Best Headphone Amp 

iFi Audio iCAN Phantom – £3,749.00

The iCAN Phantom is the jack of all trades and the master of them all. It delivers unmatched versatility, combining top-tier solid-state and tube amplification with cutting-edge XSpace and XBass customization. It is also an Energizer. Pure end-game gear. Perfect for audiophiles, it powers any headphones with effortless precision and offers stunning sound.

Best Headphone DAC/Amp under £100

iFi Audio Go Link Max – £79.00

The all new iFi GO link Max delivers studio-quality sound with up to 241mW of output power—nearly five times that of a MacBook Pro—driving demanding headphones with ease. Compact, portable and versatile, it’s the perfect upgrade for immersive, high-fidelity audio anywhere. An upgrade over the original in every way, this is a must have for anyone who owns wired headphones.

Best Headphone Amp £100-£300

iFi audio Zen CAN 3 – £229.00

The iFi ZEN CAN 3 offers stellar sound and versatility, perfect for music, gaming, and movies. With excellent build quality and performance, it’s the standout entry-level amp and punches well above its selling price.

Best Headphone Amp £300-£1000

iFi Audio Neo iDSD 2 -£899.00

The iFi Audio NEO iDSD 2 is a versatile all-in-one home audio solution, offering improved performance, user-friendly features, and a powerful amplifier with IEMatch. It delivers a neutral, balanced sound that enhances any audio setup, making it perfect for those seeking high-quality sound without the need for extra equipment.

Best Wireless Headphones with ANC under £100

1More SonoFlow HQ50 – £89.99

The SonoFlow HQ50 is a fantastic product priced under £100. Boasting up to a 70-hour battery life, QuietMax ANC technology, a DLC 40mm driver and featuring 12 EQ modes, it delivers premium sound and comfort at a budget-friendly price—challenging pricier rivals like Sony and Bose.

Best True Wireless for Sound Quality

Final ZE8000 MK2- £199.00

The ZE8000 MK2 combines striking aesthetics with top-tier performance. They deliver sound quality that rivals the best wired earphones as well as providing all the modern features you’d expect from TWS earphones. The distinctive shape of the buds also provides insane levels of comfort and the app is a treat to use. The ZE8000 MK2 is a great overall package.

Best Wired Earphones under £50 

SoundMAGIC E11C Silver – £39.98

A Brilliant Budget Earphone that Sounds MAGIC. We have found the E11C to be a grown-up earphone with a keen knack for giving a clear and accurate presentation across the board. It is a true bargain and certainly a very good IEM for everyday use. The mic and controls are an added bonus and making use of the included case as well as regular cleaning ensures that these earphones last well beyond their warranty. Perfection? Not quite. But at £40 you will struggle to find a similar product worthy of your investment. – Full Review

Best Wired Earphones £100-£300

Final A5000 – £259

The Final A5000 IEM delivers exceptional sound quality with powerful tight bass, stunning mids and highs, all at an affordable price of £259. A perfect choice for those looking for an upgrade within this price range.

Best Wired Headphones Under £100

SoundMAGIC HP151- £88.99

The SoundMAGIC HP151 offers exceptional clarity and precision, letting finer details in your music shine. Durable, comfortable, and priced just under £90, it’s a fantastic choice for those seeking great sound from a wired headphone without breaking the bank.

Best Wired Earphones £1000-£2000

64 Audio U6t- £1,299.00

For the price, 64 Audio have created a brilliant everyday earphone that allows great insight into the recording with superb clarity and detail retrieval, wrapped up in a smooth, coherent and easy to listen to sound. They are such an easy earphone to live with. Providing a comfortable fit and refined sound that many fail to match. This is proof that 64 Audio really do know what they are doing when it comes to sound. A superb model for the price.

Best Wired Earphones £2000+ 

64 Audio tia Fourte – £3,599.00

This model pushes the boundaries and shows what’s possible with only 4 drivers. This is a hybrid design with an intricate inner shell with chambers that help shape the sound. Nothing sounds overly boosted on the Fourte, but they do have a healthy dose of impact down low. The Fourte are very revealing and will throw up flaws in recordings, but the clarity in the midrange is truly astonishing. What’s even more impressive is how the top end just extends without rolling off at all.

