I find it extremely flattering when a company I’ve done a review for in the past reaches out to me again later on to do another review on one of their new products. As such is the case with Blitzwolf and their new BW-FYE-1 true wireless earbuds. So without further adieu, allow me to share my thoughts on the FYE-1 true wireless earbuds.







The Opening Experience




The external box is exactly what I personally LOVE seeing products have, almost nothing. This beautiful, simplified look, to me, tells the listener that the product speaks for itself and that it doesn’t need to jargon down the box with “look at me’s.” The white box is outlined in a green line and the only lettering being the product name on the front and a small spec chart on the back and that’s it.

Then, as you open the box you’re greeted with a really professionally laid out style of having the charging case and contents fitted securely inside a cut out foam casing that protects the product from rough shipping and ensures it arrives in perfect condition for its listener.

As for the contents themselves, the charging case as you would expect holds the two, very interesting looking, true wireless earbuds, and the cardboard box holds the micro USB charging cable. Lastly, underneath the foam is the warranty and instruction manual. So overall I must say I found myself very impressed with the initial handshake that Blitzwolf gave me with their FYE-1. I feel like I’m going to enter into a very serious listening session, which is saying a lot for these earbuds are only between $40-50.


Construction



The build quality of the FYE-1 is to be expected of a product in this price range. It consists of very basic plastic throughout but with that, there are some redeeming features. The first is that these utilize an angled horn which drastically improves, at least in my personal experience, the earbuds comfort level and an integrated wing which is designed to try and help them stay in your ears during everyday use. On the side of each one earbud is a single button that controls the play/pause/answer/hangup feature with a single click, next track with a LONG hold (like 3+seconds long), and, at least with my phone (LG V20), a double tap of the button engages the Google Assistant, which at first I kinda giggled about it but after a little time with it I learned to really enjoy it, especially when driving or doing other tasks.


Comfort



The comfort is a difficult one for me to really evaluate. While it’s steady in my ear I don’t have much an issue with it. My issue comes from it being so darned difficult to get it to stay in my ear, in fact it was so difficult that I ended up saying ‘screw it’ and equipped them with my forever loved Comply memory foam tips and that issue resolved itself immediately. But as for reviewing the product ‘as is’ it was very irritating having to constantly adjust it so that it would stay in my ear every time I moved my head even just a little bit. Once I used the Comply’s, I literally could (and did) sleep in these. Now, on the unfortunate side, these absolutely in NO WAY fit inside their charging case with the Comply tips on (to of no surprise to me) so one does need to take them off to charge them.


Sound



The sound of the Blitzwolf FYE-1 is definitely on the softer more musical side. Something that REALLY surprised me is the positional awareness that are present in these things. When I was listening to a classical compilation video on YouTube and closed my eyes and really focused on what I was listening to, I was amazed by how clearly I could differentiate individual instruments and their depth in the soundstage. Though I will classify the FYE-1 as having a rather small soundstage overall there’s an impressive amount of depth that can be had in them if the lister will close their eyes and allow them to. Course with that being said, the listener definitely has to be the one to initiate that because these will certainly not be forcing anyones eyes closed in admiration. But with the above being said, please allow me to now talk about the individual aspects of the FYE-1 so that hopefully I can better explain what it is I’m trying to.

And on a note about the microphone quality before I finish off this section; I’ve been told that the quality is pretty good and clear but a bit distant. On my end however, they sounded just fine.


Treble


The treble I find on the FYE-1 to be a soft forwardness with a quick roll off. My trusty piece “A Moon Filled Sky” by Tenmon. This is a very emotional violin solo piece that does a wonderful job at showcasing treble response and energy and with the FYE-1, though I still feel all the sadness from the piece, the violin doesn’t peak near as high as I know this piece does. Now, other than the quick roll off, I personally found that I really enjoyed the treble. It provided good detail retrieval while never getting harsh or fatiguing to listen to, so my opinion, solid job.


Mids


While writing this review I had to skip from my unboxing experience section straight to this section because of how impressed I was with the vocal performance of these little guys. I’m honestly blown away by how cleanly and accurate vocals sound. The song in particular that left me awestruck is “He’s Been So Good To Me” by Dailey & Vincent and “When We Were Young” by Adele. Both of these artists, coming through the FYE-1, made me feel like I was listening to them through a MUCH more expensive pair of iem’s. Emotion and body was present throughout and the level of cleanliness that these have far outperform their $40-50 asking price.




Bass


The heartbeat of the music, it’s important for an audio product to be able to product strong bass response, or at least in line with the rest of the balance, so that it doesn’t sound thin. As for the FYE-1, the bass on these is definitely to be desired. A song I’ve found recently that I’m really digging is “Blah, Blah, Blah” by Armin Van Buuren. It’s a super upbeat and incredibly fun bass heavy song that I can’t help but bob my head every time it comes up in rotation. However, when played through the FYE-1 I never got even close to the full feeling and always ended up turning to classical or something of the like because these just really don’t have a strong bass presence.


Conclusion




My overall thoughts on the Blitzwold FYE-1 is of satisfaction. The mids are wonderful to listen to and the treble is nice and soft. The inability to stay in my ear without the use of Comply is the biggest downside, maybe even over the lack of AptX, but seeing as how these are so, relatively, inexpensive, I think they did a great job overall.






Also, make sure to check out my unboxing and review videos. They’re pretty awesome AND you getta put a face to the Army-Firedawg name. If this review helped you out at all please hit that thumbs up button for it really helps me out a lot. Till next time my friends, stay safe.

The flagship of the Bowers & Wilkins headphones is a product I’ve been wanting to hear ever since I first read about it on a Head-Fi teaser post a few years ago because their P7 headphone has been a staple of mine for several years now and I’ve come to truly love their original sound. Though since the release of their “series 2” I personally don’t care too much for I’ve still yearned to hear what their best is. Fast forward to a few weeks ago and I felt like stopping into my local Magnolia store to hear what speakers they had for audition. Among them were a few Bowers & Wilkins model and I decided to have a listen after a gentleman there helps me get them going (their demo software must utilized by an employee). After a little bit we get into conversation about how I loved the original BW sound but don’t like the direction they went with their series 2 in at which point he introduces himself as a BW rep who was just in town checking up on one of his stores. We talk some more and he states that the series 2 is actually the sound they wanted and that their original releases doesn’t reflect on the sound they wanted to settle with. Being amazed by this I informed how I reviewed headphones and would really like to try their newest model myself and see how it compares with the P7 and my memory of their series 2 sound (I’ve purchased the original P3-7’s but, as I said earlier, didn’t care for the series 2’s darkness). So if I may now, after a very long intro, give my thoughts and impressions on the Bowers & Wilkins flagship headphone, the P9 Signature.







The Opening Experience






The handshake that Bowers & Wilkins provides in each and every headphone I’ve purchased and unboxed has always been that of class and appreciation. The exterior is very simplistic, which as I’m sure many of you know is something I LOVE seeing, with only a picture on the headphone on the front, sides, and back, and the company’s mission statement also on the back (that is printed in several different languages). The box is a thick cardboard that opens up into two separate pieces that once opened showcases the P9 folded in their cutout. Consistency is also something that I personally enjoy seeing company’s do. Every Bowers & Wilkins product that I’ve ever opened have always maintained the overall appearance and opening experience rather it be the P9’s here or their introductory product, the P3. Underneath the P9’s you’re given the second, 10’ non-mic cable, a amazingly soft carrying pouch made of alcantara leather and suede (that personally I wish came with a box but I understand it with it being primarily a “mobile” headphone). Now, inside the suede carrying pouch you’re given the third, 3’ non-mic, cable, the warranty and instruction manual, and their ¼“ adapter.

I must say that I really enjoy the care Bowers & Wilkins put into packaging their headphones. They understand that they don’t need to bog their boxes down with “look at me” jargon and can simply say ‘here, listen to them and let them speak for themselves.’ I admire this and find the “hand shake” they gave me with their P9 an enjoyable one.


Construction



The build on the P9, like all of its predecessors, is fantastic. The entire frame is made from an aluminum like material (so NO plastic) which gives it a hefty and premium weight. A lot of people I’ve let listen to them even comment on how much they love the weight to them and that really makes them feel premium unlike the plastic they’re used to. I guess I’m one of the few people who actually like weighty headphones (so long as it’s designed competently for comfort) so I certainly consider that a huge positive. The headband and ear cups are made out of alcantara leather with a nice amount of thickness to them, which I’ll cover more in the comfort section. The pads AND cable are EASILY DETACHABLE! I cannot stress how much I love seeing this feature, especially the detachable cable part. Staying on the frame, while these are on your head it is EXTREMELY difficult to make sizing adjustments. Never have I personally tried a headphone that’s like this and at first I didn’t care for it too much but after a very short time I grew to really appreciate it. So what this does is once you find the size that’s good for you, which admittedly involves a good bit of taking the headphone on and off your head, it stays there. Not one single time have I used this headphone that I had to adjust the headband, once I found the area of adjustment that worked for me it was set, five minutes of work has paved way for weeks of convenience (likely MUCH longer but that’s all I have them for). I can honestly say that my HD800 S’ do NOT share this convenience, I’m ALWAYS having to adjust them back.

The driver housings utilize a very interesting tether like movement system that gives an impressive amount of fit options and angles over the standard x/y axis hinges, though I do foresee these wearing down and breaking in the far future. The housings are also hinged (if you didn’t already pick up on that from the opening experience section) so these can be folded down to fit nicely in their included carrying pouch an into a suitcase.

As for negatives, I do have two. First is the cable itself. Though yet it’s detachable, which is always a positive, it’s a very basic feeling cable that doesn’t really feel premium to me at all. In the same respects I also don’t hear any microphonics from it at all so it does likely have some nice internal shielding, I wish it looked like it came off of a $900 headphone. My second is the ear cups. Though they’re, for the most part, comfortable they have a rather large piece of plastic that goes the majority of the length of the pad. I understand this adds firmness to the pad but I feel that they used too much plastic and not enough foam. Even after listening to these, a lot, for a few weeks now they always feel a little awkward for the first few minutes after putting them on until my ears get used to them.

So overall, I’m very satisfied with the build quality of the BW P9, though there’s some small shortcomings I see none of them are but small items.


Comfort





So the unboxing and build was fantastic, how is its comfort level? As I said above, they’re fairly hefty and so long as they’re designed competently in the comfort area I personally prefer a heavier headphone. Well, to cut to the chase, I find the BW P9’s comfort to be acceptable. I don’t particularly favor it but I most certainly don’t dislike it. When you first put on the P9’s they’re rock hard on your head, almost uncomfortably in fact but after a few hours of wearing them they start to stretch out a bit (sorry Bowers & Wilkins about your new [now demo] unit ) but always maintain their firmer pressure on your head. The main thing that makes them not the best in comfort is the plastic in the ear pads, they just eliminate the foams ability to compress and mold to your head. I believe if they were to cut the plastic in half and then increase the foams density they’d have the comfort spot on.


Sound




The original flagship, the P7, is what gave me my epiphany moment of what type of sound I yearned for. Mids so smooth and sensual I truly felt like whatever I listened to what being performed purely for me, highs the reached for the night sky and never gave up on the dream, and bass that’s enough slam to not sound hollow but yet also have just enough decay as to relax oneself into the music. I’ll say that my first impressions when first putting some sound through the P9 met my expectations fairly well especially after speaking to the rep. and him mentioning how the series 2 is what B&W envisioned. The sound of the P9 is very fun and personal with an emphasis on the bass slam, for those who have heard and enjoy the new “true” house sound of the Bowers & Wilkins brand will likely wholeheartedly love the new P9 for it capitalizes on what makes it good and turns it up a level. Now, for those who’re like me who enjoyed their original house sound, the new P9 may not be what you’re expecting.

The soundstage on the P9 is up close and personal but absolutely not claustrophobic but it is most certainly VERY impressive in its positional awareness. This really became noticed when watching tv shows and the like but on well recorded tracks where there’s lot of moving pieces, like “He’s A Pirate” performed by Zebrowski Music School or “Beethoven’s 5 Secrets” by Piano Guys (the live version linked to be most specific) just to list a couple. Both of those songs have several different instruments playing that are spaced a respectable ways apart and the P9 does a fantastic job at individualizing them so you, as the listener, are able to feel like your at the performance.

Imaging is also another area that the P9 hits home with. If you’ll let them, they’ll transport you to whatever performance you’re listening to. If you’ll close your eyes and relax and let the music take over, the P9 will show you the instruments and even the artists singing very vividly. Though I wouldn’t call these a very musical headphone for their bass punch and fun “V” shape sound, they’re still very non-fatiguing to listen to and one can truly enjoy the music, so perhaps in that regard, they are fairly musical. But if I may, allow me to now talk about the individual aspects of their sound so that, hopefully, I can convey what I’m trying to a little better.


Treble


The treble, to me, is the eyes of the music. It should sparkle and be full of energy and emotion and even bestow excitement. For the most part the Bowers & Wilkins P9 was an easy headphone to review but the treble is definitely the hardest for me to put my finger on how to describe and portray it. The treble on the P9 is very accurate and realistic sounding and has plenty of extension without sharpness but at the same time it sounds rather dull and unexciting. An analogy of what comes to mind on how to describe the P9’s highs is an artist who’s so good at what they do and they’ve been doing it so well for so long they’ve lost their passion. It’s like a musician singing the exact notes they always have at the same pitch etc… but they just don’t have their heart and soul in it. Everything’s there, except for the enjoyment and passion and such, the music is just missing that special something. Listen to this piece by Fritz Kreisler's called “Love’s Sorrow” performed by Anne Akiko Meyers. This is a really beautiful and emotional piece that I love listening to but when played through the P9 it’s just, not as special. I know that I always split up my review of the sound into these individual aspects so that I can describe them better, and this section didn’t really do that, but it’s the best way I can try and portray how the highs on the P9’s are. On the surface, they’ve everything that makes for outstanding treble presentation, just missing the passion.


Mids


The mids, the soul and voice of the music. This is where music expresses its emotion fully and with the P9 I feel that it does a fairly good job. Their motto used to be “Concert for One” (and may still be but when looking at their site I couldn’t see it mentioned anywhere [realise I may very well have just looked it over]) but as they’ve moved away from their original sound I feel as if the mids have also fell by the wayside. Now, they’re still beautifully clean and detailed and, at least for me, true to accurate, but they’re now quite recessed into the background and instead of being accented by the bass decay, they’re now sometimes drowned out by it (which is actually reminiscent of a concert so, there’s that). Now, with the above said, the P9 does have the potential to have some truly amazing vocal representation. Listen to the songs “Man I Want To Be” by Chris Young or “Long Black Train” by Josh Turner. These songs are just about all vocals with only a couple accentuating instruments and it’s such a treat to listen to. The P9’s make both of their vocals, especially Turner’s, sound very personal. I’ve learned that, as long as a song is mastered to showcase the artists voice over overwhelming instruments (which sadly is what’s popular today), the P9 will amaze you by how stunning it sounds. So you know what? Perhaps they still perform a Concert For One.


Bass


The heartbeat of the music. To be full a headphone must possess the ability to present a strong bass presence without overdoing it. It must have force and slam to feel the music but also the control to know its place in the onsemble. Each of these aspects are presented absolutely flawlessly in the P9, there’s so much bass density that I don’t care if you’re a traditional audiophile or a bass head, you’ll find that the P9 bass will likely satisfy whatever your needs. It’s so fun to listen to music through these that it’s sometimes hard to get work done (like writing this review) because you end up bobbing your head along with the beat and have a good time. Oh dear, I’m going to use a super non-audiophile song as an example but dear goodness is it fun to listen to, but “Freaks” by Timmy Trumpet and also “I’m an Albatraoz” by AronChupa are great examples of the forceful yet controlled bass presence that the BW P9 commands.


Conclusion




In summary, I think that Bowers & Wilkins did a great job with their P9 flagship headphone. They’re goal was to create an audiophile grade, portable, headphone to showcase that B&W is not solely a speaker brand, and I think, for the most part, they accomplished their mission. Though I didn’t personally fall in love with the sound I can’t deny that it may just be biased from loving their original so much. Their construction is as rock solid as all of the products they offer and their pride in what they make shows. I do think the P9 has some room for improvement on the comfort side, mainly with the pads, but it’s not the end all be all. So for those who’re like a bass heavy and fun headphone all while maintaining audiophile quality all while on the go, I really think you should look into the Bowers & Wilkins P9, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.






Also, make sure to check out my unboxing and review videos. They’re pretty awesome AND you getta put a face to the Army-Firedawg name. If this review helped you out at all please hit that thumbs up button for it really helps me out a lot. Till next time my friends, stay safe.

Freshly coming off the review of the incredibly strong performance of the Dudios Zeus, comes a similar product from their sister company Soundpeats and their true wireless Q32 model. This product, I thought, was just going to be a copy of the Zeus model minus the cable but nope. This is most certainly its own trail blazer and what better time to test an iem and put it through its paces than the 2 weeks of training I had recently? So without further adieu, allow me to share my thoughts on my time with the Soundpeats Q32 true wireless iems.







The Opening Experience






For a product in this price range, sub $50 (if purchased through Amazon), I must say I found myself quite impressed with the care given to the welcome handshake the Q32 provided. The outer shell if very simplistic with only a little marketing jargon on the back (and by little, I mine little [especially for this price range]) and an overall very nice build being strong cardboard. The package itself slides down, similar to that of a drawer where you’re presented the Q32 inside of its VERY nice charging case, a Soundpeats branded pouch, a plethora of ear tip and wing sizes and the micro USB charging cable (no type C sadly). As you look inside the charging case, you’ll find the Q32 true wireless iems sitting snugly inside their slotted area in the case. Now, in order to fit inside the case, you either must have no tips equipped or the standard tip equipped. With the wings on, they will NOT be able to fit inside the case, this is rather unfortunate because I really enjoyed the wings (which I’ll talk on later).

So overall, I am very pleased with the welcome handshake Soundpeats gave me. Though this, like their Zeus sister, is a respectably inexpensive product, they took great care in ensuring it’s presented as if it were one costing several multiples more, and from a consumer's standpoint, I respect that.


Construction



So going from the nice and welcoming handshake I’m not left with the product itself. So how well is it made? The overall construction is that of basic plastic, both the Q32 iems and the hard charging case. The iems are made surprisingly small, at least compared to what I was expecting them to be. I can even, to a degree, lay on my side while listening to them. I do have to kinda adjust my pillow a little bit but overall they are quite flush.

The horn is that of the standard size (again, I’ve no idea the exact measurements but it’s the size I see on the vast majority of iems I come across) so you shouldn’t have any isses getting aftermarket tips for it if you so choose. Speaking of tips, these come with a very impressive supply of different sizes and wings. As I said in the previous section, when using the wings the Q32 will not fit inside the charging case, which is unfortunate, and what more is that the wing tips don’t snap into place on the horn, they just kinda sit there. Though I personally didn’t have any issue with them falling out or off they did never feel fully secure because of this.


Features



Though there’s not a whole lot of special features that come with the Q32 I didn’t really know where else to put these remarks I have about them. The first impressive thing that I REALLY like about what comes with the Q32 is the charging case that magnetically secures the iems in place, so long as you don’t have the wing tips equipped. The charging cases battery supply is absolutely ridiculous! I went my entire 2 weeks of training, while having to charge a dead Q32 at LEAST once each day, without having to once charge the charging case, and it charges the iems pretty quickly as well.

The battery life on the iems however is, disappointing. The website claims 3 hours working time but I consistently only got just over 2 hours with them which granted is likely going to be plenty for the average user to use for a workout session of commute but I tend to listen to A LOT of music for a large amount of time, especially when doing a review on a product so I did have a problem with that but it’s only a minor one.

A big problem I do have is the connectivity and lack of AptX. Though the Q32 is SUPER easy to connect to your device it’s always cutting in and out for about a second every few minutes or so (on my PC, it only occasionally did this on my mobile). It’s kinda annoying when I’m listening to something and it cuts out and fades back in one ear at a time (which is how it connects).

My other issue, which is something I find more of an irritation, is that there’s no AptX. This makes it HORRIBLE to watch anything other than some animes with. The latency is, in best case scenarios, a half second off, but it has been as bad as a full second. This has caused me to just completely stop watching anything when listening through the Q32, it’s just unpleasant.


Comfort


I have absolutely zero issues or complaints about the comfort of the Soundpeats Q32. I was able to lay on my side with them (after adjusting my pillow a little bit) and pretty much always listened to them until their battery died (which was quite often during my study sessions). I kinda just forget they’re in my ear truthfully. They don’t weight much of nothing and even those with teeny weeny ears (like my wife [you can tell her I said that too]) can comfortably wear them. So I really have nothing but positivity to say about the comfort, even the wings are fantastic, if only they could have fit in their case and snapped on the horn.


