[Makiah S]

Yes, and it was definitely worth a listen. The driver placement makes them extremely interesting and it will impress most at the price range they were aiming for. Of course, it was a 3D-printed prototype, but oh boy was it fun to hear.

I think Axel still has his Midas touch with these headphones.

A lot of Metal music struggles with the mid-range being very busy, but the acoustic space allows the separation of instruments so it doesn't have that problem when presented with the challenge.

IMO.
-Dylan

No the prototype isn’t the Heavies(Heavy’s?) headphone, that design is closer to completion, the prototype, afaik, will be launched under Grell Audio

 

[mere11di]

I think we sat together in the ZMF room when you were testing two headphones back and forth blasting metal music and controlling my source lol happy you found what you were looking for!

Most likely yes, I think I asked what kind of music you wanted to listen to. Also sorry for such a late reply, just now figured out how to reply lol

 

[catscratch]

Some people might have a very different view of what could be called "improved version".
Just to give you an example: most people seem to be raving about the spatiality of certain headphones, while a guy who makes recordings told me: "That does little to no effort to preserve the tone and spatiality of what I recorded and mixed, this one does!" Prices are completely meaningless to him. If something sounds more in line with how he recorded it (with more detail, etc.), it is regarded highly.
That knowledge that I've absorbed over 10 years ago is what helped to guide me to at least see a light at the end of the road. The problem is that is his one and only judgement, and it does not cover too much, because other people have different idea of what's good or not regarding recording etc. But nevertheless, it is still important. At least afterwards, I had more of a grip on how certain type of gear causes a significant shift in tonality, and what I can accept from that as "good". Before that, I was judging in pitch dark (some good, some bad). In reality, I didn't have much clue as to how to interpret what I am hearing, e.g. what I "should be hearing".
It's sort of like watching pictures on a screen, which is out of calibration - but you don't know that.

At the end of the day, what is called "right" or "wrong" is anyone's own opinion.
But if one has no keystone, he can find it (maybe by live music, etc.) - or just judge everything by what he reads or hears maybe that's still the the most important thing - the choice is anyone's.
(And I oppose to measurement-based conclusions, for me, their best use is to test where I am at with what I'm hearing.)

I had a moment like that when I heard Dark Side of the Moon in the mastering lab of the guy who mastered it... while his Grammy for it was right there on the shelf. It definitely dispelled a lot of illusions, since I knew the recording pretty well and could finally hear how it was supposed to sound.

Of course in headphones, this is not really possible since the sound isn't going to be consistent from person to person, so even if the mastering engineer himself says "this is correct" you don't really know what he's hearing or how it relates you what you're hearing. You can talk about it, but in the end you only get so much.

But if you have a reference point, at least on neutral speakers, then you can get headphones that match that reference - to you - and more or less know that you're on the right track.

And for the record, I was really surprised by just how warm and lush that system was. It was definitely closer to the HD650/SR-007 side of things than HD800/SR-009. Bright isn't always right.

 

[ralphp@optonline]

will be launched under Grell Audio

And Drop is involved somehow. So perhaps a Grell/Drop product which will be sold through Drop.

 

[mere11di]

First Canjam, new Head-fier, great write-up of impressions AND walks away with a stunning blue Ltd Caldera? That’s some Rookie of the Year stuff right there!

Thank you! Just now figuring out how to reply on here lol, can’t wait for my camphor Burl verite open arriving tomorrow. As Zach knows, he’s got me hooked.

 

[kilkil]

Sadly, I didn't get to hear the HE-1, but nfn it is also a fact that people are psychologically pre-disposed to love something that has a $60k price tag and is widely believed to be "the best" headphone in the world. Whether it IS or not, I have no idea. But human psychology would suggest that if you tell everyone that HE-1 is "the best" headphone before they listen to it, an awful lot of people will hear exactly what you tell them they're going to hear in their 5 minutes with it.

Either way, if you didn't hear "the best headphone in the world" then lucky for you, you still have a chance to chase YOUR "best" headphone.

I would have loved to hear it, even though I expect it to be good, I am definitely not pre-disposed to love it. I'm quite picky with what I love and I know what I love (amazing midrange, lots of detail, and highly controlled bass) and it isn't what everyone loves.

With that said, $60k if obviously ridiculously expensive, though if i listened to it and fell in love with it (more than my SoundLab speakers and AKG K1000) then I'll likely find a way to acquire it.

 

[dleblanc343]

Howdy y’all, this was my first canjam and man was it memorable. Appreciate everyone for being so wonderful and letting me hear some amazing gear.

