For a few years I’ve almost exclusively used spinfit tips on all my IEM reviews. I’ve cycled through every tip they’ve had minus their double flange offerings. My favorites being the super deep and wide bore CP500 and their medium size bore CP145. When I saw the release of the W1, I instantly purchased some to see if they would make for a better fitment and replacement to the CP145. Then, for the IEMs that wouldn’t work with a longer tip like the CP145/W1 I would normally use a shorter and smaller bore CP360. After using the W1 tips for many months...

I have an interesting love-hate relationship with Moondrop products. I love their early IEMs and I’ve always enjoyed their DAC/amp dongles. The last year of their IEM releases have been rough for me since I found them all very unrefined. I never got a chance to hear the original set of Moondrop fullsize headphones but I did get the recent Joker headphone in…. Which I thought was an absolute joke and waste of materials. What I’m trying to say is that I had some low expectations coming into the PARA. I can confirm that all my expectations were thrown...

I haven’t reviewed any iFi gear in forever. I normally like their gear and the last thing I reviewed from iFi was the GO blu portable DAC/amp. So given the enjoyment I got from that unit, I was interested in checking out what looked to be the GO Blu but in the form of adapters for IEMs to make them into a TWS. The GO pod uses a Cirrus Logic DAC in combination with the higher end Qualcomm QCC5144 chipset for better Bluetooth performance. This unit comes in at $399. Quick shoutout to @iFi audio for setting me up with a review unit. While I always...

I’m so used to reviewing IEMs from the bigger audio brands that a lot of the smaller brands and their hidden gems fly right past me. While I’ve never heard of Yanyin before, they seem to have a few mid range IEMs out in the market. I was offered to check out a demo unit of the Yanyin Canon II for a bit so I jumped on the offer. The Canon II is a 4 BA and 1 DD hybrid IEM coming in at $379.00. Quick shoutout to @Joe Bloggs for sending a unit out to check out and review. While I always appreciate the chance to test and review products sent in from...

As a huge fan of both the Triton and Helios, I was beyond excited to see a new Symphonium IEM coming out. I always liked the more fun tuning of the Trition but I wanted it to have the detail and magic the Helios provided. I initially thought the Crimson might be a follow up to the Helios but the marketing seemed to suggest the Crimson would have its own tuning. The Crimson doesn’t have any public info on the driver count or even what drivers are being used at the moment. The Crimson comes in at $1499.00 Quick shoutout to my friends running a short...

I liked the UM MEXT when it launched and I gave it a positive review. I’ve only ever heard great things about the MEST series and while I’ve never had the chance to hear the MEST or MEST MKII, I was excited to check out the new MEST MKIII. The MKIII(for the rest of the review) uses 10 driver hybrid made up of 1 dynamic driver, 4 balanced armatures, 4 EST drivers and topped off with their in house bone conductor. The MKIII comes in two colors with two price points. I have the blue version that comes in at $1919($1599 without the cable). The red...

I’ve been quite a fan of LETSHUOER’s recent releases such as the S12 and Cadenza 12. They’ve had a harder time IMO breaking into the ~$100 price bracket. They had the D13 which I wasn’t a fan of and the ~$100 and under price point has quite the competition already. They would need to come out with something that was unique if they wanted to stand out in the crowd IMO. They definitely came out with something different for the entry level IEM bracket. The DZ4 is using 3 dynamic drivers and a passive radiator setup. It comes in at $89. Quick shoutout...

When the MoonRiver 2 came out, I was impressed at the performance out of Moondrop’s first dongle. While it had a very bright sound signature, It still performed well and it was a unique shape and lightweight. Now that some time has passed, Moondrop has decided to release an updated and alternate dongle called the MoonRiver 2 Ti. It uses a new Titanium shell and has a plastic(maybe glass) window on the bottom to show off the internal board design. This new unit also has customizable features via their own Moondrop Link app. The MoonRiver 2 Ti(Ti going...

I really liked the initial Truthear ZERO so I was very excited when I was offered a chance to review a re-tuned version of the ZERO called the ZERO:RED. I will admit I was surprised to hear the new “project RED” IEM was another version of the ZERO since I felt that was good enough that it didn’t need a retune. Well, I’m glad a new version of the ZERO is out since it definitely brings its own flavor and I think it’s a good compliment to the ZERO. The RED comes in at $54.99 and is using a double dynamic driver setup. Quick shoutout to Shenzhenaudio...

I recently called the Hiby R6 III the “future” of DAPs, complimenting a modern OS and a non potato SOC for device performance. The sound was great and the price was even better. So here we are with a post R6 III release using the same SOC and modern Android 12 OS called the R6 Pro II or R6 P2 as I’ll call it for the rest of the review. I was thrilled when I saw that this new R6 P2 was being released with the newest AKM AK4499EX that I found extremely impressive from the recent Topping E70V review I did. Since Hiby had a good SOC and OS setup from the...

