Well, I can't resist adding my 5 cents about this great DAP. I won't write much, as Head-Fi already have 16 reviews of X7, so everyone who's interested in build quality, box content, UI, etc. already satisfy their curiosity. I'll try to summarise my own impressions on sound.

So happened, X7 was introduced with least powerful amplifier module, called IEM amp. It have about 100 mW @ 32Ω, which isn't much, even compared with Fiio X5-2, so X7 have a great chance to improve sound in future. Fiio promised 2 or 3 more amplifier, including powerful amp for big cans and balanced amp.

For now, I'd call X7's sound signature close to neutral, with incredible level of details and leaned toward analytical representation. In some seldom cases, player sounds a bit "dry", but it's because of no coloration in sound. I've tried X7 with my E12DIY, so I'm sure that with future amps X7 will perform even better.



Bass is tight, fast and pretty accented. It allows player to render it nicely, showing it's texture and smallest nuances of low frequency instruments. Bass punches with good power and authority, so with bass-hevy headphones it can even overpower listener, so you should listen X7 with your headphones first. For example, Dunu Titan 5 have too much slam for me.

Mids are absolutely flawless. Well-coocked Sabre inside X7 shows itself from best side, revealing even tiniest details of recording. This makes X7 very picky for recordings quality, but of course it's not a player's issue. Emotional, spacious representation of mids is an X7's best side. Scene is on wider side, and it's depth is really, really good. Please keep in mind that X7 won't add anything to records from itself, so dry, dull recordings will sound dull and dry.

Higsh will be an issue for those, who are treble-sensitive. X7 represents treble without any smoothness and without an attempt to make it less harsh then they are. With some headphones (hello again, Titan 5) it gives harshness. So, if you don't like treble, keep it in mind. If you're ok with this part of spectrum, you'll enjoy airy and light presentation of X7.

To summarise, there are some minor issues in X7's sound, but it still sounds more then great even for it's price tag, and please keep in mind, that future amp modules have a potential to greatly improve X7's sound.



Few comparisions (please note, that this is a pretty subjective opinion)

L&P L5 Pro In some sense, L5Pro is an antipode for X7. L5Pro offers more smooth, softer sound, in exchange for little loss of details.

Questyle QP1R Another raising star on DAP market. Questyle's patented amp allows this player to show great synergy with most of heaphones, even picky ones. QP1R have better trebles, but to my ears it's lacking some bass texture, compared with X7. Also, QP1R's awful scroll will kills it's usability, making it hard to use.

Cayin N6 My favourite "top-middle" segment DAP. This player have enjoying, musical representation, but have somewhat less resolution compared with X7. New Fiio's flagship have more analytical sounding.

Fiio X5-2 Former flagship now goes to middle segment, offers less resolving sound with less depth of lows, but if we keep in mind price factor, X5-2 is still a really great player.

iBasso DX80 New iBasso's middle segment DAP is a complete antipode to X7. It offers absolutely emotionless, smoothed sound without any accents. X7 with it's lows impact and straightforward treble offers absolutely different sound approach.

First of all, I'd like to thank Cayin for opportunity to review C5. As usual, main review is in Russian, here I'll share mt impressions in brief.


There is not so many good portable amps in sub $200 range. It's almost completely dominated by Fiio E12, which is really good. Now, Fiio have really strong competitor.

Cayin have lots of experience in "serious HiFi", their amps, both tube and solid-state, CD transports, speakers, etc. — well known allover the world. So, their debut on portable HiFi market was really impressive.

First thing, you're noticing is design. C5 is somewhat vintage-looking, it reminds classic devices of early 90: "champagne gold" body, plastic parts, orange leds, really nice. But, of course, not for everyone. You like it, or you hate it (in terms of design, of course). Build quality is good. First revision had some problems with plastic, but Cayin fixed this quickly.

Controls are as simple, as they can be for portable amps. On top — two sockets, for input and for output and volume pot, combined with power switch. On bottom — two micro USBs, one for charging C5, other for charging something else, using C5. Ability to use your portable amp as powerbank can be sometimes useful, but with 1000 mA/h battery you won't be able to use it frequently, so consider it as "emergency" option.
On one side you'll find gain and bass boost switch. That's all for controls.

