Darko.Audio
Campfire Audio’s Chimera IEM costs US$7500
Campfire Audio has announced Chimera: a nine-driver flagship IEM priced at – and I hope yo…
Darko.Audio
Wharfedale’s Denton 1S revives a 1974 space-saving oddity
Wharfedale has been mining its Heritage catalogue for over a decade, with the Linton and s…
Darko.Audio
I love the $14k Thorens TD 124 DD. Buy this one instead
🎥 Camera: John Darko / Olaf von Voss 🎬 Editor: John Darko 🌈 Colour: Olaf von Voss 🕺🏻…
Darko.Audio
Hi-Fi YouTube is a show without walls
Every May, the hi-fi industry would pack itself into the MOC Event Centre in Munich for Hi…
Darko.Audio
Serious buyers only
Paul Sinclair of Super Deluxe Edition just met the thick end of the Berliner Schnauze. His…
Darko.Audio
Three slimline subwoofers that won’t take over your room
The typical hi-fi subwoofer spends most of its life on the floor, wedged wherever there’s…
Darko.Audio
Shanling’s EC Play is its most affordable portable CD player to date
Shanling has announced the EC Play, the most compact and most affordable portable CD playe…
Darko.Audio
Sivga M260: $45 wired IEMs w/ inline USB-C DAC
Chinese audio manufacturer Sivga has announced the M260, a super-affordable wired IEM buil…
Darko.Audio
The curious double standard in online hi-fi communities 🌶️
[Editor’s note: This is the fifteenth in a series of fifteen observations from fifteen yea…
Darko.Audio
Podcast #68 – Another use for your WiiM, HiFiMAN Unveiled & FangSound
In episode #68 of the Darko.Audio podcast, John opens with a practical fix for a problem t…
Darko.Audio
A tale of two Thorens turntables: TD 124 DD 140th vs. TD 404 DD
The direct-drive motor sealed it. That, and the copper-topped platter. And the high-gloss…
Darko.Audio
FiiO teases K17 R2R Pro with no price & mid-2026 ship date
FiiO has begun teasing the K17 R2R Pro, a new version of its flagship streaming DAC and he…
Darko.Audio
Global feedback: how many hi-fi shows have you been to? (2026)
I have run this poll twice in the last three years. The results are remarkably consistent.…
Darko.Audio
Musical Fidelity introduces M5xi integrated amplifier
We wrote about the Musical Fidelity M6xi when it was announced a few weeks ago. Now the Br…
Darko.Audio
Schiit announces Buf: a $99 tube buffer
Not everyone wants a technically perfect hi-fi (or head-fi) system. Some listeners would r…
Darko.Audio
Future-Fi Now! Pro-Ject’s new Wireless Box E kills the speaker cable
Most streaming amplifiers promise simplicity and then promptly hand you a loudspeaker cabl…
Darko.Audio
The truth about subwoofers: 9,000 audiophiles have spoken
🎥 Camera: John Darko / Olaf von Voss 🎬 Editor: John Darko 🌈 Colour: Olaf von Voss 🕺🏻…
Darko.Audio
HiFiMAN HE600 review: it’s what’s on the inside that counts
The original HiFiMAN HE6 was one of audio’s great cautionary tales: an audibly extraordina…
Darko.Audio
Bowers & Wilkins adds new finishes to the Px8 S2 lineup
My favourite Bluetooth headphone of 2025, the Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2, edged out the Sennh…
Darko.Audio
NAD loads its C 589 CD player with MQA tech
NAD has announced the C 589, a dedicated CD player that joins its Classic Series. The tran…
Darko.Audio
In Berlin for review: Arcam’s SA45 streaming amplifier
The SA45 (€4999/US$4999) is Arcam’s flagship streaming integrated amplifier, built around…
Darko.Audio
Global feedback: How many subwoofers do you run in your main hi-fi system?
