I don't think that Sivga Audio requires any introduction here. The company is well-known for a bunch of really successful releases in different price tiers. The most recent one, named SV023 is a company's mid-segment offering for those who'd like to see an open-back design. Walnut cups of these cans hold 50 mm LCP composite diaphragm plated with Beryllium coating drivers, tuned to deliver natural sound.

As usual, I'd like to thank Sivga Audio for providing me with these headphones for review in exchange for my honest (but unavoidably subjective) opinion.

I won't go deep into unboxing and design, as photos and other reviews give a full impression about that aspects, I will focus on my subjective impressions.

The package and overall presentation are traditionally great. Besides headphones and cables, you'll get a nice leather storage case. It brings some unwanted associations to some people, but it leaves an impression of a luxurious accessory, not typical for the middle segment.

The same, actually, applies to headphones themselves. The main materials here are wood, metal, and leather, but despite that, they are pretty lightweight and comfortable in wearing. Weight distribution is great, and the softness of ear pads makes me think of some stupid metaphors involving angel wings and fairies' whispers. Ok, it's a bit of exaggeration, but wearing comfort is great for me (all heads are different, you know).

Headphones are open-back, and despite not leaking sound both ways as some fully opened models, they are still targeted for home usage in the comfort of your favorite armchair (or sofa, or yoga mat, or whatever you're going to use).

Stock cable deserves a separate mention. It's a 6N OCC, but I wanted to say a few words about ergonomics. If any other manufacturer representative will read this review (I doubt that, but who knows), please, look at how it should be done. No rubber insulation, no fabric coating, just nice and soft wires, braided into a comfortable cable with zero microphonics. Great plus here is a 4.4 jack, it makes the most sense for the full-size cans nowadays. And of course an adapter wire for those who don't have a source with Pentaconn.

But let's focus on the sound. And I can say that here I've got what I expected. I'm a big fan of single-dynamic driver systems. Of course, they can be lacking focus on micro-contrast, typical for planars, or, let's say, the airy and energetic treble of balanced armatures. But both in IEMs and full-size cans, it's a dynamic driver that sounds the most balanced and natural for me (subjective tastes warning, just in case).

In terms of bass, it's a step aside from the tuning that previous Sivga models typically showed. It's more neutral, with less accent. While it can disappoint some bass lovers, for me, the amount of lows here is close to my subjective perfection. Bass is deep, but at the same time, it doesn't try to overwhelm you with monumental lows, sounding more balanced. Subjectively, I'd say that it's a tuning more suiting "natural" instruments: reach with overtones, balancing weight and impact, not trying to sound super-fast (and dry) or super-weighty (and bloated). Textures are rendered nicely, with a subtle hint of extra saturation, but that extra works just as a faint spice in the overall balanced and well-controlled lows.

Mids continue this tuning, offering a good balance between neutrality and musicality. In general, the amount of detail these cans offers is pretty high, but at the same time, they deliver them without an excessive accent, avoiding too clinical or dry signature. Of course, the uncolored representation of SV023 sets pretty high requirements for the quality of record and source, but with a decent setup, you'll get a really good weight, dynamic, and emotions. The imaginary stage isn't the biggest one but still is above average both in width and depth, with proper layer separation and 3D positioning.

Treble has a bit of additional energy, but at the same time, it doesn't sound too sharp. Of course, these headphones aren't a perfect choice for those who want a super soft and "comfortable" sound, but to my ears, even with pretty sibilant tracks, SV023 doesn't sound overly bright. Treble has a good detalisation and above-average extension. Of course, it's lacking a bit of layering, typical for more expensive models, but it does a good job of saturating music with overtones. Treble attacks and decays sound natural, bringing joy to treble-fan like me.

Due to a pretty neutral character, headphones are responsive to source rolling. They preserve nuances of DAC/amp/player's representation pretty well and encourage a user to experiment with different elements of setup. They don't require tons of power, but the source should offer good control to allow these headphones to show their strong sides.

To summarise, I can say that SV023 is a really good offer. Of course, it's not a "one size fits all" option, they won't be the best choice for those who want some "fun" sound signature, but if you're looking for a neutral, but not dry headphones with a detailed, but enjoyable representation, it's a good option to consider.

iBasso engineers are well known for two things. The first is their fundamental approach to the tuning of their solutions that may take even several years. The second is the ability to get their own sound. It is no surprise that their new headphones benefit from both things.

I would like to thank iBasso for providing me a review sample in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.
To begin with, it is necessary to say that SR1 model has been tuned for almost a year and engineers had tried many transducers before they finished with the custom-designed driver with a cone made of bio-cellulose on silicone mounting with a magnetic system of enhanced power. After that, there have been many experiments with the general and acoustic design that resulted in a limited-quantity batch of 500 headphones.


iBasso have also carefully thought about pricing for their new model and has made it reasonably balanced, iBasso SR1 costs about $500.

Packaging and accessories
iBasso have never had problems with packaging appearance and presentation. The outer cardboard packaging is of average thickness and full of technical information about used technology. Inside you will find a large nylon zipper case that contains headphones, cable, and manual.


The designers did their best for packaging to look as attractive as possible, bringing their attention to the smallest details, such as a metal plate with serial number (you remember it is a limited edition, don’t you?)/

Design and comfort
iBasso have succeeded in making their new model unusual, you can see it on the photos. Previously we have never seen such cups of silver metal, made in the form of a stepped amphitheater. Right beneath the cups, there is a black grill that brings some openness to the model. It is necessary to say that the cups are not entirely acoustically transparent and you get proper isolation with SR1, however the sound leaks to the outside good as well, so you probably wouldn’t want to bring them to an office with many nervous colleagues.


The headband is made of spring steel, it is very light, and there is proper weight distribution that becomes possible with the use of Tuscan leather for headpad. Special bindings allow it to be moved up and down and therefore to control the pressure of the earcups, which, in their turn, can be moved on 2-axis basis that allows getting the best comfort.

Due to soft cushions SR1 are very comfortable and do not cause fatigue even during the long listening periods. Of course, this also becomes possible with a relatively small weight of 420g.

Cushions can be easily replaced if needed, and iBasso also offers perforated cushions that bring some changes to the sound. I haven’t tested them yet but will share my opinion as soon as I do.


The cable is detachable, and engineers equipped it with unusual MMCX connectors with pimples. Here you insert the stock cable until you hear a click and then twist connectors, fixing them inside the lock. To detach cable, you have to do the same vice versa. Time will show if this is a good solution, but at first glance, it looks convenient and allows to use iBasso's cables of CB series that will allow experimenting with sound. As you have already understood, headphones accept any cables with generic MMCX connectors. The only limiting factor is that connectors should be large enough to hold and grip in case you need to detach them.

The stock cable is rather simple and has some microphonic effect due to its fabric coating. However, when using the headphones stationarily (and you won’t use them outdoors for sure), it is not a problem. The cable looks reliable and will highly likely work for a long time. It is made of OFC and sonically is probably the best solution for this model. If you want a balanced connection, there is a variant with Pentaconn cable.


The build quality is excellent, headphones are made mainly of metal, and I believe their level of durability is rather high.

Sound
I used the following equipment during the listening session:

• Yulong DA9 and Resonessence Labs Concero HP as DAC and amplifier;
• Apple MacBook Pro Retina 2016 as the source;
• Fidelia as a player;
• Lotoo Paw Gold Touch, theBit OPUS#2, Astell&Kern A&ultima SP1000, and others as portable players;

I have allowed 60 hours of burn-in before the final listening session, and I have noticed changes for the first 40 hours.


As I have already written in the beginning of the review, iBasso SR1 sound in iBasso style. They are neutral, full of details with slightly accentuated treble. iBasso is famous for its view of the sound. Upon the whole, SR1 can be compared with entry-level isodynamic models of HiFiMan but with better weight in sound and are of course more easy to drive. Headphones are created for those who value neutral sound.

Bass is not accentuated here, and this may be a downside for those who like enhanced low frequencies. Those who like neutrality will surely enjoy SR1 as the lows are genuinely balanced, fast but weighty and deep enough to sound natural and reveal all peculiarities of recording, be it rumble or hit. The control of the lows is good even in the deepest layers which are not the case with all models.


Mids develop the model's sound vision - they are detailed, neutral but without excessive micro-contrast. Of course, it requires recordings of good quality, and headphones do not add their own signature, so you will hear exactly what has been recorded. On good recordings, they will sound realistic, emotional with quality instruments and vocals. It is also good that iBasso hasn’t tried to make their new headphones very monitor-sounding as it was, for example, with DX80 player. SR1 has a slight accent between upper mids and highs, and due to it, the female vocals sound outstanding. It also increases overall detail retrieval. Probably this is the reason why the soundstage of SR1 is so good - it is above average in all dimensions with good separation of instruments and layering.

Highs are well thought-over here. Despite the slight accent in the 4kHz region, there is no harshness or unnaturalness, especially given the fact that the 8kHz region is a little bit recessed. Therefore the highs sound natural, without a metal accent and not synthetical. Resolution and length of highs are not immense but good, attacks and decays are well presented with entry-level layering that is not a surprise given the price of the headphones. The highs here are sounding well with overtones and needed airiness.

I don’t think it is necessary to dig too deep into comparisons because I don’t have anything that might be directly compared to SR1. Meze99 are very different in sound and overall presentation. HiFiMan Sundara is more detailed and plain but brighter and requiring better amplification. HE-400S from the same HiFiMan are warmer and have less resolution. I had other models long ago and therefore cannot directly compare them. Of course, more expensive models, such as AudioZenith PMx2v2 sound better.


Compatibility
One of the main benefits of this model is that it does not require a powerful source to sound to its full potential. A player with average amplification is enough. The only requirement is enough technical ability to accentuate the neutrality and resolution of SR1. Of course, iBasso players are good for this purpose, as well as QLS361 or FiiO X7-2.

The model is stylistically universal. Recording quality sensitivity is rather high - approximately 8 or 10.

Traditional example tracks
Lang Lang — Consolation No. 3 in D-Flat Major, S. 172 Yes, I won’t be original here. This light and virtuoso piano composition suit well to demonstrate the potential of such technical and neutral headphones that truly shine here.

Coheed and Cambria — True Ugly Not everyone likes neutrality and technicality when listening to metal, but I believe that progressive metal should be listened to this way. I love the way SR1 retrieve details from this track and present them.

Kovacs — Cheap Smell I can’t help falling in love with such tracks: amazing vocals, attractive presentation, stylish mix of genres. If we add neutral and detail-rich headphones (you guessed which ones), we get the portion of audiophile paradise.


Conclusions
Upon the whole iBasso have done what they usually do - their own sound signature again, this time in over the ear headphones. If you search for a relatively cheap model with good technical abilities but not requiring much amplification, SR1 should make it in your shortlist.

As usual, the same review in video format.

Last year Cayin celebrated the 25th birthday, and because of that, they have decided to produce several top-tier devices that would be able to show their gained experience and potential. Cayin N8 is one of those devices.

I got this DAP as a loan from my friends at Era-in-ear.com, they are Cayin distributors in Ukraine, and I like to thank them for an opportunity to review N8. The player will be returned to them in a few days.

After seeing the first photos of this DAP, the audience’s feelings have been mixed because of the unusual design of the player. However, after Cayin has begun selling the device globally, the feedback has become different as It has been understood that the player sounds good. Cayin engineers have decided not only to release an advanced device but also to achieve the almost impossible task - to create a portable player with tube output. This achievement has become possible with the help of Korg company, that provided its NuTube micro-tubes. Of course, it has not been an easy task to achieve this, beginning from unique mounting that protects tubes from vibrations and hits and ending with a peculiar cooling system that is a must for vacuum devices. I think it won’t be a spoiler to say that they have succeeded in all these tasks and now the N8 users can switch between tube and non-tube amplifier. Of course, it is true only for 3,5mm output because it would have been impossible to place another 4 tubes for balanced output as well.


Of course, the pricing is not small - 3300 USD before taxes, but will it stop any true audiophile?

Packaging and accessories
From all “big 3” players Cayin has the record size of packaging - the manufacturer has decided not to save on appearance and premiumness. The player is sold in a big box of a cubic form with the silver slipcover on the top of it. The box is opened diagonally to show the device itself immediately. After the unpackaging is done the owner also understands that Cayin also holds the record for accessories number. Here you will find:

• leather case;
• protective glass;
• quality USB-C cable;
• 4.4mm to 2 3-pin XLR connectors to use the balanced line out;
• 2.5mm adapter to use headphones with a balanced connection;
• two USB-C adapters to use for coaxial output (for RCA and 3,5mm input);
• a couple of Hi-Res stickers

Such accessories set makes Cayin N8 the leader of the portable world in terms of matchability as digital or analog transport in a home audio system.

Design and controls
This part has raised many questions right after Cayin has announced the device. N8 looked strange on photos. However, when you see it in person, it has its charm. It is rather large in all dimensions, and it can be hardly called portable, especially if we compare it to devices that comfortably fit in jeans pockets. Its body made of polished steel looks interesting. I want to say that it is invincible, but am not sure that the back panel made of rounded Gorilla Glass, won’t take damage in case of fall. I think it is better not to test it and use a leather case from accessories. It is notable that the back Gorilla Glass cover has an oleophobic coating that prevents it from collecting multiple fingerprints.


Of course, the knobs on the right side have been something that got many arguments right after announcements. Especially the gold coating has been in question. Upon seeing it alive, it turns out they are not that bright and perform their tasks well. The upper knob is used to change volume and turns DAP on and off if pressed. The one located a little below works as a joystick that can switch tracks when moved up and down. If pressed, it pauses or resumes the playback. My only slight complain to those elements is that they are a little wobbly and easy to press which may lead to unplanned turning on or switching of the tracks.

Other control elements are divided between different sides of the player. There are several outputs on the top of Cayin N8 - 3.5mm line out, 3.5 mm headphone, balanced Pentaconn (can also be used as a headphone out) and a balanced variant of line out. The recent switch to 4.4mm balanced jacks appeals to me - it is technically more reliable, and a better contact area is good as well. Also, it is perfect to have a "real" balanced line out which Cayin have taken advantage of.


