— Original review can be found here — If the opening scene would be a spaceship landing on a desert-barren planet where, inside a derelict bazar partially drowned by sandstorms, a wooden box would be dug out of the sand, carefully set on a table and opened to reveal the Nightjar Acoustics’s Singularity — they’d be right at home. While the IEMs have been paid at retail price out of the author’s pocket, I would nonetheless like to send my heartfelt thanks to Zeppelin & Co. for making this purchase possible — thank you so much guys! — The object —...

— Original review can be found here — When one of your favourite songs is ‘White Rabbit’ from Jefferson Airplane and you’re into IEMs, it’s a bit difficult not to get drawn to the FIR Audio VxV. Released in 2021 and designed in collaboration with Singapore-based Project Perfection, the VxV was aimed to be an Every Day Carry (EDC) IEM. — The object — Small, light, well-built, with faceplates you either love or hate, together with engraved coordinates for FIR Audio’s headquarters is what makes the VxV. The VxV are linked to your source with a...

— Original review can be found here — A pure audio player. This is what Aune Audio aims for with their M1P. With a marketing reminiscent of the late 1990s, early 2000s Hi-Fi and CD players, how does the M1P fares against the competition, including a top-tier audio player from Sony? — The object — With a form factor similar yet thinner than the Sony NW-ZX300 and 507, the M1P is pretty much perfect and will fit your hand like a glove. Its leather case will help those who find it a tad too small/slippery. The all black, lightweight, aluminium...

— Original review can be found here — Grado headphones need no introduction. In an already opinionated community, they rarely leave anyone indifferent. As a matter of fact, one of Head-Fi’s oldest post, dated June 25, 2001, starts with ‘I miss the Grado sound’. If you ever heard a pair of Grado, this will be a familiar feeling — it certainly is to me having started this hobby with a pair of SR80e. — The object — The SR325x are Grado’s Prestige series top of the line headphones. Each pair of headphones are hand assembled in Brooklyn and have that...

— Original review can be found here — The Campfire Audio Andromeda are one of the few genuine staples of the IEM world. The original version was released in 2016 and its latest iteration, seven years later, in 2023. In-between, there has been three standard versions, this one included, as well as no less than eight special editions with the Andromeda Special Edition: Gold holding a very dear place in this audiophile’s heart. And yet, an actual, standard, Andromeda was yet to be heard. Disclaimer: the Andromeda 2020 have been ordered from K55.ch...

— Original review can be found here — To many audiophiles, the allure of a single dynamic driver IEM will always remain. While many companies have single DDs in their lineup, one company stands out due to its sole dedication to single DD IEMs — Dita Audio. While its parent company was established in 1971 — the year music changed the world — Dita Audio released the Perpetua to celebrate their 10th year in the audiophile industry. Disclaimer: the Dita Audio Perpetua have been ordered from Dita Audio at a discount in exchange for my opinion and has...

— Original review can be found here — Released in the Spring of 2020, the Campfire Audio Ara were ordered at the time and promptly returned. Three years later, while looking for something a bit different, the Ara were spotted at a significant discount and re-ordered to give them another chance — or maybe someone forgot they already had them in the past and ordered them again, who knows? — The object — The Ara are light yet dense and sturdy IEMs inspiring confidence. There is no getting around the fact that they’re a stunning piece of industrial...

— Original review can be found here — The Monile is part of PWAudio’s New Age series and is the entry-level cable in that category. Although there’s now an MKII version, the old version was purposefully chosen here to match 64 Audio’s U6t in terms of looks as well as test them balanced — an increasingly common output among audiophiles. Disclaimer: the Monile has been ordered from MusicTeck at a small discount in exchange for my opinion and has been paid out of the author’s pocket — The object — The Monile is a 2-wire, 4 conductor (2 Positive...

— Original review can be found here — A single dynamic driver IEM can be of particular interest to some of us. In a day and age where dynamic drivers, balanced armatures, electrostatic, bone conduction and, more recently, planar magnetic drivers, can be found in IEMs; dynamic drivers have an allure no other driver have — and for good reason. Dynamic drivers have been omnipresent in speaker systems which have been surrounding us for as long as we can remember. We're used to hearing recorded music via particularly coherent drivers and we've been...

This is a hit and run out of retirement (or is it?). Admittedly, we all hear differently and all have different preferences. Using the Cayin RU6 in NOS and an uncapped, vanilla, Sony WM1AM2 as sources with CD-Quality FLAC files, the Sony XBA-N3 (using turquoise stock silicone tips) made me (almost?) retire from this hobby. When taking value / diminishing ROI into account, they come very close to "high-end" IEMs such as the 64 Audio U6T (with M15 module), Campfire Audio Solaris 2020 and Sony's own IER-M9 for a third of the price. Maybe I'm a bit...

