Headphone Reviews

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Headphone ReviewsInnerFidelity
Sennheiser HD569 Around Ear Sealed Headphones
Tyll Hertsens  |  Jul 29, 2017  |  0 comments
This story originally appeared at InnerFidelity.com

Sennheiser has been "remastering" their line-up for the past little while and I've been itching to get a little ear time on some of the more affordable models. In a marvelous turn of events, they sent me a couple of boxes filled with headphones for me to measure, evaluate, and cherry pick for for good values. Here's the first one...

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Headphone ReviewsInnerFidelity
Audeze iSine 20 Planar Magnetic In-Ear Earphone
Tyll Hertsens  |  Jul 19, 2017  |  0 comments
This story originally appeared at InnerFidelity.com

When first I saw the Audeze iSine models I wondered to myself, "What the heck are these for?" and, "Who will want these?" I'd never heard of an open acoustic in-ear before...heck, I'd not even thought of the possibility. Why in the world was Audeze even going down this road? I spent some time on the phone with Sankar Thiagasamudram, founder and CEO of Audeze, to gain some understanding.

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Gramophone DreamsHeadphone Reviews
Gramophone Dreams #17: Abyss AB-1266 Phi headphones
Herb Reichert  |  Jul 18, 2017  |  16 comments
Recently, a friend played me a masterpiece: Ike & Tina Turner's River Deep—Mountain High, arranged by Jack Nitzsche and produced by Phil Spector (LP, A&M SP 4178). It sounded terrible: murky, distant, with badly booming bass. Even before the first track was over, we both laughed and called it a night.

Nevertheless, I went home obsessed with Tina's inspired singing and Spector's infamous Wall of Sound production.

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Headphone ReviewsInnerFidelity
MrSpeakers Aeon Over-Ear Sealed Planar Magnetic Headphones
Tyll Hertsens  |  Jun 30, 2017  |  0 comments
This story originally appeared at InnerFidelity.com

Oh baby...don't read this if you've got $800 bucks in your wallet and a yen for some good sealed headphones.

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Budget Component ReviewsDigital Processor ReviewsHeadphone Reviews
Arcam irDAC-II D/A processor
John Atkinson  |  Jun 20, 2017  |  14 comments
For digital playback, in recent months I've been breathing some rarefied air, pricewise. In December 2016, I reviewed dCS's Rossini Player and Clock, followed in May 2017 by Meridian's Ultra DAC, and in June by Chord's DAVE DAC. The Rossini Player costs $28,499 without the Clock, the Meridian $23,000, and though the DAVE is less expensive than either at $10,588, that's still a fair chunk of change. Even PS Audio's PerfectWave DirectStream DAC, which I bought following Art Dudley's review in September 2014, costs $6899 with the Network Bridge II, which hardly counts as "affordable."
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Headphone ReviewsInnerFidelity
Sony MDR-Z1R Sealed Over-Ear Headphones
Tyll Hertsens  |  Jun 05, 2017  |  0 comments
This story originally appeared at InnerFidelity.com

Twenty five years ago when I started HeadRoom and built the first commercially available portable headphone amplifier I said to myself, "The day Sony decides to enter the fray with a portable headphone amp my mission will be complete." That happened a few years ago and I've found it quite entertaining to watch this humungous consumer electronics company try to snuggle into our tiny headphone enthusiast niche.

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Headphone ReviewsInnerFidelity
SCOTTeVEST Fleece Jacket 8.0
Tyll Hertsens  |  May 26, 2017  |  0 comments
This story originally appeared at InnerFidelity.com

About a year and a half ago, SCOTTeVEST sent me a jacket to be included in the 2015 Holiday Gift Guide. I liked what I saw and included it. But for a product like this, the proof is in the wearing...the long-time wearing. I figured I'd use it for a while before giving it a real thumbs-up.

