Head Gear Reviews by third_eye
  1. DITA Perpetua

    5.00 star(s)
    Introduction In a world where the pursuit of ever-increasing numbers of drivers and combinations of driver technologies dominate the IEM industry, minimalism may seem like an unusual concept. During my visit to CanJam Singapore in March 2023, I had the opportunity to experience the Dita Perpetua - a single dynamic driver IEM that belongs to the flagship class. I was fortunate enough to have some listening time on the Sunday of the event, and listening to the Perpetua was one of my personal show highlights. DITA Audio were showing the Perpetua in two...
  2. Unique Melody--The Multiverse Mentor Flagship IEMs

    5.00 star(s)
    Introduction IEM driver technology continues to be one of the most exciting and innovative spaces in the headphone audio market. Over the past few years we’ve seen countless designs utilizing dynamic drivers, balanced armature drivers, piezoelectric drivers, bone conducting drivers, and hybrid designs containing various combinations of the above. Bone conduction technology is different from the other driver technologies that move air, in that it passes vibrations through the bones in the jaw and skull, directly into the inner ear. In a sense, this...
  3. HiBy RS8 Android Hifi Audio Player

    5.00 star(s)
    Introduction The flagship DAP market has gotten really interesting over the last few years. Once a near exclusive purview of Astell&Kern, with a smattering of Sony on top, the market has since expanded to include the likes of Cayin, Luxury & Precision, and now HiBy, among others. Most flagship DAPs are traditional chip/based DACs which pursue varying degrees of reference type sound signatures. In an effort to appeal to enthusiasts looking for a wider variety of personal listening preferences, Cayin released their N8 series in 2018 which enabled the...
  4. dCS Lina Network DAC, Headphone Amplifier, and Master Clock

    5.00 star(s)
    Introduction At this point in time, it would be fair to assume that most serious headphone enthusiasts have heard of dCS. The Cambridge, UK based company has been at the forefront of digital audio for many years now, and was the first to introduce asynchronous USB to a standalone DAC, called the Debussy, back in 2008. The company is revered in the high-end, hi-fi space and the dCS Bartok (current MSRP $19,950) gave us a real taste of its flagship lines, the Vivaldi and Rossini, at a more palatable price level. Back in 2019, when dCS introduced the...
  5. THX Onyx Portable DAC/Amplifier

    5.00 star(s)
    Introduction THX. A legendary company founded in 1983 by George Lucas. THX became known for developing high fidelity audio/visual reproduction standards for movie theaters, with the goal of helping filmmakers translate their work to the big screen in the best way possible. THX certification became known as the gold standard in the audio/visual industry. More recently, THX developed its AAA (Achromatic Audio Amplifier) technology for use in headphone audio products with a stated goal of providing the highest fidelity audio with extremely low levels...
  6. qdc Anole V14 Universal IEM

    5.00 star(s)
    Introduction The past few years have seen improved performance in IEMs as transducer technology continues to advance with multiple flagship level IEMs starting to combine different types of transducers in their products. Earlier this year, and with little fanfare, the Anole V14 from qdc was released to the public at the 2021 Shanghai International Headphone Show. This new flagship of the qdc brand is the successor, and technological evolution, of the highly popular Anole VX. The VX has remained one of my favorite flagship IEM’s since first hearing it...
  7. dCS Bartok

    5.00 star(s)
    Introduction The past decade has been somewhat of a golden age for headphone audio enthusiasts. In addition to the plethora of new companies and products on the scene, the level of innovation and performance has also significantly gained pace. It’s not a stretch to say that the sound quality we can achieve with our headphone audio rigs today is something that we could only dream about just a few short years ago. One of the areas that has seen such dramatic change has been digital audio. I remember the excitement surrounding the first asynchronous...
  8. Vision Ears ELYSIUM

    5.00 star(s)
    Introduction We’re now in a golden age of in-ear-monitor (IEM) design as new driver design technologies continue to enter the market. This, in turn, is resulting in a plethora of new products (and companies) entering this growing segment of the headphone audio industry. Among the recent innovations has been the release of off-the-shelf electrostatic in-ear drivers which has enabled IEM manufacturers to develop hybrid IEM products that use a combination of electrostatic, dynamic, and balanced armature drivers in their IEM’s, most commonly...
  9. Auris Audio Headonia

    5.00 star(s)
    Introduction What is the best headphone amplifier for the hard-to-drive Hifiman Susvara? For those not familiar, the Susvara and its Hifiman predecessor, the HE-6, are notoriously hard-to-drive planar magnetic headphones with some enthusiasts going down the path of using dedicated speaker amplifiers to drive them. Prior to this review, I had been using the DNA Stratus 2A3 headphone amplifier as my primary amp for the Susvara as well as my other headphones. With it’s 1.8 watts per channel, the Stratus does a great job with all of my headphones but...
  10. Innuos Zenith MK3

    5.00 star(s)
    Introduction A friend once told me the old audiophile adage “everything matters”. For Head-Fiers, a common topic of conversation has traditionally revolved around the level of importance attributed to individual pieces making up the audio chain. This usually translates to how to best to divide the pie between the headphones, headphone amplifier, DAC, with source and cables also factoring in to the equation. As audiophiles transitioned from albums to CD’s and and increasingly over the past few years to music files and streaming, a common goal amongst...
  11. qdc Anole VX

    5.00 star(s)
    Introduction In November 2018, Head-Fi held its first CanJam event in Shanghai, China, and it turned out to be a resounding success. One of the reasons to enter the Chinese market was to enable the exposure of Chinese brands to the international headphone audio market as the last few years have seen a rapid proliferation of high quality audio products coming from China. And while many of the products are firmly in the entry and mid-level tier, a number of companies are also honing their technological skills and producing true summit-fi products...
  12. Dan Clark Audio (MrSpeakers) ETHER 2

    5.00 star(s)
    Introduction A few weeks ago at an audio event in Los Angeles, I was sitting at a table with Dan Clark and Andy Regan of MrSpeakers and we were treated to a wonderful live jazz ensemble performance. While talking about sound signatures of headphones in general, Dan suggested that I close my eyes and really listen to how the live drums and piano actually sounded. Natural, silky, and smooth were the immediate things that came to mind and as we continued to talk about the Ether 2, it became clear that Dan’s design goals were to create a sound signature...
  13. Abyss Headphones Diana

    5.00 star(s)
    Over the past couple of years, I’ve had the chance to hear various iterations of the Abyss Diana through their development, and was really excited to finally hear the production version earlier this year at CanJam NYC 2018. Although my audition at the time was a relatively short one, it was enough to pique my interest in spending some time with this headphone and I’ve now had the chance to spend time with a production review sample for the past few months. First a little background on Abyss Headphones and the Diana project. High end cable...
  14. 64 Audio (1964 Ears) TIA Fourte

    5.00 star(s)
    Introduction The last few years have seen a proliferation of new in ear monitor (IEM) products as personal/portable audio continues its incredible growth trend within the global audio industry. Increasingly, headphone enthusiasts and mobile technology consumers are looking at IEM’s as their primary headphone of choice. Thankfully, the performance level of IEM’s has improved across the board with great products at all price ranges. The 64 Audio Tia Fourte is a flagship category example of this new trend of high performance IEM’s, and features cutting...
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