Reviewer's References & Disclaimers

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Torq’s Review Equipment & Material (As of January 23, 2020)

In order to be as consistent as possible when reviewing headphones, DACs and amplifiers, I try to stick to a specific subset of my audio gear collection across all reviews. Some reviews need special accommodation, particularly if I am reviewing several pieces as a “system”, but in general my reviews utilize my highest-performing gear so as to get the best out of whatever item is being listened to.

I will typically also use the best performing connections, which means if balanced connections are available then those are used. For components with both balanced and single-ended connections, I will generally listen for audible changes between them and note those in the review.

Sources

My primary sources used when reviewing gear are:

Amplifiers

I use two primary amplifiers for headphone listening/review, with a bias towards solid-state:

Additionally, I am using a Schiit Jotunheim R and Chord Étude power amplifier to drive my RAAL-requisite SR1a.

The SPL Phonitor X, which I’ve reviewed here, provides a neutral, transparent, reference which is most useful when assessing the character of a DAC or headphone. Tone and transparency of headphones is always assessed using this amplifier.

When used in reviews, the WA234 MkII MONO is run with RCA 13EM7 signal-tubes, Takatsuki274B rectifiers and Takatsuki 300B power-tubes. Where this amplifier is pictured, I often put Sophia Electric Princess 274B (Punched Plate) and Princess 300B (Punched Plate) tubes in as they have a more pronounced glow and heater pattern , are much prettier to look at and the tube glow shows up much more readily.

Portables/DAPs

For on-the-go listening, and reviews centered around that activity, I have a couple of options, and tend to use these more when reviewing IEMs, though will also match them with full-size headphones when I want to see how well they’re driven by a DAP.

These two DAPs cover the small-and-light “for travel” use, as well as a larger “transportable” solution, and which gets used when, outside of reviews, depends on trip duration, how much critical listening I will be doing, and whether I’m space/weight constrained.

Headphones

Most of my headphone reviews will have specific entries where I make comparisons to what I feel are the most appropriate/similar cans, drawn from my current collection:

IEMs

I tend to only use IEMs when I cannot use full-size headphones, so I have a much smaller reference set here:

I am currently looking for a new, custom, neutral-reference IEM (previously I used the Empire Ears Zeus XR Adel).

Cables

Headphones are always reviewed using the manufacturer-supplied cables; however, this may not always be reflected in my pictures as I use my own, modular, cable system for post-review listening and photography often occurs at this point rather than during the review-listening phase.

Interconnects are AudioQuest Wind (XLR) and AudioQuest Columbia (XLR and RCA) cables (“Columbia” is a discontinued line; closest current product is the “Water” line). USB Cables are AudioQuest Diamond, or my own proprietary design, TOSLINK cables are glass (rather than the more common plastic) from Lifatec .

Music

The majority of the music I use in my evaluations is in “Red Book” CD format (16 bit, 44.1 kHz), most of which comes from CD rips; an initial playlist for my audition listening can be found here . Where appropriate/referenced I utilize a number of high-quality, high-resolution, albums, needle-drops, and also some native DSD content.

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