How many subwoofers are Darko.Audio’s YouTube viewers actually running? The answer, it tur…
Darko.Audio
Why the hi-fi purists are wrong about subwoofers
🎥 Camera: John Darko / Olaf von Voss 🎬 Editor: John Darko 🌈 Colour: Olaf von Voss 🕺🏻…
Darko.Audio
5 reasons why you need a subwoofer
Many hi-fi purists think they don’t need a subwoofer. And to be blunt, I think those hi-fi…
Darko.Audio
Shanling blends R2R DAC and touchscreen for SM1.3R
Shanling has announced the SM1.3R, an R2R-powered sibling to the SM1.3 streaming DAC that…
Darko.Audio
Vicoustic’s VicShape 3D is an acoustic panel you can actually look at
The most persistent objection to acoustic treatment isn’t cost. It’s aesthetics. Very few…
Darko.Audio
Digital inputs, more power: Musical Fidelity’s M6xi integrated amplifier
Musical Fidelity has announced the M6xi, a new integrated amplifier that builds on the ana…
Darko.Audio
$12 to stream Apple Music like an audiophile (and from the couch)
Apple Music’s hi-res audio problem hasn’t gone away. Four years after the company switched…
Darko.Audio
Global feedback: The two faces of snake oil
Ask a hundred audiophiles whether power cables make a difference, and you’ll start a fight…
Darko.Audio
Three products from AXPONA 2026 that cut through the noise
AXPONA 2026 has wrapped its three-day run at the Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Centre.…
Darko.Audio
Ø Audio announces Ymir flagship loudspeaker
Norwegian manufacturer Ø Audio (pronounced “ur”) has pulled the wraps off the Ymir, its ne…
Darko.Audio
AGD Productions half-announces Allegro super-integrated
California-based AGD Productions wants to tell us about the Allegro, a super-integrated am…
Darko.Audio
No, you don’t need a new DAC (not yet)
🎥 Camera: John Darko / Olaf von Voss 🎬 Editor: John Darko 🌈 Colour: Olaf von Voss 🕺🏻…
Darko.Audio
SVS announces the 3000 Micro R|Evolution compact subwoofer
SVS has announced the 3000 Micro R|Evolution, a sealed compact subwoofer that replaces the…
Darko.Audio
Five electronic dub albums to run across your subwoofer
My love of techno is no secret. Electronic dub is the less obvious of the two obsessions,…
Darko.Audio
Darko.Audio now reaches 700,000 unique visitors per month
Four posts a week. That’s the cadence I’ve maintained on this website since 2016, and it s…
Darko.Audio
8 things beginner audiophiles can safely ignore 🌶️
[Editor’s note: This is the fourteenth in a series of fifteen observations from fifteen ye…
Darko.Audio
Revel launches Performa4 loudspeaker series
Two new acronyms, one new waveguide, seven products built around thirty years of psychoaco…
Darko.Audio
Shanling SM90: touchscreen streaming DAC takes aim at Eversolo
Shanling has announced the SM90, a compact Android-based streaming DAC pitched squarely in…
Darko.Audio
LEAK adds compact Sandwich 100 to its revived loudspeaker range
LEAK has added a third model to its revived Sandwich loudspeaker range. The Sandwich 100 i…
Darko.Audio
Campfire Audio Andromeda 10 ‘Black Launch Edition’ review
The original 2016 Andromeda put Campfire Audio on the map. Five balanced armature drivers…
Darko.Audio
Your next music server, streamer & reclocker could cost you $58K
New Zealand-based Antipodes Audio has established Oladra as a standalone sub-brand, built…
Darko.Audio
Building the ultimate hi-fi desk setup (mistakes were made)
🎥 Camera: John Darko / Olaf von Voss 🎬 Editor: John Darko 🌈 Colour: Olaf von Voss 🕺🏻…
Darko.Audio
Audirvana Studio 3.0 arrives with new UI, DSP suite
Audirvana Studio has been updated to version 3.0, bringing a completely overhauled interfa…
Darko.Audio
The great DAC distraction
[Editor’s note: This is the thirteenth in a series of fifteen observations from fifteen ye…
Darko.Audio
Tubes vs. transparency: why the FiiO K13 R2R wins!
🎥 Camera: John Darko / Olaf von Voss 🎬 Editor: John Darko 🌈 Colour: Olaf von Voss 🕺🏻…
Darko.Audio
Fosi Audio enters the streaming age with the S3
Fosi Audio has announced the S3, a combined streamer, DAC and pre-amplifier aimed at the b…
Darko.Audio
Schiit’s Eitr 2 is a $149 digital-to-digital converter with a twist
Schiit Audio has announced the Eitr 2, a digital-to-digital converter (DDC). It accepts a…
Darko.Audio
From storage to desktop: giving the Wilson TuneTot the stage they deserve
Wilson Audio TuneTots on a desk. I know. But we’ll get to that. What follows summarises a…
Darko.Audio
Tubes vs. solid-state: FiiO K13 R2R review (vs. Warmer R2R)
The FiiO Warmer R2R arrived with a lot going for it on paper. Linear PSU. Tubes. VU meters…