Originally Posted by
Currawong 
My legs are still far from recovered from all the walking we did. Not just on Saturday at the show, but Mike (mkubota1) sorted out a fantastic plan for us involving going to great places around Tokyo the day before. We got back to the hotel at about 11:30 on Friday and caught the last train after midnight on Saturday! I honestly don't know where to begin, so this is going to be in bits and pieces. Friday alone will take me some time to write up.
First, the big thanks:
Sasaki: He made this happen. He is the Mr Headphones of bloggers in Japan and sorted out getting us in early and introduced us to everyone as well as, very importantly, negotiating the insane subway system (Tokyo alone has at least half a dozen separate subway stations surrounding it and even though I've lived there it still drives me insane).
Arnaud: Sorted out the local cuisine for us. I'm vegetarian and eating out is a total nightmare for me, as the Japanese don't get vegetarian seriously at all. He managed to get us all to great places as well as taking care of making sure I could eat something. I'm sure that once Jude and Drew have recovered they will post about the sushi...
mkubota1: He knew the places we needed to go and it was his plan that made Friday fantastic.
The Fujiya Avic guys: Thanks for putting on a great show!
-----------------
Edit: In crumpler's pictures in the nearest post above under where he posted the "hungry Head-Fi'ers", that's myself and Arnaud nearest the camera with the Head-Fi t-shirts, Anakchan with the black top and bag and I think it was mkubota1 ahead with the Head-Fi t-shirt outside trying to find somewhere to eat.
-----------------
Ok, in no particular order:
Sony
I often go into the big electronic stores where I live to try universal IEMs as I'm on the lookout for something good for when I travel. I've tried the AT CK-10s and CK-100s and others and I get why they are popular. I haven't tried the mark 2 models yet, but for the serious listener this is obviously a hot segment. Sony had, as Arnaud described, both a 3 and 4 BA driver model coming out. IEMs don't impress me easily and these really did. What's more, one of their distinguished engineers (that's literally what it says on his business card) was on hand to talk about them, Mr Tsunoda. When I pulled out my Pico Slim he was very interested. Like the ATs, the BA-3 is a bit brighter and the BA-4 a bit darker for classical music listeners. I liked the BA-4 as I'm used to the LCD-2s. I'm very keen to get a pair, though I know I'll have to wait as it will be a while before they will be available.
What's more, they have a pair of noise-cancelling IEMs in which each individual earpiece has dedicated circuitry. I gave them a quick spin and the sound was unexpectedly quite good, if not as good as the TOTL BAs.
Yoshino EAR
Around the corner from the busy ALO table was a single stand manned by a quiet lady upon which was a turntable, an EAR 4 and other things. I've long wanted to try the EAR 4, so I asked the lady if she was the distributor. The answer was an incredible surprise: It was Mrs Yoshino herself. I borrowed back Jude's pair of LCD-3s to show her and have a listen on the EAR 4 with and, suffice to say, that became one of my "best of show" experiences, with such an open and natural sound playing Bill Evans Waltz for Debby, one of my favourite albums.
What I hadn't known is that Tim de Paravicini is expanding (or has expanded) into digital CD players and DACs. Not only that, but I gather he will be designing a cheaper headphone amplifier. That will be something to look out for.
