Intro

Before I begin, I would like to sincerely thank George at Gearbest.com for providing the Xiaomi Hybrid you see in this review in exchange for my honest opinion. Please note that I am neither affiliated with Gearbest or any of its staff, nor am I being paid to write this review. All opinions expressed in this review are my own unless otherwise specified, and all photos in this review were taken by me. Finally, please take my following opinions with a grain of salt. Thanks!

Not long after the release of the Pistons 3.0, everyone on the Pistons threads – myself included – was surprised to hear news about a new IEM from Xiaomi. Immediately the “first responders” set up shop and gathered scraps of info quickly, and this new IEM was dubbed the Pistons 4.0 – at least, until the translations came out. No, this is a brand-spanking new IEM from the smartphone manufacturer featuring a hybrid dual driver design at the same price the entire Pistons line was sold at -- $16, or CNY 99. That, in and of itself, is a crazy – and risky – feat to pull off.

The question is – did Xiaomi pull it off right? Find out after the jump.

I would like to thank Flare Audio for providing the Flare Audio R2Pro at such a reduced price and a seller on Head-Fi for providing the Final Audio Design Heaven VI that will be pitted against the R2Pro in this review.

This review should of course be taken as a grain of salt as it is my opinion and only my opinion. I have past experience with quite a few cans and IEMs before. I personally own or have owned these cans and IEMs (to the best of my knowledge):

• Sennheiser HD25 Aluminium 25th Anniversary Limited Edition
• Sennheiser HD424
• M-Audio Q40
• Denon AH-D2000
• NAD VISO HP50
• Aedle VK-1
• Beyerdynamic DTX-101iE
• Monster Turbine Pro Gold
• ADL EH-008
• Koss Sportapro
• AKG K7xx
• Other odd vintage cans

I wanted to try how different companies implemented their own unique philosophies behind dealing with the pressure caused by a single moving driver in front of and behind it when placed in a confined space like an IEM enclosure. Flare Audio's implementation uses a dynamic 5mm driver with their own pressure-balancing system (I think it's called the Dual-Sized Vortex) while Final Audio Design use a balanced armature driver of an unknown sized backed up by their BAM mechanism.

The Flare Audio R2Pro is used with Jaben spinfit tips while the FAD Heaven VI is used with stock medium soft tips. I will also sell the IEM that I don't like as much so this makes it a deathmatch of sorts, if death means having to leave me forever. Now, lets see how they stack up against each other!

TL;DR: One of the myriad of IEMs from the brand I most love to hate, the KZ ED9 offers an otherwise excellent budget package were it not for its manufacturer’s poor (if not outright lack of) quality control.

Before I begin I would like to thank George at Gearbest.com for providing the review sample of the Xiaomi Pistons 3.0 shown in this review. Please note that I am neither affiliated with Gearbest or any of its staff, nor am I being paid for writing this review. Unless otherwise specified, everything you see written in this review are my own honest opinion, so please take that with a grain of salt. All photos you see in this review are also my own unless otherwise specified. Thanks!

Knowledge Zenith, otherwise known as KZ, is as the title says – an enigma. That’s because we don’t really have that much information about them, and also because they’ve never bothered to release any of that. All we know is that they’re a Chinese manufacturer that makes a crap ton of ultra-cheap IEMs that they sell through online marketplaces like Aliexpress. That, and they have a massive cult following on Head-Fi that practically worship the brand with every post they make on the Asian brand thread or their official appreciation thread.

But I’m gonna get straight to the point. I don’t like KZ. I’m not gonna lie about that. I don’t like their lack of presence as a company. I don’t like their lack of ways to contact them. But I couldn’t ignore the cultish hype. It had me curious as to if they really were worth the continuously-spreading hype. And just a few weeks ago, the opportunity presented itself. And so here I am, reviewing one of the many IEMs from the brand I love to hate. Will they stand up to my expectations? Find out after the jump.

TL;DR: The successor to the popular Xiaomi Pistons 2.0, the 3.0 offers a remarkably versatile package that is no less than excellent at its price point. Easily one of the best IEMs I've ever reviewed.

Ahh, the Xiaomi Pistons. The first IEM where I wrote a serious review, and the only one to be as popular as it is. Since that Christmas of 2012 the demand for the Pistons 2.0 exploded into a massive craze that lasted a bit over a whole year. Then, sometime around April of 2014, news came about of a successor to the Pistons 2.0, aptly named the Pistons 3. Upon its release, there was some buzz surrounding them, but the hype train never really took off the way the 2.0 did. And, well, for that entire year I never really took the chance to get a pair and review it myself. That is, until now.

So here I am, back where it all began. The sands of time have swept across the budget IEM market, with it bringing fierce new contenders. How will the Pistons 3 stand up to some of 2015’s latest and greatest? Let's find out after the jump.

TL;DR: Brainwavz' latest (and last) S-series IEM, the S3 proves itself to be a very weak farewell to the S-series with its iffy quality control and excessively warm sound.

