Views 4,923 With the winter holidays drawing us closer to each other and to our families, it is time to be grateful that we survived another year, that we got to listen to so much excellent music, to meet so many new awesome people, and to explore this wonderful hobby …
Driving Power
Sparkos Gemini Tube Headphone Amplifier – HiFi Delight Meets American Precision
Views 9,679 Sparkos Gemini is a $995 USD Tube Headphone Amplifier with RCA inputs, RCA outputs, XLR Headphone outputs, and with Sparkos Labs SS2590 Discrete OPA Output Stage. Today we will review the Sparkos Gemini and compare it with other headphone amplifiers we recently reviewed, including Aune S17 PRO (699 …
Creative Sound Blaster G8 Desktop Hi-Res Dual DAC AMP – BiAmp Gaming Acoustic Engine
Views 11,334 Creative Sound Blaster G8 is a $149 USD desktop DAC / AMP with a Dual DAC inside, Hi-Res decoding support, and Proprietary XAMP dedicated amplifier. Today we will review the G8 and explore how it works, how it sounds like and if it would make a good purchase …
Shanling UA6 Flagship Portable DAC / AMP – Technically Revealing Power Sound
Views 14,269 Shanling UA6 is a $159 USD Dongle DAC AMP with 4 x CS43131 DACs inside, a fairly high driving power, and what Shanling considers to be the peak of USB Dongle DAC technology. Today we will review the UA6 In-Depth and study its performance, how it generally compares …
FiiO Ka15 HiFi Dual DAC AMP – Jade Audio Retro Tape Cassette Dongle
Views 23,144 FiiO KA15 is a $109 USD dongle DAC AMP with a unique retro design that reminds me a lot of old cassette players, being a dual DAC design inside, perfect for HiFi listening with a modern sound. Today we will explore and review KA15. Introduction FiiO has …
HIFI Walker H20 PRO DAP Lossless Music Player Review – Professional Sound Quality
Views 25,272 HiFi walker H20 PRO is a $199 USD DAP, Digital audio Player, with Two-Way Bluetooth, Wifi support, and a capable microSD slot supporting up to 512GB microSD cards. Today we will take a deep dive in the music world created by H20 PRO and explore how it sounds …
Topping B100 Mono HiFi Desktop Stereo Amplifier – Monoblock Clockwork Maestro
Views 32,139 Topping B100 is a Speaker Amplifier, and it is sold per piece, with a price of $299 USD per piece, although you will need two for your standard stereo setup, so you might as well consider the full price to be $598 USD per pair. Today we will …
Hiby Digital Xeno HiFi IEMS – xMEMS Dynamic Dual DAC Alchemy Of Sound
Views 19,668 Hiby Digital Xeno is a newly launched IEM priced at around $150 USD, which is the first to combine the new MEMS Driver technology with a dynamic driver, and produce what can be called the ultimate entry-level IEM, for both sonic quality and customizability. Today we will take …
Fosi Audio V3 Mono HiFi Amplifier – Twofold Music Punch Expansion
Views 28,140 Fosi Audio v3 is a Mono Power Amplifier priced at $169 USD per piece, or $338 USD for the pair of amplifiers that we’re reviewing today. This is a Class D Amplifier, with modular OP-AMPs, which can accommodate both Sparkos and Burson Audio OP-AMPs, and which is a …
iBasso PB5 Osprey HiFi Tube Amplifier – Apex Analogic Musicality
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 …
FiiO FH19 HiFi IEMs – Euphoria Bass Extrema
Views 32,016 FiiO FH19 is currently FiiO’s high-end flagship IEM priced at $599 USD, coming warm and smooth with both dynamic and balanced armature drivers, including 2 Dynamic Drivers and 6 Balanced Armature drivers. As this is FiiO’s best IEM at this point, we are going to take a deep …
iBasso DX180 HIFI Music Player DAP – Enlightenment Across The Midrange
Views 38,217 iBasso DX180 is a $529 USD DAP Digital Audio Player with 4 CS43131 DAC chips, Snapdragon 665 SoC, Android 13 Operating System, and Dedicated USB DAC function. With a high driving power from the 4.4mm balanced headphone output, and low noise from the 3.5mm single ended output, DX180 …
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 …
HIFIMAN Svanar Wireless Jr Junior HIFI TWS Earphones – Youthful Warm Presentation
Views 27,437 HIFIMAN Svanar Wireless Jr Junior is a 179 USD pair of Wireless Bluetooth Earphones, with the same case and earbuds shape as the others in the Svanar series, but with all the pieces being white in color. Today we will review the Wireless Jr and see where they …
HIFIMAN Mini Shangri-La Headphone System – Brilliant Electrostatic HIFI Delight
Views 49,337 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 34,568 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 46,263 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 …
ECdesigns PowerDAC-SX Stereo HIFI Integrated DAC – Ultimate Levels Of Power And Control
Views 45,521 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 …
SHANLING ONIX ALPHA XI1 – Bold Sound, Good Function DAC Amp
Views 28,480 Shanling Onix Alpha Xi1 is a $109 USD DAC / Headphone Amplifier with a beautiful design, excellent software support, and with a balanced and single ended headphone output. Today we will review the Onix Alpha Xi1 and compare it with other DAC/AMPs including Shanling H2 (169 USD), Aune …
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 …
HIFIMAN Prelude Pre / Amp – Bold Leader Headphone Amplifier
Views 57,350 HIFIMAN Prelude is a $2499 USD full Class A Headphone Amplifier, with a Mos-Fet High Current Output, which can convert even the single ended input to fully balanced, with ALPS Potentiometer, and a whopping 10W of power into a 32 OHM impedance. We are reviewing the leader of …
HIFIMAN Goldenwave Serenade – Himalaya PRO R2R DAC AMP
Views 65,425 HIFIMAN Goldenwave Serenade is a $999 USD DAC and Headphone Amplifier, with a Himalaya PRO R2R DAC inside, with a new FPGA algorithm and 0.01% precision resistors, and with a THD rate of -6 dB, 0.0012%. Today we will review it and compare it to Dethonray Listening M1 …
ddHIFI TC44PRO USB-C 4.4mm Dongle DAC – Warm Sound Presents Drums and Bass
Views 27,174 ddHIFI TC44PRO is a $71 USD Dongle DAC AMP designed around a pair of Dual Cirrus Logic CS43131 DACs, and with a 4.4mm Headphone output, designed to pair with your smartphone and provide a convenient sound solution. Today we will focus on reviewing the TC 44 PRO, and …
Creative Sound Blaster X5 – Delightful Music Comes From Unexpected DAC / AMP / Sound Card
Views 38,517 Creative Sound Blaster X5 is a $299 USD high-quality Sound Card / DAC / AMP mainly aimed at gamers and audiophiles, or rather a hybrid of the two, with a 4.4mm balanced headphone output, RCA outputs, mic input, and with a selection of other features that may come …
Aune Yuki DAC / AMP – Beautiful Looking But Serious Sounding Dongle
Views 38,644 Aune Yuki is a $179 USD Dongle DAC AMP with a dual DAC inside, and with a 4 x 4 Transistors design. Today we will be reviewing the Yuki and comparing it to other dongles and similarly priced sources including Hiby R3 II (179 USD), Audioengine D1 (169 …