My son (HeadFanatic) and I arrived late yesterday, but the show was still going until past 7PM, instead of the usual 6PM, so we still got to see a few things. We're heading out to breakfast now to try out as much as we can today, and we're here tomorrow as well.
I got to try out the latest revision of the HiFiMan Edition-X and thought they were very good. Via iPhone and iPhone with CCK + CEntrance DACportable they had good bass extension, full rich mids, and a nice treble shimmer up top. They sounded fairly open and expansive, but the show is too noisy to consider a more extensive review or comparison with all the things going on around that leaks in. Regardless, we'd both like to own a pair.
The HE-1000 V2 also sounded very good via the new balanced amplifier, but I only had time to give them a cursory examination - I appreciated the thinner ear cups with thicker more comfortable cushions, and they seem lighter than my original HE-1000. I'm not convinced the Shangri-La electrostatic system is a huge improvement, but they also sounded very nice. Again, I only gave them a cursory examination until today or tomorrow.
I spent some time prior to the HiFIMan booth at JH Audio, and came away impressed as well. The demo version of the JH16Pro V2 vs my JH16Pro freqphase showed a similar bass and midrange, but the V2 had a little better treble presence and sparkle in cymbals with zero sibilance from either. I kinda wish that I also had the two treble drivers in mine too, because I came away feeling that my pair are slightly dark in comparison.
Out of my CEntrance DACportable and the AK240 DAP my Roxanne sounded a lot like the JH16Pro V2, but with the ability to crank the bass way up with the pots on the headphone cable on my Roxanne, and a more expansive soundstage to go with it. I tried the new 3 driver IEM that I think is like an improved version of a Westone 3 in a custom, without the treble issues that the W3 can have with the wrong tips. They had very strong bass like a Roxanne without over-doing it, with full mids and smooth treble. I think they will be a big hit in the lower price point custom IEM, and elimate the need for the JH5 and 7 etc.
I should mention that the CEntrance DAportable is fantastic with my Roxanne, as well as every other IEM I've tried, and yesterday I didn't bring my beloved HiFi-M8 out with me since it's bigger and I wasn't trying out desktop headphone with my rig. Today I'll have both with me, but the DACportable could be your only portable DAC/amp if it came down to it. It can just about drive the HD600 but not quite as powerfully as the HiFi-M8 that's 4-5x bigger. It might struggle with some of the previous generation planar magnetics, and I plan to try some out today.
I'll try to remember pictures today.
Okay, to continue with my impressions from today:
I listened to the
Audeze iSine10 planar magnetic IEM, and really enjoyed them - they were fun and punchy and musical with good presence and treble to go with them, and didn't make me feel too isolated like I was in a soundless vacuum on the moon. Sometimes you don't want to wear a full size headphone and speakers are not appropriate, but you need to be aware of your surroundings and don't want the isolation of an IEM, and these IEM fit the bill.
I have a heavily modified Stax SRM-001 Mk2 with Blackgates and Vcaps and upgraded opamps that I use in those situations when I want an open-back IEM, but they make my ear canals itch when inserted so deeply so that they stay in, so I have to use the optional headband to hold them lightly in place - the Audeze are much more comfortable and convenient with their ear hooks.
It can be a big problem trying to evaluate any open headphone (and many closed ones) in a noisy environment like the CanJam @ RMAF show, but first impressions are important, and these pass the 1st test despite the noise. When I listened to a couple of sets of Ultrasone's closed headphones today, they let certain frequencies of sound through in the upper mids that tainted the sound of anything that I was listening to, giving them a "cupped hands" midrange that they might not have in a quite environment. Or they were replicating what an unmodded HFI-780 would do without the extra dampening and cable that ALO Audio was installing. Without a quiet room, I can't know which it was, but I didn't hear any such colorations with the Audeze IEM, or HE-1000, Edition-X, and Focal Utopia for example.
What I did notice with the Audeze IEM was that on some music, like Josephine Cronholm "Wild Garden", that the acoustic string bass bass became overwhelming and muddied, until we reduced the bass from 125Hz and below by 6-8dB via the Audeze EQ app. Then it was great again. Yet with other songs, like Jack Johnson "All at Once" and "What you Thought you Need" the balance was perfect and the bass was fast and sharp and punchy with no mush. Having a DSP in the lightning cable to reprogram the sound on the fly via the app is huge advantage, as the iPhone's software EQ has never been it's strong point.
