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Showing posts from November, 2023

KIWI EARS MELODY: The Unlike Planar Set

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"Music is the melody whose text is the world" ~~Arthur Schopenhauer, German Philosopher during Romantic Period, Author of "Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung". (The World As Will and Representation) Kiwi Ears  recently released a lot of models and all of them have diverse driver configuration from single dynamic drivers up to quad drivers set-up. And now, they are now releasing an IEM with planar magnetic driver and they are really eager to introduce it in an even more competitive audio market. This is  Kiwi Ears Melody ,  Kiwi Ears ' first IEM with planar magnetic driver. Planar magnetic drivers in a small form factor became readily available and many audio companies are taking its potential performance and implementing it with their products. Planar magnetics have different principles compared to dynamic drivers and balanced armature drivers, it is a magnet that is suspended in a thin flat diaphragm with some wires embedded on it and it will react responsively...

HIDIZS S9 PRO+ MARTHA: A More Refined Sequel

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"There is pleasure in the pathless woods, there is rapture in the lonely shore, there is society where none intrudes, by the deep sea, and music in its roar; I love not Man the less, but Nature more." ~~George Gordon Byron, Lord Byron, English baron and an influential poet during the Romantic period. Martha was the last surviving species of her kind. She was a passenger pigeon in captivity and these birds were supposedly endemic in North America but due to over-hunting and deforestation, their population became declining rapidly and the last known passenger pigeon in the wild was shot. USB DAC/Amp dongles became a staple and a must have contraption for a portable audio enthusiast.  HIDIZS  was one of pioneers in the portable audio industry that released some of the best DAC/Amp dongles in the market like  S3 Pro, S9, S9 PRO  and  XO . The release of the original  S9  in 2020 was one of the pivotal moments of the portable audio industry that truly defin...

KEFINE Klanar: Kreamy, Krisp and Klarity

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"Music in the soul can be heard by the universe" ~~Lao Tzu, Chinese philosopher and founder of Taoism As planar magnetic technology on IEMs keeps evolving since the introduction of  Audeze iSine 10  in the mid-2010's, it still has its limitations particularly on power scaling to drive these sets properly. But with the introduction of USB Dongles DACs for smartphones and DAPs with better power delivery on driving these types of IEMs, it also has some development by miniaturisation of its parts to be more compact and requires less power output. This product I have here at my hand will be the main context of this review and before I introduce its features and sonic qualities, I'll introduce the company who crafted this set.  KEFINE  is one of the recently established audio companies in Mainland China and its name is a portmanteau of  "Ke"  which is the name of the proprietor of this company and known to be passionate about music and the also a Hi-Fi enthusiast...