Portable Amp with Digital Input
Here are the list of some portable amps with digital input. If you own the Iriver iHP-100 and a digital input user, you will need this list. (Click to read more)…
HeadAmp Pico Slim Unveiled
Finally, here are some shots of the HeadAmp Pico Slim portable headphone amplifier.
Want to know how it sounds? Stay tuned, we will be getting our test unit soon.
Audio Technica Opens in Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Headphone lovers in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, rejoice! Audio Technica just opened a new showroom in your city. I assume that there will be plenty of Audio Technica headphones to try out, and it looks like they even provide a special room for auditioning headphones.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
First, of all, we have a trio of HFI-780s in the house, which we’ll be writing about next week. (Click to read more)…
Wednesday, February 17th, 2010
What’s up at Headfonia:
1. How do you like the Quickfacts? The Quickfacts are designed to be a quick summary of products that people can check in and get an impression in less than 5 minutes. Another reason that we have the Quickfacts are, though we get to listen to a lot of gears, not all of them gets reviewed, the main reason being the time involved to do a full review. Quickfacts would allow us to cover more stuff, that would otherwise be impossible to cover on a full review format.
2. We are working on a big AKG group review. We managed to get together the K400, K401, K500, K501, K601, and K701. This should take long to complete, but it should be very interesting. Expect 3 weeks from now before we can publish them. (Click to read more)…
More Superlux!
We received this shipment last week in addition to the HD668B that we have reviewed, but we haven’t had the time to touch them until now. Our first impression of these Superluxes are very positive, and more Superlux reviews are on the way. But for now, we’ll just share some photos. Pictured here are the HD662 and HD662 closed headphones, as well as the HD381 IEMs. (Click to read more)…
DIY Headphone Hanger
I came up with this idea that I thought I’d share. It’s a fairly economical way for having a headphone hanger, since I find that headphone stands take too much space on my desk (especially if you have more than 3 headphones). I am sure that other people have probably come up with this idea before I do, but I figure this is going to be useful to a lot of readers.
1. You start with a plain steel wire. Make sure it’s thick enough, so it won’t flex under load. The one I use is 1.5mm or 1/16″ thick.
Saturday, February 6th, 2010
Had a listen to the KGSS and the WooAudio 6 with PDPS and Sophia Princess today. It wasn’t under ideal conditions, so I’ll just share the photos today. The headphone was a Koss ESP-950 reterminated to a Stax connector, which I reviewed a little while ago. Hopefully we can get a review done in the near future. (Click to read more)…
JVC HA-FX67
This new IEM by JVC (aka Victor), names HA-FX67, comes in 6 colors (blue, black, pink, red, white, brown) and has the so-called “Air Cushion” inside its silicon body to lock the air inside.
In order to make the earphones accurately fit to your ears both to avoid any leakage of sound and interruption of external sound, JVC expanded the cushion edge a bit and also offers them in 3 sizes S/M/L.
Featuring 1.2 m Y type cord, a cord keeper for you to adjust the length of the cord as well as a clip that is meant to prevent cord dangling and squeak of sound, these IEM will be available as of February. The price is still unknown.
Hifiman HE-5 First Impression
2010 is here, and so is the Hifiman HE-5 orthodynamic headphones. I was really excited about this headphone, having read so many good things about it. I knew that in a matter of seconds, I’ll know if all the hype surrounding the HE-5 is true. From the first moment that the HE-5 was released to the market, it was pitted against heavyweights such as the HD800. Is this the real deal? Can a Hifiman orthodynamic really go against Sennheiser’s flagship? (Click to read more)…
2009 in Review
Will there be another year like 2009? Despite the economic downturn, 2009 has been a year of high end headphone fest. The HD800, Edition 8, PS1000, JH13, T1, LCD-1 and LCD-2, and the HE-5 all came around in 2009. Though some of these cans were announced in 2008, they only started to become available in 2009 and thus 2009 became sort of a high-end-fest year.
Japan Headphone Show 2009
Most of this information is from Sasaki’s blog, a head-fi blogger that resides in Japan. I thought I’d pass the link and information to the readers here. I wish I was there, but no I wasn’t. Hopefully next year I can go and get the news personally. (Click to read more)…
Bowers & Wilkins P5 Headphones
Bowers & Wilkins, a big name in speakers, is releasing a new headphone called the P5. We find more and more manufacturers seeing the potential in the headphone market, with names like Shure, Rudistor, Fostex, and now B&W jumping into the headphone market. There isn’t much information available about these right now, but looking at the B&W website, it’s going to be a closed design, and it comes with an Apple-approved cable with a microphone built in.
Read more at B&W’s website.
A Quick Comparison: Audio-GD Compass vs Head-Amp Pico
Just for kicks, we decide to briefly compare the venerable portable DAC/Amp Pico against the newer but also equally impressive desktop all-in-one solution Audio-GD Compass. Both units are definitely in the same league sonics-wise: the Compass is more neutral, authoritative and drier while the Pico is also neutral but it has a touch of warmth to it that makes listening pleasant. (Click to read more)…
Audio Technica releases ATH-W1000X and ATH-ES10
Audio Technica just released a a new W-series and ES-series headphones. The full-size W1000X and the portable ES10 both uses a whopping 53mm driver. Dude, that’s a 53m driver in a portable headphone! (Click to read more)…
Head-Fi Quarterly
Head-Fi announced today that it will be releasing a quarterly publication called the Head-Fi Quarterly, or HFQ. As posted by Zanth, the editor of HFQ:
The idea is that this publication is meant as a bonus read for the membership here while also providing a condensed and informative overview of what is hot in the world of headphones for those members or lurkers who simply don’t have the time or inclination to join in on the hyper fun of the forums. (Click to read more)…
UE11s on the used market
Browsing the used items section on Head-fi, you will find people are dumping their custom IEMs for quite a reasonable amount of money. Among them are the legendary UE11 Pro Custom IEMs which is about $1100 new. I found two UE11 Pros for $315 and $375. This is a good time to be buying custom IEMs.
PS: Apparently companies like UE (and a few others which I can’t remember at the moment) will remold these custom IEMs.
Leftovers HF2!!!
Todd at TTVJ just posted this on Head-Fi, so if you’ve been wanting the HF2, and you are reading this TODAY, then you might just still have the chance to get some of these beauties.
Cold
The term cold, similar to warmth, describes a coloration of the sound. Unlike warmth, a cold sound places its emphasis on the upper registers of the sound spectrum ie. the upper midrange to treble areas. This produces a sound which although can be somewhat lacking in midrange presence and body, provides a better degree of clarity, details and energy compared to a warm sound.
