The following is an excerpt from an article, it only covers the critical evaluation of the Binom-ER. If you interested in reading the complete article which covers the story of the founder, Oleh Lizohub, the company and its difficulties, and how Binom-ER came to be, you can read Camerton Audio Binom-ER: The Full Story by voja. Chapter 5 | Critical Evaluation᠎ ᠎Disclaimer: I have not purchased the Binom-ER, thus my opinions and findings are limited to my experience and spent time with the Binom-ER. I share no affiliation with Camerton Audio, nor...

The first time I heard the concept of the successor to the SR2 thrown into the conversation was almost two years ago. Without a clue how long the wait will be, I spent a lot of time daydreaming about the SR3. New silhouette? Different driver type? Another diaphragm material? Different price bracket? These are among the things that crossed my mind. When images of the SR3 started popping up a few months ago, I was very excited for it to finally see the light of day. It had a very quiet press release, so there wasn't much information that we could rely...

Design & Features The MAX series’ silhouette is a formula that iBasso has been brewing for three years now. Numerous upgrades and improvements are introduced with each new release, but one thing that has remained mostly the same, is the design. That very same blocky chunk of metal is here to stay. It’s not getting any wider, longer, or thicker. Whether this is something that the company will stick to in the future, only time will tell. If you were a DAP in a barber shop and wanted to get the MAX 'cut, you’d ask for, “straight on the sides, round on...

Design & Features The MAX series’ silhouette is a formula that iBasso has been brewing for three years now. Numerous upgrades and improvements are introduced with each new release, but one thing that has remained mostly the same, is the design. That very same blocky chunk of metal is here to stay. It’s not getting any wider, longer, or thicker. Whether this is something that the company will stick to in the future, only time will tell. If you were a DAP in a barber shop and wanted to get the MAX 'cut, you’d ask for, “straight on the sides, round on...

It’s been 5 years since the original Sundara was released, yet it remains one of the most sought-after audiophile headphones on the market. In terms of popularity, I would put it right up there with Sennheiser’s HD6xx line and Beyerdynamic headphones. Disclaimer: The Sundara Closed has been provided to me free of charge by HiFiMan. I am not affiliated with HiFiMan and am not receiving any monetary or other compensation for writing and publishing this review. This review is strictly based on my personal experience, and is free of bias from any...

SMB-01L is the newest creation coming from the Japanese boutique manufacturer, Phonon. Although it is largely unknown to the general public, it is deeply respected & praised within the artist and professional musician communities thanks to its underground roots. Beside being trusted by many sound engineers and producers, Phonon’s SMB-02 has even made it to Depeche Mode’s 2013 live studio sessions. Need I say more? After a widely successful Kickstarter campaign, the SMB-01L concept came to reality. For some reason, many people turn the page when...

The headphone industry has been pretty still for the past few years, and while I cannot deny that there have been a number of exciting releases, the companies have mostly stayed the same. The big bunch (e.g. Sennheiser, Sony, Audeze, Focal) have been and continue to dominate the market. It’s true, we have seen new companies come to the market. However, we have yet to see one step up and operate at a greater scale. Meze Audio is an exception, having grown from a small boutique manufacturer to a prominent high-end headphones manufacturer. Aumkar...

iBasso continues the DX1×× series with the DX170. But is it worth $50 over the DX160? Design & Build Quality In 2018, iBasso released the DX150. This $499 DAP will most likely be remembered for the insane set of features it offered for its price, but I remember it for its design. It was designed like a tank, very industrial-like. This changed with the DX160, which went in the opposite design direction — smooth and sleek. The DX170 appears to have the same design of the DX160. It followed the DX320 design language with the volume wheel being...

Oh yes! Venture Electronics has finally set foot in the headphone field. It took some time, but the wait is over. Design & Build Quality The Supernova is a fairly boring-looking headphone and most definitely not built like a tank. It features a metal headband, plastic ear-cups, and plastic pieces that hold the headband strap. The design is not loud, with the only place where the company’s logo is featured being the faceplate of the ear-cups. The logo is done in a shimmery silver finish, which makes it look very nice. The exposed plastic parts on...

Same Same, But Different We’ve already seen iBasso make a statement with the DX300 back in 2020, but can the DX320 do the same two years later? iBasso walked through fire for the past year or so, having faced multiple challenges created by the worldwide chip shortage. As I’m sure this resulted in financial losses and other complications, the company accepted the situation as it was and focused on the future. Since DX320 shares the same DNA as the DX300, you will find me comparing them head-to-head more often than not. “Let’s go way back to 2006...

