Headphone Reviews

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Ray Samuels Audio Emmeline SR-71 portable headphone amplifier
Headphone Reviews
Wes Phillips  |  Oct 01, 2005  |  First Published: Sep 01, 2005  |  0 comments
The Emmeline SR-71 portable headphone amplifier ($395) is small but not light. Housed in an extruded-aluminum chassis with a bolt-on faceplate and a rear panel and battery cover that attaches with a thumb-screw, it measures 3.5" by 2.5" by 1.5" and weighs 11oz. That sounds light, especially compared to some of the headphone amps I've carted around in the past—not to mention their four–D-cell extended power supplies—but in the iPod era, it's the portable equivalent of a class-A power amp. So why would anybody be willing to lug it around?
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The Fifth Element #30
The Fifth Element, Music and Recording Features, Headphone Reviews
John Marks  |  Jun 26, 2005  |  0 comments
Morten Lauridsen's magisterial work for chorus and orchestra, Lux aeterna, appears in a fresh new recording, in truly excellent sound, on England's Hyperion label. The vocal ensemble Polyphony is accompanied by the Britten Sinfonia; both are led by Stephen Layton. Better yet, in addition to the CD-only version, there is a separate SACD/CD hybrid release (Hyperion SACDA67449), meaning that it is backwardly-compatible with CD players. Furthermore, the SACD layer contains a surround-sound program in addition to the stereo one.
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HeadRoom Total BitHead headphone amplifier
Solid State Preamp Reviews, Budget Component Reviews, Headphone Reviews
Michael Fremer  |  Dec 26, 2004  |  0 comments
When, on his long-running TV variety show, Jackie Gleason used to order up some "traveling music" from music director Ray Bloch, he got a live orchestra's worth. But when Gleason, a composer and conductor in his own right (he wrote his show's unforgettable theme song, "Melancholy Serenade"), actually traveled, his listening options were severely limited compared to ours. By the time the comedian died in 1987, Sony had introduced the Walkman cassette player, but Apple's iPod was still more than a decade in the future.
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Ultimate Ears UE-5c in-ear headphones
Budget Component Reviews, Headphone Reviews
John Atkinson  |  Dec 26, 2004  |  0 comments
"You need to keep still."
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Shure E3c in-ear headphones
Budget Component Reviews, Headphone Reviews
John Atkinson  |  May 22, 2004  |  First Published: May 01, 2004  |  0 comments
"Ah, I see what the problem is. Your ear canals are larger in diameter than normal."
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The Fifth Element #16
The Fifth Element, Headphone Reviews, Stand and Rack Reviews
John Marks  |  Mar 23, 2003  |  0 comments
The lease said about my and my fathers trip from the Bureau of Manhattan to our new home the soonest mended. In some way ether I or he got balled up on the grand concorpse and next thing you know we was thretning to swoop down on Pittsfield.
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HeadRoom BlockHead headphone amplifier
Solid State Preamp Reviews, Headphone Reviews
Jonathan Scull  |  Jul 07, 2002  |  0 comments
With whom are you most intimate? Your wife? Husband? Your modern-times Significant Other? Your pet? Or, like a lot of audiophiles, is it your audio system? Do you nitpick and tweak it as if it were your pet?
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Stax SR-007 Omega II electrostatic headphones
Headphone Reviews
Jonathan Scull  |  Jul 03, 2001  |  0 comments
"Preaching to the converted," I sighed to myself as I read the manual for the Stax Omega II Earspeaker headphone system. I fondly recalled my headphone reference for all time—the Most Fabulous and Seductive Sennheiser Orpheus tubed electrostatics, which Thomas J. Norton reviewed for Stereophile in 1994. I recalled the Orpheus's heady, open, fast, and colorfully wideband sound, and clutched my palpitating heart.
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Sennheiser HD 600 headphones
Headphone Reviews
Wes Phillips  |  Feb 09, 1998  |  0 comments
Sometimes, the only thing that'll soothe the cares and lift the thoughts of man is kicking back and letting glorious music wash over you. Isn't that why we're all here? But no sooner do you sit yourself down in the sweet spot and cue up, say, Mozart's 40th, than you hear:
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Stax Lambda Nova Signature electrostatic ear-speaker
Headphone Reviews
Wes Phillips  |  Jun 26, 1997  |  0 comments
"When I find something that works," John Candy leered, "I stick with it!" I have no idea if the folks at Stax Industries are fans of Splash or not, but they've certainly taken Candy's philosophy as their own. Despite manufacturing superb—if demanding—loudspeakers and electronics for the last 15 years or so, Stax has been best known for producing one thing: electrostatic ear-speakers, aka headphones.
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HeadRoom Max headphone amplifier
Solid State Preamp Reviews, Headphone Reviews
Wes Phillips  |  Feb 27, 1997  |  0 comments
My name is Wes and I enjoy listening to music on headphones.
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Melos SHA-1 headphone amplifier
Tube Preamp Reviews, Headphone Reviews
Corey Greenberg  |  Oct 07, 1995  |  First Published: Oct 07, 1992  |  0 comments
"I remember Momma!"
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Etymotic Research ER-4S Canal Phone earspeakers
Budget Component Reviews, Headphone Reviews
Wes Phillips  |  Jul 30, 1995  |  0 comments
The cab's outside, the plane leaves in 50 minutes. Let's see...HeadRoom Supreme, HeadRoom Bag, portable CD player, CDs, Etymotic ER-4S Canal Phones....Oh, yeah—mustn't forget luggage or plane tickets. Guess I'm set to go.
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Grado SR60 headphones
Budget Component Reviews, Headphone Reviews
Corey Greenberg  |  Jun 08, 1995  |  First Published: Jun 08, 1994  |  0 comments
What the hell is going on with headphones these days?!
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HeadRoom Supreme headphone amplifier
Solid State Preamp Reviews, Budget Component Reviews, Headphone Reviews
John Atkinson  |  Jan 08, 1995  |  First Published: Jan 08, 1994  |  0 comments
"Uhh! What is it?" I was being prodded on the arm. Admittedly it was gentle, almost polite prodding, but prodding it still was, a rude disturbance of the cocoon I had woven around myself in seat 31J of the American Airlines MD-11 winging its way across the North Atlantic. I pushed Pause on the Discman, insensitively not waiting for an opportune cadence in the Brahms Piano Quintet that had been my erstwhile virtual reality.
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