Susvara: I had long awaited to hear this one and it exceeded my expectations, I feel as if I’m in the recording studio


Nightjar meteor, singularity, Helios se, subatomic storm: @Chang you have an incredible knack for making some amazing sounding iems, thank you to @wazzupi for getting me in contact with him


Atrium closed: favorite zmf closed back, vocals are so organic and it has a bit more low end than the open


Bought an Ltd caldera thanks to @zach915m


Thank you to @wazzupi for letting me try the Damascus steel noble audio iem

Other products I loved but didn’t have a picture of: shangri la sr, stax sr x9000, dca expanse, maestro se, Meze elite, abyss Diana tc, 64 audio fourte blanc, unreleased modhouse planar magnetic, empire ears bravado mk2

Thank you to everyone who made my trip one for the books, can’t wait for Dallas canjam!

woo hoo, that photo turned out awesome and I take full credit in being the photographer

It was fun meeting you complete stranger and the Caldera you picked is insanely beautiful.

Everything you mention I’m also a huge fan of — good ears

 

[Menkau-ra]

 

[eddie0817]

Haha, ya should only need Medium Gain on our HeadAmp GS-X MK2!

Just saw this, I am also a big fans of headamp

 

[Halimj7]

Did you get to try the wb2022? Thoughts?

Did anyone try these?

 

[JerseyD]

Thank you! Just now figuring out how to reply on here lol, can’t wait for my camphor Burl verite open arriving tomorrow. As Zach knows, he’s got me hooked.

So you bought the blue Caldera there and ordered a Verite, too? Nice. I also ordered a camphor burl Verite open exactly a month ago. Still patiently waiting!

 

[goldwerger]

Bought an Ltd caldera thanks to @zach915m

Awesome pair you got.. congrats!

Very nice meeting you, and welcome to the CanJam community

 

[wolfstar76]

My first CanJam and I really enjoyed the experience. On arrival I bee-lined to ZMF's room to try some amps with my Atrium.



It was a popular destination and the background noise kept us from getting critical listening but I did have fun with the following:


This is their new prototype collaboration with JDS Labs. The XLR connection was not wired up but it sounded good on the other connection. I'll definitely keep an eye on it if they use various wood casings later in the development. The Atrium-Closed were a big attraction and I enjoyed the sound on the Bottlehead. Check out those caps!
I have a Decware on order from last year and still patiently waiting for the assembly since their back-order is a long list. The Caldera sounded nice (Atrium even better) on the Decware that ZMF brought so it made me glad that my patience will be worth it.



My first listen with an electro-stat, very interesting. Vioelectric/Lake People/Nimbus had a nice array of gear and as a bonus Fostex was teamed with them.
The Meze Elite with the Feliks Euforia EVO was a beautiful experience w/o having to pay about $8K. Also visited Woo Audio to try the WA-22 but they did not have one there. They did have an older WA2 paired with a Sennheiser 660 and it sounded fantastic. T+A (Theory and Application) had some nice gear. My wife joked that the acronym reminds her of the other "T 'n A" reference so I explained the definition since I'm now an audio nerd.




So much to see and try and not enough time. My focus was on amps and headphones. Even with that limited scope I think it would take 3 days to fully experience all the audio gear not including all the IEM vendors that were there. I could only visit for today and maybe hit 10% of all the exhibits. I'll be back next year and make more time.
Other highlights were arriving the evening before the event and seeing Lady Liberty and a nice sunset over Jersey from the Empire State Building with my wife. Sat in on the informative seminar with Fried Heim on balanced circuitry. Then toward the end of the day Zach @zach915m from ZMF came out to the break area outside of the exhibit hall and we had a nice chat. I told him how much I've enjoyed his work, especially the Atrium, and his superb customer service. He appreciated that and it topped off a great day.

Nice report, BTW, which Decware model did you order for your Atrium?

 

[Daveshast]

Howdy y’all, this was my first canjam and man was it memorable. Appreciate everyone for being so wonderful and letting me hear some amazing gear.

Susvara: I had long awaited to hear this one and it exceeded my expectations, I feel as if I’m in the recording studio



Nightjar meteor, singularity, Helios se, subatomic storm: @Chang you have an incredible knack for making some amazing sounding iems, thank you to @wazzupi for getting me in contact with him



Atrium closed: favorite zmf closed back, vocals are so organic and it has a bit more low end than the open



Bought an Ltd caldera thanks to @zach915m



Thank you to @wazzupi for letting me try the Damascus steel noble audio iem


Other products I loved but didn’t have a picture of: shangri la sr, stax sr x9000, dca expanse, maestro se, Meze elite, abyss Diana tc, 64 audio fourte blanc, unreleased modhouse planar magnetic, empire ears bravado mk2

Thank you to everyone who made my trip one for the books, can’t wait for Dallas canjam!

I would love to attend a Dallas Canjam!

 

[willd3]

I would have loved to hear it, even though I expect it to be good, I am definitely not pre-disposed to love it. I'm quite picky with what I love and I know what I love (amazing midrange, lots of detail, and highly controlled bass) and it isn't what everyone loves.

With that said, $60k if obviously ridiculously expensive, though if i listened to it and fell in love with it (more than my SoundLab speakers and AKG K1000) then I'll likely find a way to acquire it.

Seeing that you have SoundLab and Quads, I'm surprised that you don't have a KSE1200. I've never heard the AKG K1000, but I'm thinking it would be close to the Raal. Nice equipment!