Why I love iFi and their products
 
iFi have been known, reputably for their amazing amplifiers and DAC. Ranging from Nano to Micro to Retro and the most recent addition, the Pro line, iFi have an amplifier and DAC for different purposes and price ranges. The nano for on-the-go and affordability, Micro for transportability, Retro for the speakers and Pro for the extremes. Having tried their products, mostly the Micro line which they first set-off with, it never disappointed me in terms of sound quality. Throughout the years, listening to recommendations by users and reviews is what really brought them where they are now, being featured on the Head-Fi gift guide and not to mention other reputable audio review websites and it is not one, not two, but most of their products are outstanding.
 
My favorite product that they have created so far is the Micro iDSD. It started back in 2014 where they started a thread in Head-Fi asking opinions on what this Micro iDSD really should be and from there, they take everyone’s opinions into consideration and kept the crowd updated throughout from hardware to software and the troubles that they ran into. When they introduced the Black Label edition of the Micro iDSD, I was all hyped and even more when they announced a tour for it! A huge thanks to iFi for adding me into the tour for this iFi Micro iDSD BL!
 
I really appreciate how the iFi team gave the packaging a formality and it represents the company very well. What came with the original Micro iDSD is very similar with absence of a black carrying pouch which is no big deal but considering the Micro iDSD BL costs more at USD549 as opposed to USD499 for the original Micro iDSD puts be in doubt [both prices excludes taxes].  Other than that, it comes with instruction manual, 3.5mm to 3.5mm standard jack, 2x silicone bands, angled male type A to female type A USB, wired USB Female type A to female type B converter, left and Right RCA cable, 4x rubber feet, 3.5mm to 6.3mm jack converter, jumper, USB Female type A to female type B adapter and a piece of rectangular rubbery “thingy” that probably used for when stacking a phone on top to avoid frictions. With exception of the carrying pouch, the Micro iDSD BL comes with pretty much everything and there’s nothing short of. I have been using the original Micro iDSD for more than 2 years now and I never see the need to carry the pouch along anyway. If anything, it makes the ports less accessible when inside thought it was genius to have a hole cut for the USB.
 
What's so cool about this BL
 

 
The build and weight of both the editions are similar; all metal and weight is on the bulky side for such a small footprint but I think that’s how I would like it to be. Makes it sits properly on the table. As a proud Micro iDSD user for more than 2 years, I can safely say that, the unit is very durable considering I have not been nice to it partially because I am quite violent with gadgets. So no worries, go ahead, throw it in the backpack and rock but it probably won’t survive in the water thought. I have to say thought, thumbs up to the batman-like black finish with orange wordings that really stands out. However, good luck trying to read the unimportant feature lists at the bottom but really, it’s nothing important… or is it. Seriously thought, it is worded in black on a black casing. If anything, the original Micro iDSD’s volume knob is stiffer than the BL edition.
 
Not only does it look like Bruce Wayne’s multibillion techs but it also features like his utility belt. It is a DAC and amplifier that also works as a preamplifier that can power from the smallest earphones to THE giant Bane. There are three power mode namely Eco, Normal and Turbo. Personally, I do not find the need for “Turbo” for any headphones just yet as at Turbo, it outputs 4, 000mW @ 16 Ohm of power and I doubt there are any headphones that needs it with exception of a few such as the popular HifiMan HE-6. In normal and eco modes it outputs 1, 900mW @ 16Ohm and 500mW @ 8Ohm respectively. For most headphones, Eco mode is more than enough in my opinion. However, what about earphones and headphones with high sensitivity? There’s the IEMatch. It has two switches; high sensitivity (-12dB) and ultra-sensitivity (-24dB) which makes volume more adjustable or you can have it switched off. Do note that, avoid using IEMatch on other modes; Normal and Turbo. “It is like pressing the accelerator while applying brakes” – iFi. Other features include XBass+, 3D+, polarity (-/+), and Filter (Standard/Phase Minimum/Bit-Perfect). Oh, it also features as a Plan B power bank at the side but keep in mind that, the unit takes quite a while to charge up.  There is also a small LED light on top which determine the status of the unit. It has a built in gen 1 iPurifier into it as well and up to Normal mode, it can purely drain on USB or charge at the same time in eco mode. Information on these features can be found here.
 

The main course
 
With all the Batman’s design and features aside, the sound quality itself is no joke either. I find it an amazing piece of amplifier and DAC combo. There’s perfectly no channel imbalance pass the 9’O Clock turn. While it is not as neutral as I expected it to be, it remains well balanced. The bass is tick tight and beats down to as deep as you could wish. Without the XBass, the bass is there but lacks the “bold”. The upper bass is what I like the most out of all as it has a good amount of weights and punches that anyone would appreciate. I personally find that the highs are a minute louder than the midranges and this result in a very fun and enjoyable sound. Throughout the listening experience, I find it entirely to be ultimately smooth, while attaining that speed on the punches at the same time, not missing any details. It just feels like you are driving on a Porsche at say 170kmph but you feel that the car is doing it effortlessly and that is how it feels like to listen to the Micro iDSD BL as a standalone.
 
I think that the XBass+ and the 3D+ is what actually saved the amplifier side of it. Starting with the XBass+, it really adds very notable amount of bass to it and fits the “basshead” category just nicely and at the same time, with the speed, and thumbs that is just so good and pleasant to enjoy with. Without the 3D+, the soundstage is pretty wide but the separations feel a little bit packed together. Flick the 3D+, it is as if the musician just immediately spread out themselves from a small stage to an opera theatre and for movies, you could better aware of the environment of the scene. There’s one trade-off thought. With the 3D+, the treble can spike up and especially with female voices, I find it a ted annoying with the B&O H6 and Brainwavz HM5 but if the XBass+ is on together with it, it soothes the treble by adding "bolds" to the whole sound making the treble less noticeable although it is still there. Darker headphones like the Mr. Speaker’s Mad Dog have no big deals with this.
 
I then connected the iDSD BL to Garage1217 Project Sunrise III w/ Amperex 6dj8 Orange edition and boy is there a huge improvement in comparison to the standalone without XBass+ nor 3D+. That said, the amplifier of the iDSD BL is great matched with the DAC but is rather average only. With the XBass+ thought, the iDSD BL have better bass in every spectrum than the tubes; speed, quantity, and depth. When both the XBass+ and 3D+’s running, the iDSD BL does stands pretty close to the tubes. The iDSD BL is definitely clearer but with the tubes thought, the soundstages, separations, and sound is just more “real” and so, so, so, slightly more airy. At high volumes [pass the 3’O clock], I find the iDSD BL losses its dynamic ranges and clarity, soundstages and separations gets a little mixed up. Not to worry thought, I doubt there’s a need to turn up the heat given there’s 3 different power mode.
 
As a pure DAC itself, I find the Micro iDSD BL to be extremely flat and literally have no flavors. It is like an ice cream cone; it doesn’t have much taste but add the ice cream on top and you get a delicious dessert. The Micro iDSD BL matches well with any ice creams [amplifier] and it will sound amazing. It is airy and very analytical. Plugging in for the first time, really tells you how much details have you been missing all along. Not to mention its capability to hit up to DSD512.
 
Now for the grand comparison. As Lex Luthor once said and I quote “God vs Man, Day vs Night”…

 
 
The BL edition is better than the original in a few ways, but in many ways, they are quite similar. Besides the obvious color differences, exterior wise, they are pretty much the same chassis with similar ports and switches. The difference lies within; the BL uses latest and higher end components, the 3D and XBass gets a nice upgrade and indeed worthwhile. As a standalone DAC/amp, I would say that the BL is smoother, warmer, more refined and the two switches at the front is a major step up from the original and distinctly a better unit than the original. Channel imbalances issues are non-existence on the BL pass the 9’ O Clock. At the end thought, if you already own the original edition, you are better off spending the money elsewhere like a separate amplifier. I personally find that when using the two as a sole DAC, I find both to have similar sound although the BL are more “stable” with the channel imbalance. That said, the original edition at $499 or even cheaper sometimes, is still a very good DAC/amp while the BL is for if you do not own neither and its really worth the extra 10% difference. The original edition is also more neutral in comparison to the BL as a DAC/amp combo.
 
