2016 Tokyo Spring Fujiya Avic Headphone Festival Report

 
The first show of 2016 had been moved back a week this year to the beginning of the Golden Week holiday period. That gave it a slightly subdued feeling compared to previous years. The highlight product of the show was Ultrasone's Tribute 7, which harks back to their first "Edition" series headphones, the Edition 7. More relevant to collectors than anything it, as a pair of headphones, much the same kind of deal as the Signature series, and the Edition 9 before that, the metal cups and new headphone cable excepted. 
 
Bigger news for us was Dan Clark's demonstration of his Ether Electrostats. The Ether C has been received very favourably in Japan and Dan continues to push what he and his team are capable of achieving. 
 
While I did have a chance to briefly audition the fantastic Sennheiser Orpheus system, as well as a wonderful-sounding no-holds-barred $20k DAC amp from a new Japanese company, RE•LEAF, what really impressed me was not expensive gear at the show, but the amazing sound quality from some of the cheaper brands. While they didn't have a booth at the show, Charles from Shozy had sent me the new $50 Zero IEMs which are seriously impressive for their price.  I also have a prototype of the new Cozoy REI DAC/amp which is so musical-sounding that I used it on the flight home. If Charles can keep the price down to that of the 192k-capable Cozoy amp I think he'll gain numerous fans. The $5 Venture Electronics Monk+ earbuds also sounded far better than they had any right to at that price. What is more, Fostex's update of their T20/40/50RP series solidifies their position as great entry-level planar headphones.
 
For those people with a serious interest in a high-end portable rig, if the Astell&Kern AK380 and Shure KSE1500 are too wallet-imolating, then ALO Audio's incredible-souding Andromeda and Continental V5 amp with a Mojo might just be the ticket, or maybe Tralucent Audio's new range of IEMs.
 
But the really big news for us was....
 
 
The surprise announcement of the show was that Head-Fi Japan (Powered by Wikia) is now in beta. It's rather surprising that even though one of the biggest, if not the biggest headphone and portable audio shows is in Japan that there isn't a dedicated forum around it. That will all be changing in the coming months. As well as a few reviews from here, you can see a translated version of my "DAP-off" thread on the beta site.
 
If you can read Japanese, you can follow the official representative, Mei Natsuki, on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/HeadFiJapan
 

Ryu from HiFiMan Japan who was very delighted to be surrounded by the beautiful ladies at the Head-Fi table. 

SAEC

 

 
I reported previously that this Japanese company had been making headphone cables, but this time I noticed that they're now making high-quality USB cables as well, for what would amount to around the US$100 mark. Given the importance of noise isolation with some USB-connected components to getting the best sonic results, I might have to check these out in the future. 
 

Audioquest / Kimber Cable

 

 
Audioquest is selling a line of aftermarket cables using Kimber cable (similar to Sony's MDR-Z7 Kimber cables). While a bit stiff, anyone who wanted a similar cable as the Sony's have but for other headphones can now look here too.
 

Denon

 
 
 
Talk about timing -- there was some discussion recently on the forums about using I2S directly from a Raspberry Pi into various DACs, so I got quite a surprise when I found that Denon had set up exactly what we were discussing on display at the show, using their PMA-50 DAC and speaker/headphone amp.
 

Triode

 
  
 
Triode are known for their tube amps, so it was quite a shock when they came out with a pair of headphones, the Crosszone CZ-1, which are far from conventional. Using three drivers, one for the treble and one for mids and bass, and one which is in an "Acoustic Delay Chamber" feeding part of the other channel, they are designed to produce a speaker-like stereo image without the need for multiple channels or any other special hardware. Since the amp they were demoing them with was very warm-sounding, I tried them directly out of the Mojo. I wouldn't call the experience one with a lot of micro-detail (which I'd hope for at the $2k+ price they were asking) but they did throw a very unusual, holographic soundstage that was took a few minutes to get comfortable with. 
 

RE • LEAF

 
  
 
Takeshi Koga, president of RE • LEAF used to work with the president of Sony and, not unlike a number of the owners of companies who were at the show, decided to leave and create his own brand of products. On display was his E1 current drive amplifier in a very cool case that had no visible screws or connectors holding it together. The unit itself uses a special, highly customised circuitboard coated with very thick copper, which is heated as a unit before soldering can commence to ensure proper joints are made, and the DAC/amp is intended to be a no-holds-barred best-of-the-best design in a similar manner to Sennheiser's Orpheus. To meet that, customisable furniture is also included which will hold an iPad and can hang your headphones, as well as hold a bottle of champaign! 
 
