After a couple of years since it came out, I have finally laid my hands on a SR-009, and had a chance to compare it thoroughly to two SR-007 (Omega 2), as well as a SR-003 (“Babystax”). The SR-007’s we have in our circle of friends are very different: one is the ‘dark’ type,… » Read the full article
My latest acquisition is the filtered USB cable from TotalDac. I have been very interested in this cable and how it would compare with my other favourites, and most specifically with the JCAT from Jplay. The TotalDac usb cable is conceived like a standard looking cable with a metal box in the middle. The box… » Read the full article
Here I am introducing one of my DIY favourites from the past, the Cavalli-Kan Kumisa III headphone amplifier. The CKKIII (or CK²III) is a joint collaboration between AMB and Alex Cavalli DIY designers. The amp is in the Headamp GS-1 range of quality, it’s extremely trasparent sounding and has a smooth top end. The tone… » Read the full article
This time, under exam is the Yulong A28, an affordably priced full balanced amplifier. The amp has both balanced and single ended inputs / outputs, but it is mainly thought to work in balanced mode, meaning a few things: it expects the signal to be natively balances (XLR inputs); it doesn’t employ expensive transformers for… » Read the full article
I have been loaned the Adam A5x from a friend (who, like me, also owns Mordaunt Short Performance 6, as well as several Stax stuffs), and, given the buzz around active speakers, I wanted to give my opinionated take on them. I have been listening to them for a couple of weeks, and feel like… » Read the full article
The Stax Lambda Nova Signature are another example of “right sounding”, enjoyable Stax headphones. They have a darkish, realistic tonality, and sound more manly and even than the normal bias Lambda. Some people call the Lambda Nova Signature “the poor man’s Omega 2”, because they are darkish and they lack the deep bass the Omega… » Read the full article
The Ciunas is the last iteration of Jkenny’s works, who a few years ago started offering mods for the Hiface USB-SPDIF interface in order to maximize its performance. He subsequently designed a DAC using such Hiface as receiver, and a Sabre 32 bit chip, and now evolved the DAC design into this latest model, the… » Read the full article
My interest for April Eximus DP1 started because of a combination of reasons. First of all, the introduction of their U3 unit, in an era where the main trend has been to deal with computer audio, and usb-related issues (mainly, jitter rejection, and bitperfect reproduction). Personally, I have been passionate about digital cables since getting in… » Read the full article
This is my review of Burson HA-160DS, which I have been lent for a few weeks by an Italian dealer. This DAC/amplifier combo has been tested in relation to the following gear: Headphones: Audeze LCD2 AKG K501 Yuin PK1 Apuresound Etymotic ER4P/S Etymotic HF5 (with and without PtoS adapter) Amps: CKKIII DACs: Audio-GD NFB-9.2 I… » Read the full article
This review describes extensively the sound of Audio-gd NFB-9.2. The DAC is aimed to sound very linear. It uses dual Wolfson WM8741 dac chips, has several inputs (including usb with its newer Tenor TE8802 chip, whose upgrade marks the model change from the former 9.1), and offers both single ended and balanced output. The dac… » Read the full article
