Comparing the Brainwavz Hybrid pad (left) to the SRH840 pad (right).

To be honest, I was quite confused at first as to what the Hybrid pads were supposed to do. From the name alone, one can assume the Hybrid pads are designed to provide a sort of �best of both worlds� between pleather and velour earpads, but since I don�t actually own any velour pads, I can�t make any direct comparisons and can only speak from what I can remember.

Comparing the stock Takstar Pro 80 pad (left) to the Brainwavz pleather earpad (right).

From my observations and listening sessions, I found the Hybrid pads to seem to combine the comfort of velour pads without sacrificing the more closed-in seal and sound of pleather pads. Sound-wise the hybrids didn�t sound much (if any) different compared to its pleather counterpart, and as such, my comments on their sound are about identical to the pleather earpads.

That being said, although they present a whole new level of comfort to most headphones on the market, I�m not entirely sure if they make any major improvements to the sound. On the AKG K240 Studio, which already has a large soundstage with stock pads, the Brainwavz earpads� depth increases the space between your ears and the headphone drivers, pushing back the soundstage. This space also gives the lower midrange more resonance, giving the impression of more warmth. The bass also seems to be rather diminished with the Brainwavz pads, and in turn, the treble frequencies have more emphasis. On the Takstar Pro 80, the changes are a slightly different story (no noticeable increase in warmth, but major emphasis on treble), but in the end the effect is about the same.

With these impressions, I still can�t really say the Brainwavz earpads provide much of an improvement in your headphones� sound. Some people (myself included) might like it, others might not, but then again, I don�t think one can (rather, should) expect that from a pair of earpads.

With top-of-the-line materials and an accommodating design, the Brainwavz earpads take your headphones� comfort to the next level. However, if you care a lot about keeping your headphones' sound intact, be forewarned that the earpads can and do have an impact on that, and you might not exactly like the changes. But if you can brush it off for phenomenal comfort, then that's no problem at all.

None that I can think of.

Again, I would like to thank Pandora at Brainwavz for providing the earpads you see in this review. You could say I took a little too long to review these earpads, but I guess you could also say I was distracted by their awe-inspiring comfort.

2015 has been an epic year, and with the advent of this new one, I hope to be able to improve my writing and churn out more reviews for you guys! This has been thatBeatsguy of DB Headphones; thanks for reading!

�At Brainwavz we have a simple mission, to produce innovative, high quality audio products with a dedicated focus on high-end sound at a realistic price. Our strength, success and product range is built on our unique relationship with our customers and users, a relationship that has produced a simple and obvious result. We give real-users real sound quality. 2014 will see Brainwavz pushing forward with an expanded product line, continuing with unique and innovative products, from earphones to headphones to audio accessories.�

Company website: www.brainwavzaudio.com

I can't say much for the way the Lotoo PAW 5000 arrived as they were sent my way by another reviewer and not the manufacturer or a third-party seller, but when I opened up the package I was greeted with a small box that immediately split into two when I took it out.

The top half contained a flat and well-constructed USB 3.0 cable, a neoprene armband and a plastic case which allows the PAW5k to be used with the armband. I didn't have use for any of the latter two as (for the armband and case) I'm a potato who doesn't exercise at all and (for the cable) because I transfer all my music using a MicroSD card.

The bottom half contained the warranty and quick-start guide and underneath those, the deceptively small player nestled in black velvet-covered foam. I have to say, this player is presented quite nicely and the packaging seems to be adequate without being excessive.

The Lotoo PAW 5000 is a small all-in-one Digital Audio Player (DAP) constructed of what seems to be two metal panels with a plastic middle separating the two. I'm really not worried about the player breaking anytime soon because of its solid construction. It fits really nicely in my hand because of its rounded corners and if anything feels a little heavier than expected.

The front consists of the screen, a navigation scroll wheel with a play/pause/ok button in the middle, fast forward and rewind buttons, a music menu button which also allows for Fn functionality with a long press, a back button which also gives access to the setup menu with a long press, a button which accesses the proprietary 'ATE' (Acoustic Timbre Embellisher) and a parametric EQ, and the power button.

Loading Music and Format Support

Loading music has never been easier for me; I did my typical firmware stability test and loaded my phone's 64GB Micro SD card directly into the DAP without formatting of any kind. Lo and behold, it worked without a hitch! Several other DAPs which I shall not name have hiccuped at this stage, being rather confused with the other files present on the card, but the Lotoo PAW 5000 prevails!

I don't personally own any DSD files or much of anything beyond 16/44.1 FLAC. Yes, I'm not a believer, I know. However, for the purposes of this review, I downloaded a few of my father's high-resolution and DSD music and loaded them into the PAW 5000. The DAP ate them without a hitch and gave me music just like with any old 16/44.1 file. The PAW 5000 works well with MP3 and WAV and also appears to accept APE, OGG, M4A, AAC, ALAC and CUE playlists.

Screen and UI

The screen isn't the biggest, but is more than adequate for a simple DAP. The Lotoo PAW 5000 comes with a rather exotic UI, but fortunately it was very easy to learn how to to use it. It has a rather retro styling which to me is very endearing and unlike anything else on the market and the limited space is managed rather well with all useful information being present on the screen.

The UI seems to be very responsive with no noticeable lag whenever I operate the DAP. Scanning the music into the database didn't take long at all either. There was no 5-minute-long wait for me this time like, again, some other DAPs have forced me to undergo. The scroll wheel is a huge asset with larger libraries like the one I have; zipping from A to Z has never been faster with any DAP I have used so far and is only limited by the speed at which you turn the wheel.

It's very easy to access whatever you want to on this device; everything can be done in just a few clicks. However, something that does annoy me is how you can't skip tracks unless you hit that awkwardly-placed power button to first activate the screen. Please do fix this as I'm a user that tends to skip around my music a lot and it took me a while to get used to how the PAW 5000 does things.

Another thing that may be an annoyance to some users is how the UI is a file-based one with no support for tags of any kind. I happen to already be a very organized file-based DAP user due to being exposed to the Shozy Alien and it's minimalist UI but people who are used to tag-based UIs will have to spend some time cleaning up their library before being able to use this DAP.

The headphone out is good enough for IEMs and efficient cans but chokes when feeding more inefficient full-sized cans such as the Sennheiser HD650. This is a DAP that is best paired with more portable audio equipment it seems. This isn't necessarily a bad thing though as it means that it won't hiss with the most sensitive of IEMs due to the lower power output.

I briefly tried to utilize the line-out of the PAW 5000 and fed the signal into both my Gilmore Lite and Project Ember. Unfortunately, it was beaten by the lowly UD110v2 DAC which has a much smaller price tag, so I have to say that the internal DAC is best paired with the internal amp.