[linshu1992]

Socal Canjam 2023 Impressions​

This is my 3rd Canjam. My impressions are getting longer and longer every year as I got more diligent at taking notes (but whether those are high quality is questionable). Bear with me.

First I want to mention my reference point. I use Susvara on a non-traditional chain: Holo Audio May, Primuluna Evo 400 pre-amp, fed into 2 AHB2s in bridged mono mode. I started with using just WA33, to using WA33 as a pre into a single AHB2 (a huge improvement), and then to my current chain (even more refinement and details). I came to the show for any crazy stuff to wow me, especially on a pair of Susvara, or anything that’s just different and special. Being used to Susvara on mono blocks, most things will sound a little warmer, a little less detailed, with a bit smaller soundstage, but it’s still a ton of fun to explore, and maybe I will find some black magic. Being at the show floor with my dumb ears, many of my impressions are some variation of “sounds pretty good, but nothing catches me”, though I try to be a bit more helpful than that.

Highlights​

Even though they all sound spectacular, this is not a ranking, just a list of experiences I enjoyed a lot.

HE-1: It’s just a special experience. It sounds natural and beautiful. I have heard stronger technicalities in almost every aspects, but HE-1 is just so balanced and relaxing. The fact that I’m experiencing this legendary system also adds a lot to the fun of it.


Tungsten with Riviera AIC-10 and Viva Egoista 845: in my book, the only other non-estats headphone that can compete with a well driven Susvara’s technicalities with similar tuning. Hearing this on Riviera AIC-10 and Viva Egoista 845 and comparing with Susvara is through and through awesome.


SR-X9000: I got a chance to really sit down and enjoy X9000 on a few strong but different amps. Gave me a new sense of appreciation for estats headphone!


Amber Pearl: black magic IEM. Warm, rich, full, lush. I normally enjoy a brighter sound signature but this black magic just got me trapped on the dark side. The entire IEM auditioning was a ton of fun for me. I knew nothing and they are all new experiences.

Amps​

Viva Egoista 845, Susvara & Tungsten (single sided driver and double sided driver)​

Tunsgten is interesting. I heard those headphones on Viva 845 on the first day, and thought Tungsten was much better than Susvara. But on the second day, they don’t sound quite as different as I remembered.

First of all, Viva 845 is formidable. Its power reached at least the level of feeding WA33 into AHB2 for Susvara. Only other amp I heard at the show that’s comparable was AIC-10. You can hear from the body, the bass quality, the separation, and the soundstage. Those things are hard to do right on Susvara but they tend to be very noticeable when done right.

On the first day, I spent like half an hour A/B testing Susvara with Tungsten (double magnets) and decided Tungsten had more body, more noticeable details, wider soundstage, and better separation. Going from Tungsten to Susvara, the sounds becomes way softer and muddy. I couldn’t believe it. No other headphones make Susvara sound that way - it’s usually the opposite. I decided Tungsten is a winner.

On the second day, I after my AIC-10 experience (which I will mention later), I compared those again on Viva 845. The difference felt a lot smaller and there’s no longer a clear winner. Susvara opened up more today (I’m not sure why). My new impression is that Susvara has stronger midrange, and Tungsten’s details are still better defined.

I also compared Tungsten’s double sided driver vs single sided. I have to say double sided driver sounds much better. It has a ton more details and body, whereas the single sided version is flat, muddy, and has a weird “grainy” texture to it, like a layer of coarse sand. I even felt the single sided driver one may be defective.

Riviera AIC-10, Susvara & Tungsten (double sided driver).​

Just a lot of power. Together with Viva 845, those two are the most powerful amps I have heard at the show that drive Susvara at or close to the level of ahb2 power amp. That power is felt in the richness and the body of the first second of music. It’s not a subtle improvement - it’s something you immediately notice. I got a chance to A/B Tungsten and Susvara on AIC-10. Both of them are on the neutral/slightly bright side. Imaging is on par. Tungsten has more energy and decisiveness. Susvara felt softer overall, but has stronger mids, more air between instruments and a slightly bigger soundstage. Special thanks to @goldwerger for recommending and bringing me to the booth and lending me his Tungsten for auditioning.

MASS-Kobo Model 465​

Many people had very good things to say about this amp but I didn’t quite catch the magic. Yes, it is a powerful amp but I don’t think it is quite as powerful as AIC-10 or Viva 845. I get pretty decent soundstage, detail and slam on Susvara, but it lacks a certain “magic” in those departments that the other amps had that got me like “yes, this is it”. I do think it is more powerful than Envy and Bliss.

Zähl HM1​

After seeing Golden Sound’s highly positive review, I wanted to try this amp at last Canjam but it had a lot of noise in the signal. This year, HM1 seemed quite popular as there’s ALWAYS someone there. Now onto the sound:

It is a powerful amp - I want to say maybe it’s little more powerful than Envy, but less than AIC-10 or Viva 845. The most interesting thing about it are the crossfeed knobs that change the soundstage and sound direction. It can move the “main” sound (like a singer’s voice) from slightly left to the middle to slightly right. And it sounds just as good in any position. The knobs can adjust bass and treble. They work like EQ but it’s easier and maybe sound a little better. I want to note they don’t change the quality of the treble or bass. E.g. It won’t make bass go deeper or become more tactile, but it will give more quantity of it. As for the soundstage adjustment, the knobs can expand or shrink the soundstage, but the widest it can go is not super wide. What I found interesting is HM1 achieves all these adjustments without adding artifacts or color to the music. It’s very nice.

YAMAHA HA-L7A​

I tried this amp with the YH-5000SE. I mainly wanted to see the “field change” knob that gives you different sound presentations.

What I found is it meaningfully changes the soundstage but it doesn’t do it the same way as HM1. They give you a few presets to render music. The “outdoor live” setting makes vocal tracks sound like coming from huge speakers in a park, and “concert hall” make them sound like in a concert hall with a little echo effect. Those are pretty fun to play with, even though you can’t fine tune the aspects like HM1. I also don’t think you can use HM1 to achieve the same effects that HA-L7A gives you. But one grip I have is those settings change the sound quality - they don’t sound quite as natural as the original and I feel some details are lost. In that regard, I feel the changes you can make on HM1 are more desirable because they don’t have those side effects.