Before I begin, I would like to sincerely thank Pandora at Brainwavz for providing the review sample of the Brainwavz S3 you see in this review. Please note that I am neither affiliated with Brainwavz or any of its staff, nor am I being paid in any form for writing this review. All opinions expressed in the following review are strictly my own unless otherwise specified, and all photos are taken and own by me. Finally, please take the following review with a grain of salt. Thanks!

With the recently-released Brainwavz Jive that met universally positive reactions from the audiophile community, many of us there hoped for one thing: a higher-end follow-up to the Jive. With a beautiful sound signature at a thirty dollar price tag, a higher price tag would allow Brainwavz to improve the sound even further and provide a more robust build to make one hell of a competitor in its price bracket. And, well, just about a couple weeks ago, they announced the release of the Brainwavz S3, an 80-dollar IEM that may or may not be that successor the audiophiles have been waiting for. Is it? Find out after the jump.

TL;DR: Probably one of Brainwavz' best releases yet, the Jive raises the bar for budget IEMs, combining a refined, detailed sound with Brainwavz' signature build quality and accessories.

Before I begin, I would like to sincerely thank Pandora at Brainwavz for providing the review sample of the Jive you see in this review. Please note that I am neither affiliated with Brainwavz or any of its staff, nor am I being compensated in any form for writing this review. All opinions expressed in the following review are strictly my own unless otherwise specified, and all photos are taken and own by me. Finally, please take the following review with a grain of salt.

Brainwavz’ products have always been about value for money. With each new IEM release they push the envelope for product value at each price point. Now, this week we're going to be taking a look at their brand-new IEM, the Jive. It's a $30 IEM marketed as being “tuned to perform like a balanced armature for only $30,” which is a pretty bold statement that, as experience has taught me, shows Brainwavz really has something big going on here. Let's take a closer look after the jump.

TL;DR: The debut IEM of LMUE's in-house brand, the AD01 provides a thunderous, bass-heavy sound signature built almost specifically for the basshead.

Before I begin, I would like to thank Teo at Led Me UR Ears for providing the review sample of the Alpha & Delta AD01 seen in this review. Note that I am neither affiliated with LMUE or any of its staff, nor am I being paid to write this review. Everything that follows is from my own honest opinion unless otherwise specified, and all pictures are taken and owned by me. Finally, please take everything stated in this review with a grain of salt. Thanks!

Lend Me UR Ears – from henceforth will be called LMUE – is a headphone retailer and distributor based in Singapore, known for popularizing many East Asian brands and making them accessible to the Western audiophile market – not unlike Penon Audio – thanks to its Amazon warehouses in the US and Canada. Just about 3 weeks ago, Teo approached me offering to review an in-house IEM which they released in partnership with a local manufacturer. The IEM in question is the Alpha & Delta AD01.

This new IEM employs a dual dynamic driver system, priced at about $100. How will these newcomers stand up to its much older competitors? Find out after the jump.

I would like to thank the Head-Fi Massdrop staff and AKG for producing such a good pair of headphones. This pair has honestly been one of the best cures for upgrade-itis I have had in a long while and I think that it will be a nice ending to the long story of the AKG K7-series driver as I think AKG decided to do this because the driver is nearing the end of its life cycle.

This review should of course be taken as a grain of salt as it is my opinion and only my opinion. I have past experience with quite a few cans and IEMs before. I personally own or have owned these cans and IEMs (to the best of my knowledge):

Sennheiser HD25 Aluminium 25th Anniversary Limited Edition
Sennheiser HD424
M-Audio Q40
Denon AH-D2000
NAD VISO HP50
Aedle VK-1
Beyerdynamic DTX-101iE
Monster Turbine Pro Gold
ADL EH-008
Koss Sportapro
Other odd vintage cans

As for the backstory behind these cans, I bought the AKG K7xx when I read the description for the drop for it on Massdrop.com touting these pair of cans to basically be a warmer, bassier AKG K702 Annie back around November. As I have already tried various AKG cans in the past and disliked many of them because of the lack of bass, the overly bright tilt and the oh-so-dreadful headband bumps that most of the mid-tier AKG cans seem to possess, I thought to myself that this would be just the ticket to satisfy my desires and jumped right onto the drop, to the displeasure of my wallet and the absolute joy of my ears.

Having had a wonderful impression of the current state of Bluetooth-powered sound with the Brainwavz BLU-100, I felt it was time to take a look at something a bit higher-end. Fast-forward about a couple weeks later, and here I am with the Sport-Fi X7. Will these $80 Bluetooth IEMs catch up to the competition, or will they get left biting the dust? Read on and find out!

I'm the proud owner of the AKG K240, first-gen Beats Studio, Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro, HiFiMAN HE-300, JVC HA-MR77XE, JVC HA-SZ2000, Koss PortaPro, Philips Fidelio X2, Sennheiser HD650, Sennheiser HD800, Xiaomi Pistons V2, Xiaomi Pistons V3, the MrSpeakers Mad Dog 3.2, and now, the MrSpeakers Alpha Dog.