Their price point at just under $600 seems very fair considering that you get the 3.5mm jack cable, the lightning cable, EQ software, and two methods of retention in the ear; but if I'm looking for the best sound in a universal fit IEM I still prefer the Westone W60 and W80 more, as well as some of the higher end Fender (aka Aurisonics) IEM (which I'll get to later). I'd love to review these and see if they prove me wrong. There is a cheaper $399 version I believe, but I wasn't interested after hearing the slightly more expensive version.
I hate to say this but while I've enjoyed Audeze full-size headphones, they haven't been at the top of my list, and when the LCD-4 came out I was disappointed with what seemed like too much bass and not enough treble for my tastes. I've stuck with my LCD-2 V2.2 and never upgraded past that because they're at a good price point, while the LCD-3 price was just silly to me (at the time they came out). In general, I've preferred the HiFiMan HE-500, HE-560, HE-6, and HE-1000 just a little more than the equivalent Audeze headphones, but in no way would I say the Audeze don't sound nice - it's just my personal preference and the synergy with my amps and ears (and brain).
Speaking of
Westone IEM, I already have the W60 and ES60 and love them dearly. The new Westone W80 with the star-tips sounded very good via iPhone 6S+ and CEntrance HiFi-M8 amp set for 2 ohm output impedance. With the HiFi-M8 output impedance set for 1 ohm they got a little bright (improved by different tips), but with the 10 ohm output impedance setting they became warmer and less bright, which was the setting that my 18 year old son preferred. I'm told my iPhone 6s+ has a 5 ohm output impedance, which maybe explains why they sound good from the iPhone and the higher impedance settings of the HiFi-M8. Typically the "star tips" are best with my Westone 4R.
I couldn't find my Westone W60 to compare with the W80 until after we got back to the hotel room tonight, so tomorrow I can compare them side by side. I'd say from memory that both are on par with many custom IEM, beating my UE11Pro for balance and control. I'm not sure how they'd compare to my ES3X customs, which I've always described as an "HD800 in an IEM". The W80 mids are fuller and richer than my JH13Pro, and remind me of my ES5, ES60, and JH16 Pro Freqphase, but with better treble presence than the JH16Pro (treble similar to the JH16Pro V2 that I heard). When I tried a beta Unique Melody 12 driver universal IEM it was very exciting sounding with incredible bass, but hampered by some sibilance that they must have felt was unique to my ears. And while many IEM like that sound great but have a single flaw that holds them back, I haven't noticed that with the W60, ES60, and W80 yet.
We went back to
HiFiMan and tried the Edition-X V2 with our HiFi-M8's and they were even more impressive than with the DACportable. In contrast, the Edition-X V1 last year were too easy to over-drive or overpower with an amp, and although we wanted more volume than an iPhone could provide last year, the sound was better when un-amped. Now the Edition-X sound good with or without an amp. That being said, the EF-1000 amp is very nice sounding. I had a few glitches using the volume control, and meant to ask Fang what caused the volume to jump down suddenly if I turned the knob at the wrong speed. I like that it's got enough power for my HE-60, or 50 watts for speakers or an electrostatic tranformer to drive my HE-60. It's very powerful and large for a headphone amp, but it's really more like a 50-watt speaker amp with external power supply, that just happens to drive headphones really well. Not sure where my photo comparing it to the size of my iPhone 6+ went.
The
Focal Utopia at the Moon-Audio table are on my wish list, and up there with the HE-1000 V2, but they seemed more "fun" and less "audiophile" than an HD800s - which is a good thing. They may have a little more impact than both the HD-800s and the HE-1000 V2, but I can't promise when I haven't done an A/B comparison. I listened to the HD-800s at the Sennheiser booth, and with their amp I can't say that I hear anything different from my old un-modded ones from the 1st batch and hand delivered to me at CanJam LA 2009.
We stopped by the
Fender booth, and spent time with Dale Lott (formerly Aurisonics) where we tried a few of their multidriver universal fit IEM. They were as good or better than the proto-type I tried two years ago, and the 2 driver BA IEM for $299 was pretty good for the price point, with good bass, mids and treble, although in complex musical passages they could get a little congested like some single BA IEM. We were disappointed that the excellent "Rocket" IEM from Aurisonics hasn't been approved for production yet, and would like to see that brought back soon.
We also went to visit
CEntrance and they're showing off a prototype of a bluetooth and Airplay compatible speaker that sounds great and will be able to be synchronized with other multiple speakers placed in different rooms around the house. They continue to focus on the DACport HD, DACportable, and HiFi-Skyn while re-designing the features and form factors of previous products like the DACmini PX (looking to add wireless and make compatible with the new network speakers).