Best Wired Studio Earphones 

Etymotic ER-4SR – £305.95

If you are looking for neutrality, the ER-4SR are the industry standard – they do not flatter you with a smooth sound or hide any mistakes in recordings, so not great for everyday listening but superb if you want to hear every detail.

Best Wireless Headphones

Audeze Maxwell- £319.00-£349.00

• The Audeze Maxwell the best gaming headset currently on the market, but it is also superb for listiening to music too. It offers uncompromising audio quality with its planar magnetic drivers, delivering deep bass and clear mids, all in a comfortable, wireless design. An exceptional 80 hour battery life, and the ability to create and store custom EQs for different genres, it’s perfect for those seeking a pair of high-performance wireless headphones for fully immersive listening. – Full Review

Best Headphones £100-£500

Audeze MM-100 – £399.00

The Audeze MM-100 can be driven by just about any source, making it ideal for on the go. It delivers stunning transparency and musicality, especially when paired with a quality setup, completely outperforming anything else in its price bracket at just £399. Perfect for audiophiles and studio use alike, it has unbeatable value.

Best Headphones £500-£1000

Audeze LCD-2 Classic – £799.00

The LCD-2 Classic are a well controlled, but ultimately warm sounding headphone. They offer up a fatigue free sound with good width and height. If you listen to electronic centred music, old school rap/hip-hop and smoother more acoustic music they are a joy to listen to. Full Review

Best Headphones £1000-£3000 

Final D8000 – £2,999.00

Instead of going for the usual neutral-ish sound signature of most high-end models, Final instead decided to make the D8000 enjoyable, with very punchy and dynamic bass and impressive clarity across the board, the D8000 stand out from the crowd.

Best Headphones £3000+

Audeze LCD-5 -£3,999.00

The Audeze LCD-5 is a masterpiece of audiophile engineering, delivering unmatched clarity, precision, and emotional depth to your music. Audeze’s Flagship LCD has a lightweight magnesium frame and the premium materials ensure long-lasting comfort, while the cutting-edge planar magnetic drivers reveal every nuance in your favorite tracks. For those seeking the pinnacle of sound reproduction and a transformative listening experience, the LCD-5 is still there, in a league of its own. Full Review

The post HiFiHeadphones Best Buy list appeared first on HiFiheadphones.

Not to be overlooked, a good quality DAC and amp can do wonders to any setup. We have seen huge growth in interest towards DACs and amps, so it makes sense that we put together our favourite headphone amplifiers and DACs to help make that decision easier.

Whether you want to use them with your TV, computer, laptop, smartphone or hifi system. We’ve gathered our picks for the best DACs and headphone amplifiers that you can buy!

BEST DAC / AMP UNDER £100

1. Shanling UP2 – £79.99

The Shanling UP2 is the perfect way to bring added power and audio quality to your smartphone, tablet or computer. Using Bluetooth, the UP2 will connect wirelessly to your phone – or any Bluetooth compatible audio device – and thanks to the on board dedicated headphone amplifier and high quality Sabre DAC chip – you’ll be able to get high fidelity audio wherever you go.

READ MORE: Shanling UP2 Portable Bluetooth DAC & Headphone Amplifier Review

BEST DAC / AMP UNDER £200

2. JDS Labs Atom – £129.99

JDS Labs has mastered the art of making high quality amplifiers and DACs at affordable prices – and the Atom is their most impressive yet. For just over £100, the Atom desktop headphone amplifier will drive any headphone you throw at it and will bring improved soundstage, depth and dynamics to your setup. All in a neat and tidy desktop design.

READ MORE: JDS Labs Atom Desktop Headphone Amplifier Review

3. Periodic Audio Ni (Nickel) – £199

This one’s for the purists out there. On the outside, the Periodic Audio Ni seems like a very simple and basic headphone amplifier – plug it into your source and you’ll soon see that it most definitely isn’t simple or basic. This amp brings added power, punch and improved dynamics to whichever device it gets used with. Those that really appreciate good sound will love the Nickel.

