I’ve never had the chance to try any of Sennheisers IEMs other than the IE 80. I honestly didn’t like the way those sounded so I was interested to see how the new IE 300 sounds compared to a rather saturated market when it comes to IEMs in that $150-500 range. While I have good things to say about the IE 300, I also have some grips as well. The IE 300 is using a single dynamic driver. It also uses a recessed MMCX connector like Sony uses on some of their high end stuff. The IE 300 retails for $300 USD. Quick shoutout to @Evshrug and Sennheiser for...

My two go to IEMs in the $100-300 range are the FiiO FH3 and the Ikko OH10. I haven’t had the chance to check out the other legacy lineup but I was interested in trying the Legacy 4 that comes in right at $200. On paper these look like a pretty nice Hybrid IEM. It has a single DD and 3 BA drivers which made me think this would either be tuned for a decent neutral sound or possibly a brighter sound. One neat thing about the L4 is that it can be customized on linsoul’s website. This means that the options for different faceplates and shell colors are...

I recently did the S.M.S.L. SH-9 review and I came out fairly impressed at the sound quality the little amp produced for its price. The only things that personally bothered me was the fact the SH-9 didn’t have any pre outs and that it wasn’t a truly balanced amp. 3 watts is a good chunk of power for an amp but I wanted that true balanced design. The SP400 fills in the gaps with the truly balanced design, an extra 3 watts(6W total) out of the balanced port and at least xlr pre outs. It also has a bigger power supply over the SH-9 and uses the very...

I will always admit to being a sucker for a good hybrid iem. I found the FiiO FD1 and now old Moondrop KXXS pretty neat and that was my first time with single DD iems. I recently reviewed the DUNU LUNA which really blew my mind with it’s main focus on mids and it’s wide and deep soundstage. I personally liked the LUNA, though I wasn’t a huge fan of the price, though a lot of the cost was from the huge amount of R&D that came from that project. The talk was that this was the start and that newer products would come out at lower prices with trickle...

I tend to avoid cable reviews since I find the sound quality side of cable reviews to be super subjective to a point. Plus that’s not usually why I opt for aftermarket cables. Luckily for me, Dekoni’s new Cablez doesn’t claim to be a special cable that improves sound. I was interested in their new offering since this seems to be new territory for them. Plus I like the way it looks. The Cablez comes in at a length of 1.2M and comes in 4.4mm Pentaconn. It is a fairly standard 5N copper cable. Shoutout to Dylan from Dekoni for sending the Cablez in for...

I like to listen to music on the go or while I’m at work and in the lab. I would run a portable DAC/amp or DAP all the time if possible but sometimes running things wired can be a bit of a hassle. There’ve been many times a stacked phone/portable amp either gets too hot in a pocket or the cable gets yanked and I end up irritated. This initially led me into buying a bunch of “true wireless” headsets that all had a bunch of ups and downs. Mostly issues with fitment and comfort for long term use throughout the day. I then jumped on the UTWS1 when it...

Shoutout to Kevin from DUNU for last minute throwing me into the LUNA tour so I could test and review the iems. While I always appreciate the chance to test and review products sent in from manufacturers, it never affects the rating of my review. I’m rather vocal in my reviews of iems when it comes to my love for hybrids. I like the treble that BA drivers can produce and I love when the DD driver is used for decent impact and rumble in the low end. I never heard anything with an upper midrange/lower treble focus so I was interested to see what the...

What I always felt made the now old SH-8 special was that at the time you could get a nice balanced amp for only $190. It was on the fairly neutral and somewhat boring sounding amp on its default setting but it has an on board EQ so you could fine tune it a little or even use their SDB setting which gave the amp SMSL’s own flavor of sound. Power output was only a little under 800mW when using balanced so It lacked some power as well. The SH-8 was mostly my main amp for the last two years and I very much enjoyed using it daily. When I saw the new SH-9...

I started out my audiophile hobby using portable DAC/amps since those were a little more multipurpose for my needs and easier on the wallet at the time. After deciding to jump into the rabbit hole after some time I decided to bite on a desktop setup. I, like many others, initially bought a modi/magni stack to get started. This worked out fairly well but the audio upgrade bug eventually rears its head and demands money for new gear. I went on to buy the atom amp then decided I wanted to try this whole balanced thing. This led me to buying the v2 SMSL...

I tend to stay away from the super high end DAPs that don’t have android since I like the option personally to use Tidal and Soundcloud vs only my local music library. When the tour was announced for the QPM I was indeed interested to see what a no frills high end DAP was like for everyday use. Let's see what $2k gets us for an on the go DAP!!! Thanks to Todd as always for sending me a tour unit. While I always appreciate stuff being sent in to test and review, It never affects my reviews. Gear used IPhone 12 Pro via usb to the QPM, SMSL SH-8 and...

