Cotnijoe
Sponsor: iFi AudioFormerly with Unique Melody
Attending the show this year was an incredible experience for me, as it was also my first appearance at a CanJam event. While I got to roam around quite a bit during the 3 days I was there, I didn't get too much time to really stay in one place for a real solid listen since I spent most of my time manning the UE booth, so these are very brief impressions if you can even consider them that. Nonetheless, I thought I'd post some of my pics and thoughts here! Sorry for some of the poor picture qualities in advance, my camera is FAR inferior to what most people use at these events.
Noble Audio
Talking to Brannan is always a pleasure, and it's always inspiring to know that the co-owner of Noble is actually around your own age! I've gotten time to spend with almost all of the Noble products before, so there wasn't too much for me to see at this booth. I still respect the K10 and K10U for being a fantastically musical piece while producing a very nice amount of detail, but ultimately the signature is still just not quite for me. Talking to people around, it seems that the Savants are also quite liked. For me and my good buddy @money4me247 we both agreed from just some brief listening that the Savant is an fantastically well balanced piece.
Beyerdynamics
It's been so long since I've heard the original T1, so I can't really say how the T1 and T1.2 compare, but I can say that the T1.2 stays true to what people have said about the original T1. The soundstage is nice and open while having some fantastically capable imaging and a very 3D and holorgraphic feel to it. The treble also wasn't too harsh, and the bass had good weight too it without being all that boosted. If i recall properly, I would say that the treble is certainly less sharp than the T90 that I owned a while back.
HIFIMAN
The Edition X sounds good. Whether it's awesome or not now depends on its price. Compared to the HE1000, the Edition X seems to be more energetic sounding compared to the incredibly smooth and liquid HE1000. The treble has a good bit of sparkle to it and is really nice and crisp while the low end has a good bit of authority as well. I didn't have too much time with the Edition X, but I from my short time with it, I still found it fairly balanced.
Moon Audio
The Moon Audio booth is awesome because you can basically listen to everything here. The LCD-3 for me was an amazingly musical and clean experience, but somehow it was just insanely uncomfortable for me. The drivers would touch my ears, which seemed super weird to me since they earpads are thick as hell and my ears are also miniscule. I didn't have such an issue with the LCD4, so I'm not sure what was going on there.
It was at the Moon Audio booth that I also discovered that I prefer the closed back Ether and EL-8 to their open back counterparts, which is interesting because closed backs have generally not been my thing. In particular, the Ether C felt much more natural and organic to my ears compared to the Ethers, which I found a little peaky maybe in the upper mids and had an overall thin sound to it.
ALO Audio and Campfire Audio
The Studio Six is a beast and it's awesome (and expensive). connected to it, Ken had a few Campfire Audio over ear prototypes, and I think they're going in a very good direction. I completely forgot what Ken said when he explained the drivers to me, but both of them are quite exciting sounding to me. One of them is a bit boomy for me, but the other one really hits a sweet spot for me and I can't wait to get more information on it. They seem like they're gunna be portable headphones for the most part as they're built nicely with good form factor and comfort.
Out of the 3 Campfire IEMs, I think I was most surprised by the Lyra. This thing packs a big big punch in the bass - but it's clean, quality bass and I absolutely enjoyed it despite being someone that doesn't enjoy too much color in his music. Simply put it, I think the Lyra should be on every bass lover's radar. It's not basshead level bass, but its bassy, and its fantastic!
Schiit Audio and Ether C
I listened to the Ether C with the new Mjolnir 2 and Gungnir multibit. It seemed to me that the Schiit stack is maybe a little more forward sounding overall, as I heard the Ether C elsewhere (maybe it was at Cavalli?) and it seemed a lot more relaxed that second time around. Either way, I think the Ether C is a fantastic closed headphone with amazing comfort, weight, and looks to complement its sound.
Now the Fulla and K7XX... that might end up being the combo I was most impressed with in the entire show. The entire setup is something along the lines of 3-400 bucks, and it really sounds great at that price. I think this might be my go to suggestion for my friends who are interested in spending some cash on audio.
Audeze
The LCD4 and The King pairing was quite a treat, and certainly my favorite at the show - it's also incredibly expensive of course. The combo sounds absolutely effortless. True to its Audeze name, the LCD4 reproduces bass like no other I've heard. Someone was telling me that they felt the Abyss is still better in the bass region, but I've never heard the Abyss and didn't really have any interest in doing so. So for now, the LCD4 is the king of bass for me. It extends like its a bottomless pit its authoritative and so damn punchy. The LCD4 is really quite a treat, and I'll be putting them on my head whenever I see one. In terms of its price tag... ... well that's a different story.
