EDIT: this is an update after 6months. I tried very hard to keep using the hifiboy dream but I couldn't pretend anymore. There is way too much treble with a spike at 10khz that ruin the balance for a lot of musics even with full foam. The bass has no energy and no weight but it's impossible to turn up the volume because of the treble.. This go a bit better (I mean, less worse) when using an amp or perhaps heavy EQ but I don't think it's worth it. For that price you can find nicer stuff. Therefore I updated the rating from 4.5/5 to 1.5/5.
I still think good things of this earphones but the flaws are too Significant to have a positive rating.


dream is an earbud released by a new audio company called HiFi Boy based in Chengdu, China. They also released two IEM which, according to reviews, seems to be of good value.
Disclaimer
I bought the earbuds on PenonAudio.com and paid full price for it.

Source
For the review, final thoughts will be made after 200 hours of burn-in and approximately three weeks of use

I will use Nuansa P1 with JRC2068 op amp listening to FLAC 16bit and MP3 320kb/S mainly.
Will also drive the earphones with FiiO M3 and Zishan Z2 using the NE5532 NOS opamp.
I will eventually use my Nuansa A1 amp to compare dream with the Puresounds PS100-600

Personal Preferences
I tend to prefer a neutral to warm sound signature with a slight U shape or a fun sound depending on the mood. Less interested in clinical and critical reproduction of the music. I mostly listen to IDM, electronic music, experimental, pop, ambient, new age and jazz. From Top end Hi-Fi recordings to bedroom broken tape. Old and new. Random names: Autechre, Gigi Masin, Chra, Jun Togawa, Ryuichi Sakamoto & Alva Noto, Jon Hassel.

HiFi BOY dream "rose gold" with dense white foam

Specifications
Model: Dream
Driver: 16mm dynamic driver
Impedance: 32ohm
Sensitivity: 100dB
Frequency response: 15Hz-23 KHz
Cable Length: 1.2M
Plug: 3.5mm
Wire: 5N OFC
Four colors for optional: Silver, Coffee, Gold and Rose-gold.
SRP: 95.00 USD

Packaging and accessories
The dream comes in a big cardboard box, it is accompanied by a golden plated 3.5 to 6.5 mm jack and a gold plated two pin airport adapter. They are of good quality, It is probably the most beautiful airplane headphones adapter I have ever seen, but I'm not sure it is going to be used pretty much. There is a bigger than usual clam case to transport and store the earbuds, which is of same size of the zishan box but with "hifi boy" embossed on. It comes with foams and a shirt clip. Nothing spectacular, the packaging is still more generous than average when you think about other earbuds.

Build and comfort
Some TOTL earbuds like to impress with thick cables, heavy splitter and oversized plugs. dream goes the opposite way and try to be the least cumbersome an earphone can be. You are more likely to put them in your ears, dap in the pocket and forget about it.
Shells are made of aluminum, a shape highly similar to the one of the HE150PRO, the fit is in between the classic Sennheiser MX500 Shell and the Yuin, Shozy shell, It sits securely in the ears and can be use with or without foam. My ears are medium to small size and while the MX500 is fine, they tend to fell off every so and then. The yuin are a bit small and couldn't be use naked at all. The shell of the dream is of a perfect middle ground and fit securely, naked or not. The cable is soft and light. Thicker than average, it feels strong and durable. The right angled jack is low profile and makes it ideal for portable application, minimizing risk of stress if bending in jean pockets or anything. There is a very light chin slider that adds an extra level of comfort if one wants to secure the cable.
The build and design choice are of excellent taste and reminds us of what an earbud should be: a simple mean to enjoy musing in a wide array of situations.

from left to right: HE150 pro, HiFi BOY dream, PureSounds PS100-600

from top to bottom: TY HI-Z 150S, Puresounds PS100-600, HiFi BOY dream
Sound
The dream is a transparent sounding earbuds that show a relaxed presentation with great speed and a tone faithful to the source it is plugged to. Revealing in a subtle manner, the rendition of details remains natural and painless. While the dream extend far and render sub bass with ease. Sub is slightly lifted but mid bass lacks a bit of weight. It is lighter than average and won't give that slam. Going to the mids in a lean manner. The latter are clean and natural, neutral with a touch of warmth. The upper mids, like female vocals, are slightly forward, intimate with a good amount of details. The treble extend very far, more neutral, there is a small peak in the 10khz region that ads a touch of excitement. It is however beautifully controlled and won't get hot in any way, even with recordings that are usually "at risk". The treble is clean, fast and completely free of fatigue, I also noticed no sibilance at all unless I would use low resolution files. The soundstage size is similar of the one of a recording studio, shown in a spherical shape, width and depth being equal. The imaging is just great: Sounds at different volumes and different locations are easy to discern and locate. The rendering of textures and details is excellent and feels right. I noticed that the dream sound has a bit more of weight when being amped.
When using the FiiO M3, the sound is very nice, balanced, smooth, a bit of warner with a slight mid-bass bump. Althought the definition and the soundstage is not on par with nuansa P1, it sound excellent for this little DAP. Many of my earbuds would sound harsh and poor with the FiiO M3. dream is easy to drive and adapt well.
When I use the Zishan Z2 with new old stock NE5532 opamp, the tonality is dead neutral, there is a little roll off at both ends, it is not as refined as the P1, but the linearity of the frequency curve and the absence of coloration is really impressive.