Thank you for reading
 
The Micro iDSD BL is yet another amazing unit, I wish I could spend more time to enjoy with. I was the lucky winner of the Micro iDSD 2 years ago and I couldn’t be happier to be able to listen to the BL. It is amazing and it still did not fail to wow me away. I especially enjoy it with my B&O H6; it adds necessary warm and bass to it with the XBass+ and I can leave the 3D+ off while still getting the airy and separation I wanted. It’s truly a match made in heaven. I have never enjoyed the B&O headphone as much before despite it being my on-the-go headphone. Overall, it is very versatile with anything you throws at.

 
In my last review, I reviewed the RockJaw Arcana V2 and the Hydra V2 they are both pretty amazing for the asking price but in this review, moving onto the flagship of RockJaw, Kommand. It is a pretty clear step up from the Alfa Genus sharing the same feature while adding some extras both physically and “mentally”. I can’t remember exactly why they choose that name for their flagship, but it was given by a user on Head-Fi, penmarker when Bob, of RockJaw open a threat for name suggestion. Thanks again to Bob of RockJaw for sending in the Kommand all the way from the UK for this review!



The Kommand finishes in a very luxury design and even the packaging looks special. RockJaw definitely does not want to make a flagship because they needed one but instead, they put in real effort into this. The Kommand clearly shown what the RockJaw is really up to and it does everything right with the help of the three filters. As for level of impressiveness, I am just going to describe it from soup to nuts now.

Starting from the design, the Kommand looks sleek. It stays away from typical plastics, or full metal design but instead, some beautiful wood finishes. The fact that, it uses natural wood, the contrast on both the earpiece may not be the same and that is why I love the design. Uniqueness! This time, RockJaw got the “L” and “R” labeling right as it is much much easier to see than the current Arcana V2 and Alfa Genus.  At the end of the earphone, the metal finish was nice and keep in mind, there’s no plastic on this wood. They just don’t match! And RockJaw knew it so they avoided plastic.

Another features that the Kommand adopts besides the in-line mic and control is, an ear hook. Like it or not, I do not think it’s removable but RockJaw got my hook upside down so I uses a screw to do the work but the metal that extends out from the earphone is not removable without damaging the wood [I think?] nor would I like to risk it by trying to remove it. To maximize comfort, which is the entire aim of the hook, it is coated with thin, black silicone and to be honest, it does took me some time to get used to it. Surprisingly, my friend who happened to try it loves it and got used to it immediately at first trial. Once I did, I start to realize the goodness of this hook! I can wear them and run around jump, skip whatsoever without having to worry that the earphone will fall off or anything.



Other than its secure fits, the Kommand is bigger than typical earphones but thanks to its airplane’s engine-like design, it does not hurt my ears for long term listening nor did it cause any discomfort. I think this could be da beast earphone for sports audiophiles! The cables contributed to this too. It’s free of microphonics so you can jump and skip but the ears won’t hear a thing rubbing but if you are afraid that the cable may start skipping with you, RockJaw included a shirt clip to avoid that, when you’re done, there’s a pouch which is of twice the size of Arcana V2, Hydra V2, and Alfa Genus’s pouch size [length wise]. It’s about the size of an iPhone 6… not Plus.

When it comes to isolation, RockJaw leaves most outside sound behind. It perfectly isolates you from the outside world and allows you to totally focus in the music and that, ladies and gentlemen, is how good the isolation with the right eartips provided. There are of 3 pairs, S, M, and L respectively. Really good quality eartips and comfortable. I tried on some ComplyFoams on these babies and I melted so I asked Bob why not include it, the answer surprised me! RockJaw is silently working at the backstage for their very, very own foam eartips. Ya heard that! Their own foam eartips! #WhyILoveRockJaw

Moving on to the sound impression…

So as mentioned, the RockJaw Kommand comes with 3 filters and they are great but you want to make sure that, you don’t lost any of them, otherwise, you will either have to suffer the imperfection of the Kommand or purchase it again for the fast delivering service of RockJaw replacement part to arrive. The RockJaw Kommand filters are actually larger than the Alfa Genus so I have less worries about losing them. The filters are very shiny, and coloured in a very beautiful matching color with the Kommand itself. The colors are, champagne, silver and grey [although RockJaw call it black]. Depending on what music I am listening to, I would choose a different filters. The champagne is "neutral", the grey/black is "reference" and the silver being "bassy" but I do find it not true to a certain extend.



Interestingly, unlike the RockJaw Alfa Genus’s filters, I find that, the Kommand’s filters are more dependent on the album that you are listening to instead of genre. I find all the three filters to be able to compensate each other well and I like… sorry, LOVE. The whole idea of exchangeable filters but, that is not all about the Kommand. The Kommand is a hybrid IEM using 8mm dynamic driver and a single balanced armature. I personally love hybrid IEMs. While balanced armature delivers great sound, I often find myself missing the punches that most dynamic drivers offer and I must say, the Kommand represents a great example on how good this hybrid fusion could be bundled up with exchangeable filters.

Like the Alfa Genus, there is the bass, midrange and treble filter respectively although RockJaw names it differently as mentioned earlier. However, I find the Kommand are more refined, better soundstage, instrumental separation than the Alfa Genus. It’s an immediate upgrade over every aspect with sound that is more towards the audiophile. The Alfa Genus’s filters while great but for example, when using the treble filter, it focus too much on treble that some other frequency are ignored, midrange was well balanced while the bass filter has too much focus on bass that sometimes, the other frequency are put to the background as well! This definitely does not happen to RockJaw’s flagship, the Kommand.

When using the bass filter [silver], the Kommand still manges to give spot for the mids and the treble instead of focusing all the glory at the bass region. The bass was evenly boosted, and it goes deep down. It does not feel like its bleeding into anywhere else either. I could hear every single beat drop even in the fastest phase therefore, good handling over there. And no, no awkward v-shaped sound, maybe the midrange is a ted small tiny bit behind the bass in comparison to other filters but its still nice and clear there. While the bass is not as loud as the Alfa Genus, control, stability, depth is the key over here. The treble is dark but is not nightmare dark. Details are there and biting silently behind the music when heard well. My only concern with this filter is that, the vocal is chesty and the music sounds too thick with certain tracks but not all and there are sometimes, a little bloated but nothing massive. Otherwise, it’s a very creamy smooth filter. I tend to like this for most top hit tracks.

The neutral filter[champagne] did it right this time on the Kommand! It doesn’t feel like as if it is cutting my hair off. The bass doesn’t have absolutely no existence and midrange does not sound crinkly. In fact, this filter on the Kommand focus the right amount of treble and I think that, many treble head will like this. It’s detailed, and there are no awkward spikes anywhere to be found. Bass still has its presence but definitely not strong [it has the least bass of all the filters]. Like the Alfa Genus, due to the less amount of bass punching, the soundstage seems to be the widest with this filter. So again, if you are a detail / treblehead, definitely look into these but warn you thought, female vocals can still sound bright if you are not used to it. The midrange as mentioned, is not crinkly, its there and sits nicely between the bass and the treble.

Lastly, the reference/grey/black filter. I find slight disappointment in this filter as everything seem to sound a tiny bit veiled. I am guessing it to be due to the filter in the chamber of the filter itself as it is blocking some frequencies from passing through and I am sorry to say, it does not do its job as good as the other two filters. However, though, if you prefer a more veiled sound, this filter could be for you but definitely not for me. The bass quantity sits nicely between the two filters with the treble being put way behind existence with some tracks. Everything sounds a little closed up than it should with this filter. Sort of like listening to music in the pub.

