Accutone Pisces HD Review: Everything The Pisces Should Have Been This is another entry into my Accutone IEM marathon. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Accutone, they are a Chinese audio company who has been in the business for over ten years. They started out producing business devices and have since moved into the consumer audio space. The Pisces HD is the second high-performance IEM to feature Accutone’s unique geometry. You can find the Pisces HD for sale here, on Accutone’s official website, for $90. Disclaimer: This unit was provided...

Accutone Pisces Review: So Close To a Good IEM This is another entry into my Accutone IEM marathon. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Accutone, they are a Chinese audio company who has been in the business for over ten years. They started out producing business devices and have since moved into the consumer audio space. The Pisces is the first high-performance IEM to feature Accutone’s unique geometry. You can find the Pisces for sale here, on Accutone’s official website, for $80. Disclaimer: This unit was provided to me free of charge for...

Burson Cable + Review: Not Just Snake-Oil, and That’s Coming From a Skeptic Burson is a company that, on the surface, seems to be peddling snake oil. As a skeptic in general, I am weary of many of the claims made by hardware makers in the audio industry. I firmly believe that many of the things that companies like Schiit brag about, while existent in reality, make no real perceivable changes in the audio you hear. This product is different. You can find the Cable+ for sale here for $150. Disclaimer: This unit was provided to me free of charge for...

  Accutone Pegasus C Review: Colored Shells, Colored Sound Today I’ll be reviewing the Pegasus C from Accutone. Coming in at a cool $40, the Pegasus C is among Accutone’s cheapest offerings. On their website Accutone claims that the Pegasus C has “colorful sound”. Let me tell you, they aren’t wrong about that. What they are wrong about is whether or not having colored sound is a good thing. You can find the Pegaus C for sale here, on Accutone’s official website. Disclaimer: This unit was provided to me free of charge for review purposes. I am not...

  Audbos DB01 Review: Another Great Cheap Hybrid IEM With Some Growing Pains To Get Through Audbos recently approached me regarding the review of their new IEMs. I agreed, though I don’t generally accept review offers from small “Amazon” brands. I’m glad that I decided to make an exception though, as I feel that Audbos has created something that is definitely worth your attention if you want to pick up some new cheap IEMs. You can buy the Audbos DB01 here, on Amazon, for $48. Disclaimer: This unit was provided to me free of charge for review...

Advanced Sound EVO-X: It Doesn’t. Fall. Off! Advanced Sound, one of the newest kids on the Hi-Fi block, doesn’t seem to want to slow down. After releasing their massively well-received Model-3 MMCX Bluetooth earphones, they are back at it again with their newest set of Bluetooth earphones, the EVO-X. This time, however, they designed it from the ground up to be the active audiophile’s best friend. Does it live up to Advanced Sound’s claims? You can find the EVO-X for sale here on Advanced Sound’s official website for $60. Disclaimer: This unit was...

AudioQuest NightOwl Carbon Review: A Dose of Reality I took a tour of AudioQuest’s headquarters in Irvine a couple months back and was pretty impressed with their setup. From their hand-assembled cables to their headphone development rooms, I found it all to have an air of quality to it. As I toured through the warehouse section of the building I could tell that AudioQuest’s employees really enjoyed working there. About four or five of them were taking a break to engage in their regular ping-pong tournaments, their laughter and ping-pong-ball smashes...

Simgot EN700 Bass Review: Now That's How You Iterate Your Flagship! When I reviewed the original Simgot EN700 I was less than impressed. The mediocre fit combined with the incredibly average performance for the price left me with a very “we’re new at this” kind of taste in my mouth. Thankfully, the engineers at Simgot did not sit by idly and have been working hard at improving their flagship. The culmination of their efforts now lies before us: The EN700 Bass. Even the name is a testament to the original EN700’s biggest failure: its lack of bass...

Whizzer A15 Review: When Did Chi-Fi Get So Well-Rounded? Ever heard of Whizzer? Well, me neither. They careened into my conscience about two weeks ago when Penon Audio began to stock what appears to be their first IEM, the A15. While there were some shipping complications, I’ve finally gotten these IEMs into my ears. After sitting with them for a while, only one question burned in my mind: when did Chi-Fi get so well-rounded? You can find the Whizzer A15 here, on Penon Audio, for $69. Disclaimer: This unit was provided to me free of charge for...

  Rose Aurora Review: Excellent Ergonomics I’ve been on a Rose IEM review spree recently, and I gotta say I really don’t mind it. Each Rose IEM brings something to the table, so it’s hard to get bored. For those of you who don’t know who or what Rose Audio is, they are a small Chinese IEM company that was formed from Chinese university students who have a passion for HiFi audio. They were among the first to employ 3D-printing in the construction of their IEM’s shells. The Aurora is a relatively new budget-grade IEM in the context of Rose’s other...