In 2014, I went to Canjam Europe. Mr. Speakers was there, showing off his Alpha Dog. I tried it, and didn't like it at all. A long time passed before someone I know sent me an e-mail a few days ago and let me know that he was going to sell his Alpha Dogs for 450 euros (They're 600 euros around here). As I am a huge Mr Speakers Fan, I just went with it and I'm very happy I did, as these might be my new favorite headphones.

On to the real review now.

Wow…okay, so it’s been quite a while since I last got a review up. I’ve been pretty busy the past weeks that I haven’t been able to write something up in so long. By now, however, things are finally getting back in full swing, and DB Headphones is back in business!

Anyways, this week we’re yet gain taking a look at Brainwavz’ latest offering – a Bluetooth IEM. Now, to audiophiles like me, Bluetooth is by far the last thing we would take a look at if we’re looking for a new earphone or headphone by sound quality alone – the wireless audio transmission at this point just isn’t advanced enough to provide the same audio quality wired connections offer (just like how wired is better than wireless in gaming peripherals). But having already seen what Brainwavz is capable of doing, I was more than interested in taking up Audrey’s offer to review these new IEMs. Will they stand up to their wired counterparts? Read on and find out!

So, a couple weeks ago, I wrote a review of the MEE Audio M6 PRO, an impressive new IEM from MEE Audio and one of their many cool new releases this spring. Now, MEE Audio was kind enough to also send me a sample of another of their new releases, and this week we’re going to take a look at it – the A151P Generation 2, an update over the original A151.

(A quick note before we begin: The review sample in this review is of the A151P and not the basic A151. The P version has an inline microphone and 1-button remote; aside from that there aren’t any differences to the base model.)

So, not too long ago, MEE Audio revealed a handful of brand-new products, amongst them the Air-Fi Touch and Rumble, the Pinnacle P1 (which is still yet to be released later this spring), the 2^nd generation of the A151, and the M6 Pro (stylized as M6 PRO). Now, I was given the opportunity to review the latter two products, and this week we’ll be taking a look at the M6 PRO first. As the name suggests, it’s a version of the original Sport-Fi M6, re-tuned and marketed for the professional musician. So, are they worth their weight, or will they be another one to bite the dust? Read on and find out.

Disclaimer: I was given the MEElectronics M9 Classic in return for a review. The opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own, and were not influenced by MEElectronics in any way.

Before I begin I'd like to thank Mike at MEElectronics for sending the M9 Classic out to me for review.

Delicate, Unique, and Utmost – these are the three words that DUNU adopts as its philosophy for creating their IEMs. If you’ve been around the forums of Head-Fi for a while, you’ll probably know DUNU as a popular company based in Taiwan, manufacturing great bang-for-buck IEMs that rival that of top-end Western IEMs. This week, we’re taking a look at their latest release – the Titan 1. Early impressions and reviews state these are some of the best IEMs in their price range – how do they stack up? Find out after the break.

Thinksound is a relatively new company which specializes in giving you great sound without making a huge impact on the environment. Their eco-friendly vision seems to be following in with the likes of House of Marley, but it seems clear to the members of Head-Fi that Thinksound is aiming to become much, much bigger than that.

Anyways, Thinksound has recently released another IEM into their growing catalogue, named the Rain 2. As you can tell from the name, it is an update to an older model which, upon the release of this one, will be discontinued. Judging from impressions form other Head-Fi’ers, the Rain 2 seems to be another hit with the audiophiles, with one making some pretty bold statements. This week, we’re taking a closer look at this wooden IEM and see if they live up to the hype.

Despite their relatively late arrival to the headphone scene, Master & Dynamic were quick to make their stand in the headphone market with their highly-popular flagship MH40 headphones, mixing together premium aesthetics, solid durability, and great sound quality in a combination very few headphones have ever really accomplished. Now, this week, we’re taking a look at the ME03, their high-end IEM model that supposedly follows in the steps of its full-size brother, the MH40. How will these stack up against some of the best IEMs I’ve reviewed? Let’s take a look.

Just a couple weeks ago, Audrey contacted me, requesting to review one of their older IEMs. Of course, being a fan of their stuff, I was quick to reply. Sadly I didn’t give them much time because of my three other reviews the past couple of weeks, so now that I’m perfectly in the clear, let’s take a closer look at the Brainwavz M1.

This week, we’re focusing on the entry-level model of Final Audio Design’s dynamic IEM line – the Adagio II. Priced at around $35, how do these stack up against some of my favorite IEMs at this price? Let’s take a look.

Now that the New Year proceedings seem to have died down a bit, let’s continue on with the reviewing! This week, we’re taking a look at another of the entry-level IEMs form Final Audio Design – except, well, this isn’t really an IEM. The FAD Piano Forte II is an earbud, as you can see from the image above. Oftentimes audiophiles tend to stay away from earbuds due to their inherent sound signature which is subpar compared to IEMs at the same price, but since the Piano Forte is here anyway, I might as well review it!

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