Headphone Reviews

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Budget Component ReviewsDigital Processor ReviewsHeadphone Reviews
Meridian Explorer2 D/A headphone amplifier
Jim Austin  |  May 19, 2016  |  3 comments
I was lying on a mattress on the floor of an empty apartment on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Not as grim as it sounds—it's a nice apartment, and the mattress was new, and had just been delivered—but it was hot (no air-conditioning), and my family and my furniture were still in my condo up in Maine, and I was lonely. I needed some cheering up. Which is how I rationalized the decision to buy an Explorer2, Meridian Audio's tiny, inexpensive ($299) digital-to-analog converter.
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Headphone ReviewsInnerFidelity
Sennheiser HD 202: Inexpensive Headphones Done Really Well
Tyll Hertsens  |  May 06, 2016  |  0 comments
This story originally appeared at InnerFidelity.com

First, how in the hell do you make a pair of headphones, distribute it to retailers, and have it shipped overnight to your house for $20!? I shake my head; how can this be? Well, the answer, of course, is economies of scale. And with 312,000,000 headphones sold world-wide annually, there's plenty of scale in that economy.

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Headphone ReviewsInnerFidelity
The HiFiMAN Edition X is Delightful from Portable Players
Tyll Hertsens  |  Apr 24, 2016  |  0 comments
This story originally appeared at InnerFidelity.com

HiFiMAN touts this headphone as great for direct play from portable devices—and I'll agree, it does play very well directly from a tablet or phone. Pretty nice not to have the burden and expense of having to carry around a portable amp, but at $1800 it doesn't really seem like a more affordable solution. And then, it's an open headphone while most portable cans are sealed to get rid of environmental noise. So...this is a flagship headphone for use with portable devices indoors? I'm not sure what to think...let's work through the details.

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Headphone ReviewsInnerFidelity
Like a Sports Car for Your Head: The Audeze SINE and Cipher Lightning Cable
Tyll Hertsens  |  Apr 15, 2016  |  0 comments
This story originally appeared at InnerFidelity.com

On-ear portable headphones don't get a lot of love from headphone enthusiasts...that's about to change.

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Headphone ReviewsInnerFidelity
Mr Speakers Ether C is a World Class Sealed Headphone
Tyll Hertsens  |  Apr 01, 2016  |  0 comments
This story originally appeared at InnerFidelity.com

Not at all sure I'll succeed, but I'll try to find something bad to say about these headphones.

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Headphone ReviewsInnerFidelity
The Technologically Impressive LCD-4 Planar Magnetic Headphone
Tyll Hertsens  |  Mar 25, 2016  |  0 comments
This story originally appeared at InnerFidelity.com

A technological tour de force. But sound quality is the question.

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Headphone ReviewsInnerFidelity
The Caeden Linea No. 10 A Lovely Mobile Headphone for the Ladies
Tyll Hertsens  |  Mar 11, 2016  |  0 comments
This story originally appeared at InnerFidelity.com

A beauty more than skin deep, the Caeden Linea No. 10 sounds as good as it looks.

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Headphone ReviewsInnerFidelity
Sennheiser HD 800 S: Tweaked and Delightful...and a French DIY Response
Tyll Hertsens  |  Mar 06, 2016  |  0 comments
This story originally appeared at InnerFidelity.com

They say it's all about the stories. Well here's another chapter for a venerable and storied headphone.

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Headphone ReviewsInnerFidelity
The Meze 99 Classics, Very Fun, Very Tasty
Tyll Hertsens  |  Feb 27, 2016  |  0 comments
This story originally appeared at InnerFidelity.com

I'd love to meet a super-model with a good head on her shoulders. But being an old dude, I'll happily settle for the way-more-than-skin-deep beauty of the Meze 99 Classics.

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Art Dudley ListeningHeadphone Reviews
Listening #158
Art Dudley  |  Feb 10, 2016  |  8 comments
In my sophomore year of high school, one of the greatest challenges my friends and I faced was the search for the perfect after-school hangout, perfect being defined as "having the least amount of adult supervision." Some of us lived in single-parent homes, but only one had a single parent for whom weekday surprise inspections were impossible, and that was Scott. So Scott's place—a downstairs apartment in a nice older house not far from school—got the nod.
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Headphone ReviewsInnerFidelity
V-MODA Crossfade Wireless a Mixed Bag
Tyll Hertsens  |  Jan 30, 2016  |  0 comments
This story originally appeared at InnerFidelity.com

In the end I think these are pretty good for a wireless headphone, but you're going to have to wade through a lot of mixed feelings from me to get there.

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Budget Component ReviewsDigital Processor ReviewsHeadphone Reviews
Chord Electronics Mojo D/A headphone amplifier
John Atkinson  |  Jan 27, 2016  |  29 comments
Like all men, I learned at an early age to resist the allure of a pretty face.

Okay—I learned that I should try to resist the allure of a pretty face.

Okay, I confess: I have never been able to resist the allure of a pretty face. Which is why, when I first clapped eyes on the Mojo D/A headphone amplifier from English company Chord Electronics, at an event hosted by Manhattan retailer Stereo Exchange, I had to borrow a sample for review.

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Budget Component ReviewsDigital Processor ReviewsHeadphone Reviews
Apogee Electronics Groove D/A headphone amplifier
Jon Iverson  |  Dec 22, 2015  |  0 comments
Apogee Electronics Corp. has been in business for 30 years, and I've always thought of them as one of the pro-audio companies responsible for moving digital in the right direction. They've made their mark in recording studios around the planet with digital-audio interfaces and master clocks that have long been considered some of the most technically and sonically advanced, and that were probably used in a high percentage of the recordings in your collection. So when I saw Apogee pop up at the consumer end of the market with a technically unique product, budget-priced at $295, it got my attention.
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Headphone ReviewsInnerFidelity
A Surprisingly Successful Dual Driver Headphone: The Enigmacoustics Dharma D1000
Tyll Hertsens  |  Dec 18, 2015  |  0 comments
This story originally appeared at InnerFidelity.com

The room was crazy loud at CES last year, but even through the cacophony the new dual-driver (dynamic/electret) Enigmacoustics Dharma had something special.

The question is how special?

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Headphone ReviewsInnerFidelity
A DIYers Delight: The Fostex T50RP Mk3
Tyll Hertsens  |  Dec 05, 2015  |  0 comments
This story originally appeared at InnerFidelity.com

The most modified headphone in the hobby, now modified by its maker. A terrific job, and done in a way virtually impossible for DIYers to achieve, but continues to allow similar modifications as the previous model.

It seems to me hobbyists have an excellent new starting platform for another round of modding!

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