Soundstage overall, is great with all the filters. It has a large hall room but why make all the instruments congested together at one point in the middle? The instrumental separation on the Kommand is not what I would have preferred but nevertheless, I enjoy listening to music with the Kommand. The details are great and shows great presence. My only grid is the grey filter, I hope RockJaw can somehow fix it in the coming future, otherwise, a 10/10 recommended product given its price!

There has been plenty of monitoring headphone floating around in the market some of which are more on the affordable range such as, the Shure SRH-840 which I likes a lot, the Audio Technica ATH-M50 which doesn’t really suit my taste as well but it is still good for what it is. Then we have the Brainwavz HM5 which surprisingly, a very good pair of headphone for under $200! Of course, not to mention the Sony MDR-7506. With so much to choose from, I am going to focus on the Brainwavz HM5 in this review and a huge thanks to Audrey for sending them in!

Before we get started, here’s a quick run through on the HM5’s specifications:

1. DriversDynamic, 42mm
2. Rated Impedance64 Ω
3. Frequency Range10Hz ˜ 26.5kHz
4. Sensitivity105 dB @ 1 mW
5. Rated Input Power100 mW
6. Cable3m & 3m Detachable
7. Plug5mm Gold Plate

Contents & Accessories

1. Cable (Detachable)3mt & 3mt
2. ¼" Adapterx1
3. Spare Earpadsx1
4. Manualx1

The Brainwavz HM5’s included case fits the HM5 just nicely at the edge with no room to spare for bigger headphones. When zipped, the case looks very much like a giant dinosaur’s egg. Perhaps, T-Rex’s? I don’t know, but what’s inside is the gigantic mini dinosaur HM5. While this headphone looks like a crocodile biting a head when worn, it feels pretty lightweight on hand considering its baby dinosaur size. Enough with the Animal Planet explanation, I did attempt to bring them out with me for once or twice, the fact that, it’s not foldable design, makes it not so suitable for going outdoor and I think, it can be a small drawback since this headphone could have been a very good headphone for outdoor use if it is a little more portable than what it currently is!



The cables are detachable but again, it’s double sided which makes it less fun but after all, this monster headphone is more targeted for studio monitoring. With comfort in mind, and as a person who can sometimes, wear headphones for an hour or two at home in front of a rectangular screen, this Brainwavz HM5 is pretty dark comfortable even with stock pads! The stock pads are really, really, so executively, soft like pillow [although it still looks like a crocodile biting your head]. This headphone is very comfortable. Sorry for sounding like a broken record but this headphone is very comfortable! The headbands are well padded and so are the pads. If anything, Brainwavz included an extra pads. The stock pads are thick, soft, and huge to totally avoid your precious ears from touching anything. How I wish my pillow are as soft as these then I wouldn’t have trouble dealing with insomnias. The clamping force are slightly stronger than what I am used to but it definitely does not have any means of chopping off your head or something. Really, this thing is super comfortable! Brainwavz also sale a thicker pads which you can read more here.

Continue next page…
 

So the Brainwavz HM5 is super comfortable [ in case you missed the first page ]. The build quality are also very well built from head to toe. It is ready for any sorts of torture and is expected to survive all of it but if you are still worried you are less careful, there’s a hard dinosaur egg shell you can put the HM5 inside. No offense, the case is huge but its very useful since you definitely do not wish your headphone to drop and die. Anyway, while the HM5 are made mostly of plastic, but they are durable plastic. This plastic helps in lighting the weight without compromising the durability at all! The earcups are moveable to change to other earcups for different/upgrade sound. Cables are detachable but I would have like it better if the headphone’s cord are single sided which makes it much more convenient for anything. The included cables are also anti microphonic so no sound will be transmitted to your ears when knocking against your shirt or anything you could think of.



When I put on this headphone and spin a track, I was wow-ed. Its probably all you need! It does nothing wrong at all and produce the music as the artist has intended without adding peanut butter jelly to make anything sound more fun or whatsoever. There are some tracks, that when I listen to with other headphones, there are those tiny little things going on at the back of the music which some headphone, seem to project it as harshness especially instruments like drums, cymbals and the like. When using the HM5, all those things sound like an extra instruments and because of all these minute extra details that the HM5 reproduces, it can make one to feel like as if they are listening to the track for the first time even thought you were sure that, you have listened to it a thousand time.

Similarly thought, because of its excellent ability to capture the smallest detail in the music, bad mastering of records with clippings at the back can also be noticeable. It makes bad mastering records more noticeable at the weaknesses. Then again, if the music is well mastered, be prepared to listen to music for the very first time!

As I have mentioned two paragraph ago, this headphone does nothing wrong and it leaves no exception to the bass. It’s not overpowered nor underpowered. Yet, it goes deeper than the ocean. Like deep under the ocean I suppose, it’s well controlled and hit at your face with a kiss. It definitely doesn’t feel like as if the bass is throwing sword and knifes at you. It’s more of a relaxed type. That said, it is very well controlled. Because of its excellent control, you can hear every single beat of the bass guitar produced in the music unlike many of HM5’s competitors.

Like father like son, like bass like midrange. The midrange are like pure H2O water, uncolored with no extra artificial added. It has been quite sometimes since I have ever heard a headphone at this price, producing such a crispy note in the midrange. It’s very crunchy and each music instruments are finely produced. The overall midrange can be described in a single word: musical. All instruments are equally focused and are given the chance to shine where the time comes. Male vocals are very manly presented without being too rough and the perfect touch of warmness of the HM5 in the lower midrange region makes it very much less muffled.

Treble is probably where HM5’s weakness lies but it was rather well kept deep down the tunnel to avoid it to be found unless otherwise, listened carefully. The treble can be sometimes, a ted brighter and after a long extended hours of listening, female vocals especially, may feel shouty with certain tracks but it definitely depends on what tracks are you listening to. It is also worth mentioning that, the treble is highly detailed at certain part thus, bad recordings at the treble are easily detected with the HM5.

Soundstage, instrumental separation and imaging has again, surprised me in every single way. The soundstage is astonishing for a closed back headphone but it’s not something new I have personally encountered. In fact, I have found quite a few closed back headphones that sound like an open headphone with isolations and the HM5 is among one of them. Maybe a few couple of years back, we can easily conclude that, closed back headphone does not have a wide soundstage. However, its 2015 where the new breakthroughs are far beyond our expectation and in fact, the headphone market have been growing steadily recent years. As a result, there are now some closed headphone that actually sound like an open headphone although is not as open as some open headphone such as the AKG K1000 but still, we can finally get a chance to taste the goodness of open headphone now in a closed back design. I would still prefer to go open whenever allowed thought. The spaciousness of instrumental separation does gives me a wow factor. Like the soundstage, the instrumental separation are somewhat like a pair of open headphone. I can feel that, all the instruments in the music does not sit closely but rather, they are pretty far separated.

Imaging once again, has surprised me! I think this headphone is not just suitable for studio mastering and listening to music but because of its great imaging, and exciting sound, I believe that this will be a good pair of headphone for movies as well! Keep in mind that, I am using the stock pads and the thick leather pads that can be purchased from MP4Nation.net. The reason for used a leather pads is because, when using velour, I feel that the bass escaped too much and the treble seem to go even brighter than it is before. This resulted in a very fatigue listening. So I am very glad that, Brainwavz did not include a velour pads but instead, a pleather pads.

As for amping, yes of course, I did pair with the tiny yet, strong in bass Brainwavz AP-001 amplifier. While the AP-001 created tons of hisses to certain extend, it does create a good synergy with the HM5 but due to the hisses, it takes away the good naturally, clear and transparent sound of HM5. I did pair it up with my Garage1217 Project Sunrise III and wow is the matching a Heaven!