If you know Lee, you know Venture Electronics, and vice versa (if you know Venture Electronics, you know Lee). Everything about the company and the way it does may seem odd if you aren’t in the private Facebook group. From the way Lee talks and freely expresses himself, to the price-to-performance ratio of VE’s products. It is very easy to misunderstand Lee, he appears to be quite a character if you don’t know him personally. I think many will get the wrong idea when they hear that the private group is called VE Clan and that Lee refers to his...

Fiio doesn’t need an introduction, but deserves one. A veteran when it comes to amplifiers and digital audio players, Fiio is the least known for its IEMs. Though it can be said that Fiio officially entered the portable headphone field in 2015 with their EX1 earphones, it was in 2017 when Fiio entered the IEM market. F1 was Fiio’s first in-ear monitor. It featured an over-ear cable, which is pretty much a trademark of IEMs nowadays. However, when it got serious-serious for Fiio, was in 2018 when the famous FH5 was released. The rest is history...

So much more than just a bass cannon! Design & Build Quality Bullet. Fixed cable. Short nozzle. Aluminum… That’s about as short as I can make it. BIE is a bullet-style IEM that features a single 10mm dynamic driver which uses N52 neodymium magnets. The shells are made of high-quality aluminum that is of a pale gold color. It’s easy to mistake the color for silver, especially in online photos, but in reality it’s a very beautiful and subtle pale gold finish. The shells consist of two parts, and the seam is visible. At the back of the shell, there...

Design and Build Quality INK follows the exact same design and build of the original Diamond. The only difference would be the color of the shell. INK has a black anodized shell, while the Diamond had a green-ish anodized shell. The nozzle is still in a golden polished finish, and the faceplate is still resin-like. To make it a long story short, it’s still has the good old well-built and lightweight qualities. Lows Like the good old Diamond model, INK retains a good bass response. Not only that, but if doesn’t suffer from the lack of sub-bass...

What you are about to read is only a part of a bigger article. This part only covers the critical evaluation of the Euridiche. If you are interested in the history behind the company, the founder, and the Euridiche (how it was born and created), then you can read my "Soltanus Acoustics — The Full Story" article here: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/soltanus-acoustics-euridiche-%E2%80%94-the-full-story.962997/ Author's Note In memory of my dear aunt & grandfather, who passed away this month, in April. Like the majority of my work, this article...

While best-known for their planar-magnetic headphones, HiFiMan has explored several other fields; earphones being one of them. The original RE800 was released in 2017 had a gold finish. The RE800 Silver was released in 2018. “What’s the difference besides the color?” you may ask. The difference is that the Silver edition does not have 24K gold plating and was $100 cheaper than the Gold edition. Somewhere down the line, HiFiMan decided to add a removable cable to the Gold edition. I don’t know about you, but I remember the year of 2017 and 2018...

A bullseye! — BQEYZ’s breakthrough Even though I released my first review of a BQEYZ product in 2020, I’ve been following the company since the beginning of my IEM journey. When I first joined Head-Fi, I was heavily active in the “Best Budget Earphones Thread”. It wasn’t rare at all to see the name “BQEYZ” mentioned often when it came down to the best <$100 IEMs. It dominated the budget IEM space, and later accomplished the same success and praise with its Spring series. My first experience with a product from this company was actually quite some...

TinHiFi is now one of the biggest names in the portable audio space. It is also one of the more widely known Chinese earphone companies. I will always remember TinHiFi as one of the first companies to bring the “Chi-Fi” world on the map. Its T2 model was always featured and mentioned in “top X” lists, but it was also often featured on Massdrop (now Drop). Today I will be taking a look at TinHiFi’s flagship P2+. Most of you are already familiar with the P2, the company’s “other” flagship. Well, P2 Plus is a “Commemoratory Edition” of the P2. What...

TinHiFi is now one of the biggest names in the portable audio space. It is also one of the more widely known Chinese earphone companies. I will always remember TinHiFi as one of the first companies to bring the “Chi-Fi” world on the map. Its T2 model was always featured and mentioned in “top X” lists, but it was also often featured on Massdrop (now Drop). Today I will be taking a look at TinHiFi’s flagship P2+. Most of you are already familiar with the P2, the company’s “other” flagship. Well, P2 Plus is a “Commemoratory Edition” of the P2. What...

A desktop-grade setup in your pocket! (sorta...) Let’s go way back to 2006, the year iBasso was founded. It started out as a manufacturer of headphone amplifiers, portable amplifiers, and DACs. In the same year, it released “Series D” of amplifiers & DACs, “Series P” of amplifiers, and “Series T” of slim headphone amplifiers. Fast forward 2011, the most important year for iBasso, the company released its first DAP — DX100 (HDP-R10). It was many things. It was the company’s greatest success and greatest accomplishment. It was the world’s first...