Sound


Coming into this I was under the pretense that this was going to sound very similar to the of it’s Dudios sister; similar price range and style just the removal of the cable and addition of a charging case. Nope. Not the case at all. The Soundpeats Q32 is a more universal sounding iem whereas the Zeus had a much stronger bass presence. The soundstage is quite small, for an iem or not, and not once did I think I wasn’t listening to earphones so imaging is alright. The Q32 I wouldn’t consider an audiophile product whereas it’s a general use product. They’re made, my opinion, to be a grab and go to listen to something while working out or commuting to and from work etc…, something you’ll hear as background music as opposed to fully listening to what’s being played. Now, this doesn’t mean what’s being played isn’t good, for with respect to its sub $50 price point (if bought on amazon) it sounds pretty decent. But allow me to talk more individually so that I can hopefully better express my opinions.


Treble


The highs on the Q32, for a product with a V Shaped sound curve, I will be honest, I wasn’t too impressed. While listening to “Ballad No. 1 in G Minor, op 23” by Chopin, nothing sounded overly impressive. This particular piece has become a favorite of mine for it’s emotion that’s present throughout (and the AMV/anime it’s attached to makes it worse) really doesn’t come through that well through the Q32. Also, this piece, towards the end, pretty much maxes out the Q32’s drivers abilities (things begin not sounding right until it calms down again). The best way I can explain the highs on these iems is that they’re subdued without being recessed.


Mids


Haha, so I’m going to start off this section by posting a song I’m listening to that does a really good job at showing the vocal performance of the Q32, and give a good laugh at the same time (say what you will but I enjoy the song ). But “True Survivor” by David Hasselhoff (yes, THE David Hasselhoff) really gives him the front stage and shows that, though the Q32 overall is a V Shaped sound sig, it can do a fantastic job and cleanly showcasing the vocal performance.


Bass


Oh the heartbeat of the music, and a strong heartbeat the Q32 has indeed. Though I still wouldn’t call these a “bass heavy” iem they, at least for me, were quite satisfactory. For their price range the bass had a fairly impressive impact and speed but there was a fair amount of decay. As I’m writing this I’m listening to the song “They Don’t Care About Us” by 2CELLOS and though the piece isn’t really a bass forward piece the parts where they hit their Cellos resonate quite well. At the same time, continuing on the giving yourself a good laugh while showcasing a given section, “RASPUTIN” by Boney M. Consistent bass hits are present throughout and will give you a fantastic sense of the Q32’s speed, impact, and decay (and it’s just fun to watch).


Conclusion




My final thoughts on the Soundpeats Q32 is that it makes a great on the go pair. They’re not, in my personal opinion, an audiophile product but instead something one puts in to have some background music going as they’re doing something else. They’re comfortable to wear and stay in your ears during a good workout session, running included. I do wish the battery life on the iems were longer but the quick charging case does a fine job at supplementing that.






Also, make sure to check out my unboxing and review videos. They’re pretty awesome AND you getta put a face to the Army-Firedawg name. If this review helped you out at all please hit that thumbs up button for it really helps me out a lot. Till next time my friends, stay safe.

This review has been edited to correct my mistake I made in about the Features section of the combi. I was able to try the unit out again for a few days and correctly utilized the wireless mode I had such an issue with originally. The rest of the review was correct.




During my few years I’ve been reviewing audio products, there’s been a few brands that I’ve had the honor of coming to both learn about and listen to several of their products and consistently be impressed with. One of those such brands is iFi. It seems that every product that I’ve the honor of being able to listen to and/or review I’m always impressed with. Now enter another of their offerings into the mobile market, the xDSD. Coming in at twice the price of its iDSD BL older sibling that I really came to love, I’m quite interested to see what it brings to the table.







The Opening Experience






As with about all of iFi products the xDSD is delivered very professionally albeit in my opinion a bit cluttered. The outer packaging is iFi’s standard white box with the product pictured on the front and a bit of features the product has. The sides and back continue this with the back being in much greater degree with input/output power etc… listed. Though I can understand the specs being printed on the packaging somewhat I still personally believe the vast majority of it can be placed inside a pamphlet on the inside of the box.

As you open the exterior cover and the inner box, which is a solid white box with only the iFi logo printed on the top (which is what I like seeing), you’re greeted with the owners manual and startup guide, a cloth pouch that holds the xDSD inside, and a square box that holds A LOT of cables and adaptors and the like.

I feel like I’ve received a consistent handshake from iFi as I have with all the previous unboxings I’ve done from them. I was delivered a very nice product with the level of care and conscious thought that I personally appreciate seeing company’s take the time to put together, and I at least appreciate it.


Construction




The construction of the xDSD is, as I’ve come to expect from iFi, very well made. The vast majority of the frame is of an aluminum like material with minimal plastic, that at least I could see. The front of the xDSD consists of a 3.5mm balanced OR unbalanced output port, the input source and sample rate lights, the volume knob/power button/mode switch (as I’ll discuss later), 3D+ and XBass+ identifier light and the settings/bluetooth button. The bottom has 4 rubber feet to keep it from scratching both itself as well as the product it’s paired with. Finally, the back has a 3.5mm line out port (yup, it can also be used in line out mode bypassing the amp completely), usb jack, listen/measure filter switch and lastly a micro USB charging port (which I wish would’ve been a type C but oh well).

I believe iFi did a great job in the build quality of their xDSD. It’s very lightweight yet feels structurally sound in my hands. It’s slim and only minimally adds to the size of my phone that I’ve tethered the xDSD to, so my pocket isn’t maxed out. So well done.


Specs (copied straight from the iFi website)


Instruction manual (tells what the indicator lights etc… show)

Features *CORRECTED*

Like most iFi products, it’s not simply an insert here product. The xDSD is not only a portable amp and dac (or combi as I call them) but it also has a few, pretty darned neat, settings that I believe set it apart from others in the combi offering.

The first feature(s), that I noticed at least, is that the xDSD has 2 available modes that you can take advantage of, them being 3D+ and XBass+. Now, as unfortunate as it is, I personally could not hear any tangible difference in sound when switching between the modes. The XBass+ I completely heard nothing different and the 3D+ I kinda sorta heard a little bit different sound. This was really disappointing because I have SO much praise for it when I heard it on the iCAN Pro (granted it’s MUCH bigger and MUCH more expensive). Something I think would have made it better though is the ability to turn on/off each mode individually vs having to cycle through them like you currently do. I still don’t believe I would hear much but having the ability to turn it off and immediately back on would have really helped test if there’s a difference or not.

The next thing I noticed is that it’s Bluetooth capable. Admittedly, I only used the Bluetooth setting to test it for my review for I personally can foresee very few instances where I’ll not have my phone on me but will a pair of headphones and the xDSD. But during the time I was using the xDSD in wireless mode I will say, it’s, at least from my memory, the cleanest sounding bluetooth that I’ve ever heard. I went from wireless mode to wired mode and, at least personally, couldn’t tell any difference in sound quality. I can already hear the mobs lighting their torches at that sentence but I really couldn’t. Now, while it was in wireless mode I was able to hear a SLIGHTLY more noticeable difference between having the 3D+ and XBass features on or off, so that did give it some added feature but I must stress, to my ears, the difference was very slight.
To switch between wired and wireless mode is quite simple (though it's not listen under the wireless mode in the instruction manual [it's under the power section]), while the unit is off, hold the power button down until the light changes from green/blue to the other color and then once it changes, simply release the button. The xDSD should also automatically go into pairing mode at this point as well. However, if it doesn't all you need to do is, while it's on and in wireless mode, hold down the settings button for about 3 seconds and it will force pair to your device.

So overall I think that iFi did a really good job with making a well made wireless combi unit with some cool features. Though I personally didn't hear too much of a difference with the 3D+ and XBass, that's not to say others will not. They did do an amazing job with the no loss of sound quality (which I'll of course touch on next) when going from wireless to wired mode. My only real complain is that I wish the instructions would be organised a bit better.



Sound




As with all iFi products I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing, this is one aspect that they consistently impress me with, and the xDSD is of no exception. Before I go into this section, I judged the sound off of NOT having the 3D+ OR the XBass+ setting turned on. Though, as said above, I personally heard no discernable difference with it turned on, I wanted to ensure I’m hearing the xDSD for its performance and not a setting that may swade the opinion one way or another. Also, I had it connected to my phone via USB. As I also said earlier, I personally didn’t hear any difference between the wired and wireless modes, my same reasoning applies (I also didn’t want to mess with the wireless mode and get frustrated again).

For the most part I find the xDSD to present its sourced music very accurately. The level of detail that this little device can push forth is quite impressive to say the least. A song I’m listening to as I’m writing this section is such a nice piece in general but it’s certainly catering to my current love for the Violin. But “Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso” by Saint-Seans from the Your Lie In April anime is played amazingly clean from the xDSD. Yes, all I have to work with is the YouTube video (CD hasn’t came in yet) but just from that low quality playthrough it’s no amazingly impactful and the xDSD, in my complete surprise, didn’t miss a beat on the impact of the piano or violins duet. Now, I will say that I do believe the treble is very slightly toned back a little bit. There’s a few notes that, when played on my desktop setup, just come alive but the xDSD, though keeps a close level of detail, it doesn’t bring that realism to the degree my desktop rig does, as I wouldn’t expect it to, but the slight treble reduction I did notice.

One thing I would like to cover is the ability for the xDSD to drive a pretty impressive array of headphones. From the oh so infamous HD650 to my hypersensitive Hermes VI, the xDSD was able to play them without a skip. Now, the Hermes VI did still sadly have the hiss that a vast majority of products just can’t quite play a black enough background to get rid of but it was very subtle. So as long as you’re not wanting to power an absurdly hungry headphone, you’ll very likely be more than happy with the xDSD’s ability to power your product.



Conclusion




My final thoughts on the iFi xDSD is that, for the most part, they’ve done a wonderful job, price no object. The build quality is to what I’ve come to expect from iFi as well as its liquid smooth sound. Though the instruction manual got the better of me, the functionality is quite solid and easy to use (for most ). For those who, like me, will rarely use a wireless combi, it's a hard sell over their fantastic Micro iDSD BL.






Also, make sure to check out my unboxing and review videos. They’re pretty awesome AND you getta put a face to the Army-Firedawg name. If this review helped you out at all please hit that thumbs up button for it really helps me out a lot. Till next time my friends, stay safe.

It’s incredible how fast companies will phase in and out not just products, but entire lineups. Way back when I first started doing reviews Empire Ears (then still under the name Earwerkz) contacted me and asked if I would be interested in reviewing one of their newest product offerings in not only their new product lineup but also under their new Empire Ears name. Fast forward to today and the Olympus lineup is all but extinct, minus the Spartan and Zeus-XR now referred to as the “legacy series.” So to say I’ve been interested to hear all the changes my Empire Ears family has implemented since I purchased my Hermes VI all those many moons ago would be an understatement. Alright Bravado, why don’t I show the world what you’ve shown to me during my time with you?







The Opening Experience



*EDIT* Your iem's will NOT come with tips already attached to them, this was an oversight on my part.




The Bravado and Empire Studio Reference (ESR) came together so I will copy and paste this section on both reviews.

The c/iems from Empire Ears, from my Hermes VI so long ago to those of today I watch on YouTube, have remained consistent in their well thought out and delivered impressions. To start with, you’re given a solid black box with only the Empire Ears logo printed on the front. As you fold the treasure chest back, you’re greeted with a large, Empire Ears branded, carrying pouch that you can put everything inside the chest inside, the warranty and instruction manual, an Empire Ears branded cleaning silk like material cloth, a smaller carrying pouch that doesn’t fit more than the iems themselves, and lastly the Empire Ears plated with a custom logo of the buyers choosing hard case. As you open the super protective hard case you’ve the Empire Ears Bravado iems equipped standard with the Effect Audio Ares II cable (terminated in buyers choice {3.5mm unbalanced, 2.5mm balanced, 4.4mm balanced}), and an ear wax cleaning tool.

Looking at the Bravado itself, the only external difference I could see, is that the horn has 2 vent ports instead of the 3 on the ESR. The shell design has remained the same from the Olympus lineup that I did a complete impression of way back when which is rather on the large side. Now, for products like their Zeus, which has 14 drivers, this is understandable, but for all of them, I think it’s rather large. The model sent to me is solid black with the “EE” logo in gold print but the buyer has an almost limitless customization ability and, at least from my personal experience and those who I’ve spoken with, the people working there are amazingly friendly and go above and beyond to make the buyer truly happy.

This, is what I wish more companies would be like. I’ve yet to have the pleasure of shaking Jack’s or any of his crew’s hand but I’d imaging it’d be as pride filled as these products came.


Construction




The construction of the Bravado and ESR iem, like the unboxing, is exactly the same so this section will also be mimicked between my 2 reviews.

I went a little too far in my unboxing and talked about the construction a little too much with its frame size and design but oh well I’ll just continue here. The frame itself is made of entirely standard plastic so nothing special there. The horn is the standard iem size (I do not know the exact measurement but it’s the size I see on the majority of iems) so for those who use aftermarket tips you’ll likely be able to use them with the all Empire Ears universal products. The cable is also DETACHABLE, which ,as I say in all my reviews and will continue to, is something that I feel should be standard. Though the iem is made from plastic I’m completely confident that it’s a very well built product. I can, sadly, personally attest from dropping my Hermes VI’s that they can handle a good size drop without even scratching (at least in my lucky case [I do NOT advise testing this yourself]). On the inside of the iem you’ve the product name printed along with, what I would assume to be, a serial number or a personal iem identification number.

The cable is beautifully made and feels as premium as it looks, which it should for it is a $150 cable if bought separately, and is made, according to the Effect Audio website, from 26 AWG UPOCC Litz Copper. Something that I’ve REALLY liked about them is that, at least to my ears, they don’t have any microphonics. It doesn’t matter if I’m just sitting or walking around, I haven’t heard any cable feedback from it brushing against my clothes. Now, an issue I did have is not in the cable itself but in the 2.5mm to 3.5mm adaptor from Effect Audio that Empire Ears included in the tour. The majority of the time the signal was nice and clean, but occasionally, for the only reason I can conclude is it isn’t making a completely solid connection the whole time, the left side will go out until I tap the adaptor. Nothing groundbreaking, and a very quick and easy fix but for something that costs SEVENTY DOLLARS, I feel this shouldn’t exist.

Overall the build quality of the iem is standard but also sturdy. They’re very lightweight but very large. Assuming you take proper care of these, they should last you for several years to come. My personal Empire Ears ciems have well over a thousand hours listening time from the almost 3 years time with them and they’re showing no sign of slowing down as I doubt yours will. Before I finish this section I do need to express some concern that I’ve found. Because the frame is so large, people with smaller ears (and/or ear canals) may not be able to wear this iem in either its universal or custom variant. I recommend you contact Empire Ears for help with this if you’ve smaller ears and have concerns.


Comfort



Because the Bravado and ESR iem share the exact same framework, their comfort levels are also exactly the same. So, like my previous 3 sections, this section will be copied between this and the ESR review.

Once you get past the large framework of the iem, I personally find them no different than any other. They’re deceptively lightweight so I forget they’re even in my ear. Actually, that’s likely because the only contact they have with my ear is the horn and corresponding tip. So laying on your side with these is 100% out of the question. But in terms of long term listening durations, I’ve personally gone in excess of 3+ hours with these in listening in one session and have absolutely zero comfort issues or felt the need to readjust them (not that I can really adjust something that’s only making contact with my ear canal anyways). They do isolate VERY well. If you’re wanting to just listen to your music and don’t want to hear what’s going on around you them you’ll probably find yourself very happy with these (and I just used the default tips that came with these).

To conclude my thoughts on the comfort of these iems, if I’m listening to them in a position that doesn’t involve my side then I’ve not had any issues with them. I do have concerns with those with smaller ears not being able to listen to them but in the same sentence they wouldn’t have any comfort issues because they can’t get them in their ears.


Sound



Haha, finally, there’ll be no copy and paste here. The Bravado and Empire Studio Reference (ESR) iem’s do NOT share the same sound, so I will continue with an individual analogy.

The Empire Ears Bavado has truly impressive seperational abilities. Though some may not like it due to the very heavy left ear bias, the song “Daddy Sang Bass” by Johnny Cash does a fantastic job showing what I’m talking about. For an iem it’s extremely rare for the sound to not be in my head, but with the Bravado Johnny’s voice, as well as his backup singers, sound very spatially outwards. Everything has its place in this iem and I really respect that level of control. Though the Bravado is the entry level model in their X series lineup it’s by no means a push over. As I’m writing this review the song “Clocktown” by Theophany from the Legend Of Zelda Majora’s Mask album came up in rotation and my goodness does the Bravado to a great job and putting my in the song. Though the entire piece will show you what I’m talking about the first 30 seconds showcase it the best.

The imagine, like the separation mentioned above, is phenomenal. The overall neutral tonality of the Bravado makes everything sound very natural and realistic without coloring it incorrectly. Before I link a song, I do want to talk about the soundstage. Though the soundstage isn’t bad, at all, it definitely doesn’t wow me, it really just lines up with what the majority of people expect with they put earphones in. The separation allows one to easily discern individual instruments and voices but things don’t sound as far away as they could (with respect to other iems I’ve heard around this price range). In the flashmob piece (sorry, YouTube only) “Ode To Joy” from Beethoven’s 9th symphony conducted by Banco Sabadell, you can very easily discern individual conversations and instruments but there’s a clock tower ringing well away from where the piece is being performed (you can see it), but it doesn’t sound that far away.

I guess I’ve talked about the whole things a bit much, so please allow me to now talk about the more individual aspects of the Empire Ears Bravado so that hopefully I can show you in better detail how I find it sounds.



Treble


The treble, like the bass, I would say is north of neutral (perhaps slightly more than the bass is). When listening to the piece “A Moon Filled Sky” by unknown the violin sounds a little sharper than I’m used to it but not so much that it’s harsh or even sounds unrealistic. Quite the opposite actually. The violin sounds focused on just slightly and the resonance is full of energy and vitality I really liked it. It’s another violin focused piece (I really like listening to the violin) but it really hits home the treble sparkle of the Empire Ears Bravado. Regardless if you’re listening to this on the Bravado or anything, please enjoy. Saint Saens Introduction And Rondo Capriccioso Op.28


Mids


I find the vocals to be very neutral and accurate on the Bravado. I admittedly thought that they would be kinda subdued but nope. I think they’re quite flat. When listening to either male or female vocals, my ears couldn’t hear any type of bias present. I do think that in some tracks the bass does go beyond its bounds though. “Budapest” by Ezra is a great example of this.


Bass


The Empire Ears Bravado is the first iem, at least from memory off the top of my head, that I’ve listened to that combines the punch of an an actual subwoofer and the finesse control of a well tuned balanced armature. The bass on the Bravado is impressively deep but yet very controlled for the most part (as mentioned above I do think they’ll occasionally over step their bounds). They’re not bass heavy but I would put them just north of neutral. I think they’ve a very full sounding bass that, at least for me, have left no desire for more. I’ve found 2 songs that I think do a really good job at showcasing the bass and sub bass capabilities of the Bravado. The first is a song “Bad” by Wale I stole from fellow Head-Fi’er dailydoseofdaly, but it has a consistent and deep bass punch throughout the song. The second, “Resource” by Suzka 870 (no youtube link for this one I could find) is a good sub bass track


Conclusion




My ending thoughts on the Empire Ears Bravado iem is that it’s a solid level iem thats “entry level” title doesn’t do justice by. It’s imaging and separation abilities are on par with iems, and heck even some full size headphones, costing much more. They are very large which I do see being a problem for some but they are lightweight enough that, for those able to wear them, I don’t think will be much of an issue.






Also, make sure to check out my unboxing and review videos. They’re pretty awesome AND you getta put a face to the Army-Firedawg name. If this review helped you out at all please hit that thumbs up button for it really helps me out a lot. Till next time my friends, stay safe.

I’ve reviewed a fair bit of headphones, several of them are so called “studio” headphones, others call themselves reference headphones. I, personally, don’t really give much weight when people or company call headphones a “studio” headphone because I’ve seen and spoken with producers who use Beats as their studio headphone. From my inexperienced and ignorant point of view I’d like to believe a studio product has a very flat frequency response. Now, I personally see a flat headphone and a reference headphone as very different beings. Flat makes everything sound the same, nothing in particular stands out or is different. Reference is a product that is very accurate sounding to what it would be if you heard them in person.

Why do I think a studio product should have a flat response? So the audio master can make adjustments while the artist is singing and hears what he/she wants the final product to be. If he/she was listening through, say a bassy headphone, he/she might decrease the bass because it sounds as if it’s coming across too heavy when in actuality it’s the headphones. So here we have Empire Ears studio iem offering, the ESR which is short for Empire Studio Reference. Will it meet what I believe a studio product is (which as I said earlier, is out of complete ignorance to actually mastering recordings)? Let’s find out.







The Opening Experience



*EDIT* Your iem's will NOT come with tips already attached to them, this was an oversight on my part.




The Bravado and Empire Studio Reference (ESR) came together so I will copy and paste this section on both reviews.

