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.

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

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.

Burson Audio's developers definitely hate to be idle, so they always come out with some unexpected ideas. The most interesting thing about those ideas it's their relative simplicity and high usefulness. As a beautiful example, I can mention their hybrid OpAmp V5i I've recently reviewed. Now, their new idea — interconnect cable with an active amplifier.


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

Generally speaking, the idea behind that cable is pretty obvious. We're living in the smartphone era, so a vast majority of people have their music library stored on the phone. And some of them from time to time wants to attach the smartphone to the amplifier in their "big" setup. But many good amplifiers require more power at the input then typical smartphone can provide. And that's what Cable+ does — it amplifies weak signal from "regular" sources.

So, it's a simple device: long input cable with 3.5 mm connector, aluminum block with amplification and shorter part of cable with output connectors, it can be 2xRCA or 3.5 mm too, depending on your amplifier's input.

However, there is one more modification of Cable+, with 2xRCA on both ends. According to developers, this version is designed to use as an active adapter, allowing to avoid impedance mismatch between your DAC (or another source) and amplifier. I didn't have an opportunity to test this version (though would like), but other reviews told that this version also does its job well, improving sound too.

If you'd like to get more details about Cable+, you can visit its official site, [containing helpful explanation with pictures].

Each version of Cable+ costs 150 dollars. It includes worldwide shipping and two years of warranty,

Package and design
Cable arrived in the plastic box, reminding container of V5i, but a much bigger. In the box you'll get cable itself, simple micro USB cable to attach power to the amplifier and simple USB charger to use as PSU. Cable connectors are covered with silicon caps.

Middle block is made of aluminum. It looks beautiful and sturdy. Amplifier inside uses SupremeSound V5i hybrid opamp. Wires are made of high-quality cable in soft black silicon isolation, and connectors are both stylish looking and reliable.

The design of Cable+ is simple, and usage is evident. You plug longer end of the cable to the smartphone, shorter to the amplifier, connect power to small micro USB socket on the middle of amplifier block, and that's all. Tiny but bright led, hidden in the "plus" sign on top of the amplifier will show you that device is working.

Sound
For device testing, I've used following equipment.
- iPhone 6 Plus and HiFiMan SuperMini as sources
- NuPrime DAC-10H as an amplifier
- Headphones: Meze 99 Classics, Audio Zenith PMx2, Noble Kaiser K10AU, Campfire Audio Jupiter, Kenerton Odin and others

Despite being an Apple fan, I never considered iPhone as a sound source. Its sound isn't "bad," I'd rather called it "normal," but it's also pretty far from "good." Sound problems are rather common for modern smartphones: flat imaginary stage, hollow bass, loose treble. Good headphones amplifier, of course, tries to compensate that, but usually not perfect. For example, NuPrime, I'm using for a long time, sounds much, much better with a better source.

Well, it's expected, but Cable+ did manage to level almost all those problems. Of course, they aren't completely gone, but improvements are here. Lows became deeper and got more weight. Of course, the bass is still a bit slower than I'd like, but at least it's not sound bodyless as before. Treble sounded more refined and got more details. The imaginary stage became noticeably wider and a bit deeper though anyway gap from players of the average and higher level is noticeable. Every single change isn't "night and day" improvement (except bass, which improves drastically). But in sum, they are indeed changing sound noticeably, giving a big step forward.

Lows improvement with iPhone test gave me an idea of another experiment. Recently I've tested HiFiMan SuperMini, which is an excellent player but sounds a bit light to my taste. So, as you can easily guess, Cable+ here also does its job of giving more weight to lows, and in this setup SuperMini sounds pretty closer to HiFiMan's higher and players. I've made some blind tests, comparing my HM-901 (old version) and SuperMini, connected to DAC-10H via Cable+. I've managed to distinguish them correctly in 8 trials of 10, but the difference is not that big.
Summary
Of course, Cable+ usage scenario isn't most common in the audio world. But I can't call it too rare too. In my opinion, in cases, where you need to connect a smartphone or some other "weak" source to the good amplifier, Cable+ is the simplest and most convenient way of doing that with good sound.

P.S. As usual, I've made a video with initial impressions.

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.

Undoubtedly, one of the biggest influences on the audio market was the invention of the operational amplifiers. Compact and inexpensive (mostly) chips allowed to create small and well sounding products. But not always the miniaturization is good for sound quality, and then comes to the aid well-known company Burson.

In addition to developing popular DACs and amplifiers, Burson is also known as the creators of the V4 and V5 discrete op amps, but because of the large size of those solutions, not every device is suitable for upgrading with these opamps. Recently, company released V5i - a more compact model, using hybrid schematics inside.


First of all, I'd like to thank to Burson audio for providing me a pair of V5i in exchange to my honest opinion.

V5i designed for easy OpAmp rolling with devices, allowing that. V5i can be used to replace big number of "traditional" OpAmps, details can be found on the official website. You should look carefully, whether you need single or double V5i, they are not interchangable. Also they differs in price a bit ($49 vs $69). Apart from the V5i, on the official website are sold various useful accessories that can come in handy - extenders for those cases when V5i not fit in the body of the device in the normal position, capacitors to upgrade power supply, insulation to protect against interference, different sockets and adapters. By the way, separate nice bonus - V5i is covered by a lifetime warranty.


I've received my OpAmps in a simple plastic container, sealed by a brand tape. A simple and effective solution.

