I think it’s safe to say I’m normally a huge fan of Moondrop IEMs with the Aria and Variations being some of my main recommendations even to this day. I wasn’t that impressed with the recent Aria Snow Edition so I was very excited when I heard Moondrop was coming in late to the game with their take on the second generation of planar IEMs flooding the market. The Stellaris is one of the cheaper planars being offered at the moment, coming in at $109.99. I can’t quite make out if this is a new driver but I’m guessing this is another rehash of the common...

I really liked the original Aria and it remains my number one pick under $100. I like it so much that I totally forgot to review it and even though I don’t plan to review it since it’s much older now, I still continue to feature it in reviews. With the announcement of a new special edition Aria being released and instead of an Aria 2, I was thinking this would be a simple paint job edition but instead we got a different driver and new tuning flavor for the Aria series. The Snow Aria is using the now older style drives from the Kanas Pro IEM according...

I really like Effect Audio’s cables and after my last roundup review of their Signature series, I was definitely interested in checking out more of their cables. I was asked if I want to take a look at their Cleopatra II cable and give some thoughts on it. As such, this will be more of an impressions vs a full on review. I simply don’t have any other cables in this price range to compare so it feels incorrect to give it a full review. Regardless, I do have some pretty good things to say about their new Cleo II. The Cleo II starts at $999 for the 4...

I haven’t reviewed a DAP for a bit and I was somewhat itching to try something new. I find no problems with my Shanling M3X for my standard portable needs or even something like the newer Topping G5 transport device paired to my iPhone. So my need to purchase a new DAP to check out has been rather low. Luckily for me, my fiancee has been eyeballing something new to use over the FiiO M11. She really liked the way the new M6U(shortened) looked so it ended up working out for the both of us. It was time for her to upgrade and it allowed me to check out...

It’s been a bit since I’ve done a review of a Topping product but I’ve lost some interest in source gear and I’ve been doing more IEM and headphone reviews as of late. While I do enjoy dongles and use them with my iPad Pro on the go, I tend to not use dongles for my phone as I’ve broken enough cables from sitting when connected to my iPhone. The last portable bluetooth review I did was for the AUNE BU2. While I liked it, I didn’t like that the Bluetooth range could be a little iffy at times and it used a 2.5mm balanced jack instead of 4.4mm. I...

While I’m not a full size headphone person and personally prefer IEMs, I’ve been fortunate enough to check out some truly wonderful TOTL full size cans in my few years of reviewing. I’ve always been a fan of Zach’s work but I’ve only heard his headphones in small bursts here and there. When the Atrium came out, I was instantly attracted to the new design and loved the video review from @TylersEclectic. I never thought I would have a chance to check out the Atrium but to my surprise, a local audio friend had a review unit that Zach said I could borrow...

I will happily admit I really love THIEAUDIO’s Clairvoyance and while I plan to one day review it(maybe), I constantly use the Clairvoyance in most of my reviews. I recently had the chance to check out both the THIEAUDIO Monarch MK2 and their flagship V16 Divinity. While I was excited for the new Monarch, I wasn’t sure how I would feel about their all BA V16 Divinity. Well today is the day I finally review one of the newer THIEAUDIO products. The V16 comes with 16 mixed Knowles and Sonion balanced armature drivers per shell. It comes in at $1499.00...

I loved Symphoniums’s Helios and it was well received by everyone who tried it and I also thought it was truly something special. They managed to make an all BA IEM sound better than most TOTL hybrids and had some neat tricks going on in general. So when I heard a new IEM that was meant to be a more relaxed listen was coming out I was thrilled. I was lucky enough to get my hands on a unit for a bit via a local tour. The Triton is a hybrid design consisting of a single DD and at least two BA drivers. I didn’t see much info on the driver setup for the...

I always feel new companies entering the IEM game have an extremely hard time without good support from the community in advance. Truthear has the backing from Crinacle who helped tune their first IEM, the Zero. I think having a first IEM that is a collab is a safe bet for new companies. Plus there is a higher chance that the IEM will be tuned well. I always like trying out new stuff and I was asked to check out the Zero a bit before Crin announced it so I was interested to see what the Zero might sound like coming out of nowhere. Quick shoutout to...

I just reviewed the TIN P1 Max and I liked it for the most part. It was the first newer planar I’ve had a chance to check out since I last heard all the older gen 1 planars. My P1 Max review conclusion was a lack of detail retrieval and a somewhat boring neutral tuning. I knew people liked the other planar offerings from the likes of 7Hz, LETSHUOER, Muse and Raptgo but I only had a chance to check the P1 Max out at the time. Well! Now I have the LETSHUOER S12 in and oh my! What a difference it is vs the P1 Max. Quick shoutout to LETSHUOER for...

