Introduction Hidizs is not an unknown brand in the audiophile community, especially thanks to their DAPs that were discussed and appreciated on many audio-hobbyists’ forums. Instead, their IEMs weren’t among the most popular around, but they have recently started promoting them and it seems like many people are now trying their products. Disclaimer: the Hidizs MS1-Galaxy were sent by Hidizs free of charge in order to be able to write a honest review. I do not represent Hidizs in any way and this is not promotional content. The Hidizs MS1-Galaxy are...

Introduction Celest is among the most appreciated brands since last year, and for good reasons: they hit the price brackets in which they compete with very good looking products and great sound. After the Kinera Gramr, Celest released the Ruyi, a cable with boom microphone that transforms (almost) every 2-PIN IEM in a headset that can be used for streaming, gaming and so on. Now, the Wyvern Pro combines both a cable with a boom microphone and a pair of IEMs, in order to provide a complete package for gamers or streamers about which there’s a lot of...

Introduction The first time I saw these, I had only one thought: “well, a Meze Advar carbon-copy set”. But my friend Akros told me to have faith and try them, and in fact I didn’t regret it. EPZ may not be the most popular company you’ve heard about (many didn’t even know about its existence) but the Q5 are a very interesting set and I invite you to read the review carefully since there are a lot of things to say about these babies. Disclaimer: the EPZ Q5 were sent by my friend Akros (visit his Youtube channel for many other reviews if you need some...

Introduction After the Pandamon, which showed noticeable improvements from the previous Gumiho, Celest is back with another product, even though this time the price range is slightly higher and the driver configuration is different. In fact, the Phoenixcall are the first tribrid from Celest and represent a further step forward from their previous sets that adopted their Square Planar Driver technology (here called Flat Panel Driver). Let’s dive into these new babies! Disclaimer: the Celest Phoenixcall were provided by HiFiGO free of charge as a...

Introduction Queen of Audio, a brand under Kinera’s wings, has been releasing new IEMs in recent times. After their highly praised and appreciated QoA Gimlet, they’re back with the Vesper 2, which are supposed to be the successor of their older QoA Vesper that were released back in 2020. Disclaimer: the QoA Vesper 2 were provided by Queen of Audio free of charge as a review sample in order to write some impressions. I do not represent Queen of Audio in any way and this is not promotional content. At the time of the review, the QoA Vesper 2 were on...

Introduction CCA has always been offering more balanced and pleasant tunings than KZ, its “sister brand”, starting from the old CCA C10 which was a real surprise in the Chi-Fi industry back in 2019. After the big praises for the D-Fi and the provocative Krila marketing, the Duo from CCA comes out trying to surprise with its dual DD configuration. Disclaimer: the CCA Duo were provided by CCA free of charge as a review sample in order to write some impressions. I do not represent CCA in any way and this is not promotional content. At the time of...

Introduction After the big success of the Wan’er and the so-so launch of the Shimin-Li Encounter Edition, TangZu is back on the market with a new set, and this time it is a pair of bullet shaped earphones. The market is becoming more and more competitive, so will this new small set be up to par? Disclaimer: the TangZu Princess Chang Le were provided by TangZu free of charge as a review sample in order to write some impressions. I do not represent TangZu in any way and this is not promotional content. At the time of the review, the TangZu Chang Le...

Introduction At the end of May 2022, the OG version of the KBEAR Ink was released. Unfortunately, they passed under the radar for many reasons, among which the crowded market and the fact that they weren’t as good as other brands’ offering at the same price (at the time of their release). KBEAR has been working behind the scenes to improve the original Ink, and in this review I’ll be presenting you the new KBEAR Ink MK2 that was kindly sent to me as a pre-release sample. Disclaimer: the KBEAR Ink MK2 were provided by KBEAR free of charge as a...

Introduction 2022 was a crucial year for Chi-Fi development and the planar war pushed brands to their boundaries in order to keep up with the latest technology. Today, we are finally able to see planar IEMs in the budget segment too, and KZ was among the few that could really count on its scale economies to keep the price down and launch a very cheap planar set: this is where the KZ x HBB PR2 come into play. Disclaimer: the KZ x HBB PR2 were provided by Tyvan Lam from Knowledge Zenith (KZ) free of charge in order to write an honest review. I do not...

Introduction TRI has finally done its own budget set with tuning switches: the Star River. Some time ago there were only a few brands that were trying to offer this kind of solution (i.e. Tansio Mirai), but nowadays there are multiple companies that are trying to produce their own sets with this technology. Let’s see if TRI did a good job with these or if this is just another “curious experiment” and nothing more. Disclaimer: the sample was provided by TRI for free in order to write an honest review. I do not represent them in any way and this is...