First candidate for upgrade became Audinst HUD-DX1 — very good DAC/amp combo with great potential, although not everyone likes its monitor sound representation with a hint of brightness. Replacement of stock Muse9820 is easy and quick. You will need two screwdrivers (H2 and Philips 1) as well as special pliers for extracting chips. I strongly recommend usage of chips extractor for everyone, as opamps legs are soft and can be bent very easily, while sockets are tight, so it's really easy to damage your chip. Actual replacement can be done under 5 minutes. You'll have to unscrew the screw that secures the volume control knob and remove it. Then unscrew the 4 screws at the corners of front paned and remove it. The last step - Philips screw on the back side of device near RCA connectors, then the board can be easily removed and parts replacement is easy.


Usually I am skeptical about such upgrades, often it requires a blind tests with two devices to fully disclosure the difference, but in this case sound changed drastically.

Bass is more accentuated so the overall representation becomes warmer, or, to say more precisely, it's loosing that hint of coolness that present in stock. Lows became more layered, separation of instruments in this range also improves. Midrange is almost unchanged, perhaps there is a bit of detail increase, but it's barely audible. Because of bass improvement, treble became less accentuated and sound more musical. After the upgrade, HUD-DX1 became pretty usable even with bright headphones.


I've tried some other devices capable of amp-rolling. xDuoo XD-05 as a result of the upgrade becomes slightly tighter and got more details in LF. Unfortunately, treble remained unchanged, looks like problems in this range isn't caused by amplification. To install V5i in the XD-05 I had to slightly bend the capacitors around the socket. I also tried these amplifiers with Valoq DAP. Because of the design, V5i do not fit in the opamps bay, so they can be used only with an extender. Player became not portable, so it's not a best candidate for tweaking. From the sound point of view, player gains better defined mids and treble with improved details level.

Of course, there is no silver bullet, and not all devices became better as a result of V5i installation. In some cases, the changes in the sound come not to your taste, sometimes device is tuned exactly for particular OpAmp. But in most cases V5i does the trick, so it's probably the simplest and most affortable way to improve sound of your devices. As for me, I'm really glad with a step forward that my DX1 made with V5i.

P.S. As usual, I've made a first impressions video.
[VIDEO]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1KiXaKRXE0[/VIDEO]

Before listening to this charming little amp, I was very skeptical about overall tube amp idea. But this amp changed my mind greatly.

First of all, I have to admit it's design and build quality - it's really great, amp looking very stylish.

As for sound, I have to mention, that it's really giving "warmth" to sound. This is hardly explainable by words, but old rock, for example, starts sounding much more pleasant. I've listened Led Zeppelin, Doors, The Who and really rediscovered some of my favorite tracks in a new way.

Also I found it sounding good with almost all genres of metal, except Nu-metal. Very nice sounding for Nile, Behemoth and other "brutals"

Only exception I need to mention - it's dance music. This it amp IMHO is not for it.

To summarize - this amp is perfect pass to tube world with affordable price of $90

First of all, I'd like to thank Lear for opportunity to review BD4.2

I'll try to be short, and outline main points, regarding this unique IEMs. Please note, that current revision differs, from the first one, and Lear done a good work upgrading it.

Acessories
More then you wish: hard Pelican Case, carrying pouch, 4 pairs different silicone tips, 3 different pairs of foam tips, cleaning tool and bass-tuning screwdriver. Different tips provides different sound signature, so you can experiment easily.

Design
BD4.2 are pretty big. There is no other way to fit inside 4 balanced armatures, 2 dynamic transducers, crossover schematics with bass tuner regulator and acoustic lowpass filter. Luckily, Lear made BD4.2 thick, but not very long, so they'll fit into almost any ears.

Overall look of BD4.2 is superb. They are made from transparent acrylate polymer, and you can see, how complex they are inside. Build is perfect, no signs of any flaws.

Lear offers wide variety of colors and "true texture" faceplates that can be made from wood, metal, denim and so on.

Also, I should mention stock cable: silver-white, light and flexible. No sign of microphonics.

Sound
First precondition of high quality sound with BD4.2 is a really great source. I'm using them with Concero HP from Resonessence labs, and I like them. Your DAC/DAP should be able to control bass perfectly, and have low output impedance (better less then 1Ω)

Second precondition is to find a tips, that should provide you best seal, without it, you'll loose bass impact. Tri-flange tips are preferable, if you can fit them. Actually, I can recommend you to think about custom version of BD4.2, it costs a little more, but you'll get the best seal you can.

Third precondition, you should have really good quality records, with good mastering, otherwise, BD4.2 will show you all flaws in them.

Best part of this IEMs is that you can tune their sound whatever you like. Built-in bass tuner can adjust lower frequencies in very high range (about 24dB), so you can have whatever you want: from neutral monitors to bassbombs, able to blow your mind. Also, you can tune sound using different tips, stock, as well as thirdparty. One more way of tuning - use some acoustic filters. BD4.2 uses unique 4-bore design, two are for low frequencies, one for mid and one for high, so small piece of cloth can tame desired range a bit. And even more, you can use resistor adapter, it will lower high frequency response, if you like.

I've finished my experiments with bass tuner set ot 8 o'clock and 3-flange tips. This gave me nice impact of bass, with really good texture and power. Almost no other headphones can give such punch, so drums and bass sounds really lively and natural.

Mid frequencies are also good. BD4.2 reminds me Lear LUF-4S, that are very detailed earphones with good microdynamics. This will allow performers sound with all feelings, they trying to put in music.