Battery life is about 12 hours. I definitely Ok with that, but, as usual, more will be better.

Sound-wise, C5 is really nice. It offers interesting sound with wide and deep soundstage. Great instrument separation and localisation with appropriate headphones will give you "3D" sounding, really nice on live records, big orchestras and other music, requiring nice staging.

Bass is good. Impactful, nicely controlled, but not overwhelming and leaking to other frequencies. Bass boost is pretty delicate: it's adding body to music, but not that "crash your ears bass". Mids are lively, clear and detailed. All emotions delivered as is in record. Highs are a little bit roll-off, so they are not fatiguing or sibilant.

Compared to E12, C5 sounds little bit "muddy" (a tiny bit) at first, but then I've found that C5 sound is more enjoyable for me, it has more body and sounds "more musical".

Power-wise C5 is really good. It has enough power to drive high-impedance dynamic headphones with ease, and even some planars are OK with C5 too. From other side, sensitive IEMs are also enjoyable, I've experienced no noise on low gain.

Generally, Cayin C5 is really nice competitor at it's price range. Unusual design, great sound, affordable price — it has it all.

Looks like theBit have decided to become a king of the hill, or at least join those who are already standing on the top. After the first successful skill test (I mean OPUS#1) they've come back with really flagship OPUS#2 model that can be considered as one of the TOTL solutions. And now, theBit strengthen their position with great OPUS#3.


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

I'll shorten my work and won't go deep into describing OPUS#3 package, accessories set and overall design. There are few stellar reviews done by fellow Head-Fiers, you've read them, and I don't have much to add to them.


The package is simple and stylish; DAP looks interesting and fresh, it feels solidly built and operates smoothly. There is a little wiggling of volume wheel, but it's still doing its job flawlessly (better than one on my AK320 actually). Firmware is rock-solid, as usual for theBit products, and recently added wireless streaming applications are an excellent addendum. Well, this time looks like I was brief in sharing my impressions, so, let's move on to the sound.


First of all, I'd like to mention that my feelings on OPUS's general representation slightly differs from other reviewers. I'm not sure what it the reason, maybe it's a subjective perception, perhaps there is some other reason, who knows. Personally, I don't found OPUS#3 sounding very neutral or bright. There is a small accent on treble, but it's not enough to call it bright. Also, there is a slight hint of added warmth on lows, so for me, OPUS#3 has a bit of "fun" sounding coloration, but without sounding colored or non-natural, because accents are subtle.


The bass is very, very slightly accented to create a slight effect of warmth. A speed of lows is slightly reduced to make the sound more massive, but it's done very neatly, without making sound bloaty or muddy. The player is superb in texturing and instruments separation in the low-frequency range. Sub-bass is present, but it is slightly reduced quantitatively, to avoid muddy sounding on the LF.


The mid frequencies are transparent and slightly emphasized regarding emotionality. Sometimes it seems that the player especially highlights the vocals and adds emotions in the vocal. With OPUS # 3 it is very pleasant to listen to classic bluesmen, favorite jazz singers, emotional rockers. Naturally, the player is right at the resolution, but it does not go into sharp, dry sounding, and does not try to pull out all the tiny nuances from the record. On the contrary, it can even sometimes hide some mastering/recording flaws. The imaginary stage is very wide, but without further inflation, the depth is bigger than average, but not as record-breaking as the width. The separation of layers is magnificent, especially due to the emphasis on vocals.


HF "in general" are good, detailed enough and have splendid decays. Sometimes, rarely, OPUS adds too much energy to treble attacks and can cause a bit sharper sound than intended, but with appropriate headphones, it won't be an issue. Also, this problem seems to be less pronounced in the DSP mode of XMOS, although the difference is small and can be attributed to the placebo effect.

