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But guys - we have to know how Storm measures on a 711 clone when clumsily laid out on a table under loud show conditions! No other measurements will do!
But guys - we have to know how Storm measures on a 711 clone when clumsily laid out on a table under loud show conditions! No other measurements will do!
I'm sorry this interaction didn't end more pleasantly, but your recollection of events doesn't correlate with mine. I always ask everybody before I measure anything. As we discussed, I would have been much more interested to see impedance and distortion/waveform error than FR from a B&K rig. I'll admit you caught me off guard, because this was the first time I'd ever been told no, but at your request I stopped at impedance.I'm going to address this since I'm the one who personally attended to you. To provide full context, this gentleman pulled up to our booth, listened to STORM, then placed it down. When I inquired as to what he thought of the STORM, he just replied "not bad" and proceeded to pull out a giant pelican case full of measuring equipment without consulting any of us manning the booth. I notified him that we are not allowing measurements, as the units we have for demo are engineering samples that we produced that met QC standards and are representative of the final sound, but that we did not let out as production units as the graphs just don't look pretty as we print out the measured response for all launch edition clients, even though they are all technically up to spec. He then proceeded to insert STORM into the coupler anyway, and when I questioned him again, he said he was taking an impedance measurement (which does not require insertion into a coupler), so now I have to stop attending to other folks at the booth and get up and walk behind this gentleman just to make sure that he's not secretly taking a measurement he can misconstrue later, taking up time I could spend attending to others and also taking up space at our booth while others are waiting to audition.
We are more than happy for folks to measure our creations. Subtonic believes that both measurements and listening are required to create a great audio product. Tuning is a blend of art and science. If anyone wants to measure our products, we will be more than happy to accommodate with some prior notice. For media, or even individuals, do feel free to contact us prior to events to arrange this. In fact, an audio community member, @listenerwww , asked us for a unit to measure on Saturday, mentioning that B&K was allowing the public to use the 5128 HATS that they brought to the show. Our entire team was also curious about how STORM measures on 5128, so we arranged for a mutual friend who had purchased a production STORM to loan a unit for a short while on Sunday to get the measurements taken. Listener described this on this thread a few posts up but I think they opted to omit the fact that we greenlit it as they weren't sure if we wanted others to trouble us for such arrangements in the future, but the fact is that we are more than happy to accommodate.
There were at least 4 clients with STORMs on the show floor with STORM and we could have helped you get in touch with them for measurements given prior notice. But you don't contact us prior about any of this, come to our booth and just pull out your equipment and take up booth time and space without the minimum courtesy of asking us first, then proceed to try to run a measurement anyway despite specifically being told not to, taking up my time and capacity to attend to others at the booth. Just with that in mind, I was extremely disincentivised to offer to arrange anything for you. And now I am glad I didn't after you posted this, which shows that, one, you didn't pay any attention to the explanations given to you, and two, you don't seem at all interested in the STORM as your first priority is pulling out your measurement rig instead of engaging with any of us to try to understand the philosophy and design of STORM, and also understand why the design and shell are the way they are. And if you did, perhaps we could have helped you out with tip selection to get you a better fit, as we have with many clients and attendees, including several ladies with small ears.
I don't get the need to be so dismissive and unfriendly in person, and so presumptive in your comments here. Just talk to us, we don't bite. And what do we have to hide? Nothing, there are multiple 711 clone measurements available online. And we clearly provide measurements from a B&K 4195 on our website, and 5128 measurements taken at the show are also now available publicly, both of which are systems that we believe are more accurate than your GRAS, clone or otherwise.
Of course, we are always open to critique, we just ask that one gives STORM a fair shot with at least a couple of tries with different tips and sources before coming to a conclusion, especially since STORM's extended treble and bass presentation is quite sensitive to fit and seal. I vividly remember this interaction, as it stood out as the most unpleasant part of an otherwise great weekend.
Your comments including ones like this that you made about EE are, quite frankly, plain insulting to manufacturers like ourselves and EE, and for the record, Odin is still extremely popular with many of its owners and is still recommended often today despite having been on the market for a considerable amount of time now.