High frequencies are bright, and also detailed. If you don't like sparkling sound, beware, with some records BD4.2 can be bright. Especially I like it, it gives me feeling of spacious and airy sounding.

BD 4.2 shows Lear's vision of perfect sound, and I'm really like it. It's pretty expensive, but such a complex IEMs can't be cheap.

I've spent about a month with Cayin N6 DAP, and I'd like to share my thoughts about it. There is few really great reviews of this DAP, so I won't repeat them again, describing it's box, accessories set, controls, design, etc. You can easily find it in related tread and other reviews.

I'd like to try to share my impressions of using N6.

It's not hard to notice, that Cayin spent lot of time designing package, nice terracotta color, silver prints, it looks really stylish. Also nice is accessories set, besides player you'll get spare screen protectors, silicon case, USB and coax. cables, MicroSD card reader and even key ring with design similar to N6.



Design is really unusual. Carbon back of N6 is nice, I hope it won't became scratched, like metal players does. It's catchy, but it's very comfortable in terms of UX: DAP can be easily managed by one hand, despite it's size. Clicking wheel on the left side is easy to use with index finger, but you also can control player, using buttons on front panel.

Screen is very nice, probably one of the best, available in chinese players: great resolution, as well as view angles. UI of 1.0 version used too tiny fonts, but it was quickly fixed by updating to 1.1, so now I can say that player's interface is close to perfection. Everything is grouped logically and almost all features are present. Only thing that is lacking now, is idle shutdown timer, but Cayin promised that it will come shortly, meanwhile N6 utilises deep sleep option to save battery power when it's not in use.



I like that N6 plays almost everything. It handles all formats, including DFF and SACD ISO, I'm not a big fan of DSD, but it's always better to have some feature than not to have.

Inside, N6 is very-very well designed: two separate PCM1792 DACs, 3 TXCOs, sophisticated BTL amp, PGA2311 for volume control, everything is built to offer no-compromise sound. Battery life became a payoff for that. N6 uses really big 5600 mA/h battery, but it gives him about 7 hours of playback. It's not bad, but also it's far from perfect. I hope Cayin will manage to improve this in future software updates.




Most interesting aspect every player is sound. N6 gives perfect balance of resolution and musicality. Its sound is detailed, extremely well controlled, but not cold or analytically dry. Bass have great extension and control, it's punchy and well textured. On few tracks from my collection I missed bass quantity a bit, but it war really rare. Mids are natural and highly resolving, so N6 capable of creating really good sound stage both in width and in depth. Vocals are lively, and all instruments preserve their unique character. Highs are also balanced (at least to my taste), not too much, not too few, they have great resolution and controlled perfectly.

N6 closes rival is QLS QA360, also interesting DAP with lots of unique features, but if compared sound-wise, QLS have even more spacious stage and a little more lows, while N6 is more natural to my ears and sounds more musical.



I even prefer N6 over my HiFiMan 901 with modified balance card. 901 costs almost 2 times more, but sometimes it's sound signature is too aggressive. Also 901 is more bulky and have constant problems with volume regulator. So, I prefer more gentle sounding of N6 most of times.



Player can work as asynchronous USB DAC, so you can enjoy it's superior sound with your Mac or PC, it's also a great feature.

P.S. I've made a small video, showing N6 in use. As usual, sorry for my english

[VIDEO]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eN-QHOJewJQ[/VIDEO]

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.

First of all, I'd like to thank HiSound for their excellent promotion, that made possible for me to buy this DAP for very reasonable money.

This DAP is really outstanding in terms of price/sound balance, it's giving very-very high quality sound, and cost 2 times less then it's closest competitors.

Most of all, I like RoCoo for it's very clear and powerful sound. It doesn't bring too much own into sound signature (as HiFiMans does), but it have amp, powerful enough to drive all headphones that I have.

I've compared RoCoo with my iPod, and of course it's not fair comparison. On all "big" headphones RoCoo is definitely a winner: more control over sound on all frequencies, good attack, powerful bass — it's really amazing.

Of course, you can use iPod with LOD cable and portable amp, and got something familiar with RoCoo, but it's much more expensive and big solution, so It's to heavy for me to be portable.

On other hand — RoCoo is small, light-weighted and really really good-looking.

As for cons, I'd like it to be without this glossy parts, because it's collecting my fingerprints. But actually, DAPs are for listening, not for looking at

Highly recommend to everyone, who wants to improve portable rig, but not ready for bank robbery.

Company 64 Audio (former 1964 Ears) is a well-known maker of top-level multidriver IEMs. They are offering a big range of models, but the most attractive feature of their earphones is APEX technology. As I'm a big fan of different experiments in audio, for quite a long time I was interested in reviewing some of their models. Closer to the end of the year, I've got the chance to review their former flagship U12.


First of all, I'd like to thank 64 Audio for providing me with a sample for review in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

Of course, a model with 12 BA drivers in each ear (oh, not so long ago, six drivers seemed the top of the luxury) could not be cheap, and it's not happened. U12 costs $1,600, and a custom version A12 is even more expensive — $2000. At the same time, the company did not stop, they have developed a new technology to create headphones without inner sound tubes, and announced two new models with its usage. 18 drivers "Tzar" will cost $3,000 (regardless of the housing version) and 4-Driver hybrids tia Fourté will cost $3600. Progress is expensive, and customers should share the cost of R&D with manufacturers.

However, let's return to our 12 drivers, they are unique and sounds like nothing else.