The lower side of the DAP sports the reset hole (I have forgotten about it almost entirely with other players), microSD slot (the internal 128 GB are good but sometimes are not enough), I2S micro HDMI output and USB-C. The last one is, of course, multi-functional and universal - charging, USB-DAC mode, work with external DACs, work with USB OTG and even digital coaxial output. The DAP has an impressive battery of 7000mAh, but there are no records in working time from a single charge because of high power. The playing time is approximately 9 hours in the single-ended mode using standard amplification and approximately 6 hours using balanced out in HIGH2 mode. The full charge using usual 2A charger takes a little more than 6 hours, but fortunately, the player supports QuickCharge that allows to quickly charge it from 20 to 80 per cents in just 2 hours or fully charge it for 4 hours 40 minutes.

The screen takes the central part of the front panel. It is not so impressive as in other DAPs of this segment - just 3.2’’ but is suitable for all the tasks - the view angles and color rendering are reasonable, and it is bright enough to work under the direct sunlight (however you may still want to cover it by your hand when looking at it), the taps are registered well. Due to the smaller size the borders around it may cause some irritation among those who love the perfect elegant design but we, the audiophiles, are not touched by those slops. Especially when we see the mystical light of tubes just below the screen where Cayin engineers have left a designated gap…


Just below the gap, there is a triangular button with a multicolor indicator that shows the resolution of played files, bringing shame in the form of red and yellow for those who do not listen to Hi-Res. A single short press of the button brings you back to the playback screen, and a single long press brings you to the main menu. By the way, if you get tired of indicator, it may be switched off in preferences.

I will not draw any conclusions here because tastes differ. However, I rather liked the DAP upon using it than not. It looks respectable, however vintage.


Firmware
Although on the website Cayin calls their firmware Cayin OS it is clear that they used Hiby services to develop it. You can judge even by the inclusion of Hiby Link functions. Also, it strongly resembles something we had seen in Cayin players before they decided to switch to Android. As you may understand on this point, there is no OS from Google here. Good news for haters, bad news for streaming lovers. However, Cayin has said one may stream right to the DAP using LDAC protocol that works well both sides in N8.

Upon the whole, the firmware is rather usual, and if not, 5 minutes are enough to familiarize yourself with it. Just after power on we get to the Menu screen. There are media library buttons in the upper part of it and track information right below them with the ability to go to the playback screen. The media library is familiar - folders, playlists, artists, albums, all songs, and genres. It seems like software engineers randomized their choice of icons for different genres because it is funny to see a cocktail glass with Metal genre and Jazz genre represented by a violin. All in all, the media library works as usual, and you can also remove files and add them to playlists. Of course, the library update might be quicker, but it is at least not slow.

The playback screen brings no surprises - big album cover, playback buttons. Swipes to the left and the right allow seeing the text if it has been built-in to tags or additional information about the track. You can also use the context menu with such parameters as playback order, removal of the track and adding to the playlist.


The main screen also benefits from the swipe system. Swiping down from the top of the screen can show you the quick preferences panel - there are different sound switches here: Tube/OPA, gain, power and so on. You can also change screen brightness and watch player information.

Swiping from the bottom will bring two buttons - sound and system preferences. There are no surprises here. In sound preferences you will find the playback order, remembering of volume and position of current playing track upon power off, gapless mode, digital filter, and others. In system options, there are Bluetooth and Wifi preferences, power-off timers, firmware upgrades, choice of buttons that may work with locked screen, language choice. As you guess, Wifi here is only for firmware upgrades.

The firmware itself is stable and functional. I have not encountered any problems during its use.


Sound
During the test I have used the following headphones: iBasso IT04, Meze Empyrean, Audio Zenith PMx2, Noble Kaiser Encore, Campfire Audio Andromeda and Solaris, Unique Melody Mason V3, HUM Pristine and others.

Cayin has indeed decided to create a unique player and of course they have created the unique sound as well, comparing to other top players. As a result, we get a very emotional DAP that sometimes sacrifices neutrality to stay emotional. It is absolutely needed to understand that this DAP brings 3 variants of sound. The balanced output sounds similar to 3.5mm in solid-state mode. The main difference is in more power in balanced mode (and slight hiss) and slightly wider soundstage. The 3.5mm output is more interesting in this regard because of its tube output. The amplification mode may be switched from the menu, and tube amplifier starts with 5 seconds delay that is needed for tubes to get to the working mode.

The difference between tube and the solid-state sound is not that striking, however notable. By default, N8 offers dynamic and emotional sound with lots of macro-details, and NuTubes do what everyone expects them to - make sound softer, slightly deprives it of aggression on upper mids and make the overall sound signature warmer. Upon the whole, the default, solid state, sound appeals to me more, and I will describe the sound below in this mode. However 10-15% of music win from tube mode (mainly jazz and blues).

I even don’t know if it is worth speaking about such things as resolution and detail levels here. The player deserves its top status and has no problems in this regard. Therefore I will not make accents on it.

Bass is well-texturize, has good dynamics, depth, and energy. Cayin N8 slightly enhances bass, and this makes instruments utilizing low frequencies sound a little more forward. Of course, the DAP is not for bassheads. However, the bass is presented in a way that gives a good base for any melody. Of course, a high level of bass control gives the instruments a good body.

Mids are a little sacrificed here in terms of micro-details in favor of macro-details. Of course, N8 has good contrast, but due to enhanced emotions and overall immensity of mids presentation, the smallest nuances of music remain unnoticed. However, it does not prevent the player from sounding natural and transmit a high level of details. However, the emotional tracks benefit here a lot. The soundstage is good with almost maximal depth, and sometimes the DAP even enhances it. The width is slightly below the maximum level but is still very good and one of the largest in the portable world.

Highs are almost perfect, except one thing. In general, highs are what make top devices different, and I pay more attention to this frequency range (especially when we speak about flagship devices). Here we find highs of a good length, excellent detail retrieval, and outstanding layering. Of course, treble sounds very natural with good decays, and the only downside is somewhat reduced attacks that bring a little more aggression than needed. However, I think this was the intention of Cayin sound engineers.


I will not compare Cayin N8 to any other device firstly because it is much better than players of more affordable segments. Lotoo Paw Gold (non-touch) is similar in terms of presentation but lacks in macro-dynamics, so it has no sense to speak about it. Other “big 3” members - SP1000 and LPGT offer different sound concept - less emotional and slightly more natural, so this comparison is no good also.

Compatibility
As you may understand N8 has enough power to be used with almost everything, including hard to drive isodynamic variants. As for sensitive headphones, they are better to be used with non-balanced output to avoid noise. The models with neutral sound will benefit from use with N8. However, this is rather personal.

In terms of style the player is universal, but again, in emotional compositions (from vocals to heavy genres) it will truly shine to its maximum. It, however, is subjective too. As any top device, it is susceptible to record quality - approximately 9 out of 10.


Traditionally, several example tracks

Dream Theater — This is the Life Progressive metal is always a trial for any player. On the one side, it should be played technically, on the other - emotionally. However, as you understand, it is the ideal task for Cayin N8 with its emotional presentation. It makes this track sound very dramatic.

Röyksopp — In Space Recently I often come across those northern geniuses of electronic music. Another track that suits N8 well. Somewhat enhanced lows in combination with great soundstage let Cayin shine here.

Steven Wilson — The Day Before You Came This is the excellent cover version. Steven has made this disco track to sound like rock ballad with a good portion of melancholy. N8 in tube mode sounds great, making the guitar more vivid and vocal sound natural.

Conclusions
Cayin has not only made a top DAP, but they have also shown their vision of what the uncompromised portable source should sound like. As with any product of top quality, the result may not be welcome for 100% audience, but those who understand it and can evaluate what Cayin have done, will not stay untouched, especially when they have the love for emotional presentation.

As usual, this review is also available in video format.



The more detailed comparison of three TOTL DAPs

Hidizs obviously enjoyed the idea of Kickstart platform preorders for their new projects. After a successful campaign for their Hidizs AP80 player, they decided to try the same approach for their new IEMs and started the crowdfunding for two new models. Today we will take a closer look at the junior model.

I would like to thank Hidizs for providing me with a review sample of MS1 in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

Both IEMs adopted the codename - Mermaid. In fact, they look rather similar both in terms of appearance and packaging. The difference between them is that MS1 are single-driver dynamic IEMs and MS4, that I haven’t got for review, unfortunately, add 3 more Balanced Armature drivers to dynamic. Both models can be pre-ordered in three variants: basic, with single addon of choice or with all add-ons. Among the add-ons are the balanced cable of enhanced quality, Bluetooth cable and USB-C cable with DAC (and it is good if it is the same one used in Hidizs Sonata).


Prices are average on the market currently. The junior model starts from 150 USD (100 USD during the crowdfunding campaign). Senior is planned to be sold for 300 USD, but currently, its price starts from 220 USD.

Technical specifications

• Driver: 10.2 mm dynamic driver
• Frequency response: 20 Hz – 40 kHz
• Sensitivity: 109 dB/mW
• Impedance: 18Ω
• Cable: replaceable, 0.78mm 2-pin
• Weight: 16 gr

Packaging and Accessories

The IEMs came in the standard Hidizs cardboard box with silver embossing. The contents of the box resemble the flagship FiiO models. According to how the accessories are placed in the box, highly likely that they are made on the same factory. Besides IEMs there is a cable, plastic case and 12 pairs of eartips (3 pairs of 4 types): foam, bassy, balanced, and treble-oriented, that are named “vocal”.

It is likely for the senior model to have a better case (some images on the net suggest artificial leather).
Those enhanced accessories will be present for those who purchase add-ons.


Accessories set is very good for this price.

Design and usability

The appearance of new IEMs dispel doubts about relationships with FH5. The IEMs seem to be similar except faceplates. Bodies are made of quality metal. Shape exploits stylized universal representation of custom IEMs. There are three available colors: dark gray, blue and red. My gray variant sports a great shiny insertion on the outer side of IEMs. Here you can also find the company name and logo.

The shape of IEMs is well thought over and MS1 can easily fit any ear, however, they can still be a little large for too small ears, but it is a rare case. The sound hook has normal length and ensures above-average isolation and comfy usage over long periods of time.


The IEMs are designed to be worn over the ear and it will be almost impossible to wear them “cable down” even if you change the cable itself. The cable is, of course, detachable and Hidizs chose 2-pin connectors, probably because they did not want to crash into MMCX problems). It is rather simple, at least in MS1 model - usual silicone isolation, ear hooks without memory effect, twisted spiral after the Y-split up to the jack. The cable is, however, good in everyday use - it is not too noisy, springy enough not to be prone to entangling and does not stiffen in cold conditions.

General build quality is good, there are no problems or faults here. IEMs look strict and respectable and look very attractive.


Sound
For testing I've used following source: Lotoo Paw Gold Touch, Astell&Kern SP1000, theBit OPUS#2, Yulong DA9 and Resonessence Labs Concero HP.

Prior to testing, I allowed 48 hours of burn-in. The changes were detected only during the first 3 hours.

Testing this model I realized that MS1 is a half of hybrid IEMs. In fact, it is a good dynamic model that can easily benefit if you add some armature correctly, and I hope that Hidizs really succeeded in MS4 in this regard.

Bass is something that you instantly pay attention to here. It has good depth and firmness that will appeal to those listeners who love rolling and rumbling bass sounds. Of course, the bass is not armature in terms of resolution, however, for dynamic bass, it has rather good speed and this makes it sound well-layered and containing micro-details. Overall the bass is balanced and well-controlled, not interfering into the middle.


Mids are tuned in the way to have a typical V-shape with a macro-detail accent. The upper mids are almost perfect - they are slightly moved forward and have a good resolution that helps female vocals sound expressive, gives guitars needed aggression and ensures the presence of all other positive moments of accentuated upper mids. Lower mids sometimes lack presence. Luckily it can be heard on some tracks only. The soundstage is average in terms of width and a little smaller in depth, but the separation of instruments and layering are very good, there is no congestion.

Treble is somewhat accentuated, but it is done carefully and is not abundant. However, if you are a treble-sensitive person, I advise you to audition those IEMs before the purchase. Attacks and decays are a little shorter than normal, but in general have good length, although not great. The resolution is good and there is a good balance with bass.

As there are many models in this price category I have chosen only some of them (arguably the most popular) for comparison.


Ostry KC09 How can I omit them? Ostry’s are slightly more flat in mids and have less bass and treble. MS1 has better bass depth too.

Whizzer A15 Pro It is a more flat model as well with slightly better resolution but less weight and depth of bass.

iBasso IT01 IT01 have more aggressive sound with even more accentuated upper part of the frequency range. The bass has more speed than in MS1 but doesn’t have such depth.

Matchability

MS1 are very balanced IEMs in terms of impedance and sensitivity and they are easily driven by any sources. They are colored and do not require a top player.

In terms of style, the IEMs will suit to the genres with good and weighty bass required - from pop-music to jazz with contrabass. MS1 are not very sensitive to the quality of recording - approximately 5 of 10.


Example tracks

Röyksopp — Alpha Male (Live 2) I don’t like live recordings in general, but sometimes there are exclusions that break my preferences easily and throw them away. This track is exactly the one. With MS1 it will not only provide you with a good rhythm-section but will let you dig deeper into the live concert atmosphere.

Pat Metheny — And I Love Her Of course it is not Wichita Falls, but nevertheless a very good example of guitar jazz. And of course it requires better IEMs (maybe MS4, eh?), but MS1 play this track really well, mainly because of the correct tonal balance.

The Handsome Family — Far from Any Road Shame, but I do not know anything about this band. For sure, I might google it, but for some reason, I don’t want to. Anonymity gives an advantage to this outstanding vocal duet. MS1 cope well with vocal emotions and instrumental part.

Verdict

While I was writing this review, the MS1 gathered several times more than the goal that was set on Kickstarter, confirming again that crowdfunding campaigns are a success. However, there is enough time and if you search for interesting IEMs for a good price, Hidizs Mermaid may be one of the options to look at.

As usual, I've made the video version of review for those who prefer it.

Tin Audio were never overambitious and never tried to seize the unseizable. They have found their way - to build relatively cheap IEM models with neutral sound signature - and follow it. After having released two successful models - T2 and T2Pro they decided to try to build hybrid IEMs and released T3.

I received TinAudio T3 as a free sample in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion. IEMs are available from AliExpress for $70.