The HM5 sounds great and it’s a little unfair to many headphones at this price as the HM5 basically outperforms many. It is also “unfair” to have such a great build quality and design for the price! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. The build quality could possibly be improved further to lightweight metal would have been more durable thought. The HM5 outperforms many headphones around the same price such as Philips Uptown, Audio Technica ATH-M50, Shure SRH-840, Sony MDR-7506, and many others.

Headphone pads plays an important role. Not only does it affect the comfort of the headphone which affects our mood while listening. It also plays a role in sound quality. Comfort wise, for on-ear, we can only hope that the pads are not too stiff and the clamping force of the headphone’s design is not too tight as if it is going to decapitate your head from your body. Same can be applied to over-ears.
The perfect, comfortable pads for an over-ear should have a good depth that keeps our ear far enough from touching the driver and enough room for it to breathe. This is especially essential for leather/pleather design as less air will be entering since it offers tight seal. The pads should also be soft so that it don’t feels as if our ears sitting over rocks. The height and width should also be wide enough for the ears to sit perfectly inside. Lastly, durability should last for a long period of times.

Typical problems of some stock pads is that, it gets stiff or worn out after some time. Due to clamps, some pads gets thin after sometime. My friend’s ATH-M50 is possibly the best example…yet. Its only two years old and the pads is already pancake thick now, maybe slightly thicker than a single pancake but still! I can’t wear it for more than 15min without feeling sore. The pads also got stiffer and is less lightly to isolate well than it is before. Not only do ATH-M50 have such issue, many pleather pads I have come across have these issues.


For that, I will highly recommend the Brainwavz HM5 extra thick pads. Both leather and velour. Size and shape wise, both share the same characteristic with exception of the external material. Obvious, leather and velour respectively. Brainwavz added few more additional colors to maximize flexibility when it comes to color matching. Bear in mind, the thick pads are not the same as the stock pads as the HM5. Leather extra thick pads is available in black, dark red, red, brown and white. Velour pads are now available and come in red and black. Huge thanks to Audrey of Brainwavz, I got a pair of red velour and a pair of brown leather thick pads.

Both are extremely, extremely [x10] comfortable. There’s literally nothing more to beg for. Both pads are pillow soft, and feels so well-tailored that you don’t have to worry about durability. Not only is it pillow soft, the advertised “thick” my mean, very thick in-depth, width and length is all there. You must have an elephant ear if your ear does not sit perfectly inside the pads. I took a ruler and measured the leather pads depth, it's about 2.2cm deep, inner[where the ear will be sit within] length: ~7cm with inner [again, where the ear will be sit within] width about 4.5cm. With such comfort, I can wear the headphone for a long long period of time without fatigue. In fact, if the headphone is lightweight itself, the pads may in fact, allow you to wear it forever. The thick pads comfort reminds me a lot of the long gone Sony MDR-XB500. In fact, both, the thick leather and velour pads are made of foam.

[click to enlarge]

The Brainwavz HM5 pads are compatible lots of headphones in the market. Here’s the INCOMPLETE list of it:

Ultrasone HF580/DJ1/DJ1 Pro/HFI 780

Takstar HI2050/Pro80

Sony MDR-V6/ZX700

Fostex T50RP

M-Audio Q40

Koss DJ100/200

Shure SRH440/840

JVC S500S

Audio Technica M50

German Maestro 8.300 Pro

Hifiman HE500

Beyerdynamic DT880

The Brainwavz HM5’s pads are widely used in Fostex T50RP mods because of their comfort. The thicker pads should too, do the trick. These two Brinwavz pads are now available on MP4Nation for $22.50 per pair on here[leather] and here on MP4Nation [velour].

As for leather or velour pads? It all boils deep down to usage, and the headphone itself. If you are currently using a closed back headphone and you do not wish to ruin the seal, the leather pads will be a better choice otherwise, for open back, if you wish to maintain the openness of the sound, stick with the velour. It is also worth noting that, the leather pads offers less soundstage but more bass and body in comparison to velour pads. This often applies to all leather and velour pads.

MOD EDIT - removed images from external site which now all convert to advertisements

 

 
It’s almost Christmas and this year is almost coming to an end. Brainwavz introduced their first portable headphone amplifier last month and I would like to thank Audrey for sending a unit in for this review. I was actually hoping for something impressive, yet again, from Brainwavz. The Brainwavz R3, the Brainwavz S0 were all very impressive and so was I hoping the AP001 to be awesome.

Looking at the specification, the AP001 features duo 3.5mm headphone jack so it can be doubled as a headphone splitter. However thought, the missing volume adjuster makes it weird and slightly difference from typical portable headphone amplifiers. It’s direct competitor would be theFiiO E06K. While I have never got my hands on the FiiO E06K, the FiiO E07K features similar amplifier and by memory, the AP001 seems to be a better amplifier than the E07K. Bare in mind thought, it is all done by memory and I have not listen to the E07K for around 2 months now.
 
Hands on, the AP001 feels light and tiny on hand. The shape is not entirely square as there is a shallow impression and an empty circle in the middle. Some Google-ing tells me that, it is used to tangle headphones/earphones cable. Since the AP001 features no buttons at all, the unit will turn itself on when there’s a signal coming from the input 3.5mm. When charging, a red light is indicated and when full, there will be no lights coming off the Brainwavz. I was only hoping that, perhaps, Brainwavz could use some metal instead of thin plastic for the housing. The top of the AP001 is very fancy but I believe that it is just a metal sticker sticking on top of the plastic. Not that it will worn out or anything but I hope that Brainwavz would change it to all metal housing for durability. Additionally, do not expect the unit respond immediately, throughout the testing, there are sometimes, slight delay.
 

Comes with the AP001 is a male 3.5mm jack to 3.5mm and a USB charging cable. Nothing else missing but a 90 degree 3.5mm would have been helpful for a lower profile.  Since the AP001 is so tiny, there is no need of having a carrying pouch or anything. In fact, its very light in weight.
I can only hope that, Brainwavz will also work on a fix for all the bugs found in the AP001. It is advertised for portability however, the hiss is fairly noticeable and it is also very sensitive for EMI making it not suitable for smartphones while on the go. However thought, because of its sound signature, I find myself hooking it up to my iFi Micro iDSD or Garage1217 Project Sunrise III on the desk for a more fun experience.
 
First thing first, when using iDevices built in amplifier and DAC, I have often find that while they don’t sound half bad, they are often lifeless and maybe some boost in dynamic and warmth will be welcomed. The AP001 as a result, a perfect suit for the iDevices. Using the AP001, everything sound more alive and energetic. The AP001’s bass boost is also very welcomed here. Additionally, with the AP001, music sound less “in your face” in fact, ted more surrounded and deeper soundstage. The improvement is pretty drastic and easily noticeable. The AP001 is a great amp [when minimum EMI].
Brainwavz’s latest IEM, the S0, when paired with the AP001 seems to lose control in the bass resulting in slightly bloated sound and vocals sound drown-ish. Everything sound a ted too thick with the S0 and AP001 pairing. Not a great pairing although soundstage and musical improved, musics sound too bloated to listen to.
 
While the Brainwavz R3 is a very natural IEM for the price, pairing it with AP001 shows a very positive result. It brings back the lost bass without overpowering, the increased dynamic, soundstage is strongly appreciated. All these improvement are easily noticed and does not have any drawbacks at all. The even better pairing for AP001 is not only with R3, the Bang & Olufsen H6 with AP001 is pure amazing! It’s even a better pairing than E07K. There are times, where I find that, the B&O H6 lacks punches and excitement to the music and with bright recordings, the H6 can feel as if there is something can’t be erased at the treble. The AP001 completely addresses it with the boost in bass [again], it helps the treble being less emphasized with bright recordings. The wider and more exciting musical also brings joys to the B&O H6 accompanied with good, tight, juicy bass punches. No doubt, one of the best pairing for the AP001!
 