Packaging and accessories

A box of these headphones is simple, but it is the case when simplicity hides thoughtful design. Packaging is made in the form of an elongated bar, and it's outer "jacket" made of cardboard with a pleasant soft-touch effect. On the back side printed brief company history, which reveals the origin of figure 64 in the title (my programmer side was upset that it's not 2 in 6 degrees, but my audiophiliac side was satisfied). Below is printed description of APEX technology. Under this cover hides the main box of thick red cardboard, containing three pairs of foam tips and plastic case with headphones. Plastic case has individual tabs for winding wires and compartments that hold the earpieces, so it protects its contents securely. Also inside of plastic case you'll find a clip to attach the cable to the clothes and cleaning tool. You'll also get a dehumidifier tablet, which must be unpacked and inserted into designated lock inside the case.

Design

64 Audio product designers obviously get their salaries deservedly, presentation of the product is made with style.

For 12 drivers model, headphones are surprisingly small. Difficult to believe that 12 BAs are hidden in a fairly compact body made of black hypoallergenic plastic. Universal versions are made from black glossy plastic with company logo and APEX module on faceplates, for customs you can select different colors and faceplates design.

The ergonomic shape and sufficiently long "nose" of the universal model provide an excellent fit and pretty good sound isolation. Due to a presence of APEX module, U12 can be considered as semi-open, but it's almost not impacting their isolation level.

The cable, of course, is interchangeable, 64 Audio uses standard 2-pin connectors, so fans of third-party cables can easily find an option for themselves. The stock cable is good, it's made in black silicone insulation, it is soft and not noisy. It does not harden in the cold and is prone to entanglement.

Sound

For listening, I'm using following gear

• NuPrime DAC-10H and Resonessence Labs Concero HP as a DAC/amplifier
• Apple MacBook Pro Retina 2013 as a source
• Fidelia as a player
• Lotoo PAW Gold, Fiio X7 and theBit OPUS#2 as DAPs

Before listening, I gave U12 48 hours of burn-in.

Of course, most of all sound is caused by APEX technology. You can read it's detailed description here. APEX protects your hearing and gives U12 spacious and open sounding.

For U12 engineers chose a little darkened sound with a slight emphasis on low frequencies and smooth, "musical" presentation for the rest of the range. At first, the sound of U12 seems to be less detailed than in "traditional" IEMs. But after getting used to their presentation, I understood that in fact, all the tiny nuances are here, they just aren't accentuated as it's done in other IEM.

Bass in these headphones is very impressive, it goes deep and has a weight, but thanks to the APEX, it doesn't cause excessive pressure on the eardrums. It is quite difficult to explain to those who did not listen to APEX IEMs, but the bass in this model is unusual. Fans of punchy lows, massaging the brain, won't be satisfied with U12, but for the high-quality music bass here is decent. Despite the massiveness, it's kept in its place and does not bleed the other frequencies. Resolution isn't the highest but is quite good. U12 is confidently building a low-frequency basis for melody without dragging the attention to bass. It turns to a little paradoxical situation - a headphone with darkened representation, but without the low-frequency dominance.

Mids are also slightly smoothed; they do not have the typical for BAs accent on micro-contrast and tiny details. Instead, U12 emphasize the openness of the sound and integrity of the representation. Sometimes this sound is called "musical." U12 won't fit those, who'd like to hear all the tiny details of records, but they are tolerant to the quality of a recording. You'll hear all flaws of mixing and mastering, but they aren't brought forward like in usual multi-driver IEMs. U12 succeeds in portraying emotions, in particular for strings. U12 builds a wide imaginary stage with good instruments separation. Depth is also excellent, but there is no sharp separation of plans in depth, they pass each other smoothly.

Treble also bears the influence of the half-open design. In general, it's a bit hard to describe the sound of 64 Audio's IEMs. Usually, softened treble causes muddy and sluggish sound lacking details, and the dark sound is often caused by lacking of treble, but U12, in general, does not correspond to anything of that. This model has nice, detailed highs with decent attack and decay, furthermore, there is a small high-frequency peak, adding more expression to treble, but these headphones don't sound sharp. APEX does it's job here, making treble more "comfortable" for perception.

Usually, I'm trying to make some comparison between reviewing gear and other models in similar price range, but U12 are really on their own so that they can be compared only with other 64 Audio's models, but I didn't have such possibility yet. Judging by the reviews on the Internet, their U10 model is also attractive, offering a bit more flat frequency response with a slightly lower prevalence of low frequencies, while retaining all the strengths of the house sound.

Compatibility

On the one hand, headphones are tolerant to the quality of the source and the recording, and 16Ω with a sensitivity of 115 dB/mW isn't heavy load. But, of course, for the top tier IEMs you'll need a source that showcases their strength. Therefore, it's not the best idea to use U12 with some sources like smartphones of inexpensive DAPs. They need some player from mid or higher price range. I've tried all DAPs that I have, and best of all U12 played with Cayin N5, Fiio X7+AM3, Questyle QP1R and OPUS#2 from theBit.

Style-wise this IEMs are universal enough if their soften representation suits the tastes of the potential owner. Especially brilliant they work out the styles, which need both extensive scene and a massive sound (as an example - symphonic metal).

Conclusions

Fascinating headphones with sound not typical for multi-driver balanced armatures. U12 combine incongruous and offers the user an emotional and not fatiguing sound. At first sight (or hearing?) it seems that the headphones are too dark, but after getting used, you'll understand that in fact they are simply not sharp where it is not necessary, but their real level of detalisation is very high. APEX technology has proven (at least to me) the solvency, and I am looking forward to new products from 64 Audio.