But the iems from Empire Ears, from my Hermes VI so long ago to those of today I watch on YouTube have remained consistent in their well thought out and delivered impressions. To start with, you’re given a solid black box with only the Empire Ears logo printed on the front. As you fold the treasure chest back you’re greeted with a large, Empire Ears branded, carrying pouch that you can put everything inside the chest inside, the warranty and instruction manual, an Empire Ears branded cleaning silk like material cloth, a smaller carrying pouch that doesn’t fit more than the iems themselves, and lastly the Empire Ears plated with a custom logo of the buyers choosing hard case. As you open the super protective hard case you’ve the Empire Ears ESR iems equipped standard with the Effect Audio Ares II cable (terminated in buyers choice {3.5mm unbalanced, 2.5mm balanced, 4.4mm balanced}), and an ear wax cleaning tool.

Looking at the ESR itself, the only external difference I could see, is that the horn has 3 vent ports instead of the 2 on the Bravado. The shell design has remained the same from the Olympus lineup that I did a complete impression of way back when which is rather on the large side. Now, for products like their Zeus, which has 14 drivers, this is understandable, but for all of them, I think it’s rather large. The model sent to me is solid black with the “EE” logo in gold print but the buyer has an almost limitless customization ability and, at least from my personal experience and those who I’ve spoken with, the people working there are amazingly friendly and go above and beyond to make the buyer truly happy.

This, is what I wish more companies would be like. I’ve yet to have the pleasure of shaking Jack’s or any of his crew’s hand but I’d imaging it’d be as pride filled as these products came.



Construction



The construction of the Bravado and ESR iem, like the unboxing, is exactly the same so this section will also be mimicked between my 2 reviews.

I went a little too far in my unboxing and talked about the construction a little too much with its frame size and design but oh well I’ll just continue here. The frame itself is made of entirely standard plastic so nothing special there. The horn is the standard iem size (I do not know the exact measurement but it’s the size I see on the majority of iems) so for those who use aftermarket tips you’ll likely be able to use them with the all Empire Ears universal products. The cable is also DETACHABLE, which ,as I say in all my reviews and will continue to, is something that I feel should be standard. Though the iem is made from plastic I’m completely confident that it’s a very well built product. I can, sadly, personally attest from dropping my Hermes VI’s that they can handle a good size drop without even scratching (at least in my lucky case [I do NOT advise testing this yourself]). On the inside of the iem you’ve the product name printed along with, what I would assume to be, a serial number or a personal iem identification number. Now, the only difference between the ESR and Bravado, exteriorly, is that there’s 3 vent ports on the horn on the ESR whereas the Bravado only has 2.

The cable is beautifully made and feels as premium as it looks, which it should for it is a $150 cable if bought separately, and is made, according to the Effect Audio website, from 26 AWG UPOCC Litz Copper. Something that I’ve REALLY liked about them is that, at least to my ears, they don’t have any microphonics. It doesn’t matter if I’m just sitting or walking around, I haven’t heard any cable feedback from it brushing against my clothes. Now, an issue I did have is not in the cable itself but in the 2.5mm to 3.5mm adaptor from Effect Audio that Empire Ears included in the tour. The majority of the time the signal was nice and clean, but occasionally, for the only reason I can conclude is it isn’t making a completely solid connection the whole time, the left side will go out until I tap the adaptor. Nothing groundbreaking, and a very quick and easy fix but for something that costs SEVENTY DOLLARS, I feel this shouldn’t exist.

Overall the build quality of the iem is standard but also sturdy. They’re very lightweight but very large. Assuming you take proper care of these, they should last you for several years to come. My personal Empire Ears ciems have well over a thousand hours listening time from the almost 3 years time with them and they’re showing no sign of slowing down as I doubt yours will. Before I finish this section I do need to express some concern that I’ve found. Because the frame is so large, people with smaller ears (and/or ear canals) may not be able to wear this iem in either its universal or custom variant. I recommend you contact Empire Ears for help with this if you’ve smaller ears and have concerns.





Comfort



Because the Bravado and ESR iem share the exact same framework, their comfort levels are also exactly the same. So, like my previous 3 sections, this section will be copied between this and the ESR review.

Once you get past the large framework of the iem, I personally find them no different than any other. They’re deceptively lightweight so I forget they’re even in my ear. Actually, that’s likely because the only contact they have with my ear is the horn and corresponding tip. So laying on your side with these is 100% out of the question. But in terms of long term listening durations, I’ve personally gone in excess of 3+ hours with these in listening in one session and have absolutely zero comfort issues or felt the need to readjust them (not that I can really adjust something that’s only making contact with my ear canal anyways). They do isolate VERY well. If you’re wanting to just listen to your music and don’t want to hear what’s going on around you them you’ll probably find yourself very happy with these (and I just used the default tips that came with these).

To conclude my thoughts on the comfort of these iems, if I’m listening to them in a position that doesn’t involve my side then I’ve not had any issues with them. I do have concerns with those with smaller ears not being able to listen to them but in the same sentence they wouldn’t have any comfort issues because they can’t get them in their ears.


Sound


Alas, here we are. The answer to what I asked in the very first section of this review. So, does it? The Empire Ears ESR is, to my ears, to date the flattest sounding product I’ve ever heard. The entire frequency band, to my ears, all sounds the same. For recreational use, I find this incredibly boring and bland. The ESR sounds like it’s a slab of clay ready to be molded into a masterpiece at the hands of a skills sculptor. Going back to my intro. this is exactly what I imagined a proper studio product sounding and/or being like. With this in mind I actually played with the EQ a little bit (and for those who are unaware, I really dislike meddling with the EQ. The way I see it is if I have to EQ a product to make it sound the way I want it then it’s not the product I want) and I must say, the ESR responds to equalizing amazingly well. Now, take that for what it’s worth because I don’t have a lot of experience testing it on products but I made the ESR sound completely different when playing around with the settings, which is what I’d imagine the master would hear as he/she’s mastering an artist.

With the above said, I reviewed it on its own merit as is. So going back to its sound, I find that it’s not to accurate to the recording as a whole. I listen to Adele’s album 25 quite a bit on VARIOUS different products and I’ve gotten a pretty solid idea how it should sound. When listening through the ESR though the vocals sounded fine the bass and treble sounded mellowed and subdued. The bass specifically sounds like it’s in a sound chamber. I’ll use the song “When We Were Young” as a prime example. The bass should be deep and have a good bit of decayed resonance in it, but the ESR produces it, flat, is the only way I can really explain it. Treble’s the same way. I’ll go into further detail in the individual segments but, in my opinion, the ESR is not an iem I would recommend for musical enjoyment, or even critical listening. After spending several hours listening to them I’m confident in saying these are made to be used in a studio/mastering like setting solely.

Another aspect that will make a strong studio product is the ability to expose all minute manners of detail present in a recording so that the master can ensure everything he/she’s hearing is exactly what the listener will hear on whatever equipment they will be using. Now, my goodness does the ESR excel in this area. I’m blessed enough to have several, quite high end, products in my possession, rather it be personal ownership or on loan, I get to hear some of the best the industry has to offer and though the Empire Ears ESR is quite a bit less than several of these mentioned products I’m finding that I’m discovering subtle cues in music that I’ve never heard before on my other products. To add to this the ESR’s ability of special awareness and placement is top tier for a headphone, let alone for an iem. It doesn’t matter it I’m listening to an acapella band like Pentatonix, or a full ensemble which Yanni very often utilizes I can listen and know where instruments/vocalists are and the imaging that comes from that is beautiful. Listen to the song “I Hold On” by Dierks Bentley. The melody continues throughout but you really only need to hear the first 10 seconds to hear what I’m talking about. But the imagine and separation in the ESR, when on a well recorded track, can give an impressive out of head experience that I’ve heard open back headphones not even come close to.

Sadly, as with many high tier class products, the ESR doesn’t play well with lower bit quality (mp3) music. Several songs I’ve tried with, with symbols especially, have a lot of sibilance in it. The only time I was really able to experience this is when I was watching some AMV’s on YouTube (perfect example I know [yet I also link to YouTube videos for you to hear the songs yourself :/]) and there’s several songs that there’s either a note that is way off how I know it sounds or the whole track itself just doesn’t sound quite right. The ESR just spotlights all the detail, including the hiss and crackles of the low bitrate youtube allows, and just spotlights them. But let me talk about the individual aspects of the ESR so that I may hopefully explain how I’ve found they sound a little bit better.


Treble


The highs on the ESR is quite nice. Though the ESR keeps it in check so that it doesn’t stray too far from the rest of the sounds, the detail and energy is still very much there. Listen to this very lovely piece by Saint-Saens. It’s very treble heavy (not sharp at all) and showcases the ESR’s ability to control the violin while keeping its energy and detail ever present.


Mids


The vocals are where I believe the soul of the music lies. Though I don’t find any deficiencies in the mid section, I also don’t find any hot spots either. The artists come through very accurately, regardless if they’re male or female, but the overall flat sound of the ESR just makes the vocals tie in with everything else in the track. Now, their emotion and their emphasise still comes through so I can still very much retrieve the overall pace of the song they were going for.

On a side note on the level of detail you’ll hear when listening through the ESR. When listening to a live recording or a vlog etc… you can very often hear the saliva from the tongue as the person talking begins to speak. So yeah, you’re going to hear whatever lovely that microphone is recording, without prejudice.


Bass


As mentioned above, the bass is, or at least to me was, the first thing I noticed was very mellowed out. Don’t mistake these for being a bass light headphone because they’re not. The bass is there but it’s just muffled. Not like it sounds distorted or anything like that but it’s like the bass is trying its hardest to push itself forward but the ESR is forcing to stay back and stay right in line with same sound level of the rest of the audio.

This’ll be a rather short section because I feel I will just be reiterating things I’ve already said but listen to the song “Lift Me Up” by Five Finger Death Punch. This provides a rock solid example of exactly what I’m trying to get across. The bass is still there and punchy, but it’s not free.


Conclusion




My overall thoughts on the Empire Studio Reference (or ESR) is that it was very difficult for me to review. I’m not a professional, in any aspects, of music so I’m admittedly ignorant to what makes a good “studio” product and only have my naive ideals. But from what I can listen to on them from an audio enthusiast aspect I find the sound to be very bland and unenjoyable for musical listening (media is even worse). Everything just sounds the same and unspecial and, at least for me personally, I really had a hard time listening to them but can fully understand the utilitarian aspect of what they’re designed for. When used in an environment where you’re editing sounds and need to be able to hear the immediate feedback and what it’ll sound like to the end listener, this is what, I’d image, you’re wanting for it responds to EQ incredibly well. It’s construction, though very large (and maybe too big for some listeners to even be able to use), it build very well AND has detachable cables. The customizational abilities that Empire Ears offers, and their customer service and desire to make the buyer completely happy with their product is something I’ve yet to experience in any other company I’ve done business with. So if you’re a music enthusiast and want an iem to just enjoy music and media with, then I’d truthfully recommend you look into the Empire Ears X series, for I honestly believe you’ll be much happier with that sound. However, if you’re a professional and are looking for a iem that provides incredible isolation and response to the faintest of adjustment and want to ensure you’re hearing every available detail in the recording, then you’ll find strong solace in the ESR.






Also, make sure to check out my unboxing and review videos. They’re pretty awesome AND you getta put a face to the Army-Firedawg name. If this review helped you out at all please hit that thumbs up button for it really helps me out a lot. Till next time my friends, stay safe.

Arguably one of the most popular headphones to mod ever brought into existence is that of the Fostex T50RP (in insert whatever variant is currently out). I can hear all what ‘say whaaaaaaaa’s out there when I say that I’ve never heard one or any of their mods before. So when Dekoni was starting a tour for their new Blue headphone, I had to put in my name to see if I could end that spell. In addition, I’ve been wanting to see what these Dekoni pads were all about as well. So I’ve now had a week to spend listening to them and both the Elite Hybrid and Elite Velour pads that came with it and am quite excited to share my thoughts on the Dekoni Audio mod of the Fostex T50RP mk3, the Dekoni Blue.





The Opening Experience






Well. I really don’t have a lot to say about my handshake. It was a very, ‘here you go’ experience. The Dekoni comes in a really nice simplistic blue box with really only some specs on the back and their name on the front, which as you likely know if you keep up with my reviews, I really, personally, enjoy. As you open the box you’re greeted with the startup guide and warranty, then right under that you’re given a pair of extra pads (either Elite Velour or Hybrid [not positive if this comes with all Dekoni Blue’s or just for the tour but the website makes me believe they do]) and the headphone wrapped up in basic bubble wrap. Yup, bubble wrap. And that’s it. I feel like I wasn’t even given a handshake but rather a rep. idly giving out his/her business card to whoever they come across. So to say I was a bit underwhelmed/disappointed would be an understatement.


Construction




Construction is pretty standard by today’s methods. The frame is made of aluminum, or similar material, with the driver housing being plastic. The headband is covered by a thin cushion with the Dekoni logo printed on the top (away from you oddly enough). On top of the driver housing the aux cable is exposed on each cup. I personally don’t like this because I can see it easily getting nicked on something and breaking. The main aux. cable itself is detachable, which is ALWAYS a terrific thing to see (should be standard in my personal opinion). The cable is terminated on the headphone end with a locking 3.5mm male. and the source side terminated in a 6.3mm male but does include a 6.3mm-3.5mm adapter. There’s also little to no microphonics with it either. Rather when I was sitting and listening to them in my chair or walking around with the cord wrapped in my pocket, I never heard any rustling.

The pads, which is probably the focal point of these headphones, are of course interchangeable. There’s a small slit between the driver housing and frame where there’s just enough room to insert the pads. While you have the pads off you can get a really good look at the interesting diamond shaped planar driver that’s surrounded by a foam like material. Be careful when changing your pads for, at least for me, each time I did these foam pieces liked to fall out.

So overall, the Dekoni Blue is build pretty averagely and I’ve only 2 complaints to make, 1 major and one minute. The major one is that I really don’t like the exposed wire on the top of the headphones. Similar to that of the Beyerdynamic models, I just find them an unnecessarily high damage risk. The minute complaint I have is that the Dekoni name is printed backwards. When I demo a pair of headphones to someone they’ll often ask “how do I know which is left and right?” And I’ll usually tell them that if the brand name is printed on the top, if you can read the name, that’s how it goes on your head. Well, not with these, there is a L and R on the cups though.


Comfort




The comfort on the Dekoni Blue is alright. I can, and have, worn these for several hour sessions but my ears do grow a little fatigued quicker than I’d like and I often find myself having to readjust the headphone on my ears. I believe my issue is with the headphone itself having a bit tighter of a clamping for than I particularly like because the pads (both Elite Velour and Elite Hybrid) feel great. I did find myself surprised that the really thin headband never became an issue for me.

To talk about the individual pads for a moment, the Elite Velour pads were a good bit firmer, to my ears, than the Elite Hybrid. Neither let the headphones driver rub against my ears but if you’re wanting a softer feel then the Hybrids will be your friend but if you like a firm/dense feeling pad then you’ll really enjoy the Elite Velours.


Sound



Coming into this completely blind I really didn’t know what to expect. I’ve listened to a fair amount of planar magnetic headphones so I had an idea but I was quite eager to finally hear what the Fostex T50RP (modded of course) was all about. My first impression when I listened to it was, not what I was expecting. The first thing I remember thinking when I heard the Dekoni Blue, w/ the Elite Hybrid pads, is that the bass is most certainly the focus on these and they’re fairly bloated with a predominant V-Shape sound. A good friend of mine likes them as a complement to his HD800 S, and I can definitely understand why, their very fun to listen to. Putting music aside for a little bit, I jumped onto Fortnite to see how they performed with gaming. To save a really long story, not good at all. The bloated bass is REEEAALLLYYY accented with the already bass forward sound effects Fortnite pushes which makes these not too pleasant and very fatiguing. The narrow soundstage also didn’t give me a good competitive advantage either.

How about movies and TV? Pretty nice honestly. Action movies sounded in your face and exciting. I watch a lot of anime (as I’m sure those of you who keep up with me are aware of haha) and when watching them with the Dekoni Blue, many of them do really well with the “fun” signature of the Blue.

Right quick, I’d like to touch on the power of the Blue’s. These are a 50ohm headphone with a 92dbl sensitivity. When I seen that I was like oh, these can be easily driven from my phone. I know planars really perform when given juice but these can be driven mobile. Well, though they can be driven, they max out my phone if I don’t have the preamp setting in my poweramp pro app maxed out. And there’s a lot of detail loss too. So don’t let the specs fool you. These really want some juice to perform their best. Do they need HE-6 power? SHOOT NO, but a desktop or competent mobile combi will do the job just fine. But let me talk about more of the individual aspects of the sound so hopefully I can convey what I’m talking about better.


Treble


The highs on the Dekoni Blue, I really can’t complain. They come through brilliantly clean and very sparkly. I never got the sense that any detail was being lost. I’ll use violins for an example. I got so much energy from higher toned music that I sometimes got chill bumps. A piece I’ve used several times is “A Moon Filled Sky” by Tenmon (many thanks to my friend @evshrug for finally identifying this artist for me). It’s such an emotional piece that has a violin front and center stage with a piano assisting it. The Dekoni Blue sends every single notes as high and as emotionally filled as if I was there in person listening to the piece. So, to my ears at least, I think Dekoni and Fostex did a great job with their treble. Now, if you switch to the Elite Velour pads, the treble does roll off a bit sooner than on the Elite Hybrids so you won’t get quite as high of an extension.


Mids


Most of the planar magnetic headphones I’ve listened to have each had quite impressive (forward) midrange. From all the hype and forums of other mods I figured that the Dekoni Blue would share that sentiment. Listen to the song “The Sound of Silence” by Disturbed. The vocals come through cleanly and, from what I can hear at least, accurately; but they’re way recessed. Also listen to “The Prodigy on an Acoustic Guitar” (kinda pretentious title but he is very skilled) or “The Last of the Mohicans” by Luca Stricagnoli. Both are very acoustic heavy pieces and two of which that enjoy very much. But the guitar’s recessed sound through the Dekoni Blue (regardless of which pad you use) just doesn’t bring forth the same calming enjoyment I get from these songs.

So though I don’t personally care for the midrange of the Dekoni Blue, I’ve also never been a huge fan of heavy V-Shaped sounding headphones either but I do understand their appeal, they’re really fun to listen to. I also, personally, couldn’t tell too much of a difference between the Elite Hybrid and Velour pads in the midrange.



Bass


The Dekoni Blue has a really interesting bass. And the way I describe it probably contradicts itself when reading it but it makes sense to me. But the bass has the same control and resolve that I’ve come to expect from planars but at the same time it’s bloated. Listen to the song “Freaks” by Timmy Trumpet, hear how the bass bubbles?


‘Umm, Firedawg. Timmy Trumpet and Freaks is hardly an audiophile song. It’s hardly mastered with any skill’


Well my completely made up arguer, you may or may not be correct, I was using a more extreme example that’s bass focused but fair enough. Also listen to the song “Love in the Dark” or “When We Were Young” by Adele (and though you can listen to them through the YouTube links provided I highly encourage a better source [especially with Adele, she's lovely to listen to]).

The bass in the Dekoni Blue’s aren’t bad, at all, they’re just interesting. Bloated may not even be the correct term but bubbles doesn’t really sound proper, but regardless, they still maintain that control and depth that planars are known for, ESPECIALLY when given proper amplification. Now, with the Elite Velour pads, the bass is toned down a bit. It still “bubbles” out, but not as much.


Conclusion




To summarize my thoughts on the Dekoni Blue. It’s certainly a fun headphone to listen too and it was nice to finally be able to listen to a Fostex T50RP product (that is actually the only model that Fostex actually makes themselves in house I’ve came to find out which is a pretty cool thing). I would’ve liked a more memorable unboxing but in truth I’m one of the VERY few people who actually care about such things. The design is also that of a “regular” headphone. Something I’ll do when I do go out in public with products I’m reviewing is gauge the reaction from people. It’s not uncommon that I’m asked about a headphone or complemented by how nice they look (and price isn’t a factor for I’ve had this with sub $100 headphones). But the Dekoni Blue’s/Fostex T50RP never got a single look from anyone, and I can see why, they look like a regular “mainstream” inexpensive headphone (look like, not is). Sound is something that I can see a lot of people liking but it didn’t quite do it for me. The sound has its moments but nothing I don’t think will make me remember them. I did however REALLY like the pads and would like to try them on other products.






Also, make sure to check out my unboxing and review videos. They’re pretty awesome AND you getta put a face to the Army-Firedawg name. If this review helped you out at all please hit that thumbs up button for it really helps me out a lot. Till next time my friends, stay safe.

Edifier has been producing several products that has drastically outperformed the price range their offered at. From my first product I reviewed for them, their $50 H850, to their flagship $100 W855BT and a few iems in between. Edifier has provided very sound audio products that I’ve gladly recommended to several people who’re looking for a great price/quality headphone that’s quite easy on the wallet. Introducing their introductory wireless product, the $40ish Edifier W800BT. So how will the youngest sibling in the W series hold up to its older brethren? Please allow me to share my thoughts and impressions during my time with them.





The Opening Experience






The initial handshake Edifier provided on their W800BT headphone is honestly about what I expect in a headphone of this price range. The front of the box does look rather nice I will say but the back goes to the standard “showy” design that’s to be expected in the most competitive price range. But upon opening the outer box up you’re given the W800BT positioned in a cheap white plastic shell that’s main job it to just hold the headphone in a solitary position. Lastly, inside the box, you’re given a smaller (obviously) second box which holds your micro usb charging cable, 3.5mm aux cable, warranty, and startup guide.