For $30, the AP001 provides enough juice to play up to 12 hours of music with easy-to-drive earphones but pairing with headphones that draws more power, the AP001 find itself struggling to last for 6 hours. I hope that, Brainwavz can work on the amplifier’s battery capacity, responsibility/sensitivity and EMI issue. Perhaps, a thicker housing may help with the EMI issue. The duo headphone out is indeed very welcome. Bass boost could possibly be one of its best market value boost but I do hope to see a built in volume control for the amplifier.

There has been plenty of budget IEM that offers bang for bucks sound quality and the brand new BrainWavz S0 that I have just received is fall exactly in that category. The BrainWavz S0 is now available for US49.50 at MP4Nation.net and I due to my congested time, I am taking slightly longer than usual to write this review. Apologize to BrainWavz!
As usual, I won't be taking a speed of light ahead of the sound because there's a few things I would like to mention about the S0 besides the sound. The S0 with its simple rocket design yet small enough to be easily fitted into ears makes it less complicated and once it’s inside, it does not let go easily unless you purposely remove it from your ears. The BrainWavz S0 comes with plenty of accessories:
– S0 earphones
– Hard carrying case
– Shirt clip
– Comply foam tips (T-400 to be specific)
– 6 sets of Silicone tips (S, M, L)
– 1 set of Bi-Flange Silicone tips
– 1 set of Tri-Flange Silicone tips

You may have noticed that all BrainWavz IEMs comes with an extra ComplyFoams and I think that it's a good add to the accessories. For those who does not know, ComplyFoam is an eartips made of foams as the name have suggested (you don't say!). However, the texture and looks are very different from typical foams. The ComplyFoams are soft, and feels really high quality. I was impressed that BrainWavz included a hard carrying case for this model, not that the S0 is fragile in fact, it's very robust like it is designed for over a decade of usage. The hard carrying case is very protective and should be able to fit in your tiny DAP and a small amplifier dedicated for the IEM into it. Oh, have I mention that BrainWavz announced their very first amplifier the AP-001? More to come in our next review!

The build quality is robust, the accessories are included is more than what is needed. There is six standard silicone eartips included, but 3 of them are of different quality from the other and it looks exactly like my Sony eartips for 3 pairs of them. In comparison, it has smaller bore than the other three. Truth to be spoken, I prefer wider bore for the S0 but that's just a personal preference. More details about that next page.
It really looks like BrainWavz did their homework and listened to everyone's feedback! The previous R3 have a very bulky cable, the jack itself is bulky, and the splitter looks awkwardly huge. It's disturbing to certain extend. With the S0, BrainWavz have omitted the awkward splitter, and the jack got much smaller. Everything looks much more need to and easier to manage. The biggest improvement in the cable is the splitter. However, the microphonic of the cable are pretty disturbing, although there's no hassle of it being tangled. Another improvement BrainWavz have made is a cable clip and it does help A LOT with the microphonic. Bravo to BrainWavz for the excellent work!
I have zero complaints with the S0's isolation, and it's even better with the Comply Foam.
 
 
To the sound, we shall. To tell the truth, I wasn’t at all expecting it to be this impressive considering the price and the high-grade housing construction. The S0 is very well balanced with a slight boost to the mid-bass but to my pleasant surprise, it does not mud up anything. Although the bass is not bullet fast, it does have the speed of a roller coaster and it’s as fun to listen to as riding on a roller coaster too! The upper bass is not as hot as oven nor is it as cold as a refrigerator, it is definitely feeling like summer.
I said speed of a roller coaster, but it does not have a V-shaped track. The S0 reminds me a lot of the TekFusion TwinWoofer. Like the TwinWoofer, the S0’s midrange are not at all behind. It does nothing wrong, but I would prefer some texture and maybe a very tiny bit boost at the upper mid’s range for a bit of sparkles as vocals can stand behind the instruments with certain tracks I tested. Positively, the midrange does not get distracted by the bass that much.
The treble of S0 is pretty tricky when it comes to concentration, but overall, it’s very, very clean. So clean that a single “very” is not enough to describe it, nor was it to be expected from its price. However, there are some tracks where I find the treble to be on the slightly darker side while there are some tracks where I find it to be bright. Don’t get me wrong though, I mentioned “slightly” because the difference, it's just a matter of small margin. Just enough to be noticed to my ears. All in all, it is very exciting to listen to and thanks to the smooth sound, it does not make you feel tired of listening either. Soundstage, instrumental separation is all decently good, maybe slightly above average for the asking price and it does absorb the details very well. It's very much of a BrainWavz sound where you won't feel tired of listening to it for extended hours.
The fact that the S0 reminds me a lot of the TekFusion TwinWoofer, I decided to put them in a side by side comparison just for fun. Priced at the same and share almost the same signature, why not? BANG BANG let’s get started, turn the next page for a cold-cold war.
I have always love the TwinWoofer a lot for its price, but today, with the release of S0, I am slightly worried about him, but always good to hear that he finally comes across a competitor in its own price range as it shows that the audio market is improving!
For basshead, the TwinWoofer definitely will be a definite answer as you can feel the bass rather than just hearing it better than the S0 whose bass leans more on the balanced side. Speed wise, they are both on the same level of tightness, but the TwinWoofer goes as deep as the Pacific Ocean. It’s like carrying another sub-woofer, but in a very portable size! Whereas the S0 is in the perfect amount of bass for average listeners except for the minor boost in the mid-bass region, but that is what brings the fun a bit to the sound. The TwinWoofer is VERY fun for bass, but the driver flex issue is kind of annoying to deal with at times, but thankfully, the S0 does not have this issue.
S0’s midrange is smoother in comparison, but the TwinWoofer are more active however. In comparison, the S0 are more refined whereas the TwinWoofer are more colored. As for the highs, I find the S0 to be cleaner by a small margin nothing huge.
So, which is better? I don’t know, but if I were pointed by a gun to choose between one of them, I will go for… Nah, I still don’t know. If you prefer more bass, go for the TwinWoofer but if you prefer a smoother, very slightly cleaner and less rolled off highs, and more refined sound, go for the S0.

Now with some eartips rolling. I don't usually do this, but as I was busy with my towers of work, the S0 kept me entertained and I did play around with the eartips a little. Plus, the S0 comes with plenty of tips and + / - about 5 types of different eartips included. I won't be going too much in detail as the difference is rather minor although noticeable.
Generally, wider bores will open up the sound of S0 and I find that using smaller bores (the Sony eartips), the sound is slightly more in your face presentation. Out of all the eartips included, I like the ComplyFoam the best. Indeed, inserting it into the ear may take longer as you will have to wait for it to expand in the ear. However, because of the wider bore, everything seem to open up and showed its true color, because of the tighter seal of ComplyFoams, isolation is extremely good and practically isolated out everything.
 

[Photo courtesy of BrainWavz]
 
The BrainWavz S0 is now available on MP4Nation for pre-sale at just $49.50. Purely by its general performance, I think that it’s a no brainer. It is also extremely easy to drive and very forgiving. I have recently used it to play around with the new Tidal and Spotify music streamer. More to come about those two music streamer soon!

 
A big thanks to TekFusion for sending the TwinWoofer in for review and Ibrahim for taking the photo shots!
 
TekFusion is a brand new fresh company based in India. Targeted for consumer priced basshead IEM. While there has been plenty of bassy IEMs in the market priced similarly as the TwinWoofer [$50], TekFusion differentiated their TwinWoofer very well from others by offering a different definition of “Basshead IEM”, more about that later in the sound part.
 
TekFusion offers two types of TwinWoofers, the mobile version and the original version. The mobile version comes with a remote and mic mainly for Windows, Andriod and Blackberry but surprisingly, there is no mention of Apple device support on their website for whatever reason it may be nor am I sure if the remote and mic will work on iOS devices. The TwinWoofer M [stands for “Mobile”] also comes with an extra hard case for extra protection while on the go. Other than that, I believe both will sound and function just the same. There are two color choices available for the original TwinWoofer and they are, black or white color.
 