Bartok with DCS Lina clock and amp​

I really appreciated the way DCS sets up their room. Everyone gets its own corner which helps reduce ambient noise.

This stack sounds very good. But my untrained ears can’t pick out anything outstanding. With Susvara, they reminds me of WA33 without any power amp. Similar level of details. Similar soundstage. Similar energy and bass. Does not give oomph to Susvara that you get from power amps. I feel Susvara may not be doing this stack justice simply due to the lack of power. With easier to drive headphones, maybe this stack will really shine.

Feliks Audio Envy​

I want to thank the ZMF room for having an excellent range of amps to try. They even had the Western Electric 300Bs on the Envy unit there.

Envy definitely gives more juice to Susvara than DCS stack. Lots of energy and decisiveness. It sounded really good but didn’t get to the “magic” level of Susvara performance for me. The body, bass, or soundstage didn’t quite reach the level that WA33 + AHB2 had, but very enjoyable nevertheless.

Holo Audio Bliss​

I didn’t spend a lot of time on Bliss because I tried it right after Envy and decided there’s not a ton of meaningful, non-subtle differences to quickly point out. I think Susvara on Bliss is quite enjoyable; it has a little more details than Envy but a little less slam.

Ampsandsound Red October​

I always swing by for a listen when seeing Red October at a show. I know it’s an extremely high performing gear and always enjoyed hearing it. It has a ton of power and very big soundstage. Super good details. Very dynamic. I think it has a power similar to Masskobo 465, and probably more power than Envy and Bliss. But it’s not often talked about. I think more people should hear this amp!

Boulder 812​

I got a chance to try Boulder 812 with Susvara unfortunately I don’t think it can quite power it. I had to turn the volume knob to the maximum for normal listening level and there’s lots of audible clipping at that point so I can’t spend too long with it. It could be some settings are wrong or the chain is not set up for high power.

LTAZ10e​

I only listened to Caldera on this amp - maybe I was too lazy to pull out Susvara from my backpack. On Caldera, this amp has a very wide soundstage, and excellent separation.

Double Heli Chimera Cable​

Think this is worth a mention. Thanks to Chris at Mimic audio, I got quite a bit of time to carefully A/B this massive top of the line cable with my Norne pure copper cable. The difference is not subtle - immediately the sound feels “bigger”, the presentation becomes sharper, like wiping clean a fogged window. The bass becomes stronger and its quality becomes better - meaning the bass goes deeper and its shape is more defined now. Going back to my cable Susvara sounded a tad muddier and softer.

Headphones​

HE-1​

A dream come true to finally demo the legend! I really liked that Sennheiser has a private, quiet room for it. I think many of HE-1’s best qualities can’t be properly appreciated on the noisy main show room. Now onto the sound..

Somehow I expected HE-1 to have a very warmish, silky smooth tuning, but it’s not like that. HE-1 has a ton of details, about the same as Susvara, but has a smaller soundstage. From treble to bass, everything is extremely well balanced. There’s no one single thing that catches my attention. It is a very airy presentation, but at the same time, bass is dynamic and very engaging, but not a lot of slam (it won’t move air like Abyss). Mids have good energy and details. Treble is detailed and has good texture but it’s not harsh. Nothing is exceptional, but everything is just very good, and there’s no fault. HE-1 sounded like a supercharged HD600. It’s flatter than HD650, and more engaging than HD800. It doesn’t have a lot of body to the sound like a well driven Susvara or Utopia. It also doesn’t have crazy realistic imaging like the king of imaging (IMO), the Aperio, or very wide soundstage like Susvara on steroids. HE-1’s sound feels like coming from a normal headphone, but from top to bottom, it’s just so well put together. So, with black magic nowadays there are chains that can do many things far better than HE-1, but HE-1 is just, unsurprising and beautiful, and that has its place.

Also in the HE-1 demo room there is the first ever open headphone that Sennheiser produced in the 1960s. It doesn't sound that bad! Yes there's not a lot of details, but it sounded like an average modern over the ear headphones you can buy for $10.

Austrian Audio - The composer​

Pretty good overall. Nothing stood out. It is a little dry. It has a lot of texture. Treble has a little too much energy. Female vocal sounds a little too bright. You can adjust the angle of the driver to get different fit and sounds, which can be interesting, but I didn't try it.

T+A Solitaire P on HA-200​

Quite warm. The soundstage and imaging is good, but not extraordinary. Has a bit less details than Susvara. Bass is dynamic but nothing crazy.

Drop + Grell​

I’m not sure what to expect, but the tuning wasn’t to my liking. When it was plugged into the SMSL amp, it was very muddy and there were no details to hear. I chatted with the representative and asked them if this is normal, and they offered to plug the headphones into their Drop + xDuoo TA-84 amp. This is more like it - now there’s actually a soundstage. The drop/grell’s tuning is heavily leaning towards lower frequencies. A lot of bass with a lot of energy but IMO it bleeds into other frequencies, making them sound muddy and veiled. The signature is very warm. The booth had HD6xx (practically the same headphone as HD650) and I had a chance to A/B them. HD650 sounded cleaner, more detailed and balanced. There are probably people who like the Drop/Grell tuning, but I can’t bring myself to enjoy it.

YH-5000SE​

The booth has two pairs of pads to try! The representatives are very nice and eager to see how you like different pads and will swap them for you.

With leather pad: Wide soundstage. A tad warm compared to Susvara. A little on the thin side. Not a lot of body/weight to the sound.

With velvet pad: Quite a bit warmer sound than with leather pad. But less detailed, and overall presentation feels muddy. I liked the leather pad more.