As usual, I've also made a video version of this review.

I was really surprised, that there is no reviews of CEntrance Mini-M8 on Head-Fi, it's really unusual, because its "elder brother" HiFi-M8 worthily posses #11 in Head-Fi's DAC/amp list. I definitely like original HiFi-M8, despite its big size, it is a real masterpiece of electronics art. HiFi-M8 is a real powerhouse, able to deliver up to 1.4 watts of exceptional quality sound to your headphones.

Downside of it's power is pretty big size, weight and not-so-impressive battery life time. That's why, CEntrance came out with newer, updated model called Mini-M8.


There is not much technical specifications available for Mini-M8, here is info from it's box.

• Resolution: 16/24 bits
• Sample Rate: 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.2, 192 KHz
• USB Audio: asynchronous
• Frequency response: 20 Hz – 20 KHz
• THD+N: 0.004%
• Output power: 165 mW per channel from balanced output
• DC Power: +9…+20V DC (2A)
• Dimensions: 127 mm × 80 mm × 22 mm

I don't know much details about DAC/amp chips used in Mini-M8, because CEntrance always preferred not to disclose this information, but I really don't care much. Of course, it's very interesting to know what is inside of particular device, but I definitely can live without it. Moreover, it helps to make less biased judgment about sound.


Mini-M8 is priced same $700 as it's bigger brother because it offers same quality of sound (with adjustment for lower power) and some new features: DSD support, longer life time (about 11 hours versus about 6 hours for HiFi-M8) and fully balanced amplifier. Also, Mini-M8 is 33% thinner then Bigger-M8, so it's much more portable, even stacked with your sound source.

Mini-M8's box is plain simple. Outer box is black, with different information printed on it, inside there is "main" box, from thick white cardboard. In this box you'll get: M8 itself, two rubber bands for attaching Mini to your phone or DAP, huge power adapter (bigger then M8 itself), power cord (always with US plug), USB cable, carrying pouch and few papers (manual, adverts, etc.).


Device itself have very minimalistic and simple look, it's rectangular, it's made of metal, and it's 99% black. There are two huge logos on both sides of M8, it's looking a little "too much", but CEntrance deserves this advertisement.

On front panel you'll find optical and coaxial input, small wheel for volume control, 3-positional gain switch, 3.5 mm headphone out and 4-pin balanced headphone out (same as in RSA amps).


On rear panel you'll see two USB sockets (for iOS devices and for PC), power socket, switch to select one of two ports or turn device off and 4 leds. One is on, when device is charging, and other three indicates battery status.

Mini-M8 is pretty straightforward device, it's not trying to be Jack of all trades, so there is no line in or line out, to use it as pure amp or pure DAC, even optical S/PDIF, present in HiFi-M8, is gone. Mini-M8 is simple, it takes digital signal, and output it to headphones out. So, you'll need something to use as source, and here comes big Mini-M8's advantage: it have 4 digital inputs and can work with virtually every source: DAPs with coax and optical out, android phones, iOS devices, PCs, Macs. Big HiFi-M8 forces you to select only one: iOS USB input or S/PDIF input.


I particularly like iOS compatibility. Just plug iPhone or iPad into M8's USB-A connector, and that's all, you're ready to experience absolutely new level of sound from your device. I've always felt some regret, that Apple left HiFi market and now making only average sounding gear, so CEntrance's "mates" was a real panacea for me. There are few good iOS players, able to play lossless records, so now, iOS can be good digital transport. BTW, new CEntrance project HiFi Skÿn looks really curious: iPhone case with decent DAC and amp. I've missed it's preorders, so now I'm waiting for mass sales to start.

But let's turn back to Mini-M8.


Main point of interest for any device is, of course, sound. Big HiFi-M8 was often called "wire with gain", because of it's incredibly detailed, clear, transparent and open sounding. Mini-M8 saved all this and even improve it.

Unfortunately, Mini-M8 lost sound adjustment options of it's big brother, but "default" sound is really superb, so I can live with it.


Mini-M8 still offers incredible transparency, without any coloration. You'll hear all recording's details, all instruments, every notes and smallest nuances of sound. New fully balanced amp improved channel separation, so stage is even wider, and sound layering (my favourite thing) is incredible. Reduced power is also great for listening with IEMs, Mini-M8 have blacker background, so music sounds reacher and more impressive. I've seen some complaints on Mini-M8s noise with sensitive IEMs, but I didn't hear it with all earphones I have.

I don't know, is there any sense to describe Mini-M8's sound more, bass is bassy, it punches when necessary, it have great texture. Mids are detailed, emotional and resolving. Highs are airy, non-fatiguing and transparent. Like Apple's "it just works", Mini-M8 "it just plays". It leaves you eye-to-eye with your music, allowing your headphones to do their job in best possible way.


Maybe I'm looking too excited with Mini-M8, but honestly, I am I'm trying more and more new earphones, and discovering their full potential. My most favourite combo now is with Dunu's Titan 1, it offers great resolution, and nice sound with small hint of aggression, perfect for rock and heavy metal. Also it plays nice with new Kennerton Algiz, giving smooth and very musical representation, perfect for jazz and vocals.

Despite reduced power, Mini-M8 is good with not power-hungry cans, so don't think that it's an IEM-only device. But if your prefer something with 250+Ω or like plannars, big M8 are waiting for you! I've made my choice, and now I have them both.


