I recently bought some stuff from the EPZ Aliexpress site and was quite surprised with the price-to-performance ratio of their gear. They have some gems inside their stable, but I realized there's no dedicated Headfi discussion thread for this brand. So without further ado, these are the EPZ...

About 5 months back I made one of my best audio investments for IEMs, and that is the Final MMCX Assist Tool. I bought mine at about $9 USD for a pair from a local shop, though I see some knock offs using a similar design being sold online for cheaper. Well some may consider $9 to be pricey for...

Hi friends, hope everyone is doing well and staying safe during these difficult times. Anyways, as per the title, do you feel sometimes that we may be too fixated with our audio gear (eg source, transducer types, even cables/tips and music remastering type)? Rather than just sitting back and...

Hi friends! CVJ is a relatively new player in the CHIFI scene, they released a few sleeper hits this year that were quite well regarded in reviews, but their gear went under the radar for discussion in audio sites, including headfi. These are some of their releases here: 1) CVJ CSA (1BA +...

Hi, would like to defer to the advise of our friends here about the above question? Would inserting a earphone/headphone with a running amp (not at volume zero) cause some electrical surge and damage equipment? Would it be better to turn off the amp/put volume at zero? For that matter, does...

Hi friends, hope everyone is staying safe during this coronavirus period! As per the above post, what's the first audio gear you used? Not talking about kids toys or those stock buds that come with our phones, but legit IEM/headphone/earbud? I think I used some old Phillips on ear headphones...

Hi friends! This is the Focus Audio Thread, it seems to be a relatively new CHIFI company. They have released a single DD set in three variants with different sound signatures (EDM, rhythm and vocal variants). Looks very beautifully crafted and exquisite. Specs: Driver: 10.2mm high energy...

Hi friends! Hope everyone is staying safe during this period, wishing you and family good health! I know we are all here in Headfi due to our love for music, but in the big scheme of things, I would consider audio gear to be "discretionary" spending, YMMV. Worldwide, most economies ain't doing...

I just received the Tempotec Sonata HD Pro (DAC/AMP) dongle today that I bought from the last Aliexpress sale, and am amazed by the great price to performance ratio it brings to the table! It really makes my humble smartphone sound quite close in sound quality to my dedicated desktop rig (Khadas...

Just saw this post from china about some kid who had a fungal ear infection from using earphones: https://sg.style.yahoo.com/boy-grows-moulds-ear-canal-114708790.html Any of u get ear infections with using IEMs? I'm not one to regularly dig my ears or apply eardrops, but I find foam tips do...

Hi friends, cause of the coronavirus situation worldwide, many economists have predicted a recession over the next few months. Not surprising due to the travel restrictions, quarantines, spooking of investors, lack of factory output, logistics/transport hold ups etc. Indeed, some of my friends...

Hi, I decided to start this thread as I value isolation a lot in a universal IEM for several reasons: 1) I travel a lot in buses and subways (sometimes airplanes too) and there is a tendency to boost the volume when there is poor isolation, and this is not good for hearing health in the long...

Hi noob science question as above. I'm not sure if the magnets involved in such gantries are powerful enough to affect any internals like voice coils in the headphones/IEMs when one walks thru with them turned on. Or would it be safer to switch the headphone/IEM off while entering such...

I don't have any measuring equipment, but I am of the opinion that sometimes the mic component on one side of a cable may cause some resistance changes and hence channel imbalance? I also think it may be an added potential area of failure. Personally I'm not a fan of these types of cables and...

Hi mods, not sure if this is the proper place to post this bug I found after the latest headfi update. For previous headfi review URL links before the update was made, they correctly linked to the headfi review for a particular gear that a user made for said headfi review. After the update...

Well I'm sure some of us have encountered driver flex before, usually with dynamic driver type IEMs, when pressure builds up and causes the area of least resistance (which would be the dynamic driver) to bend and cause a crinkling sound. I realize driver flex can be alleviated by pulling the ear...

Haha confession to make, I'm guilty of the above. Whenever I'm walking down the street, or in the subway/bus/airplane, I'll inevitably have to check out what gear other commuters are using. Though I would say most of the lay consumers are not "audiophiles", and majority of them are using...

Hi, I'm not an audio expert but just a music lover, and I'm wondering about the Fletcher Munson curve and how this affects our perceptions of sound signature/FR with different listening volumes. My interpretation of this curve is that as the SPL of music changes, the perceived...

Hi friends, for some of my low impedance and high sensitivity IEMs, I get a hiss with smartphone and desktops. But it disappears with an inline volume controller or impedance mismatch device or an amp. This hiss is more marked in some IEMs than others (using the same source and same 8 core...

Hi sorry to ask this noob question, but for portable sources like smartphones and DAPs, is it better to charge the battery only when the battery is 0% or close to 0? Or to charge as and when possible? I know every battery has some draining cycles, but would like to hear your advise. Thank you...

Hi sorry to ask this noob question as above, as I don't own any TOTL stuff > 500 USD. I'm definitely interested in investing in a TOTL IEM one of these days, currently saving money for it. I'm wondering where is the best price to performance ratio, as I tell myself there must be an endpoint, if...

Hi sorry I'm quite bad with sound science, but just to check, will double amping fry any equipment? I'm thinking of this setup: PC (line out) to Tempotec Sonata HD (which is a DAC/AMP combination) to Fiio A3 (AMP) to IEM/headphones I tried it with PC at max volume (sonata HD has no volume...

Hi I'm looking for a budget DAC/Amp combo for desktop, with the following preferences: 1) should not add any colouring to the music preferably 2) has volume knobs 3) budget ~ 100ish USD 4) will be used to drive low impedance headphones/IEMs, so don't require anything too high powered 5) don't...

Hi as above, any good suggestions for tracks to detect sibilance? TIA

Hi just a noob question as above. I know humidity or dampness may damage IEMs but what about absolute temperature? During the hot seasons at my home town temperatures can hit 34 - 35 deg celcius. Strangely i have owned a Creative EP630 and have left it in baking temperatures in cars almost...