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Remember the good old days when every phone came with a headphone jack? You'd simply plug in your wired earphones and enjoy your music without a second thought. Fast forward to 2026, and that humble 3.5mm port has all but vanished from modern smartphones, replaced by USB-C or Lightning connectors . This shift has given rise to a new breed of audio accessory: the "dongle" or, as it's playfully called in some circles, the "little tail". These tiny USB-C or Lightning to 3.5mm adapters promise to breathe new life into your wired headphones. But a pressing question lingers in the...

The BASN PA60 is a $99 USB-C DAC/Amp featuring an ES9039Q2M chip and 240mW balanced output. It delivers warm, detailed audio for IEMs in a compact, 17g aluminum build. The BASN PA60 is a compact, phone-powered USB‑C dongle DAC/amp positioned as a “step-up” source for IEMs and portable headphones. BASN managed to pack an ES9039Q2M DAC chip into this tiny package, along with support for PCM up to 32-bit/768kHz and native DSD512 decoding. The 4.4mm balanced output pushes 240mW at 32 ohms, and there are even 8 selectable PCM filters for those who like to tweak their sound. The real...

Here’s a quick guide on how to know if your headphones are too loud. Plus, some tips to keep your hearing safe. While loud music can be exciting, you should know that the growing rates of hearing loss are attributed to loud noise and unsafe listening practices; a.k.a. headphone volume abuse. If you’re fond of listening to loud volumes, worry not! This guide will walk you through how to tell if your headphones are too loud and everything you need to know to prevent hearing loss. Let’s jump in. What Makes Listening to Loud Headphones Bad? Listening to your headphones...

Breaking down the audio frequency spectrum, band by band. The audio frequency spectrum spans the frequency range of 20 to 20,000 Hz, defined by the lowest and highest frequencies perceivable to a healthy human ear. Understanding the qualities and characteristics of various frequency bands within this range, however, requires some examples and background context. Whether you’re working on a mix or tweaking some equalizer settings, we’ll help you make practical sense of the technical concepts and subjective terminology underpinning the audio frequency spectrum. What Does Frequency Mean in Audio? To understand exactly what frequency refers to in the audio frequency...

  Today’s review and feature covers the latest from dongle dac from BASN Audio named the BASN PA60. The PA60 seems to be another fine dongle dac in that special class of “under $100” portable dac/amps. I was more than happy to receive the PA60 about a month ago and have used this device daily for both reviews as well as casual listening. So, I’ve had way more than enough time to truly get a good handle on the audio quality, usability, and pairing characteristics. For the record, I think all source reviews should have at least three weeks of...