Introduction/Preamble                       There are very few things about my life that I would consider certainties. Skepticism is my natural reaction to information that is not founded in some sort of established fact. Amplifying this behavior is the last several years of post grad work that has bent my mind into doubting anything that isn't peer-reviewed and based in solid science. As a result, I'm quite reluctant to believe many things.   I'm also very quick to question my own actions and emotions. I often find myself in a...

Introduction         In audio circles, the word "endgame" generally refers to a headphone or audio chain component that is practically without fault, and performs at a high enough level to render future purchases relatively redundant. In my case, I've owned my pair of Rockets since September of last year, and I've had absolutely zero desire to spend a single cent on another IEM since then. What I'll attempt to do with this review is to explain why this is the case, and hopefully by the end of it you'll find my endgame label justified.      ...

Tralucent Audio: Ref 1.                                                                                    Foreword         The Ref 1 is the second major IEM release from Tralucent Audio. On first glance it appears to be the same hybrid design (dynamic driver + 2 balanced armatures working in unison) as their first offering, the 1plus2, but a quick listing of the features shows that to not be the case. Apart from relatively smaller tweaks, the major change in design comes from the replacement of the standard dynamic with an...

  (copied and pasted from the thread)     Intro                     Noble Audio is the new brain child of John Molton, who is known around these parts as the Wizard. Formerly of Heir Audio, his CIEM designs are usually his calling card. However, his initial universal-fit 4.Ai and 3.Ai, and 5 designs saw a good deal of success. With his new company, he has revamped expanded the universal line to include the 6-driver iem that is the focus of this review.                 Finish/Fit/Accessories/Miscellaneous        The Noble...

Preface         A huge thanks to Dan (mrspeakers) for including me on the tour. I owned the Mad Dogs with alpha pads, so it's a great pleasure to get to hear this evolution of it.   The Alpha Dog is the world's first headphone with 3D printed cups. Even better, the inner workings and lattices of the cups were completely designed with sound quality in mind. Everything from the double-walled design to the lattice work is meant to optimize SQ while retaining isolation. Another benefit to going all in with the cup design is that Dan and his team...

*Disclaimer!: I've spent the last month with several top-tier headphones and iems, most of which are priced over $1,000. This review may come off as somewhat unenthusiastic as a result, but bear in mind that I think this is a fantastic product, and RHA has achieved a great price point with the SA950i. Let's begin...       The SA950i is an interesting proposition. Here we have a portable on ear headphone with the typical consumer-oriented sound signature, but it manages to give good to great SQ at a low-hanging fruit price. As with most...

Introduction     The ASG-2 is Aurisonics' second (official) foray into the world of iems. The guys over at Aurisonics cater primarily to the music professional crowd, and their products are generally tuned for stage use. Their original ASG-1 was a perfect example of this, with its ability to present vocals in a way that made it seem as if the notes were rolling off your own tongue. The ASG-1's various revisions were good in their own right, but they always seemed to lack something...treble. As I noted in my review, the treble was very refined...