So I’ll be doing this review/roundup a little differently since I normally don’t do cable reviews. Hopefully this will be a different/fun read versus my normal content. How this all started At one point in time I truly used to believe that cable rolling made a difference. This was also off of two IEMs I had at the time and since I only had those, it was easier to attempt to focus on small changes to sound via cables. This was half the reason why I cable rolled. I always understood cables were a subjective thing and yet I loved rolling cables anyways...

So I’ll be doing this review/roundup a little differently since I normally don’t do cable reviews. Hopefully this will be a different/fun read versus my normal content. How this all started At one point in time I truly used to believe that cable rolling made a difference. This was also off of two IEMs I had at the time and since I only had those, it was easier to attempt to focus on small changes to sound via cables. This was half the reason why I cable rolled. I always understood cables were a subjective thing and yet I loved rolling cables anyways...

So I’ll be doing this review/roundup a little differently since I normally don’t do cable reviews. Hopefully this will be a different/fun read versus my normal content. How this all started At one point in time I truly used to believe that cable rolling made a difference. This was also off of two IEMs I had at the time and since I only had those, it was easier to attempt to focus on small changes to sound via cables. This was half the reason why I cable rolled. I always understood cables were a subjective thing and yet I loved rolling cables anyways...

I never got around to checking out the original P1 or the newer P2 planar IEMs from TINHiFi but I know there was a decent following around both IEMs. I have listened to a few older first generation planar IEMs like the Audeze iSine 10/20 and the RHA CL2. I only liked the iSine series with heavy EQ and I just didn’t like the rough tuning of the CL2. I’ve seen the release of the newer planar IEMs recently from 7HZ(Timeless) and LETSHUOER(S12) and a few others. While I’ve been interested, I’ve simply been too busy with other reviews so I never got...

I recently got back into checking tube amps out and I’ve also had the chance to hear other tube amp designs recently. When I did the xDuoo MT-604 a bit back, I was decently impressed but I found that a balanced only tube amp good for very specific use cases. The TA-26 has a more traditional and single ended design. The TA-26 comes in at $319 and is set up to use a 6sn7 pre amp tube and 6as7 power tube. Though 6n8p pre amp and 6n5p power tubes are what come stock. Thanks to Apos Audio for hooking me up with a loaner unit to review. While I always...

I’ve been on the hunt for a new sub $50 IEM recommendation and the last few IEMs I tried in the price range were mostly let downs. I was expecting it would take a while to find something I personally liked that worked well as an “all rounder”. I still have some sub $50 IEMs to go through but I recently received the Moondrop Chu and I figured I would check it out since I love the Aria and this looked a lot like the Aria but with a few design differences and coming in only at $20. The Chu uses a single dynamic driver as well as a non-detachable cable...

While I mostly use a DAP or battery powered portable DAC/amp, I do use wired dongles for my iPad and laptop. When I heard Moondrop was releasing a dongle I was fairly surprised. I love a lot of their recent IEM releases so I was very interested in checking out their first shot at the dongle world. I heard there was a prototype moon river in the past and it supposedly never made it to production so now we have a moon river 2 for consumer release. More confusing than I would like but I’ve had my unit for about two weeks and I’m ready to give my take on...

I’m currently on the hunt for a sub $50 IEM I can recommend since I usually recommend the Moondrop aria which costs $80. I’ve been playing around with some IEMs around $50 and I’m getting a feel for what's good in this price bracket. FiiO was nice enough to send me the JH3 which is a FiiOxJade Audio collab from what I can tell. Jade audio is their daughter brand so this is a nice mix of FiiO styling with Jade Audio’s tuning. The JH3 is a hybrid IEM that uses a 13.6 single dynamic driver and two custom balanced armatures. It comes it at $39.99(on US...

I tend to test bigger brand IEMs in general but once in a blue moon I’ll get the chance to try something from a new company and I was recently sent the Heartfield Acoustic Deer IEM to check out and review. This is a smaller 6.8mm single dynamic driver unit coming from Heartfield. The Acoustic Deer comes in at $169.00. I will be referring to the Acoustic Deer simply as the Deer for the rest of my review to make my life easier. Quick shoutout to Linsoul for sending the Acoustic Deer to review. While I always appreciate the chance to test and review...

I don’t do many sub $100 IEMs that often but when I want something under $100 I usually recommend the Moondrop Aria and for under $50 the Tin T2 plus was my original recommendation. I knew I needed to find something newer for under $50 since it was a super old IEM at this point in time. I was fortunate enough to receive some entry level IEMs to review and among them was the Tachjim OLA. I’ve yet to try any IEMs from Tanchjim so I jumped at the opportunity to check their stuff out. The OLA is a simple 10mm single DD IEM coming in at $39.99(no mic) or...