2018 Best Value Awards
We had the pleasure to cover so many exciting high quality products over the past year and are pleased to announce
The winners of the earphonia.com 2018 Best Value Audio Product Awards are:
Gold Award – iBasso Audio – DX120
The DX120 is the new entry level DAP from iBasso, featuring 2.5mm, 3.5mm and coaxial outputs, an AK4495 DAC, 2 micro SD card slots, USB DAC mode and DSD support.
Digital audio bus synchronous clock – TCXO active temperature compensation crystal oscillator + phase-locked loop technology
Low temperature drift, low frequency offset, ultra low phase noise, make the clock error less than 1ppm, realize the full synchronization of the digital audio bus clock, make the sound distortion lower, restore the natural reality
True full balanced output – Independent differential amplifier circuit for each channel, true balanced output design. 2.5mm bal drive, fully symmetrical architecture (wiring adopts up and down and left and right stereo symmetry) to reduce distortion, improve left and right channel isolation, and avoid single-segment interface ground interference.
earphonia.com iBasso Audio – DX120 review
Silver Award – Campfire Audio – Comet
The Comet simply sounds good. Really good. It has a nicely balanced low-mid fullness with the high frequency extension magic from our 3D modeled Tuned Acoustic Expansion Chamber sprinkled on top.
The weight of new stainless steel body feels great in the hand and the low profile design keeps it comfortable in your ear. An excellent seal lets you block out the world and escape into your music.
Comet utilizes a custom design vented full range balanced armature. It delivers a sound that can deliver crisp snare drums as well as the thump of the kick.
Adding the vent gives us that punch. Adding our T.A.E.C. takes off the ceiling and lets the highs breathe at the top end of the sound.
Drop forged and then CNC machined before being hand polished to a mirror finish. This is something to see for yourself.
earphonia.com Campfire Audio – Comet review
Bronze Award – Audeze – iSine 10
Originally released in 2016 but we only got access to the unit in 2018 and was blown away with its timeless signature, it competes with earphones much higher priced, so this gets a special place in the awards this year.
The iSINE 10 sounds and looks like no others, an innovative design without a care for the same old status quo of balanced armature or dynamic driver designs. The Fluxor™ Magnets and large 30mm planar magnetic diaphragms deliver precise control and fast response times without distortion so music always sounds alive. Add the included Lightning cable with DSP and there’s no other in-ear headphone that even comes close to its performance.
Miniaturizing Planar drivers is no small feat. The new iSINE Series barely weighs 20 grams, contains all our exclusive patented technology including power enhancing Fluxor™ Magnets that nearly double the magnetic driving force on our large, ultra-thin diaphragms with patented Uniforce™ voice-coil technology that delivers the most accurate in-ear headphones experience ever. The distortion (THD) is less than 0.1% overall even at high volumes, an amazing achievement for in-ear headphone designs.
earphonia.com Audeze iSine 10 review
Well done to all the winners and the team at earphonia.com look forward to covering many more new products in 2019.
