FiiO’s M6 Hi-Res DAP is compact and well constructed. It has decent battery life, a small but good selection of hardware buttons, a somewhat programmable interface, and good sound. But it’s not a player that moves me, nor is it one I think that will move you.
Read moreohmage to the Campfire Audio Atlas
Campfire Audio’s new line of earphones meets or surpasses industry leaders in CNC machining and accessory quality. But quality - of build and brand - has always been the core of Campfire Audio. Since Andromeda, high-frequency texture and reach has mediated Campfire Audio’s otherwise warm and robust house sound. Atlas, which punches fast and hard like no Campfire before it, and which crowns the V-shape signature with a mature top, is, in some respects, something of an anti-Andromeda.
Relevant links:
Campfire Audio Andromeda - Excitement engine
ohmage to the Campfire Audio Comet
ohm air #26 OHM AIR Campfire Audio Andromeda
Eyes on Jupiter - Campfire Audio’s case for patience
The Campfire Audio Lyra
Campfire Audio Andromeda - Topping the maker game
Campfire Audio Jupiter pre-production report
ohmage to the Campfire Audio Comet
Disclaimer: I received Comet directly from Campfire Audio in Tokyo. I paid nothing for it nor have I been prompted to return it. It goes for 199$. Hit up Campfire Audio for more about it.
No earphone as small shines as much. No earphone as small is tough like it. Comet nails build, nails branding, nails budget, and nearly nails fit. It’s a 199$ USD earphone, that, after doing the maths (Atari Jaguar style), feels and works like something much, much more expensive.
Read moreSennheiser IE800s - the most beautiful earphone I've not heard
The above image I snapped between platform changes for a recent magazine shoot. I wasn't the biggest fan of the original IE800. Too shiny. Too dark. I had ample time to touch this one, which is resistant to touch blemishes and corrosion, but which fits just like its predecessor. I'm told that it is a bit brighter, too, which may be right up my alley.
If I pick one up, you can expect a long profile of it on ohm, as well as my fledgeling YouTube channel, Fauxtaku Lounge.
Beautiful gear I shot in March
On average, I shoot four to five magazine catalogues a year, the latest of which is Headphone Book's Spring 2018 edition, which tends to go against a white background. This year, a few items went on black, most of which were beautiful. Listed below are both groups.
Read moreWireless, balanced GR8e - Just don't tell Grado
In short succession I fell in with Grado’s original 120Ω GR8, then their GR10, and finally their GR8e. Put simply, I’ve become a single-driver supremacist. Since late 2016, however, I’ve seldom listened to any of the GR series.
Read moreohmage: HiFiman RE2000
I was one of the lucky ones: with no more pomp than an email, HiFiman hooked me up with a box loaners, two of which have blown quite through three pair of my sox, one which left me fuming, and another about which I oscillate between cynicism and joy. In no particular order, that lot is: Susvara, RE2000, RE800, and the Megamini DAP.
Read moreohmage: HiFiman RE800
It's been a long while, but ohmage is back, though with some acrobatics, and without stepping on Headfonia's toes. Today’s ohmage comes straight from a special HiFiman loan, and one which is fuller of goodies than ever I could have hoped. The RE800 is my favourite of what fit in the box, despite Susvara also blowing my brain. It’s small, bright, and where it counts, powerful. It’s got many bugger points, some of which we will get to.
Read moreVenture Electronics's logo: uniquely free of V
Evidently, there's a V in this wholly unique logo. I've also been told that the logo looks 'nothing like the Senns logo'.
Ultimate Ears Pro Reference Remastered - initial ohmage
Disclaimer: certain headfiers approached me with an irresistible offer: nabbing an Ultimate Ears Pro Reference Remastered in exchange for a review at the usual suspects. Being my privatest of stomping grounds, ohm will get the first words. Many thanks to Ultimate Ears to facilitating it all.
Subject: UE Pro Reference Remastered - Ultimate Ears: 999$ USD.
Head-fi thread: Ultimate Ears UE Pro Reference Remastered! (UERR) - Head-Fi.org
And the first words go like this: Nice chocolate-box vibing box. In it are two - again chocolate-reminding - thick instruction cards. There’s a magnet holding it all together. Inside, satiny nylon cuddles an environmentally sealed aluminium casket. In that sit the cooperative work between UE and Capital Studios.
Hollow shells keep the UEPRR light in the hand, and in the ear. Signal pathways are split all the way to its snout. It’s pleasantly underdressed. You know who made it. And if your skin is less pink than mine is, it'll wink out like a lightbulb.
While I’ve got just a few hours’s listening under my belt, I’m confident in saying that this earphone presents things like a concert. Viz., with the exception of a textured vocal band, the stage pushes powerfully out like a wall of sound. Vocals are grounded and prominent, bubbling forward at the slightest provocation. The UEPRR errs - however slightly - bright. Crowds in live recordings sound just like you were there. And you? You’re somewhere about a third of the way back from the stage, gathering in one of the widest stages you'll hear in a pair of in-ears.
Lows are quick and light, and their z-axis transition to mids is deep and 3D. Unlike Noble Audio’s K10, the UEPRR neither amplifies nor warms up the space between instruments. It’s also not as micro-contrasty as the Vision Ears V6. Next to the FitEar MH335’s brunt, its mids are calisthenically toned. And, with the exception of a really 3D bass and lower mid section, it is matter-of-fact, and middling bright. It is responsive, athletic, and surprisingly immersive despite its massive stage. For now I can’t describe it any better than that.
But I’ll be back. For now, I wish you some Bonafied Loving.