Phil's Superpower of Enthusiasm

A place to write about things I enjoy, for my own edification. Headphones, audio gear, albums, whiskey, wine, golden retrievers etc.

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Lawyer, unabashed nerd and geek. Purveyor and pusher of excellent sci-fi/fantasy, good food, and repartee. He/him. Dog dad/servant to @Goldendenali.

I’m experimenting with Amazon Affiliate status in an attempt to defray some of the costs of headphone reviews; Amazon links may be affiliate links (depending on whether or not I’ve figured out how to use them correctly). Please feel free to buy elsewhere; this is just one way to recoup the costs of this hobby.

  • Sennheiser’s HD 660S; an Unfortunate Twist on an Old Classic

    [ORIGINAL MSRP $499.99, available for $399.95 at the Sennheiser store on Amazon. Borrowed from a friend for review in September 2025.]

    [Tl;dr: The Sennheiser 660S are a strange product, representing in a lot of ways a step backwards from the excellence of the Sennheiser HD 600/650 and the Sennheiser x Drop HD 6XX, and because of their price point, they end up without a strong place of their own. They’re a perfectly pleasant headphone, but for my standards they’re beaten pretty handily by the other members of the 600 series and most of the comparables in my collection. If you can find them at a discount or lightly used, they’re a good headphone. New, at or anywhere near MSRP? There are much better deals out there in my opinion.]

    Scores:

    Cost-agnostic: 6 out of 10 Denalis

    Cost-sensitive:  4 out of 10 Denalis

    Bass1MidsTrebleSoundstageComfort/Fit2
    HD 660S2B5C2C2CB
    (more…)

  • The Focal Elegia; an Elegy for a Gone but not Forgotten Closed Back

    [ORIGINAL MSRP $890, frequently listed around $300 as of June 2025. Purchased used from r/AVExchange for $190, like new but missing an adapter.]

    [Tl;dr: The Focal Elegia are a really excellent throwback to Focal’s days gone by. These are the closed backs I have been using the most, and will almost certainly continue to be for the forseeable future (though the ZMF Bokeh Closed will always have the closest place in my heart). If you can find them around $300-350 and are willing to do a little EQ’ing, they represent immense value and a lovely introduction to the joy that is Focal’s headphones.]

    Scores:

    Cost-agnostic: 9 out of 10 Denalis

    Cost-sensitive:  7 out of 10 Denalis (MSRP), 8 out of 10 Denalis (at $300)

    Bass1MidsTrebleSoundstageComfort/Fit2
    Focal Elegia3A3B3A3BB
    (more…)

  • Focal Azurys Review: Worth the Price?

    [ORIGINAL MSRP $599, $450 on sale at Amazon in November 2025. Purchased lightly used for $350 from r/AVexchange in June of 2025.]

    [Tl;dr: The Focal Azurys are a nicely-built and -tuned closed back, something we need more of in the modern headphone market. They are, however, a little overpriced at MSRP and their current online price; if you can find them used, they’re a worthy investment. Definitely an upgrade pick over most of the best budget closed backs, but don’t compete very well with some other options in the $500+ range (or Focal’s prior closed back offerings).

    Scores:

    Cost-agnostic: 7 out of 10 Denalis

    Cost-sensitive: 6 out of 10 Denalis (at MSRP)

    Bass1MidsTrebleSoundstageComfort/Fit2
    Focal Azurys4C3B4C3CC
    (more…)

  • iFi Uno: Great Mobile Desktop DAC/Amp for Beginners

    [ORIGINAL MSRP $79. Purchased open-box from Headphones.com for $64.99 in March of 2025.]

    [Tl;dr: This is a surprisingly feature-rich DAC/amp unit which would be a great option for a mobile desktop setup, but is in a pretty crowded space with a lot of good options at a similar price point. It’s performance doesn’t justify displacing some of my favorite dongle DAC/amps, and it certainly can’t compete with my higher end options. In particular, it’s let down by its wonky volume knob, which makes fine control difficult at lower volumes. It’s a great unit for folks newer to the hobby or who mostly listen to higher impedance headphones and higher volumes, but it’s just not for me.

