Op Amp Measurements
INTRO: In last week’s Op Amps: Myths & Facts article I covered the background for op amps, why they’re important, and some common audiophile op amp myths. This is the follow up with more technical...
View ArticleO2 Summary
THE SHORT VERSION: By popular demand, here’s an “executive summary” and Q&A for the Objective2 (O2) headphone amp. There are links sprinkled throughout leading to revised information in the...
View ArticleMore Power?
INTRO: While the plugs on most headphones are compatible with the jacks on most gear that doesn’t mean the two will play nice together. Headphones vary widely in their power and drive requirements and...
View ArticleNoise & Dynamic Range
INTRO: Noise is generally more obvious with headphones than speakers and a relatively common complaint among headphone aficionados. There’s a lot of confusion about sources of noise, specifications,...
View ArticleAll About Gain
INTRO: For those interested in headphone amps, gain is an important topic. Here are the essentials about gain with lots of links to more information. In addition to this introduction explaining gain,...
View ArticleMusic vs Sine Waves
MEASUREMENTS & AUDIOPHILES: One of the goals behind this blog is to explore some of the more popular audiophile beliefs. Which ones are true, partly true, or completely false? When it comes to...
View ArticleRoadmap Update
ARTICLE UPDATE: I’ve been publishing roughly one article a week but not always on the usual Wednesdays. Lately I’ve published and updated reference material for a guest article Tyll Hertsens asked me...
View ArticleTurtle Beach Micro II
INTRO: This is the first in a series of inexpensive portable USB DAC reviews I’ll be publishing in the next week or two. The idea is to test the DACs with a high impedance load (such as the O2...
View ArticleUCA202 DAC Take 2
INTRO: The Behringer UCA202 was the first USB DAC I reviewed on this blog back in February. It sells for around $30 and has been around for many years. I’ve revised several of my tests and I was...
View ArticleC-Media CM119 DAC
INTRO: This is another in a series of inexpensive USB DACs such as the Turtle Beach Micro II I reviewed a few weeks ago and the Behringer UCA202. It’s the least expensive DAC I’ve tested with a street...
View ArticleFiiO D5 DAC
INTRO: This is another article in a series of inexpensive USB DAC reviews including the Turtle Beach Micro II and Syba C-Media CM119. Like both of those DACs, it uses yet a different version of an...
View ArticleX-Fi USB DAC
INTRO: I’ve been testing portable reasonably priced USB partly in the hope of finding one that’s a good match for pairing with my 02 headphone amp. The C-Media based inexpensive USB DACs from FiiO,...
View ArticleAsus U3 DAC
INTRO: In my quest to find a companion DAC for the O2 headphone amp I was disappointed by three different C-Media based USB DACs (such as the FiiO D5) I found a bit more money buys much better...
View ArticleFiiO E11 Amp
INTRO: Given the FiiO E11 is almost a direct clone of the AMB Mini3 I wasn’t sure it was worth my time to review it. The Mini3 has some significant problems mainly related to its 3 channel channel...
View ArticleFiiO E6 Amp
INTRO: I reviewed the amazingly small and inexpensive FiiO E5 back in this blog’s infancy. I was fairly impressed with the build quality and even found the audio performance acceptable considering the...
View ArticleObjective Desktop Amp (ODA) & DAC
INTRO: Ok, right up front you need to know this article is not one of my usual in-depth write ups. But here’s the deal. The battery powered O2 headphone amp has been more popular than I imagined with...
View ArticleApple MacBook Air 5G
INTRO: Many have asked for laptop computer audio reviews. They want to know if built-in audio is good enough for high quality headphone listening or should they use an external DAC. The dilemma really...
View ArticleWinter Solstice
HAPPY HOLIDAYS! Alas, unlike last week’s 7500 word MacBook Air review, there’s no big article today. The plan was to release more details of the Objective Desktop Amp (ODA) by the first day of winter...
View ArticleFiiO E10 DAC
INTRO: First off, I’m sorry this review has taken so long. I started receiving requests to review the FiiO E10 long before it was even available in the US. Finally it became available for a short time...
View ArticleFeb 1 Update
BLOGGER PROBLEMS: Just a quick update. I've been away from the blog for a couple of days only to find Google Blogger is having problems displaying more than 200 comments per article. Sometimes when you...
View ArticleODAC Update
ODAC PROGRESS: As my articles have slowed to a trickle lately, hopefully these 5000+ words will be welcome news. After lots of professional and other distractions, I’m once again devoting serious time...
View ArticleApril Fools Update
LATEST NEWS: Despite the relative dearth of articles lately I’m alive, well, and have been spending a lot of time on the ODAC project as well as the usual blog comments, emails, etc. I’ve made some...
View ArticleWhat We Hear
FIRST SOME UPDATES: This is a promising sign. I’ve managed to publish another article in less than a week and it’s a big one! Since last weekend’s April Fool’s article we’ve managed to finalize the...
View ArticleODAC Released
CAREFREE ENJOYMENT: I’ve been listening almost exclusively to the ODAC for several weeks now and I’ve been smiling a lot—not so much at the ODAC but at the music. When you know your audio gear is...
View ArticleODAC May Update
GOOD NEWS! I just completed testing the first two ODAC boards from YoYoDyne. These are known as “first articles” and are built using the same PC boards and parts as the production boards. I’m pleased...
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