Reviewer's References & Disclaimers

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Torq’s Review Equipment & Material

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:

I also, occasionally, use the iFi Audio Pro iCAN Headphone Amplifier & Pre-Amp.

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, Takatsuki 274B 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 DAPs span the realm from very-small and light to something I don’t necessarily want to carry in a pocket How/when they get used depends on what I’m doing. My “every day carry” DAP is the SR15, with the SP1000m and NW-WM1Z being employed for more critical listening and for longer-duration trips (or when I’m not 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:

And the following Massdrop “x” models:

IEMs

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

The Zeus XR in “R” mode are what I use as a neutral IEM reference point currently.

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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