Few quick comparisons

theBit OPUS#1 The first OPUS sometimes loves to "inflate" the imaginary stage, it gives a spectacular, but not always natural sound. Also, OPUS#1 sounds more neutral and has slightly drier representation. OPUS#3 does not try to exaggerate the stage, representing it as it is, and in general, the player sounds a little darker and more vigorous. Plus OPUS#3 has a darker "background."

theBit OPUS#2 The primary task of the flagship is to sound as neutral as possible, without going too dull, and the "second OPUS" is doing that well. He's less accenting emotions (although he's flawlessly showing what is present in the recording), he has a deeper bass and better in layering. Treble is a bit better too. Although in fact, the difference between #2 and #3 is not that significant (less than between #3 and #1), but the feeling of "step forward" is present.

iBasso DX200 Quite the opposite of OPUS #3, iBasso is neutral, not colored, with maximum resolution and detalisation. The main problem of the iBasso player is a pickiness to the quality of the recording. Opus in this respect is more tolerant, and his presentation is more emotional but slightly less resolving.

Fiio X7 + AM2 In general, the representation of these players can with a little stretch be called similar, but in fact, there is a noticeable difference in the accents - the Fiio player is slightly less sharp on the HF and somewhat simpler in the mid range.

Fiio X5-3 Not quite a competitor for OPUS#3, but since the model is popular, I can not ignore it. The newcomer from Fiio is just an even greater deviation in the direction that Opus only hints. X5-3 has more warmth in the sound, relaxed HF, everything that is necessary to create a "comfortable" sound.


Compatibility
OPUS#3 isn't super-powerful, it shows very reasonable approach, allowing battery saving and background noise reduction. Player's power is more than enough for almost all IEMs and reasonably tough full-size cans. I've tried lots of IEMs, but best results I've got with Ambient Acoustics LAM7 (customs from Kiev laboratory) and Noble Kaiser Encore. Of the more affordable models, I can mention Dunu's hybrids and new Periodic Audio Beryllium IEMs.


So, to summarize — theBit made a balanced player with good sound, beautiful design, and great ergonomics. They've chosen right niche and select competitive price (best price I've seen are offered by MusicTeck). IMHO, now theBit is the strongest A&K competitor.

P.S. As usual, I have an initial impressions video for this excellent DAP

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

First of all, I'd like to mention overall view of this headphones, it's really stylish.

I've listened to them with Fiio E6.

Without burn-in, their sound IMO is extremely owerbrighten, but after 20-25 hours it's become more straight and normal.

I think this headphones sounds good for vocals, instrumentals and classical music, due to nice airy highs and mids.

On some rock songs they're lacking bass a little, but I'm not a bass head, so most of times it's OK for me.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

New earphones from Dunu are allways interesting, but earphones with brand new titanium diaphragm driver is even more interesting.

• Driver: 13mm Titanium Diaphragm Dynamic Driver
• Impedance:16Ω
• Sensitivity: 90+- 2dB
• Reproduction Frequency: 20Hz-30kHz
• Cable Length: 1.2m
• Plug: 3.5mm Stere Mini
• Weight: 18g

So, some brief impressions about Titan 1 from me.


As usual for Dunu — perfect box and accessories set. You'll get everything you can imagine: case, 6.3 mm adapter, lots of tips, providing different sound signature. Titan 1 box looks much more expensive then real cost of this earphones.


T1 are very comfortable, they looks like simple earbuds but with nozzles to guide sound into your ears. This is the perfect shape for earphones with big dynamic drivers (13 mm for Titan 1).


Build quality is outstanding. Dunu Topsound have great experience both in OEM market, and making own earphones, so Titan 1 have absolutely flawless build.


T1 have low impedance and isn't really sensitive earphones (only 90 dB), so they require good DAP or amp to drive them properly.

As for sound, T1 are really interesting. They offers more details than I've expected from single dynamic driver earphones, so sound is very clear and detailed. Lows are tight and punchy. T1 isn't fastest-bass earphones, but lows pretty impressive for me. Bass is nice controlled, and doesn't bleed to medium freq.

Mids are detailed and emotional. Despite T1 having somewhat V-shaped frequency response, mids are nicely defined and have all details.

Highs are nice for me, both in quality and quantity, but a friend of mine said that there is too much highs, so it can be person-dependent. Different eartips, supplied with T1 can help to tame highs a bit.