    Scores:

    Cost-agnostic: 5 out of 10 Denalis

    Cost-sensitive: 6 out of 10 Denalis

    (more…)

  • An apology to Sennheiser Momentum 4 fanbois; they’re better than I thought

    [ORIGINAL MSRP $449.95, frequently listed around $200 on Amazon in November 2025. Purchased used from r/AVExchange for $160.]

    [Tl;dr: The Momentum 4 are an intriguing wireless ANC headphone at their current price point. They sound pretty mediocre to me out of the box, but will reward 30-45 minutes of playing around in the app or finding an EQ setting on the internet with a really solid, consumer-style sound. This is what I’ll be recommending to people when they ask about a pair of over-ear ANC headphones for a plane, at least for anyone not willing to splurge on a pair of Airpods Max or Focal Bathys. For most of my uses, though, they’ll struggle to displace the Airpods Pro2.

    [Editors note: updating February 4, 2026 to reflect that I just posted a review of the M4’s big brother, the HDB 630. With a few exceptions, I’m still recommending the M4 to most people for most use cases based on value.]

    Scores:

    Cost-agnostic: 6 out of 10 Denalis

    Cost-sensitive: 7 out of 10 Denalis (at $300), 5 out of 10 Denalis (MSRP)

    (more…)

  • Focal Bathys Review: Premium Sound Quality in ANC Headphones

    [Original MSRP $850, available new around $500 on Amazon in December 2025, traded via r/AVExchange for around $350 used in May 2025.]

    [Tl;dr: The Focal Bathys are a premium ANC headset that deliver remarkable sound quality, both running wirelessly via Bluetooth as well as via their really excellent DAC mode, connected to a source via USB-C. The ANC leaves something to be desired compared to some of their competitors, particularly their transparency and soft modes, and they are VERY expensive for what you get. I recommend these for people who prioritize sound quality over ANC and value, and for everyone else if you can get them around or under $400.

    Scores:

    Cost-agnostic:  9 out of 10 Denalis

    Cost-sensitive: 5 out of 10 Denalis]

    (more…)

  • On being a 43-year-old Deadbeat

    In February, after three reorganizations in six months, the Gates Foundation eliminated my work group and laid me and my colleagues off. For me, it was more unexpected with regards to the timing, rather than the fact of the lay off itself. After the last couple of reorganizations, I more or less figured the writing was on the wall. I just expected it to happen this summer, rather than this winter. When I walked into a meeting in late February, I didn’t think that would be the day until my boss’s boss told me to hold on a minute because someone else was joining us. I figured she was a new team member (the group had been expanding, after all) right up until she introduced herself as being from HR. Good times.

    Even though I’d been half-expecting it, oh man did it hurt.

    (more…)

  • My Headphone Review Methodology Explained

    When I decide I want to review something, here’s my methodology:

    The actual methodology:

    1. Pick the product, and avoid reviews, videos, and data about the headphones as much as possible.1
    2. Acquisition: figure out how to acquire the product and actually get it in my hands.2
    3. Brain burn-in: listen to the product for 10-15 hours as background, with albums that I like and know well.3 By the end of this, I’ve usually figured out what amp/DAC combination I want to use for the review (based on both my philosophy of resource allocation in headfi AND what sounds reasonably good). I mostly avoid EQ at this stage unless something is glaringly bad, and if it’s that bad, I’ll probably just stop the review.4
    4. Critical listening: listen to the product for 4-5 hours in the foreground, paying attention to performance and making notes along the way.5
    5. Writing: draft the bulk of the review (usually 4-10 hours of active listening, testing, and writing).
    6. Comparisons: pick the comparables, and do extensive A/B testing with them.
    7. Editing: edit the review (reading it aloud helps me pick up on word errors).
    8. Find frequency response graphs for the headphones and read reviews from reviewers whose opinions I trust, to see if anything I heard stands out as divergent. If I have wildly different perspectives from other people (or the graphs have something like a giant treble spike I didn’t hear), go back and to targeted re-listening to confirm. Update appropriately.
    9. Photography: draft the list of photographs that I think would enhance the review, and do the product photography!
    10. Finalize: format, insert pictures, double-check spelling, and upload to WordPress.
    11. Finishing touches: pick the overall and cost-adjusted scores (in X out of 10 Denalis), write the TL;DR, and publish.
    12. Post to Reddit/elsewhere.

