FIDUE A73 Review – Beautiful designed earphones, let down by its sibilant highs

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Pros: Build quality, design and looks, comfort, mids
Cons: Overall sound quality, sibilant highs, non-existent sub-bass and disappointing lows

Packaging & Accessories: 8/10
Build Quality: 9/10
Design & Look: 9/10
Microphonics (higher ratings means lower cable noise): 10/10
Isolation: 8.5/10
Comfort: 10/10
Sound Quality: 7.5/10
Value: 7.5/10
My final Rating: 7.5/10

Review Date: May 2016
Review Price: £100

FIDUE A73 - Looks

First of all I would like to thank Mark from KS Distribution for sending me the FIDUE A73 (pronounced: Fid-oo) for review. They can be found for £100 on AmazonUK and at $150 on AmazonUSA.

After having reviewed the FIDUE A65 and being seriously impressed I wondered how the A73 would sound with their dual-driver design. The earphones have one balanced armature and one dynamic driver within their housing. In the past, I’ve found hybrid earphones to be somewhat of a disappointment, due to the poor crossover that companies design/choose to use – so I was very much intrigued to see what the A73 could bring to the market.

Below is my video review of the earphones:

Let’s get unto the written review.

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Rock Jaw Alfa Genus V2 Review – Fantastic all-round earphones!

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Pros: Overall sound quality, packaging and accessories, price, design and build quality
Cons: Microphonics and cable

Packaging & Accessories: 9.5/10
Build Quality: 9/10
Design & Look: 9/10
Microphonics (higher ratings means lower cable noise): 7.5/10
Isolation: 8/10
Comfort: 8.5/10
Sound Quality: 8/10
Value: 10/10
My final Rating: 9/10

Review Date: May 2016
Review Price: £45

Rock Jaw Alfa Genus V2 - Looks

First of all I would like to thank Rock Jaw for sending me out the Alfa Genus V2 for review. You’ll be able to find the full specs and more info about the earphones through Rock Jaw’s website. You’ll be able to find them for £45 on Amazon UK and around $45-60 on Amazon USA – as I’m in the UK I’ll be reviewing it at the UK price.

Here’s my video review to complement my written review:

Let’s get unto the review!

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Creative Sound Blaster EVO Wireless Review – A multi-functional Bluetooth headset

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Pros: Build quality, multi-functional design, PC & mobile compatiblity, price
Cons: Static noise whilst recording, overall V-shaped sound signature, sub-bass

Build quality: 8.5/10
Comfort: 8/10
Overall sound quality for a headset: 7/10
Isolation: 7/10
Microphone quality: 8.5/10
Value: 8.5/10 (at £55 price tag)
Overall rating: 8/10

Review date: April 2016
Review price: £55

Creative EVO Wireless - Design

First of all I would like to thank ESL Gaming for sending me their headset for review. ESL are massive event organisers and after having reviewed quite a few headsets I was offered to review the EVO Wireless, which is made by Creative – a brand I’m familiar with.

The headset can be found directly on Creative’s website for £90 (where you’ll also find its full specs) and can also be bought on AmazonUK for around £55 and on AmazonUSA for around $95. As I’m a UK based reviewer, my review will be based on UK prices.

Here’s my video review (recording quality tests will be of interest to you):

Now let’s get into the written review!

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Creative Sound BlasterX H5 Headset Review – Fantastic sound, but with poor recording quality

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Pros: Sound quality for a headset, build quality, comfort, looks and design
Cons: Recording quality, software

Build quality: 10/10
Comfort: 10/10
Overall sound quality for a headset: 9.5/10
Isolation: 8/10
Microphone quality: 6/10
Software: 6/10
Value: 8/10 (at £100 price tag)
Overall rating: 8/10

Review date: March 2016
Review price: £100

First of all I would like to thank Creative for sending me their headset for review. After having reviewed a variety of headsets, I was curious to see how the H5 would compare to its competitors.

Creative Sound BlasterX H5 Headset Review - Mic

 

The headset can be found directly on Creative’s website for £100 (where you’ll also find its full specs) and can also be bought on AmazonUK for around £100 and on AmazonUSA for around $100. As I’m a UK based reviewer, my review will be based on UK prices.

Here’s my video review (recording quality tests will be of interest to you):

Now let’s get into the written review!

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Sound BlasterX G5 Review – A decent sound card with problematic hardware and software problems

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Pros: TPA6120A2 headphone amplifier driving capability (low and high gain modes), headphone and mic outputs, DAC functionalities, 24-bit/192kHz capability, SBX & Scout modes
Cons: Not portable (despite claims), requires USB power, software problems (incl drivers), hardware malfunction rate, price

Packaging & Accessories: 8/10
Build Quality: 7.5/10
Sound Quality: 7.5/10
Software: 7/10
Value: 7/10
My final Rating: 7/10

Review Date: March 2016
Review Price: £130

Sound BlasterX G5 - Wheel Illuminated

First of all I would like to thank Creative for sending me the Sound BlasterX G5 for review. It can be found for £130 directly on Creative’s website, and can be found on AmazonUK for around £140 and AmazonUSA for around $150.

The G5 is a slight variation over the E5, which over the G5 is aimed at those wanting a portable solution with its in-built lithium battery. Unfortunately, the G5 doesn’t have an in-built battery and has to be used with a power source, essentially limiting it to desktop-use only.

I actually received two G5’s as after about two weeks of use my first review sample completely stopped working. Essentially it started having some sort of problems with sound reproduction, with extremely loud high-pitched sounds coming out of the headphone jack. Later, I came back to it and noticed it was extremely overheating – at which point when I tried playing music through it, nothing played.

As the second one arrived, it worked flawlessly on my work PC, but then when I tried to use it with my home PC, wouldn’t recognise the new G5 – no matter if I did a full driver-sweep and a re-install. I’ll get into both points in their respective sections within my review.

Here’s my video review on the G5:

Let’s get into this written review!

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