[HiFiHawaii808]

That WA23 with the Expanse was just so great. I got to try when there were only a few people in the room, so didn’t have to worry about room noise. And the DCS Lina was a big let down with the Expanse. If I ever have a lot of spare cash, the WA23 would be my next purchase.

I liked the Expanse. I like it much more than Stealth. However, when I heard Solitaire P, I decided that was the headphone for me.

 

[eruilluvitar]

However, when I heard Solitaire P, I decided that was the headphone for me.

Aah, I didn't get a chance to hear that one! I'll put it on my list for NYC

 

[DenverW]

I liked the Expanse. I like it much more than Stealth. However, when I heard Solitaire P, I decided that was the headphone for me.

That one was up there with the susvara and caldera as highlights of the show for me.

Goodness, what a handsome man that is behind Zach!

 

[tamleo]

Where was The design team??

 

[Rebel Chris]

Haha, it would make the dCS to expansive

 

[hifixman]

I am a bit late to posting impressions, but it was awesome meeting new and familiar faces! It was also great to see so many more vendors at the show this year and see such a great turnout! Since there were so many booths and I wasn't able to spend a ton of time at the show, I spent most of my time listening to IEMs with some headphones (I mainly prefer IEMs over headphones/speakers). Since it's been a little bit, I'll just give some brief notes that I recall. All my IEM listening was done on my Shanling M8.

Oriolus Traillii: Best way I can describe this IEM was it sounded effortless. Well balanced and versatile. I noticed that it was able to deliver a lot of detail without feeling forced at all. Even with that said, its price tag is a bit steep compared to other TOTL IEMs that I've heard.

Fir Audio Xenon 6: One of the stand out IEMs for me at the show. Not sure in a great or good way though, but it sounded different which after listening to so many IEMs at the show, most IEMs start to mesh together in my head. Upon my very first listen, I was like "huuuh?" The bass sounded different than any other IEM I have heard. Kind of reminded of speakers. The rest of the frequency range sounded kind of weird and vailed in a way I am not sure how to describe, but it was just off. And then I just kept listening to it and listening to it. I started to understand it a bit more. I put the Xenon 6 down and tried other IEMs, but I kept looking at the Xenon 6 and I kept thinking "I got to try that again." I am glad I did. After a bit of brain burn in, I started to like it quite a bit. Its bass is addicting since it's so different than what I've heard. The rest of the frequency range started to smooth out for me and I started to really enjoy it. So to anyone that listens to this IEM, it definitely needs some brain burn in, but it'll be worth it if you enjoy bass. I haven't heard bass in an IEM quite like it. If I give it more audition time, I'd consider owning this if it weren't for the price.

Fir Audio Krypton 5 and Neon 4: I remember enjoying these, but not sure if they're something I'd want to buy. I just remember all three Fir Audio IEMs definitely serve different purposes. Also all three are really comfortable shape wise, might be a bit heavy for some.

Unique Melody Multiverse Mentor: The most "Western" tuned IEM out of the UM line-up. Very smooth, balanced, and coherent. Easy to listen to. Not as in your face as the MEST MkII and considerably more smooth/coherent than the MEST MkII. Only UM IEM I'd consider owning and I did use to own the MEST MkII. I'd consider buying this, but a bit too high priced for what I am willing to pay for.

Kinera Urd: Smooth, well balanced warm tuning. Great IEM for its price. A little big.

Kinera Idun: Would not have guessed that this costs $170 based on impressions. I could see myself recommending this to others who don't want to spend an arm and a leg for some IEMs.

Empire Ears Odyssey: Great IEM! Not aggressive sounding like the EVO. Clean, full, and coherent IEM. Probably my favorite Empire Ears IEM, even compared to my Legend X. Could listen to this all day without feeling fatigued. I'd consider owning this if it came custom.

Vision Ears EXT: Does take some of the traits of what made the Elysium a great IEM and adds a bit more low end to it. But it doesn't quite have that special sauce that the Elysium mid range had imo.

Campfire Audio Trifecta: Wasn't a huge fan of this. Something about it sounded off to me. Although, I had the pleasure of talking with someone who thought that it was the best IEM they heard at the show. It was clear that we had different tastes in music and when I listened to one of his tracks on it, I enjoyed it more than when I listened to it on my tracks.

Campfire Audio Supermoon: Sounds like a good planar IEM, but it's not for me tuning wise. Upper mids/treble was a bit too forward for my tastes. Although, I've met people who love the Supermoon. Seems like a love or dislike it kind of IEM.

