SoundStage! Solo | SoundStageSolo.com

Details: Written by: Geoffrey Morrison; Created: 01 January 2024

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Though better known for its big, planar-magnetic, over-ear headphones, HiFiMan has released a variety of earphones over the years. On the true-wireless front, that list includes the Svanars, descended from a $1999 (all prices USD) wired model. What we have here are a pair of earphones in the middle of the range, the Wireless LE ($299). Other models include the Svanar Jr. ($179), which use a different amp and DAC, and the Svanar Wireless (no LE, $499), which include wireless charging and the LDAC Bluetooth codec.

Details: Written by: Geoffrey Morrison; Created: 01 December 2023

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On a recent episode of the Audio Unleashed podcast, Dennis Burger and Brent Butterworth talked about how far the Beats brand has come. As I had, they had reviewed early Beats headphones to much consternation. All that money and reach, and the ’phones sounded terrible. As bad as the early over-ears were, the on-ears that followed were even worse.

Details: Written by: Geoffrey Morrison; Created: 15 November 2023

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A few months ago I reviewed the Sivga Luan headphones. They were big, exceptionally comfortable, and quite attractive. They were a little light on the bass for my taste, but those who like a more treble-heavy sound would probably like them.

Details: Written by: Geoffrey Morrison; Created: 01 November 2023

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Among the early and pleasant surprises I experienced when I first started reviewing for SoundStage! Solo were the Edifier NeoBuds S earphones. I really liked their sound, but they often fell through the cracks whenever I’d recommend earbuds. They were a little too expensive to be considered “budget” and were outperformed by more expensive earbuds. There are certainly people who don’t want to spend more, and for those folks, they’re great.

Details: Written by: Geoffrey Morrison; Created: 01 October 2023

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Recently, Status Audio began a marketing campaign where it seemed to poke fun at itself by highlighting what people have said about the shape and overall design of its earbuds. I can’t decide if the brand is cleverly “owning” the weirdness, attempting to dodge criticism by pointing it out ahead of time, or Streisand effecting something that maybe people wouldn’t have paid much attention to had the company not brought it up.

Details: Written by: Geoffrey Morrison; Created: 15 September 2023

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My first reaction to the JBL Tour Pro 2 earphones was “They have a screen?” Then I thought about it for a bit and settled on “OK, they have a screen.” Then I used them for a few weeks, and now it’s “They have a screen!” I would not have guessed having a tiny touchscreen on an earphone case would be at all helpful, but it turns out it’s surprisingly handy. Sometimes.