• dream vs Puresounds PS 100-600

Puresounds PS 100-600 is the best earphones I own, $149,00SRP. It has a very balanced warm neutral sound in a U shape that is rather hard to drive and scales very well. It use a classic mx500 shell and silver coated copper cables that are more rigid than average, they have a bit of memory and I must admit, they seems to be more prone to failure over time because they aren't braided. The fit and comfort is better than average. Because of the light cable. With a shirt clip it just stay securely in the ears. Still the mx500 doesn't fit as securely as the dream shell, and the cable is a being more rigid and with memory, The dream still win in terms of comfort and build.
Using the A1 amp. PS is darker. treble is less pronounced. Mid bass has a natural weight and enough slam. dream is more excited, vocals are more vivid and with a bit more of resolution. PS sound is more smooth, but also bigger, the feel being closer to full size headphones. The overall quality of resolution and accuracy of soundstage feels similar, PS being a bit wider. They are both, in my opinion, in the same league. The dream having more sparkle and the PS100-600 more weight. When using only a rig of high quality with great power output, I would say that the PS sound is more engaging.
Without amp, the PS sound is dull, it is still relatively balanced for an under powered headphones but it doesn't sound great. Pairing the PS with the Zishan Z2, a bit of bloom is noticeable. In that regards, dream wins at being more versatile and managing to sounds good on many sources.

Final Thoughts

If you like the the sound of your source(s) and are looking for a lean, accurate sound in a comfortable, care free form factor, then dream is a safe investment.

Aune is a Chinese company known for its minimal and sleek designed audio gear with a focus on high fidelity sound at a reasonable price. The aune B1s is the first overall upgrade of the well acclaimed aune B1. One of the best value in budget amps.

The aune B1s has been lent to me by @ethosian on the case of a sponsored European tour. I have tested the amplifier for about week. I'll try to be as accurate and objective as my ears and my brain let me to be.



#SPECIFICATIONS:

• Typical line output indicators
• Frequency response (from 10 Hz to 20 kHz): ±0.02dB
• THD + n: 0.00015% @300Ω
• SNR: 124dB @300Ω
• Crosstalk: <110dB @300Ω
• Max output: 6.443Vrms 18.4dBu(10Hz to 20kHz)
• Headphone output power: @300Ω 84mW , @600Ω 42mW ,@32Ω 74mW
• Class-A: 25mW/16R 50mW/32R
• Size: 125×65×18（mm）
• Weight:230g

• Output impedance: c.1ohm

#PACKAGING AND ACCESSORIES
The aune B1s comes in a black box with a thick usb cable and a humble 3.5 to 3.5 interconnect. So me manuals in Chinese and English. No need for more.

#BUILD
The B1s has the dimensions of a 5" smartphone except it's a bit thicker. It is too big to fit my jeans pocket but it's small enough to be in a jacket or coat pocket. It's a bit heavy, I wouldn't like to drop this thing considering it has a glass panel. The volume knob is made of high quality plastic. The chassis is of brushed metal glued to what looks like aluminum on a side and leather on the other. There is a small led button to check battery life.
The knob has large travel and it's really easy to fine tune the volume desired. I noticed channel imbalance at very low volume but nothing alarming considering the quality of the low gain.
There is two gain modes. The low gain is quite conservative and you can easily use sensitive earphones without hassle. The high gain has power and I only need to go as far as 20% to get comfortable volume with my 300 to 600 ohm earbuds. The amp can get rather warm. Slightly more than lukewarm. At the time of the review, it is very cold in Europe right now, But I would assume, in summer or in a tropical area, this may be uncomfortable for some.
I don't know how easy it is to open it but I guess you'll have to tear down some panels considering I couldn't find any screw. I guess it is not meant to be eventually repairable or modded. Something that concern me considering the battery life is on the short side (c. 8 hours on CLASS A). If used on a regular basis, I don't know how well it will pass the two years mark.(average life of a lithium battery before it start to degrade significantly)


airy, smooth, clear like the Swiss mountains on a sunny day

For the review I will mostly use the nuansa P1 (Philips multibit DAC TDA1387T) as a source with a jensen silver cable with oyaide plug interconnect. I will also do some test with the Zishan Z2(AK4490 DAC)