ZMF Caldera​

Compared to Susvara on Envy: warmer than Susvara. Slams harder than Susvara. Details stand out quite more. Coming from Caldera, Susvara sounds softer, but more refined. I think Envy is driving Caldera fully but not quite as fully for Susvara. Midrange on Caldera is very recessed compared to Susvara, making Caldera very V shaped. And interesting thing to note is the soundstage on Caldera feels like a dome around my head, and there’s a decidedly a boundary, a limit where sounds can stretch to. Soundstage on Susvara, while not quite bigger, doesn’t feel there’s a boundary. I suspect this is due to Susvara has darker “ambient sound” than Caldera on many tracks. This hides the boundary. In other words, Susvara has a darker background. Last year I heard Caldera and really liked it, so I spent a bit more time with it this year, but I don’t quite like the recessed mids.

ZMF Atrium Open​

Didn’t spend a lot of time with this one, but oh it’s so pretty so I had to give it a go. The mids are a lot more prominent on Atrium Open than Caldera. Way less details than Susvara.

HEDDphone 2​

I heard Heddphone one previously and felt it sounded too soft and muddy. The Heddphone 2 sounded much better compared their predecessor according to memory. It’s warm, but it’s clean. I felt it sounds even cleaner than Caldera. Imaging is good, and music has good body to it. Female vocal is beautiful - reminded me of HD650. Soundstage is smaller than Susvara. Details are less than Susvara. Slam is stronger than Susvara.

D8000 Pro Limited Edition & Kallyste Amethyste​

I first heard it on Viva 845 and wanted to A/B with susvara, but didn't get a lot of time. Compared to Susvara, it is warmer, has a little less detail, and it’s a little softer.

Worth mentioning, I did get a chance to hear this headphone on the Kallyste Amethyste, just on the right side of the HM1 stack, and the gentleman I just met (Sacham?) said “you have to hear this”, and boy it was wonderful. Very full-bodied, super engaging, very 3D. This sound IMO gets the closest to my experience of Susvara on mono blocks. This is 100% of that magic of well driven TOTL headphones. It’s just so right and beautiful.

DMS Omega​

It’s a very warm headphone. It has way less details than Susvara - the bass felt muddy and soft. Soundstage is ok. It reminded me of Drop/Grell, which I didn’t care for.

STAX SR-X9000 and SR-009S on SRM-T8000​

I sort of ran out of items on my wishlist on second day so I just wandered around looking for anything interesting. I went to the room deepest inside where Stax and Woo Audio are, and saw a few empty seats. I never before had an opportunity to demo the best stax headphones side by side. They had two headphones running into the same SRM-T8000 amp - excellent for comparison!

Sound is super airy. Very floaty. Very typical estats signature - non-offensive and a ton of details but never get in your face. Bass is a little light, but its shape and texture are excellent. This combo feels similar to HE-1 in that it’s so natural, detailed, airy, and has excellent imaging. It felt a little brighter than HE-1 and I think HE-1 has a secret source in the tuning that made it more engaging than X9000. But still, X9000 in this chain just draws me in and whereas on so many other chains I just tend to focus on their technicalities. This one, while the characteristics don’t seem as impressive, it just relaxes you. I went to certain passages of songs looking to analyze them but kept drifting to just enjoying the music.

I compared X9000 with 009s. The latter is quite warmer. Its soundstage is smaller, and it has a “cave sound” feeling. The bass is stronger. Whenever I switched from 009s to X9000, the music just opened up and the soundstage got bigger and more relaxed. And felt like a breath of relief. I very much liked the X9000 - its tuning is similar to Susvara.

​

Woo Audio 3ES & SR-X9000​

Compared with T8000, 3ES has stronger bass and is a lot warmer. The soundstage is smaller. Music notes stand out a little more with more energy. Treble feels very slightly harsh. Much more sub bass than T8000. I felt 3ES turned X9000 into a 009s, and that signature didn’t have the magic for me.

Blue Hawaiian Special Edition & SR-X9000​

I haven’t heard BHSE in a year and previously just remembered it sounded very energetic. What’s a better opportunity to demo it with X9000 right after I heard X9000 on T8000 and 3ES?!

BHSE is very special and yes I hear it in the first second. The 3D imaging is oohhh so good. Not crazy like Aperio, but the imaging is decidedly better than everything else I heard on the show except maybe Susvara on steroids. BHSE is a little warmer than T8000, but not as warm as 3ES. The sound is very rich and has a lot of body. The bass and sub bass are not exaggerated but very high quality. Definitely more than T8000, and on par with 3ES. I think it combines the best qualities of T8000 and 3ES: the staging and detail of T8000 with the bass and energy of 3ES. Probably because I’m sharing the source with another gentleman so I’m not as relaxed, I didn’t quite get the “draw me in” feeling I felt with T8000. After hearing BHSE, I went back and listened to T8000 again. Yes, the sound is thinner. Yes, the sound is floaty. But the presentation is just musical. I don’t know what it is. Yes it has lot of details and they are not offensive or even stand out that much, but they are just there and draw you in.

IEMs​

I am not an IEM guy. I heard a few IEMs in a previous canjam and owned the EE Odin for maybe a year before I sold it. So my ears are way less trained on IEMs. I didn’t know any of the names when I tried them, and even now, I don’t know the price of most them. I will just speak what I felt.

Empire Ears Raven​

I liked EE Odin, and Raven felt like a good improvement on it, if you like bass. I’m not very into bass but I can appreciate the fun of it, so I like the fun factor. Raven brings the “knocking off socks” bass of EE Legend Evo to the base sound signature of Odin. So that’s a big change. Then, I think the mids are tuned to be more forward. Vocals sound excellent - very smooth but still with a lot of details. Good 3D imaging. The bass can feel a bit too boomy on certain tracks even if you appreciate its massive fun.

Then, seeing me trying out the Raven, @wazzupi brought me to the unique melody’s table and started introducing a bunch IEMs that I have not heard of before and asked me to try them on. This wasn’t on my wish list but I figured what’s better than going on an adventure especially when you have an insider guiding you, and at a show like this?! So I spent the next hour plus exploring whatever I got recommended.