Not really a whole lot to talk about for the unboxing of the W800BT. It was a very normal handshake and with respect to the $40ish asking price, I honestly can’t expect much more than I received.


Construction




The build quality of the W800BT is again, quite normal for the $40ish asking price. It’s completely plastic, of cheaper quality, with no articulation sub the head adjustment, which does give very physical and audible clicks when changing. The right side of the ear cups have the power/sync button on the face plate with the volume/track control buttons on the back of the ear cup. The bottom of the right cup is where you’ll find the micro usb charging port, and on the bottom of the left cup is where you’ll find the 3.5mm aux port that can be used if you’re on a device without bluetooth of if the headphones battery dies. A side to add is that there is a silver plastic strip between the pads and the cups to offset some of the (in my case) red.

The padding is a pretty firm foam that is fairly easy to remove and replace if you were to find a correctly size aftermarket pair of pads. But taking the cost of these into consideration, I wouldn’t recommend investing in a pair of pads.

My thoughts on the construction of the W800BT is that it’s very basic. They are however incredibly light headphones as well as impressively durable (though at least in my case they do scratch fairly easily), which is to be expected with plastic. I mention this to say that for those looking for an inexpensive headphone for a younger child, these would actually be a solid choice. They can take a drop, they’re not heavy and have fairly decent isolation for one to watch their movie/show in peace.



Comfort



I’ll be honest and straight to the point with this one. The comfort can use a lot of work. The padding has zero breathability thus my ears grew a bit warm quite quick and well as the chosen material isn’t great for long duration of listening. The clamping force really isn’t that bad truthfully; the level of support is nice and i know that it’s not going to fall off my head if I bend over to grab something. What I believe to be a large factor in the level of comfort, other than the pad material selection, is that the cups themselves have NO articulation. This, at least in my case, cases pressure points on the front of my ears which limits my listening durations to not much longer than 2ish hours, but it wasn’t the best within that time frame either. Perhaps one with smaller ears/head will enjoy these more than I did.


Sound


So onto what most consider to be a very important factor in a headphone purchase, the sound quality. Coming into this I was under the pretense that this would have close to the same sound as the H850 headphone considering the similar pricing (but of course knew that the added Bluetooth feature would take away some). Unfortunately that is most certainly not the case. I mean you’re not going to be in pain listening to these, and they are very affordable, wireless, headphones, but imo they don’t perform close to what I’ve come to expect from Edifier. Now as for other $40ish headphones, um, they’re not bad, but they’re not great either, they’ll play a movie or music to pass time.

I will give credit to them for having fairly impressive musical separation (thanks to a viewer of mine for recommending the song Infected Mushroom by Spitfire). In the song just linked, it starts off fairly meh, but around the 28 second mark, when more sounds start getting introduced, the W800BT’s do a surprisingly good job at separating them and even making them sound out of your head.


Treble


The highs in the W800BT are fair. They don’t particularly give me chills but at the same time I’m not disappointed in it either. There’ve been a few cases where I heard a bit of sibilance but I’m unsure if it was the headphones or recordings because it wasn’t every time I listened to a treble based instrument/song/piece. Something I particularly did like in the W800BT’s treble is that I personally never grew fatigued with it or did it ever get harsh to me.


Mids


My personal favorite area in music in general. To me, this is where the soul is. As with the W800BT the mids are notably recessed but not to the point of being a v shape. Now, though the mids aren’t a shining focal point they do come across very clear and clean (with respect to the recession). Rather it be male or female it didn’t sound bad, just withdrawn from the rest of the music.


Bass


It’s present but it’s not gonna impress anyone. BUT with respect to the REST of the audio band of these headphones, the bass is definitely the most redeeming factor with the W800BT (reference the Infected Mushroom song again for a great example). When listening to rock music you can most certainly get a good bob your head beat.


Conclusion



My final thoughts on the Edifier W800BT is that it’s a headphone I’d say would be good to have if you just need something for a trip or want something that you don’t mind being rough with. If I may offer a recommendation, try and save up another $50 (I know it’s double the cost of these) to purchase their W855BT, the difference between the 2 headphones is astronomical, and I firmly believe will make you happier as well. The battery life of the W800BT is very good though I forgot to add earlier. I never stopwatch timed it or anything but I’d say their claim of 35 hours of listening time is quite accurate for my goodness they seem to last forever.








Also, make sure to check out my unboxing and review videos. They’re pretty awesome AND you getta put a face to the Army-Firedawg name. If this review helped you out at all please hit that thumbs up button for it really helps me out a lot. Till next time my friends, stay safe.

Dudios is another brand that I was very recently introduced to when they reached out to me requesting a review and in this particular case, of their new Zeus bluetooth iem (which you can check out one here if interested). Looking over the product page I knew that it would be a workout iem and after getting my hands on it myself my prenotion was most definitely confirmed, but I’ll of course touch on that here very soon. But I would very much like to give my sincere thanks to Dudios for reaching out me and taking interest in me doing a review for them. But without further adieu let me give my thoughts after my extensive time with the Dudios Zeus. Before I jump too much into the sound I need to put out a disclaimer or argument or whatever the technical name is for it but Dudios, on the product page, claims the Zeus to be noise cancelling and I want to inform that it is NOT noise cancelling in the least, it is only noise isolating.Now, with that aside, onto the review.






The Opening Experience




For a product that only costs roughly $30 (usually less with a little shopping) I was quite impressed with the level of care Dudios gave their Zeus. The exterior box is quite consistent with other products of this price point meaning there’s a lot of features and addons and look at me’s that the Zeus comes with. As you open the package, you’re greeted with the user manual, a plethora or extra silicone ear tips and wings so pretty much anyone should be able to find the size that fits them perfectly. Something that I REALLY was surprised to see what opening the Dudios Zeus is that they supply you with a rather nice carrying case with respect to this products price. And of course inside you’re greeted with the Dudios Zeus, at least in my case, charged and ready to be utilized.

So though this was a fairly straight forward unboxing and fairly consistent with other ranging in this price point the fact that Dudios included such a nice case as well as the multitude of tips and wing sizes, to me, really sets it apart from other introductory priced products.


Construction




The build quality of the Dudios Zeus is standard for iems of this price range. The frames are made of plastic and the cable connecting the 2 is a very basic, rounded, cable that does at least offer a microphone (that works respectably well). One cool feature that I have actually really grown to like is that the Zeus’ housing backs are magnetic, so what this does is when I’ve them out of my ears I just snap them together and they stay around my neck and I don’t have to worry about them falling off (which happens fairly often with bluetooth iems).

The horn size is, what I feel, to be the most universal size. Before you ask I’ve no idea what the exact measurements are but it’s the horn size I personally see on the vast majority of iems. The wings are easily interchangeable which unless you’re sharing them with others I don’t think you’ll be changing them out for different sizes but till you find the perfect one for you.

The frame itself is a cylinder like shape that does protrude from your ears enough to make it rather uncomfortable to sleep on your side with them. However, despite their bulk they’re very lightweight and at least in my case, I’ve never had an issue with them falling out or becoming fatiguing for my ears. Now, once negative that the Dudios Zeus does indeed have is that it’s quite microphonic. Anytime it brushes up against anything, YOU HEAR IT. This does make it rather frustrating when running in them, like, really infuriating. A fix that I found is I taped the chord in a “S” like shape so that it just wraps around the back of my head vs dangle around my neck. So if Dudios could add like a plastic piece in future runs of this product that would do this, that would be FANTASTIC.

Despite that rather basic build materials the Zeus is made from, I think Dudios has created a fantastically built iem. From my, very extensive, time and testing of this thing it’s not once gave me the impressions that it’s about to break or anything of that matter and these have been thrown around, stepped on, and various other things someone should most certainly never do to a product if they don’t want to break it.


Comfort





This is something that I look for MOST when it comes to a workout product.

‘WWHHHAAAATTTTT!!!! Firedawg, what are you saying?! Sound quality is always the most important thing isn’t it?!’

Well my completely made up imaginary friend, usually you’re correct; but when I look for a workout product I look for, in order, how comfortable is it to wear for long and rapidly changing durations and movements, how well is it built so it can hold up against sweat and being tossed around, and then sound quality. But getting back on track, the Dudios Zeus is quite comfortable once you find the right size ear tips, which really isn’t too difficult of a matter. Now, to disclaim, I personally switched over to Comply Memory Foam tips about half way through my review NOT because the stock tips are uncomfortable etc… but merely because I personally prefer the isolation and comfort Comply tips provide.

I’ve worn these terrific things for several hours on end in terms of both general musical listening as well as long workout sessions and I really never had any discomfort in the very least once I switched to the Comply memory foam tips. Now note, I said once I switched. During my time using the silicon tips, and this very well may’ve been user error, when I would put them in my ear it’s like the silicon would bunch up which muffled the sound somewhat and it took a bit on tinkering around for me to get it fixed, this could again be very well an error on my part but it was consistent enough for me to feel the need to bring it up.

Kind of a short section I know but, it was really comfortable to wear, and with memory foam tips, they’re fantastic.


Sound


*In my video review, I mentioned I used tape to do what's shown above.....I found these clamps after the video and will say this is MUCH more convenient than tape*

Now for what many of you are likely waiting for, the sound. Yes, I believe this iem is primarily a workout iem so, to me, the build quality and comfort are more important for this type of category the ability to produce pleasing sound is still important to a degree (admittedly I rarely listen to the music I’ve playing when I workout I’m mainly just hearing it as background music to drain out distractions). The overall sound to the Zeus is VERY like, let me stress, VERY bass heavy which I’ll elaborate more on in the bass section but wowza.

The soundstage is quite in your face so prepare so be nice and personal with that bass drum and hard vocals. This may sound like a bad thing, but at least to me personally, I prefer this style for my workout products (especially when running and I’ve cadences playing) for it’s almost like a good workout partner that really pushes you to push out that last rep.

Imaging is also meh at best. It’s there if you really focus but it’s certainly not gonna get you to close your eyes and enjoy the performance. But allow me to open up the meat and potatoes of the Zeus review so hopefully I can relay a little bit better my thoughts on how these workout partners perform. And a brief cut in, these are NOT an audiophile iem, by any means. It’s a sharp V shape that’s bass is very bloated and full of decay and the music as a whole is not that “true” sounding. But again, that’s not its focus, it’s focus is to be a workout iem and it accomplishes that, to me at least, in spades.


Treble


The highs on the Zeus as a whole are fairly decent. It does peak quite early and doesn’t give a lot of energy from things like violins etc… but it does highlight the finer details enough so that the music doesn’t feel hollow. A good song that I use when testing out treble on a product is “A Moon Filled Sky” it’s a particularly sad piece that has a lot of emotion behind it but the Zeus just plays it. You can hear all the instruments present so there’s nothing missing in that regard but the Zeus just can’t present that, magic, that is present in this song.


Mids


The soul of the music. For those who follow me likely know how this is the area I care most about in the audio spectrum. I like to hear the emotions of the singers and experience their feelings. I’m also a big fan of acoustic instruments as well so this is a really focused part for me. When reviewing the Dudios Zeus I had to keep reminding myself of what these are designed for, and that’s working out. I’ll gladly admit that when I’m working out I am NOT listening to music, I am hearing it in the background and mainly just getting into the beat to pump myself up for the lift to come. I feel quite confident that that was also the design of the Zeus because the vocals are just their. The mids are quite subdued and pushed into the background as a mere accent to the bass and kinda sorta treble which is where, again, when working up I pick up more on anyways. The song “Dogs of War” by Blues Saraceno is a very mid focused song and one I really enjoy to just listen to but on the Zeus, it’s just music that’s playing.


Bass


Dat bass though. These suckers have some serious punch to them. Now yes, as I mentioned above the bass on the Zeus, though powerful, is very bloated and full of decay that bleeds into other notes. But for a workout iem I DON”T CARE!! It’s truthfully exactly what I want and focus on and, at least for me, gives me that strong push to finish up my powerlifting workout. Of all the products I’ve tried, very few have made me so satisfied as these $30 Dudios Zeus do, the punch they deliver gets my adrenaline surging. I’ll list a few songs that’s from my “My Mix-Rock Music” YouTube playlist that is exactly what I listen to when I workout.


“Whatever It Takes” Hollywood Undead

“The Light” Disturbed

“Thunderstruck” 2Cellos

“The Pride” Five Finger Death Punch


Conclusion



I’m really glad companies like Dudios reach out to me. For one, it honors me to know that they’re interested in my opinion and believe that my exposure is of enough profit for them to send a product to me. And second, it opens up my eyes to even more, very talented, companies that produce some really quality stuff. The Zeus is the only product I’ve heard from them to disclaim and it is by NO means a traditional “audiophile” product, but it is an incredible value for someone looking for a rock solid workout iem. It has a really good battery life, sweatproof (marketing for water resistant), and strong noise isolation (NOT cancellation). At roughly $30 I have very little negatives to say about the Zeus, very well done Dudios, I am legitimately excited to see what else comes from you all.






Also, make sure to check out my unboxing and review videos. They’re pretty awesome AND you getta put a face to the Army-Firedawg name. If this review helped you out at all please hit that thumbs up button for it really helps me out a lot. Till next time my friends, stay safe.

It’s funny how coincidences happen. Almost 2 years to the day I reviewed the original portable amp from Aune, the B1. And if you’ve seen or even read my review, I’m pretty sure I got across that I rather enjoyed the little guy. So to be able to try out its successor made me, needless to say, very excited. But of course I must give my humble thanks and appreciation to both Aune for providing a unit for me to review, and fellow head-fi’er/reviewer MShenay for organising the tour and for allowing me to take part. So to you my friends, again, I give you my sincerest thanks. But with the pleasantries aside, please allow me to now share my thoughts on Aune’s portable headphone amp, the B1s.





The Opening Experience




The handshake that Aune gave me with their B1s was, overall, satisfactory. The box that came with my review unit was exactly what I personally like seeing. It was just a very simple box that only have Aune’s name on the front and some very generalized writing on the back. As I said in the unboxing video I’m not sure if the full retail version of this will have like a cover to the box that has anything else on it but I personally think this is exactly what you get as a consumer. When you open the box you’re greeted with 2 separate compartments that don’t focus a lot on looks over simple delivery functionality. The first compartment holds the beautiful Aune B1s and the warranty & owners manual, while the other holding the micro USB charging cable and a 3.5mm to 3.5mm aux interconnect cable.

So nothing really set the Aune B1s apart from any other portable amp’s or combi’s that I’ve tried and I’ll very likely forget about this unboxing, but I will say that I wasn’t disappointed at all either, it’s just a normal unboxing experience.


Construction




Aune continues to deliver quality build products within a very reasonable price. Their newest B1s portable amp. is made almost entirely out of aluminum minus some faux leather accents on the back. But the top of the B1s contains a 3.5mm headphone input, the really smooth and linear volume control knob, and the 3.5mm aux input. The right side of the B1s (if you’re looking at the front has the battery indicator light (simple enough) that I personally don’t like how Aune does it, but I’ll discuss that more in depth in the features section.

The left side of the unit (going from top to bottom) has the gain switch, current switch, and power switch. The bottom of the B1s has the micro USB charging port. The front and back of the B1s is super simple with only 2 panes of class showing the viewer the inner workings of the amp and the back, as mentioned earlier, has 2 faux leather accents.

I really don’t have any complaints but rather nothing but satisfaction and joy with the build of the B1s. It’s constructed very well and, though I haven’t personally tested this, I’m quite confident that it’ll survive a respectable fall and not skip a beat. Aune also paid mind to the size and I was very easily able to carry this without trouble in my laptop bag I took to work or in my pocket with my phone (I did need to use bigger pockets for this though, i.e. shorts or sweatpants) and wanted to jam as I shopped for groceries. So well done Aune


Features


For the most part the Aune B1s is a very straightforward portable amp. But there are two features that I would like to give special mind to. The first is the current switch. Aune implements a current switch that’s separate from the gain switch. This allows the B1s to be much more versatile in the products it can drive and, what I believe, gives it the ability to play so quietly with hyper sensitive c/iems. Now, please keep in mind that if you’re rocking high gain AND high current then the battery of the B1s will die quite rapidly. The 5 hours Aune claims on their site is quite close with ME PERSONALLY getting roughly 4.5ish hours when driving my higher impedance cans. And this little booger does live up to the class A name for it will also get a little toasty, nothing to cause worry or honestly even discomfort if being held, but certainly warmer than any portable amp I’ve personally held.

The second feature the B1s has is its battery indicator light, that I’ll be right up front in saying I really don’t like. Call me old fashioned or what have you but when I see a single indicator light that determines how much battery a product has left I like seeing it change from green to yellow and then to red. But in the case of the B1s they chose to go with blinks. As I was writing this review the battery of the B1s went out and when I clicked the indicator light expecting to see a red light I was greeted with a green blink. Quite perplexed I looked into the manual and it states that there’s 5 patterns the Aune B1s shows in relation to battery life.



1 flash indicates the B1s is at 10% of its battery or less

2 flashes indicate it’s between 10 and 20%

3 flashes indicate it’s between 20 and 60%

4 flashes indicate it’s between 60 and 80%

5 flashes indicate it’s between 80 and 100%


Now granted, I did not look through the manual before I played this product and if I did I would’ve known that it does this, but I still don’t personally like it.


Sound



To jump right into my thoughts on how the Aune B1s sounds, I really liked it. The B1s, to my ears, added a very nice touch of warmth and vocal forwardness that didn’t alter the overall sound of the headphones very much but it just added that little bit of sauce to add a touch more musicality to the notes. The most impressive results of this I got was on the Meze 99 Classics. My goodness did these two pair beautifully together and similar results were had with the Sennheiser HD660 S. Being completely honest, the B1s didn’t “open up” any of the headphones I listened to or make any sort of drastic improvement but that touch of warmth and musicality it gives the headphone is something that I really, and let me stress, really relished in during my short time with it. If I had to put my finger on a description of the B1s’ sound, it would be like adding tube like sound to a solid state amp.

The power to drive headphones is fairly respectable so long as nothing you’re not wanting to power anything too difficult. The B1s, on high gain and high current can drive, from my headphones I tried listed above, headphones from the HD660 S and below really nicely and with impressive results. However, when you move into more difficult headphones (in relation to the rest of what I was using) you definitely reach the upper ends of what the B1s can do. The website specifically mentions the Sennheiser HD650 in its product page so I made it a point to test mine with it to hear the results. So, yeah, it powers the HD650 with respectable vigor, but to my ears there’s definitely a lot more than the HD650 can put out and I won’t even start on the HD800 S. In terms of volume the B1s gave each of the two aforementioned headphones plenty of that for my ears to be able to listen to comfortable but there was most certainly more potential to be had in both headphones.

To my BIGGEST surprise and enjoyment, the Aune B1s played DEAD SILENT to my hyper sensitive Empire Ears Hermes VI ciems. I heard nothing remotely close to a buzz or jitter through them which is a major testament to the B1s because I’ve listened to combi’s and DAP’s that costs considerably more than this $230ish and there’s only a VERY small select few of them that have a background and noise floor as silent as the B1s presents. So Aune, you all have done a very nice job with your B1s.


Conclusion




My final thoughts on the Aune B1s is that I really enjoy the ‘tube like sound’ they give their solid state portable amp. The touch of warmth is something I personally greatly enjoyed and will miss having this really attractive piece strapped to my phone and laying back in my chair on in my bed just finding new enjoyment in music. It’s built very well and I’m conifdent that whoever purchases one of these, so long as they take reasonable care of it, will last them indefinitely. I do wish however, that the B1s had more power so that it really could drive more difficult headphones other than my reasonably portable ones, but for the majority of my collection it definitely sufficed.






Also, make sure to check out my unboxing and review videos. They’re pretty awesome AND you getta put a face to the Army-Firedawg name. If this review helped you out at all please hit that thumbs up button for it really helps me out a lot. Till next time my friends, stay safe.

The new flagship of the Audio-Technica brand. Carolina CanFest 6 was a very humbling experience for me. Being honored by making new friends, both enthusiast and professional makes me love audiophilia more and more. First, a lovely young lady from Schiit graced me with their flagship products (in addition to their already impressive Schiit kit) and a personal friend of mine from Audio-Technica bewildered me by sending me an equally large offering and amongst them is their newest flagship the Audio-Technica ATH-ADX5000, and if I must say, a worthy companion to the flagship Schiit stack.

So to my friend at Audio-Technica (and you know who you are), I humbly thank you for all you’ve done for me and the CanFest 6 meet. Next time I see you please be ready for a giant hug. But with all the pleasantries aside, please allow me now to talk about my thoughts on the new 2 thousand dollar flagship from Audio-Technica, the ATH-ADX5000.








The Opening Experience

Well, one definitely can’t say that Audio-Technica didn’t make a grand entry with this flagship! First off the box the ADX5k comes in is MASSIVE, but what more, Audio-Technica goes above the standard presentation of the headphone and includes a printout of each INDIVIDUAL drivers frequency response. I love seeing this, it allows the listener to have an idea about how the headphones will sound and shows their capabilities. Now, in my unboxing video there was also an AT-B1XA/3.0 balanced upgrade cable. This was ONLY sent to showcase the ADX5k at Carolina Canfest 6, this $350 cable will have to be purchased separately if desired.