#SOUND
earphones used: Puresounds PS100-600, K's 300 samsara, SeaHF F650S, Blur black cable.
Coming from the aune m1s, I felt at home with the aune B1s sound, It's quite airy and clear. The imaging is accurate. Compared to the m1s, the sound stage is larger, the treble more controlled and overall it sounds more musical. There is a holographic-like presentation, It's easy to sense the space of the scene. The sub bass is of excellent quality, and can reach low with the right earphones. The sound is airy, It has an holographic quality, the layering and separation is excellent. It's very resolving and textures are rich. Overall the tonality sounds right to me. There is a slight upper mid lift which gives an overall sense of clarity.
The sound signature of this amp could be described as an "airy and fresh" for the lack of better term, If you are happy with the aune M1S, you couldn't be more satisfied with the B1s.
Although it sounds excellent on many levels, I noticed some drawback: The upper mid lift can be tiring, Especially If you pair this amp with the wrong earphones. I had issues listening to some song where the piano would be a tad too present. The snare of some techno recordings can be too much as well. With some recording that are a bit old and/or modest in terms of mastering the B1s will be unforgiving. The sound will be relatively thin, acid, and flaws would be overly apparent. "Angry" music will sound a bit too polished and relaxed.

Pairing in order of preference with their sound signature and how they react with the aune B1s:

• Puresounds PS-100-600 (U shaped, warm neutral) probably the best pair up. The sound is balanced and airy, bass is agile, treble is smooth. Overall sound is very rich and clear. Holographic sound stage. I could listen to any kind of music and be from extremely happy to satisfied.
• Seahf F650S (V shaped, neutral analytical) Sound is very balanced, very little coloration. It's objectively excellent although not as engaging as the PS, more kind of critical listening
• K's 300 samsara (Fun, warm lush) It's a sort of in between, it does sounds nice but not on everything, The warm lush characteristic sound of the samsara with the airy output of the B1s makes it not ideal. I think samsara prefer a thicker sounding source
• Blur (mid centric, neutral warm) Bad match, Bass doesn't extend beyond lower mid for some reason. Brass are thin and a bit gritty. Overall too clinical and mid centric.

Note: Using the Zishan Z2 DAP line out as a source, the sound is more dry, more 2D, somewhat hollow. Please bear in mind the price difference, considering it is ten times cheaper than the P1. It is nice to notice that the aune B1s is very transparent to it's source. And scale very well with a higher end DAC.

Aune B1s vs Revamp Acoustics Nuansa A1
Nuansa A1 is a discrete amplifier made by Revamp Acoustics, a one man business from Indonesia. It has similar spec in terms of power output, the price is significantly higher though (240usd+40usd shipping vs the 230usd with free shipping of B1s) They are both neutral amplifier although the approach is quite different. On the P1, The sound stage is smaller. There is less air between the instruments, the sound is more upfront and energetic. A tad less resolving, details are melted in the overall presentation. On high end recordings, the B1S is a step further in clarity and agility. The holographic feel is more present, each instruments feels more palpable on its own. However The sound presentation is more even and less colored on the A1. The A1 is more versatile for pairing with different earphones and/or listening to different type of recordings. The A1 has an analog quality. Old recordings, "lo-fi", still sound excellent on the A1.
A1 is smaller with its cigarette pack size, use a generic replaceable battery and is very sturdy. It does look quite rugged, especially next to the aune B1s which has a sophisticated allure.
It's hard to find a clear winner, it's all a matter of compromise on different factors.

#FINAL THOUGHTS
Aune B1s is a neutral amplifier with an airy sound, holographic presentation and excellent clarity. The value of this amp is probably unmatched at this point, It scales very well, has a very controlled sound, great build quality. Low gain is actually low and High gain is dangerously high.
From my experience, It pairs better with U/V shaped and neutral to warm earphones. My main issues are the fact that it can be too analytical with some pairing, the battery life is a bit short and there is no obvious way to replace it in case of degradation.

I got this headphones few years ago as my first Hi-Fi Headphones. I thought they were good because they did limited edition with stone throw records, a cult alternative hip hop record label.

I was very happy with them for a few years because I never heard anything more than random earbuds and iem before. Then I found out about head fi and all the amazing stuff I got for cheap, Going back to these, I can't believe how terrible they are for 180,00euro
Sound is muddy, lack of dynamics, treble roll off, small soundstage. They are overly dark and warm, very forgiving. They scale very little and sounded the best on poor source like sansa clip or fiio m3. no real benefit of going up (like the aune m1s or something)


I'd say it's a very nice fashion item, they do look very good, even thought the matter paint is coming off over time. They feel fragile but they are not, Never broke them and use them daily for years, so +1 for the durability and comfort

Beside being marketed as DJ headphones, they are not very efficient on that matter because isolation is too low, you have to push the headphones to your ears to hear the bass/beat. You can however push the sound to very high volume and it wont be painful because of it's dark nature.



People like to make fun of Beat as trash overpriced headphones. I think AIAIAI is not that different, only the target audience is more about niche of creative hipsters than the whole mainstream youth.
I fell for it many years ago and still see a lot of facebook ads of theses.
This is a friendly warning, do not pay more than 50euros for them.