Specifications：

Port：Input Bluetooth
Output 3.5 Single End/4.4 Balance
Bluetooth audio transmission format support:
SBC，MP3，AAC，APT-X , APTX-L，APTX-LL，APTX-HD，LDAC

Performance：

Frequency Response 20Hz-20kHz
THD 0.06%
SNR 104db

MAX. POWER OUTPUT：
Single End 2.9Vpp（32Ω）
Balanced 2.8Vpp（32Ω）
Others
DAC Chip ES9038Q2M
Chassis CNC aluminum alloy
Dimensions 117.5 x 59.2 x 16（mm）
Weight 186g
Battery Life 3.5 ：8 hours 4.4 ：6 hours
Charging 5V 2A/3.5 Hours
Battery 2000 mAH

Introduction

I am pleased to be supporting yet another boutique manufacturer. That is not to say I do not want to support the larger manufacturers, but to say, the smaller firms need our support, if they deliver on sound quality. Dethonray Pegasus SG1 certainly does deliver on sound quality.

The Pegasus SG1 takes Bluetooth to another level, the sound quality is an amazing experience. I rediscovered some of my IEMs.

Disclosure

I bought the Pegasus SG1 and I chose to review it.

I have never been paid by anyone to review anything. I do not and have never used affiliate links on any product I review. Reviewing is a hobby for me. I spend so much time with the items I review that if I do not like them, I do not review them. I rate items I review based on their price range, compared to similar items I have heard in the price range.

All opinions I express here are my own with no influence from anyone. No one has editorial control or influence over the contents of this review. I avoid reading or watching reviews of items I intend to review. I make an effort to ensure that I give the reader factual information, if I make a mistake please let me know. I appreciate your feedback.

Form

The Pegasus SG1 not only looks good and solid, pick it up and feels solidly built. Consistent with the Dethonray ethos of simplicity, the device is a rectangular block made of CNC aluminium alloy which looks and feels incredibly good quality. The quality reminds me of very expensive DAPs and DAC/Amps. At dimensions of 117.5mm x 59.2mm x 16mm, the Pegasus SG1 looks much bigger in pictures than in the hand and comes in at a weight of 186g.



The surface feels smooth to the touch with a finish that helps maintain a grip on all sides but the front of the device is a dark glass which has the Dethonray logo on it. The Pegasus SG1 is about half the front area of my front area of the Shanling M7 DAP but thinner, and twice the size of the Fiio BTR7 but only slightly thicker than the BTR7.

My one criticism is that the corners of the device are sharpish. It is not going to cut you, but the corners are sharper than I would ideally like for my use case, which is as, a daily use, go anywhere device, which you have with you all the time. I had the same criticism of the Fiio BTR7 but that came with a case, albeit a dull case, until the release of the more refined case. Thankfully, the Pegasus SG1 does have a case, which appears to be in keeping with the aesthetically pleasing design of the device but it was out of stock when I bought my device. I could not wait so I made what I call my Bat case, more about that later.

The sharp edges on the angular design is the single point I would take away from the design of this device. Other than that, the device feels absolutely wonderfully tactile with the frosty smooth but grippy coating on all sides, except the front which is covered in a black screen, which is glass. The one departure from the retangular design is the top of the device which is beautifully and gently recessed to accommodate protect the volume wheel from accidental touches.

Features

The device is offered in various pastel colours, red, green, purple, and black. There is a gold version intended for headphones. The colour contrast between the pastel coloured versions and the gold 3.5mm, 4.4mm outputs and the volume wheel is delightful to my eyes, but appears to stand out less on the gold version. The gold version only comes with 4.4mm output. Slotting the 3.5mm and 4.4mm jacks into their slots feels firm and robust, while the physical control buttons and wheel feel solid with a click sound befitting of a top quality device. Whether you are running your fingers over the buttons or clicking them into action, the entire device just feel premium.



Physical Layout and Functions

As stated the top has the volume wheel, 3.5mm output socket and a 4.4mm output socket. The front has a black screen and the right side (looking at the front of the device) and back both have no buttons, ports or indicators. The bottom of the device has an LED battery level indicator and a USB C port.

There are physical 5 controls on the device, the volume wheel (top) the play/pause, next track and previous track, all four on the left side (when the front of the device is facing you) and finally the gain switch, which offers high and low gain.



Switching gain is two stage, your gain switch only takes effect when you move the volume wheel. That volume wheel! What a wonderful piece of art it is. This must be a design classic, it is essentially a circle at the base, which gently tapers into a trianglular shape at the top, and reminds me of the inverse of the orange juice squeezing device, simple yet effective (image below). It is not only aesthetically pleasing, it is tactile and gives you good quality feedback when using it blind, whether in the dark or in your pocket. Lest I forget while caught up in the design, the volume wheel also switches the device on and off.



Internal Electronics Function

The Pegasus SG1 uses the Sabre DAC ES9038Q2M.

Anson, who modestly calls himself, the Chief engineer(actually he owns the firm) tells me the Pegasus SG1 uses a unique Desktop Plus Power Unit (DPPU) he designed. With a Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) of 0.06% and Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) of 104db, the system uses a customised dual high density power system which I am told is designed to provide High Fidelity music reproduction while maintaining separation between the digital and analogue power circuits to ensure noise from the digital circuit does not interfere with the source. It is described as akin to a DAP with amplifier but with minimal pathway with hard soldering thus no compromises. Technical bits are not my thing but it all seems to translate to good quality reproduction of music.

A bit more about Anson. He worked for various audio firms, if I remember correctly, amongst them, Hifiman, and decided to branch out on his own with the aim of producing affordable, good quality audio gear. My view is that at this rate, we have exciting audio devices to look forward to from Anson and Dethonray.

The type C connection is also used to switch firmware thus for updates and to alter the sound signatures, as and when the user pleases. The firmware switch solution is much cheaper than Ibasso's detachable AMP units, some of which cost almost as much as the $400 cost of the Pegasus SG1.

My experience and quirks of the Pegasus

Here I want to expand on what to expect from the device. It feels very pleasant to hold (apart from the sharp corners).

From the moment you touch the device switch on the device and music pipes through your earphones, you realise you have something different.....something special in your hand and superb sound quality in your ears.

The volume wheel gives you both an audible and firm click when you switch the device on and off. It also glides smoothly to increase volume, while giving you correct resistance to avoid a sudden burst of volume. Just note, the safety feature when you switch from low gain to high gain and vice versa. It is important to get used to it because although a safety feature, if you forget a slight movement of the volume wheel may trigger the high gain you set and give you more volume than expected. You also have the opposite, which is wondering why your device sounds faint, when the volume is low, and that could be because the device is waiting for you activate the high gain you set by just slightly moving the volume wheel. The controls require a firm press on the buttons, which reduces accidental activation.



Note: The device is a bluetooth input only device, it cannot be connected via wire. It simply has no such option. It uses various Bluetooth codecs including SBC, AAC, MP3 APTX, APT-X APTX-L APTX-LL and LDAC The bluetooth sensor is at the front (black screen) of the device which lights up with the Dethonray logo, avoid blocking the logo area.

Battery life is said to be around 6 hours using the 4.4mm output and 8 hours using the 3.5mm output. My experience is not far from that. It must be said that battery consumption varies with all devices depending on the load on the circuit, thus, you draw more power from the device using the balanced circuitry, a hard to drive monitor or playing at high volume in high gain. Even when playing a bassy track, with lots of sub-bass, using a bass biased set of monitors all of which make demands on the battery, this device reproduces good quality bass, as described below, all of which require more power.

I found that the Pegasus SG1 does not appear to charge using my Samsung cable, but it comes with a very good cable which, for me, gives a full charge in less time than the quoted 3.5 hours. The Pegasus SG1 had a full charge in less than 3 hours from a flat battery. The charging time should not matter for stationary use as the circuit is designed with low noise to allow the device to be charged while playing, making it flexible for ease of use.

The battery is stated as 2000 mAh. The LED battery level indicator at the bottom of the device glows green to indicate battery discharge rate of between 100% and 70%; blue glow for 69% to 30% and red glow for less than 30%. I have to say, the colour as a measure of battery use is an approximate guide.

My experience is that I got approximately 3 hours 15 minutes on green, less than 2 hours on blue, but red only lasted about, 5 to 10 minutes. At another stage, the colour changed from green to blue when I switched off and on the device, so as I stated above it is simply a guide. On that occasion my settings were, volume at 140 on my phone, feeding the device the volume which was on High Gain at 3 O'clock (with facing me). I was using the balanced output. Late night listening. Yes! Again, the load varies with each set of monitors, volume and even the demands of the tracks, we play.

When the battery is low, the sound from the device will click on and off intermittently. I have the same on my Littlebear B4X and I much prefer that to a sudden loss of sound as happens on other devices. However, unlike the Littlebear B4X you can continue listening to the SG1 while charging.

Sound quality generally

Remember, your music quality is dependent on the quality of the recordings and the headphones or earphones you use.

What Pegasus SG1 offers is the ability to bring out good quality sound, via firmware two different sound signatures which allows you to get synergy for your different headphones and earphones in your collection. My comments on the sound are based on the Rhapsody sound signature as set out below.

For me, the quality of the Pegasus SG1 is in its ability to render viseral sub-bass, great definition in mid-bass and a full and informative midrange absolutely brilliantly, The highs are detailed and ectended, but to my ears not elevated.

Despite being advertised as 20Hz-20kHz it seems to dig deeper. Good bass quality is determined by a good extension into the sub-bass region, so you can feel the nore weight and hear the well defined notes so you can hear the variations in the notes and that gives you good note weight, all this in a bluetooth only device, well done, Dethonray.

The Pegasus SG1 gives us the option to switch software. The tuning options currently available are Serenade and Rhapsody. My testing was done on the Rhapsody, which is my preference.

Bass
The Pegasus SG1 presentation: The sub-bass goes deep and visceral. Mid-bass is well controlled but when required hits with good quality note weight, as always your music recording quality and monitors may limit the quality but where the monitors are capable, the Pegasus SG1 will deliver exceptionally good quality bass.

Chris Stranding: Bossa Blue


Mids
Mids are neutral to my ears, thus not elevated or recessed. The presentation is full, giving both voices and instruments a wonderfully whole sound without being too foward. The mids give you plenty information from your music without being shouty. I have had lots of fun listening to guitars, pianos, saxophones and gentle but full presentation of both male and female voices.

Angelic Kidjo: Batonga


Marc Brussard: Cry to me


Highs
Treble gives you good extension with tons of information without harshness or sibilance. The Pegasus SG1 gives your monitors quite airy treble, of course depending on the tuning of your monitors in the first place. I did not have one moment throughout my three weeks of testing when I thought a track sounded shrill or sibilant.

Wolfgang Meyer and Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra: Cavelleria Rusticana Intermezzo


Presentation

Imaging is precise and distinct.
Dynamic range is exceptional.
Instrument separation is exceptional and matches the best DAPs I have heard.

My favourite instrument, the xylophone comes across exactly as I would hear it live, two-tone, first the strike on the bars and the amplification from below, separation is such that when listening to the xylophone, it is just magical, to my ears.

The Pegasus SG1 gives you an expansive perception of stage. All earphones and headphones I heard on the device seem to have the benefit of expansive presentation, which is better than on the Shanling M7, a DAP which I count as one of the best. However, when it comes to stage I will give my vote to the Pegasus SG1, somehow it gives my earphones a bit more in expansive presentation.

Comparisons

From right to left, Mi Mix, Shanling M7, Pegasus SG1, Fiio BTR7, Fiio BTR5, Mpow, Taotronics TT-BA08 and Mpow.



All these devices are DAC/Amps with Bluetooth input and have at least 3.5mm output.

The Mi Mix being a phone and the Shanling M7, a DAP, may be a bit out of place here but they serve to illustrate the point I am making. Apart from the Shanling M7, the Pegasus SG1 sounds the best to my ears.

The HAAFEE HA11, which I forgot to include in the photograph uses the same Sabre DAC ES9038Q2M as the SG1 but falls short of the Pegasus SG1 on sound quality. The sound on the HA11 does not have the same precision and also lacks the technical performance of the Pegasus SG1.

My Bat case, just for fun.




Conclusion

There are times when you get your hands on a classic but it is only by the effluxion of time that you recognise something as a classic, my view is time will show the Pegasus SG1 as a classic, both in design and reproduction of music.

It breaks the barrier between Bluetooth audio and wired audio, above all the outstanding sound quality surpassing many portables and even some fixed units I have heard.

Enjoy your music !

Intro
Which Planer Magnetic earphones deliver for you? Planar drivers are extremely capable drivers and there is currently an avalanche of Planar earphones on the market. I had the pleasure of listening to the S12, the original Letshouer planar earphones, lent to me by a kind friend. Good fun! Do the S12 Pros deliver?

Disclosure
The S12 Pros were sent to me by Letshouer, free of charge and, in return, I undertook to review them, if to me, they are worth the time invested in reviewing them. I have never been paid by anyone to review anything. Reviewing is a hobby for me. I spend so much time with the items I review that if I do not like them, I do not review them. That might explain to some why I have a positive approach to reviews as opposed to cynical approach. I rate items I review based on their price range, compared to similar items I have heard in the price range.
All opinions I express here are my own with no influence from anyone. No one has editorial control or influence over the contents of this review. I do not read or watch reviews of items I intend to review. I make an effort to ensure that I give the reader factual information. I appreciate your feedback.

Note
Please note that I have an eclectic taste in music, and in headphones and earphones, as I do not believe in having multiples of the same sound signature. The fact that they are differently tuned is not an issue for me. What I want to hear is good tuning, if it is tuned with emphasis on bass good, midrange good, highs good.

What I do not want is to be deprived of hearing the various instruments. Excessive mid bass, which drowns out the other parts of the frequency range, but I do want to hear sub-bass, which is occasional in music in any case. I want to hear the midrange, but not to wince when the saxophone blurts out, or a voice shout at me (no matter how good the voice is). I do not want highs which make me want to pull out the earphones from my ears, but I do want to hear the shimmering highs and sparkly notes.

Most of all I want my music to sound realistic and natural, timbrel accuracy and fun but I also want to hear details in the track to which I am listening, like a good set of speakers. I have never understood the term, "guilty pleasure" in relation to bass emphasised. Why guilt because you enjoy bass notes? As I play the guitar, mainly bass, well defined bass is a pleasure to hear, but it is not only the bass quantity the bass quality also matters, hence for me, mid-bass must be controlled, not excessive. I like to hear the other instruments while I play my bass notes

Form, Fit and Finish

Form
The packaging is a simple, but well complemented mid-sized package. The sleeve slips off in a match box style to reveal a chunky inner box, the lid lifts off to a top layer which reveals the IEMs, and a clear plastic box containing foam tips. Underneath that layer is a further layer in which sits the usual Letshouer black textured case, which is very nice. This relatively small but capacious and pocket-able case unzips to show that it contains two more packs of tips, the modular cable with three detachable plugs.



The silver plated mono-crystalline copper cable is 1.2m in length and seems to be the reliable Letshouer two tone cable I have seen come with other models. Starting from the earpieces with a two pin 0.78mm connectors marked clear (left) and red (right) covered by a black tube which lead to a relatively thick single strand wire on either side covered by a gentle ear guide. The wires go down to join at the splitter covered with a black tube and on top of which is a clear bead slider. After the splitter the two strands are twisted leading down to the plug with as stated are modular thus detachable, giving you, a 3.5mm single-ended, 2,5mm and 4.4mm balanced, plugs. The cable although thick is malleable and flows quite well. It is a pleasure to use.



The elegant kidney shaped earpieces are made of aluminium alloy, painted in blue as opposed to the grey of the original S12. As with the original S12, there is a chrome accented on the square protrusion on the face of the IEMs, rather like a top quality car with chrome trims. I must say the combination looks quite elegant to me, with the contrasting blue colour. The earpieces are medium sized with an almost flat inner side to the earpieces and quite light, although they brim with good quality.

Fit is comfortable but the shape of the earpieces does not aid isolation a great deal. In short the earpieces do not blot out everything but the isolation is not bad.

My setup for this review
I paired them with Samsung galaxy note 10 Plus, Xiaomi Mi Mix and my Shanling M7 DAP, as my source, and for amplification variably, The HAA FEE HA11, TRI TK2, Fiio BTR5 and BTR7, Shanling UA3 dongle DAC/Amp, DD Hifi TC35C USBC adapter, the Littlebear B4X tube Amp paired with Taotronics Bluetooth DAC, Rod Rain Audio DAC/Amp paired with Xduoo MT604 tube balanced Amp, using mostly 2.5mm and 4.4mm. I used my native music files, Amazon Music HD and Ultra HD, YouTube Music, and UAPP music player.

Synergy
The S12 Pros are not particularly difficult to drive but they benefit from good amount of power. The S12 Pros sounded good but different with various sources, add to that the effect of tips and it best to say take your time and get your preferred sound setup correctly.



My Mi Mix smart phone powered them without any issue. However, I found that the S12 Pros benefits from a bit of power to pump out the bass, a bit more.. The fact that it gives you good sound from less powerful sources and amplifiers, does not mean that is the best they can do.



To my ears, the bass boost on the Shanling M7 and Shanling UA3 gave the S12 Pros a subtle but welcome bass lift. I noticed the slightly subdued bass on the BTR7, but beautifully rendered treble, which required a change of tips and a bit more volume for more bass. It is worth remembering that you get the best out of the S12 Pros with more power. Blanket statements declaring that Planar magnetic sets do not pair well with tube amps is a gross generalisation.

The S12 Pros paired beautifully with my Xduoo MT300, hybrid tube amp. On my Littlebear B4X, the treble was incredibly good and the mids forward, but the definition on the bass suffered a little, it was nontheless a pleasant sound but, what you need to remember is that getting the right pairing for you is what is important.

The sound

Sound Generally
In short, the S12 Pros have an absolutely wonderful melodic sound, to my ears. I can only describe the sound signature as U shaped. Sub-bass is subtle but potent depending on the track. The mid-bass is of good quality and well controlled, no excesses. It must be pointed out that the S12 Pros benefit from power to bring out the best in them, particularly the bass.

The midrange is lush with sublime goodness, but are not forward (which for me makes them relaxing) again that also depends on your pairing. The highs are sparkly with great extension but do not get out of line to my ears, no sibilance. Here there is some consistency across amps and DACs, the highs do not change much with power.

The best bit for me is that across the range you get a certain sheen and shimmer on the sound, which I have not heard on many other sets of earphones. with a combination of, resonance (which I use here to denote decay of notes rather than reverberation) timbrel accuracy, note weight and airiness, the S12 Pros presents what I perceive as natural timbre, they also give the perception of openness or air and the wonderful decay of notes. It is particularly noticeable on some tracks, with pianos guitars, and high hats, where you get natural decay to the notes.

I only previously noticed this in the IMR EDP Ace, I put the tone and decay of notes down to the acoustic chamber, it is not reverberation (a note repeating itself) it is the tail of the single note in fractions of seconds. If you play an instrument, you will be aware, that a single note extends well beyond what most care to listen for, it is obvious in a quite place, if you strike just one string, on a guitar and especially a grand piano with its huge acoustic chamber (the huge wooden extension in front of the piano, which opens to reveal the strings).

Low volume listening is good, there was enough detail to recognise the track and particular instruments. The highest volume I got to before my ears could not take much more, was incredible, with speaker-like presentation and no distortion, again I put it down to the combination I mentioned above. The S12 Pros handle busy tracks with ease. I got no congestion at any stage.

Instrument separation, Imaging and Stage
The S12 Pros present beautifully. Clearly it is more evident on some tracks than on others, but when it all comes together, it is pure bliss. Resolution is outstanding but it is not just Planar resolution, I believe it is also about tuning, the particular attention the person or people tuning dedicate to refining the presentation.

Instrument separation is precise and distinct with each instrument piping out clearly. The effect of that is that you get a mental image of the position of each instrument, which then lends to the perception of the stage. The stage is horizontally expansive and delightfully so.

Sound check
You may want to put on your monitors of choice and check out the music using the links below.

Bass

Sub-bass - The S12 Pros deliver well defined bass, Sub-bass is usually a relic of an initial bass note, and the most visceral from a large drum, often in music, the kick drum and bass guitar but not to forget some horns and voices. The initial impact is clear mid-bass, the relic is a deep bass which is felt rather than heard. If the range of earphones falls short, you have no sub-bass. The S12 Pros extend very well.
Mid-bass - On the other hand mid-bass is very well defined and full. Notes are clearly heard and for someone who plays the bass guitar can be easily distinguished. It is not only a question of boom boom, the bass guitarist is putting together notes at different tempo with interesting phrasing, if the listener cares to appreciate the work going into the music. If not, it is important to the listener that it all hangs together well, melodic and pushes the emotional buttons which draws us to music.

