Introduction A benefactor under the codename of MrWalkman has developed and maintains a set of alternative firmware packages which can be installed on a number of Sony Walkman series DAPs – NW-A35/45/55, ZX300/A, WM1A/Z – which main benefit is the application of Sony’s flagship DMP-Z1 sound signature to all those models. https://www.mrwalkman.ml/ In addition to…
Hisenior T2U
Hisenior specialises in professional and custom IEMs, and as such it’s quite off my “usual” investigation paths. That’s why I came accross an entry-level Universal fit model of theirs only thanks to a direct friend’s input. Invited by a (publicly available) 50% off its nominal MRSP I took the odds of a blind buy and…
TRI 4 core HP SCC cable
Together with my KBEAR LARK review unit some weeks ago I also received a separate TRI (KBEAR) 4 core High Purity (5N) Single Crystal Copper cable for testing. It quite logically came with a 2pin TFZ termination on the driver’s end, to first and foremost support the LARK drivers it came with. So I tried…
KBEAR Lark
Important preliminary note: Lark is a product in a sense “born twice”. Its initial release has been stopped after the first users reported a treble section output not in line with what originally wanted by the designers. KBEAR stopped distribution, fixed whatever needed to, and restarted it. This sample I’m reporting about on this article…
Quick impressions: CustomArt Fibae Black
I recently got an opportunity to assess a pair of privately owned Fibae Black, which are coming with some supposedly very interesting technological quirks which the manufacturer calls “Flat Impedance” BA drivers and “Pressure Optimizing Design”. Flat Impedance drivers are supposed to be what the name says, as described here: CustomArt claims that their drivers…
TRN VX
It’s a crazily crowded market down there below the $50 mark and TRN VX compete in that segment. It does it with quite some authority, too: VX is not bad at all. Actually, its sole real tuning “flaw” is that excessive peak at 8 Khz which I doubt can be considered nice even by die-hard…
TRN BA8: very picky
In my direct experience BA8 is possibly the most capricious IEM I ever auditioned when it comes to source pairing. When it does not “like” the source, it reacts very badly. I discovered this the hard way: first source I plugged it onto has been my Questyle QP1R. Even before hitting “play”, I was struck…
Questyle QP1R – welcome in!
The Questyle QP1R is one of those very few products that go beyond the expectation built around them – which is double as significant if I consider I was spoken quite highly of it before acquiring it. This article is about my practical experience with it, and why it will very likely stay as a…
Quick impressions: Penon Sphere
Again a privately owned IEM which I’m having the opportunity to audition for a few days to build my own impression upon. I tested them with my usual local-stored 16 / 24 bit – 44.1 / 96 / 192K music collection. Sources: Lotoo PAW 5000 Questyle QP1R Laptop -> ifi nano iUSB3.0 (w/ iPower PS)…
Quick impressions: Lotoo PAW 5000 MK-II
I got the opportunity to play with a privately owned Lotoo PAW 5000 MK-II loaner unit for a few days now, and here are my quick, superficial impressions on its performances. Sound Balanced Ended port is I would say “reasonably clean“. Difficult of course to give an worded description of what I exactly mean. I’ll…