The Sustain84 By Cypher Labs
I can never quite tell if Cypher Labs practices soft launches or things just creep up on me with their product line but towards the end of 2015 David and his team got all tubey and launched the portable tube am...
Our Score
The N90Q by AKG
Harman has shifted their marketing division roughly half a dozen times in 2015. Now, I can almost time it when I’ll get a new email that tells me the last group isn’t handling the headphone department anymore ...
The Heron 5 by Airist Audio
A new player has entered the battle field and I’ve almost no information to share about Airist Audio apart from the fact they are a small team of smart people from the likes of MIT, Harvard to name but a few co...
The Edition M by Ultrasone
Time moves quickly these days in headphone world and a few years back Ultrasone cans where popping up at a lot of meets all shiny and expensive but oh so touch worthy. Since then Hifiman, Audeze has stolen the ...
Our Score
The HE1000 by Hifiman
"You are going to need a bigger amp". Now looking around at my loveable Mjolnir and Hifiman EF6 SS amps that didn't inspire any fiscal and aural confidence but nevertheless those were the ringing 'Scheideresque...
The Continental Dual Mono By ALO Audio
The Studio 6 by ALO Audio is their most expensive product for sale to date. A behemoth of a tube amp that we got and will review with aplomb in the coming weeks. However, the Continental Dual Mono DAC/AMP (CDM)...
The VE5 CIEM By Vision Ears
The last time I checked out Vision Ears product range I went right for the big kahuna, the VE6XC in late 2014. This was and still is their flagship with the x1 and X2 versions combined into a switch operated CI...
The A12 CIEM by 64 Audio
The reviewer's mortal enemy, the killjoy of audiophiles and the ticking clock of old Father Time. That's the gradual loss of your hearing; it is as inevitable as death and taxes. However, the premature loss of ...
The KAISER 10 CIEM by Noble
Status and peak level audio quality rolled into one just isn’t enough for these guys. They had to go ahead and craft some of the most beautiful designs along with it. My K10 is one of those very few pieces of...
HiFi Room Essentials – The Chair
This is the first article in what I hope to become a Hifi Essentials guide that revolves around anything and everything commonly found in a high end audio listening lounge. All audio enthusiasts should have n...
The Ether by MrSpeakers
If you’ve lived under a rock for the past few months, you may not be aware that Dan at MrSpeakers has again been up to no good as of late. Somewhere out in the desert in California, or perhaps a dark laborato...
The Stage 5 CIEM by Rhines
Those of you who have been reading our customs reviews I had previously discussed the Compact Monitors story late last year when reviewing the VE6 XControl and mentioned the famous "Stage Series" brand of custo...
The Hugo by Chord
I can’t remember a media player or portable DAC that has recently caused such hype in the audiophile hifi scene as the Chord Hugo; a quite highly priced DAC and headphone amp with pre-out that has pushed the bu...
The Harmony 8 CIEM by Custom Art
We have all been there before, well those who profess to be headphone nuts but I guess a few auto fans also come to think of it. Most likely it is after a few beers but you do tend to sit there with a set of he...
8.3Our Score
The Conductor Virtuoso by Burson
What do we have for review today? It is Burson's burly Conductor Virtuoso. Is this the all around headphone amp that we have all been waiting for? Will it drive anything with ease while staying refined and quie...
The HPA-01M Portable Amp by Bakoon
There is nothing worse than getting a dose of the "man flu" when you are in mid testing, especially when the unit for review is the all-new portable HPA-01M current drive amp from Bakoon. You really just have t...
The Flow by Aurender
Recently there has been a bit of a drive to make the portable amplification and decoding device relevant again in the face of the all-conquering DAP revolution headed by the likes of Astell & Kern, FiiO and...
The VE6 Xcontrol CIEM by Vision Ears
You mention the words "stage series" to any custom monitor fan and they will immediately nod their head in approval. It is a phrase commonly associated with the now defunct German brand label Compact Monitors w...
The LCD-XC Closed Planar by Audeze
About a year ago, Audeze released two new headphones in their lineup: The X ($1,699) and the XC ($1,799) to complement and fill a void between their previous generation models that included the LCD2/LCD3, and b...
The V8 CIEM by 1964EARS
I really need to go to Oregon someday. A lot of my favorite audio gear is sold there by one vendor or another. There are amps from ALO Audio, decoders and even more amps from Cypher Labs and now customs from 19...