A note about me, my preferences and approach to this hobby: I’ve been interested in audio for most of my nearly 50 year life. My earliest memories of this hobby were long days spent exploring my dad’s record collection through his 70s era 2-channel system. I became interested in portable audio as soon as it became a thing and beginning with a Sony Walkman in the 80s I have had a portable audio device of one kind or another pretty much continuously ever since. The appeal of carrying a little portable audio paradise around with me wherever I go has...

Dunu Zen Pro – The Delicate Sound of Thunder Preamble: My Zen Pro was purchsed by me from Amazon. There was an open box discount but I was not asked or required to review it. This review is motivated by nothing other than my wanting to express and share my regard for this IEM. Today I am reviewing the Zen Pro, a single DD IEM from Dunu. Dunu is one of those companies I’ve long been aware of through positive impressions I’ve heard from friends of IEMs like the Luna, SA6 and earlier models like the DK3001. However given that I live in Canada--...

Preamble: I’ve been a Campfire fanboy since the Solaris became my first true love in IEMs in March of 2019. I appreciate their overall aesthetic, approach and the way they go after different types of tuning, some of which are inspiring, others less so, with all of them being at least interesting. I appreciate CFA’s mid-bass heavy DD offerings and am always up for a fun and engaging IEM so when Campfire announced the Honeydew, a single DD that, in their words is “Optimized for Full Range Dynamic Fun” and an “Excellent choice for drummers, bassists...

“It's really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don't know what they want until you show it to them.” ~ Steve Jobs Following is a reflective summary of my experience with the Oriolus Isabellae. This will consist of a consolidation of my thoughts & impressions of Isa in the roughly six weeks I’ve had it, as well as some follow-up thoughts including discussion on how this IEM and concomitant exposure to Oriolus, their tuning & IEMs and overall wizardry of "The Old Man" has helped redefine & sharpen my own approach to &...

“Simplicity is the final achievement. After one has played a vast quantity of notes and more notes, it is simplicity that emerges as the crowning reward of art.“ ~ Chopin Fire on the Mountain - A Review of the Campfire Audio Dorado 2020 Instead of sharing manufacturer specs, talking about packaging etc., all of which is information available in any other review (and, for that matter, on the website) I will post some opening caveats/points that will give anyone who reads this a sense of where I’m coming from: My thoughts and rankings are...

Following is my personal review of the Vision Ears Elysium, a flagship monitor made by the (Cologne) Germany based company Vision Ears. The Elysium was originally released as a custom monitor in mid-late 2019 and roughly a year later in 2020 a universal version was released. Thanks to some what-appear-now-to-be-prophetic early reviews and impressions by the likes of @mvvRAZ , @circafreedom , @Deezel177 , and @marcusd from Headfonics, I have long nursed a curiosity about this IEM. I was fortunate to be able to demo the universal Elysium via @Barra...

I have had to revisit a few things and have taken down my review for the time being. I will resubmit it after I have made some constructive changes. The rest of this is just me trying to make up the necessary 250 characters. I wish Head-Fi let you temporarily take reviews down.

Like a Finger Pointing Away to the Moon-- My Quest for the Perfect DAP First off let me say that I am somewhat new to the world of high-end portable audio and as such I probably lack the experience, perception and vocabulary to do a really thorough review. That said I have been passionate about great sound my whole life and I know what I like. In that spirit I will share a bit of my journey through the audio world in an attempt to describe and do justice to this amazing music player. It all began for me earlier this year when I picked up a pair...

This review isn't structured like a normal review-- it's basically a stream of consciousness collection of some of my thoughts after owning the Solaris for a few days. I originally posted it in the Solaris thread here on Head-Fi and decided I would share it here too. I will start by saying that I'm in no way affiliated with Campfire Audio-- this review was not sponsored in any way. If I come across as a fanboy it's because I'm quite taken with the company. Their philosophy, craftsmanship and grassroots ethic place them in a class all their own...