Head Gear Reviews by grumpy213

Preamble Many thanks to @Damz87 and @Eric Chong for arranging the Australian Head-Fi tour of the School of Athens series of cables (Aristotle and Euclid) The world of audio cables is one that is fraught with danger. Considering one of more commonly discussed topics is whether they make any difference at all, one would imagine that this is not exactly a cakewalk of a market. Eletech has managed to be one of the top choices within the IEM cable market however, seemingly focusing on ergonomics with their thinner and lighter offerings that seek to...

Preamble Many thanks to @Damz87 and @Eric Chong for arranging the Australian Head-Fi tour of the School of Athens series of cables (Aristotle and Euclid) Math and logic are hardly elements that I would associate with a topic as controversial as cables given the rather prolific thought that it is all hogwash and snake oil. There is, however, an inherent intrigue in the science (and to some, the pseudoscience) of various types of materials, their geometries, their properties leading to a potential change in sound. I, for one, am a believer in the...

Addendum I had mistakenly drafted the review under the impression that this was the MEMS-3S when it was actually the MEMS-3. Apologies to the team at Soranik for this mistake. The original review has been corrected with relevant details for the 3 and the details for the 3S removed. Preamble Many thanks to @Damz87 and Soranik for arranging the Australian Head-Fi tour of the MEMS-3. The world of audio is a rather mature industry in that transducers are hardly a new idea. The underlying technology is grandfathered in and despite manufacturers stating...

Preamble Many thanks to @Damz87 and Simgot for arranging the Australian tour of these IEMs. The concept of a ‘house sound’ is something that is quite interesting to have in the audio market. One would come to expect a certain sound signature from a brand and if it fits into their particular preference, it would be a tremendous benefit to know that you would like anything that the brand is putting out. The other side of this coin is that you inevitably will begin to tire of this house sound and start to branch out in search of a little spice in your...

Preamble Many thanks to @Damz87 and Simgot for arranging the tour of the Supermix 4. It is easy to be overwhelmed by a first impression and declare your love for something as notional as a brand, but a true litmus test is repeated impressions of various other items from the same brand. Today’s review concerns such a test for the Chi-Fi upstart, Simgot, who has managed to capture the imagination of many audiophiles in what is a very crowded market. My first impression of Simgot IEMs was the EA1000 and my impression was of a brand punching above its...

Preamble Many thanks to @Damz87 and MiniDisc Australia for making this tour possible. There is much to love about the idea of the audio dongle. Lightweight, widely compatible and very portable, the dongle has been a boon to the audiophile on the go. Their popularity has skyrocketed in recent years with options ranging from the venerable Apple Dongle, which many people state, “is all you need” to extremely expensive options from the likes of Luxury & Precision that seek to show you what is possible in a smaller form factor. Whilst not in the...

Preamble The upper end of audio equipment manufacturer’s usually play in a certain price bracket looking to build a brand based on ‘luxury’ and ‘high-end’ audio. But given the proliferation of the hobby with the growth of Chi-Fi, there has been a delving into other markets for a number of brands. The decision to enter new markets is a big decision to make and also brings with it an expectation of all the connotations that one has built towards a brand. Today’s review concerns the Dita Project M (PM), a fairly affordable option from established...

Preamble I purchased the Questyle CMA18 Portable (CMA18) at my own cost and Questyle have had no input on the below review. The rating is a mix of both Sound and Quality of Life and Value. For the CMA18, Sound gets 4.5 stars and Quality of Life gets 3.5 stars leading to the resulting overall rating. I note that the above rating is based on the testing of the CMA18 with the following IEMs: BLON BL-03 (Single DD budget); Campfire Audio Supermoon (Single planar driver kilobuck); Letshuoer S12 Pro (Single planar budget-ish) Unique Melody MEST MK2...

Preamble Many thanks to @Damz87 and Symphonium for arranging the Australian Head-Fi tour of the Symphonium Crimson It is interesting how an IEM can shape your perception of a manufacturer and create biases that influence further impressions of their products. The first impression is crucial, and missing the chance to captivate a potential fan with their initial experience can be significant. My first encounter with Symphonium, a lauded manufacturer from Singapore was the Helios. Armed with high expectations and hopes generated from some great...

Preamble As you move up a product line, there is an expectation that you are receiving tangible and easily ascertainable benefits for your dollars. A higher trim on a car yields heated seats and a bucket of safety features you never knew you needed. A higher specced laptop provides you with greater benchmark scores. And a higher end cable provides you with…more sound? It's a bit of a tricky one to explain but as I move into the top of the line cable for Eletech’s Virtues line of cables, I began to expect more and more. And for 529 USD, one would...