Rose Cappuccino Mk. II Review: Hit The Bass Cannon Do you like bass? Do you like so much bass that you have to make sure you don’t listen at too high of a volume so that you don’t suffer hearing loss? If you answered yes to either of those questions, I’ve got something today that will make you grin: the second generation Rose Cappuccino. Hailing from a small company in China formed by university students, the Cappuccino Mk. II is a tribute to bass-heads around the world. You can find the Cappuccino Mk. II here on Penon Audio for $350. Disclaimer: I...

  KZ ZST Review: A Victory For Audiophiles On a Budget KZ is a Chinese IEM company that specializes in making budget grade earphones, and is well known for their high-value offerings. While they have made pretty big waves in the Chi-Fi crowd, they remain relatively unknown to the broader Hi-Fi community. That’s a real shame considering they have some very compelling products, including the ZST Colorful that I am reviewing today. You can find the KZ ZST on at Penon Audio, here, for $20. Disclaimer: This review is based upon a sample unit provided...

Meze 12 Classics Review: Beautiful, But Average Meze is a boutique headphone company based in Romania. Started by Antonio Meze, the company took the audiophile world by storm with the release of its highly-praised 99 Classics headphones. Recently, building upon the success of their previous products, Meze released two earphones: the 11 Neo and the 12 Classics. Coming in at $59 and $79 respectively, these two earphones are quite beautiful. Today I’ll be reviewing the 12 Classics. You can find my 11 Neo review here. You can find the 12 Classics on...

  Cascadia Audio Talos Review: A Tidy Upgrade I’ve heard my fair share of T50RP mods. Be it ZMF’s Omni (or is it Ori now?) or a DIY sock-mod (yes, that’s a real thing), I am consistently surprised at what people manage to be able to do with a $150 pair of headphones. Cascadia Audio is another player in the T50RP mod scene, with only one model currently available for purchase, the Talos. However, are the structural and sonic improvements worth the $100 premium added to the Talos by Cascadia Audio? You can find the Talos for sale here on Cascadia...

  Brainwavz M100 Review: A Tuning Blunder I like Brainwavz’s products. I like Brainwavz’s customer support. I like Brainwavz’s 24 month warranty. I like Brainwavz as a company. I do not like, however, the M100. While it is a pretty enticing IEM from a build-quality perspective, I could not bring myself to justify how it sounds for the price it demands. You can find the Brainwavz M100 for sale here for $90 on Amazon. Disclaimer: This review is based upon a sample unit provided to me by a manufacturer or distributor in exchange for my honest opinion...

  1More Triple Driver Review: More Drivers, More Value It’s not every day that you get to hear an earphone with three drivers in it. It’s even rarer to get to listen to one that costs less $100 or less. Even rarer still will you hear one that actually sounds good. Today, however, seems to be one of those rare days for me. 1More is a company that has been around for a while, and is now known for the high price-to-performance ratios in their products. The earphone I am reviewing today, the 1More Triple Driver, is no exception. You can buy the Triple...

  ZMF Omni Review: Semi Open, All Entertaining This is the second ZMF planar headphone I’ve had the pleasure of auditioning. I was blown away with the sheer price-to-performance ratio of ZMF’s more tame headphone, the ZMF x Vibro Mk. II. Designed and hand-built by Zach Melbrach in Chicago, you can rest easy knowing one of the best sets of ears in business is responsible for your investment. However, does the law of diminishing returns hurt the value of the Omni, especially given the fact that the drivers are still from the T50rp Mk. III? You can...

  Macaw GT100s Review: Unforgivingly Detailed Macaw is a Chinese IEM company that specializes in building earphones. Currently, they have chosen to stay well within the boundaries of “budget” earphones. At a glance, however, you wouldn’t even know it. You can find the GT100s here on Penon Audio for $55. Note: Some people may have read my previous review of this IEM or seen my comments about them. I was rather unflattered by them the first time around. However, since I’ve acquired more powerful and resolving sources and amplifiers, I’ve decided to...

  Macaw T1000 + Power Pouch Review The T1000 is not the first Macaw product I’ve used. Earlier I had the pleasure of listening to the GT100s, a very interesting IEM. The T1000 is a Macaw’s first Bluetooth headset, but it sure doesn’t feel like it. It is very durable, and is even IP4 certified! To find out more, just read down below. You can buy the T1000 off of Penon Audio here for $30. Disclaimer: This review is based upon a sample unit provided to me by a manufacturer or distributor in exchange for my honest opinion and un-edited words. I do not...

  FiiO A5 Review: More Power! Wow, this election cycle has been quite stressful! No matter what side you were on, I’m sure you understand what I mean to a certain degree. Don’t worry though, I’ve got just the thing to take your mind off of it! FiiO recently announced and released a new portable amplifier, the A5. It boasts 800mW of output power, and is good to drive transducers from 16–300 ohms. Not only that, it is built entirely from metal, giving it a durable feel and a premium look. Read on for a more detailed analysis of the A5. The A5 can be...