From all sources that I have, most of all I liked T1 with QLS QA360 and Cantrance HiFiM8 — they are neutral, and allow Titan 1 to show themselves in the best way.

For price about $130, Titan 1 is super-competitive earphones, offering both great sound and excellent outlook.

I'd like to thank Dunu for opportunity to evaluate Titan 1.

Campfire Audio are a perfect example of brand development from scratch. Their IEMs lineup blew the market up, offering excellent quality for reasonable money. First 3 models — Lyra, Orion and Jupiter became a huge success, but CA continued expanding their lineup and offered full range of IEMs with unique single dynamic driver model Vega as a flagship. In this review, I'll share my impressions about Vega.

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

Usually, at the review's beginning, I should write about 50 lines of text, describing the box, IEMs design and unboxing impressions. I won't do this because you can easily see all that in few photos, saving read time. So, I'll try to be as laconic as possible in this part. Vega's retail price is $1300, so creators did their best to provide as much value as possible.

The box is standard for all CA products: small, plain cardboard box with stylish polygraph. Inside you'll get IEMs themselves (quite surprising, isn't it?), a perfect leather case for storage, three pairs of foams (different sizes), three pairs of single-flange silicone tips (also assorted), standard pack with spinfits, cleaning brush and metal badge with CA logo.


Earphones build quality is also superb. CA uses "liquid metal" alloy to cast small and comfortable cases that will fit any ears with ease. With appropriately selected tips you can wear them long without any traces of discomfort or fatigue. Sound isolation is on average level typical for this form-factor: it will be enough for almost any circumstances except noisiest ones (plane, subway, Formula-1 racing track, etc.).

Of course, Vegas have replaceable cable with MMCX connector. Creators have found probably best possible connectors with beryllium plating, offering excellent durability. New stock cables are softer than old tinsel wire, and this adds even more comfort in wearing. Definitely, CA's cables are one of the most comfortable wires available on the market: soft, lightweight, easy to untangle.

But let's go back to what's important: sound.

For this IEMs evaluation, I've used following gear.

- NuPrime DAC-10H and Resonessence Labs Concero HP as DAC/amps
- Apple MacBook Pro Retina 2016 as a source
- Audirvana+ as a player
- Lotoo PAW Gold, A&K AK320, TheBit OPUS#2, iBasso DX200 as DAPs

I've given earphones about 100 hours of burn-in before evaluation.

I'm not sure, should I say that proper tips selection is very important here? It's obvious for all IEMs, but for TOTL ones it's crucial. I've tried different options, but stock single flange silicon tips gave me the best possible sound (at least to my taste).

Campfire Audio decided that they don't want to make "typical" neutral sounding IEMs (they have Lyra II for such sound fans), so Vegas are colored IEMs, but they are a perfect example of coloration done right.
Bass. A lot of basses, it's punchy, it's weighty, it's controlling well. Despite that, bass in this IEMs stays below the level where it became bloating and muddy. Lows here aren't fastest, and they are a bit smoothed (a really tiny bit) to sound meatier. Anyway, bass here is fast enough to provide perfect texture representation and exceptional instruments separation.

Mids are a bit recessed, and upper mids are slightly smoothed to make the sound even more "fun." Vega entirely separates vocal and move it forward, giving listener overwhelming sense of imaginary stage depth. Width is also good, but a bit narrower then Andromeda's. Mids resolution is good, but not absolute, like in balanced armature IEMs. I think this smoothing is done on purpose, as it perfectly fits general sound representation.

Treble is designed to balance lows and succeed in that. Highs here are prominent and have splendid resolution and attacks. Despite treble's quantity, it's not fatiguing and doesn't sound harsh. Highs here perfectly complement lows, giving a good overall balance. Treble in Vega shines, especially with high-quality recordings, having lots of treble details.

Of course, they are exceptionally picky when it comes to source selection. These earphones need immaculate control all over whole frequencies, but most of all I liked them with A&K. Its signature mids gives perfect synergy with this IEMs. Another good option is iBasso's new DX200, with it Vegas became fun bass cannon.

