Try it on the Lina.Just had a listen to Spirit Centauri Planar
I found it warm and sibilant. Not sure if the pairing with AudioGd amp was wrong or DAC had an issue as I don’t know what DAC they were on or if it was AudioGd wasa DAC Amp
CanJam NYC 2023 Impressions Thread (February 25-26, 2023)
- Thread starter AxelCloris
- Start date
Well, I showed up late and left early, and didn't get to try everything I wanted to.
But glad I got to try the Holo May + Bliss and the dcs Lina stack. Holo May was quite nice in NOS mode. OS modes were underwhelming.
DCS Lina really surprised me as I didn't know what to expect out of a $30k stack. But everything I plugged in--even headphones I wasn't impressed with before like the 1266 and Utopia--sounded immaculate, especially the Utopias. Hoping to play around with it some more tomorrow.
TEAC's were very nice too, I thought. Given how much I liked that DCS Lina stack and TEAC's, I'm wondering if maybe there's something to external clocks.
HD660S2 was interesting, but quite different than the HD660S, at least more than I was expecting. A lot more bass and treble with faster transients.
MM-500's were okay. Didn't try the LCD-5's today, but seems like an easier-going, more relaxed LCD-5 going by memory.
ZMF Caldera was kinda disappointing tbh (edit: it was off of one of the Woo Audio amps, IIRC). Auteur(?) closed was pretty nice. Hoping to try more ZMF tomorrow.
(EDIT: Day 2, I tried the Calderas again on the Lina stack. I had a much better experience with the Calderas and it was among my favorite pairings.)
And wow at some of the Stax. There were times I nearly jumped out of my seat because I thought someone started playing the guitar just a couple of feet from my head.
But unlike last year, I didn't go in with any plans to buy something... except maybe Cayin RU6. Was hoping to try that but didn't see any around.
EDIT: Just saw someone mention Audio-GD. Can you tell me what booth? I'd love to try more Audio-GD gear (I love my r2r-11mk2, and that's why I'm not really looking to buy anything else atm, except maybe more Audio-GD stuff =P).
But glad I got to try the Holo May + Bliss and the dcs Lina stack. Holo May was quite nice in NOS mode. OS modes were underwhelming.
DCS Lina really surprised me as I didn't know what to expect out of a $30k stack. But everything I plugged in--even headphones I wasn't impressed with before like the 1266 and Utopia--sounded immaculate, especially the Utopias. Hoping to play around with it some more tomorrow.
TEAC's were very nice too, I thought. Given how much I liked that DCS Lina stack and TEAC's, I'm wondering if maybe there's something to external clocks.
HD660S2 was interesting, but quite different than the HD660S, at least more than I was expecting. A lot more bass and treble with faster transients.
MM-500's were okay. Didn't try the LCD-5's today, but seems like an easier-going, more relaxed LCD-5 going by memory.
ZMF Caldera was kinda disappointing tbh (edit: it was off of one of the Woo Audio amps, IIRC). Auteur(?) closed was pretty nice. Hoping to try more ZMF tomorrow.
(EDIT: Day 2, I tried the Calderas again on the Lina stack. I had a much better experience with the Calderas and it was among my favorite pairings.)
And wow at some of the Stax. There were times I nearly jumped out of my seat because I thought someone started playing the guitar just a couple of feet from my head.
But unlike last year, I didn't go in with any plans to buy something... except maybe Cayin RU6. Was hoping to try that but didn't see any around.
EDIT: Just saw someone mention Audio-GD. Can you tell me what booth? I'd love to try more Audio-GD gear (I love my r2r-11mk2, and that's why I'm not really looking to buy anything else atm, except maybe more Audio-GD stuff =P).
Last edited:
No skills can save that cup design
It was too bright and a smaller soundstage. It could be the dac or source though I guess. Plus it’s real hard to get a good impression on the show floor, given the noise. I may try to listen to it again tomorrow. Hopefully it won’t be as loud
obzilla
1000+ Head-Fier
I can’t see it being any less than than v2 or TC, depending which driver they’re using
briantrinh86
100+ Head-Fier
looking forward to hearing your impression of diana closed
Contrails
500+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2013
- Posts
- 989
- Likes
- 861
@Ciggavelli did you ask Woo about their 3ES amp and their false advertising?
- Joined
- Jul 9, 2008
- Posts
- 825
- Likes
- 79
some quick observations before dinner:
1. EAR micro blew me away with their T10, which are wireless and have the DAC and DSP in the tiny earpieces. The soundstage was fantastic on everything I heard.