Despite being a current-output amp, they were demonstrating it with HD-800s, for which the impedance curve causes changes in the frequency response. Koga-san stated that they had proprietary technology that allowed the amp to drive even HD-800s in a completely linear manner despite the design, though it was apparent listening that the HD-800s were quite a bit warmer-sounding than they usually are out of an amp, so I'm not sure that, without his engineer on hand, that I had an accurate understanding of the design. Despite this, using my iPhone as a transport, the sound was lovely to say the least.
 
The cost? Hold onto your hat (and your computer, and table, and everything else -- this is a big one) -- $20,000. It's no more for most of us than the Orpheus is -- obviously a niche for certain types of people, but it was interesting all the same. 
 

Ocharaku

 
  
 
The Flat4 has gone from strength-to-strengh, and through quite a few iterations since it was first conceived, the latest of those being the Ti Plus titanium model and the Sakura Plus, differentiated by the material of the central chamber. Both versions come with either a 28mm black or 30mm red tube, the latter with an "AKA" appended to the front of the model name. The different tubes affect the phase and tuning of the sound, though I didn't end up comparing both.
 
It's probably easiest to say that they sound like they look, with the Ti more precise and the Sakura more "organic" (ha!). The Sakura was more to my taste -- lovely and engaging with a sweet, spacious sound all the way through that made acoustic music a joy to listen to. I'm sure there will be fans of both though. 
 

Onkyo

Following in the footsteps of Sony's Justear brand, Onkyo is now offering three custom IEMs, the IE-C1, C2 and C3, differentiated by driver complement and price. Starting with the single-driver C1 at 59,800 yen (US$500 or so), the range then goes up to the C2 multi-driver with a neutral sound signature for 79,800 yen, then the more musical C3 which has boosted bass and highs for 119,800 yen. 
 
A quick listen to the C3 revealed slightly sharp highs with not a lot of bass that could sound spacious but not so engaging, noting that this is the universal version of a CIEM so the actual sound may be slightly different.
 
  
 

Pioneer

Got wood? Pioneer does. For something different, they have made a wood-cupped version of their SE-MASTER 1 headphones. While not unique in itself, that you can swap the cups for different models with different tuning is. The cups on display have different stippling internally, causing the sound waves to reflect in different ways. 
 

 

?

At one of the tables was a portable rig contest, with a suitably crazy example. Maybe I should have brought my insane Hugo rig (though now I don't have many of the components any longer). 
 
 

Zonotone

This was the first time I remember a manufacturer here laying out all their cables on the table, literally, for show. 
 

 

Fostex

I had a quick go with Fostex's latest headphones, of which both the T20/40/50 and TR70/80/90 series are open, semi-closed or closed-backed depending on model chosen. I had a listen with the T20RP MKIII and I thought they were stellar, making for a heck of a bargain if you want a pair of planers without a lot of expense. The newer version, while still having a frequency response close to neutral is a more listenable, doing a wonderful job with vocals. However they do show a bit of harshness during vocal peaks and at louder volumes.
 
The TR series were a bit less refined, the TR90 that I tried having a bit more mid-bass and a lower treble. 
 

 

 

Blue

After somewhat mixed comments about their powered headphones, I was most curious to give these headphones and their unique ergonomics a try. First impressions were that the leather earpads, which smell like the interior of a car, were a bit stiff for optimum comfort, but they do have a classy feel to them. I won't say that they sound as odd as they look, but while a tiny bit on the warm side of neutral they were both good at delineating the position of instruments yet allowed vocals to come forward if not with the greatest resolution.  The impression was that they were tuned to be studio monitors, while having enough musicality to be listenable, including sufficient, but not excessive bass.
 
 
 

Fender (Aurisonics)

I had the pleasure, once again, of running into Dale Lott, as well as Jim Ninesling of Fender. For those who haven't caught up, Dale sold Aurisonics to Fender, rather unexpectedly, and his products have now been re-branded. It has been on my mind to give the new range a good run sometime as the Aurisonics brand gained quite a few fans, and the Rockets were an easy recommendation, especially if one wanted a pair of hard-wearing IEMs. 
 