— Short of raw power and holding your music on a dedicated device, the gap in-between DAPs and DAC/Amp dongles has never been so small since the introduction of Lotoo's PAW S1/2, Luxury & Precision's W1/2 and, more recently, Cayin's RU6. The RU6 exhibits a level of detail and musicality which is absolutely stunning. I personally prefer it in NOS as I find the OS mode to sound more like a delta-sigma DAC but that's just me — there's no wrong choices here. I bought and received Cayin's RU6 shortly after I got the FiiO M11 Plus LTD. Compared to the...

— Original review can be found here — UPDATED ON NOV-18-22 — The U6t from 64 Audio aren’t new here. They were reviewed and eventually let go in the hunt for a single dynamic driver. With the hunt over, it is now time to revisit a dearly missed old friend. Where a single dynamic driver (DD) makes sense in the pursuit of coherency and timbre — multiple balanced armatures (BAs) make sense as transducers of choice for something being so close to one’s ear canals. With that said, the closest multiple BAs get from replicating a dynamic drivers’ coherency...

Disclaimer: I have a preference for an open, lush/smooth/warm sound with some definition, texture and soundstage — none to excess. I am not into an analytical or clinical sound. Keep this in mind when reading this review. · · · Interviewed last year, Gaudio was kind enough to loan me their IEMs for me to review after I reached out to Nicola. I didn’t receive compensations nor incentives of any kind in exchange for this review and the IEMs will be returned to Gaudio. How does a relatively new small Swiss company fares against the experienced...

Disclaimer: I have a preference for an open, lush/smooth/warm sound with some definition, texture and soundstage — none to excess. I am not into an analytical or clinical sound. Keep this in mind when reading this review. · · · This introduction will be short: I saw a relatively affordable, seemingly well-made DAP with tubes. That’s pretty much it, really. And despite the fact that I recently found, bought and reviewed Astell & Kern’s SR25 which is the DAP I rated the highest so far, the N3 Pro was too alluring to ignore. SOUND Since I ended-up...

Disclaimer: I have a preference for an open, lush/smooth/warm sound with some definition, texture and soundstage — none to excess. I am not into an analytical or clinical sound. Keep this in mind when reading this review. · · · All Grados are open-back headphones and aside their Statement and Professional Series, most are on-ear rather than over-ear headphones. Unfortunately for me, after a 15 minutes session, on-ear Grados are so painful that I have to take them off. Comfort, together with the SR325e’s lack of bass are the reasons I sold them and...

Disclaimer: I have a preference for an open, lush/smooth/warm sound with some definition, texture and soundstage — none to excess. I am not into an analytical or clinical sound. Keep this in mind when reading this review. · · · The TOTL DAP box was checked with the SP1000M: been there, done that and came to the conclusion that it wasn’t worth its price in sound for me. Don’t get me wrong, it’s an amazing DAP but I had this nagging feeling that I preferred the sound signature of the previous Astell & Kern DAP I owned which was the A&norma SR15...

Disclaimer: I have a preference for an open, lush/smooth/warm sound with some definition, texture and soundstage — none to excess. I am not into an analytical or clinical sound. Keep this in mind when reading this review. · · · "No crossover, no phase cancellation, just powerful and coherent pure sound." — Jomo Audio's description of the HAKA Reading this, I was in from the get go and ordered the HAKA with Effect Audio's Ares II cable. The HAKA seemed right up my alley with the notable exception of a tuning veering more on the side of neutral...

Disclaimer: I have a preference for an open, lush/smooth/warm sound with some definition, texture and soundstage — none to excess. I am not into an analytical or clinical sound. Keep this in mind when reading this review. · · · Curiosity and frustration got the better of me. This is a really, really, expensive DAP which easily costs 2-4 times the price of other DAPs. After re-selling your fifth DAP, however, you start to do the math and come to the conclusion that you better buy the one DAP which does everything you want — no concession. You might...

Disclaimer: I have a preference for an open, lush/smooth/warm sound with some definition, texture and soundstage — none to excess. I am not into an analytical or clinical sound. Keep this in mind when reading this review. · · · The DAP is dead. Or at least it is how I wished to title this review. I strongly believe there is a place for portable DAC/Amps for a setup with streaming capabilities. This would allow one to choose the smartphone platform they like best and plug-in the necessary accessory to transform it into an portable audiophile setup...

Disclaimer: I have a preference for an open, lush/smooth/warm sound with some definition, texture and soundstage — none to excess. I am not into an analytical or clinical sound. Keep this in mind when reading this review. · · · Although HiBy started as a software company, it is more on the hardware side of things that HiBy has been particularly successful. Since the release of their R6, a plethora of DAPs followed although their flagship — the R6 Pro — caught most of the attention. While their R3 and R3 Pro propose more mainstream alternatives, the...