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Gramophone DreamsHeadphone Reviews
Gramophone Dreams #16: Sony & AudioQuest headphones
Herb Reichert  |  May 23, 2017  |  8 comments
As much as I delight in pagan dreams of sweetly perfumed garden nymphs, I'm embarrassed to admit that my mind also drifts in pleasant reveries whenever I hear the words research and development in the same sentence. I am by nature a greasy gearhead. The idea of taking well-considered steps of engineering to analyze and possibly improve the operation of any electrical or mechanical system never fails to get my imaginative juices flowing. This is why I've spent decades fascinated by perfectionist audio: I like watching and participating in its edgy, eccentric evolution.
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Headphone ReviewsInnerFidelity
Sonoma Acoustics Model One Electrostatic Headphone and Amplifier System
Tyll Hertsens  |  May 23, 2017  |  0 comments
This story originally appeared at InnerFidelity.com

One hell of a story here. Interesting roots in a buncha places. I'm going to power through it with pics and links if you're interested in a deeper dive. Here we go!

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Headphone ReviewsInnerFidelity
Massdrop Nobel X Earphones
Tyll Hertsens  |  May 08, 2017  |  0 comments
This story originally appeared at InnerFidelity.com

Dag nab it! I got so busy last week with the Focal Utopia measurements that I neglected to get the new Massdrop Noble X measured and listened to for a quick report before the drop. Sorry about that.

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Headphone ReviewsInnerFidelity
ZMF Atticus Sealed Over-Ear Headphones
Tyll Hertsens  |  Apr 21, 2017  |  0 comments
This story originally appeared at InnerFidelity.com

To my eyes, the Atticus is one half of a two part experiment by Zach Mehrbach, Founder and CEO of ZMF Headphones. His past has been dominated by the venerable, but in my opinion underperforming, Fostex T50RP planar magnetic driver. I guess Zach sees his future with a more modern—though more common—dynamic driver. It seems to me he's designed these latest two headphones as an experiment to find out just how good a headphone he can build using two different types of dynamic driver: the Atticus with a TPE (Thermoplastic Elastomer) diaphragm driver; and the Eikon with its bio-cellulose cone and rubber surround.

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Headphone ReviewsInnerFidelity
ZMF Eikon Sealed Around-Ear Headphones
Tyll Hertsens  |  Apr 18, 2017  |  0 comments
This story originally appeared at InnerFidelity.com

On the one hand you have Sony, Sennheiser, AKG, and the like mounting big bucks R&D efforts to grab at the various brass rings in the headphone world; and on the other hand you have a guy like Zach Mehrbach, Founder, CEO, and Chief Cook and Bottle-Washer at ZMF Headphones, who's artisanal approach is less mental and measurement, and more heart and art...lots more.

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Headphone ReviewsInnerFidelity
Meze 99 Neo Around-Ear Sealed Headphones
Tyll Hertsens  |  Apr 07, 2017  |  0 comments
This story originally appeared at InnerFidelity.com

A first look at this new headphone from Meze...what a difference a pad makes.

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Headphone ReviewsInnerFidelity
Sony MDR-1000X Wireless Noise Canceling Headphones
Tyll Hertsens  |  Apr 05, 2017  |  0 comments
This story originally appeared at InnerFidelity.com

Wow, these headphones are bee-you-tee-full! Not at all in a flashy way at all—they're understated; elegant; shapely. It's as if someone drew the perfect idealized headphone, and then Sony brought it to life.

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Headphone Reviews
Thinksound On1 & On2 headphones
Sam Tellig, John Atkinson  |  Apr 04, 2017  |  First Published: Jul 01, 2014  |  2 comments
Before he left Stereophile for AudioQuest at the end of March 2014, Stephen Meijas asked Thinksound to send me the On1 closed-back heaphones. He thought I might like them.

Cool beans, Stephen. I do. These are among the nicest 'phones I've come across lately. List price is $299.99, but the street price—sometimes directly from Thinksound—is usually $249.99. You save an imaginary $50. That's $50 of your savings that you can share with me in Bitcoins.

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