Notes about some headphones:
Focal Utopia 2022: Now my favorite headphone out of the Focal line-up. I didn't like the original Utopia, but I did like the Clear a lot. Unfortunately, like all of Focal headphones, too heavy for me.
ZMF Caldera: Sounded great! Didn't have enough time to give good impressions on this, but amazing quality as usual from ZMF. It is too heavy for me though.
Meze 109 Pro: Great for the price. Meze still has some of the most comfortable headphones in the high end audio space. I'd consider buying this because of the comfort and value since most high end headphones I think are too heavy.
DCA Expanse: The best of the DCA house sound, but DCA house sound is a a bit dry sounding to me which is not quite my tastes. The DCA Aeon 2 Noire is still my favorite headphone that DCA offers. Build quality is great and it's comfortable!

In general, this show made me realize I definitely prefer IEMs that are tailored towards a more "Western" tuning. I do also have more notes on headphones, but in general, it was hard to gauge what I enjoyed sonically since it was a loud environment on headphones specifically.

Not sure who decided which impression to promote nor what is the standard based upon, but so far among the ones being picked this one is at least based on the content that is at least subjectively informative, irregardless of agreement or disagreement personally speaking.

 

[Smallpie]

Where was The design team??

In the future!

 

[tamleo]

In the future!

Haha do you mean dcs products ahead of current technology/beauty standard? To me I hope audio products’ appearance will not follow that design trend in the future , too simple and boring

 

[Sajid Amit]

I am a bit late to posting impressions, but it was awesome meeting new and familiar faces! It was also great to see so many more vendors at the show this year and see such a great turnout! Since there were so many booths and I wasn't able to spend a ton of time at the show, I spent most of my time listening to IEMs with some headphones (I mainly prefer IEMs over headphones/speakers). Since it's been a little bit, I'll just give some brief notes that I recall. All my IEM listening was done on my Shanling M8.

Oriolus Traillii: Best way I can describe this IEM was it sounded effortless. Well balanced and versatile. I noticed that it was able to deliver a lot of detail without feeling forced at all. Even with that said, its price tag is a bit steep compared to other TOTL IEMs that I've heard.

Fir Audio Xenon 6: One of the stand out IEMs for me at the show. Not sure in a great or good way though, but it sounded different which after listening to so many IEMs at the show, most IEMs start to mesh together in my head. Upon my very first listen, I was like "huuuh?" The bass sounded different than any other IEM I have heard. Kind of reminded of speakers. The rest of the frequency range sounded kind of weird and vailed in a way I am not sure how to describe, but it was just off. And then I just kept listening to it and listening to it. I started to understand it a bit more. I put the Xenon 6 down and tried other IEMs, but I kept looking at the Xenon 6 and I kept thinking "I got to try that again." I am glad I did. After a bit of brain burn in, I started to like it quite a bit. Its bass is addicting since it's so different than what I've heard. The rest of the frequency range started to smooth out for me and I started to really enjoy it. So to anyone that listens to this IEM, it definitely needs some brain burn in, but it'll be worth it if you enjoy bass. I haven't heard bass in an IEM quite like it. If I give it more audition time, I'd consider owning this if it weren't for the price.

Fir Audio Krypton 5 and Neon 4: I remember enjoying these, but not sure if they're something I'd want to buy. I just remember all three Fir Audio IEMs definitely serve different purposes. Also all three are really comfortable shape wise, might be a bit heavy for some.

Unique Melody Multiverse Mentor: The most "Western" tuned IEM out of the UM line-up. Very smooth, balanced, and coherent. Easy to listen to. Not as in your face as the MEST MkII and considerably more smooth/coherent than the MEST MkII. Only UM IEM I'd consider owning and I did use to own the MEST MkII. I'd consider buying this, but a bit too high priced for what I am willing to pay for.

Kinera Urd: Smooth, well balanced warm tuning. Great IEM for its price. A little big.

Kinera Idun: Would not have guessed that this costs $170 based on impressions. I could see myself recommending this to others who don't want to spend an arm and a leg for some IEMs.

Empire Ears Odyssey: Great IEM! Not aggressive sounding like the EVO. Clean, full, and coherent IEM. Probably my favorite Empire Ears IEM, even compared to my Legend X. Could listen to this all day without feeling fatigued. I'd consider owning this if it came custom.

Vision Ears EXT: Does take some of the traits of what made the Elysium a great IEM and adds a bit more low end to it. But it doesn't quite have that special sauce that the Elysium mid range had imo.