AROMA Audio Jewel​

Immediately, this feels like a “susvara” to me. Not boomy. Not warm. Very detailed, very refined. Not harsh or etchy. Sound is on the thinner side. It felt like the detail king tastefully done.

Unique Melody Amber Pearl​

This one gives me a big “wow” factor. Syrupy steroids. It’s a LOT warmer than Jewel (and all the other IEMs I tried), and while it’s usually not a good thing from my experience (see all the examples above), Amber Pearl is a big exception. It’s OMG so rich and full. Lush in the best way possible. The overtones are damn impressive. Listening to guitar on it is an experience. Soundstage and imaging is maybe a little better than other IEMs but when you have such a full sound they add up to what you feel is just a “bigger” sound presentation than others. Bass is very impressive but not over the top like Raven. I tried female vocal on it - beautiful. Very refined. Any reasonably detailed IEMs or headphones will have a little bit of sibilance on my test track, but here, there is none. I think it’s probably the only IEMs I tried that didn’t have sibilance at all on my test track, which just goes to show how warm and smooth the sound is.

Oriolus Traillii​

Sound signature is quite similar to Jewel. Not warm. Quite detailed. But it has more bass than Jewel. Female voice has a bit more texture than Jewel but also more sterile (could be because I just listened to Amber Pearl). Female vocal has a little sibilance in my test track, which clearly shows it’s on the brighter side of sound signature.

Elysian Annihilator​

A ton of details. Very textured sound but very dry and etchy. Sounds sterile. Especially with string instruments. Ok bass, nothing to point out. I’m not a fan.

Aura IEM by Vision Ears​

It’s dry like the Annihilator but it’s less resolving. I didn’t listen to it for very long before giving up.

Canpur CP622B​

I had a hard time fitting it in my ears; it could just be me. Sound is very clean but doesn’t come off overly detailed that can feel unnatural. Bass is very good too. I felt the overall presentation is slightly better than Jewel and Traillii but I can’t quite put my fingers on it. It’s just overall very balanced and there’s nothing that I can point to.

Aroma FEI WAN​

3D imaging stood out as the first thing I noticed. Very holographic. Bass is very dynamic. It is a little warmer than Jewel and CP662B but not nearly as warm as Amber. The music notes have body, which contributes to its impressive imaging.

Noble Audio Viking Ragnar with stock cable​

Sound is very airy. 3D imaging is quite good. Quite warm and thick sound. A little dry compared to the more refined sounds of other IEMs, and has maybe it has a little emphasized upper midrange? But that’s going into a level of detail my untrained ears can’t pick out at the show floor.

Viking Ragnar with their Magnus 8 cable.​

Hugo recommended I have to try the Viking with their “8 wire” cable. So I did! Immediately, much more details. More resolution. The 3D imaging become quite a bit better! Now it’s apparent Viking Ragnar’s sound signature is on the warmer side, as the notes become more defined in their timber. Dryness is also more apparent now (as resolution brought out the sound texture even more), but it didn’t hinder my overall enjoyment. The air and impressive 3D imaging made me think this super charged Viking Ragnar maybe the second most interesting IEM I heard, after Amber Pearl. I can’t help but wonder what Amber Pearl will sound like on this cable!

64 Audio Volur​

After my interesting IEM journey on day 1, I started taking notes of IEM names from people’s impressions. Volur become a new wishlist item so I went to check it out on second day.

The sound is very airy. Bass is pretty good and dynamic, and not overly done. I believe it has more bass than the other IEMs I heard except Raven, and the bass felt quite clean and satisfying. Volur is on the warm side. Overall, an impressive sound but no “wow” factor for me.

The people​

Lastly, I want to just mention how much fun I had with all the awesome people. Echoing many of the others’ experience, I started going to canjam for the gears and the people part always turned out to be even more fun. Thanks to @warrenpchi and @wazzupi for inviting me to the dinners and parties, for introducing me to many fellow enthusiasts. Hearing passionate debate on IEM and headphones differences over the dinner table is just something special. The water cooler folks are a special group. I also want to thank Chris from Mimic audio for always being so patient, friendly and helpful. You folks are awesome. Until next time!

P.S. Baekjeong KBBQ was worth the wait!!

 

[Edric Li]

Off-topic: I personally don't hear BA-timbre, but the Sonion-EST-timbre has to be a thing. They are so damn noticeable.

 

[djentbat]

I was pretty disappointed. I had decided prior to attending I was going to buy a headphone that would be remembered as my first CanJam headphone. I was fully expecting that headphone to be the Atrium Open but preferred some of the other stabilized colors I've seen in the past and decided to wait for November's releases. With DCA being my last stop, I had pretty much decided it was going to be the Expanse or bust. I sat down and loved the comfort of the Expanse but couldn't get a feel for the sound with the music I was seeing on their old ass tablet. After that went down, I put the headphone down and just walked out. I can deal with alot of crap but I have a problem being disrespected/embarrassed in public, let alone by a company where I'm considering their products.

It's ok they don't like money apparently... I felt the same way with interaction I had.

 

[d m41n man]

Had to ask - does any have any updated feedback on the AFUL Cantor and single BA set on the show? Most probably these will be the final retail version if ever since it's now close to tentative release date and really looking forward to how far they've gone with their releases and R&D in a span of a year.

 

[sup27606]

HE-1: It’s just a special experience. It sounds natural and beautiful. I have heard stronger technicalities in almost every aspects, but HE-1 is just so balanced and relaxing. The fact that I’m experiencing this legendary system also adds a lot to the fun of it.

Great review of Canjam. I pretty much agree with your description of HE-1 (I also had the opportunity to audition this time), but just wanted to add that one area where I found HE-1 to stand out was in the sense of space to music. I agree, the soundstage was not very large, but the space associated with the soundstage was very well defined. Sense of space and atmosphere is where many headphones lose part of the realism in my opinion. There are many subtle directional cues involved to perceiving space and synergy among them is critical in my opinion. I just felt that the balanced sound of HE-1 did really well here.

