Equipment Reviews

"The Abyss 1266 series has always interested me with its uniqueness. The first time I heard the original 1266 was at a meet, shortly after it was released. I was told the pads need to float but my initial reaction was, “Is this it?” I think the pads floated too much though, as there was next to no bass extension and a gigantic upper bass lift. Beyond the bass, the midrange sounded cavernous, and the treble gritty. This intensely negative impression contrasted by such wide praise on Head-Fi made me curious to try the newest version, the Abyss 1266 Phi TC. "

Tyler compares these two ZMF headphones, check it out.

We have something really special for you premiering right now!

Audio Research I50 Integrated Amplifier & Surprise P50 Announcement during Q&A w/Brandon from ARC!!

Today, I will share my impressions of the Audio Research Corporation I/50 integrated tube amplifier. This video will focus on the build quality, design, and some of my sound impressions about the I/50 paired with my reference full range Sonus faber Olypmica Nova V’s and several headphones. Stick around, as this will be a longer video than usual. We have a special guest Brandon from Audio Research Corporation, for a Q&A with me directly after my impressions on this video. Brandon also talks about the new upcoming P50 Preamplifier from Audio Research in the same 50 lineup as the I/50 for the first time anywhere!

Today, I will share my impressions on the Astell&Kern Ultima SP2000T and discuss any incremental changes in firmware or performance from the initial first look video we did on the SP2000T.

In that video, I discussed some of the features, build quality, design and gave some brief impressions on the sound quality of the SP2000T.
This video will focus on the quality of sound paired with several different headphones and some comparisons vs. the Chord Hugo 2/2go combo, my reference portable headphone amplifier, and DAC.

Have a wonderful weekend friends! Marcello

*posted with permission*

Sennheiser HD580 Open-back dynamic driver: Price varies, although allegedly priced at $349 in 1994
For those who care about baffles, this is a raised plate white paper variant of the hd580
For my personal compensation curve, I find "IEF neutral" to be most applicable in this day and age

Build/Comfort
The 580 has older plastics for hardware, while also feeling a bit sturdier compared to the modern Sennheisers (including the 2019 hd600 and hd650). The pair weighs in at 253g on a kitchen scale from the grocery store. Velour pads are direct from Sennheiser in the era of the HD660S pad revision, one revision before the currently available Sennheiser pads.

Sound
Bass (0-250 Hz):
On higher end systems, I find the HD580 (580) performs quite well for my perceived extension. It does not feel like it extends down to 20 Hz with the same strength of one of my favorite headphones for this category, that being the LCD4, but the extension into the sub-bass is quite good...

Check out the man... aka. Marcello and his Meze Elite review:

Another great review from Tyler, check it out:

Check out this review from Marcello!

Check it out

Check it out.

Introduction

First I wanna say thanks to the people who have made this review possible; the lads at Aurorus Audio, my main squeeze Humble who sent this out, and Kyle for reading over my thoughts and for offering a picture of their gorgeous Australis for this review. My unit is much more stalwart looking, with plain black cups, but the one I have is still a good looking headphone; I just don't have a nice camera or lighting to take pictures of it with. I tried my best ?

The Aurorus Audio Australis is a closed back dynamic made by Aurorus Audio, which is, to me, the closed back upgrade that I have wanted for almost a decade.

While I’m gonna try to keep this as short as possible, I still want to be thorough and give the community information that y’all might not have yet. It’s gonna be different...

I hope you enjoy this one! This is a long video as I compare to the Pendant, and Mogwai OG as well as discuss the Nautilus's quality of sound with several headphones.


Have a great weekend friends.

Hey guys! I hope you enjoy my take on the Rosson Audio Design RAD-0 Planar Magnetic Headphones!

Hey friends! If anyone is around this evening at 6:30 pm PT I will be hosting a live stream discussing my first impressions on the Schiit Lokius! Hope to see you there!

I hope you enjoy my take on the Meze Empyrean!

I hope you enjoy my thoughts on these headphones and how they compare to the ZMF Verite and Rosson Audio Rad-0!!!

I hope you enjoy! Koss ESP/95X Headphones From Drop; Electrostatic Ecstasy for your ears?