SoundStage! Solo | SoundStageSolo.com

Details: Written by: Geoffrey Morrison; Created: 01 February 2025

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Reviewers' Choice I am always equally excited by, and skeptical of, new technology. I’ve been doing this job for quite a while, and the list of cool-but-failed tech grows longer every year. As interesting as some new development is, what matters most is how it’s implemented. If the actual product ends up being more expensive, lower performing, or just mediocre, maybe the new technology wasn’t actually that great to begin with. It just seemed, or was marketed, that way.

Details: Written by: Geoffrey Morrison; Created: 01 January 2025

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What do you picture when you read the words “planar magnetic”? If you’re a regular reader of this site, I would guess images of big, over-the-ear headphones like the Audeze LCD-5s and HiFiMan Sundaras come to mind. I’m going to assume what doesn’t come to mind is a pair of true wireless earbuds, and noise-canceling ones at that. And yet, that’s exactly what the Edifier Stax Spirit S10s are: planar magnetic, true wireless, noise-canceling earphones.

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

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Value: 1/2
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There’s something delightfully angular about the Final A5000 earphones. They look like a sort of eight-bit version of a pair of earphones, something you’d find in your inventory in a PlayStation 2 game. I like this a lot. They’re the opposite of flashy, yet still look designed.

Read more: 64 Audio Aspire 4 Earphones

Details: Written by: Geoffrey Morrison; Created: 15 September 2024

Sound: 1/2
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Change can be a scary thing. The great unknown and unknowable. What you’ve known might not be perfect, but something different could be worse. Then again, it might also be better. Which is a grand and over-the-top way to say that Bowers & Wilkins changed some earphones I liked. The Pi8 earphones ($399, all prices in USD) have replaced last year’s Pi7 S2 earphones. They’re different.

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

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Value: 1/2
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I haven’t reviewed many in-ear monitors here at SoundStage! Solo, but that’s a gap I’m aiming to fill with a few upcoming products, starting with the Westone Audio Pro X10 earphones ($199.99, all prices USD). They’re small, and have a single balanced armature inside each earpiece. Westone claims they’re great for on-stage monitoring for vocalists, guitar players, and so on. These days, my live performances are limited to solo in-car baritone belts, so it’s a good thing that Westone also assumes these will be used by fans of bands, not just those in bands.