Style-wise, these earphones sound better with jazz, classical music, rock — styles where "fun" sound is better then "correct." But anyway, it's subjective and is a matter of taste.

So, to summarize all the above. Vegas are unusual earphones with unique and tasty sound. Of course, this sound representation isn't "one size fits all," but it's the best IEMs with colored sound, offering excellent built quality and unusual, engaging presentation. There are lots of fans of this model, and I definitely can understand them.

P.S. As usual, I've also made a fist impressions video.

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

Aune is the company with their own, unique approach to audio gear. Their products are unusual and offers interesting features, absent in competing solutions.

Their new headphone amplifier B1 looks like no other, and differs from other by its schematic. It utilises class A output stage built with discrete elements, and offers possibility to chose amplifier's current: 20 mA or 40 mA. Aune created nice page, describing B1 unique ideas, so I will not repeat them.

First of all, specs.

• Frequency range: 10 Hz – 20 KHz ± 0,15 dB
• THD+N: <0,0008% @ 1 KHz, 600Ω
• Signal/noise ratio: >124 dB @ 600Ω
• Channel separation: > 110 дБ @ 1 КГц, 600Ω
• Output power: 25 mW @ 16Ω, 50 mW @ 32Ω, 100 mW @ 300Ω
• Headphone impedance: 16Ω — 300Ω
• Battery: 4000 mA/h
• Life time: 10 hours for 20 mA, 5 hours for 40 mA
• Size: 65 mm × 110 mm × 18 mm
• Weight: 230 g

So, by size it's a little bit smaller than Fiio E12, but somewhat thicker.

B1 is sold in small box from black cardboard with silver print. It's similar with others Aune products and looks pretty stylish for $200 device. Besides amplifier you'll get small 3.5 mm cable and Micro USB cable for charging.

Aune B1 exterior is very stylish. It's built from solid aluminium, back panel have leather inserts on it. This protects devices from scratching, if you'll decide to make a stack with your smartphone or player. There are two color options available: black case with black leather and silver case with red inserts. Both look really cool.

On front panel designers placed transparent windows that allow you to see main feature of B1: discrete triodes output stage, working in class A. Really nice touch, like in swiss watch you can see device's complex interior. When B1 is turned on, two green LEDs are lightened inside. Not sure, if they are necessary, but they look great.

Major part of controls are located on left panel: power switch, gain switch and amplifier current selector (it's labeled "Class A").

On bottom, located charging micro USB, on top — volume control and input-output sockets. On right side there is button and LED, indicating remaining charge. Press button and count LED's flashes: 5 is 100% charge, 4 is 80% and so on.

Of course, the most interesting thing for amplifier is sound. And B1's sound is unusual. It's not as powerful as OpAmps solutions, but it still got enough power to drive almost all headphones with ease. It has almost black background, I didn't got any noise with all headphones I've tried. Discrete output stage allows B1 deliver really great amount of details, still remaining musical and pleasant sounding. B1 tries not to add anything to source's sound to preserve its natural form. Thus, if you need amplifier, boosting amount of bass, it's not B1. B1 adds more control and texture, but not amount.

Mids are lively and transparent. You'll get all emotions, present in record. Highs are detailed and delivered with confidence, but if your headphones/source are bright, you can get too much treble, as B1 doesn't hide anything.

Current switch is neat idea for power-hungry headphones. Boosting it to 40 mA reduces lifetime to 5 hours, but B1 drives headphones with mach more confidence: more tight bass, more transparent treble.

So, Aune made really interesting amplifier with great exterior and unusual schematics, delivering great sound.







I've made simple video, to showcase B1

[VIDEO]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2NHszPLlqs[/VIDEO]

Cayin N6 is definitely one of my most favourite players. That's why I've waited for their new more affordable model with impatience. Finally, I've got N5 in my hands and spent enough time with it to make a judgment.


I won't spend lot of time, describing box, it's contents and players design/menu. There are excellent reviews, covering this in depth. So, just brief impressions, before I continue to the sound.

Box is nice, simple and stylish. Accessories set is also good, but I recommend you purchase "leather" case, it's good enough for it's price, and N5 deserves better case then stock silicon one.


