Articles, Reviews and Measurements of Audio Products

This is a review, listening tests and detailed measurements of the Dan Clark Audio Ether Flow 1.1 open back headphone. It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $1,799.99.

The Ether flow is an attractive headphone and pretty comfortable to wear. It comes with different set of pads. Owner bought it used so was not sure what is default. I am not either . So I measured the Right channel (red below) with a thick black pad and left the other one the way it was (an open transparent mesh).

Note: The measurements you are about to see are made using a standardized Gras 45C. Headphone measurements by definition are approximate and variable so don't be surprised if other measurements even if performed with the same fixtures as mine, differ in end results. Protocols...

This is a review, listening tests and detailed measurements of the Focal ST6 SOLO6 powered studio monitor/speaker. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $1,599 each.

This generation of SOLO6 looks gorgeous especially in this market where a lot of speakers are utilitarian. It would look just as good in a studio as it would in an executive office! The enclosure is extremely solid and heavy for its size, adding to feeling of value and luxury. Back side shows the controls and connectivity you have:

Note that the speaker is analog (no DSP). As such, while I attempted to set the EQ controls to center, there can be variations from other samples or from flat response (by small amount at least). Nice set of screw mounts allows easy mounting to...

Neutrik NA2M-D2B-TX miniature transformer balancing adapter review

I have read the ASR review on the almost same product, with the only difference that it had female XLR and black CINCH, though my adapter has male XLR and red CINCH, otherwise they are same. The review link is:


My opinion how to test transformer adapters was different than the methods used in the review above, so I have bought the adapter and made my own measurements.

Appearance

The product has arrived in a typical blister pack.





It is nicely built, with high quality Neutrik connectors and rugged metal housing, that would withstand severe handling.

Adapter...

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Fosi Audio V3 stereo amplifier. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $89.99 with stock 32 volt supply. Price goes up to $109.99 with the 48 volt supply. There is a $10 discount coupon right now.

Despite its budget price, the V3 manages to look elegant with the hole pattern on top and large and smooth feeling Volume/On/Off control. Power supply is external and as noted, you get a choice:


As you will see later, you really want the 48 volt version:


Yes, it is a larger supply but you are going to hide it behind your desk anyway so might as well live the good life with the increased power...

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Loxjie D40 Pro balanced stereo DAC and headphone amplifier. It was sent to me by the company. It normally costs US $430 but is on sale for $388.

The enclosure is metal but the silver look makes you think it is made out of plastic. The 7 segment display is workable but certainly not as fancy as a graphic display. It is however aided with hard buttons for common functions. The included remote makes it easy to navigate:

Overall, an attempt is made to save cost but not in a way that is too obtrusive. Let's see if performance is subject to same or not.

Loxjie D40 Pro Measurements
I must say, I was not prepared to see state of the art performance out of the D40 Pro:



It nicely lands in the middle of top 20 best DACs tested as far as combination of noise and distortion:


RCA performance...

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Neutrik NA2F-D0B-TX XLR to RCA (and vice versa) adapter. It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $35.


The device feels very solid and oozes quality when you look at the RCA connector:


This is a transformer based converter so balanced operation is maintained. The key then is the quality of the transformer. Let's see how it measures.

Neutrik NA2F-D0B-TX Measurements
Let's start with our dashboard of 4 volts over balanced to the device and then RCA out:


Ouch! That is a nearly 60 dB hit to our SINAD caused by the large amount of harmonic distortion. Company...

This is a review and detailed measurements of the One Little Bear (Nobsound/Duok) Little Bear MC3 XLR and RCA switcher. It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $69.99.

I like the large knobs although I wished they had aligned them better. As you see, you can switch between one RCA and two XLR connections:


This is a passive device so no conversion between the types. The box is heavy enough for RCA use but my XLR cables managed to topple it backward. Still, quality is pretty good for such a low price.

Little Bear MC3 Switcher Measurements
Performance with both XLR and RCA in/out was the same as internal bypass on Audio Precision analyzer:

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This is a review and detailed measurements of the Nordost SuperFlatLine speaker cable. It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $360.

As you see, the cable name is fully descriptive with parallel copper traces running from one end to the other. The edges of the cable are somewhat sharp and overall the cable feels somewhat delicate (think flex PCB if you are an engineer). The terminations were surprisingly loose as I inserted them in the banana jacks of my Audio Precision analyzer.

Company provides a set of "specifications" which are hardly useful:


Nordost SuperFlatLine Speaker Cable Measurements
I tested the cable as if it were an interconnect (and hence with higher impedance than it would see in real life). There, the SuperFlatLine showed transparency with analyzer's internal bypass:

Seeing the large surface area of the cable and audiophiles always worrying...

This is a review, listening tests and detailed measurements of the vintage Miller & Kreisel (M&K) S-150THX Home Theater Speaker. It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $1,500 for a pair back in mid 1990s.

I don't know how many of you were in home theater back then but the M&K speakers were cat's meow due to their use in film sound mastering. Folks would point to the pictures of them soffit mounted there and stand back and say, "this is why I bought it!" It was a sign of having arrived in home theater. I didn't own these bookshelves but did have their massive subs for my theater. I always envisioned these to be a large speaker but they are quite tiny at just a foot high. The face slanted so if the back is against the wall, it toes in automatically toward the center.

Back panel harkens back to days where companies put their address on the back of their products!

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This is a review and detailed measurements of the Sonance DSP 2-150 MKII distribution (stereo) amplifier. It was kindly purchased used by a member. It costs US $1,200 new and used about $900.

These amplifiers almost always get put in some rack and never seen again. So usually looks are not important but Sonance still worked to make the unit attractive which serves our hi-fi needs better. As the name indicates, there is a built-in DSP to implement filters and other processing. You access them using the web interface:

I like web interface but lacking an app to access the unit means you are on your own to find the IP address of the unit. Sadly there is no instructions on how to reset the IP address if you buy used. But searching online shows the process for it which I followed. Back...