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Headphone Week Wrap-Up

Six new headphones. Six in-depth reviews. Read 'em all here.
- By Brent Butterworth
- Posted May 20, 2013
- 1
Last week was Headphone Week on soundandvisionmag.com. Six headphones, ranging from noise-cancellers to Bluetooth 'phones to hip-hop-ish cans to tweaked-out audiophile models. Every one of them done up S&V style, with full lab measurements and opinions from multiple listeners.
In case you missed any of them, here they are:

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Review: SOL Republic Master Tracks

With a sleek, minimalistic and customizable look, will the sound stand up to the style?
- By Leslie Shapiro
- Posted May 17, 2013
Two years ago, not a soul had heard of SOL Republic. Last summer, that all changed as everyone watching the Summer Olympics frantically googled to see what brand of headphones were seemingly permanently attached to swimmer Michael Phelps’ head whenever he was out of the water. Overnight, SOL Republic went from “what’s that?” to “must have.” Can their latest design keep up with the hype?

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Review: MrSpeakers Mad Dog Alpha

Can a tiny company “tune” a popular pro headphone for better sound?
- By Brent Butterworth
- Posted May 15, 2013
“So this is a tuner headphone,” our frequent West Coast listening panelist Will Huff commented when I showed him the Mad Dog Alpha. “Like tuner cars?” he suggested when he saw my quizzical look. “Like in Fast and Furious?” he asked when I gave him a shrug. Ah, finally I got it.

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Review: Alpha Design Labs ADL H118

A closed-back audiophile portable? The cable-and-connector specialists at ADL take on the challenge.
- By Michael Berk
- Posted May 14, 2013
When Furutech launched their consumer-oriented Alpha Design Labs line in 2011 with the GT40 USB DAC/phono stage, it was clear that the company — which has long had a solid reputation among old-school audiophiles as a manufacturer of interconnects, power supply components, and connectors — was making a serious commitment t

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Review: Onkyo ES-HF300 Headphones

Japanese manufacturer Onkyo jumps headfirst into the headphone market
- By Leslie Shapiro
- Posted May 13, 2013
Onkyo is a well-respected, well-established name in the hi-fi industry. When they announced the release of the ES-HF300 headphone, it was surprising to realize that this is their first foray into headphones. While known more for their receivers and hardware, they have produced speakers in the past. It’s amazing they shied away from the market for this long. If first impressions mean anything, the ES-HF300 is, well, impressive.

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Review: Harman Kardon NC

We travel halfway around the world with HK’s retro-look, radically designed noise-canceller
- By Brent Butterworth
- Posted May 12, 2013
I’m not much of a businessman. (If I were, would I be writing audio reviews for a living?) Still, after years of experience in marketing and advertising, I can’t help but admire a good business strategy. That’s partly why I like the Harman Kardon NC.

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Review: Klipsch Image One Bluetooth

Klipsch’s Image One on-ear goes wireless.
- By Brent Butterworth
- Posted May 9, 2013
It’s not so easy to convert a headphone to Bluetooth. You’ve got to find space for the amplifier, processing circuitry, radio transceiver, and battery—and all that stuff taking up space inside the earpieces can change the sound a lot. Plus you kinda have to have a cabled mode, because you can’t use Bluetooth on airplanes.

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Review: Skullcandy Navigator

A revised voicing dramatically improves this slick $99 on-ear.
- By Brent Butterworth
- Posted May 8, 2013
- 1
I’ve heard Skullcandy ’phones ranging from the well-balanced RocNation Aviator to the heavy-handed Hesh to the hard-driving

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HTC One Video and Audio Measurements

A serious piece of hardware... mostly.
- By Brent Butterworth and Geoffrey Morrison
- Posted May 7, 2013
As I discussed in my review of the HTC One, the hardware is generally quite impressive. From the big 4.7-inch 1080p screen to the surprisingly good built-in speakers, it's every bit the high-end phone it claims to be.
We put it through our normal series of bench tests, just like it was a TV, amp, or set of speakers. Video measurements are below. Audio measurements are on page 2.
So how good is it, really?

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Review: HTC One

A smartphone review, Sound & Vision style.
- By Geoffrey Morrison
- Posted May 5, 2013
- 5
This is not your typical cell phone review. Mostly because I don’t understand most cell phone reviews. It’s a phone. You get a new one every few years. The fervor and intensity of Internet discussions about what phone is best is beyond my realm of understanding.
So what is this? Well, by most accounts the HTC One is, ahem, one of the top smartphones available right now (the others being the iPhone and the Samsung Galaxy S IV) and I was curious, how good is it? Not just from the dime-a-dozen subjective point a view, but an actual look at the hardware.
So I guess you could consider this a look at the HTC One mostly as an LCD TV and portable media player, judged as such, plus a bit of the other subjective crap because why not. Plus, we went ahead and did full video and audio measurements on it. Because why not.

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Song from my Soundtrack: Val Kolton and “Need You Tonight/Mediate” by INXS

The V-MODA founder picks a Song from his Soundtrack
- By Geoffrey Morrison
- Posted May 4, 2013
Val Kolton is the CEO and founder of the headphone and portable audio company V-MODA. As a DJ and producer, he has toured the globe playing among the top DJs and musicians as well as held the residency at Hollywood's most elite clubs. Here he picks a Song from his Soundtrack.

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Review: AudioTechnica ATH-AD900X

One of the best budget audiophile headphones gets an update.
- By Brent Butterworth
- Posted May 3, 2013
- 1
When I’m asked to pick my favorite headphones for S&V’s Editor’s Choice awards, it’s always easy. I just make a list of the ones I kept using after the review was done—the ones I listened to even when I didn’t have to. After our test of affordable audiophile headphones last year, the headphone I kept on using afterward was the AudioTechnica ATH-AD900. It’s a big, comfortable, spacious-sounding, tonally neutral open-back headphone. Just the thing for streaming Internet radio for hours while I’m writing, or to use for an all-night-long Netflix binge.
That’s why I was so happy to find a successor to the ATH-AD900 at the January CES show. The ATH-AD900X has the same list price, pretty much the same specs, and similar looks.

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