube amplifier. I was fortunate enough to listen to one at...

Introduction   Alright, I don't expect you to actually slog through the whole video. However, if you did get through the first five minutes or so, then I'm fairly confident that you have a pretty good idea of what a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) is. But to recap, an FPGA is a collection of controllable logic blocks (CLBs) that are all interconnected via a high-speed bus. In it themselves, these logic blocks don't do much. But when strung together, they can be used to perform all kinds of interesting computational work. So let's say you want...

My iFi micro iDSD review was originally posted on Metal-Fi but I am cross posting on Head-Fi at iFi's behest. Introduction Does anyone remember what portable, audiophile-grade playback used to look like? I certainly do. I remember going to Head-Fi meets and being in just awe of all the insane amount of paraphernalia attendees would carry around just to play their favorite set of digital bits. Take for instance the Headroom Micro line. Consisting of both a standalone DAC and headphone amp, the Micro line was originally conceived to conquer the...