Four80East - 3 Out Of 4:

A gentle track with potent sub-bass, which is a joy to listen to on the S12 Pros. As with every track listen to the note decay on pianos, etc.

Brian Culbertson - Come On Up:

This track has hard hitting bass notes which bring out the on a regular beat. The S12 Pros render the bass very well, displaying traits of a DD.

Mids

The midrange is the least notable part of the of the S12 Pros’ presentation of music. That is not to say it falls short in anyway. Again, it is worth noting that your source and amplification play a part in how your music is presented. However, the presentation is delightful with full voices and instruments. The tuning gives you a soft yet silky presentation.

Millie Jackson - If Loving You Is Wrong, I Don’t Want To Be Right:

Gerry Rafferty - Baker Street:

Treble
The S12 Pros excel in its treble extension to my ears. The treble renders music with such openness but also very good resolution. What you get is shimmering, sparkle of minutia in your music, it just sounds great. As with the bass the treble stands out for the definition, naturalness, and decay of the notes.

Gregg Karukas - Do Whatcha Love:


Listen to the decay on both the high hats and piano.

Olafur Arnalds & Alice Sara Ott - The Chopin Project - Reminiscence:


Comparisons - single Planer Magnetic drivers and hybrids with Planar, at similar prices:

7 Hz Timeless - To my ears, the 7 Hz Timeless have not grabbed my attention as much they did others, I still believe they are good and demonstrate good use of Planar Magnetic drivers, but for melodic presentation, they did not grab my attention.

TRI I3 and I3 Pros: My beloved I3s have been dethrone in my view, they are still good, but lack the resolution and presentation of notes the S12 Pros have. The dynamic drivers on I3s do stand up well against the S12 Pros, Planar Magnetic bass.

The same goes for the IMR EDP and EDP Ace, again like the I3s, the EDPs have been overshadowed by the S12 Pros for me. The EDP Ace however, comes fairly close with its DD bass and the note decay probably aided by piezo, the Planar Magnetic driver, if not the design of the chamber.

The original S12 differs from the S12 Pros, in that the originals seem to have a touch more mid-bass impact, less treble and are slightly more closed in. The effect is to reduce the decay and the speaker-like sound you get from the S12 Pros.

Conclusion
It is extremely difficult to say how engaging the S12 Pros are to my ears. It is not simply a question of pumping loud music at you. It is the quality of the melodic presentation of music. The S12 Pros does good presentation so beautifully. Notes on all instruments sound more complete. In the S12 Pros you can dissect the music, or just relax and immerse yourself in your music, and let the music take you places.

Above all else, the timbrel accuracy, and decay of notes puts the S12 Pros at the top of my list of Planar Magnetic earphones……so far. Do not hold me to it in this fast changing environment.

Enjoy your music!

Intro

There are so many In Ear Monitors (IEMs) being released everyday, it is no surprise that even the most favoured appear to be a “flash in the pan”. In no time the flavour of today is forgotten, lost. Then there are many more new releases, most of which just fad away before they are even noticed.
The Wan Er (as spelt on Official Tangzu Audio Store on AliExpress) deserves to be heard, as to whether they stand up to the test of time, it is up to those who want to vote with their money. For me the Wan Er deserve to be noticed, heard and hopefully given due praise simply for being very good value for money.

Disclosure and Note

The Wan Er were sent to me by Tangzu, free of charge, in return, I undertook to review them, if to me, they are worth the time invested in reviewing them. I have never been paid by anyone to review anything. Reviewing is a hobby for me. I spend so much time with the items I review that if I do not like them, I do not review them. That might explain to some why I have a positive approach to reviews as opposed to cynical approach. I rate items I review based on their price range, compared to similar items I have heard in the price range.

All opinions I express here are my own with no influence from anyone. No one has editorial control or influence over the contents of this review. I do not read or watch reviews of items I intend to review. I make an effort to ensure that I give the reader factual information. I appreciate your feedback.

Form, Fit and Finish

Form
The package: The packaging! Do you really want to know? In short, wall to wall waifu, which is simply not my thing and I make no judgement, it is a question of taste, just not mine. It is a plain and simple packaging, adorned in waifu artwork. The package contains the ear pieces, the cable, seven pairs of eartips, a cleaning cloth, with, yes, you guessed, waifu art. My daughter got hold of the wiafu box and cleaning cloth, she is a happy girl. There is no case included.

The cable is detachable, is clear plastic covered 3.5mm with four strands, two sets of twisted strands which are then twisted on each again, the cable is soft with minor kinks, but they really are bearable and functional. The two plus two twist is a clear rubbery see through block which is the splitter, at which point you get the two sets of twisted cables looking incredibly skinny split rising to a hooded two-pin connector. At the price there is really nothing to complain about. I used both the TRN modular cable and the Hart Audio Modular cable to give me the option of balanced output.



The ear pieces come in two shades, the clear with white artwork (it appears the artwork is etched on the inside of the faceplate before assembly) and the second shade have smoky translucent shells with black artwork. It is all quite tastefully done, and the seam, at the point where the faceplate meets the housing, appears to be well put together, bearly noticeable.

The earpieces are plastic with a clear view to the drivers. They are standard kidney shaped and fit my ears with ease. My guess is they would be suitable for most people’s ears. The Wan Er are a single dynamic set of earphones. The drivers are 10mm and made of PET. The connection is via 2 pin QDC angled and hooded.



My setup for this review

I paired them with Samsung galaxy note 10 Plus, Xiaomi Mi Mix and my Shanling M7 DAP, as my source, and for amplification variably, The HAA FEE HA11, TRI TK2, Fiio BTR5 and BTR7, Shanling UA3 dongle DAC/Amp, DD Hifi TC35C USBC adapter, the Littlebear B4X tube Amp paired with Taotronics Bluetooth DAC, Rod Rain Audio DAC/Amp paired with Xduoo MT604 tube balanced Amp, using mostly 2.5mm and 4.4mm. I used my native music files, Amazon Music HD and Ultra HD, YouTube Music, and UAPP music player.

Synergy

They are easy to drive and work well with a smart phone with or without an amplifier. However, as with most dynamic drivers the Wan Er are influenced by the audio system it is played on and generally, it gives a variety of flavours depending on what it is plugged into. In every audio chain I used them, the Wan Er was just fine, the difference being a hint more treble or mid-bass here and there but all pleasant.



The differences are huge to my ears, such that paired with the BTR7 the Wan Er SG sound like a neutral set, but on the Xduoo MT604 they have a bass boost. I enjoyed the discovery using various sources and DAC/Amps.

The sound

Sound Generally
To my ears the Wan Er has a mild extension into the sub-bass, with a mid-bass which is potent when called upon but not dominant, but again that depends on what set up you use. The mids are quite full as the mid-bass does not impinge on it. Depending on your audio chain you get a bit of an extension to the treble region. For my preference, synergy with a bass leaning audio chain is good fun, as it lights up the sub-bass and brings out the quality of the mid-bass.

My initial listening impression was that at low volume (my test for all earphone and headphones) the Wan Er had a slight veil and with a bit more volume it blew away the cobwebs. After about 48 hours burn-in the Wan Er had lifted the veil and played with clarity at low volume.



Instrument separation, Imaging, Stage, and Timbre,

At this price, the detail retrieval on the Wan Er is very very good in balanced mode. The driver used is clearly up to the job and with Tangzu’s good tuning the Wan Er SG shines. Detail retrieval is very good at this price. The separation of instruments is good. I would not say imaging is particularly exceptional but it is good, it simply cannot be seen as anything other than good at this price range. In essence the Wan Er brings forward instruments rather delightfully. It must be noted that the Wan Er does display some limitations of the driver and cannot be said to be more capable than a $100 IEM, even though it will give a few of the more expensive single DDs a run for their money. One of the limitations is imaging as mentioned and stage, it varies with different tracks and audio chain but what is clear is that it has not been tuned to be expansive. It seems to play within a narrow scope but occasionally spreads it’s wing, depending on both the track and the audio chain.



Timbral accuracy is very good to my ears. As you do with good Dynamic Drivers, the timbre of instruments is realistic to my ears. The tone of guitars, pianos and drums, cymbals etcetera are just satisfyingly realistic.

Sound check

You may want to put on your monitors of choice and check out the music using the links.

Bass
Sub-bass on the Wan Er is satisfyingly good, it definitely has the necessary extension but bass is not tuned to be ever-present, instead it is tuned get the most out of the drivers when re.

The mid-bass, again, has not been tuned to be dominant, but it delivers when asked by the track and delivers well defined bass notes.

Rinyu - Black Girl Magic:

Sub-bass is in abundance on this track and the Wan Er SG displays it with ease.

Boney James - It’s All Good:

This track has a gentle but potent mis-bass, while the saxophone blurts out in the lead. You then have delicate instruments sparkling in the background. The Wan Er renders the mid-bass prominently but with overshadowing any other part of this very calm track.

Mids
The midrange is more than adequate without being forward or withdrawn. To my ears, the entire tuning is nuetral with a slight bass lift and sub-bass extention. Nonetheless, I would not call it L-shaped because it is not emphasised bass or on any particular part of the frequency range.

Diana Krall - Temptation:

Postmodern Jukebox - Don’t Speak:


Female vocals are presented so realistically as demostrated by these tracks.

Bueno Vista Social Club - Candela;


A classic which demonstrates gentle guitars beautifully woven together. The male vocals are layered on top and the Wan Er renders them very well.

Treble

The charm of the Wan Er is their openness, that the treble tuning which is best described as open. There is nothing offensive to my ears yet they are faithful to the recording bring out lots of the detail in the treble.

Chopin - Noturne No.2 in E Flat Major - performed by Elisabeth Leonskaja:


Armik - Cartas De Amor (2020 version):


Comparisons - single DDs at similar prices:

TD06 2020: These earphones are for dedicated bassheads. The TD06 present with brutal bass, I generally wear them with shallow insertion indoors and when I use them outdoors, a deeper insertion. They give me very good isolation and do not suffer loss of bass.

These are fun, and give you plenty information in the mids and treble but to the bass is dominante and to my ears the Wan Er give a more balanced presentation across the range and isolation and sufficient bass to use outdoors.

KBear Little Q: Big sound, mid forward, which are bullet shaped and do no have a detachable cable. Little Q is lots of fun and they are in my car for any occasion when I have to wait around, sometimes even crazy traffic. Little Q has a slightly mid forward presentation and is great and therefore differs from the Wan Er. In my view, if the bullet shaped design suits, they are a complementary set to the more balanced Wan Er.

Between the three Wan Er stands out for technicalities.

Conclusion

I have not heard every inexpensive set of earphones, but for me the Wan Er SG is more than just competent, Tangzu got the tuning right and priced them to be accessible to all. If I were starting out in earphones today, I would be happy to get a pair of these. It is worth remembering that Dynamic Drivers can be fussy as to which source they pair well with, getting an affordable pairing which suits your taste is important to get the most out of the Wan Er SG.

Enjoy your music!

Intro

Sometimes, things happen that are to be cherished. I had never heard of Aure Audio until I clicked on a link in pursuit of information about a new model for another brand. In the host of posts on that Facebook page was a post by Nicholas of Aur Audio talking about their Aure earphones. A bit of reading later, I was making an order for the Aure, totally unplanned……I have no regrets, what I have had is lots of pleasure from these earphones.

I later discovered from the Aur Audio website that the business was set up by two audiophiles to produce what they believe are great earphones. On having a chat with Nicolas, I can say these are real audio enthusiasts who know their stuff and on hearing the Aure, I can only say, if this is how they develop into the future, they will be a great boon to our hobby.

I am an audio enthusiast who enjoys listening to good reproduction of music on various monitors, especially earphones. I must stress that music, as opposed to gear, remains my prime motivation, which got me into this addictive and (potentially) expensive hobby. Like most audio enthusiasts, I have been in search of, what could be the illusive, perfect sound, and when I hear something which stirs my soul, they are worth shouting about, hence this review.

Disclosure and Note

I paid the full price of $370 for the Aure. Reviewing is a hobby for me. I spend so much time with the items I review that if I do not like them, I do not review them. That might explain to some why I have a positive approach to reviews as opposed to cynical approach. I rate items I review based on their price range, compared to similar items I have heard in the price range.

All opinions I express here are my own with no influence from anyone. No one has editorial control or influence over the contents of this review. I do not read or watch reviews of items I intend to review. I make an effort to ensure that I give the reader factual information. I appreciate your feedback.

Form, Fit and Finish

The package: It must be said that, at this stage, there is not much to the packaging of the Aure, it is sparse. I was told that the firm is exploring packaging options. My set came in a round black metal case, with no inscription on the case, to the lack of inscription, to that, I say, “yes”!. In the case were the IEMs, cable, a cleaning brush and four sets of tips, to that I say. “Fine”, if the sonic performance of these earphones are worth the lack of accessories. Having said that, I would not take a set which had poor sonic performance simply for the elaborate packaging with numerous accessories. If you are the sort of buyer who likes to have a fanfare with the grand opening ceremony on each occasion you acquire a new set, I am afraid the Aure will not satisfy that desire, but they probably satisfy your sonic desires and certainly exceeded my expectations on sonic performance.



My one desire would have been to get a balanced cable in the package, but not on this occasion. The wires on the Aure are beautiful silvery, four-strand twisted skinny cable with good weight, which is split at a chrome plated cylindrical block with a clear slider, becoming two sets of twisted two strands after the splitter. The cable is supple, malleable and flows very nicely with no microphonics and would be a good choice if you use single ended cables. At one end of the cable is a chrome covered two pin connection with a red (for right) and clear (for left) makings. At the other end is a matching chrome plated cylinder with an indent for grip terminating in the 3.5mm plug. I would happily use the original cable, but I prefer to use a balanced output where the option exists, so I swapped the original cable for the cable which most matches the original, the Dunu DW02. The Dunu DW02 is also a skinny cable, four split to two and silvery. The skinny cables are a perfect balance for the IEMs, which are light in weight.

Form: The Aure are a hybrid set, with one dynamic driver (DD) and six Balanced Armature (two of which are knowles BAs) per ear piece.
The earpieces are resin, which are not filled in, hence the earpieces are relatively light in weight. They have a two-colour scheme, one Red (need I say for the right ear) and black.



Fit: The shells are transparent which is more obvious on the red earpiece than on the black. They are well contoured with a wing on each. For my ears they are quite comfortable and give me excellent isolation. My only reservation is that the lip on the nozzle could be bigger to better hold eartips. Having said, an eartip was left in my left ear (unintended pun) only on two occasions in when I quickly pulled the ear pieces out to hear someone.

My setup for this review

I paired them with Samsung galaxy note 10 Plus, Xiaomi Mi Mix and my Shanling M7 DAP, as my source, and for amplification variably, The HAA FEE HA11, TRI TK2, Fiio BTR5 and BTR7, Shanling UA3 dongle DAC/Amp, the Littlebear B4X tube Amp paired with Taotronics Bluetooth DAC, Rod Rain Audio DAC/Amp paired with Xduoo MT604 tube balanced Amp, using mostly 2.5mm and 4.4mm. I used my native music files, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, and UAPP music player.

Synergy

The Aure are easy to drive and work perfectly well on a smartphone with or without amplification. However, they are also uniquely, quite easy to pair, with the Aure’s clear and transparent sound rising above all the sources, DACs and amplification.

What stood out to me was the slight lift in mid-bass with the Shanling UA3 dongle DAC/Amp, and the Littlebear tube Amp, which gave a delightful analogue sound. I must say these are marginal variations to the Aure sound, which remained resolutely clear and detailed on every source/amplification combination I used. However, the Xduoo MT604 paired with the Rodrain Audio DAC/Amp, as a DAC, preamp was the most extreme presentation of the Aure. Effectively, on that tube setup, the mid-bass was lifted to become much more prominent and potent without losing, the clarity and definition of notes across the frequency spectrum.



The pairing with my Shanling M7 was sublime with the Littlebear a close second. The M7 which brings out the micro details in most earphones and headphones I use with them, did not bring out any more resolution from the Aure but it was such a delightful pairing, I just let the music play.

The sound

Sound of the Aure, Generally
I would describe the Aure as “W” shaped, which is in effect balanced across the frequency spectrum. To my ears, the Aure are the perfect display of the true character of a “W” shaped set, in that if the recording has bass it is brought out, and that goes for mids and highs, which, in my opinion, is different from a neutral or flat set of earphones which do not bring anything forward but maintain a flat sonic presentation. That is my interpretation of the difference between a “W” shaped or balanced sonic presentation as opposed to Neutral or flat sonic presentation.

The effect is that, you may have a track that is bass heavy and the Aure will present the track as such. Whilst an orchestral piece with a mass violins will be placed exactly where they are meant to be in the presentation, this is also true for vocals, saxophones or pianos….if it is in the recording it will come out into your ears. At this point I ought to mention that, what many would usually expect from a set of earphones with such clarity and detail retrieval is that they are a bit sanitised and analytical. Usually what is described as “musical” flavour (which I refer to as melodic) is usually lost with heighten resolution, not with the Aure, there is a certain melodic flavour to the tones that you give you great pleasure listening to the Aure, you do not get the sensation of a clinical presentation of sound.



Instrument separation, Imaging, Stage, and Timbre

The Aure produce superb clarity and outstanding detail retrieval. They are on par with some earphones well beyond the price range of the Aure. The quality and tuning of the BAs is such that they pick up every detail from the recording. If these earphones had been produced by a big name brand, they will be heading for the hall of fame…..and to get this quality at this price is rare.

Separation of instruments is incredibly good, as a consequence (in most instances) the Aure have such clarity and detail retrieval, instruments are rendered distinctly separate so that you can pick an instrument and follow it right through the particular track to which you are listening. This then gives the mental image of the place of each instrument within the perceived stage. Of course the perception of stage, is also dependent on the recording.

Candy Dulfer - My Funk


The sound-stage on this track is superb listening to it on the Aure.
The voices and saxophone remain centred while the other instruments are busy all around the stage. The track gets very busy but the Aure keeps the instruments nicely separated.

Listening to the Aure, it is simple, if it is there, the Aure would pick it out. The sound-stage is incredibly good for earphones at any price.



Timbral accuracy is very good, I do not hear what is often referred to as, BA timbre. The tone of instruments sound realistic to my ears with some variation depending on your source, and DAC/Amps. My experience with the Aure is that they sound true to the instruments with all sources I currently have in my possession.

Sound check
You may want to put on your monitors of choice and check out the music using the links.



Bass
Definition across the frequency spectrum is outstanding. It follows that the bass notes are also very well defined. The extension on the bass is very good, sub-bass is therefore deep and visceral.

The Dynamic driver also renders great quality beautifully defined mid-bass notes. The notes can clearly be defined as you listen to the bass line. My only slight reservation is on some track, very few tracks I would not say no to a touch more bass (but then I came to the Aure from a bass set) and it is really nitpicking.
Brandon Beal - Twerk It Like Miley -

You want sub-bass? Get ready! The Aure are not bass shy, they just shake!

Scary Pockets - Etta James Lauryn Hill Mashup (featuring Ben Folds and - Maiya Sykes) -

Mids

The mid frequencies stand proud and full with lush tones on both male and female voices. Saxophone, guitar, and piano solos are distinct and all so lush. This applies generally for instruments in this midrange of the frequency spectrum. I use the terms “vivid clarity” in the title because that is what the Aure give you, and that is not limited to the highs, it is across the entire range. The midrange is bold and lush without being shouty, they just give every time they are asked to deliver.

Marc Brussard - Cry to me (Acoustic) -

Klazz Brothers - Fur Elise -

Chuck Mangione - Feel So Good -

Daniel Castro - I’ll Play The Blues For You -
Treble

The Aure have some of the best highs I have heard on a set of earphones with the exception of some Electrostatic driver sets.
Treble is detailed and clear and as the title says vividly outstanding. It is one of those occasions, where if, as a reviewer, you heap such praise on a set of earphones, some get the impression that you are over egging the pudding a bit. I simply say, read other reviews, watch what others say, and if you get the opportunity listen to the Aure for yourself, do so.
I am not treble sensitive so I cannot comment on how those who are treble sensitive may hear the Aure, but what I can say is that I hear no sibilance whatsoever. No doubt if a recording is sibilant, it would come through in a set which does detail retrieval to the extent the Aure do pick up detail. However, they are not tuned to overemphasise the extreme highs, for me they are just right.

Al Marconi - Innocence -

This track has some delicious shimmering, listening on most earphones, you just have to remember there may be details you will hear for the first time when listening to this on the Aure. If you have the Aure to hand, listen first on another set, then come to the Aure, you will then get an insight into what the Aure do. The reason is simple, once you hear the micro details on the Aure, you are more likely to pick those details up on another set, you cannot unhear what you have just heard.