The box that came with the TwinWoofer that I received is damaged pretty badly for some reason, but the unit and all accessories inside were in perfect condition. The packaging is pretty large, but thin. Nothing fancy, but it comes with a soft carrying pouch, cable clip, and 5 pairs of silicone eartips including 3 single flanged tips [S, M, L] and 2 triple-flanged tips [S, L]. The earphone itself weights 7.5g each side and that is arguably lightweight despite its metal construction.

 

 

 
 
The earpiece construction is great and are made of metal housing, however, the cable itself can be struggling some as it is rather thin and microphonic. The jacks are small enough to fit into any device even with thick case, but do note that, it is a straight headphone jack instead of 90 degrees. Depending on use and preference, some may prefer the angled jack and vice versa.
 

 
 
The bullet design earphone allows insertion to ear canal can be done easily and I am not sure how many times have I told Harry at TwinWoofer how much I adore the design already. The team lead in the design was the CEO of TekFusion, Mr.Jayesh and the designer lead Mr.Darshan along with the other team of designers/engineers. Whoever, the rest of them may be, they, together, did an excellent job with the housing design that appears to the crowd and fits easily into our ears. They do not only look good on the picture, they feel well constructed when on hand as well.
 
The easily perfected fit resulted in a huge amount of isolation even with the single flange tips. While the silicone eartips is not the highest quality I have ever seen, but it is definitely of standard quality. The wide choices of eartips allow the user to find the perfect tips for sure and the triple flange tips for extra isolation. It is one of my best isolating IEM under $100 including the RockJaw Alfa Genus.
 
When I first received the TwinWoofer, I was slightly disappointed by its bass, but after giving it a fair amount of burn in, I started to like them more and more. This review is done after more than 100 hours of burn in.
As its name suggests, “TwinWoofer”, the “Woofer” itself says it all but please don’t mistake the name, the TwinWoofer is a single dynamic driver earphone on each side not double as the name may have suggested, but it does feel like there’s “Twin Woofer” built into it when it comes to the sub-bass. It goes so deep that it does not feel like just a single driver doing its work; truly a miracle for a sub $50 IEM.
 
Not only does its bass goes deep, they are huge and very well textured. With burn in, they will sound tighter and bleeds less to the midrange. Although there is still slight bleeding in bass to the midrange, I still find it enjoyable with EDM music or anything that requires deep and huge sub bass. Not only does the massive bass makes music more enjoyable, it helps in complimenting the sharp upper midrange by making the spikes less obvious. Similar to what the silver filter did to the RockJaw Alfa Genus.
 
Most of the IEMs with such gigantic bass usually have a very V-shaped sound with the midrange being recessed to the state that it can’t be heard. Surprisingly, it is not the case for TwinWoofer, the midrange is not at all recessed in fact, there’s quite a bit of them present in the music. While it can be slightly dry at times at the bottom with certain tracks but not all. Drum kicks hard when called and the aggressive upper midrange makes it great with Rocks and Aggressive genre of music.
 
There is an obvious sharp roll-off at the high region after the upper midrange spikes which resulted in the lack of details in comparison to other sub $100 IEMs but at the same time, very forgiving to bad recordings. Some instruments can feel rather bland as some may have preferred. Instrumental separation and soundstage are decently done as an in ear.
 
I simply prefer the TwinWoofer better than the Jabra Vox, A-Jays Five in terms of every aspect without exception in terms of sound, build, isolation and fit. If anything, TekFusion should take to improve the cable quality into deep consideration. It’s real competition comes when put against the RockJaw Alfa Genus.
 
Both, to me, are excellent at its own price. The RockJaw Alfa Genus will be featuring 3 pairs of filters in the future, according to Bob at RockJaw. To be fair, I compared the TwinWoofer to Alfa Genus with silver filter which is the bassy filter, but even with that filter, I still find the TwinWoofer’s bass to be more enjoyable, deeper and bigger. Alfa Genus is more detailed and more spacious in soundstage than the TwinWoofer.
Both have upper midrange spikes, but the Alfa Genus’s are more sparkly than the TwinWoofer. However, the TwinWoofer’s highs are brighter than the Alfa Genus. Alfa Genus are, overall, more refined as well. Keep in mind, though, the Alfa Genus costs more than the TwinWoofer, I wish I could compare the TwinWoofer to other IEM at its own price range but I doubted if they are worth the comparison.
 
The TekFusion TwinWoofer definitely scales better than its price may have suggested. For basshead, they will appreciate the massive amount and deep bass it offers. Travelers will appreciate its great isolation and for $50, I can’t think of anything else better. Again, if TekFusion could improve the cable quality without affecting the price, that will be perfect at its own price already!

A very big thank you to Bob at RockJaw for sending in theAlfa Genus for review! It is also worth mentioning that, what I am getting may be different from what you are getting. Here’s a little background information about RockJaw. It is a brand new company straight from the UK whose goal is to design something that almost everyone can afford, and something that punches well beyond its own price bracket. While they have partially achieved the goal, I personally like how they are accepting the suggestions of others whilst applying it. In all honesty, I do think that RockJaw will see a bright future ahead if they carry on what they are doing, that is, improving.

At £49.99, there are literally no plastics in Alfa Genus’s housing. There is only aluminum and woodies. We all love woodies, don’t we? RockJaw uses some high quality ebony wood as well-though from which region was not specified. I did some research on the ebony wood and was pleasantly surprised! According to the source, ebony wood is among the most expensive wood in the world. It is finely-textured and has a very smooth finish when polished, making it valuable as an ornamental wood. TheRockJaw Acero also uses the same wood as the Alfa Genus, but RockJaw should be more than proud of their beautiful wood and shouldn’t be covered with black paint which sort of spoils the design. It is nice, but I would still prefer to just leave it as it is.

The cable is on the thinner side, and feels pretty light unlike the JAYS A-Jays Five’s which’s cable feels as if it is weighting the earphone down. The low profile 90 degree 3.5mm headphone jack makes it fit into almost every smartphone case, including the thick ones. Microphonic wise, it is not the quietest but it definitely isn’t the worst either. It’s not loud enough to ruin your music but it is loud enough to be heard. RockJaw has been said to include foam eartips in the near future as part of the accessories of the Alfa Genus as well as every other IEM of RockJaw. There are only three eartips included in the box butthe M-size fits my ears extremely well. As far as quality goes, these are of really good quality. The only thing lacking in Alfa Genus’s accessories is a carrying pouch which RockJaw will be including as well in the future.

The RockJaw sits in my ears, no doubt perfectly. It has a very comfy IEM and does not fall off easily and even has a tight seal as well. It is one of the few earphones that I can stand wearing for over an hour without adjusting it in between.

The RockJaw Alfa Genus features changeable filters which make it very flexible to suit a variety of people by switching between the black filter and silver filter. The “changeable filters” are not just for show, both really do sound like day and night, especially in the bass department-though I personally like the black filter best. Some have suggested that it would have been better if RockJaw designed another filter which would suit the best of both worlds. Gladly, according to Bob, they are already working on it.

The RockJaw Alfa Genus, as suggested, has been given roughly a hundred hours or more of burn-in time. Using the black filter, there is an obvious major bass roll off and things seem to leans on the dry side. Some may hate this filter with nearly no bass presence and the more mid-centric sound signature. It is however, very clean sounding, very detailed and the bass is small enough to not overlap the mids and the highs. The slightly edgy highs and upper-midrange can be a tad piercing with certain female vocals and inappropriate for bad recordings and that is where I find myself crafting for the silver filter. Other than that, it’s cleaner, slightly more spacious sound and brighter sound signature.