Usually at the beginning of my reviews I speak about some technical peculiarities of the models, but in this case, there is not much room for that. The dynamic transducer is rather good, as well as Knowles armature, metal body, and oxygen-free copper cable - there is nothing to make audiophile surprised. However, the hardest thing is to “mix” those parts correctly to get a good sound. TinAudio succeeds in it because you can hear their signature sound in every model they release. It is also appealing that the price of their IEMs is not very high - just 60-70 USD per unit, and you can clearly consider it to be a budget solution.


Specifications

• Transducers: 10mm dynamic + Knowles armature
• Frequency Range: 10Hz - 40kHz
• Sensitivity: 95±3dB
• Impedance: 16Ω
• Cable: 1.25m, OFC with MMCX connectors
• Jack: 3.5mm

Packaging and accessories
The box of T3 became more complex in comparison to previous models. It sports outer white slipcover with a perforation that leads to the inner box. As usual, the inner box is made in the book style, but now it has a transparent window that shows the IEMs. This makes good packaging even better.

What’s in the box:

• IEMs
• cable
• ear tips: 2 pairs of foam ear tips and 2 sets (3 pairs/set) of silicone ear tips
• manual

Such presentation works really well and the IEMs can be a good gift. They look much more expensive than they actually cost.

Design and usability
Another good point of this model is its appearance. IEMs cylindrical bodies of classic style are made of metal and there are MMCX connectors in the back part of the bodies. The shape of IEMs has been redesigned in comparison to the previous models. The general appearance became much better and effective, but, this doesn’t spoil the usual severity that has become TinAudio’s style.

Due to traditional shape, the IEMs fit well to most ears, providing good comfort and decent isolation. At last the company acknowledged that putting connectors in front is not such a good idea and moved it to the back part of IEM bodies, as it is done by many other manufacturers designing IEMs for over ear wearing. You, nevertheless, can easily wear T3 “cable down”, and in such case, it will be a good idea to switch earpieces around and to get the cable without ear hooks.


The stock cable is very good - soft, flexible and perfect in everyday use. It also looks appealing - a braided variant that may cost quite much if sold separately. MMCX connectors, which are made of metal, have a fine fixation. Jack is made of metal as well and sports carbon insertion.
The Y-Splitter is made of metal and the slider is represented in the form of a cute transparent bead.

Overall the look of T3 can be called “expensive”, the build quality is very good and you can easily see how affordable became IEMs, looking the same as flagships of 5-7 years ago.


Sound
I used the following equipment for testing purposes

• Yulong DA9 and Resonessence Labs Concero HP as DAC and AMP
• Apple MacBook Pro Retina 2016 as source
• Fidelia as the player
• Lotoo Paw Gold Touch, theBit OPUS#2, Astell&Kern A&ultima SP1000 and others as portable players
• High-resolution recordings in lossless formats (Dr. Chesky The Ultimate Headphone Demonstration Disc etc.)

Before listening the IEMs have been burnt in for 48 hours with changes during the first couple of hours only.

This time TinAudio have made a slightly different signature in comparison to their usual neutral one, making T3 sound more lively and it is the exact reason that allowed new IEMs to make a good step forward. The model is more emotional and became more recognizable while keeping non-colored sound and good resolution for its price. Making my reviews I always take into account the price range so I will not repeat it further on.


The lows are almost not accentuated and this will not appeal to enhanced bass lovers. Still, they are solid and springy and have good depth. In combination with resolution and good layering of more expensive models, it makes lows sound balanced and natural. The IEMs cope well with timbres of this register.

The mids in comparison to the previous model have become less accentuated in terms of micro-details but slightly focused on macro-details. They have good weight, are emotional and sound on a whole new level. In combination with TinAudio signature neutral sound, this allows IEMs to sound more mature. Detail retrieval is still on a very good level, however, and the involvement into music is good. The soundstage is average in terms of depth and width, the positioning and layering are good.

Treble is the thing that has been revised here as well, apparently due to the correct choice of armature driver. Of course it cannot boast layering or tonal richness of expensive multi-driver models, as well as their length, however, the treble has resolution and natural timbre. Also, I think that TinAudio engineers have chosen the correct amount of treble and it sounds rather balanced.


There are many competitors in this price range, and I have chosen some of them:

Ostry KC09 This model offers a darker overall signature with slightly less resolution and more accentuated bass.

iBasso IT01 This model is more aggressively tuned, lows and highs are more accentuated. That’s why despite almost the same level of detail retrieval and resolution, TinAudio's model sounds more neutral.

Whizzer A15 Pro Those are good dynamic IEMs with slightly more natural lows (yet without the same depth). In other parts of frequency range TinAudio sound more detailed but less full.


Matchability
Of course, the sensitivity of 95±3dB is rather low. Although part of modern smartphones will surely cope with it, such use case is not recommended. The technical ability of T3 is rather high and they require a portable player to truly shine. Actually, even the players of the entry-middle segment will do.

TinAudio T3 is not genre-specific. The only condition for you is to like the neutral, non-colored sound. They are also moderately sensitive to the quality of recording, approximately 7 of 10.


Some tracks as an example

Kovacs — Mama & Papa Unusual contrast of lyricism and epicism with distinctive vocals will bring pleasure for any music lover. This track shows the technical abilities of T3.

Dead Can Dance — The Ubiquitous Mr. Lovegrove Despite minimalism the track sounds full and T3 shows it well, with rich drums, vocals, and percussion.

ZAZ — Eblouie par la nuit Another way to show IEM technical abilities - a very emotional track that allows T3 to shine.

Conclusions
Upon the whole, TinAudio has continued their traditions and this will appeal to their brand fans. Again they have produced neutral and detailed sound in the convenient body. T3 is a good improvement in sound signature that, luckily, haven’t made the price go up.

Having spent a week with these earphones I’ve found myself thinking that probably A6 is what LZ has been trying to create for few years — hybrid model, showing the best side of each of three drivers types that are used here. Yes, you've got it right, this model uses a dynamic driver, four balanced armatures and piezoelectric super twitter simultaneously. Sounds intriguing, isn't it?

Before I proceed, I would like to thank LinsoulTech for providing me a review sample in exchange for my honest opinion. IEMs can be purchased in their stores on Amazon or AliExpress for about $310. Nice touch: you can choose a version with MMCX or 2 pin connector.


Some time ago I already tested LZ A5, it was a nice model, featuring traditional schema: DD + few BAs, but it was a fairly ordinary model, being on par with many other hybrid models existing on the market.

A6 plays in the totally different league. Creators have added a new piezoelectric driver for super high frequencies, completely revised proprietary tuning filter system and added impedance toggle, that also has a great impact on sound. This allowed A6 to make a big step forward, offering buyer new level of sound.

Packaging, build quality and appearance

Before I proceed to the most interesting part of my review, I’d like to devote a few words to the packaging, accessories, and design. The box is rather simple: red cardboard inside of black "sleeve" made of… you’re right, cardboard. Inside you will find IEMs themselves, red storage case with zipper, cable, 6 pairs of silicone tips, 1 pair of foams, manual, warranty card and 9 pairs of filters (one pair is already attached to A6). Maybe it's not the biggest set of accessories that you may find, but it's pretty acceptable at this price range.


Build quality of IEMs is really good. They are made of metal, the shape is nice and ergonomic, so it will fit the vast majority of users. Spouts are medium-sized, so sound isolation is on a normal level, but for really noisy environments it could be not enough. Earphones are made to look simple and minimal, simple black color with silver bezel, but build quality makes them look stylish and "expensive".

There is the “Loudness” button on the front panel of earphones, and in its pressed condition it will reduce the impedance of A6, increases the output volume and makes the sound more "saturated". I really like this idea, as it's the most convenient way to change the sound on the go, and I'd like to see more such toggles in the future.


Cable is simple, plain rubber isolation looks minimalistic, compared to other models of Chi-Fi market, but cables’ quality is good. It's soft enough, not getting hard when it's cold and has practically zero microphonic effect. Also, it looks really reliable, but of course it can be proven only over time, so let us see if it lasts a whole year.

Sound Impressions

Now, let's move to the sound, and I'll start with a few preliminary notes

• LZ A6 requires short burn-in, about 10 hours
• If it doesn’t sound in your ears, try different tips with them, I've got the best result with tips from Trinity Audio IEMs accessories set
• LZ A6 are among those models that benefit from cable change, for example, FiiO's LC-2.5C made lows tighter and more impactful
• try all stock filters, in manual they are ranged from less bassy to most bassy, but my subjective listening results differed from that list, so I tried them all, and most of all I liked red and black filters, but you know, "da red goez fasta", so I ended with them.

Shortly speaking, all below description is made with the stock cable, red filters and with "loudness" button pressed.


General signature of these earphones is really impressive, all drivers are doing their best to showcase their strong sides. IEMs have really good coherence, bands overlaps are almost indistinguishable.

Bass, represented by 10 mm dynamic driver is powerful and impactful. It's not as fast as pure balanced armature one, but the resolution is nice anyway. It's good in representing textures and nuances of the lowest octaves of instruments. Depth is also good, but in general, LZ managed to balance the quantity of bass really well. A6 has a slight accent on lows, and you can alter it with filters, but with any tuning, I may call them bass-heavy, it's just a nice, weighty bass. As an example, I can name Juno Reactor — Tempest. This composition has interesting low rumble in the intro part, swiping from left to right and vice-versa. A6 represented this effect in a really impressive way as well as all other trance beats of this track.


Mids are the responsibility of 2 balanced armatures, and once again you get the best of their world: resolution, good level of micro contrast, but without being too dry and clinical. The sound has proper weight, giving all instruments realistic bodies and making vocals sound lifelike. You can tune the number of upper mids with filters, having different "flavors", from aggressive to a bit relaxed. The imaginary stage is bigger than average, A6, probably, aren't the most spacious sounding IEMs, but they are definitely on the "roomy" side of staging. The separation and layering are just nice, as well as 3D positioning. I’ve chosen Snarky Puppy's "Molino Molero" as a sample track to test this — really instrument-intense track with lots of different effects, and BA drivers of this IEMs handle that without issues.


Treble is a product of cooperation between balanced armatures and piezoelectric tweeter. That gives LZ A6 a really impressive extension, combined with nice resolution and realism. These IEM's treble goes far beyond human ear's limit, but recent scientific studies showed that people can distinguish high-res recording even without being able to hear ultrasonic frequencies, so, probably, extension beyond 20 kHz makes some sense. Anyway, properly balanced treble makes A6 a real charm in representing overtones and sounding super impressive on timbre-rich instruments. From another point of view, you should select tracks properly as the compression or other treble-related issues are represented without compromises here. Besides that, treble has a perfect amount, good resolution and realistic decays. Attacks are a bit sharper than they should be, but it's not doing any harm to the overall realism of that range. "Caravan" from "Whiplash" OST shows this all great here: it is a really cymbal-intense track that will cause many IEM to suffer from insufficient treble resolution, but LZ A6 are passing this test without any problems.


Selected Comparisons

FiiO FA7 and FH5 I mention these models only because they share the same price range. Sound signatures are quite different, both FiiO models have more bass, making them less linear in representation.

Dunu DN-2000 This hybrid model is still a great offering, despite their "age": fun V-shaped signature, with a bit more accent on lows and mids then LZ A6. And LZ IEMs offers better depth and treble extension.

FLC8n Another model with tuning options, but tuning here is more precise, as you can separately tune bass, sub-bass, and middle/treble ratio. FLCs are a bit more resolving on mids, but the extension is better on both ends with A6.


Summary

LZ created a really potent model with a technical and engaging sound that will please many fans of representation that balances between fun and realism.

P.S. I also made a video version of this review for those who prefer more visual approach

A long, long time ago… In the old year of 2014, famous company Infomedia started a subsidiary company named Lotoo and announced digital audio player that became on the best portable audio devices ever created. The new gadget, named Lotoo Paw Gold had a pretty "refreshing" price tag of $2400, I could be wrong, but at that moment it was the most expensive DAP on the market. A long time passed since then, but LPG still was a great option for those who wanted great sound quality. But feature-wise, Paw was pretty outdated: small screen, button-based controls, no wireless interfaces, etc. Lotoo did a minor refresh of their flagship, releasing "Lotoo Paw Gold 2017", but changes were minor: new color and reduced background noise level. Finally, at 2018 they announced succeeder of LPG with a pretty long name "Lotoo Paw Gold Touch" (BTW, is it the longest name in DAPs world?) and this DAP is a massive leap into the market of 2018-made devices. I've spent a few weeks with LPGN, and now I'd like to tell about it.

Before I proceed, I'd like to thank Lotoo for providing me a review sample in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion. Lotoo Paw Gold Touch is available for sale at MusicTeck.


Package of original LPG was one of the most impressive boxes I've ever seen. Unfolding like Lemarchand box, slowly unveiling its contents, it did an excellent job in creating an appropriate mood for the buyer. Unfortunately, Lotoo decided to make packaging more eco-friendly and simplify it. Now it's plain black cardboard box put into outer "jacket" covered in goldish foil with embossing. This packaging looks expensive enough, but I'll miss the old box.

Inside of package, you will find:

• player itself
• nice stitched leather case
• two protective screens
• cleaning cloth
• USB-C cable in fabric cloth, looking good
• manual and warranty card

I'd said it's pretty much all you will need to use the player, not more, not less.

If you put "classical" LPG and "touch" version together and ask people which one is more recent, I bet there won't be two opinions: the new design looks modern and mature. Of course, LPG had its brutal charm, but let's face the truth: 2014 was a long time ago. Lotoo designers succeeded in creating a new "flagship" design. It combines style, usability, and the company's unique approach.


The player is pretty big, its width and height are bigger than corresponding sizes of LPG. At the same time, the new model is thinner, so it's still can be considered portable. Unlike A&Ultima, it better fits in a palm and is easier to operate. The black metal case is now more rounded, all sharp edges and slopes are gone. It contrasts with A&K's design approach and gives LPGT it's own unique look among other gods of TOTL Olympus.

Of course, the center of gadget's universe is sensor screen. It's relatively small, a bit less than 4 inches, the resolution is 800 × 480. Viewing angles and picture quality is excellent. Brightness is enough for direct sunlight. The screen is pretty responsive, but some UI elements need a bit of tweaking, mostly toggles. Their tap area is small, and they require precise aiming for toggling. Besides that, touch and gestures handling is flawless.