Hauser - Air on a G String - -

The Aure renders the violins beautifully, in one word, enchanting. However be prepared to hear the sound of the violin bows as they move across the srings.

Comparisons

TRI Starshines - Two BAs and two eclectrostatics - Price: $499.99 USD

The TRI Starshines are one of my favourite earphones, how do they differ from the Aure? That is the point when you get to this $300 and above range, it is the difference. Firstly, the TRI Starshines are a bit more expensive and require a lot more power than the Aure. My view is that generally, electrostatics have a bit more weight to their presentation of highs. Listening back and forth as I write this, the BAs on the Aure do just as well, but the Aure have a slightly more airy treble compared to the Stashines.

I do not detect any difference between the two sets when it comes to the midrange. The other notable difference is the bass on the, BA bass on the Starshines and DD bass on the Aure. Using the same setup, the sub-bass emphasis is greater on the Aure whilst the mid-bass is tune to be slightly more prominent on the TRI. Here, we are talking about small margins, and a different track may present as slightly different again, but for me they are on a par with the TRI Starshines.

Cayin Fantasy - One Dynamic driver - Price:$799 USD

It has been a while since I heard and reviewed the Cayin Fantasy. My memory tells me that they are incredibly detailed sounding, I have no doubt they would sound as detailed to me, today, as they did then. It would be totally unfair to compare the sound based on memory, but what I can say is that the issue many had with the Fantasy is the bass response. Most felt the Fantasy fell short in their presentation of bass, just too lean.

Where I differed from most is that, although I agreed that mid-bass was lean, I thought others did not give the Fantasy credit for their sub-bass, which were/are great. I have to say, maybe unfairly (because they are not in my ears now) but not entirely (because it was unanimous) that the Fantasy fall short in that regard, mid-bass was lean.
The Aure , in comparison, do just as well on their sub-bass and without shadow of doubt, the Aure do a great job on the mid-bass, whereas, the Fantasy just did not have much mid-bass to speak of and short of having the Fantasy with me to compare, I would say they both do an excellent job with their extended sub-bass.

Conclusion
I find the Aure, exceptionally good at clarity and detail retrieval and I cannot but say (without gushing) they are worth your hard earned money, but not, if you are looking for a bass heavy set of earphones. If you are looking for accessories, as opposed to sound quality, the Aure may not be for you, but for sound quality the Aur Audio Aure have outstanding vivid clarity…..the Aure are rather special. These guys at Aur Audio are on to something.

This is the first time I have given a set of earphones 5 stars, and the Aure are definitely S Tier to my ears.

Enjoy your music!

Intro

These days, we have a lot of choice out there but sometimes something stands out of the crowded marketplace, and yes, I have not tried everything but I have used various dongle DAC/Amps, some with Bluetooth option, some without. As I have the BTR5 and now the BTR7, I can only tell you that, in my experience and in my opinion, the BTR5 has been has been a joy to own and use. I am not saying it is the best thing in town, because I have not heard them all, but what I can say is that the BTR5 has a lot to offer.

The BTR5 had the option of 2.5mm and 3.5mm outputs. For me that virtually locked me into the 2.5mm cable terminations for a long while, despite recognising the fact that our world of audio enthusiasts has moved on and the future is 4.4mm, as someone rightly pointed out a while ago. The reason for my reluctance is not because I was hooked on 2.5mm terminations or reluctant use an adaptor but because the BTR5 gave me the freedom I wanted but that came at a price, the 2.5mm handcuffs.

As we all know, our hobby takes up a lot of our time, and you spend even more time engrossed in the hobby when you choose to review audio gear. We are all also aware that music can be ancillary to other things in our lives, family, study, work, etc. or take your entire focus, and pin you down.

The versatility of the BTR5 gave me is that I can move about and get on with other things and still listen to good quality music or a podcast on the move.

Now, the BTR7 is here and compared to the BTR5, it comes with a 4.4mm and 3.5mm outputs. Freedom from 2.5mm! What that says about me is that I was hooked to the BTR5, which was my companion. Does the BTR7 change that?



Disclosure and Note

Disclosure: All opinions I express here are my own with no influence from anyone. No one has editorial control or influence over the contents of this review. I do not read or watch reviews of items I itend to review. I make an effort to ensure that I give the reader factual information. I appreciate your feedback.

Notes: I bought the BTR7 at Advanced MP3 Players in the UK for £174.99. This is not a free review unit, but it makes no difference to my reporting. I report my experience in the same way I would, whether the item was sent to me as a free review unit or not, my reports are honest and presented in a positive manner.

Reviewing audio gear is a hobby for me. I spend so much time with items I review that if I do not like it I do not review it. That might explain to some why I have a positive approach to reviews as opposed to cynicism, which appears to be a style and an expectation in some circles. That "machismo" is just childish. No dumping on what I do not like, I simply do not waste my time reviewing the item at all. That is not to say that I do not point out the faults of items I do review, as I see them.

My grading is relative to price, so a 4 star for a $20 product does not mean I rate it the same as a $200 product.

My setup for this review

I paired them with Samsung galaxy note 10 plus,Mi Mix and various earphones, and headphones.

Form, Features and Function

The package: The BTR7 comes in a mid-sized clear cardboard box. Inside the packaging are three sections. The top foam compartment is simply a chunk of foam cut out with the BTR7 tightly hugged in place. You then have a second compartment with the BTR7 suede-like case. The third section lies at the bottom of the package and has a short USB C to USB cable and a second cable which is USB C to USB C cable. You also get a warranty card and a Quick Start Guide.

Form: The frame of the BTR7 appears to be a full metal shell and measures approximately 14.6 mm x 39.6 mm with a Length of 83.6mm. The metal casing feels solid. The design cue is angular and appears to have trickled down from Fiio’s current house style, evident on their recent DAP design.



The front and back of the device are covered in glass. The glass back has no more than inscriptions of Fiio Logo and the de rigueur “Hi Res Audio” and Hi Res Wireless Audio” stickers plus the MQA and THX logos. The top of the device has the 4.4mm port and the 3.5mm port. Looking at the device from the front, the left side has nothing on it. The bottom of the device has a USB C port, for charging and data transmission. The right side is action packed with 5 functional items.

At the top you get a pin point microphone hole. The next in line is your multi purpose buttons, on/off and return button. That is followed by play/pause and select button. You then have the volume up and down button which also functions as the “scroll” up and down selection button (can be customised in the FiiO Control App).

The last in line is the charge on and off button, which in essence allows you to charge the device, but it is intended to give the user the option of not draining the power of a host device, such as a phone when connected by USB. However, beware, the device will not charge if you forget to flick the switch to charge (it is indicated by showing the red coloured surface under the button).

The front of the device has a 1.3 inch IPS display with a 240 x 240 resolution colour display. The standard information on the screen display gives you, volume, battery meter limited to an icon with a solid white bar which shows the depleting battery by changing to decreasing white are and increasing black area, so the more black area you have the less battery you have available. However, there is no percentage indication, except in the app and your phone or tablet, when you first connect the BTR7 you get a brief indication of how much power you have. That battery percentage is currently in blocks of 20% as on the BTR5 no less.



Features: The BTR7 is a feature packed Bluetooth DAC/Amp and is an unexpectedly wonderful yet balanced sound it delivers. The highlight of the features are USB Audio with in-built XMOS chip, just remember to cancel USB Audio notification when it comes up on your phone.

The BTR7 is probably the only device in its class to come with wireless charging. The reasoning being that you can use your phone's reverse wireless charging to top it up or charge it up in your car. However, it needs some tweaking.

Function: In USB mode: As previously mentioned, above, XMOS is built into your device. All you need is to plug in and play from any music App including your streaming Apps, which clearly may come to your host device (phone tablet or computer as wireless but no longer are you restricted to UAPP.

Bluetooth mode: The Bluetooth mode gives you all the bluetooth codecs, but ensure your phone supports the codec you want to use and if it does, ensure it is all activated. My phones play 24bit and connects to LDAC without issue.

The Bluetooth range I got was about 12 meters or 39 feet of clean Bluetooth signal away from my phone from the BTR7 without issue. When I had my phone in my pocket and I had no issues using my phone mobile data. My only restrictions are if I had my in one place and I went beyond 12 meters or using Wifi at home, where walls are the main limitation to the connection.

The FiiO Control App: This is a useful App, no doubt it is a work in progress, which means we might get additional features and certainly updates. In any case, the available options are quite effective. In essence the App once installed on your phone, tablet or desktop computer, gives you the option to operate or install a number of features, settings and software updates on your device using the App.

On opening the App you have the option to add other Fiio devices. Once your Fiio device is set up on the App, you can click on the specific device which will open the control screen for that device. For the BTR7 you have at the bottom of your screen four sections. They are, Status, Equaliser, Audio and User guide. Under status, you get battery percentage (again in 20% blocks), the option to put the charge function, wire function and Car mode on or off.

You also get the option to determine how long your device remains idle (when not in use) before it turns off the power completely. Quite usefully you also have a question mark [?] which when you click on, gives you a short explanation of the particular function next to that question mark.

There is also a selection of Bluetooth codec. You can click them all and your device will click connect using the best codec available at any point. The other functions are, Input priority, which is whether to prioritise bluetooth or USB in, your choice applies when you have a USB connection on the BTR7, so in effect it goes for what you choose to prioritise but does not restrict you if you only have one of the two options in use. You have the “Menu Option” which allows you to select whether you want to hold the power button to enter the menu or double click the power button to enter the menu.

For selecting the operation, you use volume buttons up to select tracks or double click to switch tracks. The final one in this section is how long you want your screen to remain on before BTR7 automatically turns off your LCD screen.

The EQ gives you the option for one saved EQ setting. Of course you can have a separate EQ App to have multiple EQ settings.



The Audio option allows you to set your maximum Bluetooth volume, call volume and channel balance volume. You then have the “Boost balanced out mode” this gives you the option to boost the sound quality and volume coming out of the balanced part, but you drain power and increase the noise floor. In my experience the boost in sound quality is noticeable, and the reduction in battery life and increased noise are not noticeable.
Then you have distortion compensation and Low pass filter, both of which I have never used, so I cannot comment on.

You can dive deeper into each category by reading the user guide for yourself.

The sound

The FIIO BTR7 is tuned to give you a balanced sound. The effect of this is that you get good bass, a well presented rather than recessed midrange and plenty of sparkle in the highs, all of which would reflect your monitors’ quality, the device will not improve your earphones or headphones, it will bring out very good quality of the monitors.

The THX technology means you get a clean and noise-free sound from your BTR7. As has become a Fiio signature on many FIIO DACs and Amps.

For me what has been done is to slightly reduce the bass impact, extend the treble, giving the impression of improvement in clarity and detail retrieval. When I listen to the same set of monitors on the BTR5, I pick up a slightly more impactful bass, and detect the same detail in the midrange and treble but less pronounced compared to the BTR7.

It makes the BTR7 seem more detailed when in fact there is nothing I could hear on the BTR7 which is not audible on the BTR5, simply a bit more bass on the BTR5 and a more pronounced treble on the BTR7. Having said that I prefer the implementation of the sound on the BRT7. If I want more bass, I get a bassier set of earphones or headphones, but the details are then put on a plate for me, I do not have to strain to hear the details. Add to that the cleaner THX amplification power and cleanliness and the BTR7 moves up a level aove the BTR5, everything sounds more detailed.

The BTR7 will power difficult to drive monitors. My hard to drive monitors were driven well on the BTR7, but like all portables do not be surprised if you can get more out of your monitors on a fixed system, simply because these devices are intended to give you mobile music without sapping too much power. The management of power means there are limitations, but I am happy to report that there is plenty for most to get a lot of pleasure out of most monitors.

Comparision with the BTR5 [Note Original not 2021 version]

I have used the BTR5 for almost three years and it has regularly been at my side for much of that time. The BTR5 remains a benchmark for a portable Bluetooth DAC/Amp particularly because of its size, ease of use and features. How does the bigger sibling, the BTR7 fare? In my view Fiio has improved some respects on the BTR7 and in other respects the BTR has some catching up to do.

The BTR7 does incredibly well on sonics. Why? When it comes to sound quality, I think there has been a marginal but perceptible improvement in sound quality. The BTR5 is no slouch in the sound quality and the improvement is described above. When it comes to power, there is no doubt that BTR7 has a marked improvement on the power it can call on compared to the BTR5.

What improvements are required? When charging the BTR5 shows you an image of a battery with 5 bars. The BTR5 animation blinks sequentially through the 5 bars, lighting each up (the bar stays lit as opposed to blinking)) as the battery’s charge percentage increases.

The same logical animation is used to show battery depletion with each bar dimmed as the battery depletes.
On the BTR7 the bar is coloured green (that looks good but it is no improvement) there is a hilarious attempt to replicate the increasing charge on the BTR5, but that falls apart within a few seconds of the animation starting, so instead of increasing lit up bars while charging, you get about 3 bars lit up initially, which then reduce to two and then one (does that mean battery depleted successfully?).

I have every faith that Fiio will resolve this issue, it has been done successfully on the BTR5 why not the BTR7.

The BTR5 also has the function where the play/pause button (second from top when display is facing the user) is used to play a music player on screen, when you press pause on the BTR5, the music player stops (logical you might say).

On the BTR7 when you press stop, the App on your screen stops BUT the second App starts playing. If I have multiple music Apps open, the BTR7 will just stop one and play the other. These are software features which work seamlessly on the BTR5, there is no reason why they cannot be fixed on the BTR7. Due to the fact that I write reviews, I do not use equalisers, but for some it is a highlight to manipulate the sound on their monitors. The equaliser on the BTR7 is limited to one setting, granted it does not prevent the use of other EQ Apps.

Comparison with the HAAFEE HA1

The HA1 is a joy to listen to the implementation of the ESS DAC chips is one of the best I have heard, the sound is so melodic. The HA1 also offers Bluetooth, claims 1Watt of power. It is a solid feeling unit, with the exception of the volume knob which falls off often.

The problems are that the battery life seems to be around four hours and it takes virtually all night to charge. The other issue is the size, this is the of an ample size DAP. For convenience, the BTR7 wins, for sound quality to my ears, the HAFEE has it.

Conclusion

The indispensable convenience of the BTR5 has not been improved on the BTR7 possibly because the convenience of the BTR5 is as good as it gets, but what is important is that the BTR7 is no less convenient.
However, with the improvement in power, some features and sound quality on the BTR7, in my view, the BTR7 is a worthy successor to the BTR5. I hope Fiio gets the software features on the BTR7 to the level of the BTR5 and I would say they have done it….. they have perfectly improved the BTR5!

Enjoy your music!

Introduction

The Kai are the most recent release from TRI and for the first time TRI has produced earphones as part of a collaboration.

The Kai are a collaboration between TRI and Hawaii Bad Boy (HBB) a popular YouTube audio reviewer) hence the moniker, HBB. I rather like the name Kai. The Kai are a single dynamic set of In Ear Monitors (IEMs) for ease of reference I set out the detailed specifications of the Kai below:

Specifications:

Driver Type : 9.8mm Single Dynamic Driver.
Diaphragm Type : 3rd Generation Diamond Like Carbon (DLC) Diaphragm.
Frequency Response : 20Hz -40kHz.
Impedance : 36Ω
Sensitivity : 114dB @1kHz.
Interface : 0.78mm diameter 2-Pin earpiece Connection and 3.5mm gold plated single-ended plug.
Cavity material: Aluminium Alloy

Disclosure and Note:

This set was kindly sent to me by TRI free of charge for review, for which I am grateful.

All opinions I express here are my own with no influence from anyone. No one has editorial control or influence over the contents of this review. I make an effort to ensure that I give the reader factual information. I appreciate your feedback.

Form, Fit and Function

The package: The package is a small cardboard box, which seems to have been chosen to fit the usual but presentable TRI mid brown faux leather case. I believe it not only reduces the cost to the end user but it is also environmentally sustainable in these times of ecological awareness.

List of contents of the package:
The IEMs;
A gold plated 3.5mm single-ended silver plated OFC cable;
A beautiful faux leather case;
A selection of tips,
A cleaning brush; and
A cleaning cloth;
A Warranty leaflet and a card with Kai written on it.



Form: The earphones are made of aluminium shells with the section which fits into the ear gently contoured, but without a wing, leading to a wide nozzle. The outer faceplate appears to be made of two pieces and two colour design, maintaining the bold golden colouring of the IEMs gentle sloped pyramid like mound. The entire ear piece is plated in gold, except the face plate which is glazed in gold and blue.



Fit: To my ears the fit is good, but not perfect, in that, the medium sized nozzle with no inner wing allows the earpieces to slip out ever so slowly and I have to adjust for better insertion occasionally. I have not experimented with ear tips other than those which came with the package. No doubt a change of tips might keep the earpieces in place more securely.

Finish: The blue part has the TRI logo in gold and the blue has HBB inscription with an anchor logo the words, “TRI x HBB Kai” written on it.
Despite the abundance of gold plating, I must say, it is tastefully done, just on the right side of tasteful. The Kai looks and feels solidly built, of course time will tell, but in as far as it is visually possible to tell, they look solid.

My setup for this review

As my source, I paired the KAI with Samsung galaxy note 10 plus, Mi Mix and Shanling M7, various Music player Applications used with my local media library and via Bluetooth and wired. For amplification I used the Xduoo MT604 and Rod Rain DAC/Amp, as a DAC/Preamp,, a Samsung dongle, Fiio BTR5, the HA FEE HA11, TRI TK-2 and the Littlebear B4X tube amplifier with portable Taotronics DAC, mostly balanced 2.5 mm and on high gain.

Synergy

The Kai paired well with all my sources and DAC/Amps. I used the wide bore stock tips, as they came out of the box. It is also relatively easy to drive.



The sound

The Kai once in my ears sounded almost balanced and could be described as mild U-shape sound signature, here, I use U-shape to mean a shallow dip in the midrange. Although the tuning does not seem extreme or radical in anyway, the extension at either end of the frequency spectrum is more generous that you would ordinarily find in earphones in $70 to $80 price range. That to my ears and for my sonic preference makes the Kai a pleasure to listen to.

Bass

In general the bass is not over-emphasised or dominant, which means the bass you call on, is what your recording delivers, no increase in bass delivery.

Sub-bass: As alluded to earlier the low end runs deep, so although your recording determines what is called for, the bass runs deep and when the track demands you get deep bass. The tuning is such that when your recording calls fort sub-bass you get a rich and visceral reproduction of the music.

It does not only go to great depths it also renders a well defined sub-bass. Notes are full and you can clearly tell the individual notes, not a congealed mess. A bit more forward sub-bass would have been nice....but that is a personal preference.

Mid-bass: As with the sub-bass, the mid-bass is not ever-present, and when called for it delivers notes with precision, the notes are well defined and discernable. Bass is fast enough not to smear the mids, and for my taste, the decay on the bass is natural, so that I get what I would hear on stage, not a falsely curtailed decay, simply to give the impression of fast bass.

Zhao Cong - Moonlight On Sring River:



This recording displays the beauty of the Kai in all aspects across the frequency spectrum, but, here I focus on the sub-bass, at 0.54, the sub-bass kicks in, and the Kai lets you know it. Where other earphones fail. Again, credit to my friend, @Poganin who introduced me to this track.

Nicolas Cole and Vincent Ingala - Snap:



“Snap”, plays back with viseral punch of the bass line, and the Kai does not fail to express it in full with each bass note well defined bass is delivered, so there is no doubt about the bass quality on this set of earphones.

Midrange

Great delight here, on the midrange, you get the impression the driver is tuned to quietly go about its business, you get the impression the driver can do more. In any case, what has been done here is to tune, not to fit the price but to deliver the goods.

My point remains that the tuning of the midrange is measured and delightfully so. What you get is a satisfying reproduction of vocal notes, guitars notes, piano notes, even a blurting horn seems measured, not set to blast your ears, just to deliver the recording well.

Peter White “In Rainbows” - Smile:



Treble
I generally avoid reading or watching reviews of a device which I intend to reviews but I watched HBB’s introduction (not a review) of the Kai. Here is something a friend said about the high notes on the Kai (and I note my friend’s comment, “it is not the TRI Starlights”, and I agree).

Electrets and electrostatics aside, the treble on the K|ai, is incredibly appealing to my ears. It seems to me what HBB stated on his introductory video about being influenced by the treble on the Dark Magician…...has clearly been implemented, and well implemented at that. A guitar string can deliver some delicate highs, but the sound differs, and depending on tuning, earphones can have the sound of a guitar string pushed to its limit and just about to snap.The treble tuning on the Kai can extend to the delicate notes but do not sound strained, like a guitar string just about to snap.