    All told, this is somewhere between a 30-40 hour commitment per review, which is why I tend to focus on the things that I like. If I get a few hours into listening to something and I really don’t like it, I *might* decide to try applying a little EQ if the issue is just something like bloated bass or spicy treble. I also might just decide to add it to the “I won’t review this” list.6 Life’s too short.

    (more…)

  • Meze 105 AER Review; Another Great Meze Product

    [Original MSRP $399.99, currently $339 on Amazon, purchased open-box from Headphones.com for $300 with store credit.]

    [Tl;dr: The Meze 105 AER are a genuinely impressive pair of headphones. While they’re not quite as good as the 109 Pro as an overall headphone to my ears, they correct the one notable tuning flaw in the 109 (occasionally spicy treble) and will be a better fit for many people. I would say that they get you 90-95% of the performance of the 109, and at half the price. I think these have displaced the Edition XS and Fiio FT1 Pro from my rotation and may even edge the 6XX out over time.

    If you want a warm, rich sound with good detail retrieval and don’t want to drop almost $800 on a pair of 109s, I recommend these to you whole-heartedly.

    Scores:

    Cost-agnostic: 9 out of 10 Denalis

    Cost-sensitive: 10 out of 10 Denalis]

    Bass1MidsTrebleSoundstageComfort/Fit2
    Meze 105 AER4B4B4B4CB
    (more…)

  • Phil’s Sheet of IEM Goodness

    Over the years, I’ve listened to a lot of in-ear monitors (aka IEMs); some good (Tangzu Wan’er 2), some bad (anything by KZ, really), and some ugly (the CCA CRA). They range wildly in price, but I tend towards the less expensive ones just becaus they’re more fun. Very few of them are worth doing a full-on review (which take me somewhere between 10 and 15 hours of listening before I even start engaging with them critically), but I often get asked on Reddit or other forums what my recommendations are for them. I’m in the process of writing a buyers guide to heapdhones to pair with my Hifi 101: Practical Applications post, but in the meantime I figured I ought to publish a version of the spreadsheet I use to keep track of my impressions. A few important caveats:

    1. These are pretty quick listening sessions for the most part, probably 30-45 minutes each instead of the several weeks I do for full reviews.
    2. Some of the entries have full reviews (Airpods Pro 2, Status Audio Between ANC, etc.), but most don’t (in some cases, don’t *YET*).
    3. IEMs move pretty damned quickly; my guess is that most of these will have a replacement version sometime in 2025 or 2026. There’s no way to keep up, but old models are often available for years after they’ve been superceded.

    My scoring system is pretty basic; I assign a score from 1 – 5 on each of the following dimensions: bass, mids, treble, soundstage, comfort/fitment, and then combine it to both an overall score and a cost-adjusted score. For most, I also provide some quick listening notes, a note about the fitment that worked for me, and a note on the broad tuning.

    These scores are a little different than most of my reviews. A 3 is a competent score for a particular component: it’s what I expect from an IEM. A 2 is disappointing, and a 1 is a clear not for me. On the other side, 4 means good, and 5 means best in class. If something feels like it’s between scores, I let myself assign a “+” to the number. For the overall score, a 3 or 4 is a recommendation to listen, a 1 or 2 is a recommendation to skip, and a 5 is worth a blind buy in my opinion. There are around 10 value-adjusted 5s on here, but all but two of them are under $25 and all but one under $40. That’s the beauty of the IEM market in 2025.

    [Sorry for the horrendous formatting; still trying to figure out how to post this cleanly. The actual sheet is public, and available here.]