THE REVIEWS

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SHANLING M8 DAP REVIEW
PRODUCT, DAP, GOLDEN KEYNOTE AWARD K. E. Heartsong PRODUCT, DAP, GOLDEN KEYNOTE AWARD K. E. Heartsong

SHANLING M8 DAP REVIEW

The Shanling M8 is an extraordinary “Portable Music Player” more detailed and extended than the DX220 AMP1 MkII, more musical and engaging than the Cayin N6II/A01, and it is as powerful as some desktop systems (and more transparent). The iBasso and the Cayin are both quite stellar, highly rated DAPs, the M8, however, is on another level altogether in what it brings to the rendering of one’s music.

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ASTELL&KERN SR25 REVIEW
PRODUCT, DAP, HEADPHONE AMPLIFIER K. E. Heartsong PRODUCT, DAP, HEADPHONE AMPLIFIER K. E. Heartsong

ASTELL&KERN SR25 REVIEW

The Astell&Kern SR25 provides superb transparency, musical engagement, exceptional bass and treble extension, and 21 hours of playback! It is genre agnostic and it will scale beautifully with higher priced IEMs. The SR25 does this in a small, avant-garde form, for a fraction of the price of a number of top of the line DAPs.

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IBASSO AMP9 MODULE REVIEW
PRODUCT, DAP, HIGH NINES K. E. Heartsong PRODUCT, DAP, HIGH NINES K. E. Heartsong

IBASSO AMP9 MODULE REVIEW

The iBASSO AMP9 module is unique in that it utilizes “high current vacuum tubes” for power generation. The tube in question is the sixth generation, Korg and Noritake Nutube vacuum tube, which clearly reflects the “old is new again” adage. And, in this respect, the AMP9 module brings an analog sound signature as opposed to an analog-like sound signature.

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IBASSO DX220/AMP1 MK II REVIEW

IBASSO DX220/AMP1 MK II REVIEW

We were initially going to review only the iBASSO DX220 as aligned to the AMP9—a tubed module wherein there was great consensus that it would fall within our “sound niche.” But then we took a cursory listen to the iBASSO DX220 with the prix fixe AMP1 Mk II card with several headphones/IEMs, well, ‘it was on!’

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