Introduction The Pioneer XDP-100R comes into the Digital Audio Player (DAP) market at a very odd price point and offering an odd design when compared to other DAP’s in the market above and below this price point.   Pioneer launched the XDP-100R in partnership with Onkyo who also released the DP-X1 which essentially is the same as the XDP-100R except for a few different features.   Throughout my quest to find my portable audio endgame, I have tried and reviewed several different devices for portable audio from the iBasso DX50 & Fiio X5 to the...

Introduction Let me first start off by saying why I decided to give the V-Moda CFW a go, despite my skepticism towards bluetooth and wireless overall. The reason I decided to give the CFW a go is mainly the decision to have ago at moving with the times. There has been rumors that Apple maybe removing the headphone jack from the iPhone 7, now while this rumor doesn’t hold much ground, I personally was feeling that this was a terrible idea but then after thinking about it and after trying the CFW that feeling has turned from terrible to me thinking...

Introduction I have been looking for a solution to my music problem, I enjoy listening to music and always have but I have struggled to get a portable setup together that gives me a great listening experience without too many compromises. It all started with with my Technics SE-HD70 Hi-Fi system from the 90’s which I still use today as I love the sound signature it gives. I then went into the iPod era with Apple’s AAC Files, from there I went into MP3 320Kbps and CD Quality FLAC with the iBasso DX50. From here I ventured into Hi-Res, then got a Fiio...

Introduction Well it’s now time to review the Fidue A83, I have been using these earphones for 3 months straight and while I had issues at first it all ending very well, but more on that later.   Firstly a bit about myself, I have been listening to Music since I first heard Trivium - Ascendancy album in 2005 and since then I have explored every aspect of the Metal Genre and I have been slowly moving into old school music from the 60’s, 70’s & 80’s. I have had many portable players, like the Fiio X5 & Astell & Kern AK120, and I have had many...

Fiio X5 Review   Introduction Fiio as company in the Audio Market is very well known for bringing Audio equipment to the mainstream market that not only sounds good and looks good but priced good. There was a point in time where we would’ve turned our back on Chinese Audio Companies but recently we have been accepting them and they have been outdoing their competition with quite a few successful products. Over the years Fiio has made a name for itself with portable headphone amplifiers and dacs but in 2013 the company decided to make a move into...

Introduction Heir Audio is a quite a unique company, they started off in the world of Custom In Ear Monitors which proved very well for them and in this state the company became quite well known for their CIEM but they decided to do what other CIEM companies had done, which is move into the world of Universal In Ear Monitors. Now their goal was to create a Custom Universal In Ear Monitor which sounds impossible but they did with their 3.Ai and 4.Ai. Both these were brought to light by their marketing but mainly thanks to the Head-Fi community...

Introduction The V-Moda M-80 is seen as one of V-Moda's all time great headphones; the great style, portability, comfort and sound made it a big hit for the audiophile who wanted great sound on the move. In this review I will look at build quality, comfort, sound and then finally conclude.   Build Quality The build of these headphones is fantastic, V-Moda have not gone cheap at all with any part of this headphone. Using a metal flexible headband, with metal braces holding the ears cups to the headband, then metal shields on the sides of the ear...

The iBasso DX50 is the latest product to come out of the Chinese company iBasso. The DX50 comes in at $239.00 and comes equipped with a single Wolfson WM8740 24-Bit Chip which we see widely used in DAP's such as the Fiio X3 and the Astell & Kern AK100.   In this review I will be breaking it down into segments; Design, Storage, User Interface, Sound Quality and Conclusion.    Design:   The iBasso DX50 uses a modern and sleek design with a brush aluminium front and back, a very clean 2.4" IPS touch screen and 3 recessed physical buttons which act...