I took my sweetest time on this, but here I finally am with my first article about E1DA dongles. This one is about the two models called 9038SG3 and 9038D. A subsequent article will cover PowerDAC V2.1. 9038SG3 is E1DA’s latest iteration of the 9038S model, which over time went through 3 generations – this…
Category: GREAT STUFF
Apogee Groove Anniversary Edition
A few of you may know that Apogee released an “Anniversary Edition” of their Groove DAC-AMP dongle in conjunction with the company’s 30th year in business, back in 2015. Originally priced at a substancially higher level compared to the regular version – which still retails for $249,00 – such Anniversary model is now discontinued. Externally…
RHA CL2 – surely best planar yet
I never fell in love with the planar timbre, neither in the end I did this time. It’s just not precisely my cup of tea. Yet this time it was a much closer call, really. What I heard is no doubt a full class above any other chifi planar I auditioned to date. This piece…
iFi GO Blu
GO Blu is iFi’s entry-level DAC-AMP, primarly focused on Bluetooth connectivity, high miniaturisation and straightforward operation. It retails for just below 200€ and I got a temporary loan unit for review purposes which I analysed for quite an extended time. Here’s my report. At-a-glance Card PROs CONs Outstanding DAC reconstruction quality Unimpressive Single Ended output…
iFi IEMatch
iFi IEMatch is one of those devices which application is not immediately obvious to the layman – and even to some amateur audiophiles, including myself of course! Once I “got” its purpose though I found it so usefeul, and so effective, that it became a fundamental part of my audio toolbox. Indeed I even own…
iFi hip-dac2 (and hip-dac)
iFi Audio recently sent me an hip-dac2 for review and I’ve been auditioning it for a while with great pleasure. The new version of iFi’s recently discontinued hip-dac, amongst the few low cost mobile dac-amps featured of Audioreviews’ Wall of Excellence, is marketed at a very similar price (€ 189,00) compared to its precedessor. At…
Rose Mojito
The first model to appear in Rose Technics’ earbuds family back in 2016, Rose Mojito stay as an absolute gem in their category. Subsequently followed by other models named Masya and Maria, all of these including the original Mojito are now discountinued to leave the field to the latest iteration called Maria II, which is…
K’s Bell LBs – Neutral reference
The earbuds market is so flooded with worthless products all costing like one or two french fries portions, and I got so little time to waste that identifying key reference products on this category is not a trivial task for me. Here’s my analysis of K’s Earphone “Bell-LBs” model, which I recently personally purchased for…
iBasso IT04 – a different one
I’ve been loaned an IT04 some time ago, and I spent quite some audition time on it – “time flies when you’re having fun” after all doesn’t it. This model has been released almost 4 years ago if I am not mistaken but it still holds the test of time as a very good mid-tier…
iBasso IT07 – Lovable Incoherence
I’ve been loaned a privately owned iBasso IT07 sample and here’s my experience with that, reported following my usual review format. IT07 is iBasso’s flagship featuring 1 DD + 6 BA, costs a pretty penny – $899,00 – and was released some 3 years after IT04 (1 DD+3 BA), which I also will publish a…