I will admit I’m quite a fan of Moondrop’s IEMs. I love the OG Aria, the Kato and I still consider the Variations my favorite ~$500 IEM. When the Blessing 2 came out, I didn’t like it at all. It sounded fairly bright and metallic to me. Whether that was an issue with tip choice back then or something else, I simply choose to skip reviewing it. The B2 and B2 Dusk had quite the fan following so when I saw a tinner nozzle B3 with a Double DD design, I was fairly excited and very interested in checking it out. The B3 is using a double dynamic driver and...

As a huge fan of ESS DACs, I’ve had the chance to hear quite a few ESS variations over the last few years. I’ve heard quite a few different ES9038Q2M/PRO designs as well. There have been really well implemented DACs and some rough ones too. I’ve personally never heard of eversolo or its parent company Zidoo but I was asked if I wanted to check their new DAC-Z8 offering under this new brand called eversolo. I had zero expectations when it came to the DAC implementation itself and I was way more interested in the digital VU meters and said yes on that...

I bought a Hiby R6 2020 when it launched but I had a lot of gripes with the heat it produced as well as a bunch of broken features within the Android OS it used. I ended up liking the size and feel of the R6 2020 but I wished it had been refined just a bit more given its initial $799 price when it launched. Since then we’ve had a few entry level and upper end DAPs in and out of our home. When I saw the announcement for the R6 III, I was in shock since it had a more current Android OS, a good mid grade SOC spec’d like a $800-$1k DAP but came in at...

I personally bought a pair of the original Bowers & Wilkins PI7 when it launched. I was so excited for it but I found it was plagued by lots of firmware bugs and issues for what I needed in a daily TWS at the time. I eventually sold it or returned it(can’t remember) and I just “dealt” with the OG Airpods Pro sound quality. Now we have a PI7 second gen or “S2”. The awesome people over at Audio 46 asked if I wanted to check out a set for a bit and I was excited to see how it performed this time around, especially with the wonderful Airpods Pro 2...

I really liked the S12 from Letshuoer but I’ve honestly had little interest in checking out some of their mid-range IEMs. When I was asked about checking out a future flagship, I was interested to see what they could produce given the hybrid setup and design I was told about. The Cadenza 12 is a 12 driver hybrid using a single dynamic driver and a mix of Knowles and Sonion balanced armature drives(11 in total). The Price for this shiny little IEM is $2299 MSRP and $2099 for pre-order at the moment. While I’ll have some thoughts on the price later on...

I just reviewed the Topping E70/L70 not that long ago and I was rather impressed by the L70 amp but I was pretty lukewarm on the E70 DAC. With the L70 performing well above my expectations, it felt like something was off in terms of the original DAC pairing for the “stack”. To my surprise, a new version of the E70 DAC was around the corner using AKM’s newest flagship instead of an older ESS 9028pro DAC from the standard E70. I’ve never been the biggest fan of AKM DACs and every one I’ve used in the past was always neutral sounding and somewhat...

The $1000-$1600 range of IEMs has some of my favorite IEMs to date so I was excited when I heard Effect Audio was doing a collaboration with Elysian Audio and producing a new IEM coming in at $1299. I’m quite the fan of Effect Audio’s cables and I’ve heard nothing but good things about Elysian’s tuning with their IEMs. The Gaea is a 5 driver hybrid IEM design using a single Foster dynamic driver for lows and 4 Sonion balanced armatures for the rest of the frequencies. The Gaea comes with Effect Audio’s ConX IEM swappable connector system and choice...

I raved about the Truthear Zero when it launched and continues to be a fun sounding IEM I use when I go play music arcade games or just something to enjoy music with from time to time. The HEXA is their newest IEM coming in at $79.00 which means it competes with my favorite under $100 IEM, the standard Moondrop Aria. The HEXA is a hybrid design using a single dynamic driver and three balanced armatures. Quick shoutout to @shenzhenaudio for sending the HEXA to review. While I always appreciate the chance to test and review products sent in from...

I’ve been a fan of Topping’s recent releases such as their portable G5 and the now older E50/L50. I’ve been busy reviewing a lot of IEMs and portables as of late so dipping my toes into the desktop source gear is a nice change of pace. The E70 is a new Topping DAC using the ESS ES9028Pro and comes in at $349. The L70 headphone amp comes in at $349 as well. Both are designed to be used together in a “stack” setup but they can be used separately with other source gear. I’ll be reviewing both together for most of this review. Quick shoutout to...

I’ve always wanted to check out 64 Audio stuff for years. I was most interested when the N8 came out since that sounded right up my alley. While I didn’t have luck getting in contact with anyone before to get something to try out, I’ve always kept my eye on the 64 Audio releases. I have some reviewer acquaintances that I hold to high regards such as @Precogvision who preaches the good word of house 64 Audio :p. I took a shot at seeing if the Bloom Audio family would be willing to send something to check out. To my luck they had a Nio on hand I could...