Getting onto the actual headphone box itself, Audio-Technica took great care in packaging this headphone to ensure it arrives safely to its new owner. There’s foam cutout at each corner in addition to an inner cardboard holder for its suitcase style headphone case reminiscent to the W5000. But inside the suitcase Audio-Technica wraps the flagship ATH-ADX5000 in a black, very soft, satin like, material where the headphone itself is nicely centered and recessed in the material. At the bottom of the headphone is where you’ll find the warranty, product info., and the ¼”, beautifully shielded, cable.


Construction






The ATH-ADX5000 is definitely a notable jump in price from their previous ATH-W5000 headphone and with that I’m seriously hoping they’ve made some major improvements. Well, rest assured that they most certainly have. The first thing I noticed is that they finally got rid of the useless floating split headband thing and instead are using the actual winged headband itself as the head support. Also, the cups themselves now have MUCH more adjustability to them. They stepped away from the more triangular shape with minimal adjustment (speaking generously) so go with a more universal flat approach with the ability to shape to a much broader head shape.

The actual build quality itself is also a high note for me. Not only is it SUPER lightweight, but it’s frame is built using magnesium so keep it strong with minimal wear. The pads (and headband) are made of my oh so beloved Alcantara, which I’ll talk about more in the comfort section next. A big no go for me that I do have for the ATH-ADX5000’s is that they creak. Whenever I put them on my head, move, turn, etc… they creak, and for a headphone that costs 2 thousand dollars, I find that unacceptable. I really hope Audio-Technica finds a fix for that and puts it into future products because one can excuse the proprietary cable but a creaky headphone just gives the impression of cheapness and I assure you, there’s nothing cheap about the ADX5k’s.

*EDIT* I've spoken with my contact at Audio-Technica and was informed that the product I received was a pre-production model and that they have since fixed the creak.

Lastly, and this is a HUGE addition that they added, but also kind of a bummer as well. But they’ve FINALLY made the addition of DETACHABLE CABLES!!!! I really wish this was standard on all headphones because it just makes so much sense but I’ll keep my rant to myself. The included ¼” jack is very nicely shielded and does a marvelous job at staying tangle free. For those who choose to upgrade to the balanced cable, you’re treated to a SUPER thick cable that reminds me of a audiophile upgrade power cable than an aux cable. The couple downsides I have with the cables is firstly, they’re proprietary. This notably increased the price and difficulty when finding aftermarket cables, even if you go through Audio-Technica. The headphones by itself is $2,000, a headphone that it does a great job competing against, IMO, is the Sennheiser HD800 S which goes for $1,700.The HD800 S includes a single ended AND balanced cable at no extra (however Sennheiser cables are also proprietary) whereas Audio-Technica charges $350 for one which puts it at close to $2,400. That, IMO, makes it a very difficult spot to be in and too big of a difference in price for most to justify.


Comfort




Audio-Technica made leaps of progress, for the most part, in the construction of their newest flagship headphone but how about its comfort? Just about all previous ATH models I’ve listened to all have a lacking in the comfort section, to me. They changed to a more universal head shape and even used my beloved alcantara material so my hopes are admittedly high.

Putting them on my head I immediately notice the sheer increase in comfort over their predecessors. The clamping force remained the same (which is good for that’s something Audio-Technica got spot on) but the support of the headphones weight, albeit little, was evenly distributed amongst the pads and over the actual headband itself. The alcantara pads have just the right amount of give and density to conform to my ears yet keep them from touching the driver casing and that’s something I really appreciate. The pads also have really good breathability, which is a reason I personally enjoy alcantara so much other than the comfort. I’ve worn the ADX5k’s for over 6 hours at a time during major listening sessions and have not once had to adjust them or take them off.

I really don’t have anything negative to say about the comfort. The creakiness gets kinda annoying but that’s a build issue. Audio-Technica did a great job designing these to be worn for long periods of time and I’d happily put these up against my favorite Oppo PM-1’s in terms of comfort.


Sound





Oh, do let me discuss the sound of the ATH-ADX5000 with you. Admittedly I was a bit worried for coming from the previous W5000 flagship I was expecting a finicky headphone pairing. But then again, look above at all the improvements they’ve made! But getting back on track, the ADX5000 overall has a slightly brighter than neutral sound and thankfully don’t seem to be so darned picky with their amps. Now granted, I played these on some of the best gear available but from tubes to solid state they sounded AMAZING. I read on a few forums that people find the ADX5k’s thin sounding which I personally must strongly disagree with. I A/B’d them with my personal HD800 S’s on each combination of the gear I listed above and on each one, sub the HDVD800, the ADX5000 sounded, overall, more fuller and complete sounding to my ears. On the HDVD800 they sounded almost identical with the only difference I could really make is the bass of the 5k’s and the soundstage of the 800 being better.

The soundstage of the ATH-ADX5000 is definitely a close up on for an open back headphone but it’s my no means claustrophobic (so most definitely not touching that of the HD800 S). If I had to give an example I’d say it’s as if you were in small jazz/comedy club setting with a really wide, wrap around stage. When there’s several moving pieces nothing gets in the way of anything and you can very easily discern one instrument from another and where it’s located in the assembly. They’re also very airy sounding while maintaining its control. A good example is the song “The Nights” by Avicii (a better recording REALLY shows what I’m talking about over the YouTube video admittedly). Notice how everything sounds fairly spaced out but yet still within comfortable listening range? To me it makes the ADX5k a very personal listening experience but yet it’s definitely focuses on being analytical over musical, the oh so infamous “Hotel California” by the Eagles, no detail goes missed and you can tell when listening that the ADX5k makes it a point to not miss any. But please allow me to talk about the individual sound characteristics so maybe I can explain what I’m talking about a little better.


Treble

The highs, to me are like the eyes; a window into the soul. Are they stary and glistening with detail or are they bland and dull? On a personal note I’ve always enjoyed looking into people's eyes, yes I was raised to always make eye contact when talking to people but it goes beyond that, it’s almost like I can get a glimpse into who they are by really looking into their eyes and that’s very reminiscent of the treble presentation. A song, or piece rather, that has became a staple for me (even more than “Diva Dance” by Evgenia Laguna [still a wonderful and beautiful song that I still use btw]) is “A Moon Filled Sky” by Unknown. Such emotion is felt by the pianist and violinist that I can’t help but get struck with a sense of sadness. Need something a little more uplifting? Please check out this clip from one of my favorite violinist, Samvel Yerninyn, during his solo in Yanni’s “The Storm.” There’s so much energy and vigor that I find it impossible to listen to it and not tap my feet and start doing a little dance in my seat.

The point I’m trying to make is, the Audio-Technica ATH-ADX5000 reproduces the treble response so beautifully that when listening to tracks with a lot of high notes or treble bias, during my time with them, I found myself continuously coming to them over many of other headphones I’ve had at the same time (thanks to Carolina CanFest 6) and even my own reference HD800 S. It’s not that the ADX5000 has super high extension (which it does in a way) but it’s the way they present the treble that makes them, from memory, the most beautiful eyes I’ve ever looked at on headphones.


Mids

My my my my my the soul of the music. And my friends, do the ADX5k reveal the artists soul. Vocals have such body, and please excuse my lack of audiophile terms in describing this but breath, behind them. To my ears it didn’t matter if I was listening to male or female vocals they just sounded like they were in person singing so close to my ears that I can feel their breath almost. Two songs I’d like to showcase this are Disturbed’s “Sound of Silence” and Adele’s “Love In The Dark”. Sadly, YouTube’s poor rendering (especially in Adele’s case) won’t do them anywhere near justice but if you listen to either or both tracks you can feel real emotion from the music and it’s only then that you’ve found a quality headphone. A ton of companies are now charging well north of a grand for a pair of headphones, and Audio-Technica is of obvious no exception, but what they’ve gifted in their ADX5000 headphones is, to me, what makes a product truly totl, the ability to physically feel the artists emotion through the music.
The frequency chart that Audio-Technica included with this headphone shows a slight dip in the mid range but, at least for me, I can’t tell anything of a dip. The mid range sounds almost focused on in fact. But who am I to argue with what charts say right?


Bass

The heartbeat of the music. Bass is what makes a headphone sound full and maintain its pace in the soundband. I compare this headphone a lot to the Sennheiser HD800 S because it matches it in so many aspects yet beats it in others. Bass is definitely an area the ATH-ADX5000’s do very well. Now don’t mistake my complement for them being heavy or particularly hard hitting for they’re still an open back headphone but to me and my ears they give me a very full feeling when listening to music and there’s a drum solo or bass drum riff that, while hyper detailed on the HD800 S doesn’t quite sound as full as they do on the ADX5k. The ADX has incredible control on the bass and it will hit and recede as good as any dynamic driver I’ve ever heard. When paired to a nice tube amp., such as the iFi Pro iCAN on tube+ mode, the bass gains a very nice forwardness that does wonders with metal music and even techno/trap.

Though the ADX5000’s will not win any awards for a super hard hitting can, to my ears it has a very full sounding bass hit that fills a lot of the holes that other TOTL open back cans skimp over. It maintains impressive control while giving the harder hits and doesn’t bloom out at all on particularly bass heavy tracks, it kinda just drops out when the hit is over instead of dragging on which I don’t think some artists intended so it did make some music in that genre sound off.


Conclusion




I know I say that I’ll really miss a headphone when I send them off, but man I’m going to miss the ADX5000.Audio-Technica slammed this headphone out of the park when they were creating it. Yes, there are a few fall backs but they still fair better than several headphones I’ve reviewed. The reference quality sound that comes from these make a perfect complement to my Oppo PM-1’s and a competitive rival to the legendary HD800 S. I for one am REALLY excited to see what “trickle down” tech comes from this headphone’s creation. A note I would like to leave off on though is for those considering the Sennheiser HD800 S I think you should also look into these. They make a great rival to them that if you can justify the extra expense is certainly something I’m for one giving some thoughts to..






Also, make sure to check out my unboxing and review videos. They’re pretty awesome AND you getta put a face to the Army-Firedawg name. If this review helped you out at all please hit that thumbs up button for it really helps me out a lot. Till next time my friends, stay safe.

This beautiful beast of a product is one that I was rather surprised to be humbled with an opportunity to review. You see, while trying to get some interest and vendors to attend or show interest in the audio meet I was putting together I reached out to Schiit on just a pure whim and hope. And my goodness am I glad I did for they were such an incredible pleasure to work with. The representative I spoke to was full of energy and had a very splendid attitude and sense of humor (quite befitting of a company called Schiit). Anywho’s, she mentioned that they would be glad to send us their Schiit Kit once it was finished with another audio meet being held just prior to mine and even offered to send us their flagship products with the Yggdrasil of course being the dac, what more is that they’ve just upgraded it to the newest specs (gen. 5 usb as Analog 2 board). So to say I was overjoyed and honored would be a vast understatement. But with the introductions aside, please allow me to now give my thoughts and impressions on the dac that has taken root in a many of totl end game setups.




-Sources

-LG V20/HP Pavilion

-Playing Pandora, YouTube, and various format personal music

-Windows Pro Tablet

-Various other gear that may’ve been used at the Carolina CanFest 6 audio meet




The Opening Experience




*Now, to disclaim, the box that I received was that of a plain box and was a loaner unit for the purposes of the Carolina CanFest 6 audio meet. A purchased unit may have some minute differences but from viewing pictures of others unboxing the product as well as reading through the forums, I believe the difference would be nil.*


It’s rare that I find myself really impressed by the unboxing of amps or dacs. More often than not they’re delivered in a fairly plain *insert color* box with nothing on it. Usually I like this setup for to me it tell the listener to just experience the product vs letting it brag what it claims it can do. Well, that’s where the buildup ends unfortunately. Once you open the box, there’s the Yggdrasil, inside of very protective foam and a power cord (at least they included a power cord with their products unlike a certain equally priced combi unit I purchased), a buyer would also get a user's manual and warranty guide but my loaner unit did not come with this. However a user manual can easily be found here.

So nothing to really write home about with its initial experience other than being just impressed by the sheer size and weight of the unit. But Schiit does take very good care in the delivery of their products to ensure they arrive in perfect condition to their customers and that is something most admirable. And honestly, though I wasn’t overly impressed with the unboxing, I can’t really think of a way to improve it because it’s not like imma be carrying it around in a carrying case.


Construction




The build quality of the Schiit Yggdrasil is second to NONE. The entire thing is aluminum and solidly built in terms of both strudyness and weight. At the top of the unit you’ll find the Schiit logo and passive vent to let some of the heat the Yggy produces escape. Looking at the front of the behemoth of a dac you’ll find the (starting from the left) Phase Invert button and indicator light (I’ll explain what that is in the features section), Sample rate indicators and the multiple (44.1K, 48K. 1x, 2x, 4x, & 8x [will explain what these are in the features section]), Input selector button and indicator lights, then lastly the VCO/VCXO (or the “get better gear”) light.

Moving to the back you’ll find 2 sets of RCA outputs (unbalanced), a single set of XLR outputs (balanced). Sliding over a bit, you’ve the USB, Optical, Coax, BNC (here’s a link to what that is [I’ve never heard of it till the Yggy]) and the AES/EBU inputs. The lastly you’ve the power switch and port. So you’ve a plethera of input options for you so it shouldn’t matter if you’re a professional or enthusiast, connecting your equipment to the Yggdrasil shouldn’t be any issue.

There’s so much to the Schiit Yggdrasil that it’s no wonder this beast is so massive. And it’s accomplished something that I thought was all but gone in today’s market. They made this beautiful piece of art in AMERICA, and yes, I take personal pride in that. But my final thoughts on the Yggdrasil’s build is that I personally couldn’t have asked for any better. I have ZERO thoughts that those who are fortunate enough to be able to own one of these will be happy with in indefinitely. Rather it be mechanically or physically I don’t foresee any issues (other than general wear and tear) happening with the Yggdrasil. And heck, even if something does, if purchased through Schiit, you’ve a 5 year warranty as a nice backup.



Specification (Copied straight from the Schiit website)



Features



The flagship dac of Schiit offers some pretty nice features. I’m not referring to something like bluetooth but instead features that are usually only seen in professional gear costing multiples more. The first is actually the various levels of inputs that range from traditional inputs all the way up to a BNC and AES connections that are mainly used for recording equipment. Will the mainstream user need these? Likely not, but what’s stopping you from it?

Next the Schiit includes a Phase Invert button that I admittedly had NO idea what it even did, so courtesy of Mike Moffet himself;


“The Phase inverter is an absolute phase switch. This means it inverts the phase of both channels simultaneously. This is of use primarily for non-headphone systems that are simple two mic stereo recordings (such as many classical ones). It is also of lesser use for more "engineered recordings". The stereo image will be enhanced when the correct absolute phase is selected. Another way of viewing the switch would be in a dc system, the speakers would blow or suck air, according to the position of the switch and the absolute phase of the original recording.”

Something that I’ve seen posted in the forums, I can’t seen to find it again, is that people comment why it takes a little while for the Yggy to register when they switch inputs. And Jason, I believe it was, mention that, and I’m paraphrasing, there’s a lot more than just a simple switch going on inside the Yggdrasil. The Yggdrasil is reading the incoming signal and deciding on which dac function will reproduce it the best, so it takes a moment or two for the sound to continue. This is something I think is a very impressive addition that, at least myself, hasn’t been mentioned in other high end dacs. Rather than focusing on immediate playback Schiit takes a second to ensure the most accurate signal is being rendered to the listener.

The final feature that the Yggdrasil has, and admittedly it isn’t exclusive to the Yggy for other do something similar as well, is it indicates what the input signal is coming through. As admittedly straightforward as that sounds the only labels are “44K, 48K, (for sample rate) and 1x, 2x, 4x, 8x (for the multiple). When playing various formated music, 16/44, 24/48, 24/98, 24/192, and DSD 64 that vary from .flac to .wav, the indicator light, never once changed from the 48K with a 1x multiple. I even sprinkled in a few free MP3 formatted songs in addition to YouTube but to the same result. So I’m personally unsure what input signal rate it’s referring to but the response I got asking about it was;

“The sample rate multiplier lights illuminate according to the sample rate of the input signal - from the owner's manual:

3 Sample Rate Indicators.

These indicate what format is coming in to

Yggy—44.1K or 48K, plus the multiple

(1, 2, 4, or 8X.)”

I know I said the final feature was the input light but I also gotta mention the VCO/VCXO indicator light, or as Schiit calls it, the “buy better gear” light. And from the manual it means;

“Also known as the “buy better gear” light. If this is illuminated, the Yggdrasil’s input clock regeneration (Adapticlock) is in VCO mode. This means your source does not provide a good center frequency, or jitter is too high for the VCXO mode to operate.” From my entire time with it I tried to get this light to come on, and I played some HORRIBLE formated/recorded MP3’s (or so I thought). So for those of you worried about this light coming on, don’t. Because you have to have some ridiculously poor quality files that I strongly doubt those lucky enough to be able to have this dac will have a problem with.



Sound



It seems like no matter what forum I search, what YouTube video, what review I read that doesn’t mention either have the Schiit Yggdrasil or in the very least mention it as being on of the best dacs one can have in their setup. And after having the honor of spending a couple weeks with the unit I can absolutely understand why it’s become a staple in the endgame TOTL setups.

When I first plugged in and turned on the Yggdrasil (being played through the Rag) I was quite impressed with how it sounded most certainly but I was admittedly not blown away, in fact, I was kinda disappointed. It sounded better than my PS Audio DL3 yeah but not by much, at all. So I went and read a few reviews and each one of them mentioned that for the Yggdrasil to really open up and perform it needs to be fully warmed up, which takes *pause for dramatic effect* days. So fast forward about 4 days of it being plugged in and turned on (2 days for the meet, then on shift and then able to listen to it again) I give it another serious listening spell and oh boy does this beast open up (at the time of writing this review it’s been plugged in and turned on continuously for over a week). The Yggdrasil just completely disappears in the setup and only leaves behind pure, unadulterated audio in its entirety. Any possible spec of detail that’s present in the audio data will be recreated and improved upon with the Yggdrasil. Even listening to music on YouTube I find myself hearing new nuances in songs that I’ve heard (not exaggerating) hundreds of times. And it’s not the headphones giving me this new detail either. My main headphone to review this setup has been my personal Sennheiser HD800 S that I’ve full understanding of its capabilities and sound and when new details are revealed to this headphone, you’ve definitely found yourself a system upgrade.

But getting back on track, the Yggdrasil presents the music completely true and uncolored, more so than I’ve ever heard before. I need not link any videos from YouTube because just listen to anything, at any format, on any amp. (preferably one of equal caliber to bring out the max effect). This is definitely a purist dac. I find it difficult to bring into words the realness of the music when played through this dac. I mentioned I am also using the Ragnarok dac but God gave me good fortune by allowing me to also have the iFi iCAN Pro at the same time as this unit which I’ve reviewed previously on a Bifrost 4490 dac, and I’ve also my personal HDVD800 using either it’s own or my personal PS Audio DL3 dac just so I can have many of references to compare my experience with. The Yggdrasil, appropriately so, beats out each dac used and made the iCAN Pro REALLY breath its musical sound into my, well, music.

A negative that I have found with the Schiit Yggdrasil, other than needing a few days to warm up, is that it narrows the soundstage. I first noticed this at the CanFest 6 meet when a friend of mine plugged his Blue Hawaii amp into it FROM his Schiit Mjolnir Gen. 1. There was an immediately apparent narrowing of the soundstage when we A/B’d both his Mjolnir and the Mimby unit Schiit sent me for the meet. Now, it’s not a drastic narrowing by any means but both of us as well as a couple other attendees noticed it. Now, Fast forward to just recently and he was able to stop by my place and we were able to A/B the Yggy (that’s been on for over a week now) and his Mjolnir on his Stax SR-009/Blue Hawaii setup. The narrowing of the soundstage remained the same BUT we both, or rather more impressively he (seeing it’s songs he’s most familiar with), was hearing the smallest and most minute details that has never been noticed before. I wish I would’ve taken note of the songs we listen to but one that I do remember (for I think it was one of the last we listened to) was “Stellar” by Incubus. Though I personally don’t enjoy this song for, to me, is sounds so darned cluttered and claustrophobic and being played on the Mjolnir was no difference, however, when we switched over to the Yggdrasil the level of separation it gave the music made it, tolerable (and my personal opinion for the song aside, that coming from me is a BIG upgrade). I know I listed the narrowing of the sound stage as a negative, and I will leave it there for I can’t prove/disprove my theory, but it may also be very well just making the soundstage sound more true to the original.

I guess I’ve made my opinion on the sound pretty clear but it’s phenomenal. Music passing through the Yggdrasil is sent straight through, the Yggy just completely disappears. I really find it hard to imagine music, or rather let me rephrase, audio, sounding more realistic and true than what the Schiit Yggdrasil accomplishes.