The treble is a joy to listen to, especially on in their rendition of cymbals, high hats and violins. It it firm, bold and a satisfyingly realistic replication of what I have heard on stage.

Mascagni - Cavelleria Rusticana - Intermezzo - Giacomo Aragall:



Instrument Separation, Stage and
Timbral Accuracy

The Kai does instrument separation and imaging they are very well. However, stage, although perceptible and has some width, it is not particularly expansive. For me where the Kai excel, in this categoy oft referred to as “technicalities”, is in timbral accuracy.

I am sure most would agree that all monitors are music reproduction instruments, and the Kai deliver authentic reproduction of the tone of most musical instruments, and , to my ears, excels at it. My one experience is of a bit of spiciness on a Classical piece. I have not heard it elsewhere.

Comparisons with other single dynamic drivers earphones

Dunu Titan S - [My review coming up in the near future] Compared to the Titan S, the Kai leans more towards treble, while the Dunu leans towards the bass. Both Sub-bass and Mid-bass on the Titan S is good quality, rich and mature sounding. The kai displays a more revealing tuning which gives the impression of being more balanced than the Titan S. Midrange on the Kai is full and delivers an open and spacious sound. The Titan hits back with worthy midrange, although only slightly less revealing.

This is, for me a like for like comparison, it is very difficult to say, I prefer one over the other. To my ears, they are quite similar, but the question is whether your preference is for the quantity in the bass, which goes to the Titan S, or in the quantity at the treble end, which for me goes to the Kai. I must say in terms of quality they both deliver, it is a question of quantity relative to other parts of the frequency spectrum. I cannot even give the technicalities to either, they are both that good. All I can say is that I am fortunate to have heard both.

Meze Rai Solo - I think Meze has a lot to be proud of, but my disappointment remains in the Rai Solo, one of the most beautiful earphones made. On sound, competent, but could have been much better. To my ears he Kai blows the Rai solo out of the water, despite the price difference. The Kai comes out in front in all aspects. However, it must be noted that they are a couple of years apart, and a lot has changed in audio.

Venture Electronics VE BIE Pro - I have heard some say, the VE BIE Pros are bassy set of earphones, and, I say, yes, to an extent, but you cannot ignore the fact that unlike those above, they are a touch more difficult to drive. Increase the power going to them, and the treble takes its rightful place. That is not to say the bass is not prominent, the VE BIE Pros are certainly more bass biased than the two other earphones above. Compared to the Kai, I would have to say the Kai certainly comes out on top to my ears. The Kai may not deliver as much Sub-bass abd mid-bass, but the quality of the bass the Kai delivers outshines the VE BIE Pros to my ears. The same goes for the mids and highs. The Kai, to my ears is stands proud across the frequency spectrum. In addition, my view is that the Kai are more technically accomplished.

In Conclusion
I have ask the question whether this is the sign of the future, where every manufacturer has to raise their level if they are to compete in this highly competitive audio market. The Kai deliver good quality sound, well beyond my expectations and even more, above what you would usually expect at this price. Simply wonderful.

Enjoy Your Music!

Shanling M7 Specifications:

Dimensions – 129 x 78 x 20 mm

Weight – 312g

Display – 5-Inch 1920 * 1080

Operating System – Open Android 10

CPU – Qualcomm Snapdragon 665

Memory – Ram 6GB, ROM 128GB + single Micro SD card slot

Hi-Res support – 32/768 & DSD512 & MQA 16X

Bluetooth – Bluetooth 5.0, two-way, LDAC, LHDC, aptX HD, aptX, SBC Support

Wi-Fi – 2.4G/5G, supporting DLNA, Airplay

DAC – ESS ES9038PRO

Amplifier – ADA4896-2 +
MUSES8920 + OPA2211 + BUF634

Output Power – Single-ended 400 mW@32Ohm // 900mW@32Ohm Balanced

Output – 3.5mm single ended and 4.4mm balanced

Output impedance - Less than 1 Ohm

Battery – 7000 mAh, supporting 18W quick charging

Battery life – Up to 10 hours in single ended and 8.5 hours in balanced and 8.5 hours using Bluetooth

Intro
Do you find yourself wondering whether to simply get a DAC/Amp to give the sound from your phone good amplification and not bother with portable DAPs? Alternatively, you may be in the camp which says, keep the music separate because your phone does too many things and disrupts your music, then runs out of power and everything is down. There are those who use their DAPs for numerous things that their phone can do, except make phone calls, although DAPs ar capable of phone calls as well, with the right software.

The fact remains that most audio enthusiasts have a DAP because there are times when you just want to get away from all those messages, notifications and phone calls and just focus on your music.
The options have become even more interesting with the Shanling M7, a DAP which is highly resolving and it will make your music sing! The build quality is incredible and the sound quality is exquisite.

Disclosure and Note
I bought the Shanling M7 from Shanling at a reviewers’ discounted price.

All opinions I express here are my own with no influence from anyone. No one has editorial control or influence over the contents of this review. I make an effort to ensure that I give the reader factual information. I appreciate your feedback.

My setup for this review
I paired the M7 with various earphones, earbuds and headphones. I also used it as a source and DAC to feed my Xduoo MT604 balanced amplifier, initially via Bluetooth to my Rod Rain DAC/Amp, then direct into the MT604 using a balanced 4.4mm cable

Contents of the box - Your DAP; USB A to USB Type C cable; additional screen protector (the DAP comes with a screen protector applied); Micro SD card “O” rings x2 , Warranty; A miniature Shanling brochure; and a Quick Start Guide.



Optional Extras: The leather case is an optional extra at a cost. Further, the Player comes with two outputs, the usual 3.5 mm single ended output socket and a 4.4mm balanced output socket. You neither get a 2.5mm socket as part of the hardware, nor do you get an adapter included in the accessories, so do not expect to see that in the package. If you have 2.5mm plugs on your earphones or headphones (less likely) I suggest you buy an adaptor to plug into the 4.4mm socket before your Player arrives.

Another more obvious thing is to have is an SD card for your own music. In most cases the 128 Gigabyte (GB) of storage available on the device is (in most cases) insufficient for our music collection, especially the higher the quality of the music files. The device supports up to 2 Terra byte (TB) of additional storage. The final thing is a cleaning cloth for the screen, the good thing about the M7 is that apart from the screen all other part do not show fingerprints.

Form, Features and Function

Form

Build: The Shanling M7 is solidly built with the design theme of the Shanling M9 but made more manageable for those who do not want a huge Portable Music Player, and that is not to say, the M7 is small, it is the size of the Fiio M11 and the TRI TK-2. What is important is that it can be handled much easier than the M9, given the size. It is made of a solid single piece of aluminium, which gives it a curb weight of 315 grams with dimensions of 129mm by 78mm by 20mm.

If you have yet to see either the M7 or M9, they both have, what appears to be a new Shanling design theme. The thrust of the design is to have curved "tree-bark-like" wavy lines along the length of either side. To me the design is not only elegant, it serves a practical purpose, which is to allow good grip, even when you do not hold the Player firmly, you get the reassurance that it will not slip out of your hand. I am no electronics expert but the wavy lines remind me of a heat sink, whether they are meant to dissipate heat or not I do not know.

The top of the elegantly designed Player is a flat glass finish with an output at either end, one is a 4.4mm socket and the other is a 3.5mm socket. The bottom is also flat with a USB C socket for charging and data transfer, and an SD card slot.

The back is smooth with curves flowing from the sides, with a frosted glass look, which again makes the player easy to handle.

Features

Technical features: Shanling uses dual ESS9038Pro DAC chips, they tell us that they have made advancements from the slightly larger M9, such as a single-piece aluminium body and a single board intergrated acoustic design.

Shanling states that the ESS DAC chips are “8 channel power hungry beasts”, their implementation in their high-end CD player helped them to tame the hunger for power to improve power consumption. Shanling says their pairing of the ESS Sabre DACs and OP+BUF amplifier setup has proven to be their best measuring player so far.

I have to say it is not clear what is being measured, sound, noise, heat, or heat dissipation. In any case, there are improvements from the M9, which makes the M7 very pleasant to listen to, in my assessment.

Function

In Operation: On the right side (with the screen facing you) is a multi function knob, which is an on/off switch, when pressed for about 2 seconds, a volume control knob, and wakes the screen up from sleep mode with a short press. The knob is a bit smaller than I was used to, but you quickly get used to it and it becomes second nature and feels normal maybe because it just does its job so well.

On the left side (screen facing you) there are three buttons, one a “back” or “repeat” button, the middle button for “play” or “pause” and the third for “forward”.



Feel: How does the M7 feel in the hand? My first experience is that it felt slightly “squarer” than the slightly more elongated rectangular feel of the Fiio M11 Original. As previously mentioned the grip feels reassuring with the wavy design and the non-slip frosted back all adding to the secure “grippiness”. Initially it felt different, but within days, it felt natural to hold, familiarity was fairly swift. When using the M7 one-handed, my little finger instinctively slips underneath the player to give added support, while being able to reach the three (play/pause; back and forward) buttons with my thumb easily and the volume button with my index finger. A little shimmy and your thumb will reach all parts of the screen. Without the faux leather case, the edges of flat cut bottom were noticeable, although not uncomfortable, the edges dig into my little finger a little bit.

When using the case, the Player rests more comfortably on your little finger. Resting the Player for a long time on your pinky is not an issue with the case on. Obviously, it gets warmer in the case than using the Player without the case.

Software: There are numerous software features, a lot of which are essentially android features. I will highlight a few of the audio specific features, or those specific to Shanling and on the M7.

The first thing to note is that it uses the Snapdragon 665 Central Processing Unit (CPU) running on Android 10 with 6 GB of Random Access Memory (RAM).

You have the option to select numerous low pass filters, which may alter your sound. I have not used the filters. You also have three gain option, Low, Medium or High. This option is also available on your quick setting menu to toggle. As a safety feature, when you select High gain, the volume automatically goes down to 10 (or up to 10) on the volume dial, irrespective of your volume level you were on prior to selecting High gain. Another important feature is the option to fix volume when using USB audio, note that this sets the volume at maximum in USB line out. I have mine off which is the default mode, a maximum volume setting in USB mode can cause damage to your hearing if you forget to turn down the volume when using line out.

You also have Scheduled power off, Double tap to turn off or switch on, the option to show volume at the top of your screen, and Vehicle mode. I switched off the double tap to turn on screen because it is an unnecessary use of battery power, given the alternative switch, the multi purpose wheel is just as effective.

You have the option to choose which buttons you want to enable or disable when the screen is off. This ensures that depending on your use, you can avoid accidental touches, in your pocket or bag, or even your mode of use, such as how you hold your DAP. Simply go into settings, General, Key-Lock, and you will see an animation of both sides of your DAP with the buttons shown, each button has an on-screen switch you can toggle on and off, to suit your purposes.

You also have the various options under Audio to select output, select phone out or line out. My experience is that the M7 sounded great when I fed it into my Xduoo MT604 tube amplifier, more below.

In terms of function the M7 is fairly familiar and easy to use.
The software operates smoothly on both the Andriod and Prime mode. With the 6GB of RAM, my library loads quickly and the entire system is fluid. However, I had issues with the software which seems to be related to my SD card. I formatted the card but it appears the speed of the card might be an issue, I will test it out and report back if the issue is related to the player, but I doubt it. I had no issues with my other SD card.

Screen: The 5 inch 1080p screen with its brightness adjuster - toggle in the drop-down menu - gets it fairly bright, although you can further increase brightness by choosing a white background as your wallpaper. Here again, it is a choice between prolonging the battery life and convenience. It is easily adjustable so I opt to save battery as my default mode, and increase brightness as and when I need to do so.



You get the usual option to select how long your screen remains on, but the screen off modes are three, off completely as in shut down and it takes about 1 to 15 seconds to wake. Once woken, you may choose to have the screen permanently on, showing your albums, Artists, or a particular track playing with album art. While playing, you may want to short press the wheel to place the screen in, what I call, a “bare essentials” mode. What this does is to have the screen on but with just bear essential information only, no, album art , just a black screen with white writing. The information I get in the bare essential mode, are at the top, volume, bit rate; in the middle, time and date, name of track, artist; at the bottom of the screen, I get the battery percentage showing. In the bare essentials mode the wheel works in all its guises, hence you can switch the screen on and off, shut down the entire player, and adjust the volume, as you please. The three buttons, if selected to operate in screen off mode, function as usual, play/pause; back and forward. That is indeed all I need when I am out and about, and if and when I need more information, all I have to do is to short press the wheel.

Sound Signature and Quality:
To my ears the tuning is quite beautifully done. The M7 is highly resolving, well defined across the frequency spectrum and gives you the impression of a high fidelity sound system with a slight uplift on the low end. What the M7 is not, is cold and analytical, it gives you a highly resolving yet melodic tuning.
Slightly emphasised bass I am told is the Shanling house sound.

The mid-bass bass is impactful, mature and very well defined, unless your recording or earphones are themselves bassy and you get what is recorded.

The M7 digs deep when the track has sub-bass that is visceral and potent. The bass delivered is precise yet the decay is natural depending on the quality of your recording.

Daniel Castro - I'll play the blues for you


Al Marconi - Innocence


Sub-bass is rendered gently but with potency.

On a neutral set of monitors midrange is full and incredibly melodic, without blurting out or shouting out at you. Clearly, you get more pronounced midrange if your monitors are so tuned.

Johnny "Guitar" Watson - Ain't that a bitch.

The guitar solos just sound like they are floating.

Euge Groove - Slow Jam

The saxophone sounds so majestic with the piano gently caressing your ears in the background.

Treble is detailed and satisfyingly transparent, where your earphones or headphones are so tuned you get lots of air, making the sound spacious and open.

Brian Culbertson - Together Tonight

Just listen to the details brought out by the M7.

David Sanborn & Bob James - Maputo



The M7 is very good on technicalities, in that, the perception of instrument separation, dynamic range, imaging and sound stage is highlighted by this player.

Notes on the sound
Remember, it is, the quality of your recordings and your earphones and headphones which will show off what the technicalities of this player.

Another thing to remember is that each application you choose to playback your music has an influence on the presentation of your music. For example, the Shanling Music Player Application is more bassy than the Fiio Music Player Application. The PowerAmp Application is more bassy than the Nuetron App.

Streaming relies on the player connecting to your wifi, so it draws a bit more power to do the job and of course, obviously, the volume at which you listen to your music also has an effect on the rate at which your battery drains.

My experience
I had a pleasant time listening to my music on the Shanling M7, but I was not bowled over initially. The two things which got to me was the cover for the cause of the SD card being unseated, as I tried to replace the cover it presses into the SD card, unseating it. That was annoying, but you learn to handle that cover. I hope Shanling change the cover for the card slot or remove it altogether. [EDIT: Since publication, I was informed by a fellow M7 user that the cover can be taken off entirely, which resolves the issue. Thanks, very helpful] However, the other issue, the sound quality, was not an issue as such, as I thought the Player sounded ok. I then played around with the gain toggle and forgot it on High Gain.

The next time I plugged in my earphones, I thought it was a bit loud at 20, so I reduced the volume, but it seemed to me that the sound quality had become even better. I then realised that I was on High Gain, and in the past I generally listened on Low Gain with as much volume as I required on each set of earphones. I do not usually listen to music at high volume, I am happy with getting good isolation and raising the volume to a low to mid levels, which is why I did not feel the need for switching to High Gain.

I also thought it got hotter more quickly on High Gain, and at the moment it is a very hot summer where I live (no more than the original Fiio M11) such temperatures on the Player would be fine, even a pleasure to warm your hands in the winter) so I was not inclined to listen on High Gain.
I suddenly started to enjoy listening to music on my M7 DAP a whole lot more by switching to High Gain and lowering volume to 15% and more if required. It seems to me that the Player was optimised on High Gain, as the default and then the lower Gains took away a small amount but, to my ears, noticeable amount of SQ in the process of lowering the Gain. Now, on High Gain, with low volume, I just enjoy listening to music on my new Player, a Whole Lot More!

Desktop Experience: The results were mixed. I did not like the sound plug in to the Xduoo MT604 tube ampifier, which sounded a bit closed in. Which says more about the MT604 tha it does about the Shanling M7 The sound via Bluetooth to my DAC/Preamp and then to the MT604 was very pleasant. In both instances, the M7 was not heating up at all, it felt cold to the touch, which is very good to know.



Headphones and Earphones:

Blon B20
This is an open-back Planar Magnetic set of headphones which demand a lot of power. Lots of DAC/Amps did not do the Blon B20 justice, because the bass was subdued. However, with the M7 the Blon B20 bass was quite well defined and impactful.

TRI Starshines
Again, this set of earphones require a lot of power given the TRI Starshines’ Electrostatic drivers, again the M7 did a good job powering the Starshines beautifully.

Comparison

Original Fiio M11 : The Fiio M11 was a DAP of its time, it worked well and produces good enough sound. However, compared to the M11, the Shanling M7 seems to be all grown up. The sound quality has been upped a couple of notches.
Caution: Be careful do not blow your ears out!

In Conclusion

This is a nice sounding DAC/Amp with enormous reserves of power for most use cases. I love the quality of the build, the ergonomics, the sound quality.

Enjoy your music!

Intro
The KA2 is small, simple dongle DAC, which produces incredibly good sound.

The KA2 is different in that it comes with only a 4.4mm output no other output socket.

The KA2 is a mini Digital to Analogue Converter (DAC) and Amplifier (Amp) which has a USB C for data connection to your computer or mobile phone. Note that you have the option to buy the KA2 with an Apple Lightening data connection, which this unit did not come with, so I did not test the Lightening version. You have to opt for the Lightening connection at the point of purchase because the cable is not detachable, thus cannot be swapped at a later stage.



Disclosure
The KA2 was sent to me by FIIO free of charge for review and it is currently available for sale in the region of 55 USD on AliExpress, although the price varies from store to store and depending sales and promotions.

All opinions I express here are my own with no influence from anyone. No one has editorial control or influence over the contents of this review. I make an effort to ensure that I give the reader factual information. I appreciate your feedback.

My setup for this review
I paired them with Samsung galaxy note 10 plus,Mi Mix and various earphones, and used UAPP as my music player App.

Form, Features and Function

The package: The KA2 comes in a mid-sized clear plastic box covered by a cardboard sleeve. Inside the packaging is the dongle DAC, a USB C to USB A adapter and a quick start guide.



Form: The outer shell is made of metal and measures 4cm in Length x 1.5cm in width x1cm thickness. The metal casing feels solid. On one end of the KA2 you have a non-detachable cable made of two twisted strands leading up to a USB C connector. On the other end you have a the 4.4mm socket for your monitors. Three of the 4 sides have nothing interactive, with an inscription on one face and the other has a circular LED light (functional but not interactive) which comes on when plugged into your phone or computer.

Features: The main feature of this dongle DAC is the unexpectedly wonderful yet neutral sound it produces. Add to that its size, the KA2 feels like an extension of your cable, you plug it in and walk around with your phone in your pocket and you almost forget it is there, well until you hear what it does to your music. The third feature for me is the fact that it is supported by the FIIO App. There are several filters which I must confess I do not use therefore I cannot report on that feature. However, there is much for you to discover.

Function: The KA2 is straightforward to use, Plug in (to your phone) and Plug (your monitors in). It is important to remember that the KA2 is entirely reliant on your phone or computer battery. It is also worth noting that the KA2 has no volume control. However, you have two options to control the volume, your phone or the FIIO App, both of which will give you the Android volume steps.



On plugging in your KA2 you get an LED on the front of the device, which changes colour depending on the sampling rate of the track playing. If the sampling rate is equal to or below 48kHz the light is blue, yellow-green if the sampling rate is above 48kHz, and green if it is DSD.
As I mentioned, this dongle DAC is powered by your computer or mobile phone and appears to use up a relatively small amounts of power. Although I have not tested how much battery drain in excess of my usual power drain, simply because my daily use varies so dramatically, I cannot compare any two days with any certainty.

The sound
The FIIO ad Jade Audio KA2 is a clean and noise-free dongle DAC. As with many FIIO DACs and Amps they pay particular attention to reduce background noise and in the case of the KA2, FIIO says it has a negligible 0.0005% signal to noise ratio, noise is clearly imperceptible.
Sound on the KA2 is neutral, but not analytical, has has a delicately melodic tone to it, and came as a welcome surprise to me. The best thing for me is that it does not colour the sound of your monitors and what you put in is what you get, a good quality recording play through the KA2 on monitors which are of good quality produces great rewards. You get detail and clarity and lots of detail from this tiny dongle DAC.