Our entire team believes that although measurements don't tell the entire story, they are still an important metric and a tool that can help many to get closer to their ideal setup. Behaviour like yours turns people off learning about this area. It hurts the cause and progress that can be made from a better understanding of measurements and measurement systems more than helping it. TL;DR: Your attitude receives an emphatic thumbs down from me.
Regardless of whether you’ve purchased IEMs in the ballpark of Storm or exceeding it, heck even if it’s a $15 IEM, you’re not entitled to measurements if the manufacturer refuses for any reason they choose. Please show a little respect.I've previously purchased IEMs whose prices are (almost) in the ballpark of STORM, but only did so after both listening and looking in detail at measurements. If I'm going to spend that amount of money, I want to do both the test drive and see the spec sheet. Those that don't see the need for the latter - please see paragraph #4 in my original post.
If you had been there, you would have seen that I was respectful. As requested, I did not take measurements beyond impedance, and even that hasn't been published anywhere.Regardless of whether you’ve purchased IEMs in the ballpark of Storm or exceeding it, heck even if it’s a $15 IEM, you’re not entitled to measurements if the manufacturer refuses for any reason they choose. Please show a little respect.
Seconded, I probably spent close to 3 to 4 hours in there over both days trying out the great collection of gear there. Thanks for putting up with me trying like 15 pieces of gear haha. It was such a great environment!Thanks to you guys so much for your calm room which made for such nice demos! I spent a good deal of time on both days with you guys and felt more like a hang with friends being in the room! Thanks again for tolerating me!
Thank you for the kind words on the W2022, there really is nothing like it out there. It's also very unconventionally different than our usual offerings, but I also believe it to absolutely be the statement piece of our 60 Years in Hi-Fi.Finally managed to get my thoughts/impressions in text format. Issue is that it turned out to be massive so I'm going to spoiler it in case people don't want to read the large amount of text! I had a laaaarge list of items and knocked out a lot.
So, I figured I'd post my impressions for CanJam as this was my first one and I only recently just got back into the headphones hobby. It's been a few weeks but had some time to really write out my thoughts.
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FactsCan't knock it until I hear it but it's a wild proposition for me to think the best pairing with a $17,000 amp is a $200 headphone.
Thank you for the kind words on the W2022, there really is nothing like it out there. It's also very unconventionally different than our usual offerings, but I also believe it to absolutely be the statement piece of our 60 Years in Hi-Fi.
AWAS is very good, but more mid-centric, neutral/warm, but also great upper vocal presence and energy. If I can rank some of our more recent woodies from warmth to brightness it would be as such:
W2022 - W1000Z - AWAS (Sakura) - AWKG (Kurogaki) - AWKT (Kokutan) - W5000 Raffinato - L5000
Cheers,
@Hiker816 Could you tell me how L0rdGwyn Aegis performs against the amps you've mentioned and which price point it competes.Finally getting around to posting my CanJam impressions. Better late than never, right?
Disclosure: I don’t know what I’m talking about. Seriously, I became a lawyer so I wouldn’t have to deal with numbers, and I have no idea how any audio gear works. At all. And this was my first CanJam. Also, my musical tastes are a little idiosyncratic. I listen almost exclusively to technical instrumental progressive rock and metal, and acoustic guitar (my playlist for this CanJam is at the bottom). I have a theory that all audiophiles fall somewhere on a spectrum of “I listen to music to relax” and “I listen to music to be energized”, but most fall at one of the poles. I am decidedly on the “listen to be energized” side of the spectrum. You’ve been warned. FYI, I tested amps using my DCA Stealth.
Amps
Feliks Audio Envy: I sat down at a dealer’s table and listened to the Envy Performance Edition. Frankly, it didn’t sound very good. Muddy, lacking in detail, not particularly dynamic. After all I had heard about it, I couldn’t understand what went wrong. I decided to give it another chance—this time at the Headphones.com booth with a standard edition—the next day. I’m glad I did. Listening to my own playlist through their Matrix Audio DAC and their DCA Expanse out of the SE output, it sounded like a completely different amp. Good speed, exceptional resolution and detail, very good dynamics and instrument separation, and top-notch timbre.
