Matrix M-Stage Class A Biasing
I was totally happy with the Matrix M-Stage's performance, and it has officially taken the spot of my new favorite entry level amp. Moreover, I've been listening to the M-Stage with the Hifiman HE5LE, and though the Hifiman EF5 is [...more]
Matrix M-Stage
It's amazing to hear the kind of sound you can get from a $290 amplifier. Coolfungadget sells the M-Stage amp for $289.95, and he was kind enough to send me a unit for review. This is the newer 2010 version [...more]
Hifiman EF5 Review
Supposedly, the EF5 is THE amp for pairing with the HE5/LE. The EF1, which is the predecessor to the EF5, has been known to deliver solid results with low impedance headphones like the Grados. When Hifiman released the HE5 headphone, [...more]
Burson HA-160 Review (vs AMB’s Beta22)
I don't particularly have anything against Op-amp based amplifiers, but all discrete is cool both for bragging rights and for sonic reasons. Burson Audio is a big fan of fully-discrete, and the HA-160 is an all discrete headphone amplifier equipped [...more]
Pico Slim: First Impression
I almost gave up on the Pico Slim due to the seemingly never ending delays. Then, one day, the Pico Slim appeared. The box is surprisingly large, and the Pico Slim is surprisingly small. It's a beautiful looking amp, as [...more]
Audiotrak ImAmp
There has been an abundance of relatively small sized desktop headphone amplifiers, mainly from China, but the ImAmp caught my eye due to the Audiotrak name behind it. Audiotrak is becoming quite a common name in this industry, with their [...more]
Burson HA-160 Unboxing
Roughly two months ago I auditioned the Burson HA-160 amplifier from Audio Basic and was very impressed with the sound. It has such an Impact and PRaT that I seem to not get from the Beta22. It is dynamic, lively, [...more]
Fiio E7 Portable DAC
After several low budget amplifiers (E1, E3, E5), Fiio now enters the market with a more serious E7 Portable DAC/Amp.It's hard to find another product to compare the E7 with. It's sort of a hybrid between a portable amplifier and [...more]
The Beta22 Amplifier
Introduction to the Beta22To start with, the Beta22 amplifier is a design by AMB Laboratories. It is a fully discrete, high current, class A headphone amplifier that's considered by many to be the best of the best in solid state [...more]
Stax SRM-1/Mk2 Bias Modification
This article originally was published by Psychaudio at the Audiophile-id forum. The original article was written in Indonesian and so I have obtained Psychaudio's permission to translate it into english.It all started when a local forum member obtained a SRM-1/Mk2 [...more]
Preview: Soul Drive Unbalanced to Balanced Converter
A few months ago, I talked to Psychaudio who is a local amplifier designer, about building a device that will take an unbalanced signal, and create a balanced signal to feed to balanced amplifiers. This will make it easier for [...more]
First Impression: Lehmann Black Cube Linear
During the Sennheiser HD800 launch event in Singapore, the Lehmann Black Cube Linear amplifier was chosen to be the "official" amplifier for auditioning sessions. It was a little hard to judge its performance, given that the headphone (the HD800), the [...more]
First Impression: CEC HD53N
The CEC HD53N is a very slick looking amplifier approximately as thick as the average hardcover book. It takes both balanced and single ended headphones, as well as small efficient speakers through the speaker posts at the back panel. Power [...more]
Nuforce uDAC (and comparisons)
The Nuforce uDAC is probably one of the most successful entry level DAC that the audio world has ever seen. Stores consistently run out of stock on the uDAC, and as fast as Nuforce can make them, the market buys [...more]
Styleaudio Carat UD-1 (Audinst HUD-MX1 and Ibasso D10 Comparison)
The Carat UD-1 is an entry level USB DAC from Styleaudio. A quick search revealed that Open Audio in Korea has it listed for 64,000 Won, which translates to roughly U$58. Depending on where you live, shipping and taxes may [...more]
