Audio Technica has clinched a deal to be the official headphones and microphones provider of European e-sports lifestyle brand Team Atlantis, hinting at the audio device manufacturer’s expansion into the e-sports industry. Under the agreement, Audio Technica will be running exclusive discounts and giveaways to enable Team-Atlantis-backed players to enjoy “the same equipment as their favorite players,” according to Rebecca Ward, Brand Marketing Manager for Audio-Technica, who expressed excitement in working with “one of the best teams in Europe....

Armed with the combination of a limited budget and realistic expectations, we purchased a miniDSP EARS headphone test fixture to standardize our headphone frequency response measurements. After trying it out, I created a couple of articles about the EARS to share my experiences in using the device. First, I look at what the EARS is, what it can do, and the inherent limitations in using the EARS for measurements. The second article is a step-by-step guide on how to measure headphones using the EARS....

Getting a new pair of Galaxy Buds can be exciting! But the stress of having to learn how to pair them to all your different devices can easily dampen your fun. Plus, since these buds are made by Samsung for Samsung devices, there’s a lingering question of whether they can actually be used with other devices. The answer is: Yes! You can connect your Samsung Galaxy Buds to any Bluetooth-enabled device....

Tell us about your audiophile journey. My audiophile journey started back in 1995 with dance/pop bands like Modern Talking, Joy and Fancy. I was using my father’s Compact Cassettes and his car “stereo system” 🙂 In 2001, my parents bought a Motorola v120 mobile phone. Every time I was allowed to use it, I went to the roof of our house to catch better the radio stations and stay there for hours enjoying my favorite dance tunes....

It’s no secret that music catered toward children has been around for decades. What has been growing exponentially, however, is the interest in kid-friendly podcasts and audiobooks — to the delight of parents everywhere. This is thanks mostly to audio streaming services offering more and more tracks that are both kid-friendly and educational. For instance, Spotify recently introduced Spotify Kids, which, as you would guess, has a library chock full of content for younger audiences....

Sennheiser’s HD series of headphones have spanned multiple decades and are still going strong. The HD650, for example, were released almost 20 years ago and maintain their cult status even now. The HD800 were Sennheiser’s flagship headphones back in 2008 and they debuted a novel ‘Ring Radiator’ driver with outstanding technical parameters. Later on, the driver and the damping schemes were adjusted to launch the HD800S which fixed some of the treble issues on the original and were less picky with amplification....

First Impressions “WOW!” There are no IEMs (in-ear monitors) that look like this. The Essence’s allure in look and feel will keep many in rapture. The premium cable, great small hard case, and lots of ear tips are welcome accessories. Company Overview Established in 2015 and based in Shenzhen, China, TFZ (The Fragrant Zither) produces audio-visual products that are meant to produce high-quality audio while representing bold personality and style. TFZ believes that users are the source of both inspiration and direction for the company’s efforts....

The annual KL International AV Show (KLIAV) was held from 20th to 22nd July in Sunway Putra Hotel, Kuala Lumpur. It was organised by 3 Dot Events and is now into its 25th year. I guess my time wasn’t up, as there were still uncharted frontiers to blaze. Curiosity got the better of me when Uncle David from E1 Personal Audio (an exhibitor) e-mailed about bringing over a few flagship-tier earphones from 64 Audio that I have yet to hear....

While the headphones we have on our list are certainly expensive, they are aspirational – for us and their makers. Manufacturers often produce these flagship models to test their own limits by engineering and designing truly unique and exceptional products. They serve as a showcase for innovation and showing the rest of the world what’s possible. In doing so, they win our fascination, our want, and establish true professional credibility amongst peers and giants in the audio world....

In a closed-door administrative environment, sounds get magnified easily. Running printers, beeping fax machine and even the hum of the air-con contributes to the formation of a mechanical circus. Not to forget, colleagues are seated within earshot of each other. That occasional loud sneeze can snap a worker out of his productivity zone. All this adds up to a noisy office. Something that most office workers detest. This is where a great pair of headphones for work will come in handy....

