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Following the success of the impeccably designed and tonally agreeable Meze Empyrean headphones, the Meze Audio Rai Penta IEMs were established with the same decisive vision of a marriage of comfort, aesthetics, and sound. Culminating from three years of research and development, the Rai Pentas—as their name suggests—packs five drivers in a seamlessly hybrid topology.... Read More »

Having released a multitude of digital audio players for entry, mid, and now hi-fi consumers, Fiio are a company dedicated in maximizing value for money propositions, and strive for continual improvement. Their latest breed of players include the Fiio M11 Pro digital audio player which improves upon the M11 Pro with an all new carefully... Read More »

Known for its industrial designs and commitment to sound tuning, Campfire Audio represent a bold and daring personal audio company in the midst of an already populated marketplace. Headed by Ken Ball, who oversees both Campfire and its parent company ALO audio, the boutique brands have earned a solid reputation amongst both audiophiles and the... Read More »

With a vibrant commerce scene and international trading links, Singapore is a country where personal audio and high-fidelity sound are significantly valued. Planning to capitalize on these national traits, Dita Audio are a Singaporean brand striving to seek perfection without conforming to market trends. The latest in their rather impressive line-up is the new Twins... Read More »

Fiio are a Chinese audio firm who have been well-regarded within audiophile circles. With an enthusiasm to bring affordable offerings to the mass-market, their products have received critical acclaim, and they have many awards under their belts. Hence, their vision to improve the "Made in China" reputation has certainly come a long way, owing to... Read More »

New York based audio company Master & Dynamic have always pushed the envelope in product design where styling and aesthetics are concerned. This, coupled with their striving for audiophile sound, has earned them acclaim from many a critic. It is not surprising then that their latest creation—the MW65 active noise-cancelling headphones—have been eagerly anticipated in... Read More »

Born out of curiosity and experimentation, the Campfire Audio brand have come a long way since the initial release of the well-received Jupiter, Orion, and Lyra earphones. With a keen passion for all things audio, Ken Ball has spent hours of time perfecting releases from rigorous performance testing to tuning iterations. It is thus not... Read More »

New York based audio company Master & Dynamic are a vision of class, delivering beautiful and well-thought out products in their impressive line-up of headphones and IEMs. Although a newcomer to the world of audio, they have quickly learned the ropes through releasing precision-designed boutique headphones with a sound to match. Their website itself shows... Read More »

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to experience the Aerosmith: Deuces are Wild in-residence concert at the Park MGM hotel in Las Vegas. In addition to the show being one of the most extraordinary rock concerts of my life, I was treated to a direct feed from the band's mixing board to a... Read More »

Photo by Katarina Benzova A few weeks ago I received an unassuming enough looking email from Cameron Black of the PR firm Noyd Communications, asking me if I would like to experience a unique VIP on-stage experience for the Aerosmith: Deuces Are Wild concert at the MGM Park hotel's Park Theater in Las Vegas. Wait... Read More »

Ye Olde Editor in action at RMAF 2015 (photograph by Jeff Day) Three things for you… As AXPONA 2019 is looming next week, I have three items that I need to write about briefly before I hit that trail to Chicago. These will be short and to the point…not everything needs to be War and... Read More »

Just when you would figure John Grado would take some time off with his vivacious wife and spend time at their pied-à-terre in Paris, (if they have one, they should go there!), Grado's new and improved creations keep rolling in. With the improvements wrought by balanced armatures to IEM's and a few other engineering tweaks, the improved... Read More »

I am hearing through the grapevine from high-end in-ear monitor users that finally, a manufacturer has produced a model so extremely detailed and comfortable, you are not still hungry for more after using them. That it has totally achieved the important criteria of true continuity of frequency response from 20-20,000Hz, definition at all frequencies equivalent to state... Read More »

Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm rapidly developing a reputation as a Fiio fanboy. The thing is, I put a fair amount of effort into cultivating a relationship with them at a point when they were just really cracking into the North American market. And now, suddenly, they're responsible for a rapid-fire release of multiple product... Read More »

When I first gained an awareness of Fiio as a company, I thought their product offerings were very reasonably-priced alternatives to the typical mega-buck audiophile choices available in personal portables and accessories. But I wasn't absolutely convinced that they could make the transition to a company that could meet consumer demands for the level of... Read More »

The three available finishes of the absolute:  copper, black, and silver (image courtesy of Manley) Let us just cut to the chase! I have reviewed countless headphone amplifiers and the Absolute is absolutely the most elegantly designed, intensely musical, and extremely flexible of them all! Add in the superb remote and it’s game over. Provided with... Read More »

As Fiio continues their push into higher-performance personal portables (and into the US market!), they're releasing some technologically remarkable products that perform at a shockingly high level. And at price points that tend to be well below the cost of completing brands like AK, HiFiMan, and Sony. I'm continually impressed by the performance of the... Read More »

With their headquarters based in sunny-side California, Ultimate Ears was initially founded in 1995 by Jerry and Mindy Harvey. The former of which has played such an influential role in the design of headphones that within just a few years of UE's induction, The Rolling Stones, Enrique Iglesias, and Faith Hill were loyal customers. A... Read More »

Last year at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest we had a chance to listen to the AR-M200 player. It is a great sounding player and compact in size, and at a list price of USD $399 it's a great deal. In this tag-team article, we both give our thoughts. Carol At last year's RMAF Dave... Read More »