Consequently, one genre which sounded the most special to me was classical music, especially with ensemble music and chorus vocals. The reverberations (e.g. from the walls) were captured so realistically, that it felt like a tangible mass of music filled air (you could almost locate the walls), rather than a diffused blob with most attention in the center.

 

[Feischmaker]

Socal Canjam 2023 Impressions​

This is my 3rd Canjam. My impressions are getting longer and longer every year as I got more diligent at taking notes (but whether those are high quality is questionable). Bear with me.

You are saying this, but your impressions is probably the most comprehensive I have read so far.
The way you compare (almost) everything with Susvara as your baseline is super helpful as it helps people to "triangulate" one item to another.
Bravo.

 

[Alenotta]

DAY 2

Met so many nice attendees and representatives at CanJam this year. Always fun to get to know headfi people in person. A lot of us have brands and tunings we lean toward, but I seldom hear something at CanJam I don't enjoy on some level. Some things aren't my cup of tea, but I respect and am amazed by all of the various efforts. That being said, I never want to harp on anything negative because the tuning that isn't right for me may be perfect for someone else. Big praise to all you engineers out there inventing and manufacturing this stuff.

ZMF
So, I did end up spending more time in the ZMF room...sorry I told you I'm a big fan. Hanging out with @zach915m and the ZMF fam is the funnest part of the show. The Bokeh sounded great off of my Mojo 2 - no surprise. It definitely shares DNA with my Atrium Closed. It could be a great closed back option for any ZMF fan. The Arcadia amp was very nice with the Caldera and all the other ZMFs I plugged into it. I toggled back and forth between Arcadia and the Nitsch DSHA-3FN which I love. These are both fantastic music-first amps for very reasonable price to performance ratios.

AUDIO TECHNICA
I spent some time doing a flight of their flagships. I found myself preferring their darker tuned closed back ATH-AWKT over the open ATH-ADX5000 or the new very pretty rare wood one. As you all know I prefer a less treble focused tuning, so this checks out. I thought the ATH-AWKT was a really nice dynamic closed back option. Lots of detail and weight with smoother high range. I believe all their TOTL lineup is using 58mm drivers so they have a big fun sound.

DMS
Went back to his DMS headphone which is also a 58mm driver from memory. It was on the Lina stack this time and I didn't like that pairing as much as whatever the big warmer stack was on the corner of the Headphones.com booth. Still sounded great. It is natural, meaty and percussive. I want to hear more of it on more systems.

HEDD
Conversely, I heard the Heddphone v2 on the Lina stack and I liked it even more than day 1. Hearing it on the Lina vs the Envy gave it more definition and a more neutral / accurate sound to my ears. This is a great headphone for sure. I don't have a ton to add to what people are saying about it. I like it more than v1.

HEADAMP CFA3
I loved the CFA3. Sure it is expensive, but wow it paired so well with my Caldera. Also, this was one of the first times I felt like the Susvara had enough body for me to truly enjoy to the max. I think this amp is going to be a big hit when it comes out later this year / early next year. It has variable gain options and a toggle for a zero feedback mode. I'd have to micro listen to hear the difference between the zero feedback option, but the gain option were fun to play with and made obvious changes in opening things up. This is my favorite Headamp I've heard. Does everything I like in a Solid State amp.

MASS-KOBO
Another amp that did not disappoint was the fabled Mass-Kobo 465. I don't think this was even running off of an actual DAC when I heard it. He offered me a cable with a lightning to 3.5" dongle on there straight into the amp. Wow this things is a stunner. The fullness on my Caldera would be hard to best. Another naturalistic amp that just did everything absolutely right. If I had 17k to drop I'd honestly consider it. I also tried his smaller models and they were phenomenal.

WARWICK APERIO + BRAVURA / SONOMA
On Saturday I kind of preferred the easier-going treble of the Sonoma at the headphones.com booth. When I got in the sound isolation booth, where no one can hear you scream, my opinion did a 180. The Aperio is something special. The level of detail and air was wonderful. Natural, fast, bombastic, and expensive as hell. It is summit level for the rich and wealthy. It didn't leave me with the same jaw-on-the-floor reaction as when I tried the HE-1 a few years back, but it was very impressive and worth the wait in line.

MODHOUSE TUNGSTEN
On day 2 I got to switch between the single sided and double sided Tungsten on the same amps. I preferred the double, but the difference was far from night and day. The double sided just had a touch more complexity, spaciousness and linear curve. Also, my DAY 1 opinion of Tungsten being akin to smooth vintage speakers was hugely influenced by the Amps and Sound it was on when I first heard it. The Tungsten changes considerably based on your amp's character. On the neat looking orange Konus Audio solid state DAC / AMP speaker blocks the treble opened up and became pretty airy if not a touch too bright for me. I tried it on the big Vivo which gave it a tube sound that was a little less warm than I remembered the amps and sound being. I prefer Tungsten on tubes to tame that treble a bit. It is actually a brighter and airier presentation than the Caldera in some ways. It has similar weight when things hit. I think these headphones are surprisingly complimentary rather than being competition. I think of the non-ZMF offerings this was my favorite of the show. Good stereo space, excellent planar separation, big natural bass when it was called for, amp dependent airiness. It had a similar 3d quality to the bass that I LOVE about my Caldera. I think the Tungsten bass may be slightly slower than the Caldera, but it was really thick and pleasant. Caldera was more midrange forward with emphasis on that ZMF euphonic presentation of the vocal region. I may end up picking a Tungsten up to do more listening in quiet room. Also, shoutout to Chis at Mimic who was very friendly and knowledgable. Eagerly awaiting @goldwerger upcoming thoughts on Tungsten - also bummed I didn't run into you to say hi.

SPIRIT TORINO
I finally tried their Centauri back to back with the crazy looking Valkyria. I honestly preferred the more laid back tuning of the Centauri. It has an interesting tuning for a planar. Warmer, but with detail in there. Different.

STAX
I tried the SR-X9000 on the blue Hawaii and also on the big STAX energizer. I thought it was very natural. Fast and ultra detailed electrostatic sound. I still wished there was a touch more low end, but I'm a beefier sound enthusiast so don't take that as a bad thing. This was one of the best electrostatic options I've heard and the price reflects that. I didn't get a chance to compare it to the Audeze Carbon which would have been interesting.