I'll summarise differences for convenience.

Reasons to buy HiFi-M8: power hungry cans, bass/treble adjustment, output impedance selector, optical S/PDIF out
Reasons to buy Mini-M8: smaller, longer battery life, fully balanced amplifier, DSD support, 4 digital inputs.

And one more thing! When plugged to power source, Mini-M8 will charge connected iPhone, it's really a touching care.

P.S. As usual, I've made a small video, showing Mini in real life.

[VIDEO]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nrmqgnwgd4c[/VIDEO]

[size=10pt]Main feature of Fiio E7 - it's multi-purpose usage possibilities. USB DAC and portable headphone amp in one compact and small body. [/size][size=medium][/size]
[size=medium][/size]
[size=10pt]Specially I'd like to mention following:[/size]
[size=medium]

1. [size=11pt] [size=10pt]Design. It's really nice and stylish[/size][/size]
2. [size=11pt] [size=10pt]Long operation on one charge[/size][/size]
3. [size=11pt] [size=10pt]Perfect sound (really like it)[/size][/size]
4. [size=11pt] [size=10pt]Good control[/size][/size]

[/size] [size=medium][/size]
[size=medium][/size]
[size=10pt]I'm actually using E7 in two ways. First, like a portable amp for my iPod Nano, together with Mee A151 and Grado SR125i. But I think I'll use Fiio E6 now for that, it's much more portable, but sound really good (little worth then E7). [/size][size=medium][/size]
[size=10pt]Second usage - I'm using it together with my MacBook Pro with perfect player Decibel. When used in hog mode - E7 sounds much better then built-in audio-card, especially with Grados. [/size][size=medium][/size]
[size=medium][/size]
[size=10pt]Also E7 gives nice bass boost with EQ. It doesn't trash sound like all software EQ does, but gives very nice and soft impact for bass and lower mids. It's especially noticeable on brass.[/size][size=medium][/size]
[size=medium][/size]
[size=10pt]So cost-wise, this DAC/amp is outstanding.[/size]
 
 
[size=10pt]Few photos (cant's embed them, so just links):[/size]
http://cl.ly/0L3z0F283I133Z2n0G1R
http://cl.ly/092P1y2b3p1x2v1P0C1S
 

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.

Well, it was a really long journey, but at last I've got my new Omnis. It's hard to believe, but it took 3 attempts to get at least one of Zach's wooden Fostex. First attempt was made at the beginning of the year, it was ZMF x Vibro, sent by USPS. And they were stolen somewhere in between. Ukrainian post told that they got box damaged and empty, USPS said nothing particular. And here comes the best thing in ZMF's — it's Zachary himself. He agreed to send me another pair for the price of cups, and even upgraded them to Blackwood, which he've released in that time.

Second attempt was made with DHL in summer, but now headphones struck in Ukrainian customs office. They've decided that it's a good idea to get about $400 as a tax. It was ridiculous, but I was travelling, and my wife wasn't strong enough to negotiate with customs officers, so Blackwood went back to USA. And you know what? Zach was kind enough to repeat this third time, and now headphones became freshly released Omnis.



Third attempt was made by my sister. She was in Canada, so she received Omnis and brought them to Ukraine, and from there headphones made their way to Montenegro (btw, are there at least one more head-fier in Monty?). So, at last I've got this masterpiece, as well as new NuPrime's DAC-10H, and I'm ready to share my impressions.

I won't spend a lot of time, describing build quality, which is outstanding, so nothing to discuss there, and accessories set (cable, two pairs of earpads and certificate). Just small advice — get a case, it's really worth it.



Omnis are highly customizable. You can select 2 pairs out of 3 different earpads (cowhide, lambskin and pleather), 3 versions of wood for cups (cherry, walnut and blackwood), 2 different headband styles and even color of guides. Also, you can ask any wiring options, almost everything is doable (but not everything for free, of course).



Headphones are really comfortable, earpads and pilot pad on headband does their job of weight distribution well, so they are comfortable to wear. Sound isolation is really good. Omnis are semi-open, so they leak some sound both outside and inside, but it's really small amount. I'm using them in office, and don't got any objections from colleagues.



So, let's move onto sound. Please note, that different wood and earpads material will give you different sound signature. After reading description on ZMF's site I've decided to got cherry cups and listen them with lambskin earpads.



After sending headphones to me, Zach told that he've made some minor changes in sound tuning to make mids even better. I've decided not to send Omnis back (risk of not getting them back is to high), so he've sent me modification kit, so I'll be able to do mod myself. It haven't arrived yet, when I'll get it, I'll add a note to this review.



Overall signature of Omnis are a bit on darker side. It's not completely dark, just a small hint of bass emphasis, but headphones keeps really great speed and resolution. By overall signature they are close to Audeze and definitely can compete with them.

Bass is deep, fast and have good texture. Of course, it's not a bassehead model, but accent on lows is audible. Compared with LCD-3, Omnis are lacking a bit of force in slow bass punches, Audeze's driver is a way larger then Omni's, but on faster notes there is no any issues. On tracks with good drum recording, you can feel like you are right near the bass drum.



Mids are a bit withdrawn, or, even more precisely, they seems withdrawn compared with highs and lows. I can't say that it's a big issue (and looks like it's improved in newer versions), as such FR tuning is a feature of this model. This gives them "tasty" sounding, very solid and musical. This isn't a headphones for analytical sound lowers, Omnis aren't for this. Nevertheless, headphones plays all mid details nicely, preserving emotions and instruments nature. Soundstage is narrower then in open headphones, but much, much better then in closed models. Stage depth is really nice.