I was surprised to find that this device has sufficient power to drive difficult to drive monitors, when I pair my TRI Sunshines with them, I had a pleasant surprise, I had some room to increase volume despite listening at a comfortable volume, not much but I had some room to raise the volume. Then I tried by Blon B20, a Planar Magnetic set of headphones, totally expecting that the KA2 could not power those cans, it did with a very small margin to spare but it powered the Planar headphones delivering good sound both in terms of volume and quality.


Conclusion
The KA2 is a great sounding dongle DAC for what it is, a small, light weight but solidly built dongle, which can go everywhere with you without you even noticing it until you hear its sound. Just shove it in your pocket and you have good sound everywhere you go.

Enjoy your music!

Intro
For those not familiar with the Douk Audio Littlebear, a short introduction. The Littlebear comes in two versions, both portable, they are both tube amplifiers, one which is balanced, B4X and the other not balanced, the B4. For the purposes of this review, we are only concerned with the dual mono balanced version, the B4X.



Burson Audio, a leading audio brand has made various OpAmps used by manufacturers in various products and by enthusiasts for after market modification of products,. Burson have on this occasion brought to market the Burson Audion V5i-D-2.

Disclosure and Note
Burson Audio kindly offered me the V5i-D-2 free of charge for review purposes. In exchange I provide my honest opinion.

As always, all opinions I express here are my own with no influence from anyone. No one has editorial control or influence over the contents of this review. I make an effort to ensure that I give the reader factual information. I appreciate your feedback.

Point to note
An important caveat - The very nature of this operation, to disassemble, remove the original and install the Burson OpAmps and then reassemble the unit is relatively swift. Nonetheless, when considering the fact that one has to retain in memory the sound they last heard before the disassembly, it is clear that to retain memory of the original OpAmp may not be precise, and I can only claim to have retained a general memory of the B4X in its original form, which I have owned for over 3 years. However, short of having two units (one with the original and the other with the V5i-D-2) to review side-by-side, I have to rely on my memory.

My setup for this review
I paired the modified B4X with Fiio M11, Samsung galaxy Note 10 plus, the Mi Mix and I used UAPP, Amazon Music and Youtube Music as my music players.

The modification process:
Quite frankly, the modification process is a straight forward process. With the unit standing upright (the bottom being, where the on/off switch is, and the volume knob being the top) the BX4X has four screws, which require an Allen Key to unscrew. At the base there are a further 4 screws which require a Phillips screw driver to unscrew. Given the unit is made of two solid aluminium curved shells which sit snugly together with no additional fastener, thus the top and base screws effectively hold the unit together. Having said that, it seems to me the disassembly is fairly straightforward and require only the 4 top screws to be removed.



On removal of the screws the circuit board slides out quite easily and brings up the original OpAmps which can then be unplugged and replaced with the Burson Audio V5i-D-2. The entire unit disassembly, OpAmp removal, OpAmp replacement and unit reassembly process took me no longer than 10 minutes.

Warning: Beware the filaments (inserts) on the OpAmps are fairly thin and fragile, pull original out with care and carefully line up the V5i-D-2 before insertion.

The V5i-D-2 itself is approximately three times the thickness of the original, but clearly designed to fit with ease and has good clearance when seated properly in position.

Sound Quality
The original sound is, to my ears U-shaped with an undeniable tube flavour, which to me is warm. Install the Burson V5i D and the sound remains a similar signature but is cleaner and clearer. Another feature of the V5i is more noticeable micro dynamics and less noise.

What is without doubt to me is that the warmth of the B4X is maintained but with better defined bass notes.

At various stages it sounded as though the mids had been lifted beyond the original sound. The saxophone of Richard Elliot, on Deep Touch seemed to belt through with no hindrance.

The story of the headphones/earphones I used is as follows.

Note: Please note that, as stated above, I use an external Bluetooth DAC, namely the Taotronics TT-BA08. I do not benefit in anyway in mentioning any item in this review. My reason for mentioning all that I have mentioned is for anyone who wants to replicate the sound I speak of, to do so using the same equipment.

Earphones used:



Final E500:
Despite these being an entry level single dynamic set, with the burson V5i, they gave quite information with good clarity in the bass and mids but lacked air in the highs. That appeared to be more a limitation of the earphones rather than the opamps. The technical performance of these earphones on the B4X paired with the V5i were not exceptional but not bad at all.

Euge Groove - Chillaxin

TRI Starshines:
These were incredible on the B4X with the Burson opamps, out performing the sound from the Fiio M11 in the micro details coming out of the TRI Starshines, while giving well defined bass notes, and the mids did not disappoint. However, the best part of these on the V5i modified B4X is the sense of stage which was expansive with wonderful instrument separation.

Waldi Strecker - Midnight Ocean (Smooth Night Mix)




IMR Red 2:
The Red 2 are very easy to drive compared to the Starshines and the bassiest set in this review. Boy, did they come across as engaging and harmonic….they were hard hitting! The bass was quite prominent but the definition was awesome right across the frequency spectrum. Again there was plenty information and they almost sounded like they were a bright set.

Conclusion
The Burson opamp has revived a favourite portable DAC/Amp which I bought from Linsoul a few years ago. There are not many portable DAC/Amps in the $80 range much less many DAC/Amps which are so much fun for so little.

For those who already own the B4X, this inexpensive portable unit can be upgraded using the Burson opamps and Taotronics Bluetooth DAC for an additional $50 (V5i) and $40 (Taotronics). For those who have yet to dip their feet in the portable tube pond, well this your opportunity.

Considering there are portable DAC/Amps with tubes costing north of $2k, this is relatively inexpensive audio pleasure on a tight budget.

Enjoy your music!

Intro

The Autumn is the most recent In Ear Monitors (IEMs) made by BQEYZ, not only do they exude elegance and quality in looks and build, they also come with an innovative approach to sound tuning, magnetic tuning filters.

However, what is important is the sound, how is the sound, and are the tuning options any good?

Disclosure

BQEYZ kindly provided me with a review unit of the Autumn. In this article I provide my honest opinion of the Autumn, nothing I say is given to anyone for approval. All views I express are my views. I avoid reading other reviews until I have published my review. I am not influenced by anyone, and I am not paid and I have never been paid to review any item or to express any views positive or otherwise.

Form, Fit and Function

Autumn comes packaged well in a medium sized package.

You get a pocketable black faux leather case, a lovely silver/copper hybrid cable with a velcro cable tie, a cleaning brush and six ear tips of various sizes. In addition you get a small rectangular metal plate in which the 3 pairs of tiny magnetic tuning beads are seated, plus a magnetic tool, a third of the size of a pen but shaped like a pen, for replacing the tuning plugs.



The cable appears to me to be four wire which is silver/copper hybrid which feels nice and soft and ends in a 3.5mm plug and does not tangle easily. The Autumn’s hard case closes with a good quality zip.
The Autumn comes with a 13mm Dynamic Driver.

BQEYZ tells us the Autumn shells are made of a 5-axis machined aluminium shells. The shells are lightweight but feel and look like very good quality. The face plate designed with a couple of pleats which feel very much like the natural viens on a leaf. I requested a blue set, which is one of four available colours, the other colours are green, grey and purple. For me, the ear pieces fit incredibly well with very good isolation and feel feather light.

There is a vent on the inner part of the shells with a slight wing to aid the fit. I heard very little sound intrusion with the sound off and with music playing I heard no sound intrusion, to me the isolation is very good.



My setup for this review

I paired the Autumn with Mi Mix Original, Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus and Fiio M11, as my source, and for amplification variably, a Fiio BTR5, HAAFEE HA11 and the Littlebear B4X tube DAC/Amp, in a mixture of single ended and balanced. I also used the Xduoo M604 and I also used the Fiio music player app, but primarily the PowerAmp v.3 music player app plus Apple Music and Amazon, YouTube and Quobuz streaming.

The sound

In short if you do not want to read the whole review: THE AUTUMN ARE GREAT!

Tuning beads: As the owner of multiple IMR sets, I have had the pleasure of fine tuning my earphones using the various nozzles and filters to get the sound exactly as I want it. The IMR type of tuning using nozzles which have more recently become more mainstream, as more manufacturers adopt the nozzle and/or filter system for user-tuning.

I also had the pleasure of listening to the Effect Audio Axiom, which I bought because the sound. The Axiom gives yet another tuning option which more intricate but also fantastic. Now we have a new concept, the BQEYZ magnetic tuning beads, which are truly innovative.

This must be the era of innovation in IEMs, as we now have the Autumn with its own slant on tuning user defined tuning options. They do work, they are effective albeit subtle, so that the difference in tuning is immediately audible but not dramatically so. For me that is the essence of the Autumn, subtle, the colours used are subtle, the shape of the earpiece with their subtle inner wings, and the tuning beads, they are all understated and exude quality and class. Above all else, the sound of the earphones themselves have the same essence, subtle class, not in your face, they just deliver gently, and to my ears, deliver they most certainly do.



The “Bass” beads, deliver a slight bass lift which sounds noticeably more bass prominent than the “Normal” beads do, but not in vast amounts, just right to give you the impact the recording, to which you are listening, demands.

The “Normal” beads, deliver a bass lift relative to the “Treble” beads but not as much as the “Bass” beads, as you would expect, just in moderation.

The “Treble” beads are my current favourite, at the time of writing, it gives more air to the tuning without killing any other part of the frequency spectrum. Yet nothing is lost in the bass department, if the track demands bass, you will neither miss any bass notes nor feel the sound is anaemic. It is for this reason that I prefer the “Treble” at the moment……remember you can alter the sound in a matter of seconds.

The Autumn IEMs can best be described as a chameleon, not just because of the tuning options but also the effect of different DAC/Amps has on them. At no point did they sound wrong or off with any DAC/Amp but rather different, nothing sounded overdone or underdone. Given the Autumn is a dynamic driver set, you tips also have a noticeable impact on the sound, taking all these possible variations into account, I would risk saying that most enthusiasts can find their ideal tuning.

I am sure many would agree that one thing audio enthusiasts can agree on is that we do not agree on what is the perfect tuning, naturally, the subjective nature of our hobby means we each have our own opinion and long may that be but now we can each own the same set of IEMs and say I tuned them to perfection, with the “correct” beads, the right tips and paired them with the right DAC and Amplifier.

Synergy

The Autumn work well with every DAC/Amp, or DAP I have used. Yet the difference in sound dillivered is highly dependant on which DAC/Amp you use.



Fiio BTR5:- The Autumn remains true to its character, subtle. This is a delightful pairing (but they all are) full and lush sound, yet the details that pipe out of these earphones are just so good.

HAFEE HA11:- Even more relaxed and laid back sound.

Lttlebear B4X:- [note, I use with a separate portable DAC,Taotronics TT-BA08] - These pull out another character from the Autumn, which is mid-forward with some energy.

Fiio M11:- Quite a neutral and pleasing sound

Xduoo MT604 :- additional note weight which with increased volume added bags of energy to the Autumn.

If your question is, which is my favourite Autumn pairing? I am loath to say, but only if pushed, I have to say they all sound good but different and if pushed further, the BTR5 for convenient mobile use, the HA11 for its enveloping but sedate sound and the MT604 for use at home, for the authoritative weighty sound. Not to forget the Littlebear for the days when I am enjoying some mid foward vocals, wonderful saxophonist, or brilliant acoustic guitar tracks. Is it a cop out, all I say is, tell me that when you have heard the Autumn on different DACs and Amplifiers.



The Bass
The bass on the Autumn is prominent but not overwhelming even with the “Bass” plug inserted. The 13mm DD bass kicks in and gives you good quality sub-bass and mid-bass.
The emphasis to me appears to be in equal quantity between the sub-bass and mid-bass tuning , which is my favourite tuning, more importantly, the bass is very well defined thus bass quality is up there with anything in this price bracket and at times gives the impression of exceeding the price grouping. The definition between notes is obvious with great separation between bass notes, so when you are listening a bass phrase, no information is lost.
You may want to put on your monitors of choice and check out the music using the links.

Chuck Loeb - Rock With You -

Ronny Jordan - Laidback -

Jeff Lober -

Mids
The 13mm DD delivers mids beautifully. It is certainly not prominent treble, that is not to say that they are noticeably pushed forward. The mids are just so chilled, which is the essence of the Autumn to my ears. The tuning is done with such subtlety you will be absorbed in the soft but lush and comforting mids.

Rebecca Ferguson - Nothing’s Real But Love -

Count Basic - Joy and Pain -

Treble
Highs on the Autumn are quite interesting, very much along the same lines subtlety is the key. The Autumn highs are a delight to hear, with very good informative details coming through. However, other tips are worth exploring to get the best out of your earphones. All of this with no sibilant, sharp or piecing high notes.

Cafe del Mar - XIV - Viva Cuba Musica -

Sentosa -

I Believe -

Note: Remember, YouTube recordings are not always the highest quality recordings.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the BQEYZ Autumn earphones are worth every penny, it is as simple as that. If the Autumn had been sold for $300, my guess is, those who buy would be delighted with their purchase. Burn them in for 48 hours or so. Select the ear tips that make your music shine (wide bore for me) finally all take your time to hone your sound with the tuning nodes and get to know your earphones, you will be rewarded with wonderful sound. The chameleon has plenty to give and is a gentle with satisfying soul!

Enjoy your music!

Intro

The Orbs are the first In Ear Monitors (IEM) from Penon which I have heard. The Orbs are a hybrid, Dynamic Driver (DD) and Balanced Amature (BA) set of IEMs.



Disclosure and Note
Penon Audio provided me with a set of Orbs for review. I provide my honest opinion of the Orbs without limitation, nothing I say is given to anyone for approval. All views I express are my own views. I am not influenced by anyone, and I am not paid, and I have never been paid, to express any views positive or otherwise on any product.

Form, Fit and Function

Form

The package: The package is mid sized colourful cardboard sleeve which covers another more solid cardboard box. The inner box contains a Penon labelled storage box, the IEMS, cable, impedance adaptor, generous selection of tips, no less than three pouches of varying sizes, a brush and shirt clip. You can be in no doubt that Penon wants to ensure that you are provided with everything you need to get started.


The IEMs;
A silver cable;
A capacious faux leather rectangular case;
Two fabric pouches;
An impedance adaptor;
A selection of tips,
A cleaning brush; and
A shirt clip.

The Orbs are a hybrid, with one dynamic driver (DD) and one Balanced Armature per ear piece. The DD is a graphite based fire silk paper dome.

The shells are hand-made medical grade resin, which is light in weight. As the name suggests the Orbs are completely transparent and quite striking. A useful touch is to have a tasteful blue blob on the dynamic driver in the left earpiece and the same in the right ear piece except the colour is red, obviously to denote the right earpiece.

There Orbs come with a two-pin, 8 wire woven silver cable. The cable is soft and supple. They are a bit chunky but they fit my ears well.

Once inserted, the isolation is on the higher end of the scale, cutting out, my guess is close to, 70% of external sounds.

My setup for this review
I paired them with Samsung galaxy note 10 Plus and Fiio M11, as my source, and for amplification variably, The HAA FEE HA11, Fiio BTR5, the Littlebear B4X tube DAC/Amp, Rod Ran Audio DAC/Amp and Xduoo MT604 tube balanced Amp, using mostly 2.5mm and 4.4mm. I also used Amazon Music, YouTube Music, but primarily UAPP music player.

Synergy
The Orbs are easy earphones to drive and work perfectly well on a smartphone with or without a dongle (where the option exists). I used various portable DAC/Amps and the sound was good, so was the synergy between the Orbs and Fiio BTR5. The fixed (not portable) Xduoo hybrid tube amp fed through the Rod Rain DAC/Amp (solely as a DAC) sounded quite very good and I would say provided the second best synergy with the Orbs after the BTR5.



The sound

Instrument separation, Imaging, Stage, and Timbre,
The Orbs produced good clarity and detail retrieval. Separation of instruments is very good, and sound stage is perceptible depending on the track being played but not exceptional.

Above all, timbral accuracy on the Orbs is exceptional, instruments sound incredibly realistic on the Orbs. To my ears this is one of the strongest qualities, if not the strongest quality, of the Orbs.

You may want to check out the discussion on the “Random Thoughts” thread on Headfi, where an interesting group of people (from all walks of life, including musicians, of course). The discussion was whether earphones have timbre, and consensus was, “no”, musical instruments have timbre not earphones, or any other monitors, I paraphrase, and I agree. Each instrument has a particular “voice” just as human instruments, our voices are unique, each has a particular sound.

It is therefore arguable that headphones and earphones are at best, instruments of reproduction of that unique sound, timbre and for me, the Orbs just shine in their ability to make the instruments sound so realistic, to the extent that they probably accurately reproduce the sound of instruments. I do not know what the original instruments sound like, but when the earphones make the piano, guitar or saxophone sound just so realistic, I am prepared to wager a bet on the Orbs being close to an accurate reproduction. I digress!

Sound check
You may want to put on your monitors of choice and check out the music using the links.

Bass
Sub-bass on the Orbs is huge and so is mid-bass and the quality of the bass is very very good. I initially thought the mid-bass was a bit much, but with time the quality shone through, still hard hitting but with good quality and realism of the timbre of the instruments it felt more like vibrations you feel at a live concert (limited to your ears rather than whole body) visceral sub-bass and palpable mid-bass.

London Philaharmonic Orchestra - Adagio in G Miinor -

I know this classical piece is not for everyone but the sub-bass is worth listening to. The sub-bass is almost thunderous in this piece. The orbs tuning delivers the sub-bass with ease and that sub-bass backbone is softened with beautiful violins and organ.

Dr. Saxlove - Use Me -

Mids
The mid frequencies are not forward, but that is not to say they are shy. The mids are quite full and generous, both in relative volume, compared to the other frequencies, and quality. To my ears both male and female vocals are full and lush without bias to either, instruments plying their trade in the mids are rendered beautifully.

Barcelona Gipsy Klezmer Orchestra - Djelem Djelem -

Caro Emerald - Tangled up -

Carlos Santana and Sarah Mclachlan - Angel -

Treble
Treble is detailed and clear without being sibilant. The treble on the Orbs give you plenty of information and will match anything under the $300 mark, these are just wonderful treble . Notes which were missing on other sets I had previously heard sound came through on the Orbs, mellow and absorbing on the Orbs. They are not over stated and yet giving you the minutia of the sound.

Schindler’s List - NL Orchestra -

The Dave Brubeck Quartet - Take Five [ Check out the cymbals] -

Conclusion
In conclusion, the Orbs in my view are, for someone who likes good quality bass in large quantities, with slightly, but only slightly, less prominent mids than earphones tuned to highlight mids and highs which are just absorb you into your music, the Orbs are worth picking up But requires burn-in (and for those who do not believe in burn-in.....time) to tame the mid-bass quantity.

Enjoy your music!

Intro

The Shozy SCB2, is a product of the Shozy brand in collaboration with ISN.

Disclosure and Note

A review unit of the Shozy SCB2 was sent to me by Penon Audio, on the understanding that I would be free to give my honest opinion on these In Ear Monitors.

All opinions are my own with no influence as I avoid reading other reviews of the same item before I have written my review. I make an effort to ensure that I give the reader factual information. I have never been paid for any review, nor would I accept payment. I review as an audio enthusiast, in my own time, for pleasure. Conversely, it simply not my style to degenerate products because that is the trend or the current view of the product, I draw my own conclusions.

I have neither sold nor have any intention of selling any review unit sent to me by any company. I spent a lot of time getting to know the product before my review and in some instances I do not and may not review items sent to me because it simply does not inspire me to spend the time with the earphones or to write a review. On the issue of the honesty and reliability of a reviewer, I say to the reader of this review, you ought to read multiple reviews on any product you want to buy and read the opinions of those who have bought the item. Ask yourself if the reviews you read have given you, a similar opinion compared to what buyers said about the product and compare that to the reviews.

For my part, I put into writing an honest view of what I hear and how I hear it, based on the equipment I have in my possession at the relevant time. Sometimes with honest enthusiasm but that is a question of style. Does, that mean the product would work with your gear? What about your music? Does your music play well on these? I try as much as possible to tell you how the earphones sound with the music I refer to here but I may not have the same source equipment, DAC/Amp, as you do.

My setup for this review

I paired them with Samsung galaxy note 10 Plus and Fiio M11, as my source, and for amplification variably, The HAA FEE HA11, Fiio BTR5, the Littlebear B4X tube DAC/Amp, Rod Ran Audio DAC/Amp and Xduoo MT604 tube balanced Amp, using mostly 2.5mm and 4.4mm. I also used Amazon Music, YouTube Music, but primarily UAPP music player.

Form, Fit and Function

The package the Shozy SCB2 comes in is nicely packed in a sturdy small size cardboard box, with a magnetic clasp. The cute ear pieces are displayed at the top and then you have two further boxes underneath, one containing accessories and the other a good quality fabric case.