AUDEZE
I've heard most of the offerings from Audeze and really enjoy them. This year I decided to check out more of their budget options with the new MM100 and the Maxwell. The MM100 is excellent. I went back and forth between the 100 and 500 quite a bit. Yes, the 500 is more of everything, but for $399 I think the MM100 is up there with best price to quality with the 6XX etc. The MM series has one of the most natural midrange tunings Audeze offers in my opinion. The Maxwell was similarly impressive for budget friendly offerings. I tried it bluetooth on my phone and on one of their gaming setups. The passive sound isolation and comfort were superb. For the price music was very nice on bluetooth and the tuning lent itself to pinpointing things in space during gaming. I didn't test it, but it comes with a mic that does some of that Audeze voice isolating magic stuff. I see why Sony gaming acquired them. Perfect fit.

XDUOO TA-20 + MOONDROP VENUS
Wow, I actually really liked what was happening with the synergy between the XDUO TA-20 and the Moondrop Venus. This was running off a portable DAC, but I mean for 1k this was a steal in my opinion. The Moondrop was ergonomically kind of weird and heavy, but it sounded natural and sweet on this tube hybrid. I had some friends with me that are just getting into headphones and they all agreed this was a really impressive combo for the price. This was after they had freshly heard all the TOTL craziness.

ABYSS
Found ABYSS and Woo on day 2. The Diana MR was nice and did a lot of what the TC was doing. Fast, punchy, percussive and more portable. Abyss always has a very technical sound to me. Drum hits are always fun. I get why people are devoted fans.

T+A
Tried the Solitaire T and P. The travel option was nice. The P was super technical and detailed with great separation and speed. Interesting "planar-electrostatic" that has some of the advantages of both formats. I thought the vocals / presence region were deeper in the mix than I'm personally used to. The show floor was pretty noisy, so I don't think my impression was accurate. I've read that the P has a nice laid back treble, but in my notes I wrote that I thought it was a bit too forward. I think I'd need to check these out in a quiet area. I'm sure I'd really enjoy them.

REGRETS
- Didn't get to try my Caldera on the Schiit amp/dac combo or the Amps and Sound Red October. Bummer. Gotta go to the Schiitr I guess.
- Would like to try Grell x Drop, Arya Organic, and Yamaha on tubes. I felt like all those had a lot of potential if I could warm them a touch and relax their top end.
- Meze didn't have any angled pads for me to try on my Empyreans. Love the Elite pads on Empy.
- I didn't take advantage of any good show specials...

Great show Headfi! See you all next year.

 

[robo24]

My 2nd show after SoCal last year and took it a lot more easy this time since I'd heard most of what I wanted to last year. My hopes were to hear the Final D8000, some more Stax since they weren't there last year, the 660S2, see all the various ZMF woods (especially Redheart), and specifically compare hard and soft wood Atrium Closed models. Got to do it all and the HE1 for good measure.

My husband joined me on day 2 (he's not in the hobby and listens to podcasts mostly) but really enjoyed it and found it all fascinating so was happy about that. Early on we agreed that one of the problems is really that pretty much everything sounds at least very good, certainly compared to consumer headphones most usually hear. By mid day on Sunday when I finally heard the 660S2 (that small Sennheiser booth was always busy) and realized I couldn't even tell the difference between it, the 650, and 600 I knew it was time to go, as we both were fatigued since everything was starting to sound the same.

WiFi streaming seemed better this year and more (most) vendors were just fine with everyone using their own device. Still far from ideal and some stations songs wouldn't load or would take forever and still pause. Also felt less crowded than last year but could just be my perception from not trying to try as much or spending all of day 1 there.

Heard the HE1 when I was new in the hobby and had heard only a handful of good headphones and of course was completely blown away by it then. Unlike some other shows I read about they didn't have anything but the internal ESS 9018 DAC. Overall still amazing and super comfortable, but not the enormous leap over everything else I've heard or owned, which made me pretty darn happy with my current setup and collection. Cool that I could use my own iPhone with it!

Really enjoyed the Final D8000 LE, much more than the Pro. Enjoyed the LCD-5 and Utopia much more than last year, and still really enjoyed the Stealth. Also enjoyed the new Yamaha.

Highlight was the ZMF room, being the fanboy I am. I was glad my spouse got to meet Zach & Bevin, and now he knows where all my fun budget spending goes! The little I listened to the soon to be released Bokeh I really enjoyed and felt like I did when I heard the Auteur Classic that maybe it's a little too good for the price and could cannibalize TOTL sales. I certainly enjoyed it more than the Eikon, which sold for quite a bit more when it was released in 2015 or 16, and I really like the Eikon (no longer made regularly). I was surprised to read others not going in the room because of lines. There were always a lot of people in there, but no lines. Never waited more than a couple minutes for a spot to open up because they had many setups. Very happy they brought the Envy but also had the same tubes I mostly use so I could get closer to the sound I have at home. Also made it super easy to A/B 2 Atrium Closed models in Redwood (which I own and is soft and lightweight) and another in a much harder wood (Olive for sure and another I forget). Wood hardness can certainly change the same model slightly, but enough to have a preference and comments by many have been that they're more pronounced on the Atrium Closed than any of their other models. Indeed they were quite different, with bass being more boomy on the Redwood, with bass sounding tighter and the overall sound more exciting on the harder woods. It was easy to decide this will be my first headphone I will own 2 of because I loved the harder wood sound as much as my Redwood, and are different enough to justify it for me.

I was glad to finally see the Caldera in Coffee Gold, one of the stock options, and Redheart, which varied quite a bit in the 2 sets I saw, with one being basically as red as my red stabilized Caldera, and the other being more orange-brown. It's a really beautiful wood, but not quite as red as it shows up in these pics, and they're not currently selling any model in Redheart anyway.

