Sebastian, last but not least

Sebastian

It’s that time of year again – the season of giving (and hopefully receiving) awesome electronic things! And for the gadget-minded on your list, here are a few of my highlights from 2014:

ECS LIVA Mini PC

The LIVA is a tiny kit that’s actually a full Windows 8 PC. In fact, since our review of the LIVA went up ECS has started shipping this tiny computer with Microsoft’s free version of the OS (Windows 8.1 with Bing) preloaded on the internal storage. It's powered by a dual-core Intel Bay Trail-M SoC with 2GB of RAM, comes with either 32GB or 64GB internal storage, and includes an internal Wi-Fi card. Not bad for a system that retails for under $160 and runs off a micro-USB charger!

Grado iGrado Headphones

The Brooklyn, NY headphone maker’s least expensive cans still have that life-like Grado sound, and are tailored for use with mobile devices. The iGrado uses the driver from the more expensive Prestige SR60, and uses a smaller 3.5mm right-angle plug that is sized to fit most phone case openings. They are also very easy for your mobile device to drive, which means they’ll produce louder and more powerful sound than the usual earbuds. And unlike a lot of earbuds they won’t fall off if you’re working out due to the iGrado's “street style” behind-the-head design.

Calyx M Digital Audio Player

If you were really, really good this year… Ok, so the price is staggering compared to an ordinary mp3 player, but the Calyx M is a truly high-end portable music player and USB DAC (with native DSD playback) that actually costs considerably less than similar devices on the market. What makes the Calyx M special? It is built on a custom version of Android with an easy to navigate interface on its 4.65-inch 1280×720 OLED screen. It has 64GB of internal memory which is expandable with both standard and micro SD cards. And the M will handle any audio file you throw at it using the highly regarded ESS Sabre ES9018 DAC chip, playing high resolution digital music all the way up to 32-bit/384 kHz PCM and native DSD64 and DSD128. Best of all, the sound from the M (and its discrete headphone amplifier) is incredibly good!

« PreviousNext »