Gear I've owned

This is the gear behind the opinions on this site. Some of it I had for years, some only for a short time. Most of it I have sold. I don't remember every model any more, so the list is not complete.

Where a model has a page in this site's database, the name links to it. Those pages carry a short “From my own rack” note with what I can say about it first-hand.

I listen mostly to rock and metal, and I am a treble head: I want a lot of detail in the treble, the small differences between cymbals, each hit on its own. Read my opinions with that in mind.

Still with me

• Apogee Symphony Desktop, played from Roon with parametric EQ, into KRK Rokit 8 G4 monitors and a KRK 10s subwoofer. The Apogee hides nothing, and I value that.
• Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro, my favourite headphones for quiet, relaxed listening. Their treble is strongly boosted, and for me that is ideal.
• Audio-Technica ATH-M50X.
• Chord Hugo 2, used mostly with IEMs. I have bought and sold one three times.
• A green Campfire Audio Andromeda.
• Empire Ears Phantom. More on both below.
• KRK Kreate 3 speakers on my desk, for casual listening.

In-ear monitors

IEMs are where I had the most. I owned all of the ones below, some only briefly.

• iBasso IT-03 — my first serious purchase, with my first balanced cable.
• Cheap Chinese IEMs — KZ and TRN first, then BGVP.
• Campfire Audio Andromeda, more than one generation. They were my first really good IEMs, and they gave me a real “wow”. Later, next to other IEMs, I never got that feeling again, and I could hear their limits. I still have a green pair. I also had a blue pair for a short time and liked their sound less.
• Empire Ears: Nemesis, Valkyrie, Phantom, Odin, Hero, Legend X and Legend Evo. The Valkyrie had an energetic, fun sound that really impressed me. The Phantom has a name for being dark and a bit stuffy, but it responds very well to EQ. After some tuning it is very, very good for metal. I still have mine and use them at the gym.
• qdc Anole V14 and Anole VX.
• 64 Audio U12t.
• Noble Audio Khan, Sultan and Zephyr. My Zephyr was from the Prestige line, with a handmade, lacquered wooden shell.
• Etymotic ER4XR.
• Craft Ears Aurum.
• And many others I can no longer name.

Full-size headphones

• Abyss 1266 TC, always through a Wells Audio Milo. Straight from my Chord Dave it lacked power; through the Milo it was clearly better and stronger.
• ZMF Verite Closed. I liked them a lot, and they are my only regret. For dynamics at high volume, nothing I have heard comes close.
• Audeze LCD-4, driven by the Milo.
• Audeze LCD-2: every version (LCD-2, Classic, Closed-Back), but at different times, so I never compared them side by side.
• Audeze LCD-XC.
• Dan Clark Audio Aeon 2 Noire and Ether 2. I liked both.
• Some HiFiMAN models, and an older closed-back pair whose name I don't remember.
• Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro and Audio-Technica ATH-M50X, which I still have.

DACs and amplifiers

• Sonnet Morpheus, my DAC before the Chord Dave.
• Chord Dave and Chord Hugo M Scaler, bought almost together and sold together a few months later. To my ears Dave alone sounded more natural. The whole story.
• A Lumin streamer, which fed the Dave.
• Wells Audio Milo. On mine the left and right channels were swapped inside.
• HeadAmp GS-X mini, which sat on top of the Morpheus.
• Chord Hugo 2 and the Apogee Symphony Desktop, which I still have.

Players and dongles

• Sony NW-WM1A.
• Astell&Kern SP1000M and SP3000.
• HiBy R8, and some smaller HiBy players.
• FiiO BTR7, and I think a BTR17 too.
• Several smaller dongles.

Speakers

• KRK Rokit 8 G4 with a KRK 10s subwoofer, and KRK Kreate 3 on the desk.
• Earlier, KEF speakers. They didn't suit me at all: too little treble, and EQ didn't fix it well. I had the KRKs in the same room and clearly preferred them.

The path through all of this, in order, is on My journey. Who I am and how the database was built is on About.