Views 39,680 iBasso PB5 Osprey is a $1499 USD Summit-Fi Portable Tube Headphone Amplifier, featuring the most complex Dual Nutube 6P1 Tube setup manufactured by KORG and Noritake, being the 6th generation NuTubes, combined with 6 Batteries, and and a stepped volume attenuator to deliver the best sonic performance you …
Desktop Equipment is mainly made to be used at home or at your main desk, and it is not generally intended to be portable. This includes Speakers, DACs, AMPs, even Headphones, and desktop equipment is generally larger and / or needs access to a power outlet to work. HIFI products are generally considered desktop equipment, although you can find some which can be used portably.
You can find the best desktop equipment here: https://amzn.to/3QiOhdd
Desktop
Arylic S10+ Wifi Music Streamer – Optical Audio Link
Views 27,173 Arylic S10+ is an $69 USD entry-level Wifi Music streamer with Ethernet, USB host, and Line in inputs, and with an Optical and a Aux output. Today we will review the S10+ and explore whether it provides an interesting performance for the price paid. Introduction Arylic is …
Creative Sound Blaster AE-9 PCIe Sound Card – Ultimate 32-Bit Xamp Music Explosion
Views 29,476 Creative Sound Blaster AE-9 is a $350 USD PCIe Internal Sound Card with an external console controller, a full audio kit designed to be your DAC/AMP with a rich selection of software features, as well as lots of driving power, Xamp, BiAMP, Line Out, and many more features …
Tronsmart Mirtune C2 Bluetooth Speaker – Single Dance Party
Views 28,432 Tronsmart Mirtune C2 is a $39 USD Bluetooth speaker designed for portability, having both IPX7 Waterproofing rating, Potential for Stereo Pairing, and even a huge 3600 mAh Extended battery inside. Today we will review the Mirtune C2 and how it sounds like with multiple music styles, as well …
SMSL PS200 HiFi High Fidelity DAC – Unpretentious Design, Alacrity Attack
Views 28,337 SMSL PS200 is a $89 USD Multi Function Audio Converter with Bluetooth 5.0 input, DSD512 Support, MQA-CD support, and with an ES9039Q2M DAC at the heart for decoding the input signals. With all the signals going through the XMOS Xu316 popular USB interface, today we will review the …
Ricable Dedalus Speaker MKII (DS3 MK2) Hi-Fi Speaker Cable – Refined, Gentle Sound and Double Noise Reduction
Views 31,668 Ricable Dedalus Speaker MK2 is a $670 USD / 626 EURO per pair cable for speakers, with multiple unique technologies, including the Marc Conductor, and RNR Technology, to reduce the cable and create the best sound possible for your system. With its beautiful orange accent, it will match …
MUSICIAN PEGASUS II R2R HiFi DAC – Revealer Of Hidden Worlds
Views 46,268 Musician Pegasus II is an R2R $1099 USD DAC sold and fulfilled by Aoshida, and produced by Musician. Today we will review and explore the Pegasus II and compare it to other high-end flagship DACs, including Dethonray Listening M1 (2599 USD), Denafrips Ares II R2R DAC (800 USD), …
KAEI TAP-1 HiFi DACs AMPs – Fuzzy Magic Of Pocket Tubes
Views 36,800 KAEI TAP-1 DACs is a $329 USD DAC / Headphone Amplifier, with Dual CS43131 DACs inside, a Tube Preamplifier stage, and a solid state amplifier stage with modular OP-AMPs, that allow you to fine tune and change the sound. The unit can come in multiple variations, with DACs …
Burson Audio V7 Vivid PRO OP-AMP – Music Played In Supreme Layers
Views 27,245 Burson Audio V7 Vivid are a $169 USD pair of OP-AMPs, with both Dual and Single variants, designed by Burson Audio for DAC/AMPs with modular OP-AMP design, using the DIP8 Sockets. To get a full upgrade for Burson PlayMate 2, you require 2 pairs of OP-AMPs, a pair …
FiiO SP3 BT High Fidelity Active Desktop Speakers – Grandiose Dreams Of A Smooth Talker
Views 38,943 FiiO SP3 BT is a $349 USD pair of Hifi Speakers made for desktop nearfield monitoring, with 80W of Power, a 3.5″ Carbon Fibre Midrange driver and an 1″ Silk Tweeter. Today we will review the SP3 BT and compare them to other speakers and audio solutions that …
FiiO SR11 HIFI Mini Desktop Streaming Music Receiver – Surge Of Rhythmic Jive
Views 34,870 FiiO SR11 is a $109 USD Entry-Level Mini Desktop Streaming Music Receiver with a multitude of inputs and outputs, and it will be the star of our review today. It is designed to be paired with FiiO K11 R2R, but it can be used alone for other DACs …
HIFIMAN Mini Shangri-La Headphone System – Brilliant Electrostatic HIFI Delight
Views 49,336 HIFIMAN Mini Shangri-La is a 2300 USD Electrostatic headphone system, composed of the Mini Shangri-La Headphones which cost 1100 USD, and the Electrostatic Amplifier which costs 1500 USD, with the system having a better price combined than if you bought each individually. Today we are going to review …