Introduction After Chu’s big success and the latest Quarks DSP’s hype, Moondrop is back with another budget set of IEMs: the Moondrop Lan. Apparently, just by looking at the photos, these seem to be a direct upgrade from the Moondrop Chu, and in fact they have a lot in common, but let’s take a deeper look together. Disclaimer: the Moondrop Lan were provided by Cloris from Shenzen Audio for free in order to write an honest review. I do not represent them in any way and this is not promotional content. At the time of the review, the Moondrop Lan were...

Introduction Truthear is hitting pretty hard with their releases, and the more they release new sets, the more they seem to become references in their price ranges. Plus, it’s progressively clearer that they are related to Moondrop somehow. But as stated in my Truthear HEXA’s review, it’s better to focus on the product itself rather than the brand, so let’s get straight to the point with Truthear HOLA’s review. Disclaimer: the sample was provided by Shenzen Audio for free in order to write an honest review. I do not represent them in any way and this...

Introduction Together with the Truthear HOLA, Truthear released the SHIO, a very small portable DAC/AMP that features a double Cirrus Logics CS43198 and both balanced and unbalanced outputs. Let’s see how it’s built and how it performs. Disclaimer: the sample was provided by Cloris from Shenzen Audio free of charge in order to write an honest review. I do not represent them in any way and this is not promotional content. At the time of the review, the Truthear SHIO were sold for $69,99 on Shenzen Audio Store’s website. Technical Specifications...

Introduction After releasing the first SPD set, the Gumiho, Celest is back with another release. They have improved the SPD and developed a SPD 2.0, which is the full range driver used in their newest release: the Celest Pandamon. Just to introduce you to the name of the IEMs, “Pandamon” comes from chinese mythology and is also known as the "Iron Eating Beast", so that's why there's a sort of "metallic panda" on the faceplate. Disclaimer: the sample was provided by Celest for free in order to write an honest review. I do not represent them in any...

Introduction Truthear seems to be pretty new brand in industry, but in fact I do not know if it really is “that” new. I have no source to confirm this, but by looking at their packaging and IEMs’ design, it appears that Truthear is a sort of “outside-China” Moondrop branch. Being it related to Moondrop or not, products are what really count, and in this case the Hexa will be on the discussion table. Disclaimer: the Truthear Hexa were provided by Shenzenaudio for free in order to write an honest review. I do not represent them in any way and this is...

Introduction QoA (Queen of Audio) is a pretty popular Kinera sub-brand. It’s not the type of brand that releases IEMs on a monthly basis, just like other brands started doing in the last years, but they usually release pretty good looking IEMs that also have a very clear “direction” in terms of tuning. The QoA Gimlet was tuned in collaboration with Hi Fri, which is a well known audio enthusiast in the IEMs and Chi-Fi world, and since he is a trustworthy reviewer and tuner, I was very curious about this one. Disclaimer: this is not promotional...

Introduction Celest may be unknown to many, but in fact it’s just a sister company of Kinera, just like QoA (Queen of Audio). Their first release, the Gumiho, have been part of a drama that was related to the adopted driver technology, even though after some weeks things were clearer and all was way more understandable. In this review, we’ll see if the Gumiho is something worth considering given its price, or if there are options which are more attractive in their price range. Disclaimer: the sample was provided by Celest for free in order to write...

Introduction A new Oppoty on the radar! After some “average” releases such as the Blon FG, BL-07, the BL-Max, the BL-A8 and the BL-Mini, Blon is back with a new set. Fans keep asking for a true BL-03 upgrade but it seems like that even the most recent releases cannot replace the most popular and loved Blon’s set. This Z200 hints something different from the latest releases, and also its name does not contain any “BL” in the name, so it may suggest some changes are on the way, but what’s better than trying them and then judge? In this review, we’ll...

Introduction TRI is a well known brand in the Chi-Fi industry, thanks to their past releases such as the TRI I3 and TRI I3 Pro, the TRI Starshine, the TRI I4 and so on. It’s KBEAR’s sister brand and usually focuses on more premium IEMs while KBEAR focuses on more mainstream and cheaper products. The TRI X HBB KAI were tuned by HawaiiBadBoy (Bad Guy Good Audio Reviews or BGGAR) and follow his other collaborations with other brands such as Tripowin, KZ and so on. In this review, we’ll check the KAI out to see who is the target of this new release from...

Introduction Tin Hifi is well known in the Chi-Fi world and sometimes they come up with a new set for the budget segment. The T1s, which is supposed to be a sort of “successor” of their T1+, were launched at the end of this spring, and in this review we’ll be try to look deeper into what they’re able to offer. Disclaimer: the sample was won in a giveaway organized by Keephifi. I do not represent them in any way and this is not promotional content. At the time of the review, the Tin Hifi T1s were sold for $25 on Keephifi’s webstore. Technical...