JH Audio
The first time I heard the Angie, I was really impressed. I really liked it. Second time around though wasn't so hot. The mids to me sounded just a bit hollowed out and thin. The Layla, however, was quite a treat. The legends that speak of its soundstage is true. The Laylas are very open sounding with a great sense of 3 dimensionality and great imaging. The adjustable bass on both products is really well done and very easy to use. While the prices are hard to swallow, I think it's not completely insane to consider getting a custom pair of them. For the universals though?... HA... no.
Sony
I got to hear the somewhat controversial MDR Z7 for the first time here, paired with the PHA3 to my ZX2 and I can see why its sort of a love it or hate it product (similar to my thoughts of the Nighthawk). It's no king in terms of its technical capabilities, but it's warm, punchy, and fun. I think we still need this kind of headphone even when it gets into the higher end of things. I do think that its 700 dollar asking price makes it a more difficult decision when it comes to purchasing it, but I would be pretty happy dropping a good 500 bucks on it.
As you can see from the picture, the Z7 was connected to the PHA3 by a Kimber Kable Axios. Without getting into debates or what nots, I will say that I could just feel that Axios all day. The 16 braids come together flawlessly and the build quality is really something incredible. Price on those cables and if their worth it... ... again... different story.
Sennheiser
Sennheiser does a lot of really awesome stuff. This is actually the first time I've gotten to try the HD650 and HD600 side by side, and I have to say I do enjoy the HD600 a bit more. Both are timeless masterpieces, but the HD600 has more of a fullness to the mids that just sounds more "right" to me. I honestly would be happy listening to both, and there's no doubt that these two deserve the popularity they've enjoyed for the past decade or so now(?)
Sennheiser's new products are also exciting! The Momentum 2 is a big step over the old Momentum, which I could never get myself to recommend to my friends because they just sounded a bit dull to me. Even cooler though, was my time spent with the new HD630VB. For me, the HD630VB is without a doubt the most well-implemented bass adjustment mechanism on a headphone. It goes from really bass light, to decently bassy. It's probably the most moderate bass adjustment I've used, and its super easy to use.
Head-Fi Booth
The man... the legend himself...
V-Moda
I got my first pair of headphones from V-Moda, and there's always a bit of nostalgia when I see the V-Moda booth. Their shields now are, of course, insanely gorgeous and artistic with the new 3D prints available. I was also quite impressed with the new Crossfade Wireless. The difference between wireless and wired is really close, and both are a step up from the M100 to me. I found the M100 to be a little shouty for me, while the Wireless retains all the bassy goodness that is V-moda while having quite a liquid sound to it.
P.S. Val Kolton EASILY wins for having the coolest business card on earth. He gave me a shield with his information engraved on it. How sick is that?
Fostex
I got to hear the TH900 paired with the new monster of an amp that is the HP-V8. While I didn't get to spend too much time here as there were lots of people waiting to hear the combo, I will say that it sounds beautiful. If you're looking for a really nice lush sound, these are worth a consideration. If you're more on the detail, Sennheiser HD800 camp, you might want to skip this one.
Meeting some really awesome people!
Astell and Kern
Unfortunately, I have to say I was a bit disappointed with the new earphone they collaborated with Beyerdynamic on. The bass was a bit boomy for me and wasn't particularly tight either. To me, the Unique Melody Merlins, which lacking quite a bit in soundstage in comparison, does an overall better job in creating a fun and bassy sound in an IEM.
1964 Ears/64 Audio
I spent a good amount of time with the folks at 64 Audio and they're absolutely awesome guys. After giving their line a listen, my favorite turned out to be the 10 driver U/A10. It's a bit more neutral in comparison to something like the U/A12, and to me is just a bit more transparent. While I'm unsure and perhaps skeptical on the whole protect your hearing idea, since BA drivers don't really move all that much air to start off with, I do have to say ADEL make a difference in sound. Turning the ADEL unit does more than just increase and decrease bass quantity by a tiny bit. It really gives the unit a great sense of openness while retaining the very good isolation you get from an in ear.
Ultimate Ears
And of course we have Ultimate Ears. They haven't come out with any new earphones in a while, but there are still some pretty cool things happening with them. The 3D scans are always fun to observe and the ability to switch between different earphones in real time without having to take them off and put them on is revolutionary to me and such a cool concept and idea.