The fabric covered case is hexagonal and although small enough to fit almost any pocket, there is more than ample space for the earphones and cable. Inside the accessories pack are two sets of eartips, and an additional two pairs of tuning nozzles, additional because the third pair is affixed to the earpiece.

The nozzles are a stainless steel pair, a copper pair and a titanium pair. In my view the nozzles do not alter the sound drastically but they do make a marginal difference. My nozzle preference is in this order, copper, stainless steel and titanium.


The physical form of the Shozy SCB2 is, on the outer part a smooth kidney shape with a gentle crease on the faceplate. What I find interesting about the crease is that you can see through from one end to the other, it appear to act as a vent. I tested it and could hear sound coming out of it, novel way to vent the earphones, while blending the functional feature into the design, cool, if you ask me.



The frame is stainless steel in the main, with a complimentary sliver of 24 carat gold plated piece nicely set out around the faceplate. On the inside the earpieces have no contours but for me, a good fit and given the size of these cute little IEMs should fit most ears quite comfortably and snug, although a few more contours would have made for a better seal and possibly made the earpieces more secure in the ears.

I have yet to test isolation outdoors, so I cannot comment on outdoor use but I do not imagine they would fare too badly given the big sound, which we will get to in a bit.

My one reservation is do not use these when lying down (sleeping) the cable slips out when you are lying down. I am not sure if a small adjustment would resolve this issue, but they are so small and fit so easily that the temptation is use them in bed.

The Shozy SBC2 is a single Carbon Nano Tube (CNT) single dynamic driver earphone.

The cable is a beautiful piece of work! It is soft and supple it is light and so maleable that you mostly forget it is there until you look at it or touch it and then you begin to admire the work that is the ISN SC4. The cable in the box is 1.2m long. It is a weave of 4 strand pure silver and single crystal copper with 2-pin at the earphones and ending at a gold plated copper plug, what I received is a 2.5mm cable. and it certainly looks the part.


Synergy
In my view, the Shozy SCB2 are not fussy about source equipment nor do they penalise you for bad recordings. They make the most of what you put in and reproduce good sound from the source material.

Despite the above, I must say, I am taken by the synergy between the SCB2 and the Xduoo MT604, and to a lesser extent the Littlebear B4X. The upshot is that to my ears tubes and the SCB2 work very well together and would be my choice.

The sound
In short if you do not want to read the whole review: To my ears, the Shozy SCB2 are a highly accomplished set of little earphones with big sound.

They are L-shaped to my ears and pack a punch at the lower end, but do not lack detail. To my ears they stand head and shoulders above many earphones for instrument separation. You do not have to actively seek the sound of instruments to hear them clearly.

Instruments are beautifully rendered as separates but as a whole, coherent ensemble, as you would expect from a dynamic driver, the timbral accuracy is very good.

Sound signature, presentation and technicalities
As previously stated, the sound can be described as an L-shape with prominent bass, even mids and just the right side of sparkly airy treble without excess.


Stage - Imaging is clearly perceptible, which I suspect is a direct result of the accomplished manner the Shozy SCB2 separates instruments. The effect of that instrument separation is an image in the mind’s eye of the position of instruments within the stage. However, stage? Yes, you perceive soundstage but depth and width of stage is not particularly expansive. The exception is when I used either of the tube amps, the stage is then more expensive.

Instrument separation and imaging - Just as the instrument separation is good, the dynamic range is also accomplished, in that you get instruments calmly and gently giving their sonic contribution to he music at low volume in the background while other instruments take the foreground, but crucially these earphones are technically proficient so as not to smear over the quieter background instruments, while solos or prominent passages are being delivered.

That goes for busy passages, you get to hear clearly, the sonic contribution of the various instruments in the background as well as those in the foreground. The down side of having such good instrument separation and imaging is that you capture unintended sounds, hearing the piano pedals on Dave Brubeck Quartet’s “The Very Best” album was the unintended consequence.

Timbral accuracy is incredibly good thus the effect is a realistic and seemingly accurate representation of the sound of instruments. To my ears capturing a realistic sound of a piano is difficult for many earphones, but the Shozy SCB2 do capture realistically, piano, guitar, cymbals crashes, the list goes on.

Sound check
You may want to put on your monitors of choice and check out the music using the links.

Bass
The sub-bass is present and depending on the track heavy and hard-hitting. These little earpieces are deceptively huge in sound, nothing is held back in the bass department, but more importantly it is good quality, well defined bass.

They are not tuned for ever-present bass, they are tuned to be deep bass capable, but not bass dominant, which means you get the bass your track demands but not exaggerated or constant bass.

It is hilarious when you find these little earpieces feel like they are vibrating in your ears with deep visceral bass. The mid-bass is heard and the sub-bass is felt not just as a relic of the bass guitar notes or kick drum impact, but rather at the moment of strike, huge and impactful. The mid-bass is very well defined, good quality and delivers in both quality and quantity. I love the bass from these earphones.

Brian Culbertson - One More Kiss:


The bass on this track is full and heavy and the Shozy SCB2 does it justice, it sounds and feels solid in delivery but never excessive. The steady rhythm of bass guitar is delivered with clear distinction in each note and intermittently you get the kick drum hit.

This bass on demand approach means your earphones reflect your choice of music, given it is presents the bass you put in not layered with bass regardless of track. When you consider that these earphones are brilliant at instrument separation and have wonderful dynamic range, what you get is a highly competent set. Whether you are a fan of the occasional hard hitting bass of the SCB2 or not, there is no denying the quality of the bass, the moment it strikes to the natural decay of the notes. I cannot help but enjoy the keyboards as well as the various percussive instruments sprinkled throughout the track.

Mids
Even to those who like their vocals prominent will not feel left out with these earphones. Although, I describe the Shozy SCB2 as L-shaped, to my ears, the capability of the bass (capable of heavy bass, as required) rather than dominance (constantly pumping out) of the bass, is what makes them L-shaped. The effect of that tuning is that you are not permanently and persistently living in “Bassland”! Most importantly, the bass does not bleed into the mids.

To my ears mids are evenly presented so as not to overshadow so they do not bellow at you or sound held-back. As I hear it, both male and female vocals are lush and are not overshadowed by instruments, as the mids are just right. A good solo on the saxophone, or trumpet is delivered clearly and beautifully.

The mids are not recessed, nor are they far forward and more importantly, your mids do not come with relics of bass either. The mids are to my ears sufficient and reasonably generous in their elevation without overwhelming the listener. I find the instruments and voices have strong presence here. Female voices are rendered well and male voices no less so.

Sinne Eeg - Windmills of your mind:


Her voice together with the piano kick us off with such serene clarity, the double bass then gently enters the fray and the instruments sit back making her voice come to the fore. Piano solos to tickle both your ears and your spirit. This jazz track illustrates the Shozy’s wonderful delivery of vocals.

Armik - Midnight Bolero:


This is in the classic romantic Spanish guitar style. You have several guitars weaving together to make this brilliant and gently vibrant music. This track beautifully displays the broad range of the attributes of the SCB2, especially the instrument separation.

Treble
Treble is ample, with sufficient information and detail but again, no excesses. Complex guitar solos, piano phrases are clear and detailed, this goes for high hats and cymbals. Cymbals sound natural to me, as you would expect from dynamic drivers.

Brian Culbertson - The Journey:


Apart from a good rendition of treble, this track also beautifully illustrates sub-bass delivery on the SSCB2. The track starts with the hard hitting mid-bass with strong sub-bass relics, the Shozy SCB2 then delivers delicate piano notes and shimmering chimes it is as though your auditory senses are being tested at their extremes, yet the realism of the dynamic driver on the SCB2 deliver the harmonics to gently carry you with them.

Conclusion
The Shozy SCB2 are a highly accomplished set of earphones which, quite apart from their competence in their price range, have exceptionally good instrument separation and dynamic range. Great fun!

Enjoy your music!

Effect Audio Axiom with Maestro Cable

Introduction
For those not familiar with Effect Audio (EA) they are a Singapore based company, primarily known for their premium cables, I emphasise, premium both in quality and price. In this review, I evaluate Effect Audio’s Axiom In Ear Monitors (IEMs) and Maestro cable.

As an introduction to those who are not aware, Effect Audio appears to have taken a corporate decision to do their part to reduce waste, this has taken the form of small packaging, and in their recently launched set of IEMs (I use the terms IEMs and earphones interchangeably) they revealed their innovative concept of designing their Axiom earphones to have detachable connections and thus a choice of MMCX or two-pin cables. Unfortunately you have to buy the cable separately.



The Axiom comes with separate modules for connecting MMCX cables and two-pin cables. As I understand it, the decision to drive towards sustainability includes the concept of excluding cables in their packaging. The exclusion of cables in their earphone packaging is, in my view, a very bold move, particularly for a cable manufacturer.


How this bold move will be perceived by audio enthusiasts remains to be seen. I can imagine a day when an audio enthusiast will mix and match at the point of purchasing their earphones. “I will have the earphones with MMCX, plus (substitute the cable of choice). Arguably that is what we do anyway, but usually from multiple vendors. The worst audiophile “sin” is the cable we never use, is incredibly wasteful.

In my view, the concept is good. Having said all that, my reservation is the lack of accessories (yes, you are provided with a screwdriver for swapping the modules) but no case for use outdoors after you unwrap your beautiful earphones.

Disclosure
I was sent the EA Axiom IEMs and the Maetro cables by Effect Audio on loan, for review. Effect Audio has not made any requests or suggestions nor did they seek to influence any aspect of my review.
All opinions I express here are my own with no influence from anyone. No one has editorial control or influence over the contents of this review. I make an effort to ensure that I give the reader factual information. I would appreciate your feedback.

I am neither paid for anything associated with any review I undertake nor do I have any financial benefit from reviewing any product of any sort. The time I spend reviewing items is my own time for the enjoyment of my hobby.

My setup for this review
I paired the Axiom, at various points, with Samsung galaxy note 10 Plus, Mi Mix and Fiio M11, as my source, and for amplification variably, The HAA FEE HA11, Fiio BTR5, the Littlebear B4X tube DAC/Amp, TRI TK-2, Rod Ran Audio DAC/Amp and Xduoo MT604 tube balanced Amp, using mostly 2.5mm and 4.4mm. I also used Amazon Music, YouTube Music, but primarily UAPP music player.

Form, Fit and Finish
These IEMs bring an interesting innovation to the earphone realm, modular design. One of the novel features is the ability to swap from MMCX to two-pin by simply undoing one screw and swapping one module for the other, so you can change the cable to a different connection type.

It is an interesting concept. I am not sure how many audio enthusiasts would swap cables regularly. In my experience, once you find the cable you are content with and leave it in place. I also find it interesting that the concept should come from a company known for making cables, given the company is reliant on cable sales. Nonetheless, true innovation does not come around often and Effect Audio deserve the accolade for being innovative.



The Axiom is sturdily and beautifully built of metal, with a subtle and elegant style. There appears to be three coherent modules together, the driver housing, the spout, and the detachable cable connection module (which is the only detachable module at this stage). You then have a choice to have your earphones built as a custom set plus Effect Audio's full range of cables. Truly custom.

The drivers used are, one dynamic driver and one balanced armature driver.

The cable sent to me is the Maestro, from Effect Audio's Vogue series, a braided, four strand copper cable, punctuated by a chrome wire-split to two twisted strands for the left and right ear pieces. At one end of the cable you get a chrome tube shaped MMCX housing flattened on one quarter of the tubular design with the Effect Audio logo etched into each of the MMCX housings. On the other end you get a solid feeling plug with a matching design cue, but this time both sides of the plug flattended, pesumably for better grip.



The Maestro is almost a skinny cable, it is not the most supple of cables but it is more than adequately malleable. It has a beautiful copper sheen showing through the transparent sheathing on each of the four tightly braided strands.

At this juncture, I have to declare that I am not yet a convert to the sonic attributes of cables, notwithstanding my philistine position, I love well built cables which I attempt to match with my earphones. I believe a large number of audio enthusiasts, would admit to loving their cables for aesthetics, robustness and feel regardless of where they fall on divide on the topic of the sonic attributes of cables.

Sound
I spent quite a bit of time with the Axiom and I have to say, initially, I thought these sound good but..… Call it burn-in, call it acclimatisation, but they sounded better and better with time. Each time I put the Axiom in my ears I am taken aback by their resolution and coherence. These are a wonderfully balanced set.

Bass
The quality of the two elements of bass, sub-bass and mid-bass, on the Axiom is easily one of the most competent and immersive bass delivery I have heard.

The sub-bass is incredibly visceral and potent. This is as good a delivery of sub-bass as I have heard. The sub-bass impact is not limited to high volume, regardless of volume you feel that sub-bass, a bit more subtlety at lower volumes but nonetheless potent at any volume.

The mid-bass is but an extension of the quality of the sub-bass, no matter what track or to which instrument you listen, if recorded, the bass just registers beautifully with precise definition. What makes the bass standout for me is that to my ears these earphones are not tuned for bassheads, they are simply not intended for dominant bass. However, where the track demands bass, the level of bass that kicks in is immense, so immense that bassheads would be happy with the bass delivery.

The bass is further infused with warmth when using the tube amps.

Rouge by Al Marconi:, has multiple guitars playing gently in the Spanish traditional style, with sparse and soft bass notes, the Axiom renders the track with subtle sub-bass, it feels so reassuringly calming.

In The Dark Nicholas Cole: .
This track is recorded with sub-bass which registers complete with vibration, but only if your earphones are capable of rendering sub-bass to such depths. The Axiom took the track in their stride, complete with visceral sub-bass of the vibrating kind.

Midrange
Mid range does not disappoint, it is not forward but not held back either. Both male and female voices are well presented. Instruments such as the piano, flutes or saxophone give you vivid coherent notes without blaring out at you.

Over smooth midrange is not my taste, and the midrange on the Axiom does not disappoint. It is simply realistic, not placed at the fore, withheld, or smoothed over.

Rio De Janeiró Blues Randy Crawford and Joe Sample:

Bad News - Melody Gardot:

Highs
The Balanced Amature drivers are not electrostatic drivers but on the Axiom the highs are so well executed I do not miss electrostatic drivers when listening to the Axiom.

I am not suggesting that I do not enjoy listening to electrostatic drivers after listening to the Axiom, what I am saying is that they are so well tuned that the BAs gives you bags of sonic information with strain. I have not heard the Sony Z1R but from the descriptions I have read, the Axiom seem to do the Dynamic Driver and Balanced Amature drivers combination at that level of competence.

Look at Me Now - Kool & Klean:

Schindler’s List- John Williams - NL Orchestra:

Timbre
When you hear piano notes or guitar notes, picked, plucked or strummed it is so clear, detailed and precise. It feels like you are sitting with the musicians.

Stage
On the track, "Smooth chilling" [endless waves mix] (I am not into smooth jazz much, but..) at 6.02, there is, in the distance and slowly moving closer, what sounds like feet taping and clapping. It slowly comes in and builds up. I had to take the earphones out of my ears to check what was happening, I thought it was coming from outside the earphones.

That is how expansive the sound can get, of course it varies with the recording.

Brian Culbertson Lights Off: , a delightful track which shows off the instrument separation on the Axiom. The clarity of these IEMs makes the instrument separation on these earphones stand out.

To wrap up this review I would say that is the stand out features of the Axiom, clarity, detail retrieval and timbral accuracy.

Is there anything that would stop me buying the Axiom, unfortunately, yes, the price. At $1,500 not many of us can have first hand experience of what they offer. I am certain a lot of us would appreciate the innovation, time and effort which went into the production of the Axiom if we could, but many cannot, which is a pity.

These earphones make listening to music a pleasure.

Enjoy your music!

Intro

This DAC/Amp, as I understand it, the TK-2 is a collaboration between TRI and KAEI. My guess is that the name is derived from the first letter of the names of the collaborating companies. The first iteration may have been spotted on the display table at an audio show in China last year. In the limited time I have used the TK-2, it appears to me to be a more than capable portable DAC/Amp with a few minor tweaks required in future iterations.

Disclosure and Note
The T-K2 DAC/Amp was sent to me by KBEAR/TRI as pat of the European Review Tour package. The unit will go to the next reviewer in the tour group in due course.

All opinions I express here are my own with no influence from anyone. No one has editorial control or influence over the contents of this review. I make an effort to ensure that I give the reader factual information. I appreciate your feedback.

Point to note
Left to me alone, I would not grade products in the manner which the Head-fi showcase is set up. However, given what exists on Head-fi, my grading is entirely based on the context of the price of the unit. I do not believe all items should be graded, at all, but if they are, it must reflect the pricing of the product. Hence my grading does not apply across the board for all products.

My setup for this review
I paired the T-K2 DAC/Amp with Fiio M11, Samsung galaxy Note 10 plus, the Mi Mix and I used UAPP, Amazon Music and Foobar as my music players.

Technical Specifications
THD+N: 0.005%.
Frequency Response: 10Hz-40kHz.
Output Power: up to 1250mW@ 32Ω.
Impedance: 6Ω-600Ω.
Headphone Interface: 3.5mm single-ended/2.5mm Bal/4.4mm Bal.
Fixed LO level: 2Vrms.
Battery: 5000 MAh with approximately up to 9 hours.
QC 3.0 fast charging support.
Size: 13cmx6.8cmx2.4cm.
Weight: about 280grams.
Accessories - Rubber bands, cable adapter for Apple products.



Build Quality: The TK-2 is built like a tank but looks quite elegant in spite of its robust build. It is made of a solid single piece of aluminium, which gives it a curb weight of 280 grams with dimensions as shown above. Despite its thick proportions it feels good, solid and above all manageable in the hand. Although I have to say the heft and thickness makes it borderline manageable as a portable. In most instances most of us would either use it as a desktop DAC/Amp or carry it out and about in a bag or pocket, and it would fit into the front pocket of men’s jeans, if a bit bulky, but it fits.

Inputs and Outputs: The single input point is via a type C port, with an adapter for Apple users. As I understand it, the TK-2 works with IOS. I did not test it on a compatible Apple device, so I cannot comment on how the TK-2 fares with Apple products. However, it is noteworthy that one report I have heard of is that an Apple user had issues, exactly what the issue was, I am not aware so I would suggest further reading for Apple users. The unit has a second type C port for charging. I had the unfortunate issue with my Topping NX4, where I accidentally plugged in the charging cable into the data input (all it takes is a momentary lapse) so to avoid that issue, I use a magnetic type C charging point plugged into the TK-2 for my time with the device to be safe. TK-2 has a plethora of outputs, 3.5 single ended output and 2.5 and 4.4 balanced outputs.

There was a user’s report that the included type C data cable was emitting noise. I have not experienced any such noise but I used the type C data cable for a short time. I have to say I found the type C data cable too short for my use case. In order to avoid heating and bulk I do not stack any of my devices up, I use a longer type C data cable to allow separation of the source device and amplification device.

In Operation: A quick “walk around” the unit - At the top (the orientation is obviously determined by mode of use, pocket or desktop) there is a good size volume knob which feels good and gives good feedback when adjusting blind (in a pocket or bag). For the purposes of this review, I refer to orientation above, in effect with the unit with its back on the table and the volume knob facing the user, which allows one to read all the inscriptions the right way round. I also refer to the top to denote use in the pocket where the volume knob and outputs are at the top. Firstly, the two sides have no functional items on them. The back has access to the volume knob, but nothing else. At the front you get the knurled volume knob, which is also the on/off switch shares the front (or top when in a pocket) with the three output ports. There are five light indicators at the front which indicates the quality of the file playing. At the bottom of the unit, you get two USB C ports, at either end. One for charging and the other for data input. In between the USB C input ports is the low-high gain switch which is slightly recessed to avoid accidental switching, it is nonetheless easy to switch with a short fingernail when intended.

Charging: It allows charging when in use and in my testing there is no noise and heat is negligible during charging when in use. Charging when not in use supports fast charge, although I cannot comment on that, as I did not have a compatible fast charger for the TK-2. charging speed. My Samsung fast charger does not work with the TK-2 but that is the same with some other devices, such as an Ibasso DAC/Amp which I had to return a couple of years ago.

One of the minor flaws, in my view, is that the TK-2 has no battery level meter to show exactly how much power is remaining in percentage terms. However, all is not lost, instead it has a battery indicator (at the top next to the volume knob) which shows as green at most times, and a red light when you have approximately 5 minutes of battery power left (depending on volume levels at which you listen). So far what I have not gathered is that the unit battery life is consistent with the claimed time of approximately 9 hours, again depending on volume levels, my guess is that this is measured at low volume. What I can say is that I have not killed the battery at one sitting in the few weeks I have had the device.