Design is really superb. It's not that futuristic, like N6's, but it's still interesting. N5 has it's own face and reminds me those retro hi-end devices, this is a nice touch. Controls are a bit complicated at first time, but I've quickly got used, and now they are OK for me. Scroll wheel is responsible and reliable, screen has nice resolution and remains readable in direct sunlight.


Menu is nice, it has 4 nicely animated themes. Feature-wise, N5 has everything that we expect from modern player: media library, folder playback, lots of settings, USB DAC functionality, etc.

I must admit, N5 offers pretty nice features that are absent even in their top model N6: balanced amplifier with balanced output, USB 3.0 slot for faster file transfer and 2 memory cards support. Also N5 uses top DAC chip from AKM, AK4490 (N6 has 2 PCM chips).


N5's battery is big, so it offers almost 9 hours of work, which is really OK for such a powerful devise.

So, outlook-wise, N5 is a modern device, with all necessary features, unusual design, comfortable controls and sleek look.


And now, about the sound. First thing that I've noticed — N5's sound really changed after firmware update, to be more precise, v2 firmware made sound worse, and v3 made it better again, so recent firmware have the best sound. Second notice — my sound perception of N5 differs from vast major of reviews here. I don't have any explanations beside of subjective perception features. So, I've warned you

Generally, N5 have analytical sounding, with a hint of brightness. Player have really great and emotional mids and builds really good soundstage.


Bass of N5 is fast and detailed. It have a good resolution and texture. In some rare cases, N5's bass lacking some power, punches are present, but they aren't as crashing, as with other DAPs. Fortunately, this isn't an often issue.

Mids are N5's best side. They are emotional, live, have great detalisation and speed. This is definitely the strongest staple of N5's sound. This allows player to build good stage, both in depth and width. Instrument separation is good.


Treble is nice, airy and have perfect for me quantity. Compared with hi-end DAPs, N5 has some simplifications in treble, but it's hardly noticeable in everyday listening.

Some subjective comparisons.

Cayin N6 This is the main place, where my perception differs from other reviews. For me, N5 sounds colder, while N6 is warmer and more musical, N6's sound have more body and is more solid.

Fiio X5-2 Main competitor in this price segment have about the same "level", but offers slightly different representation. N5 is more neutral sound, while X5-2 give more bass and punch. Roughly, I'd prefer N5 for classics and vocal, and Fiio — for rock and electronic music. But anyway, I've enjoyed metal with N5.

Hidizs AP-100 Darker and more energetic sound. AP100 has more lows, but also have less details on mids, it's stage is narrower.

iHiFi 800 This DAPs have similar sound representation, but iHiFi have better treble, and N5 — mids and lows. Also N5 is way better in controls and design (but also much more expensive).

iBasso DX80 For me, DX80's sound is too emotionless, while N5 is great in emotions representation, so in 100% of cases I prefer N5.

Another plus of N5 is its universality. It have really low output impedance, so it's a perfect choice for multi-driver hybrids and armatures. On the other hand, N5 have pretty lot of power, up to 300 mW is really enough for vast majority of full-size headphones. Only issue is pretty noticeable noise level of balanced output, when paired with very sensitive IEMs.

Style-wise, I think N5 is better suited for complex genres like orchestral classics and vocal. Also, N5 is good in progressive rock and jazz. Little worse (but still pretty OK) is metal, but here you should better look for good remasters.

To conclude, N5 is a great player for those, who prefer neutral representation and enjoys great mids representation with lots of emotions.

I'd like to thank to Cayin for providing me with a free review sample in exchange for my honest opinion (but import customs made this sample far from free).

As usual, my humble video with impressions.

[VIDEO]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vm5C459rf6M[/VIDEO]

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.

First of all I have to mention overall packaging and design. They're looking extremely rich.

Earphones themselves also looks great and unusual.

As for sound quality - I'd say that it's OK for the money asked for them. Sound is clear, with nice mids and height. Sometimes bass lacked punch, but it depends on recoding mastering.