Campfire Audio Trifecta: Wasn't a huge fan of this. Something about it sounded off to me. Although, I had the pleasure of talking with someone who thought that it was the best IEM they heard at the show. It was clear that we had different tastes in music and when I listened to one of his tracks on it, I enjoyed it more than when I listened to it on my tracks.

Campfire Audio Supermoon: Sounds like a good planar IEM, but it's not for me tuning wise. Upper mids/treble was a bit too forward for my tastes. Although, I've met people who love the Supermoon. Seems like a love or dislike it kind of IEM.

Notes about some headphones:
Focal Utopia 2022: Now my favorite headphone out of the Focal line-up. I didn't like the original Utopia, but I did like the Clear a lot. Unfortunately, like all of Focal headphones, too heavy for me.
ZMF Caldera: Sounded great! Didn't have enough time to give good impressions on this, but amazing quality as usual from ZMF. It is too heavy for me though.
Meze 109 Pro: Great for the price. Meze still has some of the most comfortable headphones in the high end audio space. I'd consider buying this because of the comfort and value since most high end headphones I think are too heavy.
DCA Expanse: The best of the DCA house sound, but DCA house sound is a a bit dry sounding to me which is not quite my tastes. The DCA Aeon 2 Noire is still my favorite headphone that DCA offers. Build quality is great and it's comfortable!

In general, this show made me realize I definitely prefer IEMs that are tailored towards a more "Western" tuning. I do also have more notes on headphones, but in general, it was hard to gauge what I enjoyed sonically since it was a loud environment on headphones specifically.

Lovely impressions. I agree with what you say about headphone weight. Its become an issue for me as well.

However, despite all this time in the hobby, creating content, etc., I am still at loss as to what "Western" tuning implies? I have heard this expression on IEM threads but never bothered trying to figure it out (until now).

Is this a reference to certain genres such as J-Pop, K-Pop, etc?

Are we referring to mellower upper-mids?

Honestly, trying to understand.

I, for one, don't have a fixed target in mind and can like a variety of tunings. But I completely respect preferences and enjoy understanding others' preferences.

 

[ImMcLovin]

Lovely impressions. I agree with what you say about headphone weight. Its become an issue for me as well.

However, despite all this time in the hobby, creating content, etc., I am still at loss as to what "Western" tuning implies? I have heard this expression on IEM threads but never bothered trying to figure it out (until now).

Is this a reference to certain genres such as J-Pop, K-Pop, etc?

Are we referring to mellower upper-mids?

Honestly, trying to understand.

I, for one, don't have a fixed target in mind and can like a variety of tunings. But I completely respect preferences and enjoy understanding others' preferences.

It's a good question! To my understanding, eastern tuning emphasizes more sub-bass and upper mids while western tuning emphasizes mid-bass and lower mids. So eastern tuned IEMs generally favor female vocals like in J-pop, K-pop. Western tuned IEMs generally favor genres like western style pop, rock, and R&B. In other words, western tuned IEMs are generally more warm than an eastern tuned IEM.

An example IEM that I would consider eastern tuned is the UM MEST MkI and maybe MKII. I would actually consider almost all of UM's line-up except for the Multiverse Mentor to be eastern tuned. Examples of western tuned IEMs would be the UM Multiverse Mentor, Empire Ears Odyssey, Kinera Urd, maybe Oriolus Traillii.

Hopefully that helps!

 

[Sajid Amit]

It's a good question! To my understanding, eastern tuning emphasizes more sub-bass and upper mids while western tuning emphasizes mid-bass and lower mids. So eastern tuned IEMs generally favor female vocals like in J-pop, K-pop. Western tuned IEMs generally favor genres like western style pop, rock, and R&B. In other words, western tuned IEMs are generally more warm than an eastern tuned IEM.

An example IEM that I would consider eastern tuned is the UM MEST MkI and maybe MKII. I would actually consider almost all of UM's line-up except for the Multiverse Mentor to be eastern tuned. Examples of western tuned IEMs would be the UM Multiverse Mentor, Empire Ears Odyssey, Kinera Urd, maybe Oriolus Traillii.

Hopefully that helps!

Interesting. Okay.

I think I like both, for different use cases:

• Prominent upper mids for classical genres (esp if source synegy is on point).
• Slightly relaxed upper mids for metal and rock.

I tend to like a balance of subbass and midbass.

 

[PHLHarmonic]

Any direct comparisons between the Gaea and Odyssey are appreciated, vast price difference aside. It seems people generally liked both.

 

[wazzupi]

Any direct comparisons between the Gaea and Odyssey are appreciated, vast price difference aside. It seems people generally liked both.