Something new that hasn't really caught much press or attention but will soon, is the UE Line Drive which has been our for a few months I think. In a nutshell, consumers today expect their sources to be able to drive everything from the most sensitive IEMs to the beast that is the HE6. With the sensitivity and complex design of multi-driver IEMs along with the "do-it-all" driving power of recent players and products, sensitive multi-driver IEMs can experience inconsistencies in its sound from source to source due to impedance issues. The Line Drive is an impedance transformer that addresses that issue. I was somewhat skeptical of it since my DAPs have driven my IEMs just fine, but I was honestly really surprised by the results - and lots of people that stopped by the booth were also surprised by the results. AK240 owners didn't yield as significant results as the AK240 already drives IEMs fantastically well, but there was some DAPs, such as Fiio DAPs, that yielded some surprising results when paired with the Line Drive. Cool little product to look out for.
Others
There are some booths that I didn't get to take pictures of.
Unique Melody:
The Merlins were a surpise to me. Soundstage was a bit closed in to me, but they sounded like a whole lotta fun. The Maestro was also an interesting piece. The bass seemed a little anemic to me, but its midrange is very dynamic sounding and overall soundstage is also very respectable. I'll be getting a review unit of a UM IEM in the future at some point. UM was once quite popular but has since fallen out of flavor quite a bit, mostly due to customer service issues I think. It'll be interesting to see how they plan to impress the western market again.
Lotoo:
So Lotoo makes pretty ugly DAPs, and I've never really gave them a shot since their UI is so primitive in comparison to the likes of Sony, Apple, and Astell & Kern. But holy crap the Lotoo Gold sounds good. Like... really good. I talked to Xiao Qi, the rep for Lotoo for a good bit and it seems I may have the shot of getting some review units from him. If you have the money and don't care about UI too much, give these a shot. For me personally, as much as I love the sound, I can't see myself owning a Lotoo Gold... which is a bit unfortunate.
Aurisonics:
I was a bit lukewarm coming out of the Aurisonics booth. The new Forte and Harmony retains the nice warm and smooth Aurisonics sound, but I feel that the bass of them are lacking a bit in overall refinement. The impact was punchy, but lacked just a bit of tightness.
Again, I didn't get to spend too much time at each booth, so these are very brief impressions or even just extraneous thoughts that came to mind. A big thank you to everyone that made RMAF 2015 and awesome experience!
Noble Audio
Talking to Brannan is always a pleasure, and it's always inspiring to know that the co-owner of Noble is actually around your own age! I've gotten time to spend with almost all of the Noble products before, so there wasn't too much for me to see at this booth. I still respect the K10 and K10U for being a fantastically musical piece while producing a very nice amount of detail, but ultimately the signature is still just not quite for me. Talking to people around, it seems that the Savants are also quite liked. For me and my good buddy @money4me247 we both agreed from just some brief listening that the Savant is an fantastically well balanced piece.
Beyerdynamics
It's been so long since I've heard the original T1, so I can't really say how the T1 and T1.2 compare, but I can say that the T1.2 stays true to what people have said about the original T1. The soundstage is nice and open while having some fantastically capable imaging and a very 3D and holorgraphic feel to it. The treble also wasn't too harsh, and the bass had good weight too it without being all that boosted. If i recall properly, I would say that the treble is certainly less sharp than the T90 that I owned a while back.
HIFIMAN
The Edition X sounds good. Whether it's awesome or not now depends on its price. Compared to the HE1000, the Edition X seems to be more energetic sounding compared to the incredibly smooth and liquid HE1000. The treble has a good bit of sparkle to it and is really nice and crisp while the low end has a good bit of authority as well. I didn't have too much time with the Edition X, but I from my short time with it, I still found it fairly balanced.
Moon Audio
The Moon Audio booth is awesome because you can basically listen to everything here. The LCD-3 for me was an amazingly musical and clean experience, but somehow it was just insanely uncomfortable for me. The drivers would touch my ears, which seemed super weird to me since they earpads are thick as hell and my ears are also miniscule. I didn't have such an issue with the LCD4, so I'm not sure what was going on there.
It was at the Moon Audio booth that I also discovered that I prefer the closed back Ether and EL-8 to their open back counterparts, which is interesting because closed backs have generally not been my thing. In particular, the Ether C felt much more natural and organic to my ears compared to the Ethers, which I found a little peaky maybe in the upper mids and had an overall thin sound to it.