Conclusion




I really, like, really enjoyed my time with the Schiit Yggdrasil. To me, it embodies what a flagship product should be. It’s built amazingly well, there’s inputs and outputs for whatever you’d likely need, it sexy to look at, and my goodness does it make your audio sound true to real life. For those lucky to be at a place where you can have this behemoth in your setup, rest assured that you’ve a true end game piece of equipment.






Also, make sure to check out my unboxing and review videos. They’re pretty awesome AND you getta put a face to the Army-Firedawg name. If this review helped you out at all please hit that thumbs up button for it really helps me out a lot. Till next time my friends, stay safe.

This beautiful beast (and please take that word seriously) of a product is one that I was rather surprised to be humbled with an opportunity to review. You see, while trying to get some interest and vendors to attend or show interest in the audio meet I was putting together I reached out to Schiit on just a pure whim and hope. And my goodness am I glad I did for they were such an incredible pleasure to work with. The representative I spoke to was full of energy and had a very splendid attitude and sense of humor (quite befitting of a company called Schiit). Anywho’s, she mentioned that they would be glad to send us their Schiit Kit once it was finished with another audio meet being held just prior to mine and even offered to send us their flagship products with the Ragnarok of course being the amp. So to say I was overjoyed and honored would be a vast understatement. But with the introductions aside, please allow me to now give my thoughts and impressions on the headphone/speaker amplifier that has taken root in a many of totl end game setups.








The Opening Experience






*Now, to disclaim, the box that I received was that of a plain box and was a loaner unit for the purposes of the Carolina CanFest 6 audio meet. A purchased unit may have some minute differences but from viewing pictures of others unboxing the product as well as reading through the forums, I believe the difference would be nil. Well, I also doubt your purchased box will have various tested dates written in marker on the front flap, so there’s that *


It’s rare that I find myself really impressed by the unboxing of amps or dacs. More often than not they’re delivered in a fairly plain *insert color* box with nothing on it. Usually I like this setup for to me it tell the listener to just experience the product vs letting it brag what it claims it can do. Well, that’s where the buildup ends unfortunately. Once you open the box, there’s the Ragnarok, inside of very protective foam and a power cord (at least they included a power cord with their products unlike a certain equally priced combi unit I purchased), a buyer would also get a user's manual and warranty guide but my loaner unit did not come with this. However a user manual can easily be found here.

So nothing to really write home about with its initial experience other than being just impressed by the sheer size and weight of the unit. But Schiit does take very good care in the delivery of their products to ensure they arrive in perfect condition to their customers and that is something most admirable. And honestly, though I wasn’t overly impressed with the unboxing, I can’t really think of a way to improve it because it’s not like imma be carrying it around in a carrying case. And if you could just carry this thing around willy nilly then by goodness, all the power to you cause you is a BEAST haha.


Construction




The build quality of the Schiit Ragnarok, like its Yggdrasil counterpart, is second to NONE. The entire thing is aluminum and solidly built in terms of both strudyness and weight. At the top of the unit you’ll find the Schiit logo and passive vent to let some of the heat the Ragnarok produces escape, which on a note, is NOWHERE near what I read about in the forums. Yes, the Ragnarok gets a little toasty, but to the analogy of frying eggs is just overkill (yes even when used in satire). I’ve had mine on for over 2 weeks straight and being all but constantly used so I would like to state that this thing does not get as hot as people are making it out to be. But any who's, looking at the front of the behemoth of an amp. you’ll find the (starting from the left) input selector button (with 5 FIVE different input options), the power gain button, the super smooth volume knob that actually has a physical start and stop point, the power gain indicator lights (interesting they put it next to the volume and not the power gain button but no biggy), the balanced and then single ended OUTPUT (in my unboxing video I brain farted and said they were inputs but since I haven’t received any What comments I’m pretty sure everyone knew what I meant). Before I move on, I want to make another note on the volume knob. When you turn it, it makes a clicking noise. I confirmed with Schiit that it is completely normal and supposed to do that.

Moving to the back, as stated above, you’ve FIVE input options to choose from. 2 balanced XLR and 3 single ended RCA. 2 outputs, 1 balanced XLR and 1 single ended RCA. You’ve a SPEAKER output, yeah like actual speakers (I did NOT use these during my time with the Ragnarok). Then lastly you’ve the power input and on/off knob.

Just like the flagship Yggdrasil, there’s so much to the Schiit Ragnarok that it’s no wonder this beast is so massive and so darned heavy. It’s also accomplished something that I thought was all but gone in today’s market. They made this beautiful piece of art in AMERICA, and yes, I take personal pride in that. But my final thoughts on the Ragnarok’s build is that I personally couldn’t have asked for any better. I have ZERO thoughts that those who are fortunate enough to be able to own one of these, so long as you truly love the solid state sound, will be happy with in indefinitely. Rather it be mechanically or physically I don’t foresee any issues (other than general wear and tear) happening with the Ragnarok. And heck, even if something does, if purchased through Schiit, you’ve a 5 year warranty as a nice backup.



Specification (Copied straight from the Schiit website)


Features




For the mostish part the Ragnarok is a fairly straight forward amplifier, but it does offer some pretty sweet perks that, IMO, set it apart from most other audiophile amplifiers. The first one being that it can be used as a power amplifier for speakers as well as headphones (rather it be one or the other or both at the same time). Admittedly, this is not anything new or even remotely unique to the Ragnarok but the majority of the time, headphone amps with outputs can only “power” powered speakers. The Ragnarok is not in this category, for the Ragnarok can deliver up to 60W of power into an 8ohm load. Now, I was unable to test this feature during my time with the Rag. for I’ve no speakers but this is still a very impressive feat IMO.

The next perk that I was particularly impressed that’s in the Rag is its ability to play quite nicely with my hyper sensitive Empire Ears Hermes VI ciem. Another feature that isn’t unique or uncommon to the Ragnarok. But Schiit, has the best results of any desktop amplifier I’ve ever tried. I was able to listen to my ciems surprisingly efficient and what more is that I was able to, on low gain, increase the volume knob to about half way. I’m by no means an engineer as to how this is possible without frying my super sensitive gear but I’m going to give the credit to the 64 step attenuator. For it’s like (again, I’m no engineer so this is how I BELIEVE IT WORKS) the Rag is reading the low power requirements and only using like its first couple attenuator things (which I think are like power restrictors) thus only sending a fraction of the power to the ciems. But I’ll end that here and I’ll talk about the results of which later in the sound section.

So like I said earlier, it’s a fairly straight forward amp but it does have a few perks I wanted to give special notions to that I feel others will be able to really appreciate the Ragnarok having.



Sound




The sound on the Ragnarok is, to my ears, non existent. No, I don’t mean it doesn’t do anything but there is no sound that the Ragnarok adds to the music. It’s so transparent that the amp just disappears and all you hear is the music played as natural as I can fathom possible, minus the sound characteristics of your chosen headphones (or speakers). The Ragnarok emits, to my ears, a pitch black background completely void on any noise. Because of this I was able to, quite consistently, hear new nuances in music that I’ve listened to several hundred times, and this experience didn’t just sit with me but many who listened to the Ragnarok at CanFest 6. I’m aware that the Dac also plays a role in hearing new music details but I mix and matched the Rag/Yggy with other amp/dacs. as to isolate whether or not one of them was the sole benefiter.

This actually brings me to something that I’ve learned about the Ragnarok, it’s a purest amp. This amp is by no means musical, this is a pure, straight to business powerhouse that doesn’t make any excuses. Those who are stereotypic audiophile (not used in a negative connotation), who wants to listen to their music as accurately as possible, not necessarily accurate like how it was originally recorded but as if you were physically at the performance, then the Ragnarok is very likely going to be one of, if not the, most impressive amplifier you’ll ever hear.

In a lot of forums I read about the Ragnarok, a lot of the focus is on super named headphones that are prominently power hungry or picky to pair with. It’s honestly a rarity that I find anyone discuss its ability to power the complete opposite end of the spectrum, the c/iems. Now granted, I understand why because not too many people are going to buy a powerhouse of an amp to power what a phone can do just fine. But still, the curiosity for me is there. So I turned the volume completely down and selected the lowest possible gain. After letting it sit for a couple seconds I swallowed hard, said a small prayer, and plugged in my hypersensitive Empire Ears Hermes VI customs. Leaving everything where it is I pressed play on my selected song and then put the ciems up to my ear hoping I would still hear something. To my sweet relief I heard that lovely sound I love so much. On the flip side of that, I also heard that almost unanimous sound with everything I ever plug these things into, humming. Yeah, it’s not really noticeable at all with music playing, but I was still hopeful.

With the above being said, it also is its own negative. For those who watched my Hifiman Edition X review (shameless plug) you’ll remember me comparing it to a coworker who is exceptional at their job. They do it incredibly well, much more than they get paid for. However, said employee is all work oriented and doesn’t really have much of a personality, they’re just work and go home. And the Ragnarok is just that. It performs its job and that's it. I never, in the vast amount of hours I listened to the amp., had a feeling of wanting to come back to it. It never gave me an experience that I personally enjoy. I never had a smile be forced on my face when music was played through the Rag. Why? I can’t explain it. Every spec of detail that I’ve never even heard on other, even more expensive, amps. was revealed and the positioning of individual pieces has only been this pinpoint accurate on a very small select few products. So why did the Ragnarok just not really do it for me personally? The only conclusion I can come up with is the unknown factor of peoples individual tastes. I really couldn’t find anything bad about the Ragnarok’s performance, it’s outstanding. The darned thing never flinched regardless of what headphone, or headphones (running both balanced and unbalanced outputs simultaneously), Not once did I ever feel like I was giving the Rag a workout, from Focal’s to Hifiman’s the Rag just laughed and asked is that all ya got? Pompous little person.




Conclusion



The flagship amplifier of the Schiit brand is truly one incredible machine. The Ragnarok is very reminiscent of an African Elephant. Massive, beautiful, highly intelligent and despite also having the ability to completely overpower virtually any adversary, it can control its strength and power and finesse it where needed. I already stated it above, but the Ragnarok I believe to be the pinnacle of what a purist amp is. Sure, there’s amplifiers out there that cost multiples more than the Ragnarok, but I strongly doubt they’ll perform much, if at all, better. And though my personal tastes didn’t align with this amp. it is, to me, what solid state amplifiers strive to be.






Also, make sure to check out my unboxing and review videos. They’re pretty awesome AND you getta put a face to the Army-Firedawg name. If this review helped you out at all please hit that thumbs up button for it really helps me out a lot. Till next time my friends, stay safe.

This product was one that was introduced to me while getting the CanFest 6 audio meet set up. Beyerdynamic was gracious enough to allow me to loan a couple products for the meet and a few people requested the new Amiron Home. After asking, for yet another product, they kind enough to allow me a loaner unit to use and what more, review. So here’s my take on what is commonly referred to as the T1 jr.






The Opening Experience






This is something that I’ve always liked about Beyerdynamic. They have a very consistent unboxing experience, and truthfully doesn’t disappoint. As with the case of their new Amiron Home you’re greeted with a fairly simplistic box. Minus the flap on the front of the box, really the only writing you’re going to fing is the Amiron’s “Gifted in Music” logo. The sides to have some features but the back has a really nice picture of the Amiron Home, and that’s it. As you open the box you’re greeted by the eggish shaped headphone case kept secure inside a cardboard shell cutout. To the sides if where you’ll find the product information and warranty paperwork.

The headphone case itself is a very nice case, albeit admittedly awkwardly shaped. It has a very nice rigidity to it that gives me the confidence that if I were to drop it the headphones inside would remain unharmed. Upon opening the egg you’re greeted with the absolutely beautiful Amiron Home headphones as well as their DETACHABLE cable.

The handshake Beyerdynamic gave me with their Amiron Home was a very straight forward but firm one. I know what I’m getting with them and I honestly enjoy that consistency. From their inexpensive iems all the way up to their flagship T1 second generations, they keep the experience the same or similar.


Construction




Admittedly I went into this box without any worries about the Amiron’s construction. From my past experience with various Beyerdynamic products, they’ve all been made incredibly well. Welp, the Amiron Home is most certainly no different and lives up to the Beyerdynamic expectation well. The headband, as well as the ear pads, are made of the same super comfortable cloth that the flagship T1 is minus the leather accents. The headband, and honestly the entire headphone itself, is made out of a very lightweight and durable (at least feeling) aluminum. The ear cups and the end of the headband is, I believe, made out of a very premium plastic but it may also very well be aluminum. The grill, which I was mistaken in my unboxing video in calling it a closed back headphone, is a very nice looking design that holds the Beyerdynamic logo on centered and embedded in it. On the reverse of the grill, Beyerdynamic has sadly put the standard straight angled drivers in the Amiron Home over going with the angled style they use in their more premium models and has also covered it with a soft mesh. Moving down you’ll notice the 3.5mm ports that the DETACHABLE cable slips into and a fairly standard cable (nothing special) that’s terminated in a ⅛” jack with an optional screw on ¼” jack adapter. Despite being a standard cable, I never got any feedback or microphonics from it. Even when walking and the cable rubbing against my clothing, silence.

A solid build that, if treated properly, I am more than confident that this headphone will last its user many a years to come. Over the years you may have to replace a cable or yeah maybe even a pad or two but, in my opinion, Beyerdynamic build this headphone to last, and one will certainly look good while doing it.



Comfort




Oh my my my how I instantly fell in love with the Amiron Home once they graced my head. The clamping force is just spot on and there’s enough adjustments that these headphones will fit just about any head, oh and the ear cups even fit over my, um, larger ears. The pads breath very nicely and not once in all the listening hours I’ve put in these headphones have my ears, or anything honestly, became uncomfortable. I personally never had to adjust them at all either, once I put them on my head they were set to go. My ears do touch the mesh padding that covers the Tesla drivers but even they didn’t bother me.

This is a rather short section I know but I truthfully have nothing negative to say about the comfort of the Amiron Home. They’re brilliant.


Sound



The sound of the Amiron Home is a musically warm neutral. The overall sound signature is that of a neutral tone the the slightly forward mids and upper bass gives it a very nice sense of warmth and musicality that I’ve really grown to love during my time with it.

The sense of space is very present but it’s not a very vast one, most certainly not for an open back headphone. I’ll call it a semi open headphone soundstage at best and I’m not saying that necessarily as a bad thing. Right now I’m listening to “When We Were Young” by Adele (linked it the literal youtube video I’m listening to) and she sounds comfortable in front of me and each instrument has their own space in the piece. Nothing sounds right in my face or in my head but it is still an intimate sound, which admittedly I really like).

Before I go into the individual characteristics of the Amiron Home I just have to insert a personal opinion of the headphone. I found these to be wonderfully musical regardless if I’m using it through my phone, computer, or even up to the iFi iCAN Pro of Schiit Ragnarok. Yes they scale but the sound from these was always just a very enjoyable one. I never really was supercritical when listening to them. I couldn’t be. They just kept sweeping me away and forcing me to just enjoy the music I’m listening to. Don’t believe me? Have a listen to “Rite Of Passage” by Joe Leader and tell me how productive you are. And what else is it that a headphone should be doing? What’s the point of hearing every minute detail if that’s all it gives you? I’ll take an experience over an ah hah moment any day.


Treble



The highs on the Amiron Home are very detailed and, when the album calls for it, has great extension (Check out my go to treble tester “Fifth Element” by Evgenia Laguna to hear for yourself) but the overall treble on the Amiron Home is detailed, and revealing but can at times be sharp. A piece I found recently (or rather a snippet of it) is called “A Moon Filled Sky” by Unknown. This is a very heavy treble piece that so beautiful to close your eyes and listen to, but on some notes the Amiron Home makes the violin sound a bit sharp with takes away from the emotional calmness and even sadness of the piece.




Mids



As I said earlier, the Amiron Home is a neutrally warm headphone. The vocals that shine through have such a nice sense of body and realism that you, or at least I, really felt the presence of the artist. And that’s something I rarely find in headphone to this degree in sub 1K products. A song that I’ve listened to quite honestly over a hundred times is “The Sound Of Silence” by Disturbed. I linked the live version intentionally over my usual amv because I want you to hear the body of the singers voice that the Amiron Home portrays. Also please see the Adele performance linked above if you doubt the female vocal performance as well.


Bass



The bass on the Amiron Home is right where I like it. There’s just enough impact to have the music sound full. To change up the traditional songs linked here’s “Animals” by Martin Garrix. This is a very fun song to listen to and most “audiophile” won't really give the listener a true sense of bass fullness while maintaining integrity towards the rest of the track. This isn’t an issue with the Amiron Home. It produces plenty of bass impact but with the tesla drivers, remains entirely in control.


Conclusion




My overall thoughts on the Amiron Home is that Beyerdynamic did an absolutely phenomenal job. I fully understand why these have earned the nickname of the T1 jr. Though they don’t share the same sound signature, when properly powered, the level of control and amount of detail retrieval and the clarity of the entire ensemble gives me a true sense of musical enjoyment that, combined with the lovely level of comfort and competent construction, is worth WELL more than the $600 asking price. And that’s something that I rarely find myself saying.






Also, make sure to check out my unboxing and review videos. They’re pretty awesome AND you getta put a face to the Army-Firedawg name. If this review helped you out at all please hit that thumbs up button for it really helps me out a lot. Till next time my friends, stay safe.

The Beyerdynamic brand has been a company that I definitely put some blame on for getting me so into this hobby. Back when I was working in an audio store in the airport Beyerdynamic was one of the heavy hitters we carried and it was easy to see why and ever since then I’ve continuously heard about their legendary T1 model. Fast forward to my learning about Head-Fi and all the comparisons between the T1, and other heavy hitters like the HD800 etc… always made me yearn to hear them for myself. And finally, thanks to Beyerdynamic and their awesome rep. I have this opportunity. And I am MORE than pleased to share my opinion on these with you. Also, for simplicity sake I may refer to the T1 second generation and the T1.2.








The Opening Experience






Something I’ve grown to like and enjoy about Beyerdynamic is the consistency of their unboxing experience. Almost all their products, regardless of price point, keeps to the simple style of basic box with a couple pictures of the product itself and it being worn by someone and usually their general specifications. I really enjoy that. It lets me know that no matter what product I get from them, I get a nice respectful presentation of the product I’ve purchased. And the T1 is no different. As you open the box you’re greeted with a really nice felt feeling case that I feel most would really appreciate but for me, and this is only a personal thing, I really liked the old aluminum case the original T1 and T5p came with. But the felt case is still very nice and I will most certainly say it is MUCH easy to carry around when you’re wanting to travel with it.

Upon opening the case you’re greeted with the T1 second generation very nicely placed centered in its own cut out foam with its DETACHED and sheathed cable inside a plastic bag in between the headband and ear cups. OH, how silly of me. I forgot to mention that when you open the box to first get to the case you have to cut a seal that guarantees Beyerdynamic quality and upon opening that you’re greeted by a pamphlet that says congratulations on your purchase or the Beyerdynamic T1. That’s um, kinda cool but I feel that a company should be thanking their customers for spending so much of their hard earned money and entrusting them to provide them with a product worth such an expense over congratulating them on doing so, but that’s just me. But overall, Beyerdynamic did a wonderful job in presenting their T1 as the premier product it’s renowned to be.


Construction




So the T1 costs over $1,000. For a product costing this much, it’s to be expected that it would be built out of equally premium materials. Lately it seems that this piece of detail has been an afterthought in order to maximize money for the company. Well, Beyerdynamic went an entirely different route with their flagship headphone, the T1 second gen. The T1 is handcrafted in Germany using very premium lightweight aluminum throughout its construction.

The headband, as well as the earcups, use an amazingly comfortable cloth like material that I’ll discuss further in the next section but my goodness do I love it. The headband arms not only feel nice, but Beyerdynamic has laser etched some nice designs as well as its T1 name on it. Small touch sure, but to me it’s the attention to the small details that I really appreciate. The arm also has a lot of adjustment from smaller than average heads up to rather impressively large heads.

The cups themselves are either aluminum as well or really high grade plastic (I’m siding more with the latter) that has plenty of up and down movement but just enough side to side to get a good seal. What is a great feature that Beyerdynamic implemented in their T1 model (as well as many of their others), is to angle their drivers. This greatly improved the positional awareness and accuracy of the soundstage to the listener and thankfully is something that I’m seeing more and more products implement.

The cable is DETACHABLE!!! This is a huge upside for me because a headphone that doesn’t offer detachable cables is a major aggravation for me especially after having to pay the ridiculous repair costs after Phoenix (my German Shepard) got a hold of one. So seeing a company offer this, to me, should be standard at this point in technology. But the headphone end is terminated with 2 2.5mm jacks that are each color coded (red for right, white for left) while the amp end is terminated into a standard ⅛” jack and has a ¼” adaptor jack that screws right onto it. The cable itself is the original cable (I believe) that has been covered by a really firm feeling sheath. This, imo, does a great job of protecting the cable from both outside interference, and potential damage. One thing to note however is that this new sheath is very rigid. Like, rigid as a garden hose. You have to twist the entire cable with every turn as you put it away and/or take it out.

So my overall thoughts on the T1’s construction is that it’s exactly what I’m wanting a headphone of this caliber to be. The hand crafted part really speaks to me personally because that’s what makes something personal. Everything being machine mass produced there not as much pride anymore. But when someone puts their own hands on a product and whatever small touch it was makes me extremely happy.


