Beats Studio3 Wireless Over-the-Ear Headphones Review
June 12, 2018 Comments Off on Beats Studio3 Wireless Over-the-Ear Headphones Review
“Beats headphones have come a long way from my first audition of them back at that fateful Consumer Electronics Show, and they’ve done a lot to provide a new stream of profit to Apple, which was already pretty good at making a profit, thank you very much. The wireless Studio3 is a polite but slightly too-laid-back headphone with sub-standard bass. Will that keep people from buying them and/or owning them with pride? Not a chance. They’ll mate well with your sexy new Apple products, and that goes a long way. They are sold enthusiastically in places where people buy headphones. In the end, I am glad that the sonic signature of these next-gen Beats has changed, but it needs to be more open, refined, and tight to compete in the space. Additionally, the comfort level and dissipation of heat could be better. There are simply many other options that beat the Beats.”
Audio Research 75SE Power Amplifier $10,000 Review
June 9, 2018 Comments Off on Audio Research 75SE Power Amplifier $10,000 Review
“Audio Research has built a compact version of their top line REF series amplifiers that sacrifices nothing sonically to their biggest amplifiers and has put it in reach of a broader audience. For music lovers that crave the best, yet have to keep somewhat of an eye on the bottom line, this is a dream come true.”
JWM ACOUSTICS ALYSON AML II REVIEW
June 8, 2018 Comments Off on JWM ACOUSTICS ALYSON AML II REVIEW
“In determining how a speaker works in my room, I throw all genres of familiar music at it and try to sense how well they compare to my reference pair. I also tend to buy new music regularly so it’s possible during any review to hear some recordings for the first time on the review product before hearing them on my reference. I find this combination of listening experiences to be most useful when trying to evaluate what I am hearing.”
AUDEZE LCD-MX4 $2995 REVIEW
June 7, 2018 Comments Off on AUDEZE LCD-MX4 $2995 REVIEW
“Unfortunately, with a purist tonality and setup comes a bit of a kick factor in terms of ‘wince’ and shoulder shrugging dynamism. The MX4 can slam a bit too rough if the track calls for it, so be careful with volume needs on tracks that aren’t recording so nicely, or if the track just happens to be showcase excessively hard piano key strikes, or drum high hat crashes.”
ASTELL & KERN KANN DIGITAL AUDIO PLAYER $999 REVIEW
June 6, 2018 Comments Off on ASTELL & KERN KANN DIGITAL AUDIO PLAYER $999 REVIEW
“Still, audiophiles wanted more, including mass storage and DSD support. Astell & Kern has answered that need with the KANN, and one-upped most other players, including their own models by adding a powerful headphone amp built in. Other digital audio players were portable, but if you wanted to use them with higher quality, inefficient headphones, it meant strapping on an outboard amplifier, with cords to attach the player and the amplifier. That was pretty much a pain for users. The KANN gives us high quality, lots of music format support, and you can plug in just about any headphone.”
Final D8000 Planar Magnetic Headphones Review
June 5, 2018 Comments Off on Final D8000 Planar Magnetic Headphones Review
“These Japanese cans deliver an unbelievably close sound. If you have ever listened to, thought about or searched for loudspeakers offering a “here and now” sound, these headphones will be the equivalent of finding tha ultimate solution – you are “there” when the sound is created. For a moment, you might feel like there is too much going on, like that’s an exaggeration – not only compared to the HE-1000 v2, but also to the Edition X v2, let alone the Sennheiser HD800. Wait a moment though, listen to some records, let yourself get used to this sound in your head, and you will realize that it is something completely new, fresh and unique.”
Anthem STR Integrated Amplifier-DAC Review
June 5, 2018 Comments Off on Anthem STR Integrated Amplifier-DAC Review
“Considering all its features and configuration options, the STR Integrated has more in common with a pre-pro or AVR than with most integrateds. Thankfully, Anthem has provided an extensive menu system, visible on a large, dimmable color display that’s easy to read and to use. Up to 30 virtual inputs can be separately named, specified, and assigned to any physical input, and the display will then show the selected input, data type, and sampling frequency, and whether ARC is engaged. One cool feature: When you cycle through the inputs, the display momentarily shows not only the selected input’s name, but a large image of the type of connector used for that input — it makes identification easier. The Thin Film Transistor (TFT) display can be set to show only the volume level, displayed in large characters that can be easily read from across the room.”
FinkTeam Borg Loudspeakers $28,000 Review
June 4, 2018 § 1 Comment
“For those of you who don’t know FinkTeam, it is ‘what it says in the name’. A team of talented experts in their respective fields who decided, with Karl-Heinz Fink as their head, to create a brand and to design products that they wished to. Their day jobs, in general, are as specialists working for Fink Audio Consulting, Europe’s leading acoustical consultancy.”
REL T7i $999 Review
June 3, 2018 Comments Off on REL T7i $999 Review
“This will get you close. Then a bit of moving the REL around and slight fine tuning – perhaps with a friend to help speed up the process and you’re rocking. Even the most OCD person operating solo should be able to nail this in about an hour. Hunter adds here that they also like track 4 from the soundtrack of the 90′s movie Sneakers to dial the REL in itself. When perfectly optimized you can clearly hear the second skin (he calls it a “double-tap”) of the concert bass drum as the compression wave from the softly struck mallet on the first membrane passes through the body of the drum and pressurizes the second skin. This track is also excellent for determining phase and crossover settings, with level falling in to suit. Unless you are driving the hell out of an incredibly large main pair of speakers, the chance you will overdrive the T7i is slim. Even a long playlist of Aphex Twin and similar tracks, I was unable to overdrive the T7is, still mated to the Raidhos.”
HiFiMan Sundara Headphones $500 Review
June 3, 2018 Comments Off on HiFiMan Sundara Headphones $500 Review
“With a recording with natural imaging like Ry Cooder’s A Meeting by the River album, Sundara brought me into the session. I was with the band, more so than I heard from HiFiMan’s HE-400i headphones. Sundara is a higher-resolution device, yet there’s no sense of exaggerated detail or presence. The HE-400i is no slouch, but it sounds unfocused and opaque after you get used to Sundara’s sound.”
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