Overall I'm glad I went, and also glad it really confirmed I'm pretty happy with my collection and don't feel the need to constantly try out more, more, more like I did a few years ago.

 

[SemperMalum]

DAY 2

Met so many nice attendees and representatives at CanJam this year. Always fun to get to know headfi people in person. A lot of us have brands and tunings we lean toward, but I seldom hear something at CanJam I don't enjoy on some level. Some things aren't my cup of tea, but I respect and am amazed by all of the various efforts. That being said, I never want to harp on anything negative because the tuning that isn't right for me may be perfect for someone else. Big praise to all you engineers out there inventing and manufacturing this stuff.

ZMF
So, I did end up spending more time in the ZMF room...sorry I told you I'm a big fan. Hanging out with @zach915m and the ZMF fam is the funnest part of the show. The Bokeh sounded great off of my Mojo 2 - no surprise. It definitely shares DNA with my Atrium Closed. It could be a great closed back option for any ZMF fan. The Arcadia amp was very nice with the Caldera and all the other ZMFs I plugged into it. I toggled back and forth between Arcadia and the Nitsch DSHA-3FN which I love. These are both fantastic music-first amps for very reasonable price to performance ratios.

AUDIO TECHNICA
I spent some time doing a flight of their flagships. I found myself preferring their darker tuned closed back ATH-AWKT over the open ATH-ADX5000 or the new very pretty rare wood one. As you all know I prefer a less treble focused tuning, so this checks out. I thought the ATH-AWKT was a really nice dynamic closed back option. Lots of detail and weight with smoother high range. I believe all their TOTL lineup is using 58mm drivers so they have a big fun sound.

DMS
Went back to his DMS headphone which is also a 58mm driver from memory. It was on the Lina stack this time and I didn't like that pairing as much as whatever the big warmer stack was on the corner of the Headphones.com booth. Still sounded great. It is natural, meaty and percussive. I want to hear more of it on more systems.

HEDD
Conversely, I heard the Heddphone v2 on the Lina stack and I liked it even more than day 1. Hearing it on the Lina vs the Envy gave it more definition and a more neutral / accurate sound to my ears. This is a great headphone for sure. I don't have a ton to add to what people are saying about it. I like it more than v1.

HEADAMP CFA3
I loved the CFA3. Sure it is expensive, but wow it paired so well with my Caldera. Also, this was one of the first times I felt like the Susvara had enough body for me to truly enjoy to the max. I think this amp is going to be a big hit when it comes out later this year / early next year. It has variable gain options and a toggle for a zero feedback mode. I'd have to micro listen to hear the difference between the zero feedback option, but the gain option were fun to play with and made obvious changes in opening things up. This is my favorite Headamp I've heard. Does everything I like in a Solid State amp.

MASS-KOBO
Another amp that did not disappoint was the fabled Mass-Kobo 465. I don't think this was even running off of an actual DAC when I heard it. He offered me a cable with a lightning to 3.5" dongle on there straight into the amp. Wow this things is a stunner. The fullness on my Caldera would be hard to best. Another naturalistic amp that just did everything absolutely right. If I had 17k to drop I'd honestly consider it. I also tried his smaller models and they were phenomenal.

WARWICK APERIO + BRAVURA / SONOMA
On Saturday I kind of preferred the easier-going treble of the Sonoma at the headphones.com booth. When I got in the sound isolation booth, where no one can hear you scream, my opinion did a 180. The Aperio is something special. The level of detail and air was wonderful. Natural, fast, bombastic, and expensive as hell. It is summit level for the rich and wealthy. It didn't leave me with the same jaw-on-the-floor reaction as when I tried the HE-1 a few years back, but it was very impressive and worth the wait in line.

MODHOUSE TUNGSTEN
On day 2 I got to switch between the single sided and double sided Tungsten on the same amps. I preferred the double, but the difference was far from night and day. The double sided just had a touch more complexity, spaciousness and linear curve. Also, my DAY 1 opinion of Tungsten being akin to smooth vintage speakers was hugely influenced by the Amps and Sound it was on when I first heard it. The Tungsten changes considerably based on your amp's character. On the neat looking orange Konus Audio solid state DAC / AMP speaker blocks the treble opened up and became pretty airy if not a touch too bright for me. I tried it on the big Vivo which gave it a tube sound that was a little less warm than I remembered the amps and sound being. I prefer Tungsten on tubes to tame that treble a bit. It is actually a brighter and airier presentation than the Caldera in some ways. It has similar weight when things hit. I think these headphones are surprisingly complimentary rather than being competition. I think of the non-ZMF offerings this was my favorite of the show. Good stereo space, excellent planar separation, big natural bass when it was called for, amp dependent airiness. It had a similar 3d quality to the bass that I LOVE about my Caldera. I think the Tungsten bass may be slightly slower than the Caldera, but it was really thick and pleasant. Caldera was more midrange forward with emphasis on that ZMF euphonic presentation of the vocal region. I may end up picking a Tungsten up to do more listening in quiet room. Also, shoutout to Chis at Mimic who was very friendly and knowledgable. Eagerly awaiting @goldwerger upcoming thoughts on Tungsten - also bummed I didn't run into you to say hi.

SPIRIT TORINO
I finally tried their Centauri back to back with the crazy looking Valkyria. I honestly preferred the more laid back tuning of the Centauri. It has an interesting tuning for a planar. Warmer, but with detail in there. Different.

STAX
I tried the SR-X9000 on the blue Hawaii and also on the big STAX energizer. I thought it was very natural. Fast and ultra detailed electrostatic sound. I still wished there was a touch more low end, but I'm a beefier sound enthusiast so don't take that as a bad thing. This was one of the best electrostatic options I've heard and the price reflects that. I didn't get a chance to compare it to the Audeze Carbon which would have been interesting.