Switching to the silver filter, everything just feels slightly congested and the bass thought goes way deeper in with far better body. It does bleed into the midrange and put the midrange behind a little bit. The upper frequency spikes have disappeared though the bass can be slightly “boomy” at times. Vocals can sound a little chesty as well. Detail retrieval is similar to the black filter. The soundstage depth andwides are certainly lacking. I happen to enjoy the silver filter with James Blake’s Overgrown.

 
For £49.99, with a changeable being hard to find, it is certainly worth a try if you are unsure on what sound signature suits you the best. To sum it up, the silver filter offers some very over powerful bass and the black filter has brighter highs. If RockJaw were to develop their 3rd filter for the Alfa Genus, I would prefer it to be slightly punchy at the bass region, with deep but not overpowering, less edgy highs and a smooth midrange. Otherwise, they should redesign the silver housing for a better bass response. 
 
 

In this review, I will be introducing what I believe to be Noontec Zoro's brother, the Zoro HD. The Zoro was a very successful headphone that get positive reviews on several big audio forum/website like the Innerfidelity and CNet. While I personally have not tried the Zoro myself before, but today, a big thank you to Noontec for sending in me their Noontec Zoro HD for this review.
 
To summarize the Zoro HD in short, it is a great sounding headphone for $100 and I will not hesitate recommending it to anyone looking for closed, portable headphone with detachable cable and foldable design. If the Grado SR60i/80i is among the best starter open headphone, then the Zoro HD should deserve, at least, one of the best portable headphone at $100 headphone. However, we should all keep in mind of the on ear design on all the headphones mentioned so far as it does brings some downside, especially those who wear glasses as the clamping force may be too high. The good thing is that, the Zoro HD is very forgiving and does not need an amp to sound good.
 
The Zoro HD comes in a nice, yet simple box featuring a carrying pouch, a detachable cable with inline mic and a button, manual guide and finally, the Zoro HD. The cable that it came with is anything but a volume control. Everything came in nicely and well presented. The design of the headphone itself as well as the red color cable reminds me a lot of Beats headphones.
 
The design, features, isolates, comfort and the sound quality of Zoro HD reminds me a lot of Ultimate Ears UE4000 which I too, like. While I do not have the UE4000 to compare side by side, but my memory tells me that the Zoro HD is a better pair of headphone though not by a day and night difference. The Zoro HD as mentioned, lacks in-line volume control, but in return, you get an foldable design which makes things much smaller for portable. As an on-ear headphone, I find the clamping force can be way too strong to listen to for extended hours even with the glasses removed. Due to the thin padding at the bottom of the earpads probably due to the folding patent, some leaking may be there, but adding some stuff at the back of the earpads may improve comfort as well as isolation. It is a reversible mod, but I am not responsible for any damage that may occur due to the mod. The mod also increases body as well as bass quantity.
 
In terms of sound, the Zoro HD that I have, has been given roughly 100 hours of burn in though no difference were detected to my ears. The bass goes deep, very well textured and pretty full bodied. Bass is, indeed, slightly above average in quantity, but it is well controlled and does not dare to leak into mids nor highs who gets softer and softer as you go higher in frequencies. In comparison, the Jabra Vox bass is much stronger but less controlled and compared to the ATH-M50, the ATH-M50's bass sound far more boomier and less controlled. The midrange is very detailed like the highs, it is not as vivid as the Grado SR60i, not as recessed as the ATH-M50 nor is it neutral like the Shure SRH-440. The upper midrange of Zoro HD is far more natural than UE4000 but by no means the most natural headphone but for $100 in closed headphone category,  I believe it arguably is. The highs are where all the magic comes in hand. It is darker than the originally bright SR60i and ATH-M50 but the details it captures, is really good and definitely better than ATH-M50.
 
Neither the SR60i, ATH-M50 or Zoro HD offer perfect imaging, but the ATH-M50 did best among the three and the SR60i comes next with Zoro HD last although the difference in imaging between SR60i and Zoro HD are pretty comparable. Both ATH-M50 and Zoro HD lacks soundstage and instrumental separation compared to SR60i but it would be unfair to compare a closed headphone to an open headphone specially in terms of soundstage and instrumental separation. I find it acceptable to have Zoro HD to lack in soundstage and instrumental separation as it is, after all, just an on-ear headphone. Clarity wise, I find the Zoro HD did extremely well and surpass ATH-M50 and SR60i. It puts both the headphone to shame, revealing the grainy sound. Personally,  I find it fatiguing to listen to ATH-M50 but that just me, as I am not a fan of huge bass and the upper midrange emphasis. The Zoro HD in terms of sound, is easier to listen to. If only ATH-M50's build quality and comfort can combine with Zoro HD's sound quality and detachable cable.     
 
All in all, the Zoro HD is a near perfect headphone for $100 or less. I find it excellent with pop, electronic, dance, RnB, Hip-Hop, Rap, etc. But does not do quite well with genres which specially need great soundstage and instrumental separation like Classical, and Jazz. I find it decent with rocks and aggressive music, it is able to clearly play the sound of the guitar, though nothing compares to Grado when it comes to rock and aggressive genre. Unless you are a Basshead or/and wish to have brighter highs, the Zoro HD for $100, is a no brainer in terms of sound quality, I would personally take it over the ATH-M50.

First Impressions

 

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Bang & Olufsen were established since 1925. I was looking at their stunning products. It was really creative, and a lot of technologies were put in each and every of their products to make sure things are near perfect and simple to use for everyone and at everywhere. All of their products define how great the effort was put into it by Bang & Olufsen's team making a product that everyone can use. I strongly believe that their universal control best describes it. It was designed 20 years ago for controlling everything you can find in Bang & Olufsen. It is not as complicated as you may think, it's simple. It's intelligent. It's convenient. Just like all other Bang & Olufsen's products. The Bang & Olufsen H6, lies another great story to tell.

The Bang & Olufsen H6 is what I would call, an audiophile, portable-reference, fashion-accessories headphone. It is the combination of good sound quality and good design together with luxury touches. They are, of course, as comfortable as all the luxury car brands that Bang & Olufsen are co-operated with; including Aston Martin, Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

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Everywhere you go with the Bang & Olufsen H6, it will not disappoint you nor will it put you to shame because of its design. It isolates extremely well, even in a noisy environment, you can still put on the stylish Bang & Olufsen H6 and enjoy your music. Nothing will ever come between you and the music. Additionally, its stylish design would attract more people than you would think it will. No cheap plastic, cheap pleather. All these are replaced and dominated by high quality and excellent finished genuine leather and aluminum. It is simple. It is convenient as you can plug in the jack into either side of the earcups. The cable features in-line remote control and mic for Smartphone. There's no need of Bluetooth feature here because I believe Bang & Olufsen wish to avoid it as it will compress the music way too much that the headphone will not sound at its best.

After so much designer's effort are put in it, you may ask, how does it sound? The moment I put onto this headphone and play music from my iPhone, I was blown away. Unlike most stylish headphone, the Bang & Olufsen H6 sound very neutral, detailed and airy. Instruments are well separated in the music. The vocals sound very natural. There are no treble spike or upper mids bump. It is very clean sounding with no hint of harshness, muffled and/or piercing. By memory, in comparison to my beloved AKG K550 and PSB M4U1, the Bang & Olufsen H6 basically take all the good sound of those two headphones and make it better. It is like upgrading from BMW 5 series to BMW 7series, a whole new definition of joy. Great imaging, instrument separation, details, soundstage and natural sound can be found in the very well built and comfortable Bang & Olufsen H6. Most importantly, there is no need of amping which is a big add for portable use as it reduces weight.

At this point, you may think I am advertising for Bang & Olufsen.  No, this is my opinionated first impression of this headphone. There are certain point that I though, they can still improve further in, such as, the bass. I would prefer more sub-bass presence and upper bass warmth. It is not at all cold sounding, it is just my preference for more warmth, but if you ask me, it is a perfect spot in between warm and cold. While it is airy sounding, it is still a closed headphone, it is still not as airy as some other open headphone but it would be unfair to compare a closed headphone to open headphones. For price vs performance ratio, I find it on the decent side. For audiophiles, at US$400 it may be asking too much, but if you include it's comfort, features, design and build quality together with sound quality, it's worth it.