Zahl HM1: When I first auditioned the Zahl at the Headphones.com both on Saturday morning, I was told not to connect my own source. Using their source and music I wasn’t particularly familiar with, I wasn’t initially all that impressed. But when I switched to Class A from Class A-Servo, it was a shockingly different experience—everything came alive. (Apparently I’m in the minority, as the representative said most listeners preferred the Servo mode). Instrument separation and especially dynamics seemed to take a big leap forward. Drums were particularly crisp and hard-hitting. The soundstage knob also made a much more appreciable difference than I expected, though not in the way I expected. I thought it would expand the soundstage side to side, but it instead it pushed everything except the center back, or forward. With the ambient show noise, I couldn’t clearly recognize the effect of the bass and treble adjustment knobs, though.
Since the Rep told me I might be able to try my own source at the end of the day when it was less crowded, I kept circling starting about 5:30, but it was always being used. At 6:05 (after show closing), it was empty and I sheepishly asked the other Rep there if she was closing up or if I might be able to listen for a few minutes. To my delight, she said with a smile that if I happened to sit down and start listening while she was packing up other equipment, she wouldn’t stop me (thank you!). So that’s what I did. I went through my entire playlist with much less show noise. Speed was very good, and resolution, detail, bass, instrument separation, imaging, and soundstage even better, timbre as good as it gets. But really, it’s the dynamics that impressed me. And the Class A vs Servo, and soundstage adjustment, aren’t gimmicks. They’re actually really cool and useful, at least to me.
Mass Kobo 465: This is a phenomenal amp. It does everything right. Using my Stealth and my own playlist, speed is great—even better than the Zahl. Resolution and detail are fantastic (equal to or a touch behind the Zahl), dynamics stellar, instrument separation, imaging, and soundstage are great, timbre great (though maybe just a tiny bit artificial on some tracks), bass is great, and treble is very good. (I also tried the Mass Kobo with their show Utopia and Susvara, and it was impressive, but I don’t get along with either of those headphones as well, so it wasn’t as informative). There is nothing fancy about this amp. It doesn’t have any bells or whistles. It just sounds awesome.
So which is better, sonically, between the Mass Kobo and Zahl? I don’t know. I couldn’t A/B them at the show, and couldn’t even listen to them back to back because of lines. I’m pretty sure I’d be a very happy man with either (and, in fact, my Zahl order arrived a few days later!). The substantial cost difference and the extra features in the Zahl would have to be relevant considerations for most people, I would think.
L0rdGwyn Aegis: Special mention for this amp, which was set up in the ZMF room. I didn’t spend a ton of time on it, mostly because it’s a self-build kit and I lack even the most rudimentary of skills to assemble something like this, so if it was good, I would just be torturing myself. And, of course, it was tortuously phenomenal. I listened on one of ZMF’s show VCs, but I own the VC, so I’m familiar. The Aegis sounded just so . . . right. I want one. I’m jealous of those with the skills to build themselves one.
Headphones
Austrian Audio Composer: First, let me say the reps there were super friendly, helpful, and enthusiastic about their product. For good reason. I was immediately struck by how comfortable these are. Light, perfect clamp. I can’t actually think of another headphone that’s more comfortable, in fact. Strangely, they were using a dongle DAC at the show—not sure which one. And it was plugged into their new Full Score One amp. This headphone is as open as it gets, so show room noise was a problem. But from what I could tell, both the bass and treble were excellent. Dynamics and timbre were quite good as well. Everything else was in the decent category for me. Since they were bragging about how easy this headphone is to drive and how great a portable it makes, I pulled out my iFi Go Blu and tried that. Strangely, it sounded substantially better to my ears. Everything was in the good to great category for me, and not just for being run on a tiny portable DAC/amp. I’d be very curious to hear this on a great DAC, and maybe a TOTL tube amp.