A nice small feature that I especially like: you can double tap the screen to wake the player up. I think all DAPs should implement that ASAP.


Right panel holds four buttons: one for toggling player on and screen locking, and 3 for track navigation and play-pause function. All buttons have nice, defined click and proper tactical feedback. The bottom panel has a slot for SD cards (player uses full-size SD). LPGT has no own memory, but it supports all card volumes so that won't be a huge problem. Near the SD slot, you'll find USB-C socket for charging, memory card access, and to use the player as USB DAC. Nice touch, when you connect LPGT to smartphone or PC, it shows menu, allowing you to select the desired connection mode. Moreover, you can choose, shall player charge while working as a DAC, it's a convenient feature that allows you to save some power using "Touch" with notebook or smartphone.

Speaking about work time, despite pretty big battery (5500 mAh), it's about average. From a single charge, I've got from 9 to 10.5 hours of work. A full charge took about 4 hours.


On top panel located two outputs: 4.4 mm "balanced" Pentacon and single-ended 3.5 mm. I think that a gradual transition to Pentacon is the right direction for portable audio. Volume knob, located nearby, is the only element reminding classical LPG: it has same gold plating and similar "sun" pattern that Lotoo connects with Apollo, god of music. Volume control uses good encoder, so it's rotating smoothly and with an apparent fixation of positions. Underneath this knob, you'll see a circular led indicator with a cool "breath" effect slowly fading in and out during playback and charge. It looks stylish, but you'll become annoyed after 15 minutes of slow blinks, you can turn it off in settings.

Overall build quality is uncompromised, and probably you can't expect less for that price range. Usability is also good; I got no single issue with it.


Firmware is an in-house developed solution, not relying on the Android core. From one point of view, it gives DAP lightning-fast bootup (about 2 seconds) and boosts its reliability and performance. From another hand, it's drastically limiting the streaming capabilities of the player. LPGT has WiFi, but its single usage is a firmware update. Maybe later Lotoo will add some network features, but that isn't certain. At the same time, Bluetooth implementation is excellent: it's bi-directional and supports LDAC.

I won't go deep into describing every single menu option, the player has plenty of them, but anyone can figure them out after 10 minutes of use.

The main screen divides into few sections. Top one contains media library buttons: Playlist, Folder, Artists, Albums and all songs, and Settings button. Media library is traditional, most probably you've seen that many times. Besides usual browsing, you can filter songs list by files resolution and perform bulk and single file operations of deletion and addition to the playlist. Artists list is single-level, selecting artist will give you all his songs without albums groping. Update: recent firmware fixed this, now two-level grouping is available. Also, I must admit that the media library is lightning fast, scanning is done in the background and took almost no time.


Below media library, the player shows information about the currently playing track, tapping here will move you to now playing screen. That screen is pretty familiar: big cover display, navigation controls, etc. Tapping album's cover will show you additional information about the track, its lyrics (if present) and signature spectrum analyzer. I like that Lotoo didn't forget about that feature of classical LPG.

Under the track info on the main screen, developers placed playback control buttons with nice sine wave animation underneath.

Swipe down from upper edge traditionally opens quick settings menu. Swiping up from the lower side will return you to the main menu from any submenu.

And about the settings. There are lots of them, but their grouping is pretty logical, so learning them won't take much time. Fun detail: you can tune both outputs separately, selecting options like mode, gain, and balance. I won't describe all possibilities, mention the most important one: parametric equalizer and ATE. As in "old" model, new Paw Gold has a perfect implementation of digital signal processing. You can select one of "Acoustic Timbre Enhancement" presets, they are fascinating and goes beyond traditional EQing. Or you can tune equalizer yourself, using a pretty convenient menu. Unlike old LPG, now you can see the equalizer curve to get a better understanding of what's going on with sound. The best thing here is that turning equalizer on don't spoil the music, unlike other DAP's implementations, so "Touch" is, probably, the best option for those who'd like to "tweak" the sound of player.


And now, let's move to the sound. As I've mentioned above, two outputs of LPGT uses different opamps so that their sounding will be a bit different. The single-ended output sounds a bit closer to "Classical" LPG: more added energy and a bit "rougher" representation. So to get the maximum "boost," you need to use balanced out with Pentacon cable or utilizing some adapter. The further sound description is made using 4.4 mm out.

Tuning of TOTL DAP's sound is a hard job, one step aside, and you fail. Representation should be neutral, detailed, but at the same time not too dull and lifeless. Luckily, Lotoo's engineers know their job well, and LPGT is a strong competitor in its segment with a superb organic and engaging presentation.

It's hard to describe the sound of LPGT because it's "correct." It sounds "as is" and that's probably saying almost everything about it There are not much "features" in player's representation to name, so I can just tell how good are particular aspects of it's sounding. But anyway, let's try to do that.


For listening, I used the following headphones: Meze Empyrean, Audio Zenith PMx2, Noble Kaiser Encore, Campfire Audio Andromeda and Solaris, Unique Melody Mason V3, HUM Pristine.

Bass is neutral, perfectly detailed and well-controlled. Player has no accents, so it won't fit the tastes of those who like "additional pump," but will perfectly suit those who want to hear any single nuance of low-register instruments. Acoustic bass, organ, lower octaves of fortepiano — that's where LPGT shines. Anyway, synthesized bass isn't a problem for it too, depth is excellent, and if you need some bass boost, you can get appropriate headphones or IEMs. As an example track for bass, I will name Dire Straits – Private Investigations. If you heard this track, I think you can understand why I selected it. This monotone bass notes in the second part of this track are in perfect contrast with Knopfler's guitar, and LPGT's ideal control of bass makes this part impressive.

Mid frequencies are masterfully balancing between neutrality and engagement. They have a tiny hint of added forwardness in the upper area that adding additional effectiveness to vocals, but that's the only deviation from neutrality. At the same time, LPGT offers an impressive integral representation of musical material, immersive and emotional. At the same time, the player is resolving, with the perfect amount of micro contrast. The imaginary stage is the widest I've heard in portable audio world (sharing #1 spot with SP1000), and one of the deepest (SP1000 is a bit deeper, but just a bit). As an example here I will use The Alan Parsons Project – La Sagrada Familia: player flawlessly recreated nice 3D effects during the intro, as well as emotions and details of central "rock" part.


Treble for me is a most significant difference of high-end device. It's so hard to point at some minor issues with upper frequencies, but they can ruin everything and make sound lifeless. Luckily, LPGT is a right TOTL player, and it's treble is as close to perfection as possible. Details, layering, proper attacks and decays — all that nuances are here, giving the player airness, naturalness and "superpowers" to deal with overtones. Treble's example will be Leïla Martial – Left Alone, one of the best vocal jazz tracks in my media library. Intensive female vocal is always a test for any DAP, but "Touch" passes it with flying colors.

Another strong side of LPGT is versatility. It has a low level of background noise to make listening to any sensitive IEMs a joy. It has enough driving power for a vast majority of full-size cans. Just give this DAP any headphones (except few toughest to drive models), and it will push them to the limits.


Few selected comparisons.

Astell&Kern SP1000 It seems to me that Lotoo engineers kept A&Ultima in mind when they tweaked LPGT sound. Both players are very close concerning sound, speaking either about "level" or "representation." Same control, same neutral, but engaging representation, same rich treble, etc. Differences are so minor that I had to do a long A/B testing session to describe the difference. SP1000 has a bit deeper imaginary stage, but the difference is subtle. Also, DAPs have slightly different mids coloration: signature "fluid" mids of A&K versus small grain of added upper mids emotions from LPGT. Honestly, I can't answer which one is better, so, you should probably base selection on non-sonic preferences like design and features.

Astell&Kern SP1000M This one is simpler to tell apart. LPGT offers better bass representation and bit more treble extension. The stage has the same depth, but LPGT is a bit wider. The difference is minor but audible.


Lotoo Paw Gold Well, this one is a more complicated choice as LPGT isn't a "classical LPG on steroids." The sound of the "Touch" was re-tuned to be less colored and more natural. So, if you like the added emotions and drive of the classical model, LPGT isn't an upgrade, but a new, different experience. But if you prefer the more natural and uncolored sound, "Touch" is a noticeable step forward.

Well, probably, it's time to summarize. Lotoo is moving in the head of the market, LPGT is a worse contender for other flagship devices: great mature sound, exciting design, and smooth UI. Of course, it lacks streaming features, but the flawless implementation of the equalizer is a much more important option, at least for me.

P.S. Video version of my review is also available

QLS (or Quloos) isn't a new company in the portable audio market. Their QLS360 became very popular among those who wanted good sound at an affordable price. Limited edition, appeared in about a year enforced their positions, bringing more fans to company's camp, but many people were waiting for an entirely new model, and in 2018 they presented it. After spending few months with a new model, named QLS361 I found that it was the best DAP of the year for me (I didn't test new Lotoo and Cayin flagships in 2018), and now I want to share my experience with Head-Fi.

I want to thank QLS for providing me a review sample in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion. The player can be purchased directly from the official site for $800 shipped.

I think I can safely say that QLS361 is the most engineered DAP ever made. Creators seem to be struggling to reach the ceiling of portable audio, and dedicate DAP's construction to that goal. Main points, highlighted on official site includes.

1. Special single-threaded real-time firmware is running "bare bones" on player's CPU to achieve minimal jitter and avoid any possible software glitch.

2. SD card power supply is isolated, and card's reads are minimized to reduce power interference and achieve the blackest background possible.

3. Player uses 0.088ps double femtosecond crystal as a clock, combined with CPLD it provides stable and reliable clocking for different parts of the device.

4. Two 470000uF super capacitors independently supply the power to the analog, and digital circuits, all the individual components of the player are separated from the common power supply via Murata filters and LDOs.

5. Six OPA1622 are used in a fully balanced amplifier with changeable topology, allowing you to select one of the amplification modes: Standard, Large current, High voltage, and Dual-high ("double both"). That allows the player to drive efficiently any possible load from low impedance IEMs with small sensitivity to power-hungry planars. Voltage swing reaches 10.4Vrms on balanced output, and output power can reach 320mW for a 300Ω load! Also, the player is outstanding in dealing with capacitive loads that often are a problem for many DAPs.

6. Player uses AK4495SEQ (specially selected specimens of AK4495) as DAC but using it with specially designed high voltage power supply. This DAC with all necessary schematics is pretty expensive, but creators proudly state that its price is only 3% of the whole BOM, and power supply costs eight times more, playing a more critical role in the sound. By the way, I have to mention, that this coincides with my opinion: not DACs or opamps distinguish sound, it's a matter of the whole schematics. My hat's off to QLS engineers.

7. Volume control is done via PGA2311UA programmable analog potentiometer to achieve the best possible level of channel balance and preserve the dynamic range of the device.

8. DAP offers an all-to-DSD upsampling option that allows minimizing THD level.


If you need more details or precise tech specs, they are available on the official site.

Before I proceed to DAP, I want to say a few words about accessories set. A box is traditional, so I don't see much sense in describing it, but accessories are an entirely different thing. They show the same level of care that is typical for QLS. First of all, you will get a nice leather case to protect your DAP from the early beginning. Also, they included protective films, cleaning cloth, balanced output adapter and USB-C cable for charging. And as QLS361 doesn't have own memory and doesn't support USB access to it's SD card, creators supplied 32 Gb MicroSD and a card reader so you can enjoy your DAP straight out of the box.

Player's design is a pretty minimalistic, simple aluminum bar with the beveled edge: a typical modern approach to design. Player available in two colors, you can get black or "champagne gold" version, both look pretty strict and mature. Creators tried to do their best to achieve the best possible usability: all controls are large, ergonomically located and have nice defined clicks.


Bottom panel contains all inputs and outputs of this player: single-ended headphones out, balanced output that uses same 3.5 mm socket, but you can use supplied adapter for 2.5 mm jacks, coaxial out and USB-C that can be used only for charging. Near the charging connector located tiny LED that will show you when charging is over. Charging took about 5 hours 15 minutes and, fully loaded, this DAP will give you from 5.5 hours (in double high balanced mode to more than 10 hours in single-ended normal mode). Of course, this numbers will also depend on a particular load, but I'd said that it's an excellent result for such a powerful device.

On left side located microSD slot supporting cards up o 256 Gb. I read that QLS cannot recognize some low-quality microSD cards, but mine Transcends are working with zero issues. On the right panel, you'll find the dual button for volume control, the separate button to enter DAPs menu, and two switches, to turn player on off and to control hold function.


On the front panel, you'll see the big 5-positional switch for navigation and play/pause and screen. The screen is good, it has appropriate viewing angles and pretty normal brightness level, but due to minimalistic firmware, it won't give a huge benefit.

So, speaking about firmware, it's minimalistic: no graphics menu, no fancy animation, no cover display, just pure text. Of course, there is no streaming services, wireless interfaces, and even the media library is missing. You browse your card's file system, select the desired folder, select some file and start playback. QLS chose this approach in their pursuit of perfect sound: no OS to impact music reproduction with background processes, no impact from extensive GUI, no multi-threading to reduce jitter. Instead, you will have everything dedicated to sound, QLS programmers implemented tons of tweaks to improve sound, even including SD card reading linearization. Also, they've created two versions of firmware that can play only WAV files with further improvement of playback quality. I tried them, and they bring a slight increase in sound quality, but I decided to stay with "stock" firmware, as I'm not ready to covert all my media library to WAV.


This "spartan" approach to the firmware stipulates it's speed. The player works with zero glitches and boots up in about two seconds, an impressive result in modern DAP world. Also, the firmware has excellent support of gapless playback and lots of sound tuning options (digital filters, amp configuration, gain switch). Nice detail: switching gain will change volume automatically so that you won't be unpleasantly surprised with volume jump — QLS361 is all about small and tiny nuances.

Subjectively, I like minimalistic FW of player, it gives everything I want to listen to music, and I can sacrifice extra features to get best possible sound quality, but you should consider if you're OK with basic FW as YMMV here.

And, of course, about the sound.


As you can probably expect, this player is neutral and very, very "technical," but at the same time, it avoids being too lifeless as some other DAPs with "monitoring representation. Creating ultra-capacitors backed power supply and sophisticated amplification scheme and then making DAP with colored sound signature would be too silly. All efforts of QLS dedicated to on goal — create of most pure, most neutral and pristine sound, and I can say that I, probably, have never heard such "untouched" sound that at the same time isn't dull and lifeless.

