FujiyaAvic 2012 Autumn Headphone Festival in Tokyo report by Currawong - Page 5  

Quote:

Originally Posted by Currawong 

 

 

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Imation / TDK ☆BEST OF SHOW No. 2☆

 

Whenever I think of this brand, I'm reminded of blank CDs and DVDs, numerous of which of theirs I've bought and used. They were showing off a unique Magnetic Armature IEM, the MA700 that has a shape reminding me of fan blades, as they have protrusions that help them sit in the ear better. I usually find IEMs to be awful, as the sound is flat, percussion especially being terrible and most have too much bass or a very bright treble. Unusually for these IEMs, percussion sounded great and acoustic music was presented well. Guessing the price, I thought they might be quite expensive, but they were only 7000 yen ($80 or so) which I think is impressively inexpensive. This is very pleasantly far removed from the numerous Knowles drivers-in-a-mouldedcase that is the norm for IEMs these days.

Were they like these?

Thanks for the write up Currawong. Interesting stuff coming, especially Sennheiser's balanced amp and Stax's portable.

I also liked the Monolith amp. Imaging was excellent and its sound was crisp and clear. I think it would be a perfect match especially with darker sounding phones. 

I used it with an ER-4S so I can't comment on noise and hiss but guys who used it with sensitive IEM like JH-13 or FitEar MH334 were really surprised with its pitch black background.

It should be available early 2013 for Japan and the US.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Currawong 

Sinocelt: No, they have "propellor" style tips.

Then like these?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Currawong 

 

Yup, those ones. Not sure why they say "BA700" in the title though. I now wish I'd taken pictures.

Different model, same housing, I surmise. This one apparently has a Knowles BA driver:

Alas, it doesn't appear overearly friendly.

This review qualifies the ergonomics as poor, because the little blue thingy can only rotate a bit and its length cannot be changed. As a result, while it looks like a perfect fit in the ear of the male model above, it probably won't really fit more people (either too loose or, in fewer cases, too snug).

This housing looks less fancy but more practical (and versatile, since the cable could easily be worn over the ears).

 Currawong wrote (wrt Ray Samuels Audio): "He only had a Linn Ikemi CD player there, which I was unfamiliar with."

Wow, just wow 

With respect, look up Linn, that was a serious faux pas.

Quote:

Originally Posted by griff2 

With respect, look up Linn, that was a serious faux pas.

It's soo yesterday in digital years though ;). BTW, my experience with Linn full systems was better this year than usual at Tokyo International Audio Show. It was a combined source / pre, driving active floor standing speakers. Probably around 50kUSD the whole thing but I liked the iPad music interface ;).

Quote:

Originally Posted by griff2 

 Currawong wrote (wrt Ray Samuels Audio): "He only had a Linn Ikemi CD player there, which I was unfamiliar with."

 

Wow, just wow 

 

With respect, look up Linn, that was a serious faux pas.

Yes, the Ikemi was a nice player in its day. It sold for $3500 or so, but that was many years ago. Just like the Ikemi outperformed the older/more expensive Karik/Numerik combo, and at a lower price, so too do the better modern DACs outperform the Ikemi. Not all of them mind you, but the better ones. I wouldn't call the Ikemi a "classic" either, unlike the Parasound 1600 HD for example which still holds its own to this day.

But this is all off topic anyway - I took that statement to mean "Ray had only the Ikemi CD player and no other sources with which I was familiar". 

Quote:

Originally Posted by project86 

 

Yes, the Ikemi was a nice player in its day. It sold for $3500 or so, but that was many years ago. Just like the Ikemi outperformed the older/more expensive Karik/Numerik combo, and at a lower price, so too do the better modern DACs outperform the Ikemi. Not all of them mind you, but the better ones. I wouldn't call the Ikemi a "classic" either, unlike the Parasound 1600 HD for example which still holds its own to this day.

 

But this is all off topic anyway - I took that statement to mean "Ray had only the Ikemi CD player and no other sources with which I was familiar". 

Hmm,  I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.

This is a little off topic, but just because something is somewhat dated doesn't necessarily mean it’s inferior to the latest and (“therefore”) greatest.  At the end of the day all companies have to make a profit, and that means continually introducing new products which may or may not be superior to their predecessors.

The engineering science behind digital is well understood, and certainly the likes of Chesky, using digital recording equipment of the late 90’s, (at higher sampling rate and bit depths) produced stunning results.

Ray Samuels was using the Linn CD player for a reason..

Wow, sweet gear!