Leave it to Monitor Audio to build on a tried-and-tested formula. The company has introduced the sixth-generation of its well-received Bronze Series speakers, which are expected to follow in their predecessors’ budget-friendly footsteps. Announced on the company’s social media platforms, the new set of Bronze Series products will be formally unveiled on February 21 in Briston, England. A demonstration will be held at The Bristol Hi-Fi Show which will take place in Empire Suite 1, Marriott City Centre Hotel....

The ddHiFi Janus are the first IEMs launched by ddHiFi, priced starting at $200 (actual price depends on the selected options). The company is well-known for making great adapters and small DAC/amp dongle combos. Now they are making earphones designed for pairing with their great accessories. The Janus are single dynamic driver earphones. While that may not be anything flashy or mind-blowing, it is a safe move. When earphones mix and match all sorts of exotic drivers, we get hyped up, and the product receives attention....

Titans, in classic Greek mythology, are a family of giants born of Uranus and Gaea, and they ruled the earth until the Olympian gods overthrew them. The Merriam-Webster dictionary also defines a Titan as “one that is gigantic in size or power; one that stands out for greatness of achievement”. In the ultra-competitive single dynamic driver IEM market, there are a multitude of well-regarded budget gems, such as the Moondrop Aria 2021, TForce Yuan Li, and Tin HIFI Tin T3 Plus....

The Hidizs H2 is one of those products that cause you to think of a few things when you first see it. I’ll attempt to paraphrase some that flew through my mind. “How the heck did they fit all those features in something so small?” “I’m totally going to lose that thing.” “I probably should have bought the black one.” “Can that thing really do what it says it can?...

I think the hobby of music collecting and listening is, if nothing else, full of moments of deja vu. We listen to our music over and over again and relive lots of moments of our lives to this soundtrack we create. iFi, a very modern audio company, making very modern DAC’s and amplifiers, and Drop has collaborated to release the Zen Signature Set. Though neither is generally in the business of making time machines, they have succeeded wildly in tailoring a pair of devices for their wildly popular HD6xx headphones that look both forward into the HiRes universe, and backward toward the storied past of Audio That Was....

It seems like only days ago that I was writing about the newest Knowledge Zenith (KZ) flagship offering, the ZS10 Pro. Not a company known for taking a deep breath and resting on their laurels, KZ is jumping into deeper water with their newest technological marvel, the AS16. They claim it has taken them 15 months to perfect this technology to provide “higher order acoustics” and “professional Hi-Fi” sound. The AS16 features 8 Balanced Armature (BA) drivers per side, with the sound funneled through a three-channel acoustic duct structure....

TForce Audio is a new player in the CHI-FI industry, and the Yuan Li is their debut pair of IEMs. Yuan Li (or actually in Chinese parlance, Li Yuan) was the first emperor of the Tang Dynasty in China. The Tang Dynasty is regarded by many historians to be the golden age of ancient Chinese civilization. Thus, the Yuan Li have a big reputation to live up to. It definitely is not easy being named after the founding monarch of the Tang Dynasty!...

Abyss Headphones is having a bad week. They’ve likely found that knee-jerk reactions aren’t as beneficial as considered and professional responses. In case you’ve missed the drama making the rounds of the popular headphone enthusiast sites, I’ll do my best to fill you in. About Abyss To set the stage, we should review who Abyss is, and what products they produce. Abyss Headphones is a division of US-based JPS Labs LLC....

A recent video published (on April 15, 2021) by GoldenSound has once again stirred up the MQA pot. In the last couple of weeks, the video made the rounds (again, and again) through most audiophile groups, and, as of writing, has racked up about 150,000 views. Additionally TIDAL (the main distributor of MQA) has announced a new tiered price plan in Australia that is expected to roll out worldwide. The audio hobbyist communities are in a buzz....

10 Best Apex Legends Streamers and Their Gaming Headsets Gaming Headsets Overview Apex Legends is easily one of the biggest surprise titles in 2019. Since its surprise release back in February 2019, Respawn Entertainment’s take on the battle royale genre has quickly established itself as a legitimate contender. And though it hasn’t been without its rough patches, the game continues to draw rave reviews from critics and gamers alike, with more and more streamers and aspiring professionals joining the game as well....