Bass is neutral and resolving. It's fast and deep. The device doesn't add any extra power to lows, so don't expect any additional "fun." But if you need more weight, the high voltage mode will do the trick for a vast majority of headphones. In any case, you will have a good level of attacks, nice rumble, and solid punches, of course, if all that is present in the recording. DAP is perfect for all types of bass, from synthesized lows of The Prodigy — Diesel Power and to ultra-realistic low octaves of acoustic bass of Musica Nuda — Complicci.


Mids are perfectly balancing between resolution and engagement, and it's the rare case when you can have both of two worlds, but once again it will require some well-mastered recordings. QLS361 is good in microdetalization, but unlike some other DAPs (like SE100) it doesn't throw all details right in your face, representing them more organically and without unnecessary accenting them. With this player, you will undoubtedly get all nuances that exist in a recording. If it's a string instrument, you'll hear pinch, release, decays. If it's a percussion instrument, you'll hear how the stick is touching it, how it's vibrating. Of course, the vocal is also a no-brainer for our hero, all emotions, all whispers and shouts — you'll get them. Imaginary soundstage is spacious. It's much bigger than average in width, probably one of the widest options I've ever experienced and notably bigger than average in depth, but not as phenomenal as in width. Instruments separation and layering is good, and, with proper headphones, you will get an impressive 3D picture. As an example I'll name Haken — 1985, nice prog-metal track with a fun synthesizer line, QLS361 succeed in representing all nuances of that track, from aggressive guitar to synthesizer mentioned above, blending it all into the energetic mix.

Treble is rich, and I'd probably called it mature. For me, treble is the most defining part in high-end sound, as really few DAPs succeed in "correct" representation of treble layering. QLS361 is a no-compromise device. It will give you all the details that record has, and you have to be ready for that. Unfortunately, many recording engineers nowadays don't care much about treble, and this player will show it without any attempts to hide that. From another hand, with good records, you'll have an unprecedented amount of overtones and decays rarely met in a sub $1000 DAPs range. I won't even mention resolution, realism, attacks and decays, all that is not a problem for QLS361. As an example I will cite Arne Domnerus — Lady be Good, one of the best jazz tracks both regarding material and recording quality. This player will bring you all rich details that form an atmosphere of this famous recording.


Probably the best thing about QLS361 is its versatility. It can drive anything you'll give him without any issues: sensitive IEMs — check. Good black background, excellent range of volume control, perfect channel balance. Power hungry plannars? Check. Capacitive load? Check. Low impedance load requiring current? You guess that, check.

I won't describe different comparisons, if you're interested in those, I'll attach my video review at the end, I made some comparisons in it. I will say, that QLS361 plays in the higher league of DAPs, offering more neutral signature then almost all other DAPs.

Probably I need to summarise all above-written. QLS created great DAP: neutral, universal and technical. Perhaps, not everyone will like such uncolored sound and minimalistic firmware, but if you want to hear the music in pristine form, and especially if you have few different headphones and IEMs in your collection, this player is an excellent option for you to consider.

Last year, when Sonion announced their self-biased electrostatic driver, it was just a matter of time, until many IEM makers will employ it in their products. Аs it often happened, Shozy was the first company released such model. The first version of hybrid dynamic/electrostatic IEMs named Pola had rounded metal case, it was shown on few exhibitions, and after that, Shozy took a time-out and reworked that model using more traditional casing, and now I can tell about my impressions with this pretty unique earphones.

Disclaimer: I got this IEMs with a discount in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

Pola's price is about $800, and you can purchase them from the official site: [http://www.shozy-hk.com/pola-1/]

Technical specifications

• 2-band crossover, vented design for optimized dynamic driver performance
• Frequency response: 10Hz – 100000Hz
• Total Harmonic Distortion: <0.5%
• Impedance: 12Ω
• Sensitivity: 101 dB

The package is pretty traditional but good: black cardboard box with Shozy & AAW logo, inside, you'll get nice leatherette case, in it, carefully protected by foam insert, Pola and accessories are waiting for their new owner. Besides IEMs you'll get:

• 3 pairs of single flange silicone tips
• 3 pairs of foam tips
• cleaning cloth
• 6.3 mm adapter and "airplane" adapter
• cable

Stock cable probably deserves few additional words, and it's not just beautiful (one of the classiest cables I've ever seen), it's also super comfortable and has no microphonic. Shozy used regular 2 pin connector with recessed sockets, and I was once again convinced that it's the most reliable option. Shozy representative told me that pure silver cable improves sound drastically, but I don't have one currently. I suppose I'll update my review in the future when I get it.

Pola is pretty "common" regarding design. I think you can get full impression simply looking at photos: nice wooden faceplates, semi-transparent dark grey shells, everything is already familiar. Only note: they are pretty thick. Big 13 mm driver and "energizer" for electrostatic super-twitter require much free space inside shells, and that causes increased thickness. After finding proper tips, I got no problems with fit, only esthetic "suffering" because of IEMs sticking out of my ears, but like any good audiophile I've been used to this for a long time. Earphones have pretty good metal spouts, providing nice insertion and above average sound isolation.

Of course, all ears are different, and maybe people with other outer ears' shape will have some problem with fit, but for them, AAWozy offers a custom version.

Before we proceed to sound, two side notes:

• They require about 80+ hours of burn-in to reach their full potential
• They require careful selection of tips. I've got the best results with SpinFits and foam-filled silicones from VSonic GR01 accessories set (probably, Mandarines will be OK too)
• They require powerful source with decent amp, capable outputting enough current. I've got the best results with QLS361 in high current mode

As for sound… Well, it's a Shozy. They will never make "mainstream" sound. Ok, never said never, so, correct version: they never did "mainstream sound" and most probably they won't. Pola is a unique, but not a universal model, it plays some genres perfectly, and some genres it doesn't play at all. With vocals (especially female ones), with properly recorded jazz, with classical music, they sound like the heavens for me. I like well-recorded pop and electronic music with them. Classical rock, blues, and blues-rock is also a total "win." At the same time, brutal genres of metal and poorly recorded modern pop is a total "no go" for them. So, there will be those who love Pola and those who hate.

As I've mentioned above, Pola is a hybrid, utilizing 13 mm graphene diaphragm dynamic driver and electrostatic driver with 2-band crossover, so, it reminds schema, often used in speakers world: dynamic driver+"super-tweeter." So, how does this driver work? A quote from AAW's site:

Powered by the cutting-edging miniature electrostatic tweeter technology, It employs a six microgram, gold plated membrane held against a plate charged up to 400 volts. The electrical signal voltage is amplified up to 100 times via a built-in miniature transformer. The electrostatic attraction and repulsion effects induced by music signal triggers the membrane to produce acoustic pressure.

Well, enough that dull theory, how do they sound?

Lows are a bit accented, but without crossing the border between "oh, that's a nice punch base" and "oh, my eardrums, they're bleeding!". The bass here is big, but it's fast enough to provide good resolution and nice texture representation. It's not a stable armature base, of course, but it's a base of a pretty good dynamic driver. Depth is also good, as well as control, so, despite accent, lows are managed to stay in their place and do their job. If I need to describe lows here in three words, it would be punch, body, and mass. As an example, I can mention Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats — Trying So Hard to Know. This track features real "tasty" big drum, and Pola manages to represent it in its full glory, you can close your eyes and got a total sense of presence.

Mid frequencies should be defined into 3 parts. Lower mids sounds like an excellent dynamic mids: weighty, a bit warm and life-like. They aren't super-fast, but the resolution is, and emotion representation will satisfy you. The highest part of mids is also lovely: crisp, resolving and detailed, I'd suggest that it's a twitter's impact. For example, female vocal sounds impressive, with lots of micro details and realism. So "middle mids" is the part, that will cause the most controversy. This part of the sonic spectrum is a bit "smoothed," and because of that, Pola doesn't sound aggressive, and this makes them not the best choice for brutal styles of music. Also, Shozy decided not to do "typical" 2 kHz spike, so at first, they sound as not resolving enough, but after some usage, I understood that resolution is OK, it's just my brain lacking familiar "spike." The imaginary stage is above average in width, and a bit above average in depth, layering, and instruments separation is also good. Example track will be Postmodern Jukebox — Smell Like Teen Spirit, a really, really great reinterpretation of cult classic done in orchestral 60's style. Pola shines here effectively balancing between Alisan Porter's vocal and acoustic bass line.

I'm really waiting to test Pola with silver cable, as it should make speed even better and add a bit of necessary aggression, so I will update my review with impressions when I'll get that cable.


Treble area of this IEMs is well-extended and offers an impressive level of detalisation, natural attacks and decays as well as good extension and perfect layering. For treble-sensitive person Pola can be a bit "too much," but I subjectively find an amount of high frequencies balanced. All said above means a great sense of realism for timbre-reach instruments and lots of airness in music. At first listening, I was overwhelmed with the number of overtones I've got with Pola, but after little usage I've found that enjoyable, and I miss this sense with other IEMs. As an example here I'll use Arena — Pins and Needles, nice prog-rock act with lots of trebles, impressively played by Pola.

I won't make any comparisons here, because Pola is pretty unique sounding IEMs, and I don't see much sense in comparisons like "well, it's different."

To summarize, Pola is a unique IEMs. I want to say: "Ok, everyone, go and get them, quickly," but it won't be honest. Pola isn't "one-size-fits-all" mode. However, I recommend you to listen to it if you have an opportunity, they are stellar in some cases, and it's likely you'll love them. Or you won't. However, it's a common situation for Shozy models, and that's the reason I like this company so much.

And a video version of review for those who like eastern-european accents

Sometimes I wonder, how Chinese manufacturers come out with that names: TRN, BGVP, BQEYZ… But despite the naming, usually that new models are indeed impressive, and BGVP DMG that I want to tell about is no exception.

Before I proceed, I'd like to thank DD Audio store for providing me review sample in exchange for my honest opinion.

DMGs are the most recent addition to BGVP lineup, per each ear this model utilizes two double BA speakers and double-diaphragm dynamic driver. So, in total, it gives us six drivers per side. Some "famous brand" would ask few hundred dollars for such model, but BGVP DMG price is about $140, they are available on Amazon or AliExpress. You can select one of few colors and chose a version with or without a microphone and inline controls.



The package is nice, nothing super fancy, just cardboard, but polygraphy is excellent, as well as general presentation. Besides IEMs themselves, you will get three different sets of tips (3 pairs each), two pieces of foams, cable, shirt clip and two spare filters for sound tuning. Yes, I forgot to mention that you can tune their sound with filters, but more on that later.

Earphones are both stylish and reliable. Metal cases have excellent ergonomic shape, providing comfortable and secure fit (at least to my ears). Build quality is high if someone showed me BGVP DMG and asked to guess the price, I'd probably start from about $300. Spouts have an average length, so sound isolation is on the average level, typical for IEMs: it will be enough for noisy street or public transport, but in a subway or during air trip you'll have to raise the volume.

Cable is replaceable, BGVP used right MMCX connectors. Wires' design is unusual, and they aren't braided, just wires in straight PVC isolation. Cable has a bit of microphonic, but over-the-ear wearing helps to minimize it. I've tried more expensive cables with BGVP DMG but didn't get noticeable sound improvement, so I can conclude that stock cable is also sonically good.

But of course, the most interesting matter is the sound. I gave this IEMs about 48 hours of burn-in before listening.

As I've mentioned above, DMGs support sound tuning via traditional filters, combined with spouts: unscrew, replace, enjoy. Pretty predictable, there are three filters in stock: bassy, balanced and treble-focused. But in practice, I enjoyed "treble" filters the most, as even with them this earphones have more bass than usual.

In general representation, BGVP sounds like a child of Sony's hybrids and Campfire Audio Polaris: powerful, authoritative bass, clean mids and well-developed treble.

I can't call this IEMs "basshead" model (at least to my taste), but they are bass-heavy indeed. Bass is always noticeable, and it plays a vital role in the sound of this model. Lows here are massive and pretty close to crossing the line, but staying below the "too much" limit, but of course, it's a matter of subjective preferences, and accented lows aren't everyone's cup of tea. Bass is pretty fast and deep, but of course, it's not the fastest one, but I almost never felt lacking speed. Bass decay is a bit slow, but attacks are pretty quick and firm. Lows are good in texturing and have a nice rumble.

In my video reviews, I'm trying to mention some example tracks as an illustration of some aspect of sound. It's not tracks I'm using for critical listening, for that purpose I'm using material from test CDs, so below mentioned tracks are just an illustration.

So, for lows, as an example, I'd like to mention "Absolute Infinite" by EXXASENS. Nice post-metal track with a thick and dense background that benefits from a powerful bass, building a foundation for the rest of melody.

Mids are a bit shadowed by the base, but they are crisp and resolving. In the same time, mids aren't sounding too thin, too dry and too analytical, like it sometimes happened with BA drivers. BGVP managed to put enough body into mids, making them enjoyably lifelike. Earphones are also pretty good at representing emotions, but sometimes acoustic instruments are lacking tiny nuances of their character. The imaginary stage is a bit above average in width and noticeably above average in depth, as DMGs are often adding some more depth to the recording because lows sound a bit separated from the treble (for me it sometimes reminds good 2.1 system).

As an example here I'll mention Serbian guitarist David Maxim Micich, and his track Bilo Part III. It's entirely not audiophiliac recoding, relying heavily on synthesizer, but intro with keyboards and guitar work sounds breathtakingly with this IEMs.

As for treble… You know, it's a good treble of good double balanced armature made by Knowles. To describe them, we can use lots of C-words: clean, crisp, clear, etc. If you are super-sensitive to treble, probably this IEMs can sound sharp with silver filters, but for me, they aren't even close to being harsh. Treble is excellent, with good attacks and decays, resolution, and naturalness. Layering is pretty essential, but for this price range, we can't expect more.

As an example here I'll mention Marillion's "Living in FEAR." Of course, it's not that classical band from Fish's era, but it's still one of the best neo-progressive bands, and this track shows why. BGVP DMG succeeds in representing all that airy percussion at the beginning as well as all nuances of the fortepiano.

This time I'll probably skip comparison part of the review just because this IEMs sounds in their way, and there won't be much sense in comparing them with a more typical neutral model.