Sound Signature and Quality
The sound is quite clean and pleasant. The output power of 1250 mW will be more than enough for most headphones and I would guess almost all earphones and earbuds. It has the option of high and low gain. High gain is automatically switched off at higher volumes to manage volume levels.

Put simply the TK-2 is neutral. It seems to me that there is no flavouring/colouring of the sound in any way. The transparency is such that it effectively amplifies the sound without altering it….what you put in is what you get out. Put in a neutral earphone and a you get the amount of bass, mids and highs, as tuned. The effect is that the quality of the music you put in and tuning of your earphones or headphones determine what you get out of the DAC/Amp. The sound quality is also dependant on the sound you put in, that is how revealing the TK-2 is. I love the quality of sound I have got out of it so far. This is incredibly good fun and compelling when it all comes together, it all sounds so good and never seems to ran out of power.

For my testing, on the few occasions when something was amiss, I could identify the failing within a couple of tracks as that of the recording or the earphones.

The headphones/earphones used:
Note: The volume knob, which (as previously stated) is the also the on/off switch is off at 7 O’clock. As you move the volume knob to you get no sound until 9 O’clock. For my testing I used my Samsung Note 10, Mi mix original and Fiio M11 as my source. I set the source volume source at 50 (out of 120) on the M11, and full volume of the Mi Mix and Note 10 plus and regulated the volume using the TK-2. Although, I found after testing that I was on about on the M11, so the TK2 had much much more power to pump out.

Caution: Be careful do not blow your ears out!

Headphones:

Blon B08
The Blon 8 were sold as a Beryllium alloy driver headphones. They clearly demand a lot of power and the TK-2 had its work cut out powering them. Although, the B8 demand a lot of power, my ears had had enough at 3 O’clock, as I got more power than my ears could take out of the TK-2. The sound signature is as dark as you would expect from a Beryllium set and the TK-2 delivered beautifully.

Blon B20
This is an open-back Planar Magnetic set of headphones which demand a lot of power. Lots of DAC/Amps did not do the Blon B20 justice, because the bass was subdued. However, with the TK-2 these headphones shone, particularly, the bass. At last I heard these from a portable DAC/Amp which makes the bass sound very good. My thoughts of selling the Blon B20 are on hold.

TRI Starlights
Another set which requires a lot of power are the TRI Starlights with the Electrostatic drivers, again the TK-2 did a very good job powering the Starlights beautifully.

Comparisons with other devices

Fiio BTR5: I just love the size and convenience of the BTR5 and I am sure many of its similarly designed competitors do a similarly good job by measure of convenience, but that requires these small sized DAC/Amps to fit easily into our pockets or clip-on to our shirts and come with software which makes them so versatile. The BTR5 convenience remains intact for the most part because of its size and weight. However, for the same reason, size limitations on the power stakes the BTR5 is necessarily limited, and if the aim is to power more demanding headphones or ear.



HA FEE HA11: The HA 11 has similar specifications when compared to the TK-2, both use the same ESS chip sets and give the option of single-ended and balanced outputs. In terms of size, the TK-2 has a smaller footprint by about a third but is slightly thicker and weighs a bit more than the HA11. The HA11 has Bluetooth option which the TK-2 does not have. In relation to sound, they are both neutral with tons of power in reserve for most earphones and headphones.

However, at the advertised maximum power output, the HA11 is 1000 mW @ 32 Ohms, while the TK-2 is advertised at 1250 mW @ 32 Ohms. The prices vary with time and purchase point but generally, the HA11 comes in cheaper. However, the HA FEE is not without issues, the most notable being no battery meter, a smaller battery, and a 4 hour battery life. In terms of sound quality, I would say there is not a vast difference. These two are similar so really it is a question of which of suits your needs.

Conclusion
This is a nice sounding DAC/Amp with enormous reserves of power for most use cases. I love the quality of the build, the ergonomics, the sound quality.

Enjoy your music!

Intro
I will refer to the Ikko OH1s as the Gems, in this review. The Gems are a set of IEMs which follow the successful Ikko OH10. The OH10s are a bass emphasised set of IEMs, which begs the questions, are the Gems an attempt at a counter-balance to the OH10s? Are they deserving of the name “Gems”.

Disclosure
The Gems were sent to me by IkkoAudio for review. You can buy the ITM01 here:https://www.ikkoaudio.com/

All opinions I express here are my own with no influence from anyone. No one has editorial control or influence over the contents of this review. I make an effort to ensure that I give the reader factual information. I would appreciate your feedback.

My setup for this review
I paired them with Samsung galaxy note 10 Plus and Fiio M11, as my source, and for amplification variably, The HAA FEE HA11, Fiio BTR5 and the Littlebear B4X tube DAC/Amp, mostly 2.5mm on high gain. I also used Amazon Music, but primarily UAPP music player.

Form, Fit and Function

Specifications:
Form: IEMs.
Brand: Ikko
Model: OH1s Gems
Drivers (x2) : One 10mm deposited carbon nano dynamic coil driver + One Knowles 33518 hybrid BA.
Impedance (Ohm): 32 Ohms.
Sensitivity (dB): 109dB.
Frequency Response (Hz): 20 Hz – 40 KHz.
Detachable Cable:
Length: - 1.2m

Composition: high-purity single crystal copper, silver-plated.

Connection to IEMs: MMCX

Connection to source Jack: 3.5mm TRS.

Form and Function

The package: The Gems come in a mid-sized book-like package. The package is very well packed so as to reduce the size, all of which are covered with a sleeve. Within the sleeve is a box which pulls out of the sleeve to reveal a sturdy construction. Within the box there are two layers, the top layer has the IEMs displayed and the lower is separated by an envelope containing the necessary documentation.



In the lower layer you are presented with three segments containing a nice pouch for your IEMs which do not offer much protection and a generous selection of tips, some oval in shape. In the middle layer you have a little box which contain the rather good looking if a slight bit memory prone, with an MMCX removal tool.

Form: The Gems are small and light compared to the OH10 Obsidian. The outer shell of the OH1s is made of a combination of aluminium alloy and resin. The casing feels solid in spite of the tiny size and lighter materials compared to the Obsidian. The Gems come in two colours, blue and grey with a purple insert (the set I have) which I rather like with its purple accent.



Fit: The small size and lightweight make the Gems almost physically imperceptible when they are in your ears. Isolation is quite good, although I have yet to try them outdoors, I imagine the good fit will cut out a lot of external sound but not the best at isolation.


Function: The Gems are not only comfortable they are a snug fit for me. The one unusual aspect of these IEMs are the nozzles, which are oval, hence the selection of oval tips referred to above. The cable is beautiful and effective, if somewhat slow to straighten up. It is not the most malleable cable. However, they are so nice looking, sometimes you forgive them for being functionally ideal.


The sound
In short if you do not want to read the whole review: The sound on the Gems is an acquired taste! Once acquired, the taste is magnificent. The Gems come across as neutral, highly resolving and effervescent, in other words they are not a mellow set but are revealing, and distinctly lively.

The overriding sense is of a highly resolving set, which can both call on deep bass as the track demands, mid range which is incredibly rich and forward, and a rather highly extended and occasionally spicy top end, this is where the acquisition of the unique taste of the Gems is required. The resolution makes you feel like you are playing your music on a high end system, the caveat here is if you are listening to well recorded tracks, these are TRUE Gems!

Bass
The sub-bass on the Gems lies in wait for the unsuspecting, it is not prominent but when the track demands sub-bass…..boy do they deliver! Here I am talking of no less sub-bass than the OH10 Obsidians deliver. The sub-bass is incredibly visceral and potent, again if recorded these IEMs will find the note, and they would even reproduce the unintended as long as it is recorded. You hear everything but above all the quality of the bass is (in fact every part of the frequency range) so well defined, it is just superb!

The same is true for the mid-bass, the Gems are so resolving that they pick everything up and present them beautifully. However, in relation to the mid-bass, the definition of the bass notes is spot-on and natural. The dynamic driver is precise.

Basso Demo Test - By Audiophile Hobbies:

This track can represent an indication of all frequencies, but the deep male voice here is so well depicted, I thought it would be a good demonstration of the capabilities of the sub-bass and mid-bass. On the Gems this track is truly magnificent

Zhao Cong - Moon Light on Spring River:

Moon Light on Spring River is a true sound check for sub-bass. Note the sub-bass at 0.56 seconds and 0.59 is inaudible on some earphones. Many earphones first register the sub-bass at 1 minute and 10 seconds. The Gems render the sub-bass at 56 and 58 seconds seconds with no sweat and remember these are no bass-head IEMs.

Midrange
The midrange on the Gems are a gem. This is not intended to be a pun, the midrange is very rich. All instruments plying these frequencies are richly delivered.

Both male and female voices are so beautifully delivered, guitars, saxophones, any instrument plying the mid-range just shines. As with the bass, the presentation is realistic, full and rich with detail.

Again, because of the revealing tuning of these IEMs, nothing is lost in the mix, including the sound of spittle in a mouth piece, the decay of a string or a broken reed.

Armik - Midnight Bolero:

The track is in the style of a classic Spanish guitar piece which shows how satisfying the Gems render mids. Multiple guitars, percussive instruments calmly give rhythm in the background, while the lead guitar expressively “talks” to us. The gems just deliver the sound effortlessly.

Highs
This is where the division between those who have acquired the taste for the Gems and those who have not, occurs. The highs are in most instances intense but satisfying. At the beginning of my testing, on occasions I felt this intensity went a step further and came across as sharp and even spicy. However, call it burn-in or brain burn-in I could not hear the spikes after the first week or so.

They really do sound great and highly resolving. This makes the Gems sound like they belong in another, a much higher, price range. However, you need to get used to or get past the occasions when the highs sound can get spicy to acquire the taste for the Gems.

Brian Culbertson - Sensuality:

The peripherals of this track highlight the truly magnificent heights the highs on the Gems can go. You hear the upper registers of the piano so distinctly and beautifully, add to that the cow bell, and shimmering chimes just add to the sprinkling of stardust, all beautifully rendered by the Gems.

Tim Bowman - Soul Dreams:

Frederic Chopin - Nocturne in E-Flat Major, Op. 9, No.2:

Imaging, Separation, Sound Stage
The fact that the Gems are so resolving means that you get clear and detailed delivery. The separation of instruments, layering, and stage go with the territory and they do not fail to give you the perception of the instruments positions. The sound stage is not exceptionally expansive, although the width of the stage is above average.

Conclusion
We are in this hobby not to hear the same type of sound or buy exactly the same sets all the time, there are times when we need to go outside our comfort zone. With an eclectic taste in music and sound signature, I am neither a bass head, nor a treble fiend, but what I do know is that once I “got it”, I really enjoyed listening to these Gems! For me these are TRUE GEMS. They are a fitting complement to the IKKO OH10s and it is a pleasure to have them in my collection.

Enjoy your music!

Intro
A dongle, a Dongle DAC, a USB DAC, a DAC/Amp? There are so variations and the boundaries between the devices even more blurred.

The Ikko Zerda is what I would call a USB DAC/Amp. There are modes, which alter the sound. In essence, it is a Mini Digital to Analogue Converter (DAC) and Amplifier (Amp) which has a USB data and power connection to your computer or mobile phone. The ITM01 comes with some interesting innovations namely, a unique magnetic data connector and a choice of three sound modes.

Disclosure
The Ikko Zerda ITM01 was sent to me by IkkoAudio for review. You can buy the ITM01 here: https://www.ikkoaudio.com and from various vendors on AliExpress.

All opinions I express here are my own with no influence from anyone. No one has editorial control or influence over the contents of this review. I make an effort to ensure that I give the reader factual information. I appreciate your feedback.

My setup for this review
I paired them with Samsung galaxy note 10 plus and various earphones. I used UAPP as my music player. Specifically I used the Blon B20 headphones, TRI Starsea, TRI Sunshine, Ikko OH10 and the [Banned Name] MT300 to test the ITM01.

Form and Function
The package: The Ikko Zerda ITM01 comes in a mid-sized clear plastic case with the DAC/Amp, a USB cable with a proprietary magnetic connection on one end and the other end a USB type C connection.


The second cable has the same proprietory magnetic connection for connecting to the ITM01 and on the other end, USB A. The ITM01 does not have a Bluetooth option and it does not have a balanced cuicuit.

Form: The outer shell of the Ikko Zerda ITM01 is two inches (5.5 cm) in length and an inch (2.25 cm) wide, with a thickness of less than half an inch. The casing is made of a solid feeling black plastic material which appears to be quite durable but only time will tell.

In terms of size, I categorise, below, portable and transportable DAC/Amps and DAPs in four sizes. A pictorial comparison to Fiio M11:


Micro: examples - phone dongles; etc.

Mini: examples - Fiio BTR5; Ikko ITM01; Qudelix 5K; Ear Studio ES100; etc.

Midi: Fiio M11; examples - Ibasso DX160; etc.

Max (transportable): examples - Ibasso DX300 Max; Shanling EM5; etc.

The Ikko Zerda ITM01 fits in the Mini DAC/Amps group. The ITM01 has one output, which is 3.5mm, the unit does not have a balanced circuit and does not come with its own battery. It has three buttons, the volume up and volume down button, which also change (next and previous) tracks. In the middle of those volume buttons you have a play pause button which also serves to change modes, for music, game and movie modes.

Function: The Ikko Zerda ITM01 is a relatively simple unit to use, the magnetic connector attaches to the main unit which you can then plug into your computer or phone and it simply lights up with you chosen mode, music, gaming or movie. You can then switch modes by long pressing the middle button.

When in any mode, you can listen to your music. In effect the modes do not determine what your media is, they simply determine the sound you extract from this Mini DAC/Amp.

You can then use the volume up (+) and volume down (-) buttons for volume. The volume controls on the Ikko Zerda ITM01 are step increments or decrease and directly control the volume on your computer or phone. As previously stated, the volume controls also control the next track and previous track selection.

As I alluded to, this DAC/Amp is powered by your computer or mobile phone and appears to use up a relatively small amounts of power. Although I have to say, I have not had the opportunity to determine how much power the ITM01 consumes, over and above usual power drain.

The sound
The Ikko Zerda ITM01 is a resolving and clean sounding DAC/Amp. Taking that as the base, the sound is then complemented with bass prominence which differs depending on whether you choose the music mode, the gaming mode, or the movie mode. Here I have to separate the sound into the three modes:

The Gaming Mode - Purple : sounds quite neutral in most instances and does not appear to colour the sound much.


The Music Mode - Lemon yellow : has greater sub-bass and mid-bass emphasis without changing the rest of the frequencies, so the initial detail and cleanliness remained to a great extent. The stage appeared to be wider in this mode. This mode sounded quite good to my ears.


The Movie Mode - Blue : Seems to also increase bass prominence with a greater mid-bass focus.


It is worth noting that what the modes on the ITM01 do is to alter the sound of your headphones and earphones, thus each set of earphones or headphones you use them with, will give you a slightly different sound so that although generally I got those results above, each set was slightly different again. It was quite an interesting experience, and I intend to explore and find synergy between earphones, the ITM01 and the different modes.

Conclusion
This is a nice sounding DAC/Amp and offers good options to change the sound coming out of your earphones. The power it delivers is quite good and able to power the Blon B20 planar headphones and the TRI Starshines (which are power hungry) quite well. I did not have to go beyond 60% volume. The modes are a matter of taste and the movie mode sounded quite good to me.

They are worth adding to your amplification options if you do not need balanced or Bluetooth options. Ultimately the modes are real and effective and give you numerous permutations you just need to spend some time with the device to find what works for you.

Enjoy your music!

Intro
When I first put the X7s in my ears, they just gave me this wonderful relaxed feeling you get when you get into the plush lobby of a very expensive hotel. The feeling of being cosseted by soft seats while listening to very soft music which although set at very low volume you do not miss out on the detail the music presents. That to me encompasses everything about the TRN X7s, just gently lush.

Disclosure
A set of X7s were sent to me by TRN for review. I had no previous experience with TRN, until I received these and the CS2 for review.

All opinions are my own with no influence from anyone. No one has editorial control or influence over the contents of this review. I make an effort to ensure that I give the reader factual information. F I am mistaken for any reason on any point do let me know. I am told they are half price during the 11.11 sales. You can buy the RN X7 here:
Seller Info
https://m.aliexpress.com/store/sell...QT0sBfO/usnthbGlleHByZQAAA5n6#latest-feedback

My setup for this review
I paired them with Samsung galaxy note 10 plus and Fiio M11, as my source, and for amplification variably, a Samsung dongle, Fiio BTR5 and the Littlebear B4X "pseudo tube" dac/amp, mostly balanced 2.5mm on low gain. I also used Amazon Music, but primarily UAPP music player app plus YouTube music.

Form, Fit and Function
The package: The X7s come in a simple mid-sized cardboard box with the earpieces, ear tips, a cable . The package not at all excessive in size and squeezes in a good range of accessories. The X7s come with the following in the package in which are:

The IEMs;
A 3.5mm single ended cable;
A puck style hard metal case;
A selection of tips,
An airline adapter; and
A 6.3mm adapter;

The casing of the ear pieces appear to be made of transparent resin with a faceplate (not transparent) which has bits of silver embedded in it for the black pair and a TRN logo also embedded. You also have the option of purple, instead of the black set which to me are quite elegant.



The X7 is a set of universal In Ear Monitors (IEMs) which is well contoured with added wings, which make the fit very good. In fact I would say, although the casing appears to have a similar shape to the CS2, the X7 isolation with no music is incredibly good and I would say one of the best passive isolation for IEMs.

The X7 are an all Balanced Amature (BA) configuration. One can in fact see a range of BA drivers through the casing. The X7s come in two colours, Black and purple. The detachable cable is not the most attractive and nice feeling cable, given the price (before the 11.11 discount) TRN . The fixed cable has a 3.5mm singled ended plug, which I swapped for a balanced cable for this review.

The sound
In short if you do not want to read the whole review:

As I stated in the introduction the X7s are tuned IEMs to give you a soft, gentle and comforting sound. They remind me of a high-end sound system set to play at low volume. However, these are more than capable of pumping some serious volume at you, do not be mistaken they are potent!



Bass
Bass on the X7s does not sound like BA bass, these drivers must be in the new range of BA bass drivers which give you good quality bass. Clearly dynamic driver bass is more natural in the delivery of bass, but the difference is now marginal. You do not feel the need for more bass. This I say despite the fact that I like bass....but good quality bass. I find the sub-bass rich and visceral.

When the track demands it, you feel the vibrations in the ear pieces and feel the notes gently through your body at higher volumes. The mid-bass is not left out rather it delivers a full bodied well defined bass, very good BA bass which does well to come close to DD bass, in my view.

Tim Bowman’s Soul dreams comes across as gentle and calming without losing the clearly defined bass notes while the shimmering highs are also beautifully rendered by the X7s.

Tim Bowman - Soul Dreams:

Brian Culbertson - On My Mind:

The mid-bass hits quite gently at the beginning of this Brian Culbertson track and displays the quality and quantity of the BA bass on the X7s. You also get a good kick from the sub-bass, all of this with good definition of each note. Obviously, as with BAs, the bass is fast. In fact, there is nothing missing here. Also check out the bass on Haley Reinhart’s track, "Creep", below.

Mids
The presentation of mid treble is full and lush and more importantly not shy, forward, you get enjoyment from the vocals, guitars, piano, saxophones etc. The voices are full and realistic. The sound of Haley Reinhart’s rendition of creep with her voice overlaying the clear and distinct notes of the piano coming through beautifully is such a joy.

Haley Reinhart - Creep:

Kirk Fletcher - Silver Spoon:

Highs
These earphones have been tuned to restrain the highs but although, not focused on the highs. The tuning does not go as far as to make these V shaped, to my ears. This is definitely a U-shaped set and gives you such clarity, nothing at all is lost. What sets these apart is their tender tuning, of course if you want them to be more forward all you need is to increase the volume and they shed their sedate mask and become more in excitable. I am not a fan of smooth earphones and to me the sound on these have not been smoothened, instead they have been given the old fashioned soft tuning as opposed to the coarse or sharp analytical tuning and to my ears they sound good.

Frederic Chopin - Nocturne in E-Flat Major, Op. 9, No.2:

Stage, separation and imaging
You also get good imaging, and instrument separation which puts these IEMs way beyond their price range. The stage is also good in width but I would not call it highly expansive stage. Orchestral music is very well presented on these earphones.

Synergy
The X7 sound good on all my gear with the warmer Fiio BTR5 and the Littlebear coming out on top for my ears. I have to say, I had not expected these to sound so good paired with the Littlebear B4X. The synergy between the X7 and the Littlebear tube amp is just so delightful.