ALO Audio and Campfire Audio
The Studio Six is a beast and it's awesome (and expensive). connected to it, Ken had a few Campfire Audio over ear prototypes, and I think they're going in a very good direction. I completely forgot what Ken said when he explained the drivers to me, but both of them are quite exciting sounding to me. One of them is a bit boomy for me, but the other one really hits a sweet spot for me and I can't wait to get more information on it. They seem like they're gunna be portable headphones for the most part as they're built nicely with good form factor and comfort.
Out of the 3 Campfire IEMs, I think I was most surprised by the Lyra. This thing packs a big big punch in the bass - but it's clean, quality bass and I absolutely enjoyed it despite being someone that doesn't enjoy too much color in his music. Simply put it, I think the Lyra should be on every bass lover's radar. It's not basshead level bass, but its bassy, and its fantastic!
Schiit Audio and Ether C
I listened to the Ether C with the new Mjolnir 2 and Gungnir multibit. It seemed to me that the Schiit stack is maybe a little more forward sounding overall, as I heard the Ether C elsewhere (maybe it was at Cavalli?) and it seemed a lot more relaxed that second time around. Either way, I think the Ether C is a fantastic closed headphone with amazing comfort, weight, and looks to complement its sound.
Now the Fulla and K7XX... that might end up being the combo I was most impressed with in the entire show. The entire setup is something along the lines of 3-400 bucks, and it really sounds great at that price. I think this might be my go to suggestion for my friends who are interested in spending some cash on audio.
Audeze
The LCD4 and The King pairing was quite a treat, and certainly my favorite at the show - it's also incredibly expensive of course. The combo sounds absolutely effortless. True to its Audeze name, the LCD4 reproduces bass like no other I've heard. Someone was telling me that they felt the Abyss is still better in the bass region, but I've never heard the Abyss and didn't really have any interest in doing so. So for now, the LCD4 is the king of bass for me. It extends like its a bottomless pit its authoritative and so damn punchy. The LCD4 is really quite a treat, and I'll be putting them on my head whenever I see one. In terms of its price tag... ... well that's a different story.
JH Audio
The first time I heard the Angie, I was really impressed. I really liked it. Second time around though wasn't so hot. The mids to me sounded just a bit hollowed out and thin. The Layla, however, was quite a treat. The legends that speak of its soundstage is true. The Laylas are very open sounding with a great sense of 3 dimensionality and great imaging. The adjustable bass on both products is really well done and very easy to use. While the prices are hard to swallow, I think it's not completely insane to consider getting a custom pair of them. For the universals though?... HA... no.
Sony
I got to hear the somewhat controversial MDR Z7 for the first time here, paired with the PHA3 to my ZX2 and I can see why its sort of a love it or hate it product (similar to my thoughts of the Nighthawk). It's no king in terms of its technical capabilities, but it's warm, punchy, and fun. I think we still need this kind of headphone even when it gets into the higher end of things. I do think that its 700 dollar asking price makes it a more difficult decision when it comes to purchasing it, but I would be pretty happy dropping a good 500 bucks on it.
As you can see from the picture, the Z7 was connected to the PHA3 by a Kimber Kable Axios. Without getting into debates or what nots, I will say that I could just feel that Axios all day. The 16 braids come together flawlessly and the build quality is really something incredible. Price on those cables and if their worth it... ... again... different story.
Sennheiser
Sennheiser does a lot of really awesome stuff. This is actually the first time I've gotten to try the HD650 and HD600 side by side, and I have to say I do enjoy the HD600 a bit more. Both are timeless masterpieces, but the HD600 has more of a fullness to the mids that just sounds more "right" to me. I honestly would be happy listening to both, and there's no doubt that these two deserve the popularity they've enjoyed for the past decade or so now(?)
Sennheiser's new products are also exciting! The Momentum 2 is a big step over the old Momentum, which I could never get myself to recommend to my friends because they just sounded a bit dull to me. Even cooler though, was my time spent with the new HD630VB. For me, the HD630VB is without a doubt the most well-implemented bass adjustment mechanism on a headphone. It goes from really bass light, to decently bassy. It's probably the most moderate bass adjustment I've used, and its super easy to use.
Head-Fi Booth
The man... the legend himself...