So, once again, the exciting model from China. BGVP DMG isn't universal "one size fits all" IEMs, but they are delightful, and if you like accented lows, it's one of the models for you to consider.

It's not the first Meze's attempt to offer a balanced cable, some time ago, they created great cable, but its price is pretty high, compared with more than affordable 99 Series headphones. So, Meze decided to create a new cable with a better price range, and now we've got it.

First of all, I'd like to thank Meze Audio for providing me this cable's sample in exchange to my honest and unbiased opinion.

Of course, $99 is much better than $199, but maybe it's because the new cable is 2 times worse? Well, I can say: no. New cable offers a perfect price-quality ratio.

The cable itself is made of silver-plated copper in TPU jacket, so it's soft, it's reliable, and it looks nice. It's not typical "audiophile" braided "rope," typical in the high-end segment, but with portable usage in mind, I'd prefer new cable, as the fancy old balanced wire is harder and less flexible.

I'll skip parts related to package and installation, and I think it's predictable and will continue with sound.

As I'm a prominent skeptic when it comes to wires, I've tried to make this part as objective as possible and conducted a series of blind A/B tests. Of course, the most significant change when you'll switch to balanced cable will be caused by the different output of your DAP/DAC: more power, better channels separation — that's the primary source of sound improvement. However, I needed to find out a difference between this cable and the stock one, so I've decided to use 2.5 mm to 3.5 mm adapter supplied with Meze's $199 cable. I've tried it with few IEMs with balanced cable and found it sonically transparent and thus suitable for my tests. I've used SP1000 as a reference source to get the best possible sound quality.

So, compared with stock cable, the new one makes mids, especially upper mids a bit more forward, so they sound a bit more detailed. This change in representation also causes a slight increase in stage depth and width, not drastic, but noticeable, especially in layering. Also, bass became a bit less in quantity, but even tighter. Also, I think the treble became a bit more extended, but this change is barely audible, so I'm not 100% sure.

Besides that, I've made comparisons between "old" and "new" cables, using 2.5 mm output of my Ultima. Most expensive cable has the most forward mids, but of course, it preserves 99's signature with accented lows, but it gives them the maximum possible resolution and highlights emotions the most. Anyway, I can't say that I'd pay $100 extra for this cable, as changes between two balanced cables are way less than between stock and new 2.5 mm one.

Of course, old balanced cable is better in absolute sound quality, but a new one offers better quality to price ratio.

In my recent review of Penon's OS849 cable, I've already shared my opinion about cables and their impact on sound. I won't repeat it once again, but in short: I'm making blind A/B tests to describe the difference between cables, and changes are often audible, but I doubt that changes are implied be cable materials directly. Changes are caused by cable's electrical parameters difference, and that parameters can be caused by material, so, silver, gold, and other components affect sound only indirectly.
Before I proceed to the central part of the review, I'd like to thank Penon Audio for providing me the sample in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

If you never tried Penon's official products before, I recommend you to buy at least something, simply to see, how much care can be put into simple things like packaging. While much more expensive cables sometimes come packaged in plain ziplock, moderately priced GS849 impress you with the package. Wooden box, excellent velvet pouch, sturdy short clip, all that velvet inserts, protecting box's content — it's nice and adjusts you to a positive mood.
The cable itself is good, and it's perfectly braided of 8 cores, each consisting of 49 gold and silver plated OCC strands. Build quality is superb, Penon Audio uses highest quality connectors, solder, and splitters. Usability is also excellent, despite being pretty thick, cable is soft and has zero microphonics.

I've made a series of A/B testing, comparing stock cables of different IEMs with GS849, and here are results.
The most often change I've got with this cable, it's making lows deeper and faster, causing a bit drier sound with improvements in texturing and instruments separation. It sounds great with almost all hybrid IEMs I've tried, but with some pure-armature IEMs (e.g., Andromeda), sound can be a bit too dry.
With Dunu DK-3001 I've got definitive improvements in lows (as described above), giving more natural sound. Also, cable added a bit resolution on mids, but this effect is barely audible. Additionally, I've got noticeable improvements in treble extension. I observed similar effects with iBasso's IT03, Magaosi K3 HD, and HiFiBoy OS V3.

With Rose Br5 Mk2 I've got more forward and emotional mids, causing improvements in staging and instruments positioning. Magaosi K5 got a better treble extension and more natural sounding lows.
So, once again I can recommend you cables made by Penon Audio, they are one of the most cost-efficient solutions in the world of aftermarket cables.

When it comes to the cables, I'm always holding skeptical positions. I do believe that cable can change a sound, but I don't believe in "universal changes," especially those based on the material. You know, all that stories about "silver improves treble" or "copper adds more lows." Of course, it's quite possible that copper wire will add base, but often it won't. Also, pretty logical, that some cable can change the sound of different IEMs similarly, but also pretty expectable that changes will be different. The portable audio rig is a system with 3 components: source, cable and IEMs, and cable rolling can depend on different aspects, to name a few:

• your DAP can have high output impedance, and its impact will "mask" cable's impact
• single dynamic driver models are much less likely to change sound depending on cable
• changes in sound will depend on cable you're replacing, if some IEMs have a bad cable, improvement will be drastic, if a stock cable is excellent, well, even degradation is possible

So, after describing my position, I'm ready to share my experience with Penon's OS849 silver plated copper cable.
Before I proceed, I want to thank Penon Audio for providing me a review sample in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

I will probably skip non-sound related stuff, or at least I'll try to make it as short as possible. OS489 comes in the perfect cardboard box, inside you'll get stylish wooden storage case with cable. Also, you'll get a small velvet pouch and shirt clip. Package shows excellent attention to details, much better than for many over-expensive cables.
The cable itself is 6n single crystal copper silver-plated cable, having 8 cores, each containing 49 strands (now, you see, where does model's name come from). It's built nicely, from high-quality MMCX connectors to stylish carbon inserts. Cable is pretty thick, but it's soft, so I got zero issues with comfort, microphonic is also absent.

As for sound, I've merely done a series of blind A/B testing (thanks to my lovely wife for helping with that), and I'll limit my sound impressions to some feedback with particular models. I've used A&Ultima as a reference DAP, and all sound changes are described relative to stock cables of corresponding IEMs. Also, I must admit, that all changes, described below aren't big, but anyway, they are still audible.
Probably the most noticeable change with this cable I've got with Magaosi K5, pretty good 5-BA model from China. While K5 is excellent on mids and merely good on lows, treble is it's the weakest part. Highs here are lacking layering and have non-natural, somewhat artificial sound. It's pretty OK for the price, and I can stand with it, but OS849 improves that. With this cable, treble layering improves as well as naturalness. Also, cable make lows a bit dryer, making overall sound of IEMs more "rich" and closet to expensive IEMs, unveiling full potential of that 5 drivers.
Another pretty noticeable change I've got with Rose Br5 Mk2. One of the most distinguishing features in Rose's sound is a smoothed mids, and cable changes this drastically. Mids became sharper and got more microdynamics, causing small, but noticeable improvement in resolution. Treble layering also improves here, but this change is less noticeable compared to the change in mids.

I've tried OS849 with iBasso's hybrid models. With IT04 I've got zero audible changes, probably because their stock CB12s cable is already superb. With IT03 I've got a bit more lows and noticeable improvement in treble extension.
With Campfire Audio Comet I also got the noticeable improvement in treble extension, and small, barely noticeable bass decrease.

So, to summarize, OS849 is a great cable, it's stylish, it's comfortable, and it improves sound when it can be improved. Moreover, the most important, it's affordable, compared with other TOTL cable makers.

Ceramic drivers in the role of high-frequency tweeters in the portable audio are no longer a novelty; they were used by both the Japanese from Radius and the Chinese from 1More, wherein achieving excellent results in a treble area. However, I somehow did not find the model, which, in addition to the "tops" had well developed the other parts of the diapason. Now such model has appeared, so let's talk about it.

First of all, I'd like to thank IMR Acoustics for providing me a free sample in exchange to my honest and unbiased opinion.

IMR Acoustics R1 is an unusual model, using the hybrid scheme, combining a big 13 mm dynamic driver with the beryllium-coated diaphragm and a ceramic tweeter for high frequencies. The R1 also incorporates a unique switchable construction that allows to you change the type of earcups from closed to open (half-open, to be precise). Also, these IEMs have a detachable cable and allow tuning of the sound with the help of filters.

The cost of this model, of course, is no small, the R1 Price is 500 pounds, but going forward, I can say that in this case the cost is chosen correctly and matches what the buyer receives. Also, you can save pretty well, buying one of B-stock items, available on IMR's site with discount.

Design and comfort
One of the most fun features of R1 is the fact that in the photo (and partly in the video) they look worse than in life, which became one of the triggers for couch warriors who like to rate headphones by the photos. In reality, IEMs are attractive, with a slightly brutal design: everything is made of metal, assembled with screws; and looks a bit retrofuturistic. The build quality is quite good, but how they will behave themselves after a couple of years - only time will tell, but at the first impressions, they look entirely indestructible. Rotating covers for adjusting acoustic enclosure are pretty convenient even for blind control; they have a proper fix in the end positions (may be, of course, over time, they will become rickety, but this has not happened yet).

Despite the large size, R1 is comfortable in wearing; at least they fit without any problems in my ears, providing a long-term wearing comfort and the sound a little above average. During headphones wearing there is a slight driver flex, but careful handling helps to avoid problems.

The cable is made detachable and uses a two-pin connector with a bump for protection of the connection from incorrect polarity. Both stock cables (they are the same except for the plug) looks brutal, and they are the thickest non-twisted cables for IEMs.

At first, isolation seems disobedient, but over time it became softer. Of course, regular R1 cables can't be called ideal of ergonomics, but in fact, it turned out, that they are quite convenient in wearing, the microphone effect is almost absent. However, you'll won't have to worry about the durability of this solution.

Sound
Before listening, the headphones got 60 hours of burn-in, changes in the sound were during the first 8-10 hours.

Before talking about the sound, it is worth to say a few words about the possibility of its tuning. First, by rotating the outer parts on the case, we can change the cases between closed and open (it would be more precise to call it "not closed" or "semi-open"). Of course, it affects the sound isolation (not so much as it could be, by the way), the low frequencies and, as a result, a bit an imaginary stage. I use "open" option in the majority of cases, it is neutral, more balanced, and the imaginary stage is slightly wider (although the difference is not very big). In a noisy environment, a closed version comes to the rescue; firstly the isolation is a bit better. Secondly, the low frequencies penetrate through passive noise isolation most of all, so slight increase in LFs compensates external noise.

Secondly, you can alter the sound can with the help of filters. After trying out different variants, I've stopped at the blue, as the most balanced. If desired, IMR R1 can be turned into a very bassy model of outstanding quality, but I did not feel such a desire, so the review below is written for a neutral version of tuning.

With any tuning option, lows remain noticeable, but with blue filters, they have the best combination of control and impact. Bass has a perfect weight, staying pretty fast and offering great texturing. Lows go deep, almost reaching physical limit possible for IEMs. Of course, it isn't super-speed low frequencies of BA IEMs, but for the big dynamic driver, bass performs more than reasonable. That sense of well-controlled power that's what makes this so unique. When necessary, lows here can represent blows, implosions, thunder roar, when that's not required, they stay on their place, offering the great hint of warmth, adding realistic body to low-range instruments.

Mids are a bit smoothed, giving the lovely tint of realism to the R1's sound. These earphones don't try to make an accent on microdetails, but of course, the resolution is more than okay. Mids are emotional, with a pleasant level of energy and drive. The imaginary stage is spacious, with pleasant instruments separation, it's noticeably bigger than average both in width and in depth. Layering and instruments separation are also lovely and very realistic. IEMs don't try to make the sound more spacious then it is, so adequately mastered recordings will be a real plus.

Treble is another substantial part of this model. Highs have the perfect extension as well as layering and resolution. At first, IEMs without typical roll-off above 10 kHz sounds a bit unusual, but after some usage, you'll be surprised, how many small nuances you were missing before. Treble attacks and decays are also really lovely. From another hand, this IEMs are critical to material quality, some recordings have a weak upper treble area, and IMR R1 will clearly show that to you.

Few selected comparisons.

Dunu DK-3001 Dunu's hybrids are closer to neutrality and have a slightly better resolution, but lows and highs of R1 are more "tasty." Of course, it's subjective, but that's just my opinion. So, 3001 are a bit faster, but sometimes happiness is not in speed.

Campfire Audio Lyra II Lyra II is also a more neutral model tending towards monitoring representation. It offers less weighty lows with faster representation, but on the mids and treble R1 is a clear winner concerning engagement. Generally speaking, R1 sounds like a step from Lyra II towards Vega.

Campfire Audio Andromeda Well, of course, "Andro" is a better performer: neutral, but emotional, spacious, with better staging. From another hand, Andromeda's mids are dryer, and sometimes I can trade better technical characteristics for more "fun." Moreover, let's not forget about the price.

Compatibility
This headphones, of course, require a good player, wherein they have enough "potential" even for the top-tier solutions. Subjectively, I liked them the most with neutral players (iBasso DX200 or Ultima SP1000).

Style-wise, IMR R1 are universal, if you are satisfied with extended treble (not all genres benefit from that), the sensitivity to recording quality is above the average (especially over the upper frequencies).

Few tracks that I subjectively liked with this IEMs

Calvin Haris — One Kiss The work of the Scottish DJ perfectly demonstrates all the strengths of the headphones. Excellent elastic bass, clear middle frequencies, pleasant, treble effects and, of course, a general feeling of three-dimensionality — it is everything that is needed R1 to show itself from the best side.

George Michael — A Different Corner Looking with an unbiased glance, I can say that masters of pop music are well-known for their quality of the recordings, especially, if we talk about a live recording of a very emotional vocalist. IMR R1 does not pass on this material too; there is a beautiful staging, an excellent transfer of vocal emotions, full legibility of all instruments.

Massive Attack — Teardrop Of course, this is not a novelty, and the track is famous, but after listening to the track with the characters of today's review, I could not miss it. The signature corporeality in the presentation of the material turns both the piano and the accompanying vocal into a real feast for the ears and clearly outlined lows and light, extended treble complement the sound.