Comfort




Quite satisfied in the T1 second generation’s construction I am. But now I really gotta gloat about how comfortable these headphones are to put on. As I mentioned in the previous section, Beyerdynamic decided to go with a cloth like material (soft velour to be specific and according to the website) that, to me, is reminiscent of my favorite winter coat; soft, comfortable, and covers all the right spots. I’ve worn these headphones from long durations to short commute to work in the mornings and the only relative irritant I have is that the lobes of my ears are pushed up by the walls of the cups. And as you’ve guessed, that’s entirely a personal thing. For those who keep up with me rather on here or YouTube know I’ve larger ears and no one else that listened to the T1’s had any issue with the cup sizes (at least no one mentioned it to me). Throughout the time I listened I can’t recount any of it that was ended early by ear fatigue or warmth. This is a pretty short section I’m aware but I personally found no issues with the comfort levels of the T1. There’s plenty of adjustments, super soft, comfortable, and breathable padding. What’s not to love?


Sound




Thus far I have been overly impressed by Beyerdynamics newest rendition of their flagship T1. But all that’s for naught if the sound doesn’t follow suite. For the longest time while browsing through the forums I would see the T1 vs HD800 comparisons and which to get discussions. So after FINALLY being able to listen to a pair myself I can completely understand why the T1 is has always been a titan in the audio world. The T1 has a very relaxed but yet musical sound that is so, non fatiguing that I find myself listening for several hours with no intention of stopping. Beyerdynamic, in the entirety of the T1’s design, just hits all the right spots. As I’m writing this review I have listened to the T1’s without stop for 3 hours and still counting (I write a little and then play some Destiny and then write a little more) and that’s EXACTLY what a well designed headphone should do.

The imaging on the Beyerdynamic T1 second generation is incredible. It has that type of presence that forces me to close my eyes and visualize whatever it is that I’m listening to. The detail retrieval is also on par. The T1.2, when properly powered and sourced, will not let a single spec of detail be lost but at the same time it’s very forgiving. I sure that the previous sentence contradicts itself but it’s so very true. It doesn’t matter if I’m listening to YouTube playlist (as I’m actually doing right now) or lossless .wav files (I’d really hope those wouldn’t sound bad but you get the idea), the T1.2 is such a treat to listen to and it’s always leaving me yearning for more. The soundstage is not a very large one but it’s most certainly not in your face either, I can’t really give an example of placing you in a seat somewhere but I will say that it’s a very comfortable distance from the main performance.

When listening to the T1.2 they really don’t perform any different regardless of what genre of music you’re listening to, they really are a musically neutral headphone. But let me discuss the individual aspects of the sound so that I may better describe what I’m wanting to portray.


Treble



The highs on the Beyerdynamic T1 second gen has wonderful extension and a smooth roll of right before it starts getting painful. The tesla drivers produce the treble to cleanly that, for example, symbols sound so realistic that you can almost swear that you were there. And my goodness trumpets, oh how they sound so breathtakingly vivid. Please listen to the piece “For All Seasons” by Yanni. The entire piece is stunning to listen to on the T1.2 but the trumpet solo, just shines on the T1 second gen. So in short. Beyerdynamic hit home with their treble presentation.


Mids



The mids, to my ears, didn’t show any forwardness of recession. The mids come through so clean and accurate that it sounds like the artist, rather it be male or female, is singing a personal concert for me. One of my favorite songs “The Sound Of Silence” by Disturbed (live recording) is a very mid, or rather vocal, focused song and being played through the T1.2 everything just becomes so personal. When the singer inhales, the emotion behind his words, every note is just so full of body and so real sounding. Another piece is “The Last Of The Mohicans” by Luca Stricagnoli. When played through the Beyerdynamic T1.2 the reverb of the guitar string doesn’t just resonate in the music, it resonates in you. At least when I listen to this piece, I can’t help but unconsciously start to lay back, close my eyes, and relax. It takes a very stellar piece of equipment to do that, and the Beyerdynamic T1 second generation, certainly meets that criteria.


Bass



The heartbeat of the music. A term that describes the bass on the Beyerdynamic T1 second gen. The bass is very controlled, perhaps more so than any dynamic driver I’ve ever heard. When properly powered the tesla drivers present bass so cleanly and without distortion that it just sounds accurate. To my ears I think there is a very slight forwardness to the bass but absolutely not to the degree that it takes away from the presentation of the rest of the music. The bass isn’t heavy either. It hits with a purpose and then releases its grip. To conclude, I see the bass as a heartbeat of the music. It must keep the rest of the music in pace and in order. If it’s too fast or hard then music gets fatigued and imbalanced, too light and it’s left unfulfilling and empty. The Beyerdynamic T1 second generation finds this beautiful balance and commands it.



Conclusion




I truly loved my time with the Beyerdynamic T1 second generation. It is absolutely worth having the title of flagship from one of the industries oldest company’s. What more, Beyerdynamic offers these headphones at a very reasonable and respectable price in respect to their sonic performance and build quality in comparison to other totl headphones. For those considering the T1.2, fret not what gear you have, the breathtaking sound will envelope you regardless of your equipment used but it will scale and really shine when given power. There’s really not much negative I can say. Beyerdynamic, to my ears and taste, did everything I look for when it comes to headphones and I honestly can’t speak highly enough of the T1 second generation.





Also, make sure to check out my unboxing and review videos. They’re pretty awesome AND you getta put a face to the Army-Firedawg name. If this review helped you out at all please hit that thumbs up button for it really helps me out a lot. Till next time my friends, stay safe.

The littlest of the 3 M models sent to me to review. At a very respectable $150(ish) I’ve a lot of high hopes for this to be a great entry point for those just starting out getting into audiophilia or the audio hobby. But of course I must give a heartfelt thank you to Shanling to approving me to be a part of this tour. I really enjoyed my time with these units and am glad to be able to share my opinions with others who’ll give me their time.







The Opening Experience






Again, Shanling continues their simplistic unboxing experience by making the consumer anxious to open and experience the product for themselves. The outer box, like its M2s brother, only has an outline of the dap laying inside. The sides only show the Shanling name and logo, and the back does have some writing about the features present on the M1 but with respect to the M1’s price I can most certainly look past it. In this price point there’s a LOT of competition and Shanling having the confidence in its M1 to only put a sentence or two on the box to describe it (albeit in multiple different languages), to me, says a lot.

As you open the box you’re greeted by a brief manual of what the buttons do, but directly under it lies the well placed and framed Shanling M1 sitting centered and recessed in its cut out foam housing. Laying underneath the M1 housing is where you’ll find the type C charging cable, warranty and instruction manual, and a screen protector. So I feel that Shanling did gave a great presentation and a firm handshake with their M1 dap. Truthfully I was expecting a lot of clear, cheap, plastic with this product but Shanling gave it the same level of care as their other, more expensive, dap offerings (that I’ve been able to review).


Construction



The build quality of the Shanling M1 is something that I personally was very impressed by. Again, the M1 goes for roughly $150 and from experience products of this price rarely uphold any premium features to them. They traditionally are to introduce consumers to their brand and give them a taste of what they could have with more money. Shanling I’m proud to say did their customers right. The M1 is made with the same aluminum and glass body that their more expensive M2s and M3s brothers are. The M1 is very light weight and very compact, this for most is a very convenient thing, but I honestly like my products to have a little weight and size to them. But this little guy can very easily fit into just about any pocket you’d want it to.

I will say however that the button layout through me off some. Due to the M1’s smaller size the button layout had to be reworked a little bit. The top of the dap instead of a power button holds the selector wheel (that I personally like better than the other models use). This is the main thing that through me off because you have to actually push in on the side of the wheel in order to make your selection to whatever it is you’re wanting the M1 to do. And that’s also kind of a bad thing as well. More times than I would’ve understood, when I went to select something, do to the nature of the button, the M1 would scroll to another option as I’m pushing in on the button which caused me to have to go back and try and reselect the desited option again. After a while I got used to it but it still irritated me when it happened.

The left side of the M1, going from the top down, is where you’ll find the go back, track previous, and track forward buttons. The right side of the M1 is where the power button is. And finally the bottom is where you’ll find the up to 256gb microSD card slot, type C charging port, and the 3.5mm aux port.


Features


The M1 features the exact same features as its two more expensive brothers. That being the bluetooth 4 with AptX and HiBy wireless connection so you can control your M1 via your phone (app download required). Like I’ve said in the other 2 reviews, I can see this as a cool feature and may be beneficial in certain circumstances but, to me, I can just as easily pull out the M1 to change tracks etc… as I can my phone. But the feature that I really enjoyed is the ability to connect a combi unit (amp/dac) via the usb port and have the M1 be an interface.


Sound



The sound is something that while listening to it I actually looked at others reviews to see if I was hearing what I was hearing. What I mean by this is that both the M2s and M3s models presented a very neutral sound that, to my ears, didn’t offer any coloration to the sound. But with the M1, the sound is notably warmer and thus, to my personal tastes, more musical. Thankfully it seems others shared my findings as well so I wasn’t losing my mind. But as I said the music through the M1 was given a pleasant amount of warmth to it which I personally rather enjoy. The detail of the tracks still shown through surprisingly clearer than what I would’ve thought on a model of this price point. On mobile friendly headphones, I don’t think any detail would’ve been missed and users would enjoy being treated to small nicks of audio they’ve never heard before (on power hungry headphones like the T1 etc… not so much).

My issue still remains with having to scroll through SEVERAL pages of items to get to the artist, song, folder, etc… that I’m wanting to get to. There has to be a way for more optimal shortcuts to be added in.

But overall I am EXTREMELY satisfied with what Shanling did with their M1 dap. For only $150(ish) the sound quality is fantastic and rivals that of several products costing much more. On a personal note, the sound of the M1 was my personal favorite of the 3 models I’ve tried (if only it had a balanced output [but now I’m asking WAY too much for this price]).





Conclusion




My overall thoughts on the Shanling M1 is that it’s pretty much exactly what I look for in a true introductory product. It maintains the lion's share of what makes their higher end product great but is no lightweight itself. I’m able to listen to any, reasonable, headphone respectably with the M1 and though there’s a definite loss of potential when being used with higher power needs headphones the M1 still does a fantastic job. I’d strongly recommend the Shanling M1 to those who’re wanting to dip their toes into the audio hobby and are skittish about spending a lot of money.






Also, make sure to check out my unboxing and review videos. They’re pretty awesome AND you getta put a face to the Army-Firedawg name. If this review helped you out at all please hit that thumbs up button for it really helps me out a lot. Till next time my friends, stay safe.

Of the three DAP’s I received as a part of this tour, the M2s is the one I was personally most excited about. You see, two years ago I was actually able to review the original M2 model so I’m quite interested to see what Shanling has changed.







The Opening Experience






The handshake I received from the Shanling M2 was pretty nice I will say. Shanling kept the packaging beautifully simple, and IMO, professional. The front only shows an outline of the M2s DAP while the sides only have the Shanling name or their logo. The back does have what I feel is an unnecessary bit of writing that could’ve been placed on the inside pamphlet but I do understand why they feel they needed to add it, and even still, Shanling put the writing in a classy way that really gives the viewer a feeling of premium quality.

As you open the box you’re greeted with a brief manual and the Shanling M2s DAP presented centered and recessed inside a cut out foam. This is the same as the original M2 as well as their M3s DAP and I really personally enjoy this consistency, it let’s me know what to expect with them. Under the dap’s holder is the type C charging cable, owners manual and warranty guide, and two sets of screen protectors.

A fairly straight forward unboxing but one that I really respect, especially for a DAP in this price range (+-$200). So for what it’s worth, well done Shanling, I feel like you’ve given me a firm handshake and respect and appreciate me as a customer.


Construction




The build quality of the M2s is very nice. Shanling has maintained the aluminum body they had on the original M2 but instead of the carbon fiber back it’s now a glass casing over the back. I’m impartial to this change. I liked the carbon fiber look of the original but the new glassy back looks just as nice.

The overall construction of the M2s is very similar to that of its bigger brother the M3s. The power button is on the top of the unit and as you look to the left side you’ll find the track previous, play/pause, track forward, and the micro SD card slot that hold up to 256gb. The right side has the selector rotator knob as well as the go back button. And the bottom has the type C charging port and a 3.5mm aux port.



Features



Shanling has definitely stepped up their game with the M2s. The M2s has bluetooth 4 w/ apt. X which allows you do connect the M2s to wireless speakers, headphones, etc… and with the HiBy Link Wireless (and connected application) you can control the M2s completely with your phone. This sounds like a really cool feature and to disclaim I did not personally try this feature, but I also personally don’t feel it’s a really needed feature either. I can just as easily pull out the M2s as I can my phone. A feature it does possess that I do really enjoy is the ability for it do be utilized as a USB interface for an external combi unit (amp/dac).


Sound


Again I find the Shanling M2s being consistent with the rest of its line up (sub M5 only due to me not yet being able to listen to is during my time of writing this review). The M2s has a very neutral sound that, to my ears, didn’t offer any coloration to the audio being played. And this little guy can power pretty strong headphones. As I’m writing this I’m listening to the Beyerdynamic T1 second generation and it’s powering it fairly nicely (in terms of volume it’s able to drive it well above what I find comfortable listening levels) but it also handles lower impedance headphones perfectly fine as well (I was unable to test my super sensitive Empire Ears ciems but do the M2s not offering a 2.5mm balanced port [not an issue for me though]).

I do still find the UI a little bothersome. From my original review, my biggest quarrel was that if you’re browsing through your music and say you want a song in the S’ you can’t quite remember the name or the artist but you’ll know it when you see it, it takes quite a long time to scroll all the way down to the letter you’re wanting. I can’t put much blame on Shanling though because this is an annoyance I have with MANY other dap’s, even of MUCH higher price points.

Ending on a high note. Like the more expensive M3s, the M2s also has a wonderful amount of volume control settings. As I said in my M3s review, when I’m getting myself in the sleep mood, my ears get much more sensitive and I can hardly listen to much on anything but a speaker because my phone by itself just can’t go low enough which is unfortunate because I’d rather listen with c/iems as to not wake up my wife as well. Thankfully the M2s answers this issue I have and I’m able to turn this down to the perfect level of softness and still maintain all the detail it gives at higher volumes.


Conclusion


*......There's always a piece of Phoenix fur...always*

My final thoughts on the $200(ish) Shanling M2s is that for its price, it’s a great DAP. There’s ample amount of features and its build quality is on par with products costing much more, including in its own family. It can respectively drive every headphone I’ve tried with it as loudly, or as softly, as I’d want it to go. Yes there’s some more headphone potential off of a desktop setup or amp with more power output but for its consumer friendly price, I think Shanling did a fantastic job with their M2s.






Also, make sure to check out my unboxing and review videos. They’re pretty awesome AND you getta put a face to the Army-Firedawg name. If this review helped you out at all please hit that thumbs up button for it really helps me out a lot. Till next time my friends, stay safe.

I’ve been lucky enough over the last couple years I’ve been reviewing audio products to be able to listen and be introduced to various audio products and companies from around the world. One in particular has been making a fairly big wave in the forums and that’s the company Shanling. I’ve previously had the honors of reviewing their M2 DAP and found myself to be really rather fond of it, so when they approved me for their M3s tour I was quite happy to say the least. So my friends at Shanling, thank you for another opportunity to review one of your products. But with all the pleasantries and introductions aside, let’s jump on into the review of the M3s shall we?







The Opening Experience






The opening experience to the Shanling M3s is pretty typical of other DAP’’s within this price point. The box itself is really nice quality but, to me, does have way too much writing and marketing on the box. I understand why companies feel they need to do this, especially in this price point, but I like to see products that are more simplistic in their showcase. The front has a picture of the M3s with the Shanling name on the sides. The back has its technical features written in several different languages which imo is what made it feel too weighed down with writing and jargon. Now underneath the outer sheath before you get to the M3s is a really stylish black box with only Shanling and its log written on the box.

As you open the package you’re greeted with a basic instruction manual placed right on top of the very stylish Shanling M3s DAP. Shanling took great care in making their M3s present itself centered, and as well as protected, being placed inside a recessed hard foam. Pulling the M3s outside its sheath the holster can also be removed to reveal another cardboard box which contains the type C charging cable, which I hope starts becoming the new standard much faster, the warranty and startup guide, and 2 sets of screen protectors. Included with the tour was a matching red leather case that I’m not positive comes with the unit if purchased, however on the website it does list the case in the same tab and I didn’t see any mention of it being sold separately.


Construction




The build quality is also fairly consistent with other DAP’s in this price point. For those who’ve watched my unboxing video of the M3s (linked below if not) you’ll see that I thought that the material was a premium plastic. I was mistaken because Shanling actually uses a glass and aluminum mix, which explains its silky smoothness. The DAP itself is pretty straight forward as far as its features go.

The top is where you’ll find the power button, that only takes a few seconds to completely turn on/off. The left of the unit is where you’ll find, and going from the top of the unit down, the track previous, play/pause, track forward, and a microSD card slot that can hold up to a 256gb card but Shanling has stated that it can handle a 400gb microSD card without any issues. The right of the unit hold the volume knob/choice selector knob/select button, as well as the go back button. The knob is a nice feature but I found it to be a bit too sensitive. More often than not I’d want to just move a folder or two and would often overshoot it both getting to it and again trying to back back up to it. I wish there was a setting to lower the sensitivity of the know a little. The bottom of the M3s is when you’ll find the type C charging port, 3.5mm single ended output, and 2.5mm balanced output. I’m glad to see this offer both ports. Balanced headphones and c/iems are becoming more and more common and having DAP’s without a balanced port is a no go.





Features


The Shanling M3s is in all honesty a pretty straight forward digital audio player. One cool thing though is that it does have Bluetooth and in addition to that, a feature called HiBy Link Wireless Control. And what this does is that, with the addition of a downloaded app, you can control your M3s from your phone. So in other words, with your phone you can change the tracks etc… without having to take the M3s out of your pocket, book bag, etc… Now, do disclaim, I never tried this feature during my time with this unit. But at the same time, I have no problem taking the DAP out of my pocket to change the tracks etc… though I will say doing it on the phone will likely be quicker than using the selector knob but I personally just seen it as unnecessary.

Another feature that I REALLY like in the M3s is that it can be paired with a portable combi unit (amp/dac). For example, the unit I used was an iFi Nano iDSD Black Label that they were kind enough to send me for the Carolina CanFest meet. Granted, I didn’t use this combination much at all because my time with the M3s is limited and I need to be reviewing it. But plugging in the unit caused the M3s to immediately switch over to PO (port out) mode and now all volume control and sound processing was being handled by the external unit. Now, an issue that arose fairly consistent with me was when I unplugged the combi unit and plugged in a pair of headphones. For some reason the M3s would often not register the detachment of the unit completely and thus would play the headphones plugged into the port at MAX volume and the volume control wouldn’t work until I unplugged and replugged several times. Thankfully this hasn’t happened with my sensitive c/iems (which I only used a couple times when reviewing this unit due to this uncertainty). I asked Shanling about this and they said that “It's not automatic, once you change it, it stays in that mode(headphone out our line out) until changed again.” Which corresponded with me having to manually change it.

Though that’s a fair annoyance it is easily remedied by manually checking the output settings when you unplug the connected device. And I strongly recommend you do this if you plan on using a sensitive c/iem afterwards.



Sound



So the purpose of using a DAP over your phone is that it’s supposed to be an definitive increase in musical quality and with modern day phones, well, some of them, putting a lot of focus on providing stellar audio quality which leaves the DAP market fighting to keep up. In the case with the Shanling M3s, at a cost roughly somewhere between $280-300 they did a fairly respectable job. The M3s most certainly handles harder to drive headphones that my LG V20 does, and much quieter. The overall sound of the M3s is pretty darned neutral without any bias towards a given spectrum that I could personally make out.

The first thing I tried through the M3s was my Empire Ears Hermes VI ciems that are running balanced from a Effect Audio Eres II cable. Many of you likely are aware by now of just how sensitive Empire Ears products are. Being ran balanced supposedly helps as well with minimizing the audible hiss so even more credit to the M3s for offering the balanced port, however there still possesses some slight hum when the Hermes VI is plugged in. This is completely eliminated when music is being played so it’s overall not that big a thing I guess. Something that I REALLY enjoy that the Shanling M3s has is the very finite volume control. When it’s late at night and I’m wanting to drift asleep I like to listen to music but my ears get very sensitive so I listen to things really quiet when completely eliminates me using my phone. The M3s however I have more than enough selection and finesse in my volume control that I never feel like the sound is too loud.

While listening to the M3s music is presented, as said earlier, very neutral and as recorded it seems. A drawback that I’ve noticed is that treble doesn’t have the same resolution as other DAP’s I’ve tried. The first song I noticed this was in the song “Lift Me Up” by Five Finger Death Punch. The symbols in the background of the music were notably harder to hear, as in if I didn’t know they were there I would completely have missed them. This experience stayed consistent during my time with the unit. The M3s still plays treble fine, don’t get me wrong, but the finite micro details I felt doesn’t shine through near as much.