My very first portable DAC/amp device was the Oppo HA2 and I used the living daylights out of it attached to an old IPhone for portable use. I eventually got a Oppo HA2-se, FiiO q1mk2, FiiO q5, q5s and finally moved to daps. While I enjoy taking a dap out from time to time. I sometimes like just carrying one device and using the ol phone stack like I did back in my HA2 days. Plus nothing beats the performance of a modern smartphone vs a DAP. The IFI hip dac instantly stood out to me as something neat being a wonderful dark metallic teal color with...

My third portable DAC/amp was the FiiO Q1 mk2 and I actually used it quite a bit and still own it. At the time it was one of the first devices I saw with a 2.5 balanced jack that didn’t cost an arm and leg. It was the first device that got me sucked into the world of balanced and I ended up going balanced with my cables whenever I could. Though this was more for power output vs possible sound quality differences from a balanced output. The only thing I really wished the original Q1 mk2 had was more power and maybe bluetooth so once the FiiO Q5 came...

While I personally love hybrid iems over pure BA iems, I’ve been recently surprised over the last few years by all BA iems like the Campfire IO, my older Andros and the Moondrop S8. After catching wind of the new SA3 and SA6 I wanted to give them both a shot. This review will cover the SA3 which is a triple balanced armature iem coming in at $139 here in the US. Shoutout to Kevin from DUNU for sending me the SA3 to test and review. While I always appreciate the chance to test and review products sent in from manufacturers, it never affects my...

When I first saw the FiiO M11 I was instantly in love with the looks and huge screen. Having only owned a Hiby R5 when it came to recent DAPs, I wasn’t sure what possible improvements I may see over the R5 but I still bought the M11 based off early reviews claiming how fast it was compared to other DAPs on the market. The FiiO M11 also makes use of 2.5mm and 4.4mm pentaconn balanced jacks and a normal 3.5mm single ended jack. For me this was perfect as I’m still working on converting over to 4.4mm so I could make use of all my balanced cables. Lets...

I have a soft spot for hybrid iems and when I saw a new hybrid from FiiO at $130 I had to grab a pair to try out. FiiO is running these iems in a 1 Dynamic driver handling the low end and 2 Balanced armatures with one BA for mids and the other for highs. I didn’t like the fit of the FH5 and never got around to trying the FH7 to see if the nozzle was longer or not so this was the perfect time to see how the FH3 feels and sounds at what could be a fantastic price. Onto the review of the sound! My personal preference are a dynamic hybrid iem where I...

Shoutout to Michelle from Audiofly for sending me the af140 to test and review. While I always appreciate the chance to test and review products sent in from manufacturers, it never affects the opinions of my review. I’ve heard of Audiofly before but tend to stay away from mmcx iems due to my love for cable swapping( I hate fighting with tight mmcx connectors). Lots of the descriptions on their website sound like each iem is tailored to specific needs for musicians so that also kept me away from giving them a shot as I tend to like all rounders with...

Shout out to Dylan from Dekoni Audio for sending me the pads to test and review. While I always appreciate the chance to test and review products sent in from manufacturers, it never affects the opinions in my reviews. The Aeon series from Dan Clark Audio is a fantastic sounding set of lightweight planar headphones that really do well when it comes to comfort and sound quality overall in its price brackets($500 RT models)($900 Aeon 2). However there is one real thing that has always been missing for the audiophile enthusiast that own the Aeon. Pad...

Shout out to Todd from TTVJ for letting me try these out for a week! I remember seeing the announcement for the HEDDphone and getting fairly interested in a new TOTL model using the AMT tech at $1900.... Until I saw how much these suckers weighed. I have experience with heavy audeze headphones but that’s still no excuse for these to weigh as much as they do. For anything close to $2000 I would prefer it doesn’t try and break my neck while wearing them. That being said after getting these in to try out, I’ll dismiss some of the comfort issues for how...

I’ve listened to the original Aeon flows in the past and while I had preferred the open back version I really liked the concept of a lightweight closed planar for office use or at home when I don’t want everyone hearing what I’m listening to. The only gripe I had with the closed OG aeons is I felt they sounded too cold and lean on the low end. When I saw that the Aeon flow series was being updated with new internal tuning I was stoked about the closed version again. After purchasing and receiving them I can definitely say I really dig this “re-tuned”...

I really like a dynamic hybrid iem. When I saw the new Polaris II with a bigger dynamic driver I got stoked. I got both the IO and Polaris II at the same time but I was most excited to have a “fun” bass oriented iem. Unfortunately I was in for a frustrating week of testing. This is definitely meant for a bass head who only cares about the low end hits and that’s it. The Campfire Polaris II is using a dynamic driver and single BA setup. Comfort and fit- The new design has a slightly longer nozzle than the older CA iems and I have no comfort issues...