Conclusions
The complete harmony of content and appearance, quite a brutal case hides a forward, powerful sound with enjoyable tuning possibilities inside. Price, of course, I cannot call budget, but this is the case when headphones compete well in their segment and in many cases overperform it.

Many years of friendship connects me with Ambient Acoustics Laboratory from Kyiv. Once upon a time, I've started my journey to the world of customs with their 4-driver model AM4. Then it was upgraded to 6 drivers, to 10… Once you get locked into multi-driver CIEMs, the tendency is to push it as far as you can.

As usual, the primary audience of the laboratory were professionals: musicians, singers, sound engineers, but about two years ago, AA created the unique line of IEMs, dedicated to music listening enthusiasts. This models gathered all existing "know-how" and added a new feature called "Linear Acoustics Mod" — special crossover toggles, allowing sound tuning. That's actually why new models are called LAM: LAM3, LAM5, and LAM7 (I think you can easily guess the number of drivers in each model). After little thinking, I've decided to downgrade my AM10 Special Edition to LAM7. Of course, word "downgrade" is just a joke, often less is even better, but it's a matter of separate discussion.

Like almost every other model in AA lineup, you can get LAM7 in custom ($1150) or universal body ($1050). Custom's price includes free steampunk design (yep, you know — all that gears and springs on the faceplate) and a wide selection of color options, as well as different other design options: carbon, metallic faceplates, glitter, full-colored images, etc. Recently, laboratory purchased and mastered 3D milling machine, so now your customs can be made of different types of premium plastic and exotic woods, this cost additional $300, but I think it's worth that price, I think after seeing photos in this review you'll agree with me.

Ambient Acoustics also offers a vast selection of cables with different termination options. Stock version is made "in-house," it's done to match a general design of your shells and uses proprietary screwing connectors. I like those, as they are secure and reliable, but you can ask for a regular MMCX/2 pin.

Traditionally, IEMs came in the hard plastic case, besides earphones and cable you'll get dehumidifier pill, cleaning tool, two sets of treble filters and a tool for filter replacement.

Design-wise, LAM7 are typical custom IEMs, tailored precisely by your ears impressions. Spouts have three bores, two with metal tubes inside (for better mids and lows representation) and one without (this one is where the treble filters go).

The comfort of wearing and sound isolation is typical for customs, in one word — they're superb. The stock cable is soft and reliable, so concerning design and build quality, everything is top-notch.

One of the most exciting features of LAM's crossover design is unique technology, used for phase and impedance correction, this allows to lower source's impact on IEM and achieves better sound even with high impedance source.

So, as I've mentioned before, the sound is tuneable. By default, with all switches off, LAMs have the almost linear frequency response with a slight accent on treble, unevenness of FR is about 12 dB. Using acoustic filters, you can tame it a little bit with white filters or even further reduce treble with green ones. You can select amount of bass (0 dB, +6 dB, +10 dB, +14 dB) and also you can boost mids area (approximately from 250 Hz to 3 kHz). So, you'll get 24 different tuning options. Most probably, you won't toggle them always, I've ended up with the following tuning: +6 dB on lows to add a bit more warmth, mids boost and white treble filter. So, further sonic description is for this tuning.

TL;DR Organic representation with natural mids, deep, punchy lows and a big imaginary stage. High resolution, but not too clinical sounding. Nice treble extension.

Bass is almost close to perfection. Lows use double acoustic filtering, without constraints in the electrical crossover. That allowed more linear phase of lows and better shaping of bass speakers "responsibility area." So, lows here not only have great punch and texturing, but also stays perfectly in place, even with +10 dB boost (but with +14 dB option it can bleed a little bit on mids in bass-heavy tunes, but it's almost unavoidable). With bass tuning options you can select necessary amount of weight with beautiful precision, but with any of options, you'll have great rumble and sense of realism.

Mids are almost neutral with default tuning and get a pleasant forward signature with switch toggle. In the vast majority of cases I prefer a small boost here, it makes a vocal sound more forward, with a bit of added emotions. It's also the perfect option for heavy music connoisseurs, as it gives a subtle hint of added aggression and drive. LAMs aren't digging too deep in micro contrast, avoiding being too thin and clinical, instead of providing a great sense of solidity. All instruments have a realistic body, and vocal sounds emotional and lively. The imaginary stage is excellent, it's a bit bigger in width, then in depth, but anyway, layers separation is superb.

For the first revision of AM7-LAM, my central claim was the treble, I've missed some additional accent on treble, as Ambient Acoustics tried to make a model that will satisfy both treble lovers and treble haters. Now, this problem was solved, as you can get as much treble as you'd like. No-filter version of treble is fun: crisp sound, with highlighted treble attacks and perfect layering. But this tuning is a bit "too much" even for me, so white filter is just what I need: more than in previous revision of LAMs, less than in the non-damped version. So, in this case, treble is perfectly balanced (at least to my tastes), bit on dryer side with great attacks and a bit shortened decays, good layering and separation. An extension is also excellent, without roll-off on the upper treble.

As for comparisons, currently I own two models of the same level that can be compared with LAM7, it's Campfire Andromeda and Noble Kaiser Encore.

To get the sound close to Andromeda's, you need to toggle all switches off and use the medium treble filter. In this case, Andromeda is more resolving on mids, while LAM7 offers more realistic lows, a bit politer treble and more body on mid. Regarding speed, Andromeda is a bit better, and also provides the deeper imaginary stage (not much, but anyway).

For tonality, close to Kaiser Encore you'll need to add +6 dB on lows and use the medium treble filter. Kaiser sounds more full-bodied than LAM7, with more bass resolution and more natural mids. Upper frequencies are almost on par with a bit different approach: LAMs are dryer, while Kaisers are a bit more energetic.

I also own few other flagship models (CA Vega, Hum Pristine, 64Audio U12), but they are different, and I don't see much sense in comparisons of entirely different IEMs.

Well, it looks like I have to write some conclusion. So, if you're looking for CIEMS that are close to TOTL, but priced much more reasonable, Ambient Acoustics LAM7-C is an option to consider. They offer lots of exciting features, sound tuning options, great design and, of course, rich and engaging sound.

It's always good to start a review with some bold statement. Here it is: I think theBit is the only company that can compete with A&K in the DAP world. There are few other companies, offering competitive solutions, but only theBit managed to create product both stylish, comfortable in use, and delivering top-tier sound. Of course, I'm speaking about OPUS#2, but entry-level OPUS#1 was a great model, but… What time is it? Upgrade time! So, please welcome OPUS#1S.

First of all, I'd like to thank theBit for providing me with the sample of OPUS#1S for exchange to my honest and unbiased review. I've had only to pay import tax.

As usual, I'll try to keep "intro" part short. Player's box got slight "facelift," now the main package is done in stylish red color, and outer sleeve has beautiful grey color and texture, looking more modern. Inside you'll get DAP itself, Micro-USB cable, warranty card, manual and spare screen protectors. A gorgeous leather case is sold separately, but many shops offer sweet bundles with some discount, so I recommend you to get the case too.

Design and UX-wise, new OPUS looks like it's predecessor, but with few significant improvements. First one, it's a color, you can get #1S in stylish blue and burgundy colors. Both options are looking unusual and fresh. Also, the new version has exciting texture on the back side, small, but attractive touch. Second, probably most significant change is the screen. theBit used one of the best displays in portable DAP world. It has everything you can expect: excellent resolution, large viewing angels, pleasant color balance and even enough brightness. The difference is even more noticeable in the direct comparison of two revisions.

Speaking "in general," OPUS#1S offers outstanding build quality: nice plastic, perfect finish.

One the sides you'll find primary control buttons: volume and playback. On the top located two outputs (3.5 mm and 2.5 mm) and on/off button. On the bottom, we'll get Micro-USB connector. The player can handle 2 MicroSD cards (for DSD lovers) and also has 32 Gb of built-in memory. Card slots are located under the small lid on the lower left side. Player has perfect work time, in my tests I've got a bit above 10 hours.

But of course, most of the interaction with DAP is done via the touchscreen. theBit uses highly customized Android. Overall UI is simple, reliable and fast. Unfortunately, the player doesn't have WiFi and Bluetooth, so no third party apps, no streaming, just OPUS#1S is just "offline" player, playing music from its storage, but it does that well.

theBit completely re-vamped sound of OPUS#1 and created much more enjoyable and engaging signature with added weight and emotions, giving a good sense of realism.

Lows here are weighty, with a pleasant body, but they aren't slow of muddy. Bass goes pretty deep, but lowest layers are a bit recessed in quantity. The player is perfect in representing bass textures and low register instruments separation.

Mids are good in combining detailed and dynamic sound, so the player is outstanding both in micro and macro dynamics. It's nice in every aspect, from vocalist's emotions to different rumble and roar. Resolution isn't a record, but anyway is good. OPUS#1S highlights emotions a little bit, but does that politely, without overacting. The imaginary stage is above average in both directions. Player has charming, spacious sounding (not as good as OPUS#2 of course, but for this price tier it's excellent anyway).

Treble is a bit simplified regarding attacks and decays, but they have good extension, so they are good at adding "air" to the sound. Treble resolution is good too, so even with TOTL IEMs OPUS#1S sounds decent.

Few comparisons

OPUS#1 For me, the previous version sounds colder, in more "monitoring" way. It has a wider, but the shallower stage, that sometimes sounds exaggerated, so #1S is more enjoyable and more "lively."

OPUS#2 Of course it's a flagship DAP and for me it worth any penny of its price. Bigger imaginary stage with perfect holographic effect, mere neutral, but engaging presentation — everything you can expect from flagship is here. Well, as you can probably guess, I love OPUS#2 much (even owning SP1000).

OPUS#3 This one offers a bit smoother and a bit darker representation for those, who like intimate and warm sound. Sometimes it's engaging, and sometimes I prefer more neutral signature.

FiiO X5-3 I can't call the difference in "level" here is gigantic, but OPUS is a bit more natural, a bit more energetic, while FiiO offers a bit better treble attacks.

Cayin N5-II Well, this is an entirely different DAP. Cayin is neutral DAP for those, who prefer such sound signature with better resolution, but sometimes it's too demanding and even dull (but it depends more on quality of recordings).

Lotoo Paw 5000 Mk II And once again, DAP pretty close regarding signature to OPUS#1S. I've made some blind A/B tests, and the difference isn't huge, but OPUS makes a small step forward concerning engagement and mids emotions.

As for headphones pairing, OPUS#1s offers more driving power, so now it can easily handle almost any existing cans. On the other side, it stays virtually quiet with sensitive IEMs. For this player, I'd suggest some neutral models like HiFi Boy OS V3 (indeed a hidden gem IMHO) or CA Andromeda. But of course, it's more a matter of subjective preferences.

So, despite lacking wireless features, new OPUS stays interesting DAP for those, who prefer the engaging sound and it's another proof that theBit really can tailor their own, exciting sound.

Pretty long ago I've had an outstanding experience with Lear's IEMs: AE1d, LUF-4, BD4.2 — all of those models offered perfect price/quality ratio. Lear also released few exciting models with NatroSound technology. But for last few years I didn't hear much from Lear, but meanwhile, they've released few worthy models, one of which I'd like to review today. It's 3-driver hybrid model Kaleido.

First of all, I'd like to thank Lear for providing me with the Kaleido sample for exchange to my honest and unbiased review.

First of all, let's talk about "boring" parts: everything is okay. A package is neat, and accessories set is pretty big (4 pairs of silicone tips, a pair of foams, microfiber cleaning cloth and extremely stylish storage case).

Now, on to more exciting parts: design of Kaleido is stylish, actually, they justify their name — faceplates have the kaleidoscopic effect. From photos, I was afraid that IEMs would look too shiny, but in real life, they are pretty OK to wear even in homophobic countries like ExUSSR ones. If you prefer some other design, Lear offers tons of customization options for the affordable price.

Lear nailed the design, the shape of Kaleido is ergonomic, and they're providing a good fit and a bit above average nose isolation. You can get Kaleido in the universal body (for about $220), or as a CIEM (for about $260), the price difference is subtile, so Lear's models can be an excellent introduction to the world of custom IEMs. I've chosen UIEM only because it was almost impossible for me to make an impression.

Cable is replaceable, and it's a bit firmer then modern-world wires should be. It's OK as a stock option, but for long listening sessions and regular street wearing, I'd suggest you get some other cable (by Lear or a third-party one). Lear uses universal MMCX connectors, so finding proper option will be simple.

But of course, most important is the sound.

For evaluation, I've used following gear.
- Yulong DA9 and Resonessence Labs Concero HP as a DAC/amp
- Apple MacBook Pro Retina 2016 with Fidelia as a source
- Lotoo PAW Gold, theBit OPUS#2, Astell&Kern A&ultima SP1000

I gave Kaleido 72 hours of burn-in, but they don't require such a long "warm-up."

Regarding general representation, Kaleido stays aside from the sound of "typical hybrids," Lear decided to make them softer sounding for those who don't like sharp and aggressive upper mids.

Bass isn't the fastest, but it's not slow either, it has pleasant weight, and great in representing textures. It's pretty deep, so all of the necessary rumbles are here. Low register instruments separation is on standard level.

Mids are a bit recessed, as IEMs have the typical V-shaped signature, so it's not a model for the fans of critical listening and neat-picking, but in a vast majority of cases, they have enough resolution. Mids are a bit on the softer side, but added warmth suits many genres. Kaleido is pretty good in staging, they bring vocal a bit forward, adding a pleasant sense of depth to the sound. Width and depth of imaginary stage are about average.

Treble is pretty detailed and manage to add a necessary level of "sparkle" to the sound of this IEMs. Attacks and decays are a bit simplified, but the resolution is pretty normal and "in general" treble sounds very natural. Treble manages to balance overall representation.

So, once again, Lear managed to create pretty interesting IEMs, combining the stylish look and pleasant sound signature for those, who like a bit relaxed representation.

I always was a great fan of any "limited editions" and other "exclusive" stuff. So, when my friends from Portativ.ua (Ukrainian distributor of Campfire Audio) told me that they got in stock Pacific Blue version of Andromedas I've decided to sold mine regular ones and upgrade. I'm not sure, are they yet available anywhere (besides actually Portativ.ua), but I'll share my impressions anyway. As I didn't write my feelings on regular Andromedas too, I'll try to make this review two-in-one, because the difference is tiny (but anyway noticeable).