MORE INFO: Periodic Audio Ni (Nickel) Portable Headphone Amplifier Review

BEST DAC / AMP UNDER £500

4. iFi Audio xDSD – £399

The xDSD from iFi Audio is a portable amplifier and DAC that can connect to your audio source wirelessly. So if you like to use your phone, but want to plug in some high quality headphones – then the xDSD will allow you to get the most from them, without adding more cables. The xDSD will take over the amp and DAC roles, so you will know that you’re getting the best sound no matter the source device.

MORE INFO: iFi Audio xDSD Portable Bluetooth DAC & Headphone Amplifier Review

5. JDS Labs Element II – £399

If it is a desktop option you need, then the JDS Labs Element II will not only bring an audio upgrade – it will look great too. Beautifully designed with a simple yet striking look – the Element II will fit into any setup. Historically, JDS Labs has been known for their functional design and great sound – now with the Element II, they have shown that they can make great looking equipment too.

BEST DAC / AMP UNDER £1000

6. iFi Audio Micro iDSD BL – £599

For the ultimate amp and DAC solution, look no further. The 2 Burr-Brown DAC chips provide a solid foundation for the custom op-amps, which help to deliver an impressive amount of fidelity and power. Using sensitive IEMs? This amp/DAC handles these superbly, with no noise or distortion. Whether used on a desktop or on the move – the iFi Audio Micro iDSD BL does it all… really well. 

MORE INFO: iFi Audio Micro iDSD BL Portable DAC & Headphone Amplifier

Have We Missed Anything Out?

Please feel free to leave a comment below and let us know…

The post Best DACs & Headphone Amps 2020: USB, Portable, Desktop appeared first on HiFiheadphones.

Initially developed thanks to an ultra-successful kickstarter campaign, the Soundkey by Cyrus promises to upgrade the audio quality of mobile handsets and anything else able to feed it audio data, such as tablets and desktop computers.

Pros:

• Huge audio upgrade for handsets and tablets
• Excellent value
• Tiny!

Cons:

• Camera kit required for use with iPhones

Design and Appearance

This little device is sleek, light and simple; there is nothing much to remark on other than the micro-B USB input and the 3.5mm output. The device is the size of a small cigarette lighter and is available in various colours. Included are two cables (one for micro USB-B and another for USB-A connections); these appear to be decent enough, but are each composed of differing materials. The micro USB-B cable is a fabric covered affair, whilst the USB-A cable is white and plastic coated. Given that this is to be used by Apple users in connection with the often required camera kit, it kind of makes sense.

The Soundkey is powered by the internal battery of the connected device; it does not have its own battery, but its low power consumption will not tax the device’s battery very much.

Durability and Build Quality

The device itself is solid and well constructed; it’s surprising that it only weighs 18 grams. The included cables are robust, and should stand up to a fair bit of use.

Suitability for intended application

The Cyrus Soundkey is designed mainly to be used on the go, and the tiny size reflects this. It used to be that any external DAC would need to be strapped to the handset to keep things simple, but the Soundkey can sit on, and just be treated as part of a slightly extended cable given its diminutive presence.

It provides a boost to volume, so ensure your volume level is low on your handset when initially plugging in your earphones. The Soundkey is designed for portable headphones between 16 and 64 ohms which is a great majority of portable headphone/earphone models.

Sound

The Cyrus Soundkey provides a much cleaner signal than many in-built DACs; many of which prove to be sound quality bottlenecks in any portable audio chain. This will be more apparent on higher quality earphones and headphones, and of course will open the way for anyone wanting to upgrade their earphones as these will no longer be limited by the internal DAC quality of portable devices.

Tighter, better audio control results in more noticeable harmonics to give music more texture, improved imaging and greater impact. It’s a good alternative to a separate, dedicated audio player if you are happier keeping all your tunes in one place, on your phone.

Summary

If you are wanting to upgrade your portable audio but don’t have bottomless pockets, the Cyrus Soundkey is a clear winner.

The post Cyrus Soundkey Review – You Won’t be Fobbed Off appeared first on HiFiheadphones.

In this video we cover sales from in ear headphones, amps, DACs, portable players, full size headphones and accessories.

The post Hifiheadphones Top 10 Best Sellers Of 2015 appeared first on HiFiheadphones.