Views 67,267 Avantone Pro Planar is the latest headphone from Europe, with a Planar technology behind, but without the pocket-emptying price that most of those have. The unit I’m reviewing today is red and ready to fight, and they have to be compared to other headphones costing around 450 USD …
Headphones / IEMs is the umbrella place where I keep all my reviews of portable stuff like earphones and IEMs and headphones. It helps having this category to know whether something is for head wearing or for desktop usage. There are separate categories for IEMs and Headphones, if you’re looking for something specific.
You can find my reviews on high end products below, and also the best high end products here: https://amzn.to/3r1RIu5
Headphones/IEMs
Sendy Audio Peacock – Flagship Of Music
Views 73,189 Sendy Audio Peacock is the latest headphone from Sendy Audio and it is priced at about 1500 USD at the moment of writing this full written review (USA), and 1750 USD (Europe after taxes). The main comparisons will be with Kennerton Thror (3000 USD), Audeze LCD MX4 (3000 …
Soundmagic ST80 Sport Earphones – Not So Fast, Punk
Views 66,708 ST80 is the new sporty IEM from Soundmagic, a company focused on an awesome selection of products. This one is a really entry-level one, priced at 56 USD, and today’s review will mostly focus on it as my collection of reviews about products priced similarly is rather thin. …
xDuoo MT-602 Tube Headphone Amp – Freak Trickster
Views 62,434 MT-602 is a headphone amplifier with tubes on a budget, priced at 100 USD, and it comes with two 6J1 Tubes, runs in class A, and will be compared to JDS Labs Atom AMP+, Soundavo HP-1 DAC-AMP, and xDuoo TA-10 Headphone AMP, also with tubes. Introduction xDuoo …
Tempotec E35 Sonata DAC/AMP – Glass Design Amplified
Views 50,459 Tempotec E35 Sonata is a DAC/AMP with the price tag of 80 USD, driverless operation, dual DACs, and 80mW of power at 32 OHMs. It will be compared to iBasso DC-01 (50 USD), FiiO M3 PRO (70 USD), FiiO BTR5 (110 USD). Introduction Tempotec has been a …
HIFIMAN HE400SE Planar Headphones – Bright As The Sun
Views 66,237 We have a really nicely priced headphone here, with a price tag of about 200 USD in most places (after tax and shipping). I will be comparing HE400SE with HIFIMAN Sundara (350 USD), Sivga Phoenix (250 USD), and Soundmagic HP1000 (300 USD). Most of the competitors are more …
Nf Audio NM2+ IEMs – This Time It’s All Metal
Views 39,662 It is time for the other NF Audio IEM, the NM2+, the one I missed reviewing quicker. It is priced at 170 USD, so it will be compared to IKKO OH10 Obsidian (170 USD), Optimisation Elements OElements Tita (170 USD), and BQEYZ Spring 2 (170 USD). Feels like …
Valco VMK20 Bluetooth Headphones – Lived Up To Expectations
Views 59,451 Valco is a new company, who made a very interesting headphone named VMK20, and priced at 180 USD. The main competitors for the VMK20 headphone will be HIFIMAN Deva (300 USD), Master & Dynamic MH40 Wireless (250 USD), and Sennheiser Momentum 3 (400 USD). Introduction There is …
Metalure Wave IEMs – Ultra Basshead Fun
Views 69,082 Those ones are IEMs I never expected to like, even less love as much as I do, but to give you a nice head start, they are basshead, priced at 600 USD, and will be compared with Campfire Vega 2020 (900 USD), NX Ears Baso (550 USD), Audeze …
HIDIZS MS2 Rainbow IEMs – Multitude Of Colorful Sounds
Views 69,879 If you’re looking for beautiful IEMS, look no further, with Ms2 Rainbow being probably the most beautiful IEM you can get without spending a fortune. They cost about 90 USD at the moment of writing this review, and they are going to be compared with iBasso IT01X (120 …
IKKO OH10 Obsidian IEMs – Detail Resolution Maxima
Views 24,103 Ikko designed an IEM with a rather uninspired name for the presentation, as Obsidian does not necessarily explain the whole story, and the price of 160 USD is way lower than the quality I am hearing from the OH10. The main comparisons will be with Optimisation Elements Tita, …
Crosszone CZ-10 Headphones – Soundstage Excelsior
Views 76,617 CZ-10 is a breath of fresh air, as I’ve only reviewed open-back headphones for most of this year, so having something closed back, or at least semi open is refreshing. This is a proper Japanese headphone, high-end with all the bells and whistles, priced at 900 USD, and …