Preamble SPC is a bit of the red-headed stepchild of cable materials in my reading. People love pure copper, pure silver or some hodgepodge of metal to create some Frankenstein alloy. SPC is usually connected with cheaper cables you find on Amazon from no-name brands but this is changing somewhat. Effect Audio (EA) Code 24 presented a more expensive cable with SPC and today’s review concerns their direct rival, Eletech’s entry into the SPC market. But can this cable shake off these preconceptions or is it to be relegated to the parts bin? The...

Preamble There are usually a few steps into the world of cable rolling. First, by circumstance or by curiosity, one would usually order a cheaper cable off the list of usual suspects being NiceHCK, XINHS or Tripowin. The next logical step would be a more established and well-known manufacturer such as Effect Audio or Eletech. Before you know it, you’re spending the price of a used car on a PWAudio Orpheus Shielding. But today’s review concerns the cheapest cable in the Eletech family, Azrael. And, despite being the cheapest, the Azrael comes in at...

Preamble Many thanks to @Yifang for lending me his personal unit for this review. There are some items in this hobby of audio that become something of lore. These items seem to transcend their raison d’etre of producing sound into your earholes and become something that essentially dominates the hobby in terms of conversation and benchmarking. From the IEMs such as the Moondrop Chu causing an arms race amongst Chi-Fi manufacturers of a race to the bottom of the price bracket, the Moondrop Blessing 2 Dusk becoming the defacto choice in its price...

Luxury & Precision (LP) P6 Pro (P6P) Preamble Digital audio players (DAPs) harken back to the past of dumbphones and the need to carry around a dedicated device for music playback. From the Walkman to the iPod and now to the modern day DAP, these audio players are far less ubiquitous amongst the general population now and are more specialised devices for the discerning audiophile. But the variety that exists within the ranks of DAPs is something to behold, there are devices that harken back to the iPod Shuffle with tiny screens, devices that...

Preamble The proliferation of Chinese Hi-Fi (Chi-Fi) in the audio scene in the last decade has led to a tremendous growth of audiophiles in the hobby. The barriers to entry have been lowered and appreciation for good quality audio is now in the mainstream. However, it is not all rainbows and candy unfortunately, as the prolific nature of Chinese manufacturers has led to unprecedented levels of choice for consumers. Herein lies the rub, there is now the paradox of people being crippled by the freedom of choice. Today’s review concerns a Chi-Fi...

Preamble Thank you to @Damz87 and @EffectAudio for arranging the Australian Head-Fi Tour of the Effect Audio Code 24 and 24C. In the history of product lines, there has also been the sense of wanting more for less but ultimately being sad that you don’t have the best of the best. A Civic Type R pulls up to you in your Si, a WRX STi pulls up to you in your WRX, a Continental GT pulls up to your plain old Continental and there is a sense of wanting. Today’s review concerns the smaller brother of a newly released cable, the Code 24, and whilst limited...

Preamble Thank you to @Damz87 and @EffectAudio for arranging the Australian Head-Fi Tour of the Effect Audio Code 24 and 24C. The world of cable rolling is fraught with pitfalls. “Ackchually, there is no measurable difference”, “bro, $1000 on a cable, are you smoking crack?”, “holy crap the XXX cable didn’t do anything, what do I do?”. These are some of the common events that one may encounter in their pursuit of very expensive strands of copper, but is there really a point? I would venture to say yes, yes there is. In my experience on these audio...

Preamble Many thanks to @Damz87 for arranging the Australian tour of these and special thanks to @tfaduh for lending his personal unit for this review. It’s not uncommon to see new entrants in the world of audio but it is less common to see on as prolific as FatFreq. In a short span of time, this Singaporean manufacturer has managed the capture the imagination of many an audiophile through their rather extreme tunings and their rather robust product line up consisting of musician targeted monitors and the Maestro line. Today’s review concerns the...

Preamble Many thanks to @Damz87 for arranging the Australian tour of these and special thanks to @reallynotareview for lending his personal unit for this review. In a world of Harman tuned IEMs, there seems to be a prevailing idea of what constitutes a well-tuned IEM (at least below a certain price point). Adherence to targets with minor adjustments and a FR curve seems to be enough for a not-insignificant number of audiophiles to praise or malign an IEM. FatFreq is a Singaporean maker that is seemingly hellbent on subverting these targets to...

Preamble Many thanks to @Damz87, @Vision Ears and Minidisc for arranging the Australian tour of the EXT and the PHöNIX. Ask anyone on the street about audio brands and the likelihood that they rattle off brands such as Apple, Beats and Bose is very high indeed. Ask people slightly more interested in the topic and you might get the likes of Sennheiser and Audio Technica. The chances of them stating “Vision Ears” are very low, and for good reason. The German company keeps a fairly low profile mostly sticking to CIEMs and some rather high-priced...