We also visited
Audioengine, whom I've been recently really enjoying their wonderful B1 bluetooth up-sampling DAC (analog and optical out), and new A2+ powered speakers with USB DAC that sound better than my original A2. We own all of their DACs and most of their powered speakers, and there isn't a one that we don't like - we find the D1 DAC to be a nice budget DAC/amp with USB and Optical input, where the D2 is an audiophile quality wireless DAC with optical and USB inputs + optical and analog outputs whose performance is very close to my CEntrance DACmini. And the D2 blows away the Apple Airport Express via optical or analog in every way, making it one of the better options for wireless playback from a source that isn't close to the amp.
They previously put out the HD6 speakers that are A5 sized but with digital, analog, and wireless inputs. At the time I needed smaller speakers, and passed on picking up a set. Now they have the new HD3 speakers that offers an A2 sized version of the HD6, and I'm looking forward to getting a pair to review. With USB, optical and Bluetooth input, these can pair with a TV set in the bedroom for watching movies, or listening to your music from an iPhone or laptop, taking up minimal space but giving a good soundstage and imaging.
We played around in the
NAD + PSB room, and listened to a wonderful 80 watt x2
NAD wireless receiver/amp setup (I believe the C 368 with a network adapter in the MDC slot), with a pair of
PSB Imagine Mini bookshelf speakers on stands and a very impressive
PSB SubSeries 450 12" DSP controlled subwoofer with two 10" passive radiators. We were completely blown away by what you can do with a 2-channel rig for $3,500, including everything but the network server that's storing your music and made available via SAMBA. No need for a DLNA or uPNP server, Twonky, Firelfly, Mediatomb, or PLEX to make it work. Just their own app for iPhone/iPad that can find the music on your network when you log in.
I already have the PSB Imagine Mini bookshelf demo speakers from RMAF a few years back, having said they sounded better than their mini-tower speakers, and I have them paired with 2x 10" subwoofers in my bedroom (a 10" Velodyne + 10" Polk PSW-10), driven by a Sony STR-DN540 AVR. This PSB subwoofer is the best $1500 or below Sub that I've ever heard, with room filling bass presence and impact, but it's 4x more expensive than my best subwoofer in the house. I've always skimped on subs if you think about it, where my best one is the $500 Paradigm PS-1000 in the home theater, but this PSB subwoofer proved to me that they don't all have flaws like chuffing ports, or cone breakup, or clipping at high impact levels. The bass was incredibly deep and rich, with tremendous deep extension, and sounded like two 12" or high power 15" but with the speed of a 10". Now that I've heard what my own bookshelf speakers can sound like with the right subwoofer, it's definitely on my list - I might even sell a watch to help pay for it.
We also spent some time listening in the
Benchmark + Martin Logan Room, and listened to the Impression ESL 11A of which I liked the soundstage and detail, but thought the dual 8" woofers sounded slightly closed like a typical acoustic suspension woofer. You can use a microphone to have the speakers tune the self-powered bass drivers to your listening position, but I guess I wasn't in the right spot. But the midrange and treble was very good. If had to choose, and price was no option, I'd still pick the NAD + PSB setup which is 4-5x cheaper as a whole, unless I could tune the bass to fix the coloration, and I'd still want the PSB subwoofer.
I was supposed to listen to the HiFiMan Shangri-La electrostatic system right before closing at 7PM, when the room would be quieter, but when I got back to the CanJam tent before 6:30PM they were gone. In fact, almost everyone was shutting down by then, even though the show was going strong at 7PM the day before. So, I'll just have to suck it up and spend some time with it tomorrow before it's too late, despite the noise. There's a great photo posted earlier. This takes up a lot of desk space.
I'll have to listen to the Mr Speakers Stats around the same time while the memory is still fresh in my mind, and see how they compare. And I want to find the Shure electrostatic IEM and give them a try for fun. Lately I just haven't been too into electrostatic systems that can't drive all my IEM and other regular headphones, having kept only my Sennheiser HE-60/HEV-70, plus a few vintage Stax and transformers to use with my Eddie Current ZDT amp. I sold the KGBH, KGSS, SR-007, and SR-009 a couple of years ago for just enough money to pay for one semester at Duke University for my daughter. And now that I have all THREE of the kids in college, I'm not planning any big purchases right now. Listening to the Stats is just educational, not research before buying.