ZMI PurPods – Taking A Stab At Appl*
Views 66,411 The fantastic Purpods are a pair of Apple Airpods shaped TWS IEMS priced at 50 USD. I haven’t really reviewed many TWS IEMS so cheap, but decided it was way too expensive on my resources to make a video, so the full written review will focus on the …
iBasso IT01X IEMs – They Keep Coming
Views 29,877 iBasso has been on a roll for the entry-level price range, and the IT01X is the natural evolution after the original IT01 and IT01S. It comes at the price of 120 USD, and has a double sided driver, along with a helmholtz resonator like IE800 from the past. …
CCA CKX IEMs – Entry Level Drivers Abound
Views 19,502 It is that time of the year again, when, at 70 USD, a company decides to implement way too many drivers in an IEM, so we have a 7-driver configuration from CCA. There’s even one dynamic driver for the mids and lows, with two selections of BA drivers …
TRI Starsea – Sea Of Music
Views 62,318 Tri Starsea is the kind of IEM with a simple 2 BA + 1 DD Design, which sounds really nice. They are priced at 130 USD, so they will get compared to BQEYZ Spring 2, Etymotic ER3SE, and Shuoer Tape PRO. Introduction TRI is actually commanded and …
Optimisation Elements OElements Tita IEMs – BA Snap and Snap!
Views 70,576 Tita, and I hope autocorrect won’t turn this to t*ts, is an IEM made by Optimisation Elements, and it is based on a single Balanced Armature, priced at 170 USD, when you order it with the cable too. It is a direct competitor to the Spring 2 IEMs …
Unique Melody Mest MKii IEMs – New Flagship Quadbrid
Views 47,801 Truly a revolutionary piece, the MKii of Mest from Unique Melody is priced at 1500 USD at the moment of writing this full written review, and it features four types of driver technologies, made to sound the most coherent, detailed yet natural of all the IEMs out there. …
HIFIMAN RE400C – The Mythical Beast
Views 59,623 RE400C is an IEM with the connector on type-C and priced at 80 USD. They will only work with smartphones that have audio over type-C USB, and they are made for smartphones only. Given the design, I can’t compare them with anything, nor go for pairings, but I …
Campfire Vega 2020 – Smooth Basshead Love
Views 54,746 Vega 2020 is the latest edition of a titanic IEM, and it is priced at 900 USD. It has one Full Range Dynamic Driver, with a 10 mm diaphragm, and a ceramic housing + stainless steel bores. The main competitors I’ll be comparing it with will be Campfire …
BQEYZ Spring 2 IEMs – Mastery Of Midrange
Views 58,671 Spring 2 is a high-quality IEM with 1 Piezzoelectric + 1 Dynamic Driver and a price point of 170 USD at the moment of writing this full written review. They come in two colors, either black, as presented in today’s review, or green lime which I would avoid …
NxEars Basso – Long Awaited, But Welcome
Views 29,387 NXEars Basso is an IEM made with 4 Balanced Armatures, a real copper face plate, and an MMCX Removable cable. They are priced at about 550 USD at the moment of writing this review, so they will be compared to fierce competition like iBasso IT07, Jomo Audio P3 …
Denon AH-D7200 Dynamic Headphones – Unsupported Flagship
Views 31,735 Denon AH-D7200 is the flagship Dynamic Headphone for Bassheads made by Denon. It is priced at 700 USD, and it will be compared to Beyerdynamic Amiron, Sennheiser HD660S, Dan Clark Aeon Flow, and Harmonic Dyne Zeus. Introduction Despite being extremely popular, large, and in-demand, Denon is the …
BGVP ArtMagic VG4 IEMs – Multi Levels Of Fun
Views 29,032 I figured it was a mighty time to post a review on those fairly detailed IEMS, so here we go with BGVP! They make some of the most desired Chifi IEMs, and today’s model is priced at just 230 USD! While most of their earlier models were sold …
FiiO FH5S Hybrid IEMs – Mid Centric Evolution
Views 75,618 FiiO FH5s is an upgrade of the original FH5, and this time around it has two dynamic drivers, and two Balanced armatures. It is priced at 280 and naturally has to be compared to FiiO FH5, FiiO FD5, but also to IEMs like Unique Melody 3DT, Kinera Freya, …