First of all, I'd like to thank Campfire Audio for providing me with the regular version of Andromeda for exchange to my honest and unbiased review. I've used them for almost a year but then traded for this limited edition.
Box and accessories set are the same as for regular version. The only difference is the color of the box and its sticker. Inside you'll have a brown raw leather case from CA, three pairs of single flange silicone tips, three pairs of foam tips, regular set of SpinFit (how I can type TM symbol?), cleaning tool and signature pin with company's logo. Also, you'll have cable for the IEMs, I'm mentioning it separately, as the cord is indeed excellent. Of course, I'd like to see a balanced wire in this box too, as it was with the first version of Jupiter. But new Campfire (or should I call them Alo) Audio cables are more expensive, and only one is in the box. Anyway, accessories set is excellent even for this price range.
As for design, probably everyone, who is interested in personal audio gear have already seen Andromedas. Their green color became the signature feature of this model. Anyway, Campfire released few limited editions of a different color. I've tried to gather as much information as possible, but I could miss something or make a mistake.
- "Polar white" Andromedas for Japan
- Polished copper and silver versions of Andromedas for Chinese market
- Polished chrome version for close friends and company's co-workers
- "Pacific blue" version for other markets
Anyway, limited version uses the same design as regular ones, but with different color and a bit different hand-polished CNC steel sprouts. I didn't make precise measures, but I've seen mentions that this sprouts version are 1-2 mm longer. Indeed, with limited Andromedas, I've got a bit better fit, compared with my original Andromeda of the first version. Probably, this change isn't sprout-related at all or was introduced in recent revisions of "regular" Andromeda too, here I can't tell for sure, but the fact is new version is a little bit easier for me to fit.
So, with all above being said, now I can call Andromeda definitely comfortable IEMs without fit issues (but YMMV anyway). They provide convenient fit and average sound isolation that is enough for noisy street or public transport, but subway or in the plane you'll need to increase a volume.

Some warm words deserve the cable. Campfire uses probably the best MMCX connectors in the portable world (at least of those I've tried), they have a perfect gripping force and serves long, despite the hard usage. Cable itself is also lovely; it's soft, it's easy to untangle, it looks nice and has zero microphonic effect. It's made of high-quality silver plated copper. Anyway, if you're a fan of cable rolling, Alo Audio offers tons of different options, including gold ones.
Probably everyone here knows the representation of Andromeda (more then 20 reviews, is it a Head-Fi record?): neutral, resolving and super-natural sound with a perfect balance of audiophiliac detalisation with a pinch of musicality.

Bass is fast, with perfect attacks and a bit shortened decays, typical for well implemented balanced armature designs. It's adequately balanced concerning quantity, but it leans a little bit to the faster side, so in rare cases, I'd like to see a bit more weight (not more bass itself), but that tracks are limited. Andromeda's lows have great texturing and offer clean instruments separation. The depth and overall control are also excellent.
Mids are neutral, they don't have any coloration, but on the other side, they don't have that hollow, sharp and bodyless representation, typical for inexpensive armatures. Mid frequencies in this IEMs correctly reproduce any single tiny nuance of the track, but Andromedas are critical to the quality of a recording. They don't try to mask mastering flaws or add any missing emotions, so they require that from the so records should be indeed excellent. The imaginary stage is close to maximum in width and a bit smaller than that in depth, anyway, it's one of the biggest in IEMs world. Earphones do a great job in layers separation and instruments positioning.

Trebles are also "typical" for well-done balanced armatures, they have the superb attack and a bit shortened decays, but most important is that they have the right layering. For me, that layering is #1 criteria of TOTL models. Of course, we can even not mention treble resolution and sense of realism. So, if you're not too treble sensitive, high frequencies here will impress you.
As for a limited version of Andromeda, there is just one minor difference: they have a bit more body on the lower half of spectrum (starting from lows and up to the middle of mid frequencies). I can't tell for sure, is it right for all limited edition Andromedas, maybe it's just a difference in two particular exemplars, but I've done some blind A/B testing and the difference was audible. Anyway, this difference was pretty subtle, so I don't think that you'll need to exchange basic version if you already own one.
Andromeda is a sensitive IEM, and you should consider this during source selection. You'll need not only perfect control all over the whole frequency range but also a low level of background noise. Subjectively, I prefer A&K models and Cayin N5-2 with this earphones.

So, from one hand, I can't tell $1000+ IEMs "affordable," but from the other hand, Andromeda is at the early beginning of "TOTL" IEMs range, so let's say so: Andromeda is the most affordable way of achieving of the hi-end sound in the IEMs world.

Well, waiting for this DAP's release gave experience, similar to watching good drama TV series (BTW, am I the only one who thinks that the best drama ever is "BoJack Horseman"?) — full of twists, emotions and waiting. Announced in 2015, Explorer was re-worked, participated in crowdfunding and finally made it's way to customers.

First of all, I'd like to thank Echobox for providing me a review sample in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

Currently, Explorer seems to be getting quite extreme opinions varying from love to almost loathing. I think it's pretty expectable because this DAP is built entirely in the way creators wanted it to be without looking too modern marketing tendencies. I guess I can call these ideas "vision," and if you share it with creators, you'll like this DAP, if not — just skip it, luckily we have tons of mainstream players appearing every day.

I'll briefly skip the package part, it's typical for modern DAPs, besides the player itself, you'll get USB Cable, an excellent case made of thin leather for player's protection. I don't know who will buy a wooden player and will use this jacket with it, but maybe I'm just missing a thing. Also, do not rush to throw away papers from the box, among them you'll get 90 days promo-code for Tidal. Echobox also makes nice wooden docks for the player, but they're selling separately.

So, about the design. The main idea of creators was to make a DAP of real hardwood, and they don't follow coward's path "let's make it from metal and glue some veneer," but decided to use a solid piece of wood instead. That's why Explorer is relatively thick: a wooden case should be pretty thick to avoid cracking. Company's designers decided to use the best and most ergonomic shape which has been with us for many years: flask. It's stylish, it's ergonomic, and it's always trendy.

So yes, we've got a wooden case with aluminum sides and volume dial instead of cork. As a few subjective impressions, I admire Explorer's view, and I like the feel of this wood in hand. The only thing I'm sorry about is that there is no space left inside DAPs body to fit at least few ounces of good brandy (Serbian "Rubinov Vinjak" is an excellent addition to this player's sound).

On the bottom side, you'll find Micro USB socket for charging and MicroSD slot for cards (micro to micro). Also, some grills are located here, I think they're done for cooling, but it's just my guess. Player already has 64 Gb of built-in memory, but you can even further extend it via MicroSD cards. As for battery life, I've got about 8 hours with MEEAudio's P1 as a load, playing 44.1/16 FLACs (without screen usage), charging took about 4.5 hours, not fast, but I'm just leaving Explorer to charge over the night.

On the top panel, you'll find (besides the volume knob) two 3.5mm sockets, one for headphones, second works as a line out and optical output. As for volume knob, it rotates with well-defined clicks and with a precise reading of every step. Also, this knob works as the power switch, and you need just press it as a button.

Most of DAP's control is done via the sensor screen. Of course, plastic frame, holding the display in place doesn't look in style with other design elements, but it's the only reasonable way of mounting the screen, so for me, it's more than OK. The screen is decent concerning resolution and color depth, but it lacks a bit of brightness under the direct sunlight.

As for OS, I don't see any reason to describe it in details, as it's almost vanilla Android 6.0 with UAPP and Tidal client preinstalled. Google play services aren't available, but you can install and update software via downloaded APKs. In general, I think Echobox implemented the wisest possible solution — minimal intrusion to OS itself plus usage of popular player software gives pretty reliable and functional solution. Also, if you're familiar with UAPP on your smartphone (which is entirely possible), you'll find Explorer's UI familiar.
Tidal works OK too, I've seen complaints about the low speed of player's WiFi, but my domestic internet is slow, so I can't re-check that. Also, during Tidal listening, the protective relay inside player's body sometimes clicks between tracks, but personally for me, it's entirely not an issue.

But enough of those annoying talks, let's move to the sound.

The sound signature of the player is also non-mainstream. It offers a bit smoothed representation with a hint of added warmth, pleasantly decorating many songs.

Lows are moderately accented, due to a bit added "mass." This accent gives the sense of imposing lows, but they aren't muffled or slow, texturing is nice. Maybe DAP lacks a bit of sharpness in the lower domain, but it's the price of added mass. Bass goes deep but always stays in its place due to proper control by the player.

Mids also have a bit of coloration: a bit of smoothness and a hint of added emotions fits well to the general signature of Explorer. Of course, connoisseurs of micro-details and fans of neutral sound will be displeased, but no device can please everyone. Explorer offers solid and integral mids with a reasonable level of details and engaging emotions. The imaginary stage is a bit above average in width and about average in depth, but layers separation is excellent.

Treble is also done in general "relaxed" style, they have good resolution, and aren't recessed to create typical "comfort sounding," but attacks aren't super-fast, and that gives this sense of comfort that compliments overall player's signature. Anyway, treble quality is good, and it provides enough air to sound and recreates all instruments decays appropriately.

Player has enough power to drive even power-hungry cans, including efficient planar-magnetic models. Moreover, it was ZMF Ori and the old HiFiMan HE-400 that I liked most with it. IEMs are good too (I can suggest trying some good single-driver dynamic drive models), but because of player's AMP has noise with sensitive IEMs (especially when WiFi is on), I'd suggest you avoid low impedance models with high sensitivity.

Speaking of music styles, Explorer is pretty universal if you like such representation, it's engaging with classical jazz, old rock and hard-n-heavy, good recorder pop music and many other genres.

I was thinking, how should I finish this review. Echobox Explorer isn't for everyone. It's not an attempt to please anybody and sell as many units as possible. It's an attempt to implement a very personal vision of both design and sound, and personally, I like it. Even owning A&K SP1000 and Lotoo's Paw Gold, I'll keep Explorer in my collection, just to have an opportunity to experience its organic nature from time to time.

I won't make this review really big, if you want more details about the box, unpack impressions and other stuff like that, there already are few really good and in-depth reviews, done by other head-fiers. I'll try to summarize most subjective things — audio and other personal impressions.
First of all, I'd like to thank Dunu for providing me a review sample in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

So, brief part: package and accessories set: really good. Nice box, lots of tips, great storage box. The only question is — why the hell Max Barskih on the inner part of the box? Did he once save Dunu's director favorite pet? I don't see other explanation.
Build and comfort. Hallelujah, at last Dunu found someone with regular ears to test earphones. DK-3001 was a big step in comfort's direction, but Falcon C is a salvation for all the pain we've got trying to fit DN-2002. Well, maybe I'm painting the devil blacker than he is.

Falcon C is made of "liquid metal" (marketing name for some really hard metal alloys) that gives them both durability and good sonic qualities. Previously, "liquid metal" was used by Campfire Audio, but now you can simultaneously enjoy both progress in the creation of materials and warm feeling of having your two kidneys in place.
IEM bodies are sleek, slim and fit into ears really nicely, providing above the average sound isolation (anyway, in planes or subways you'll need something even better isolating). Cable is replaceable, Dunu used regular MMCX connectors of good quality, they aren't too loose and aren't too firm. The cable itself is also nice, it's made of high purity silver plated copper, it's soft, nicely braided, has almost zero microphonic (thanks to soft earhooks near the connectors). It can tangle sometimes, but it won't take too much time to fix that. I will really miss that Dunu's ribber thing, used for winding that is used now widely by FiiO (did they bought all that rubber tongues from Dunu?), but cable's quality reduces my regrets almost to zero.
Oups, look like I didn't keep my promise to be brief… Well, let's move on to the sound part.

Probably I'll prove myself being Captain Obvious, but this IEMs are very tip dependent, so you'll need to spend some time, trying different options. I usually prefer SpinFits' comfort, but this time they won't be good enough for me sonically, so I've had to stick with regular single flange tips.
I gave Falcons about 72 hours of burn-in, but noticeable sound changes were only at the early beginning of this process.

The first thing you'll notice in this IEMs — it's the bass. Luckily, it's not because of its domination, but because of quality. Subjectively speaking, for me, it's the best lows in sub $500 range. It's perfectly balanced in terms of quantity, goes deep, has good control and combines both punch and weight with a small tilt towards the last one. Of course, Falcon C has great texturing and building melody's foundation. When necessary, lows are dominating with confidence, other times they stand in their place.
Mids are traditional for modern models with slightly V-shaped signature. They have a good level of detalization (for dynamic driver model), but not dives into thin and unnatural sound that some armatures offer. Upper mids are accented a little bit, from one hand it gives a great sense of presence to vocal, especially female, from another hand, this accent in rare cases makes upper mids sound too thin. The imaginary stage is pretty spacious, bigger than average in width and about average in depth, but with perfect layering and instruments separation, giving IEMs representation great sense of spaciousness.

Treble is elevated a little bit, so for treble-sensitive persons, this model can sound too bright, but for me, highs here don't cross the "too much" line. Treble has the good level of details, nice attacks and extended decays, so treble here sounds "reach" and effective. Of course, Falcons lacks treble layering of expensive TOTL IEMs, but for their price range, it's totally expectable. So, "for its price", highs here are really nice, not as great as lows, but anyway good.
The review won't be complete without few quick comparisons, so here they are.

MEEAudio Pinnacle P1 Actually, both models justify their names. Pinnacles are aimed to highs, offering an uncompromised treble extension, Falcons dive to lows, offering great bass. So, choosing between this two models are really straightforward.

iBasso IT03 Good hybrid model for those, who prefer more neutral and technical representation. If we'll skip ergonomics (some people have fit problems with IT03) and speak only about sound, Falcon C have more natural lows, and IT03 offers more resolving mids (it's BAs anyway).

Dunu DN-2002 And yet another case, when we'll pass on ergonomics comparison, as Falcon C will be the absolute winner in terms of comfort. Sonically, those two models are really different too. Dunu's Hybrid model makes the accent on mids, with a bit recessed bass and treble, while Falcon C vice-versa has lowered mids.
So, it's time for some conclusion. I've really liked this IEMs, and if you are a fan of good lows, I can really recommend you to pay a close attention to them. Also, I suppose that Dunu will release hybrid model with this driver for lows and few armatures for mud and treble, and that'll be a really TOTL model.