Highs are, probably, strongest part of this model (at least for me), they are close to my ideal tuning. I don't know how, but Omnis combine excellent presence of treble and non-fatiguing sounding. Usually, headphones either have recessed highs that rustle somewhere in background, or plays as is, that is harsh for many listeners. Omni have perfect balance that allows them to play even small nuances of tunes. Often you can't even pinpoint those minor treble sparks in melody, but without them sound became dull and lacking air. But, as I've said before, Omnis are great in treble.



I didn't heard much top-end headphones, so I can't make lot of comparisons, but I've placed Omnis somewhere between Audeze LCD-2 and LCD-3. To my taste they overcome LCD-2 (non-fazor version) and are a bit behind LCD-3 (but price tag is 2 times less).

So, as you could understand, I liked Omnis very much. They combine nice soundstage (for closed headphones), punchy bass, nice details, great highs and stylish look.

As usual, first impression video.

[VIDEO]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVJkEq-JBXQ[/VIDEO]

Sometimes I have a strong desire to start a review with a conclusion, and then explain everything in more details. This time I think I'll follow this urge. So, OPUS#2 from theBit became for me one of the biggest discoveries of 2016. Phew, now I've said it, so I don't have to hold this inside anymore, and I can go on to review.

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

OPUS#1 showed that theBit company has the own vision of a sound and can implement it in hardware. The first model of their player turned out fascinating — neutral representation with a bit expanded stage gives the pleasant involving sound. The DAP's case is made of polycarbonate (there is also a limited metal version), the Android-based firmware is essential, but very convenient (not so long ago it was updated it to the Android 5.1 with the interface similar to OPUS#2). Recently reduced price made OPUS#1 even more attractive.

After the success of the first player, theBit decided that second model should be perfect from any points of view. To start with, they replaced a DAC with ESS Sabre 9018K2M as chips from ESS are one of the indisputable leaders of the market. Creators decided to improve the sound to an ideal level and used two separate chips in the completely balanced schema. Sound engineers added the hybrid amplifier using opamps and the discrete elements, high-precision master oscillators, and other necessary elements. For DAC USB mode support they've added separate XMOS chip that allowed to implement support of Native DSD in this mode. The perfect interior was complemented by the high-quality screen, 128 GB of the built-in memory and other buns necessary for a flagship.

Package and accessories set

Well, at last, some vendor of audio equipment made a box, not in a black color. Koreans decided not to join the dark side and made a package of beautiful white cardboard with foiled print. The design of the package is standard: dense box in thinner "jacket". Inside everything is traditional: the player is on top, underneath, in separate boxes lies accessories. With OPUS#2 you'll get few screen protectors (luckily, one is already preinstalled), high-quality MicroUSB cable and an excellent case.

As before, theBit cooperate with Dignis. Therefore the case is made of genuine leather, is ideally adjusted and looks stylish. Special thanks go to theBit for putting a case in the box, so we don't have to buy it separately.

So, with OPUS#2 you'll get everything that is necessary to use it.

Design and control

The first thing you'll notice after pulling the player out of the box it is its size and weight. OPUS#2 is on a larger side, and it's body made of aluminum, giving the user a feel of solidness. Fortunately, designers did their work nicely, so player looks attractive and perfectly fit in hand. Of course, this player not created for a slim jeans pocket or a pocket of business short, but anyway, OPUS#2 is more transportable then, for example, Lotoo Paw Gold.

In the exterior, designers used a nice combination of shapes and different shades of gray and black, so DAP looks stylish and clearly distinct from other players.

Traditionally, there are three buttons on the left side of the player. They are used for playback control. On the top side, you'll find on/off button which is also locking the screen and two sockets. First one is traditional 3.5 mm TRS socket, used for non-balanced headphones. Also, it can be used as line out and optical out. The second one is the balanced 2.5 mm TRRS outlet for balanced headphones.

The right side of player contains volume knob; it's encoder-based, so you can quickly adjust volume in 150 precise steps. The encoder is of high quality, has nice distinguished clicks and is working like a charm. Bottom side contains MicroUSB connector and a slot for MicroSD cards.

The central part of the front panel is occupied by 4" screen. Of course, bevels are pretty big so that the display could be even larger, but I don't see any sense in a larger screen in dap. The screen is pretty nice, it has good resolution, excellent color depth, and viewing angles, and even under the bright sunlight, it remains more or less readable. The sensor is also reliable, so touch controls are flawless.

Inside of second OPUS's body hides powerful 4000 mA/h battery that gives him about 9 hours and 15 minutes of playback (my standard test: MEEAudio P1 as a load, average gain, volume at 60 and 44.1/16 FLAC files playback). DAP has a "deep sleep" mode that allows it to preserve power in idle mode for days and be almost instantly ready when necessary. Charging with 2A iPad charger took about 4 hours, so nothing super-fancy, but figures are pretty good for a powerful device with 2 DACs and sophisticated amplifier.

TheBit have done a splendid work with firmware, as well as in the first model. It's Android based, but everything related to OS hides with the custom launcher. You won't have access to PlayMarket or any other source of applications. It's a bit strange, as the player has WiFi, but it's the only usage is wireless FW update. Probably, in future, theBit will add at least streaming services support and access to wireless media storages. At least it would be a logical step for a flagship.