Conclusion
What I can say is that having these in my ears has been a pleasure. I cannot see any reason why I would not want the level of quality these earphones deliver at any volume and more so the comforting sound at low volume, in my collection. The X7 are quite impressive at the price, and even better especially the 11.11 half price deal.

Enjoy your music!

Intro
The CS2, is an affordable product from the TRN brand. I am new to the TRN brand so I can only say, I am told that the CS2 has the same sound quality as the MT1 (which I have yet to hear) but with more bass. I had no previous experience with TRN, so this is my discovery of the brand. Here I describe the sound I hear.

Disclosure
A set of CS2 was sent to me by TRN Official Store on AliExpress for review. All opinions are my own with no influence from anyone. No one has editorial control or influence over the contents of this review. I make an effort to ensure that I give the reader factual information.

The only request is a link to the TRN Official Store and here it is:
TRN Official Store
https://a.aliexpress.com/_mKOeeBs

My setup for this review
I paired them with Samsung galaxy note 10 plus and Fiio M11, as my source, and for amplification variably, a Samsung dongle, Fiio BTR5 and the Littlebear B4X tube DAC/Amp, mostly 3.5mm on low gain. I also used Amazon Music, but primarily UAPP music player app.

Form, Fit and Function

Specifications:

1.Product Name:TRN CS2
2.Brand:TRN
3.Model:CS2
4.Earphone type:In-ear
5.Impedance: 22Ω
6.Sensitivity: 106dB/mW
7.Frequency range: 20-20000Hz
8.PlugType: 3.5mm
9.Cable Length: 1.25m
10.Earphone interface: 2Pin Interface
15. 1DD Dynamic Monitors unit

The CS2 come in a simple cardboard box with the earpieces, a cable and a few tips.

The casing of the earpieces appear to be made of hard and solid feeling plastic. CS2 is a set of universal In Ear Monitors (IEMs) which has added wings for a more contoured fit. They do indeed fit very well. Isolation is above average.

The CS2 have a sizeable 10mm dynamic driver which is described as a “Silicon crystal composite bio cellulose diaphragm for the driver”. TRN offers four colours, Black, grey, blue, and red, the colour I chose. All the earpieces on offer are transparent.

The detachable cable has a 3.5mm singled ended plug, it is not dreadful, but in many ways it is nondescript, as one would expect at this price range, nonetheless a well disciplined tangle-free cable, which clearly does a good job.

The sound
Firstly, a warning: these are so easy to drive their volume has the potential to cause some people harm.

1. Avoid balanced output.
2. Lower your source volume before you insert the earphones;
3. Put any amplification you use on low gain;
4.Start on low volume and increase in small increments to tolerable levels.
5. Remember, you have one set of ears for life, do not destroy them!

I am pleasantly surprised by the good sound quality of the CS2. I cannot express by pleasure that these gave me listening to various genres, and my surprise is that they are sold from approximately £7.00, which is about $9,00. The CS2 is a U-shaped set with slightly elevated bass and treble. I found the mids not too recessed and sometimes they sounded a touch more forward giving a good rendition of both male and female voices.

They sound great fun and incredibly good value for money. However, there are many earphones in the £25 price range, so what makes the CS2 stand out for me? To my ears there is a slight reverberation, which makes them sound quite special.

As a single DD their timbral accuracy is spot on to my ears. Listening to various instruments the decay is wonderfully real, as you would get when you play the instrument or sit next to the instrument. On pianos they sound so good, when a key is struck you hear the long tail or decay of the note just as though you were there.

Bass
The natural sound of the dynamic driver you have the most realistic instrument representation, in effect excellent timbral accuracy. The entire presentation is much more disciplined than that of the Blon BL03, in that to my ears the bass is not bloated and does not bleed into the mids. You get ample sub-bass and plenty mid-bass, which is sufficiently potent for most neutrals to enjoy, whilst not putting off the treble fiends.

Henrik Freischlader - I Loved

Another Woman:

These IEMs give you such a good dynamic range, that you hear as much definition in the bass at the same time you hear details in the instruments all at the same time and they are distinctly audible.

Separation of instruments is good and you get a good indication of the position of instruments in the imaginary space which puts these IEMs way beyond their price range.

Kyama - Long After You Are Gone:

Mids
The CS2 deliver mid treble beautifully, although not forward, you nonetheless get a good amount of the emphasis to enjoy vocals, guitars, piano and saxophones with feeling you have to alter the volume or even use the equaliser to alter any track due to recessed mids. Yes, in comparison to the planars, the mids are not as lush, but the dynamic driver mids are great fun.

Nicolas Cole - Snap:

The track starts with a smooth piece which is effectively the refrain. Your ears are then massaged by a saxophone gently coming all calmly underpinned by a steady and drum rhythm and sprinkling of high hats , cymbals and other percussive instruments. The CS2 are up to the task and deliver what to my ears are a superb and energetic rendition of this track.

Earl Klugh - Calypso Getaway:

Ed Sheeran - Andrea Bocelli - Perfect Symphony:

Highs
These earphones do not hold back on the highs although they not focused on the highs, it does not hold anything back. Of course the tuning does not go as far as to make these V shaped. This is definitely U-shaped and gives you such clarity, nothing at all is lost. What sets these apart is the I4s keep that bubbly laced tones right through the frequencies, so you get a certain additional sparkle at the top.

Tim Bowman - Soul Dreams:

Frederic Chopin - Nocturne in E-Flat Major, Op. 9, No.2:

Conclusion
The CS2 are not to be dismissed, the offer fun tuning, do not let the £7 or $9 price fool you. The tuning is so well done, that you hear details in the treble that go well beyond the price range, while delivering mature, full and well defined bass. The mids are sufficiently full and forward and you get detailed highs within the context of the price range of under $50 USD. The dynamics are superb and so is the stage. They are great fun, and they are more than worth the price.

Enjoy your music!

Intro
The Fantasy are the most recent In Ear Monitors (IEM) produced by Cayin. I believe the earlier model was the YB04, a 4 Balanced Amature (BA) set of IEMs.

Disclosure
Cayin kindly included me in the European leg of their review tour of the Fantasy, for which I am grateful.

The unit is therefore a loan unit provided free of charge by Cayin for the loan period. Following the loan period I passed the unit on to the next reviewer in the tour group.

I provide my honest opinion of the Cayin Fantasy without limitation, nothing I say is given to anyone for approval. All views I express are my views. I am not influenced by anyone, and I am not paid to express any views positive or otherwise.

Form, Fit and Function

The package: The package is a huge but beautifully constructed cardboard drawer unit with magnetic clasps which exude quality. The Fantasy come with the following in the package:

The IEMs;
A 3.5mm single ended cable;
A thin faux leather pouch;
A selection of tips,
A cleaning brush;
Tweezers;
A cleaning cloth; and
A shirt clip.



This well thought out design of the packaging is let down by the fact that it is excessively and unnecessarily large, unfortunately all of this is constructed out of cardboard, so even if well kept, it has a very short lifespan compared to, for example, wood or metal construction.

The Fantasy have a dual cavity two-way single beryllium-plated dynamic driver (DD) per ear piece.



The shells are made of metal, described as surgical stainless steel, which have a mirror finish. I think the design is simple but gorgeous. Some of the best things in life are simply designed, the Fantasy is to my eyes just that, well executed, simple, but effective design.

There are excellent design touches, starting with the In Ear Monitors (IEMs) which have a simple triangular ridge on the faceplate, which gives the earpieces an elegant look regardless of the angle from which you look at them.

You then have a subtle touch just behind the two-pin cable connection slot, which is a tiny bore the inside of which is coloured black for left and red for right. On the other side of the cable connection is another tiny bore, which may or may not be a vent, but the essence here is that the designers bothered to make it all symmetrical. Bravo!

I think the greatest disappointment was the portable case, or correctly expressed, the faux leather pouch. Although it feels very nice, it is flimsy and cannot protect an eartip from damage, let alone a $700 set of earphones, a let down for a set at this price range. However, that can be remedied for $10 or so, hence it should not be a deal breaker.

The standard cable is a 6N OCC Copper and silver plated cable with a 3.5mm single ended plug. The content of the package is a further disappointment. No balanced cable, although we were provided, as part of the tour, with a beautiful balanced Cayin CS-4.4B cable, which as the name suggests, is a 4.4mm cable. The CS-4. is an 8 strand, crystalised OFC x silver alloy cable. Fortunately, these short-comings are not a deal breaker in my view but a disappointment nonetheless.



My setup for this review
I paired them with Samsung galaxy note 10 plus and Fiio M11, as my source, and for amplification variably, SMSL AD18, a Samsung dongle, Fiio BTR5, the HA FEE HA11 and the Littlebear B4X tube dac/amp, mostly balanced 2.5mm and on high gain.

The sound in short
I generally avoid reading the reviews of other reviewers prior to posting my review. This means, readers can be sure my review is not influenced by anyone else’s review. However, on this occasion, although I have not read the reviews for the Fantasy, I did read comments on the Cayin Fantasy thread.

A lot of the commentary I read on the thread differed from my findings, which are along the lines of a lack of bass. Do not misunderstand me, I see their point of view but I put their experience of lack of low end down to burn-in. I believe I had the benefit of being in the last two reviewers in the European tour group.

These are technically brilliant earphones, with wonderful highs, which are just on the cusp of being peaky but not quite peaky, to my ears. Mids are well rendered, with nothing shouty and enough weight to give you milky but not syrupy sound. The much criticised bass (for being anaemic) is not my experience. I would say the Fantasy are not basshead earphones, and not bass biased, but that does not mean they lack bass. I love the bass on the Fantasy, which gives you great quality sub-bass and mid-bass where the recording permits. However, in terms of quantity, the mid-bass is less prominent, but does not make these earphones anaemic, while the sub-bass is just right to my ears.

The sound in detail
Like most single (or multiple) dynamic sets, the Fantasy are sensitive to ear tips. I found the red stem silicone tips gave me a very pleasant sound. Take the time to get the right tips and you will be rewarded.

Synergy
The Fantasy are relatively easy earphones to drive. I used the HAA FE HA11, which I thought that with 1mW of power (as it is advertised) was quite pleasant, so was the synergy between the Fiio BTR5 and Fiio M11 was also good . However, the Fantasy was best paired to the Littlebear Tube Amp and I would hazard a guess that Cayin’s own tube Amp might pair quite well with the Fantasy.

Instrument separation, Imaging, Stage, and Timbre
The Fantasy’s clarity and detail retrieval is incredibly good. Separation of instruments is good and imaging is very good. I found the sound stage adequate but not unusually expansive.

Timbral accuracy is very good, the sound of the instruments are incredibly realistic.

Sound check
You may want to put on your monitors of choice and check out the music using the links.

Bass
The mid-bass is not pronounced, it is as recorded, hence you have moments where there appears to be less mid-bass than some would like or expect. In my view there is plenty mid-bass if called for by the track. The quality of that mid-bass is good and well defined, that for me is what matters.

The sub-bass feels so good. Again, there is no sub-bass bias but where the track calls for it you feel that sub-bass. The sub-bass is incredibly visceral and potent, showing excellent tuning, to my ears.

Jonny Guitar Watson - Ain’t that a bitch -

Yemi Alade - Bum Bum -

Mids
The Fantasy renders the mid frequencies very well. The mids have are well measured and delivered with aplomb by this beautifully tuned dynamic driver.

Teddy Swims - I can’t make you love me -

Santana - While my guitar gently weeps -

The Cayin Fantasy do not disappoint, you hear it all, while reproducing the very detailed highs beautifully. Clearly these earphones have been tuned with treble emphasis and the comments do not disagree with me on that. The issue for some is whether it was overdone. I appreciate the subjective nature of our anatomy, our sensitivities and our tastes, but I would also add that burn-in, and our sources and equipment may have a part to play. However, for me, the highs on the Fantasy were incredibly good. The detail retrieval across the frequencies is superb, and that is reflected beautifully in the treble.

Treble

Albinoni - Aagio for strings -

Schindler’s List OST -

Scott Hamilton - The shadow of your smile - [for Cymbals] -

Note: Remember, YouTube recordings are not always the highest quality recordings.

Conclusion
In conclusion, the Cayin Fantasy give you high resolution across the frequency spectrum thus makes these a very revealing set. However, the downside of this is that on certain tracks the treble can appear intense. Exceptional detail and clarity in the highs, well measured mids and great quality mid-bass and sub-bass, with sub-bass bias, Love them!

Enjoy your music!

Introduction

The Aurora are the latest release from KBear. They are a single dynamic set of In Ear Monitors (IEMs)., for ease of reference I set out the detailed specifications of the Aurora below:

Specifications:
Driver Type : 10mm Single Dynamic Driver.
Diaphragm Type : Titanium Alloy Diaphragm.
Frequency Response : 20Hz -20kHz.
Impedance : 18Ω ± 2Ω
Sensitivity : 105dB ± 3dB.
Interface : 0.78mm diameter 2-Pin earpiece Connection and 3.5mm single-ended plug.

Disclosure:
KBear kindly sent me this review set of Aurora, for which I am grateful. I provide my honest opinion of the Auroa without limitation. Nothing I say is given to anyone for approval. All views I express are my views. I am not influenced by anyone, and I am not paid to express any views positive or otherwise.

Form, Fit and Function

The package: The package is a medium sized cardboard box, which does not seem too wasteful in these times of ecological awareness. The Aurora come with the following in the package:


The IEMs;
A 3.5mm single-ended silver plated copper cable;
A beautiful faux leather case;
A selection of tips,
A cleaning brush; and
A cleaning cloth;

In terms of presentation, in the medium sized package you find the beautiful KBear faux leather case, now a staple of the brand, which is, as always, quite capacious, yet the case will ft well in most pockets of average size. The case is strong and hard enough to give your IEMs good protection from everyday scrapes.

You also get a good selection of tips as part of the package together with a cleaning cloth and a cleaning brush, in addition to the usual pamphlets.

The cable adds to the design cue in that the theme of the blue edging on the earpieces is carried over to the cable, which is a light sky blue, matching the earpieces beautifully.

Form: The Aurora, have the basic kidney-shape of the KBear Diamond, and KBear Believe which came before them. However, the design has had a bit of an ergonomic tweak, the effect of which is to tapper the inner edge slightly, to improve the look rather than the fit, it would appear.

Fit: The design tweaks do not appear to have improved the fit. They fit my ears well, but do not improve on the isolation of previous models. Although your choice of tips would improve the fit, in my view the less than ideal fit, is a missed opportunity, given its effect on the sound, a point we will get to later.

Finish: In terms of design, these are chrome finished but with the added twist of blue edging, which gives them an understated elegance. The build quality is very good judging by my time with the Aurora so far. Clearly, only time will tell if there are longer term quality control issues, but the build at this stage exuded an air of good quality.



My setup for this review
As my source, I paired the Aurora with Samsung galaxy note 10 plus and Fiio M11, with UAPP for my local media library or Apple or Amazon used for streaming. For amplification, variably: SMSL AD18, a Samsung dongle, Fiio BTR5, the HA FEE HA11 and the Littlebear B4X tube dac/amp, mostly balanced 2.5 mm and on high gain.

Synergy
As with many dynamic earphones, the aurora are tip sensitive, so you will need to patiently work through tips to fine tune your Aurora. In addition to tips, you will need to work through your sources to get the sound input that sounds good to your ears. In relation to portable equipment, I am not talking simply of your dongles, DACs, DAPs and Amplifiers, you have to take account of the applications from which you play your sound files. For example, I found PowerAmp was not giving me the best of my local files. UAPP on the other hand gave me much more joy, in that the application, brought out the very best in the Aurora.



The sound in short
In short if you do not want to read the whole review: The Aurora have an “L shaped” tuning, to my ears, in that the mid-bass (but not sub-bass) is elevated, whilst the midrange and highs are fairly linear. They are relatively easy to drive, but as set out above, you may need to fine tune your earphones with tips, and audio equipment to get the most out of them. The Aurora are very good, clean sounding earphones, with a potent mid-bass, pleasant midrange with plenty of clarity and detail in the highs. Although, to my ears, the highs have been restrained a touch, presumably, to avoid sibilance. For me it works and I have to say, a good job well done for the price.

The sound in detail

Bass
As stated above, the tuning is not sub-bass focused or even prominent in anyway, yet it works quite well. You will occasionally feel the presence of the sub-bass, but the Aurora are predominantly mid-bass focussed. The fact is that that mid-bass is of such good quality and so beautifully tuned and implemented that, for me, a sub-bass fanatic, the enjoyment of music is not hugely compromise by the minimal sub-bass, I just hear it as bass expressed differently.
Mid-bass is elevated to the extent that you initially fear that this is some, “please the masses bass set”, but no, it is not, the elevation is just below the level at which you would describe as excessive. This is bass thump for a reason, because it is just above what the musicians intended. When you know what to expect, and let it flow, you will appreciate how well controlled and fine quality the bass definition is. The definition is such that you get all the distinct bass notes within each musical phrase. The exception, for me is that the sub-bass could have been given a bit of a lift, but that is my preference. It is worth noting that the less than ideal fit also has an effect on the bass quantity, so a careful selection of tips to ensure a better fit would pay off if you want to maintain the bass quantity the Aurora is capable of delivering to your ears.

Nicolas Cole and Vincent Ingala - Snap:

When you listen to the track “Snap”, you would usually feel the viseral punch of the bass line, However, with the Aurora tuning emphasis being more mid-bass focussed, what you get is a delightfully full bass with each bass note well defined bass, so there is no doubt about the bass quality but without the visceral bass, in essence, you hear excellent bass but feel less of it than you would. The track is just as good to listen to.

Midrange
The midrange is quite well positioned relative to the other frequencies, and in terms of prominence, the midrange is more than adequate to ensure that voices and midrange instruments are present in sufficient quantities. Male and female voices are quite forward given the L-shape, that is if the track you are listening to is not a bass heavy track. Note, I am not talking about bass bleed, given my view is that the Aurora bass is good quality bass which is quite disciplined to my ears. Notes on the Aurora sound quick and nimble and as usual with dynamic drivers, the timbral accuracy is exceptionally good.

Peter White “In Rainbows” - Smile:

Treble
As we are aware, dynamic driver treble is not as pronounced as electrostatic or electret treble. However, we have all been weaned on dynamic drivers and that is what sounds most natural, at least to my ears. The Aurora are no different to most single dynamic in this price range in the implementation, they deliver nice clean treble. “Female poison” (here I use it to denote extreme treble) is well controlled so that for those who find “female poison” toxic have no need to worry.

Mascagni - Cavelleria Rusticana - Intermezzo - Giacomo Aragall:
Instrument Separation, Imaging and

Stage
The Aurora do well on the additional attributes you would expect from your earphones. In relation to instrument separation and imaging they are very good, I am not aware of many IEMs in the Aurora price range which do a better job. The sound stage is perceptible but not particularly huge.
Comparisons with other single dynamic drivers earphones.

Meze Rai Solo - I can honestly say that, despite the price difference, the Aurora, delivers, mids just as well as the Meze Rai Solos. The differences are the treble and bass, where the treble is more resolving on the Rai Solos. When it comes to bass, I prefer the quality of the bass on the Aurora, despite the elevation of the mid-bass, the definition of the notes delivered by the Aurora is much better quality to my ears. The Aurora also give you better instrument separation and sound stage.

Cayin Fantasy - I have had the pleasure of hearing the Cayin Fantasy and I take the view that the expectations placed on more expensive sets, has not helped the reviews of the Fantasy. How do the Fantasy compare to the Aurora? There is no doubt that the treble of the Fantasy are well extended, and I cannot imagine many single dynamic drivers are able to better the resolution on the Fantasy treble, that is of course, if you are not treble sensitive. In comparison to the mids and treble on the Fantasy, the Aurora, fall short of the Fantasy, but not six times short of the Fantasy as the price would suggest, the Aurora hold their own for a set so much less expensive. The bass on the Aurora, again show their worth, the mid-bass (which may not be for everyone) are not only more present, but for me, the bass quality is praise worthy. The sub-bass on the Fantasy, to my ears, is not at all prominent, but to the extent that there is sub-bass present on the track, the Fantasy do a very good job. The Aurora, do exactly the same, in that the tuning does not extend to the sub-bass anywhere as much as I would like. For that reason, the less expensive, does a great job emulating what the Fantasy does in delivering sub-bass.
Conclusion
I have really enjoyed listening to the Aurora, not because the sound from the Aurora jumps out at you and not because the Aurora are the most resolving set of dynamic driver earphones I have ever heard. In my view, the reason I have enjoyed listening to the Aurora is that they are exceptionally competent set of earphones which do their job without fanfare. The point is, if you want a good set of dynamic earphones that give you very good reproduction of your music, with a mid-bass boost but without a sting in your pocket, the Aurora are just right.

Enjoy Your Music!