$401-500

The ERIB-5a Planar IEM By oBravo

June 5, 2016

$401-500, Hybrid Universal, IEM & Earphones

If you have been gazing at audio trade shows pics for the last two years you might have noticed a company called oBravo pop up quite a lot with their rather unique headphone driver designs combining dynamic dri...

The Pryma By Sonus Faber

Michael

May 4, 2016

$401-500, Headphones, Portable

Sonus Faber, primarily an Italian brand, has launched their first and solid attempt at a nice sounding headphone with their Pryma. When I'd first heard their announcement of a future headphone release, I was a...

Our Score

The SINE By Audeze

Michael

April 22, 2016

$401-500, Headphones, Planar, Portable

I've shaken my fist at the audio community for the past 8 or so years, but that prolonged whining got me nowhere. It seemed like no matter how hard I cried, audio designers and the HiFi community have both ins...

Our Score

The Galvanize S2 By BLOC & ROC

Smit Patel

February 24, 2016

$401-500, Headphones, Portable

With a strong foothold in many well-known British retailers, Bloc & Roc are a new audio company located along the outskirts of London. Their claim to fame has been their use of high-grade construction mater...

HiFi Room Essentials – The Chair

Michael

August 16, 2015

$1000+, $201-300, $301-400, $401-500, $501-1000, Accessories, Features

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...

9.1

Our Score

The R2A and R2Pro IEMs by Flare Audio

Michael

May 24, 2015

$101-200, $401-500, Dynamic, IEM & Earphones

108

This UK Company has been working furiously around their Kickstarter program lately, aiming for the stars and attempting to shatter the conventional designs of headphones in general. Previously, they’d achieved...

7.9

Our Score

The Noble 4 Classic In-Ear Monitor

Marcus

May 13, 2015

$401-500, Balanced Armature, IEM & Earphones

If you are from Head-fi or a general audio enthusiast you cannot have passed a web page by without hearing the name Noble. Incredibly this is the first time I have spent any time with a Noble earphone of any ki...

7.3

Our Score

Noise Cancelling with the Sony MDR-1RNC

Michael

May 10, 2015

$401-500, Closed, Portable

I am kind of baffled by what Sony has been up to lately, cranking out so many good headphones really makes me feel almost uncomfortable. I am not used to reviewing so many products from one company in a row th...

The Micro Portable Amp By Portaphile

Michael

March 25, 2015

$401-500, Portable Amps

Ceasar over at Portaphile has been up to no good! A while back, I'd heard his original 627 portable amp, astounded by the price to performance I'd naturally wanted to own it and review it. Since then, Porta...

The HM-650 DAP by Hifiman

Headfonics

January 14, 2015

$401-500, DAP's

No matter the area, Hifiman always has pushed the envelope. For example, their first DAP was the monstrosity known as the HM-801. At 9 ounces and an entire inch thick, it, put bluntly, was a brick. It was a won...

4.8

Score

The HE400i and HE560 Planars by Hifiman

Marcus

January 11, 2015

$401-500, $501-1000, Headphones, Planar

The HE400i and HE560 are two new full-size open-back planar headphone releases from Hifiman. The retail for $499 and $899 respectively. Disclaimer: The Hifiman R2R2000 HE-400i and HE-560 sent to us are sampl...

8.2

Our Score

The DX90 by iBasso

Marcus

July 1, 2014

$401-500, DAP's

The audiophile DAP race continues unabated with the release of the next step up from the DX50 by iBasso with the $419 DX90 DAP. It is almost as if iBasso and FiiO are in this budget busting DAP war bubble right...

The Mi-Performer Pro & Artist CIEM by Minerva

Marcus

January 2, 2014

$401-500, Custom Monitors, IEM & Earphones

I am in a rare position this month of having more than one custom IEM on my desk thanks to the wonderful team at Minerva UK who kindly sent me their latest creations - the Mi-Performer Pro and Mi-Performer Arti...

Kingrex UD384 DAC & Upower – ultra mobile, ultra good!

Marcus

April 1, 2012

$401-500, DAC's, Sources

Up until this point my DAC's have all been in the form of a big black box or a all in one amp and DAC such as the Maverick Audio D1 or the FiiO E17 or Ibasso D-Zero. All either are for line out, digital out or ...

Grado PS-500 – The PS series gets affordable, but is it any good?

Headfonics

October 25, 2011

$401-500, Full-Size, Headphones, Open

I have several headphones besides the PS-500, and I've reviewed some of them, so I should find it easy to describe the PS-500, yes? Maybe not. By now I've discovered that my "other" headphones fall into the cat...

Go Vibe Vulcan+ Headphone Amplifier – EQ Heaven!

Marcus

June 2, 2011

$401-500, Portable Amps

If you go to any regular audio buff meet and you talk headphone amps chances are you are going to hear regular names being dropped such as FiiO, RSA, Ibasso, Mini3 to name but a few. In certain hallowed circles...