At the show they had a display stand, which was a clever idea and probably neater than having to deal with tables and chairs. 
 

 

Westone

Regular vented monitors for musicians, because they break the seal, often have a considerable drop-off in the bass. The AM PRO 10 solves this with a special venting system that maintains the bass response but allows ambient noise to enter the ear canal
 
 
 

Digi Fi

One of the coolest things you can do in Japan is go down to your local book store (no newsagents here) and get a magazine with DIY kits to build your own gear. The Digi Fi range allows you to build pretty much an entire, compact hi-fi system as they were demonstrating on their table. 
 
 
 

Venture Electronics

Takanobu Kowada of Sound Potion motioned me over to the RTK System/Juice Bar table, as he has been appointed manager, and wanted to show me the Venture Electronics Monk and Monk+ earbuds, which are $5 on Aliexpress. I wasn't enthusiastic about listening to cheap earbuds, but holy heck if they were amazingly good, enough that I can imagine someone attempting to re-sell them under another brand for considerably more. 
 
Here I got one of the girls at the table to pose with the display. 
 

 

Sony

It's always a pleasure to meet Nao Tsunoda of Sony as there is plenty of interesting technology being developed and on display. While at first seeing a row of colourful "h.ear on Wireless" MDR-100ABN headphones didn't bring up my interest (strike 1 for any range of headphones that might have good sound quality) telling me that they were Bluetooth (strike 2), and noise cancelling (strike 3!) didn't encourage me any more. However Nao did want me to try the new high-res Bluetooth transmission, which can send 96k-quality audio from one of their Sony NW-A25 Walkmans. So I got out a micro SD card and plugged it in and, as put them on, to have that weird shell-cupping effect from the noise cancelling shut out most of the ambient sound, I was then blown away with the sound quality. 
 
The engineer, whose name I failed to note, hails from India, and updated the firmware of a pair of the headphones on the spot to improve the mid-range performance, which improved the sound quality even further. I could seriously see myself using a pair of these on a long-haul flight to listen to music, something I never thought I'd ever consider before.
 
 
 

ALO Audio / Campfire Audio

Ken Ball had both the new Continental V5 amp as well as the Campfire Audio Andromedas at the show. The Andromedas have a 5 balanced armature arrangement and Ken was enthusiastic about them, and it was easy to understand, as the sound was simply amazing, no doubt helped by the new litz-wire cable they were using. The treble reproduction especially was spectacular.
 
I didn't have time to try it with full-sized headphones, but the new Continental was a punchy-sounding amp, adding a bit more in the way of dynamics to the sound with the Andromedas. Since it is the same size, or about that of the new Rx, I can see many people pairing them up with a Mojo in the future. 
 
 
 

Unique Melody

Stephen Guo was on hand to demo his custom IEM range. This year he didn't bring any fancy or unusual electronics as far as I could see. 
 

 

toon Audio

I never thought I'd see a pair of headphones that fold up rather like Transformers, but that is what toon Audio brought to the show. Not only do they have a unique way of folding, but they are designed to be very durable too (see the video) While the idea is novel, I thought the sound, which was fairly balanced, was a bit challenged for the asking price.
 
   
 

 

Final

The Lab 2 was on hand, and I didn't realise at the time that I was able to listen to them. I did have a listen to the Sonorous III, which is quite a pleasant-sounding pair of headphones. 
 
 

MrSpeakers

Dan Clark gave a presentation to the press the night before the show where he had both tube and solid-state Liquid Lightnings and a Headamp Blue Hawaii, fed by the latest Bricasti M1, to demonstrate three different tunings of his electrostats. His main emphasis is to make a pair that has good bass punch. My impressions were that he was well on his way to doing that, with a very delightful sound coming from all pairs.  
 
He also had his own custom Ether Cs, which have red highlights in the carbon fibre weave.
 
   
   
   
 

Sennheiser

 
We sadly only got all of 2 minutes each with the new Orpheus system, which was only accessible if you were drawn from a lotto system. It was hooked up to an older Esoteric CD player, with only a small selection of music. Eric Clapton it was. That was sufficient enough for us to tell it is an amazingly resolving system, and a bit more on the analytical than musical side of things. I don't believe I've heard guitar plucks resolved as well as the Orpheus could reproduce.
 
