First of all I would like to thank Kurt from Sunrise, for reaching out to me and sending me the Charm3 and SW-Dragon 2 for review.
Earbuds to me, generally speaking are relatively new to me. I used to wear earbuds over 6 years ago, when I upgraded from the stock Apple earbuds to a set of Sony earbuds. It was not long after, that I decided to go for in-earphones over earbuds, simply due to the isolation they provided.
I was thus intrigued when I received the two earbuds from Sunrise, to see how they performed based on previous experience and to compare them to in-earphones.
Review & Overview – Anker Bluetooth 4.0 Earphones
I received the Anker earphones for review and wanted to see how these Bluetooth earphones performed with my Samsung Galaxy S 3
Pros: Wireless earphones, Sound Quality
Cons: Bluetooth Range, Battery life, Design, Build Quality
Packaging & Accessories: 8/10
Build Quality: 6/10
Design & Look: 4/10
Isolation: 7/10
Comfort: 3/10
Audio Quality: 7/10
Value: 7/10
My final Rating: 6/10
Purchase Date: September 2013
Purchase Price: £40-45 from AmazonUK
Review of the Klipsch Image S3M – A lower-end model from the famous S4’s
Pros: Mids, design and looks, lightweight
Cons: Lows, accentuated highs, straight jack, no volume control, microphonics, price
Packaging & Accessories: 8/10
Build Quality: 6/10
Design & Look: 6/10
Microphonics (higher ratings means lower cable noise): 6/10
Isolation: 6/10
Comfort: 8/10
Audio Quality: 7/10
Value: 8/10
My final Rating: 7/10
Purchase Date: September 2013
Purchase Price: £40
First of all, I would like to thank Sarah from Mustard PR for sending me these out to review.
I first glanced on the Klipsch S3M’s at the Digital Summers event in London. I was immediately intrigued by them, due to my good impressions of the S4’s that Klipsch has built a good reputation around, in the earphone world for low-priced, but very well performing earphones. Thus, I wanted to review the S3M’s in a more controlled environment and compare them to the impressions I had of the S4’s.
The S3M’s can be purchased from sellers such as AmazonUK and are priced at £40.
The S4’s, their bigger and older brothers can be found also on AmazonUK at £43 and their newer revision at £59. Although I have no idea what the difference between the S4’s revisions are. The S4’s mentioned in this review are based on the cheaper and older revision.
Firestone Audio GreenKey USB Isolator and FR-H001 Headphone Stand Review
First of all I would like to thank Firestone Audio for sending me these products to review.
I shall start off with the GreenKey USB isolator.
First of all, purchase information
GreenKey USB Isolator – $102 / £50 / €59 – Available from:
–Firestone-Audio
–Amazon USA
Here are the pictures:
The USB isolator is a product I wasn’t expecting to change a great amount of audible sound, especially in a setup at my desk, which consists of my modded Denon AH-D2000, the DigiZoid ZO2 and an EHP-O2D. I was trying so hard, for such a long time to hear a difference, whilst using the EHP-O2D in DAC mode. No matter what I did, I couldn’t hear any difference whatsoever in sound. I tried different USB ports, both at the front and back of the PC and 2.0 and even 3.0 ports. I was just about to give up and say: “this product makes no difference”, until I turned on my DigiZoid ZO2 and decided to hook it up to the PC and charge it at the same time, whilst it was in operation. This is where I discovered a difference in sound with and without the GreenKey.
Firestone Audio FireyeHD Amplifier Review – A good contender
First of all I would like to thank Firestone-Audio for sending me the amp for review.
The FireyeHD Headphone Amp costs: $130.00 / £170 / €200 and is available from:
–Firestone-Audio
–Amazon USA
Written review:
As I live in the UK – the review will be based on the product costing £170.
Packaging & accessories:
The FireyeHD headphone amp is a beautiful piece of kit, that comes in a nice little package which is quite simplistic. The amp includes a USB cable to charge the amp, a 3.5mm to 3.5mm interconnect to connect it to your given source and a charging wall brick.
I should say, that despite me living in the UK, Firestone Audio sent me a EU plug – thus I wasn’t able to use the wall charger at all. I don’t know if they provide a UK wall charger, but I would presume they would do so. Other than that, the amp came with what I would have expected from an amplifier package. It would have been nice to have had a little carrying pouch included for the FireyeHD as it is designed to be a portable amp.