V-Moda
I got my first pair of headphones from V-Moda, and there's always a bit of nostalgia when I see the V-Moda booth. Their shields now are, of course, insanely gorgeous and artistic with the new 3D prints available. I was also quite impressed with the new Crossfade Wireless. The difference between wireless and wired is really close, and both are a step up from the M100 to me. I found the M100 to be a little shouty for me, while the Wireless retains all the bassy goodness that is V-moda while having quite a liquid sound to it.
P.S. Val Kolton EASILY wins for having the coolest business card on earth. He gave me a shield with his information engraved on it. How sick is that?
Fostex
I got to hear the TH900 paired with the new monster of an amp that is the HP-V8. While I didn't get to spend too much time here as there were lots of people waiting to hear the combo, I will say that it sounds beautiful. If you're looking for a really nice lush sound, these are worth a consideration. If you're more on the detail, Sennheiser HD800 camp, you might want to skip this one.
Meeting some really awesome people!
Astell and Kern
Unfortunately, I have to say I was a bit disappointed with the new earphone they collaborated with Beyerdynamic on. The bass was a bit boomy for me and wasn't particularly tight either. To me, the Unique Melody Merlins, which lacking quite a bit in soundstage in comparison, does an overall better job in creating a fun and bassy sound in an IEM.
1964 Ears/64 Audio
I spent a good amount of time with the folks at 64 Audio and they're absolutely awesome guys. After giving their line a listen, my favorite turned out to be the 10 driver U/A10. It's a bit more neutral in comparison to something like the U/A12, and to me is just a bit more transparent. While I'm unsure and perhaps skeptical on the whole protect your hearing idea, since BA drivers don't really move all that much air to start off with, I do have to say ADEL make a difference in sound. Turning the ADEL unit does more than just increase and decrease bass quantity by a tiny bit. It really gives the unit a great sense of openness while retaining the very good isolation you get from an in ear.
Ultimate Ears
And of course we have Ultimate Ears. They haven't come out with any new earphones in a while, but there are still some pretty cool things happening with them. The 3D scans are always fun to observe and the ability to switch between different earphones in real time without having to take them off and put them on is revolutionary to me and such a cool concept and idea.
Something new that hasn't really caught much press or attention but will soon, is the UE Line Drive which has been our for a few months I think. In a nutshell, consumers today expect their sources to be able to drive everything from the most sensitive IEMs to the beast that is the HE6. With the sensitivity and complex design of multi-driver IEMs along with the "do-it-all" driving power of recent players and products, sensitive multi-driver IEMs can experience inconsistencies in its sound from source to source due to impedance issues. The Line Drive is an impedance transformer that addresses that issue. I was somewhat skeptical of it since my DAPs have driven my IEMs just fine, but I was honestly really surprised by the results - and lots of people that stopped by the booth were also surprised by the results. AK240 owners didn't yield as significant results as the AK240 already drives IEMs fantastically well, but there was some DAPs, such as Fiio DAPs, that yielded some surprising results when paired with the Line Drive. Cool little product to look out for.
Others
There are some booths that I didn't get to take pictures of.
Unique Melody:
The Merlins were a surpise to me. Soundstage was a bit closed in to me, but they sounded like a whole lotta fun. The Maestro was also an interesting piece. The bass seemed a little anemic to me, but its midrange is very dynamic sounding and overall soundstage is also very respectable. I'll be getting a review unit of a UM IEM in the future at some point. UM was once quite popular but has since fallen out of flavor quite a bit, mostly due to customer service issues I think. It'll be interesting to see how they plan to impress the western market again.
Lotoo:
So Lotoo makes pretty ugly DAPs, and I've never really gave them a shot since their UI is so primitive in comparison to the likes of Sony, Apple, and Astell & Kern. But holy crap the Lotoo Gold sounds good. Like... really good. I talked to Xiao Qi, the rep for Lotoo for a good bit and it seems I may have the shot of getting some review units from him. If you have the money and don't care about UI too much, give these a shot. For me personally, as much as I love the sound, I can't see myself owning a Lotoo Gold... which is a bit unfortunate.
Aurisonics:
I was a bit lukewarm coming out of the Aurisonics booth. The new Forte and Harmony retains the nice warm and smooth Aurisonics sound, but I feel that the bass of them are lacking a bit in overall refinement. The impact was punchy, but lacked just a bit of tightness.
Again, I didn't get to spend too much time at each booth, so these are very brief impressions or even just extraneous thoughts that came to mind. A big thank you to everyone that made RMAF 2015 and awesome experience!