The whole interface is built around the now playing screen. This screen shows album cover, track name, progress bar and three traditional buttons for playback control. Tapping on a cover allows you to show more details about the record or display lyrics if it's present.

In the upper left corner of this screen, you'll find a button to access media library. There you'll traditionally find tracks grouped by album, artist, and genres, playlists, and favorites. Also, regular folder browser is present too. Media scan is done in the background and works fast.

Settings are hidden in a pull-down menu, activated by a swipe from the upper side of the screen. They contain screen brightness slider, wireless interfaces toggles, sleep timer switch and repeat/shuffle mode toggle. Button with gear icon will open a full settings menu with all you can expect from an excellent player: 10-bands equalizer, gain switch, sleep timer, USB mode and so on.

So, to summarize all of above: the interface is hand and easy, the firmware is stable and reliable.

Sound

For listening of the OPUS#2 I've used following headphones: Meze 99 Classics, Lear LHF-AE1d, Audio Zenith PMx2, Noble Kaiser K10AU, Campfire Audio Jupiter, 64 Audio U12, HUM Pristine and others.

OPUS#2 is a DAP that I've missed for a long time. He's reaching the level of most flagships (permission, microdynamics, speed and other characteristics), but offering neutral and uncolored sound. DAP provides uncolored sound but avoids excessive dryness and loss of emotionality. If I'd need to summarize OPPUS#2's sound "in one word," this would be the word "correct."

Player's bass is fast, with good depth (but without attempts to reach the bottom of hell). OPUS#2 balances nicely between two extremes: dry bass, giving an effect of "fast lows with excellent separation" and bloaty bass "with great slam and mass." The player will hardly suit tastes of those, who like colored LF, it plays just what is present on the recordings, but does it perfectly. Such representation suits best to "real" and timbre-rich instruments. Bass in this DAP is universal, when necessary it can portray cannons in 1812 overture, and when necessary, it can smoothly and slowly surround you like in David Gilmour's "A Boat Lies Waiting."

Mids impress with a level of details, they are detailed, but without being razor-sharp and fatiguing, like it often became with some headphones. OPUS#2 plays without artificial coloration, giving listener perfect sense of presence and authentic reproduction of emotions. Mids here has a decent body and sense of solidness, which is often missed in neutral sounding devices. The imaginary stage is spacious and close to three-dimensional, both in width and depth.

Treble reminds a bit "typical Sabre" — fast attacks, combined with an excellent level of details sounds natural, giving recordings the necessary sense of airiness and lightness. To my ears, treble is almost all about that micro-nuances that is hard to point at, but when they aren't here, right music loses a big part of its charm. Luckily, this DAP nails high with ease. OPUS#2 isn't harsh, except awful recordings, horrible masters can sound harsh.

Comparisons

I have only one DAP of similar level, and another one, which is "below" OPUS#2, but offers same representation, so there will be not many comparisons.

Lotoo Paw Gold In general, players are close in level, with LPG being a bit better. Gold offers more forward sound representation with deeper bass, more emotions and aggression (if necessary for music). Also, LPG has more power, so it deals easier with big cans.

Questyle QP1R If OPUS#2 had no "younger brother" OPUS#1, QP1R could become one. They both gave the similar feeling of neutrality and technicality in sound representation, but OPUS#2 has better treble control and better-defined lows.

Compatibility
OPUS#2's amplifier isn't the most powerful amp ever, so the best load for this player is different IEMs and not tight full-size cans. Opus#2 is tailored for high-level IEMs, to my tastes, it's one of the best options for HUM Pristine, 64 Audio U12, and many other IEMs I've recently tested.

Style-wise, this player is universal, however, to my taste, neutral representations suit best for classics, different progressive types of rock and metal and other "serious" music. Sensitivity to the quality of material is high, I'd estimate it about 8/10.

Conclusion
The player has a nice market niche — a high-level source for neutrality lovers. The Korean developers from theBit once again showed that they have an own vision of a sound and they can achieve it at any possible level. Personally, for me, this player became one of the best discoveries of last year, and it remains a reference source for me for a long time.

And traditional first impressions video. If my english didn't scare you, my accent will definitely do

I've received Concero HP from Ressonsense Labs for writing review in russian, but I want to share my thoughts with Head-Fi.
As usual, I'll be somewhat brief, as I'm not so good in English, but I can't be quiet about excellent hardware.

– Concero HP is really well designed. Nice package, solid and laconic look, it's perfect
– It's very small, this makes it really great companion for travelling users
– Sound is really stand out. I think it's maximum, you can achieve from Sabre 9018-K2M. Concero HP offers two custom upsampling filters, apodizing and IIR, and they do their work on some 44/16 records. I like Concero HP with IEMS: outstanding detalisation, enough power, absolutely black background
– Concero HP isn't power monster, but it drives most of big cans that I have (two exceptions are AKG K702 and HiFiMan HE-500)
– DAC supports all resolutions and DSD/DXD, that makes it universal solution that won't be outdated in near future
– It's pity that Concero HP doesn't have line out, so it makes it "headphone-only" solution, and you'll be unable to use it with other amp, but with headphones it does it's job near perfect.

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.

Nice successor of famous Fiio E5. Totally redesigned. Now it's all plastic, but weight reduced about 2 times. And it doesn't looking like iPod Shuffle now. 
Also now it have more flexible EQ, able not only boost bass, but do more work.
 
Combinig with steal-like price and nice overall design - it still have outstanding sound, as E5 does.
So it's really worth buying option.