   
 
 
 
  
Anakchan, Darko and Gavin (Tralucent Audio) all having a listen.
 

Opening and closing video.
 

Astell&Kern

The surprise announcement of the show was the AK300 and its DSD 5.6 recording system. I did manage to have a listen and compare the sound with IEMs vs. an AK380 and my impressions were that it was slightly brighter-sounding, the AK380 possibly being a bit more refined. The AK300 is certainly going to be far better value for the money, though people who are not fans of the physical design may not be so thrilled, though it is thinner. 
 
I'd heard stories that the AK380 Copper was slightly warmer-sounding despite A&K insisting that the electronics were identical. Given a chance to try for myself there seemed to be a slight change of character between the stock AK380 and the Copper. Amusingly, I got to try the full Copper amp stack, which is insanely heavy. Many jokes abounded from people who tried it that it would be good for fending off muggers and the like, handy given how much it costs! Owners will also either enjoy the patina as it stains, or go OCD polishing it after every use. 
 
  
 

Tralucent Audio

Gavin was on hand with his latest 1plus2, Reference 1 and Plus 5 IEMs. The 1plus2 has been updated to be more dynamic-sounding, sacrificing slightly the feeling of a wide soundstage, but improving the imaging and treble to my ears. The Reference 1 has been updated as well and sounded a bit darker, but it could have been because the pair wasn't fully run-in yet. The Plus 5 combines the big, holographic soundstage of the brand with an even darker and more mellow sound -- too much for my liking, but will be attractive to people who like a more subdued and relaxing sound. 
 
  
 
 

iFi Audio

 
Way back in the history of digital audio there was a product called the Genesis Digital Lens. This would take a digital signal, buffer it, then re-send it using a better clock. iFi Audio announced at the show a finger-sized device that would do much the same thing, but with up-to-date components. The S/PDIF iPurifier will not only re-clock an S/PDIF signal, but has an extra optical output.
 
I only got to the iFi room at the very end of the day and forgot to photograph it, so for more details check out Darko's great write-up.

 

Music With Kikakugai

This year the enthusiast group had their own DIY planar (?) headphones on display, as well as their usual oddball collection of DIY amps and vintage headphones and components.  I think sometime at a future festival I'll have to sit down and spend a good hour and go through some of the gear at their display. 
 

 
    
   

Awesome coverage and pics, @Currawong! 

Always love reading your report.

What is that crazily bling-ed out FA Piano Forte IEM? Are those diamonds?!?

Thanks for sharing. Appreciate the effort and time. I enjoyed your posting of the festival.

Getting some sense of the size, vitality, and just plain high percolation index of this ecosystem by reading lots of items in the forums, and then this. . . What a spread of products, ideas, from 5$ buds to transformer machines on my head, noise cancelling Bluetooth cans that satisfy.  Thanks for the pictures and comments based on lots of experience.

nopeudon said:

What is that crazily bling-ed out FA Piano Forte IEM? Are those diamonds?!?

Click to expand...

final audio design lab 2
phenomenal sound!

Wah, never knew they existed until now.

Great photos currawong, especially the 3rd post. Did you use a Fuji X-T1 and an iPhone 6 for this event? 

xecutor said:

  Great photos currawong, especially the 3rd post. Did you use a Fuji X-T1 and an iPhone 6 for this event? 

Click to expand...

I used the Fuji X70 and iPhone 6. I'm pondering whether or not I'll get more lenses for the X-T1 or just go back to using Nikon. The nice thing about the X70 rig was the light weight. 

nopeudon said:

Wah, never knew they existed until now.

Click to expand...

sound is quite phenomenal in all honesty

currawong said:

 
I used the Fuji X70 and iPhone 6. I'm pondering whether or not I'll get more lenses for the X-T1 or just go back to using Nikon. The nice thing about the X70 rig was the light weight. 

Click to expand...

I've never been to these shows, but I can imagine the rush in Japanese shows like these, where this kind of compact APSC camera is pretty handy, when it comes to getting the job done. The color rendering is quite good for such a small camera. I see you have the D750, great camera, loads of features, but you might be able get the job done in places like this with just a D5500.
Disclosure- I shoot Canon.