So money/value - it's a good choice.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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


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

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

Packaging, build quality and appearance

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


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

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


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

Sound Impressions

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

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

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


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

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


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


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


Selected Comparisons

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

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

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


Summary

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

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

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.

This Aune's player is almost not-know on Head-Fi, but it is very interesting device with exceptional sound quality for its price, so I've decided to write my brief impressions. English isn't my native language, so I'm sorry for some possible mistakes, and for not being as interesting as other Head-Fi reviewers

I don't know why, but some Aune products became extremely popular on Head-Fi (like T1), while others remain pretty unknown, regardless of their exceptional quality. Their first DAP, M1 leaves really mixed impressions. On the one hand, its sound quality is really impressive, especially for $150 price, on the other hand, it have lots of really noticeable shortages.



But first of all — exterior.

Player is sold in small white cardboard box, very similar to Apple iPhone's box. Inside you got player itself, coaxial output adapter, micro USB cable for charge and manual. That's all. It's not the fanciest accessories set, but for M1's price, this player is OK.



M1 itself is very solid device as it's made completely from black anodised aluminium. Size is 103,1 mm x 56 mm x 20 mm, weight is 181 g. Aune M1 not the smallest DAP, but it fits nicely in hand, because width is less then average.

On top panel you'll find headphone out, coaxial out and analog volume volume regulator. Out of the box it was set to zero, so I've spent few seconds trying to figure out, why there is no sound. On bottom panel you'll find SD card slot, LED for battery indication and toggle switch for turning M1 on and off. M1 doesn't have power off feature, so you should always remember to turn it off, to avoid battery drain.



Official specs told that M1 suppord SD cards up to 32 Gb, but some 64 Gb works too. One of the biggest device's disadvantages — it's very whimsical when it comes to SD cards. Some of them work, others don't and I don't know, is there any consistent pattern. So, it's better to try SD card before buying. Other player's feature — it won't turn on without SD card. But this decision is pretty logical, what to do with player if no music is found?

On front panel you'll find all other controls: 5 buttons and screen. Player firmware is really simple. It can play only WAV files and only 44.1/16 resolution. When you turn M1 on, you see your card's contents, you select folder, it plays. That's all. No cover art, no sleep timer, no bass/treble selection. Absolutely no options. Only available option is paly order, it can be switched with dedicated button and chose to play songs one by one, in random order and so on. On the screen you'll see song title, play time, battery status and that's pretty all. From "additional features", M1 offer .CUE support, but it works not with all files (at least for me). Positive side — M1 boots up really fast, after flicking the switch it takes just few seconds.



To reduce power, M1 enters "sleep" mode after approx. 30 seconds of inactivity: turns screen off and locks buttons. To turn it on again, you need to press rightmost button.

I know, everything described above, sounds devastating. But M1 offers one really great feature — its sound.



Stock M1 build with PCM1793 as DAC and NE5532 + OPA2134 as amplifier. It's able to push 700 mW into 32Ω load, and it's pretty good amount of power for most of the headphones. DAC and amp placed inside on replaceable board, and Aune told that they'll release other DAC, but I have doubts about that. Anyway, stock sound is really superb.

M1 sound really neutral and natural. It have both transparency and musicality. Bass is really nice, it's punchy, it's energetic, well controlled and goes really deep. Mids are detailed and emotional. Highs are also transparent and well controlled, but sometimes I miss their quantity a little bit.



Overall, soundwise, I'd place M1 above Fiio X5 and iBasso DX90 (just my oppinion), M1's sound is just more natural, and good amount of power helps it shine.

There is spare module, made by thirdparty developer from China, based on CS4398 (called Modile Choir [http://tw.taobao.com/item/40367662569.htm?fromSite=main]). It's also sounds really interesting, but with less of energy in sound. Choir's sound is more like QLS360, with absolute neutrality, with spacious sound stage and more resolution.



With full battery, M1 is able to play for 7 hours, really nice for such a powerful player, and it takes about 2.5 hours to charge it.



To conclude, Aune M1 is really lacking lots of modern features, but it offers outstanding sound quality for small amount of money, so if you want really good sound — it's worth trying.

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]