Topping A50 III Headphone Amplifier – Refinement And Power Minified
Views 34,566 Topping A50 III is a $199 USD Headphone Amplifier, recommended for purchase along with the Topping D50 III Dac which we have reviewed recently, and the headphone amplifier counterpart to that DAC. Today we will review the A50 III and compare it with other headphone amplifiers, including JDS …
iBasso D16 Taipan 1 Bit FPGA DAC AMP with 128 DACs – The Ultimate Listening Experience Of Cascaded 16 Sets of 8E PWM-DACs
Views 46,262 iBasso D16 is a $1499 USD Digital to Analog Converter and Super Class A Headphone Amplifier, designed as a portable unit, with what I consider to be the most unique DAC tech we have seen this year. I am talking about 1Bit DACs, with 16 sets of cascaded …
Astral Acoustics Eclipse IEM Cable – Light From Across The Universe
Views 29,648 Astral Acoustics Eclipse is a $950 USD HiFi IEM Cable with all connectors and terminations included, and today we will review the Eclipse, pairing it with multiple IEMs in the process. Given the price point, we will also compare Astral Acoustics Eclipse with multiple IEM cables, including Astral …
FiiO K11 R2R DAC Headphone Amplifier – Two Worlds Of Sound And Music
Views 32,724 FiiO K11 R2R is a $169 USD DAC and Headphone Amplifier with an R2R or RRR DAC inside, lots of driving power, and as we will explore today, a very colorful, dynamic and punchy sound, not necessarily characteristic of R2R, but enjoyable and fun nonetheless. Instead of the …
Soundz Blade V2 Universal Greek HIFI IEMs – Dazzling Music Abound
Views 34,689 Soundz Blade V2 is a 750 EURO / $812 USD pair of high-end IEMs designed with a switch to either make the sound bright and neutral, perfect for monitoring, or add body, bass impact and more weight to music, turning it to a more enjoyable listening experience. Today …
ECdesigns PowerDAC-SX Stereo HIFI Integrated DAC – Ultimate Levels Of Power And Control
Views 45,519 ECdesigns PowerDAC-SX is a 3450 EURO / $3700 USD DAC which can directly drive speakers, and balanced headphones without using any amplifiers. It comes with a remote, and it is one of the most interesting and unique stereo sound reproduction solutions in the whole world. Today we will …
Creative Stage Air V2 HIFI Sound Bar – Slice Of Music
Views 22,587 Creative Stage Air V2 is a $49 USD Soundbar made for computers, with a battery that gives it 6 hours of battery life, 20W of Peak Power, and USB, 3.5mm and even Bluetooth inputs. Today we will take a look at and review the Stage Air V2 and …
Ricable Dedalus Speaker Elite Speaker Cable – Smoothly Shielded For HiFi Music Reproduction
Views 19,443 Ricable Dedalus Speaker Elite is a 882 EURO / $950 USD pair of cables for speakers, with this price tag being for today’s 3 meter pair, as the price is lower for 2 meters, at 778 EURO / $840 USD, and increasing up to 1095 EURO / $1185 …
Elipson W35 Xi Bluetooth Speaker – Absolute Sphere Connected Sound
Views 34,694 Elipson W35 Xi is a 699 Euro / $750 USD High-End Flagship Bluetooth Speaker designed as a sphere, coming to take the wireless market by surprise, and in this review we will study the design, placement, usage, and how it sounds like. Given the price point, it competes …
Topping D50 III HIFI DAC – Desktop ESS Studio Dynamics
Views 34,827 Topping D50 III is a $229 USD HIFI DAC with a beautiful silver metallic case, Bluetooth input, TRS Balanced outputs, and RCA Single Ended outputs, with a mini display, and with High Resolution support. Today we will explore how the new D50 III sounds like, and how it …
iFi Zen DAC 3 DAC / AMP – Sonic Balance V3
Views 31,701 iFi Zen DAC 3 is a $229 USD DAC / AMP designed by iFi Audio, with a Balanced headphone output, a single ended headphone output, and it is the latest variant in their lineup of affordable and freshly designed DACs. Today we will review the Zen DAC 3 …
SMSL DO200 PRO Hifi PRE / DAC – 12 DACs From Aoshida With Professional Tuning
Views 31,847 SMSL DO200 PRO is a $399 USD DAC or Digital To Analog Converter sold by Aoshida Audio, with PRE Function, and 12 DAC chips inside working together to bring you a whole new type of sound and tuning for the price point it carries. Today we will review …
Burson PlayMate 2 DAC / AMP – Incredible Efficiency And Precision
Views 34,837 Burson Playmate 2 is a $544 USD DAC / Headphone Amplifier, with a huge driving power for headphones, and a full metallic chassis, but also with modular OP-AMPs for you to tune and sound and enjoy it in your own favorite flavor. Today we will review the PlayMate …