Overall, it features what you need and wanted without giving too much that make a headphone complicated. Luxury materials yet lightweight. All the best possible design and materials are put in it to give you the best possible listening experience, but if only the price is not a problem. If I will have to rate it out of 10, it would be somewhere at 8 judging by this first impression. Like what Soren Kokholm, general manager of Bang & Olufsen, Singapore told me during my visit "If something is designed perfectly, there is no need of changing it." I believe the Bang & Olufsen H6 have achieved that standard.

Big thanks to Soren Kokholm for the service!

I purchased a used pair of AKG K702 65th Anniversary Review two months ago from the owner of VeritasBN. It was in great condition and I have been using it with FiiO E09K/E07K which was also bought from the same seller. They work great together. Throughout these two months, I have been using it for music listening, gaming and movie. What I am writing below is all belongs to my opinion and my thoughts on it after two months of using it.
 
Before I get started, I would like to mention that I am a “Midrange-Head” and was never a fan of over-emphasized bass. Just like bass-head, I prefer as much midrange as possible, preferably smooth, warm but not too muddy, and detailed mids. My favorite headphones include AKG K550, PSB M4U1, Sennheiser HD598. AKG K550 and PSB M4U1 for the timbre, neutral, sweet mids, wide soundstage in closed headphone and bass extends deep without over emphasis at any point of bass. Sennheiser HD598 for the warm and forward mids. I find the HD598 to have the perfect amount of bass too.
So here we go…
 
Accessories and packaging
 
I got these used, but it comes with the original box in perfect condition. It kind of reminds me of the Incase Pivot boxing; similar to Incase Sonic. It’s funny how more expensive headphones does not package as well as some of the consumer priced headphones, the Jabra Vox, for example. I don’t mind having all the pizza boxes [I mean, Grado boxing] for the AKG K702/65 though. The boxing does look good to me as well. It comes with a 3.5mm to 6.3mm jack converter and a 3m long cable. Other than that, nothing else, but that is all you need although some [including me] would prefer a carrying pouch in it.
 
Build quality
 
As far as build quality goes, my only concern was the cable.  It’s on the thin side or maybe I am just used to the thick Grado cable which prevents tangles. Both do not tangle as badly, but for the price of AKG K702/65, I would expect something of better quality. While the cable is detachable from the unit itself, it does take some effort to remove it. Other than the cable, I find the unit itself to be very sturdy. The earpads are made of memory foam and the headband cushion is removed vs the traditional AKG K701/2 for better comfort. While I can tell certain parts of the earcups are made of metal, there are certain part made of plastic, but for reference use, there’s really nothing to worry about.
Comfort and isolation
The first time I wore the AKG K702/65, I feel like the clamping force is clamping my lower jaw and it kind of annoys me at times. After a few days of using it, I find the clamping force to be vanished somehow. Very comfortable headphone even when wearing glasses.  Earpads are very soft though does stick around with dust easily, but easily removed as well. I like the fact that I do not need to adjust the headband to fit my head each time I put it over my head. It adjusts to my head automatically and good thing it does not add too much weight to my head as well, it does feel like I am still wearing a headphone but it’s not at all heavy. I can easily wear these for one whole afternoon while I’m doing my gaming, homework or head-fying. My ears do not get warm while wearing it under room temperature, which I find a good add. If anything, I find the earcups to be super huge like the AKG K550. Extremely comfortable, but I have heard people preferring the MA900 lightweight design over AKG K702/65.
 
As a semi-closed/open headphone, I find the AKG K702/65 to isolates “okay”.
 
Sound
 
When it comes to its sound quality, I have given these about 300 hours of use [not sure about the previous owner] which I find it more than enough for typical AKG headphones and to say the least, I am very satisfied with it. It plays everything well, but master at none. It’s a great pair of headphone for all-in-one use at home. It does not get affected by the damping factor like some headphones do thus, it will suit any home audio equipment. I do recommend pairing it with something powerful. The AKG K702/65 is by no mean hard to drive, in fact, I can drive it straight out of my iPhone 4/iPad 2 to my listen volume at around 50% of maximum volume but they do scale better with more power.
 
The bass hits when called with the right amount of bass. It goes deep for a semi-closed headphone but it’s no competition when put next to Momentum whose bass extends deeper. I do prefer AKG K702/65 tighter bass though. It is warmer and fuller in body than the AKG K550 but if you were to put the Philips X1 next to it, the AKG K702/65 may sound thin but cleaner and less muddy sounding.
 
If the bass is K702/65’s weakest point, the mid would be its strength. Very detailed and smooth sounding. I have heard people saying that the K701/2 midrange sound “plastic” but to my ears, I do not find it so in the AKG K702/65. I find the midrange to be really nice, very musical and spacious sounding. It may not have the most natural timbre nor is it the most transparent headphone but the midrange is definitely something worth listening to after turning down the upper mids.
 
The highs do not sound harsh at all instead, it’s very clean sounding like the AKG K550 that I love a lot except for the lack of body but nothing EQ and a warm pair of amp won’t fix. There is some treble spike here, but it does not affect most of the music I listen to. Overall, a pretty forgiving headphone but things sound muffled with compressed files.
 
Another thing I like about the AKG K702/65 is its wide and deep soundstage and excellent imaging. This makes it great for movie and gaming. Everything feels more alive.
 
Amping
 
It is ideal to pair it with a tube amp or at least, something warm and powerful as in my opinion, the better you feed it, the better they perform!
 
Conclusion
 
Unless I have around $500 just for buying a pair of headphone, I don’t think I will be giving these up. If you can find these at around $300 or the K712 for a little bit more than $300, it is definitely worth considering, but if you wanted something warm and bassy with great sound resolution, I suggest looking into the X1 if you do not mind the less musical and spacious sounding mids.

Without any introduction, here I will start:

Comfort: I wear glasses & I have no problem wearing these! It does get warm after sometime. Clamping force are not too strong.

Isolation: Isolates plenty of outside noise.

Build quality: Mostly plastic.

Sound: HEH HEH! Best on-ear headphone I ever tried. Lows are punchy & well controlled. Better control than HD439 at the same price. Satisfy basshead but it is not as strong as UE6000. Mids are very detailed & smooth sounding. Never did I aspect such excellent details from it. Mids are it's strong point. Really good. Upper mids & highs are however it's downside. Specially for treble/vocals fans as it sound artifical but that's the one and only weak point in sound. Details are excellent. Soundstage are good for a closed pair of on-ear headphones.

I would say, these are one of the best on-ear headphone. It is great for Electronics music or any songs without vocals as I find it somewhat annoying on these. Just my 2cents

FYI, I dislike too much bass(IMO, I find HD518 has too much), smooth & detailed mids & clear highs. Great soundstage & details type of headphones. Just so you know what I mean by "detailed" "smooth" etc in this review

I'm no audiophile and these are my first audiophile grade headphone(Sony claim it so). [I got these from Japan for ¥18800 and use XE to convert the price to US dollar]

Comfort-It is amazing! I thought a 4 BA with such big housing will cause discomfort but no! I was wrong, it is very comfortable. It comes with 4 hybird eartips and 3 noise isolation. It shouldn't go wrong but I hope it can be a little longer.

Isolation-Pretty good! Isolates much of the noise from the outside.

Sound-It sounds great! Nothing is over powered. The treble is slightly weak thought but if are willing to do some modification on it, it's perfect!

[The mod is perma (once you did it, you can't undo) but it's simple. Remove the foam in the earphones. You might need some tools to remove it. I use toothpick, break it into half and gently remove it] Not much sound changes at first but as you listen to it more, you will find both the highs and lows clarity increased!