Brand Roundup: qdc qdc Anole V14: On the very first page of this thread, one can find a curious historical artifact — possibly the only publicly documented remnants of what was once a heated debate between the merits of the old kings of the multi-BA arrangement, the 64 Audio U12t and the qdc...

The last Thieaudio IEMs I heard were the original Monarch and Clairvoyance. It appears to be impossible to demo any Thieaudio IEMs in Singapore outside of Canjam, which does make me regret the fact that I was unfortunately indisposed for half of it.

Theme and Variations: 64 Audio 64 Audio U12t: The thought recently occurred to me that 64 Audio’s original U12t has slowly but surely blossomed into an unofficial lineup of sorts. At the time of its release 5 years ago, it was largely overshadowed by the more technologically flashy Fourte and...

To be precise, the absurdity with HUM's assertion is less to do with warmup or burnin (two different concepts, by the way), and moreso fretting about silverware while the Titanic is sinking. This is the first time I've seen a manufacturer (or anyone really, which is quite surprising now that I...

Miscellaneous IEMs (Letshuoer, Craft Ears, HUM, MADOO): Letshuoer Cadenza 12: I have not, to this day, heard any piece of audio equipment I would consider “good” that is named after any sort of classical music terminology. It is second only to mythological figures (Norse gods, anyone?) in terms...

Miscellaneous IEMs (FAudio, Oriolus, FiR): FAudio Dark Sky: It feels like a lifetime has passed since my first outing with FAudio. The Minor was, at the time, a total shock from a prior unknown company, and it was something I genuinely liked for quite a long time, both sonically and...

Miscellaneous Chifi IEMs (Moondrop and Tanchjim): Moondrop Aria Snow: I have never been fond of Moondrop’s single DD excursions, dating back to the original Kanas Pro (who remembers that?). I have always found them soft, compressed and lifeless, and in the earlier iterations, rather veiled and...

The purpose of the engagement factor article was to clarify what precisely engagement factor means within the context of my reviews. That is subjective. Musicality is not, and that particular rant was written too early on to have a concrete understanding of the greater concept of musicality...

I wrote an old article on the definition of engagement factor a few years ago; while outdated, the essential spirit of the concept is not entirely incorrect. I would recommend starting there. As for gatekeeping — a meaningless pejorative. All things worth preserving have to be gatekept.

With regards to reading FR graphs, it is part experience, part the art of interpretation, and part total bullsh*t. I think that trying to hone in on ultra specific elements on an FR graph (ie. a 1dB difference in elevation at 7khz or minutiae of a similar variety) is a complete waste of time...

It is extraordinarily difficult for an appropriately upfront, lively, and aggressive headphone setup to be immediately matched 1:1 by a speaker setup of similar building blocks. Many of the best amplifiers in terms of engagement and musicality are only capable of doing so at very low power...

The interesting thing about the headphone/speaker dichotomy is that there are some things headphones can do with much greater ease than speakers, and vice versa. In that regard, one doesn’t necessarily obsolete the other. Both can translate directly into each other, because it’s possible to...

You’ll have to excuse me as I have been extremely ill over the last few days, and I have not had energy to read the absolute clownshow ongoing in this thread. I’m still quite sick now, but this circus has gotten out of hand and quite frankly it’s an utter embarrassment. I get that people like...

They did not. If I’m being completely honest, I had to go through my old review list to remind myself what the AS800 in question even was. I think that sums my current opinion on it up pretty well. I am glad at least one person appears to actually be reading my articles and not merely skimming...

My first day of Canjam SG impressions are live here. Everything covered is IEMs. I can't promise if I will be there tomorrow, but if I am I will likely focus on sources and desktop gear. Now if you excuse me I have a fever to sweat out.

Canjam SG 2023 show notes — Day one: When I attended my first ever Canjam at SG 2019, I don’t think I had any idea it’d be another 4 years until I attended another one back home. How things have changed between now and then, and how I wish me today could walk up to me yesterday and slap me in...

I have not heard the HS1750 or the Meteor. I will probably get around the the Symphonium eventually, less certain on the Acoustune.

A real shame that kind of content is simply not my specialty. I’m sure there are plenty of YouTubers and homeless people you could request it from though.

I don't think there's anything bitter about getting to spend a week in NYC to do shopping and hang out with friends, but to each their own.

I mean, I’m not sure what kind of answer you’re hoping to get out of me. There just aren’t very many IEMs I would recommend in general; prior to Canjam NYC I would probably have erred on the side of refusing to recommend anything at all simply out of dissatisfaction with the sound of the IEM...

Out of all the responses I’ve received, this one is the most oddly entertaining so I’ll respond to it. No, I have no affiliations with the headphone or IEM industry, and there is no grand conspiracy or calculated ulterior motive behind my impressions or reviews. If only real life could be so simple.

I mean, I have to draw the line somewhere when it comes to this sort of thing. I’ve had people demand in the past that I had to use a specific DAP with a specific cable with a specific headphone or my opinions on said headphone would be invalid, which is just ridiculous. I cannot possibly be...

Sorry, but no. I don't even entertain tweaker nervosa on gear that I care about, I'm definitely not going to go out of my way to review firmware rolling on a DAP I don't even use very often tuned by some random guy that I know nothing about beyond an existing poor track record with things I've...

With the exception of yellow and maybe green, which are indeed of questionable QC, all the other measurements are quite honestly within tolerance of each other. Put it one way, I have seen individual units of CIEMs where the isolated channels match worse than, say, blue/purple in this graph, or...

I think thinking of these sorts of things in terms of "levels" or "up to par" is pretty counterproductive. Let me try to quickly re-review all 3 of those IEMs so that where I currently stand on them is clear. ER2: For a really long time this was the gold standard for cheap and reliable. It was...