I really don't need to buy more gear after kitting out my return-to-the-office desk with a pair of Focal Celestees and an Astell &Kern ACRO CA1000 (unbeatable £550 deal on Amazon Prime Day). Might drop by the Qobuz stand and commend them on holding fast against the MQA scam. Roon is not listed...

Have you tried apps like this one when you don't have someone handy to ask? https://apps.apple.com/us/app/color-blind-pal/id1037744228 Not that it excuses Chord's inexcusable UI choices (or the use of micro-USB in 2023). I think it's "CMA 18 Master" and "CMA 18 Portable", but yes, very...

I think it will be called the M18, but I didn’t think to take any photos. About the size of a deck of cards or an iPod Classic.

I went there for the seminars (but still managed to leave with a Focal Celestee and Noble Audio FoKus Mystiques). The one on DAC architectures by Rob Watts of Chord Audio was outstanding, unfortunately I have other commitments tomorrow so I'll miss the one on transients.. The one on Audiophiles...

No, but they are an obvious option, along with the other Focal closed-back headphones for someone who has the Utopia and Elear. A bit more spendy than I'd like, however, but perhaps there will be show specials. I don't like that they are not made in France (only the drivers are).

Yes, I am definitely going to look at it. I'd read conflicting reviews, specially those that claimed it doesn't sound good without the dedicated power supply, but Jude's CanJam preview speaks very highly of them. I don't know if they support Roon ARC for remote listening, however. Might have to...

That's a bit too pricey for my office rig, unfortunately. I used to keep an HD650 at my old office with a Musical Fidelity X-CAN V2 and X-PSU V2 but there was a break-in and the thief made out with that gear, along with my HP-15C LE calculator. While I applaud his excellent taste, that did leave...

Is the Pope Catholic? If you think Head-Fi is bad for your wallet, wait until you CanJam. I ended up last year with a pair of Utopias (from Hifonix). This year I am looking for listening rigs for Return To the Office, i.e. closed-back headphones and a low-footprint streamer-DAC-amp that...

Also at the Science Museum (2 out of the 30 worldwide "real IMAX" venues are in London, and one more in Manchester). I've been told audiences at the Science Museum are more polite. Pro tip: if the hotel and travel costs have wiped out your non-headphone budget but you still want a good meal...

£2950 for the Utopia plus a free Focal headphone stand. So about $3700 US.

I spent some time at the xMEMS stand, which is a technology display for their transducers, not end-products. I was expecting weak bass and muddy imaging, but was instead surprised by the clean sound not unlike Etymotics. Definitely a company to follow. Must… resist… the… lure… of the… specials...

I had some balanced cables made for my Focal Elear by Custom Cans in the UK, and even with the gain turned to low, 10 o'clock is the maximum listening volume I can handle. This thing has a ridiculous amount of power.

Yes, I have Etymotic ER-4P and more recently a pair of ER-4SR. I mostly use them on the plane, though, and there hasn't been much of that in the last 2 years, go figure.

Nice! Too bad I already have the ER4-SR and a Qobuz subscription...

I can appreciate that. I'd rather spend that on my grail headphones, the Stax Omega II (or perhaps the newer SR-009, I haven't auditioned them), but in this case I have a specific need for closed headphones, and suspect the Elegias wouldn't be much of an improvement if at all over the Elears.