This review is posted here in partnership with Soundnews.net. It was originally written and published by Sandu Vitalie of Soundnews.net on Aug. 6, 2020. Is FiiO ever sleeping at night? I always wondered about that. The sheer number of products they release on a monthly basis is staggering. Last month FiiO announced for immediate release four new IEMs: a beryllium plated single driver FD1, a true-wireless FW1, a new hybrid FH3 and their newest and the greatest IEM in their portfolio: the FA9 IEMs. When it comes to flagship IEMs, FiiO adopted a Tick-Tock model to keep a high interest in both their hybrid and all-balanced armatures IEMs, but instead of shrinking their size year after year, FiiO is making them bigger, better and packed with extra goodies. If in 2018 the spotlights were put on the hybrid FH5, in 2019 in was on all-armature FA7, then FH7 hybrid IEM came last summer that is still my daily driver and my no.1 recommendation at less than $500. It was natural that an all-armature-based FA9 would follow next and that time is now.
Zeos is back in action (with working eyes and ears!) and he has the latest review on the new SMSL SU-9 Balanced MQA DAC! While he appreciates the non-slant design for the SU-9 that the SMSL SP200 has disagrees with SMSL’s go-to-market strategy for their various DACs, Zeos has very good things to say about the latest creation from SMSL: “My point is this DAC is very, very good. This is probably the best sounding SMSL DAC.”
At long last the wait is over: the SMSL SU-9 Balanced MQA DAC is now available! You can pick up the latest DAC from SMSL on Apos for $439.99, As with all purchases, when you buy from us you get the Apos Promise for Free Priority Shipping, an Extended 2-Year Warranty, a 45-Day Return Policy, and our 30-Day Lowest Price Match.
The FiiO Q3 THX Balanced DAC/Amp is now available on Apos Audio for $149.99! The FiiO Q3 DAC/Amp, along with all other purchases made on Apos, comes with our guarantees of 30-Day Lowest Price, an Extra 2nd-Year Warranty, a Free 30-Day Return policy, and Free Priority Shipping. The FiiO Q3 DAC/Amp touts a fully balanced THX AAA amplifier, so it can drive your high-impedance headphones while maintaining a low noise floor. It also packs an AK4462 DAC chip and three outputs, ensuring you get ease-of-use for your gear while enjoying top-tier sound. Some of the reviewers who got their hands on the Fiio Q3 DAC/Amp said that it was “completely amazing” and that they enjoyed “noise-free” THX amplification.
This review is posted here in partnership with Soundnews.net. It was originally written and published by Sandu Vitalie of Soundnews.net on Dec. 23, 2019. Without too much fanfare on 30 July of this year (2019), FiiO dropped the bomb and announced their latest and greatest M11 PRO DAP in a Facebook post. To this day, that one was the most commented post in FiiOs history and a clear message that people were genuinely excited about that one. Besides dual AK4497EQ flagship DAC chips, M11 PRO promised to be the world’s first DAP with dual THX-AAA-78 headphone amplifier modules. If you checked my latest reviews around here you probably know how much I love THX designs for their accuracy and honesty in delivering a clear and unaltered signal to every headphone. At the end of the day I am using daily a Benchmark HPA4 as my flagship desktop headphone amplifier and that says a lot about me and my tastes.
In an episode of Futurama, Fry meets God, who imparts this advice: “When you do things right, people won’t be sure you’ve done anything at all.” It’s the sort of maxim that walks a knife’s edge between Hallmark schlock and real wisdom. It’s also a pretty accurate way to describe the Audeze LCD-MX4, a headphone that’s so objective, so analytical, so pure that it offers listeners a chance to peer into the source music itself. Is that a good thing? We’ll let the reviews speak for themselves.
This review is posted here in partnership with Soundnews.net. It was originally written and published by Sandu Vitalie of Soundnews.net on Jan. 29, 2020. Who would thought that at their flagship year from its inception, FiiO would announce at their Winter Launch Event in an One More Thing stunt, their highest performance and highly anticipated M15 DAP. What was quite unusual even for FiiO is that instead of just showing it to the world and telling everyone you will need to wait for another 6 months before you can buy it, it was available right away with preorders starting the next day. I still remember that I waited for more than 6 months for a M11 PRO after its announcement and I’m glad that didn’t happen with M15.
Here it is everyone...the Battle of the SMSL DACs! With the upcoming launch of the SMSL SU-9 MQA DAC, we wanted to provide you with our popular comparison charts giving you the side-by-side specs, so you can easily see what's new and improved in the latest release from SMSL. Enjoy!
Last month we announced that Apos was embarking on a redesign project that we felt was appropriate given the changes and growth we had experienced over the last year and a half since our founding. We have gone from strength-to-strength in large part due to community involvement and loyal customers, so in addition to our most sincere thanks for helping us on our journey to become the number one ecommerce store for audiophiles here in America, we also like to share our thinking and decision-making with you as we grow and evolve. We see not only Apos’ success but frankly our survival on being involved and responsive with our customers and community. Apos is a company that is made of audio enthusiasts, for audio enthusiasts. Doing well as a company and doing good by our customers is not a zero sum game; we see the two going hand-in-hand, like hot sauce & burritos or fried chicken n’ waffles.
Not only do we now sell the TOPPING A50s amp, but our team has put their heads (and especially ears) together to create a bespoke equipment bundle featuring the A50s, and we are very happy to offer you the Apos TOPPING 50s Ensemble. The Apos TOPPING 50s Ensemble is composed of a TOPPING D50s DAC, A50s amp, P50 power supply, and a few headphones for you to choose from.