Nano iDSD BL’s phone output quality is in line with its price bracket, but its DAC taken alone is worth the entire price, and then some.
BLON BL05S – Very nice
Their superb technicalities and a very good treble section make BLON BL05S a definite rec. Be ready to upgrade cable and tips though.
Kbear BELIEVE – Pretentious
Creating a lot of expectations on a new product is a dual-edged blade, we all know that. The second edge cuts sharply this time. Kbear Believe are not bad at all, just not up to the hype that was pumped about them.
final A3000 – Another Great Quality Lesson
A3000 is a superb natural-clear proposition in the market of classical / jazz / unplugged specialized drivers. Final is once again showing off their embarassing mastery in delivering stunning quality at budget prices.
Ikko OH10: Masterfully Jazzy
All my priorities for cool jazz are covered: significant bilateral extention; elevated, fast, textured, detailed bass; airy, sparkly trebles. Ikko OH10 ticks all the boxes, and does it masterfully too.
Experimenting with Sony NW-A55 & MrWalkman’s DMP-A50 vs DMP-A50R firmware
Introduction A benefactor under the codename of MrWalkman has developed and maintains a set of alternative firmware packages which can be installed on a number of Sony Walkman series DAPs – NW-A35/45/55, ZX300/A, WM1A/Z – which main benefit is the application of Sony’s flagship DMP-Z1 sound signature to all those models. https://www.mrwalkman.ml/ In addition to…
Hisenior T2U
Hisenior specialises in professional and custom IEMs, and as such it’s quite off my “usual” investigation paths. That’s why I came accross an entry-level Universal fit model of theirs only thanks to a direct friend’s input. Invited by a (publicly available) 50% off its nominal MRSP I took the odds of a blind buy and…
TRI 4 core HP SCC cable
Together with my KBEAR LARK review unit some weeks ago I also received a separate TRI (KBEAR) 4 core High Purity (5N) Single Crystal Copper cable for testing. It quite logically came with a 2pin TFZ termination on the driver’s end, to first and foremost support the LARK drivers it came with. So I tried…
KBEAR Lark
Important preliminary note: Lark is a product in a sense “born twice”. Its initial release has been stopped after the first users reported a treble section output not in line with what originally wanted by the designers. KBEAR stopped distribution, fixed whatever needed to, and restarted it. This sample I’m reporting about on this article…
Quick impressions: CustomArt Fibae Black
I recently got an opportunity to assess a pair of privately owned Fibae Black, which are coming with some supposedly very interesting technological quirks which the manufacturer calls “Flat Impedance” BA drivers and “Pressure Optimizing Design”. Flat Impedance drivers are supposed to be what the name says, as described here: CustomArt claims that their drivers…