Their focus, besides sound, is the luxury market with custom charger units that have to be seen to be described, like something from hogwarts, and the basic carbon version of the charger is about $3k with the sky the limit for customization (not my thing). The engineering is outstanding with claimed 300m bluetooth range supporting up to 24/96. This was absolutely unique, very techie but also great sounding. Apparently, the ear pieces can be opened with one screw and the battery and/or dac/dsp can be changed or upgraded in the future.
2. My best sound of show, hands down, was the Meze Elite and the Viva 845-based headphone amp. The soundstage and detail were incredible, enough so that I feel I'll have to consider this a real contender versus my stax009/T2 combination (yes, blasphemy from a 50 year stax user) today. Even with roon on an Aurender, the sound was exceptional, and I hate roon.
3. Justin's new Grand Canyon amplifier (prototype) is definitely a TOTL contender for electrostatics. I didn't have a chance to A/B with the BHSE but there definitely seemed to be improved bass.
4. I got to hear the Chord Dave and Upscaler, which I've always enjoyed in the past. First, Roon had streaming problems and kept stopping. Then I tried to use my USB stick, and roon was unable to load it even though the macbook pro could see it. Finally, we shut down roon (did i mention that i hate roon?) and played the USB stick with the output going directly from the macbook pro to the upscaler, whew............ As in past listening, the upscaler/dave combo is impressive. This time, I came with a special set of my test tracks, one in 16/44 WAV and a 2nd version upscaled to 768k via PGGB (thank you @austinpop). So the first case uses the chord upscaler while the second has the upscaling done by pggb offline, using parameters optimized by a group of expert pggb users who own dave dacs. In every case, the pggb files sound better to me than the 16/44 upscaled by the chord upscaler, more detail, better soundstage and depth. It was very nice with the chord upscaler but even better with pggb files. Of course, pggb files are HUGE and require massive storage compared with 16/44 files.
5. I really wanted to hear some of the OTL amps in the Bloom audio room, but it was too crowded and i never got a seat
1. EAR micro blew me away with their T10, which are wireless and have the DAC and DSP in the tiny earpieces. The soundstage was fantastic on everything I heard.
Their focus, besides sound, is the luxury market with custom charger units that have to be seen to be described, like something from hogwarts, and the basic carbon version of the charger is about $3k with the sky the limit for customization (not my thing). The engineering is outstanding with claimed 300m bluetooth range supporting up to 24/96. This was absolutely unique, very techie but also great sounding. Apparently, the ear pieces can be opened with one screw and the battery and/or dac/dsp can be changed or upgraded in the future.
2. My best sound of show, hands down, was the Meze Elite and the Viva 845-based headphone amp. The soundstage and detail were incredible, enough so that I feel I'll have to consider this a real contender versus my stax009/T2 combination (yes, blasphemy from a 50 year stax user) today. Even with roon on an Aurender, the sound was exceptional, and I hate roon.
3. Justin's new Grand Canyon amplifier (prototype) is definitely a TOTL contender for electrostatics. I didn't have a chance to A/B with the BHSE but there definitely seemed to be improved bass.
4. I got to hear the Chord Dave and Upscaler, which I've always enjoyed in the past. First, Roon had streaming problems and kept stopping. Then I tried to use my USB stick, and roon was unable to load it even though the macbook pro could see it. Finally, we shut down roon (did i mention that i hate roon?) and played the USB stick with the output going directly from the macbook pro to the upscaler, whew............ As in past listening, the upscaler/dave combo is impressive. This time, I came with a special set of my test tracks, one in 16/44 WAV and a 2nd version upscaled to 768k via PGGB (thank you @austinpop). So the first case uses the chord upscaler while the second has the upscaling done by pggb offline, using parameters optimized by a group of expert pggb users who own dave dacs. In every case, the pggb files sound better to me than the 16/44 upscaled by the chord upscaler, more detail, better soundstage and depth. It was very nice with the chord upscaler but even better with pggb files. Of course, pggb files are HUGE and require massive storage compared with 16/44 files.
5. I really wanted to hear some of the OTL amps in the Bloom audio room, but it was too crowded and i never got a seat
Last edited:
I'm not 100% sure. All the stuff in the Stax room, I guess =P.I like that description on the Stax
What amps did you try the Stax with?
Spawn300Z
1000+ Head-Fier
I heard the new closed back was being based of the TC.
It's really not. The cups are very solid and textured. Feels quality in the hand, and not so heavy as to be uncomfortable. Anyway, this model is still a prototype.
I definitely noticed those Viva amps. They look crazy. Didn't try them today but I'll put those on my list for tomorrow.
Users who are viewing this thread