Can't forget the diva

 

[The Piper]

I wanted to do a quick write up of some of my favorite things from the show, now that I've got a few moments.

First and foremost was getting to meet and hang out with so many amazing folks, including but not limited to @buke9, @warrenpchi, @HONEYBOY, @Zachik, and so, so many others. I have absolutely made some amazing friends and I can't wait for NYC!

Now, on to my favorite setups that I heard:

1. dCS Lina DAC > Woo Audio WA23 > ZMF Atrium - This combo absolutely blew my mind. It was detailed without being coarse, expansive without being vast, dynamic without being overwhelming, and it completely, utterly drew me in. I literally couldn't leave without ordering a WA23, and I am actually counting down the (approximate) days until it's slated to arrive (33-40). Thanks so much to @AcousticMatt for lending me his Atrium to try this!
2. Zahl HM-1 > DCA Stealth & Focal Radiance - This was another fabulous combination, although it was in the much louder main exhibition hall so it was hard to get a real sense of what it can do. From what I could hear, though, it had a lot of the same properties that the WA23 and Warwick Bravura had, but it didn't quite have the same musicality that the WA23+Atrium had. It definitely felt more analytical without actually being analytical. I have put in a pre-order for it, but I'm really hoping to get a better listen to it in NYC before it ships so I can decide if I really want it or not.
3. Warwick Acoustics Bravura - I heard this really early on in the show and absolutely loved it. It has incredible dynamics and remarkable detail, all without ever being harsh or pushy. I liked the Aperio, too, but not nearly as much as I liked the Bravura. The Aperio pushed too much detail forward in a way that made it feel like it was forcing you to pay attention to the music rather than to just enjoy it like the Bravura did.
4. dCS Lina DAC > Woo Audio WA23 > DCA Stealth & Focal Radiance - These combos were all fantastic, but I didn't have quite the same overwhelmingly awesome experience that I did with the Atrium. I also tried the DCA Expanse with this stack but it was difficult to really listen to it in a show environment, given that it is an open-back. That being said, I'll definitely post about it once I get the WA23 in.
5. Feliks Audio Envy > DCA Stealth & Focal Radiance - This was such a different experience from the WA23 it's hard to compare, but it was still fantastic. This amp has a linear cleanliness and midrange focus that the WA23 just doesn't have, but that also caused it not to be quite as enjoyable for me. It didn't have quite the same bass emphasis that the WA23 had, but again it's hard to really say on such a loud show floor.
6. WA8 > Meze Empyrean Elite - This was one of the first things I heard and I was really surprised by it! I went in to CanJam looking to revamp my take-to-the-office setup and this really ticked all the boxes. I was planning to go back to the Woo room looking to try it again and possibly purchase it when @HONEYBOY got me to try the WA23 (for better or for worse).
7. @xmems - I'm honestly not sure how to rank this, given that it was a demo unit to demonstrate their new driver to manufacturers and not in any way intended for consumers. But.... Holy s@#$ I can't wait to see what manufacturers do with this, if their demo units are anything to go by. I was lucky enough to get a chance to try their units privately and they are fantastic - even the lower-powered unit was spectacular. It has a speed and clarity that I didn't hear from any other IEM I tried - although I didn't try that many IEMs there, so take this with a grain of salt. I'll have more to post on this soon, though, so that's all I'll say here.

However, there were also some things that just didn't meet my expectations:

• dCS Lina stack - I really didn't feel that this was that much better than the RME ADI-2 Pro FS R Black Edition > Singxer SA-1 that I use at home.
• ZMF Caldera - Don't get me wrong, I actually really like these, they were just a bit too dark for my tastes, but everything else - especially their looks - was really good! They do have me quite excited for whatever the ZMF team winds up doing with their planar tech
• Meze 109 - These were too mid/upper bass heavy while simultaneously being too treble sharp for me.
• Riviera AIC-10 - This just didn't have the same clarity to me as the HM-1 did, but I'm hoping to give it another chance in NYC come February.

And finally, there were a few items I missed, namely:

• The PASS labs stuff - I've never tried any of this, but I'd love to!
• Wells Audio - I passed this once while it was empty without realizing what it was, but every time I came back, it was busy. Next time!

If you read this far, thanks and I hope to see you at CanJam NYC!

Sorry you missed us. Hopefully next time.

 

[warrenpchi]

Moar stuff!

CANJAM SOCAL 2022 COVERAGE PART 3
September 28, 2022
By Kevin Venable (@morserotonin)

CANJAM SOCAL 2022 COVERAGE PART 4
September 29, 2022
By Kevin Venable (@morserotonin)