Meze Elite: I hadn’t planned to listen to this headphone, but I walked by their room on Sunday and there was a seat open, so what the heck. Based on what I had read, I didn’t expect to like this headphone. But I did. Dynamics, instrument separation and imaging, and bass were all much better than I expected.
Mod House Tungsten (Double Magnet): I didn’t get to spend much time with this, but came away really impressed with its dynamics, instrument separation, and bass.
HEDDphone 2 (off Lina stack): For some reason, I was expecting a sound signature on this like a ribbon driver. It doesn’t sound like that. At all. But I couldn’t get much of a sense of what it did sound like because the show noise was just too overwhelming when listening to this one.
Stax SR-X9000 (off Blue Hawaii): Based on what I had read, I wasn’t sure how much I would like this headphone. But I was surprised. Speed, resolution, and timbre were all great as one would expect from an e-stat, but dynamics and bass were also much better than I anticipated.
Warwick Aperio (and Bravura): I was very anxious to test the Aperio in Warwick’s soundproof booth, so I headed there first on Saturday morning. I ended up being the first listener. They wouldn’t let me listen to my own source, and none of their music selections were close to what I normally listen to, however. Maybe it was because I was listening to unfamiliar music or because it hadn’t had much time to warm up, but I wasn’t enthralled. The next day, I tried both the Aperio and Bravura at the Headphones.com booth. Ambient noise was more of a problem, but I was able to listen to my own music and that made a huge difference. Dynamics, instrument separation, timbre, and bass were pretty solid for the Aperio, and the same but just a notch down for Bravura. On my list to demo under better conditions.
Sennheiser HE-1: I have never heard such a transparent and realistic headphone. The gear just got out of the way. Resolution and clarity, instrument separation and imaging, and timbre were ridiculous, and bass and dynamics really solid. I really wish they made a cheaper version of this without the bells and whistles. I’ll gladly open the headphone case myself to save some cash. Sennheiser’s @ericpalonen, was also incredibly nice, candid, and helpful.
Spirit Torino Valkyria: Based on what I had read, I was incredibly curious and excited about this headphone. I gather some CanJam attendees weren’t very enthused about it. But to my ears, it sounded glorious. And that was off a Shanling M30, not Spirit Torino’s matched amp. I couldn’t get a great sense of its resolution and detail given the show noise, but speed, dynamics, instrument separation and imaging, timbre (especially), and bass all blew me away. I went back and listened a second day, and loved it again. I would love to hear this off a TOTL amp. This was one of the highlights of the show for me.
Non-Gear-Related-Thoughts: I came to CanJam on a mission to try gear and that, combined with my misanthropic nature, meant I didn’t socialize as much as I should have. But I met a fellow head-fi’er from my neck of the woods for breakfast, which was great. And, I arranged to grab a drink with Danny @SageM from RAAL-requisite. He has gone out of his way with amazing customer service for me so many times that I owed him. (I don’t want to get specific so as to avoid creating expectations that might not be possible to meet for every customer, but let’s just say that from Danny, I’m confident you’ll get the best customer service you’ve ever had). RAAL-requisite wasn’t presenting at the show but Danny attended for a day as a participant. I expected to chat with him for 20 minutes since I know he needed to make the rounds. We ended up talking for three hours. It was great to get the backstory on RAAL-requisite and to generally chit chat about music and gear. It was a great way to close out the show.
Thanks to all the organizers for making my first CanJam an epic event!
*Playlist used: Syncatto: Patterns, “See You on the Other Side” & New Places, “Awake”; Night Verses: From the Gallery of Sleep, “No. 0” and “No Moon”, and Every Sound Has Color in the Valley of Night: Part 1, “8 Gates of Pleasure”; Rodrigo y Gabriela, In Between Thoughts a New World, “In Between Thoughts a New World”; Polyphia, Remember That You Will Die, “Playing God”; Strawberry Girls, Prussian Gloom, “Nightmare/Dream Sequence”; Yes, Yessongs, “Yours is No Disgrace”