AUDEZE
I've heard most of the offerings from Audeze and really enjoy them. This year I decided to check out more of their budget options with the new MM100 and the Maxwell. The MM100 is excellent. I went back and forth between the 100 and 500 quite a bit. Yes, the 500 is more of everything, but for $399 I think the MM100 is up there with best price to quality with the 6XX etc. The MM series has one of the most natural midrange tunings Audeze offers in my opinion. The Maxwell was similarly impressive for budget friendly offerings. I tried it bluetooth on my phone and on one of their gaming setups. The passive sound isolation and comfort were superb. For the price music was very nice on bluetooth and the tuning lent itself to pinpointing things in space during gaming. I didn't test it, but it comes with a mic that does some of that Audeze voice isolating magic stuff. I see why Sony gaming acquired them. Perfect fit.

XDUOO TA-20 + MOONDROP VENUS
Wow, I actually really liked what was happening with the synergy between the XDUO TA-20 and the Moondrop Venus. This was running off a portable DAC, but I mean for 1k this was a steal in my opinion. The Moondrop was ergonomically kind of weird and heavy, but it sounded natural and sweet on this tube hybrid. I had some friends with me that are just getting into headphones and they all agreed this was a really impressive combo for the price. This was after they had freshly heard all the TOTL craziness.

ABYSS
Found ABYSS and Woo on day 2. The Diana MR was nice and did a lot of what the TC was doing. Fast, punchy, percussive and more portable. Abyss always has a very technical sound to me. Drum hits are always fun. I get why people are devoted fans.

T+A
Tried the Solitaire T and P. The travel option was nice. The P was super technical and detailed with great separation and speed. Interesting "planar-electrostatic" that has some of the advantages of both formats. I thought the vocals / presence region were deeper in the mix than I'm personally used to. The show floor was pretty noisy, so I don't think my impression was accurate. I've read that the P has a nice laid back treble, but in my notes I wrote that I thought it was a bit too forward. I think I'd need to check these out in a quiet area. I'm sure I'd really enjoy them.

REGRETS
- Didn't get to try my Caldera on the Schiit amp/dac combo or the Amps and Sound Red October. Bummer. Gotta go to the Schiitr I guess.
- Would like to try Grell x Drop, Arya Organic, and Yamaha on tubes. I felt like all those had a lot of potential if I could warm them a touch and relax their top end.
- Meze didn't have any angled pads for me to try on my Empyreans. Love the Elite pads on Empy.
- I didn't take advantage of any good show specials...

Great show Headfi! See you all next year.

Man, your photos are freaking fantastic!

 

[Makiah S]

I think that the issue with the Grell may have been the amp and DAC it was attached to (or at least the pairing I herd it on). The staging was interesting to me, I think due to the driver positioning. But the SMSL amp was not helping out on the sharpness so I’ll hope to hear it on something else someday. They wouldn’t tell me rough pricing on these, and my opinion of them may change if they’re $500 vs $1500.

I expressed the exact same concerns with the DROP team. Hopefully some different options will be available on the table in the future.

Personally, I’m excited to purchase Grell Phone myself and I’m happy to say it pairs really well with both HeadAmp and EarMen products

Depending on the size of your desk (and your preference) both are going to be great options that don’t magnify that slightly more lively top that Grell phone had on the SMSL stuff

I mean in my opinion HeadAmps CFA 3 is the best Amp Pairing for Grell Phone but that is a bit of a lopsided combo LOL

 

[skeeb23]

Man, what a fantastic time this CanJam was! I'll definitely drop a video here in the next week (or sooner) on my impressions of the show. Most of it will be the personal connections and experience with meeting new people this time around. The gear is a bonus, but it wasn't my main focus this time around.

For all of those out there that I didn't get a chance to meet up with or talk to more - I WILL be at future CanJams to make up for it. Being the natural introvert that I am (why else would I love headphones, ha) these events push me more and more with each one. I'm biased, but this is the best hobbiest community around!

 

[NovaFlyer]

Man, what a fantastic time this CanJam was! I'll definitely drop a video here in the next week (or sooner) on my impressions of the show. Most of it will be the personal connections and experience with meeting new people this time around. The gear is a bonus, but it wasn't my main focus this time around.

For all of those out there that I didn't get a chance to meet up with or talk to more - I WILL be at future CanJams to make up for it. Being the natural introvert that I am (why else would I love headphones, ha) these events push me more and more with each one. I'm biased, but this is the best hobbiest community around!

Great meeting you in person and chatting after the show ended on Sunday. See you in Dallas!

 

[haiI]

Any impressions of the Questyle CMA18 portable and desktop? I've had a M15 for a long time which I love and am curious how their higher end gear compares.

 

[emdeevee]

A lot has been said about the amazing Canjam in Socal, so I won't retread the same material.

BUT, I want to give a very special "thanks" to the hard workers of both @MusicTeck and Bloom Audio!! Between these two amazing vendors, you were able to try pretty much everything! And they were not only helpful, but also happy and enjoying everything going on!!! They were also the inside sources on what people were saying about what they had to demo. I won't name who or where, but I actually heard salespeople being honest, as they are just as invested in finding the best fit you as you are. They can process your likes and make amazing suggestions!

As for me, I must thank Andrew from MusicTeck and Matthew from Bloom for being right there with me while I was in the thick of it!!! You guys are awesome and a credit to the industry and hobby!

Guys, you have to hit a canjam! These awesome folks will let you sit all day if you want switching iems, daps, and cables to your hearts desire!

Here's a shot of @Natesdailies dailies trying the new Fir Audio e12 single DD at Bloom with the always helpful Matthew making sure everyone is taken care of!

 

[StarBuccaneers]

Had to ask - does any have any updated feedback on the AFUL Cantor and single BA set on the show? Most probably these will be the final retail version if ever since it's now close to tentative release date and really looking forward to how far they've gone with their releases and R&D in a span of a year.

AFUL Cantor - Imagine improved version of P8 - punchy bass, great tuning, details and no BA timbre. BA is custom developed by AFUL. I had someone who hated all BA set listen to it and he loved it. His words were "I can't believe it." No pricing and not the final tuning according to Hifigo. I tried to buy the engineering sample and got denied.

AFUL 1BA - warm set, strange tonality, not for me. Apparently big hit in UK. Also, not the final tuning.