Conclusion




My final thoughts on the Shanling M3s is that it’s a good DAP. For those just getting into the audio hobby and just can’t swing getting into the $400 DAP category the M3s is a pretty good choice. It offered both balanced and unbalanced (2.5mm and 3.5mm ports respectively) output which would suite those upgrading as well. The battery life is outstanding as is its ability to drive surprisingly hungry headphones. There’s some drawbacks with it sure but that’s the same as every other DAP I’ve tried to some extent.






Also, make sure to check out my unboxing and review videos. They’re pretty awesome AND you getta put a face to the Army-Firedawg name. If this review helped you out at all please hit that thumbs up button for it really helps me out a lot. Till next time my friends, stay safe.

*Please pardon the absence of pictures. The SD card I saved them to apparently went corrupt, so I’m unable to find any pictures I’ve taken.*


Ever since I got serious about this audio hobby I’ve always heard about this Audeze brand and their amazing planar magnetic headphones. A couple years ago at my first audio meet I was lucky enough to be able to hear their entire line up (at the time). 2 of their products really stuck with me after all this time and that was their LCD-XC and their LCD 2 models respectively. I’m still longing for more time with the XC but Audeze was very kind to me and granted a very generous amount of time to listen to and share my opinion of their, at time of this writing, most recent version of their LC 2 model. Let’s talk about it.







The Opening Experience





Audeze definitely pulled out the stops when it came to protecting their headphone, and this wasn’t just for me, this is standard shipping of their LCD models (I’m unsure of the others but I would assume it’d be the same). The LCD 2 arrived in a standard box but inside the headphones are held inside an extremely sturdy pelican hard case with cutout foam just for the LC 2 model. Then they’ve also wrapped the left and right side of the case in a hard foam just to ensure that it arrives safe and undamaged.

Upon opening the hard case the Audeze LCD 2 is presented centered and even has that fresh headphone smell, that thinking back was probably the fresh leather I was smelling but same difference right? Other than the headphones Audeze included a small but, to me, volume speaking piece of cardboard that is hand signed by the person who inspected it and signed off on it. To the vast majority of people I am well aware this is a completely useless piece that won’t even get any attention but I personally enjoy the fact that a real person actually looked over my personal headphone (my sample anyways) and also tested it to ensure it’s free of flaws. What more, there’s no annoying paperwork or jargon or ‘look at me’ writing. All important information is nicely stowed in a Audeze branded usb flash drive.

Though I do personally like a nice looking wooden (or similar) box, I see where Audeze was coming from in their presentation and think they did a great job at giving me a nice “handshake” with this headphone.



Construction



So Audeze took great effort to ship their headphones in a tank but did they give the same effort to their actual headphone? From initial look no. BUT, once you actually pick the thing up that prejudice immediate changes. These behemoths have some weight to them, like a lot. That’s the first thing that everyone (literally) I let try them said about them, next was their size. But Audeze, imo, did a really great job at the construction of their LCD 2 model. The headband is deceptively study. Again, by just looking at it it looks like it’ll just lay on your head all wimpy like but oh no, there’s (what I believe to be) a hard piece of aluminum in there that keeps it firm and secure on top of your head. The bevels on the side are how you adjust the height of the LCD 2’s and also what gives them just a little bit of forward and backward movement. These are also made of aluminum. Next you have the, I have no idea what they’re called so I’m just gonna call them cup holders. But these cup holders looked to be simple hard plastic but yet again, they’re a very firm (I think) aluminum that has a rougher exterior than normal. The cups themselves are made out of real, hand crafted, Shedua wood that goes through a pretty impressive process to ensure it’s meets the highest standards. And finally we’ve the rather impressive cable that truthfully looks like an aftermarket upgrade cable, and I mean this in a good way because all too often the stock cable that comes with headphones are rather, less than impressive. But Audeze, imo, did a wonderful job with theirs.

To sum, the Audeze LCD 2 is a deceptively sturdy headphone that, unless you’re irresponsible with, will last for a long time to come. I don’t know what it is about Audeze and tanks but they sure do like going with that theme.



Comfort



Thus far the LCD 2’s have been following a tank theme (my words and thoughts) which admittedly has me worried about the comfort. So putting on the panzer that is the LCD 2 you immediately feel the pressing weight of the cans but yet they aren’t tight on your head at all, the clamping force is quite on par truthfully. The lambskin leather pads and headband is super soft and finely sewn together. However, the ear pads, though comfortable, aren’t dense enough to keep my ears from scratching (I use that word intentionally) against the metal fazors. To disclaim, my ears are on the larger than normal side of things but even pushing in on the pads there’s little to no resistance in them. Audeze says on their site that the pads are “filled with foam carefully selected for best sound and contribute to the level of comfort during long listening sessions.” And though that’s likely very true for the sonic attributes of the LCD 2, at least me personally, I have to disagree with the long term comfort. I can’t go more than an hour or so of listening to these before I have to take them off because of the high discomfort placed on my ears from scratching the transducers. Again, this may very well be due to my personal ear size and your mileage may vary but if I were to own a pair these I would immediately look into purchasing some better, denser, pads.

The weight, which is synonymous with being the first thing people in my experience notice, ended up not being an issue at all. The way Audeze uses the headphone to dispense its weight evenly pretty much negated their weight.

To sum the thoughts on the comfort. Unfortunately I was a bit disappointed with their comfort. I do however believe this can be fixed by switching to some better, denser pads, but with what I had to listen with I could only do listening, and also gaming sessions, in comparatively short bursts in respects to other products.



Sound



So here we are, the aspect by the majority to be the most important in a headphone. For those who watched my review of the Sennheiser HD800 S I mentioned that until I heard the Audeze LCD 2 that the 800 S was the most accurate headphone I’ve ever heard in terms of positional awareness. The LCD 2’s ability to allow the listener to identify what they’re listening to is, to date, better than any other headphone I’ve ever personally heard. I am so easily able to determine the location of the entire orchestra. I can hear instrument sections individually as well as are they more in front of me, maybe they’re to my right side, or maybe, and this was a real eye opener for me personally, but is the performance above my seated position? Unfortunately I couldn’t find a good AMV for this song but In the Hall of the Mountain King by Edvard Greig does a pretty good job at showing this.

After a few days of listening to the Audeze LCD 2 I couldn’t help but crack a small smile about how perfect the timing was when I got them. I say this because my two dream headphones are the Sennheiser HD800 S, which I’m lucky enough to be able to own, and the Oppo PM-1, which I’m still saving up for. Each present music very differently to the listener which, to me, make them the ideal complementary headphone for each other. What brought the smile to my lips is the the LCD 2 is what I would imagine a love child between the two would sound like. The music is presented I really wanna say reasonably neutral but yet I contradict myself when I say it also has a musical sense of warmth especially in the mids and upper bass. The music is fast and quick but yet the LCD 2 is very forgiving of less than premium music formats (I’m looking at you YouTube), this is reminiscent of the PM-1, but they also produce all the detail that I’m aware of that’s present in the audio piece (game, movie, etc…) which is what the HD800 S is known for.

But let me talk about the individual aspects that I’ve come to find with the LCD 2 so maybe you the reader can understand my reasoning behind my words.


Treble



When I get asked down the line what I thought about the LCD-2 and I’m asked about the individual characteristics, the things I’m going to remember are the weight, size, mids, and bass control. Though the treble is nice and, according to Audeze, has a frequency that extends well above what a human can possibly hear, it was always just ok for me. Nothing about the LCD-2’s high’s really got me excited or made me want to put a track on repeat. I still got the excitement of an i.e. violin but compared to the mids (as you’ll soon read) tranquilness, I just couldn’t quite experience the treble of the LCD-2 anything more than a meh. Please don’t think that they’re bad for they’re truly not, they just don’t give me the level of excitement as the rest of the headphone did. Check out this beautiful instrumental piece, it’s called “A Moon Filled Sky.” I wasn’t able to find who the artist is but this piece is stunning to listen to. The LCD-2 does a good job in showcasing the finite details of the piece but the true magic of it doesn’t, again to me, fully show through.



Mids



My goodness do I love the smooth and warm mids that are present in the LCD 2. I usually put in a musical video with cellos or similar instruments to show my point but this time the winning video is Hallelujah by Pentatonix. This song just soothes the soul and listening through the LCD 2 is a real treat. Despite the quickness of the LCD 2 the slowness of the song matched with the warm nature of the LCD 2 allows the males (horrible with names) humming and drumming sound to come through yet not at all impede on the other three’s voices.

I probably should have started by stating that I listen most closely to the mids in music because I see them as the emotion and soul of the artist. I don’t really care much for the beat (no I’m not saying there shouldn’t be a good one) but I want to hear the abilities of the vocalist in his or her purest state without this synergizing crap all too common today. My favorite instruments also are acoustic string instruments because of their reverb and calming nature. And both of these aspects are marvelously showcased by the Audeze LCD-2.


Bass



Going in to this, I always heard that the LCD-2 had really powerful bass. And though, yes, its bass is fairly heavy, it’s by no means a bass heavy can. But what it does have is some accurate bass that’s also outstandingly tight and controlled. The song “S.O.B.” by Nathaniel Reteliff & The Nightsweats, I found, does the best job at expressing my thoughts of how well the LCD-2 commands the bass (and also further motions my thoughts on the mids too). As you watch the music video, everything sounds as it’s happening right in front of you. When the people are clapping their hands or banging on the desk, there’s no unnecessary decay of the sound. It hits when it should and then immediately goes away. What really cool is, when they’re hitting the table, you can actually hear the plates moving slightly as well as the wooden tables reverb itself (the YouTube video may not show this however). The ability that the LCD-2 has to showcase the bass present throughout this song brings a sense of realism that I personally have never experienced with it before (and for some reason I really enjoy this song).



Conclusion



My overall thoughts on Audeze’s LCD-2 model is that it really is a staple in the audio community. The craftsmanship behind them are reminiscent of some of the most premiumly priced headphones found and its ability to express music is something that only well tuned planars can do (something that Audeze is known for). I do wish something would be done with the padding but that’s more so a personal thing. For those out there with similar tastes in music that I have and would like the best of both of my personal end game sounds, then I highly encourage you to check out the Audeze LCD-2. Not only is it the cheapest of the 2 aforementioned headphones I compared it with but it holds the lion's share of what makes both of them great.





Also, make sure to check out my unboxing and review videos. They’re pretty awesome AND you getta put a face to the Army-Firedawg name. If this review helped you out at all please hit that thumbs up button for it really helps me out a lot. Till next time my friends, stay safe.

This was a real surprise for me. A representative of Sennheiser reached out to me via head-fi asking me if I would be interesting in trying out their brand new and successor to their legendary HD650 headphone. Thank goodness this was in the form of private message because being overly excited at the opportunity to try something as new as the HD660 S most certainly raised my vocal octaves a few notches. So needlessly to say I happily accepted the offer.
What made this opportunity all the sweeter is that I’ve been having a few subscribers on my YouTube channel ask me for my thoughts on the new HD660 S and with each I’ve had to give a ‘I’ve yet to hear but I hope to soon response’, well thanks to the very kind gentleman from Sennheiser I can finally give my true opinion and thoughts on the proclaimed successor to one of the most legendary headphones ever to grace audiophilia.



The Opening Experience

I believe I received a very nice “handshake” with the HD660 S, as I did with its predecessor the HD650. Sennheiser includes a very nice cardboard box that is really just a smaller version of the HD800 S box minus the nice silky material and the stop strap. The box itself, like the HD800 S, is my EXACT want in a headphone box. The exterior si super simplistic as in all it shows is a picture of the product and its name. This, to me, shows the competency and confidence of an audio manufacture.By doing this I see it as them telling their customers listen to my product and let it speak for itself; let it SHOW you what it can do instead of my boggling down the box with fancy words and look-at-me’s so that I can pretend to be competent. And for a company as legendary as Sennheiser, who’s over 70 year experience shows, they’ve got more than enough competence. So in other words, before I even get into this box, I’m extremely excited to put it on my head and see what it can do.

But I digress for my audio geek out, as you open the box to the HD660 S you’re greeted with that very nice new headphone smell and a headphone that’s nice and centered in cut out foam to keep the HD660 S safe during travel. Sennheiser also included the brand new 4.4mm Pentaconn balanced connector in addition to the traditional 6.3mm audio jack. Unfortunately I was only able to use the standard connection because at the time of the writing of this review there’s nothing in my inventory that takes that connector size. Then lastly you’re given the warranty and instruction manual in a nice packaging, that unlike the HD800 S only shows the HD660 S and not both it and the original HD650.

So again I’ll state that the “handshake” given to me from Sennheiser was firm and filled with confidence, which is exactly what I’ve come to expect from Sennheiser.


Construction








So I’m already super hyped up to put these on my head and try them out. The only issue I really had with the original HD650 was that for its price I felt it to be quite cheap feeling. So did Sennheiser make improvements in the successor to that legendary headphone? Nope…. In fact I feel that they’ve made the HD660 S even cheaper than the HD650. Granted, I’m no engineer and they’re both made of plastic so for all I know they may be exactly the same but with a different paint job but from me picking both up and feeling them I feel like the HD660 S is a lesser quality product (solely in terms of its construction) than its predecessor HD650. But that comparison aside, these headphones are very lightweight which should definitely help the users overall experience.

Moving down the headband still features it very nice and firm size adjustments that leave no doubts to the user what the cups have moved to a different size, for each adjustment is made with a notable pop. On that note, this headphone has more adjustment sizes than I think anyone will need. Unless you’ve a really tiny head, you’re more than likely to find the optimum adjustment out of this headphone.

The padding in the new HD660 S feel very firm to the touch and offer a really nice level of both give and support. This may be because these are a brand new pair and my HD650 is, how should I say, well experienced, the padding looks to be a little bit deeper than my ol faithful HD650. This is a good thing because my ears no longer touch and rub against the cloth covering the drivers.

Lastly we’ve the DETACHABLE cable. The cable on the HD660 S is the same that’s on the original HD650. It’s a decent quality cable. It’s not shielded or looks anything fancy but it does its job very well. To my ears there’s no microphonics or interference that I’ve ever heard during my time with either units.

So my thoughts on the build quality of the Sennheiser HD660 S is that it’s acceptable. Like in the HD650 I believe there’s a lot to be improved on considering these are $500, but I’ve also reviewed worse.


Comfort

So they didn’t improve the build quality of the HD660 S over that of its predecessor so how about its comfort? Ummm, depends on what you like really. Where as the HD650 felt like “sand conforming to your hand” as I said in my HD650 review, the HD660 S is like the bear hug a relative gives you after not seeing you in a really long time. It’s not that it hurts, but it’s quite tight, and as a personal opinion, it’s way too much so for my preference so I PERSONALLY (so do at YOUR OWN RISK) bent the metal band on each side of the ear pads just slightly and it made it, to me, considerably better.

Getting back on track, Sennheiser made very slight changes to the padding making it both thicker and denser. You can really only tell a difference if you’ve had a HD650 for a considerable amount of time or had a pair on you next to the HD660 S and could sit them next to each other. But I feel that this was a great improvement over the HD650 because on the HD650 my ears would just slightly rub the cloth mesh covering the drivers but now I think that maybe the very tip of my ears do slightly but I only notice that when I’m consciously trying to figure out if they’re touching or not.

During my time with them, post the slight bending, I had no issues with having them on my head and listening to them for several hours without any fatigue. They stayed firm in place regardless of my lying position and truthfully, I really enjoyed how they felt on my head (again post bending [which again I stress to do at your own risk]). Perhaps time will break these into the forming sand the HD650 is to me but even if it doesn’t, what’s so wrong with the loving brace of a relative who really misses you?

Sound

Oh ho, here we are. Time to find out rather or not the HD660 S can uphold the claim of it being a successor to the legendary HD650, even stating that “the legend continues” right on the front of the box. At first listen before A/Bing the two side by side I originally couldn’t tell much of a difference just going off memory and thought, ‘ok sweet, they’ve just made a HD650 that’s more sensitive and updated its looks a little bit’. But immediately after popping in ol faithful the differences immediately become apparent.

The new HD660 S takes a different direction from the HD650’s smooth and calm presentation and favors a more direct and in your face one. The new HD660 S makes the mids and upper bass much more forward which in turns heightens vocals and acoustic instruments presence in the audio. This in and of itself is actually a really comforting sound and a very relaxing on as well, at least to me personally for most of you reading my reviews have a pretty good understanding on my musical preferences, but it’s the fact that Sennheiser directly considers this an upgrade from the HD650 and thus will discontinue production is what’s so off putting. If you can, listen to the song “Colour to the Moon” by Allan Taylor. There’s several songs that will pinpoint the differences between the two headphones but this song, to me, is the best I’ve personally found.

The comfortable soundstage and detailed imaging hasn’t changed much. This was kinda difficult to determine because the forwardness of the mids and upper bass makes the soundstage sound a bit closer than the original HD650 did but when playing normal classical/instrumental music, at least me personally, I can’t hear a notable difference between the two in the soundstage and detail side of things.

Imaging is also a really interesting one. If you were to ask me which of the two would be the “best” (I hate that word because I firmly believe there’s no such thing) for overall imaging I would side with ol faithful. The HD650 just plays so beautifully with pretty much every type of music that it’s ability to show the listener what they’re listening to is amazing. However, if you’re listening to a piece with a lot of acoustic presence, or even harder rock/metal, I think you’ll like the new HD660 S better. Check out this song “Rocketman” by Ironhorse Bluegrass. The HD660 S makes the banjo and guitars sound so much more lifelike than the HD650 could that I could really understand why these would be called the successor. Now, listen to the song “Sound of Silence” by Disturbed. Though this song sounds beautiful on both, the HD650 forces you to close your eyes and embrace the entire experience whereas the HD660 S shows of mainly just the singers.

But let me now talk about the individual characteristics of the sound signature so that I may be able to convey my thoughts on the HD660 S better.


Treble

From going back and forth between the original HD650 and the new HD660 S, to me, the treble hasn’t been changed much if at all. It’s still very relaxing to listen to and never gets harsh. The only difference I think exists is that the treble doesn’t balance in with the rest of the audio band like I’ve gotten so accustomed to. What I mean by this is that where the mids and upper bass are emphasized it almost over does the treble. I’ll use my oh so commonly showcased song “Diva Dance” by Jane Zhang as an example. Oh the HD650 she reaches some really high notes and the HD650 matches them. Now, on the HD660 S, though I still get the same extension per say, I just don’t get the same magic as I’m so used to. This is not a bad thing I firmly believe that, it’s just a different headphone displaying what it showcases differently (I’ll touch on that statement at the end). There’s really not a whole lot for me to say about the mids on the HD660 S. They’re as good as the HD650 but you can’t quite enjoy them as much because they’re not balanced with the mids and bass. I know my explanation of the treble probably sucked but without putting them both on your head and letting you instantly hear the “oh yeah that’s what you’re talking about” that’s the best I can do .


Mids

The soul of the music, where emotions are expressed and feelings are created. And that is honestly a really good analogy of what the HD660 S can do. Whereas the HD650 presents music in a very relaxed and calm manner, the HD660 S makes the artists voice front and center in the presentation you’re listening to. And it really doesn’t matter rather it’s male or female vocals you’re listening to, both sound beautiful. You can even use the Diva Dance song I listed earlier, yes I think it sounds overall better on the HD650, her voice still resonates throughout her entire performance unhindered by the HD660 S’ forwardness. Or even take the song “The River” by Blues Saraceno. The emotion of the song is easy to understand and even feel. When I just want to enjoy my music and listen to a lot of acoustic focused music as well, the HD660 S has become a go to. To talk more about instruments. Listening to the HD660 S just as its own headphone is a very enjoyable experience. The forwardness of the mids make every guitar string pluck or swipe of a bow of a cello sound so musical and enjoyable that I often get chill bumps when the solos take off.

So I really like the mids on the HD660 S and I think when considering the this headphone its own headphone, I believe most will as well.


Bass

I often call the bass the heartbeat of the music and like the mids the HD660 S plays my analogy very well. The bass isn’t overpowering whatsoever but it most certainly is more present than what was in the original HD650. The bass is heavy and full so most shouldn’t feel a need for more but it’s also very controlled and as said earlier, it’s not overpowering. It complements the mids surprisingly well and really shows off when listening to some rock music (again not a bass heavy can but it plays quite well imo).


Conclusion


My final thoughts on the HD660 S is that I believe that Sennheiser is making a mistake in calling it a successor to the HD650, for to me it’s not. The HD660 S is a great headphone but it’s its own personality and presents audio in its own way that I believe is way too different for it to be considered a successor. The HD800 S, to me, is the definition of what a successor is. But as an individual headphone the HD660 S is wonderful and a real treat to listen to. I do like how it can be played more friendly off mobile devices however I will say that in doing this Sennheiser has really handicapped the HD660S’ ability to scale. It still shows improvement when listening to top tier gear over a mobile phone but NOWHERE near the legendary degree that the HD650 can.



Also, make sure to check out my unboxing and review videos. They’re pretty awesome AND you getta put a face to the Army-Firedawg name. If this review helped you out at all please hit that thumbs up button for it really helps me out a lot. Till next time my friends, stay safe.