Telecommunications
Düsseldorf is known for telecommunications. Vodafone, Ericsson, Huawei and more have chosen the city for their European headquarters.
MrSpeakers Æon
I find it very easy to recommend the MrSpeakers Aeon. The workmanship is good, the comfort is high and most importantly, above all, the sound is pleasing. However, you should prefer a neutral tuning with little coloration, especially in the high frequency range. This is of course the greatest feat...
Mirrorless Macro
This is actually not a special photo, but it has meaning to me. I got into photography with a beginner Canon APS-C. Not a bad camera at all, I especially loved my 70mm macro lens with which I captured a similar photo of a bee on the same flower. However,...
Yellow All Over
Macro shot of a bee pollinating a sun flower. It looks trivial, but actually it took me quite a while to manage a sharp photograph of this scene. Sun flowers can grow very high; I had to stretch my arms above my head and guess the focal distance. The scene...
Audeze iSine 20
I wonder what the motivation behind the iSine was. Audeze clearly did not want to improve ergonomics, comfort or handling of existing IEMs. It was all about using a magnetostat that is characteristic of the company. Admittedly, the challenge is high and it is impressive that they have taken up...
Final E2000 & E3000
The two new Final E-type IEMs are a pleasant surprise. Both the E2000 and E3000 offer a very attractive package with terrific ear tips and useful ear guides. Apart from lacking a hard case, there is barely any open attack surface. Comfort and build quality are as simple as they...
iBasso DX200
How much is a DAP allowed to cost? Up to 900 €, apparently. I criticized a few points, for example the display. However, there is nothing that cuts back on the music enjoyment. The DX200 has everything an audiophile needs: it sounds transparent, uncolored, spatial, revealing, and more. The “ideal...
Astell&Kern AK70
Not surprisingly, the AK70 is less oriented towards technical nerds, but rather tries to deliver an attractive overall package for the hifi enthusiast. The buzzwords are all there: HD, Hi-Res, DSD with up to 128x CD resolution, etc. However, the actual sound improvement is negligible compared to some of the...
FiiO X5 III
In this review the poor FiiO got wiped several times from left and right. I am someone who demands streamlined minimalism and who prefers perfectionism over loads of functions. The X5 III moves in the opposite direction and offers quantity instead of quality in the software. Those who take their...
Amsterdam Nieuwmarkt
After a great day in Amsterdam, I took this on my way back to the hotel. It was quite late already but luckily in summer you can still capture some color in the sky. The original file is actually a composition done with Olympus’ sensor shift resulting in a high...
How to build a Custom IEM
[smartslider3 slider=10] Custom-made in-ears – more commonly known as CIEM (Custom In-Ear Monitors) – are becoming increasingly popular. A few years ago, this was not the case when Ultimate Ears, Jerry Harvey and Compact Monitors still featured high-end products, but universal mass-produced earphones cost less than half the price. This...
iFi Audio iEMatch
In my testing, the iEMatch was a huge improvement in everyday use. I mostly use in-ears and most of my headphones are very efficient, too. Paired with the normal headphone output of the iPhone (R.I.P.), improvements were very noticeable and highly appreciated. Almost even more so with desktop amps that...