[Edited: Pix added]
Great to see you there Ken.
I did really enjoy your AK380 -> CDM -> HE1000 setup there. A very sublime setup with the smoothness from the tubes.
These were nice not-so-little-yet-comfortable DAPs by
Pioneer & Onkyo which were announced in IFA. We, in Japan, finally got to demo these and I do really like them. They're very reasonably priced.
VentureCraft is also getting into the DAP game and this was also a nice sounding player. The software was still very clunky alpha and the housing felt rather plasticky though. Their pricing is around
¥90,000 which I think is quite steep compared to the Pioneer XDP-100R and Onkyo DP-X1.
I also tried the Heada Amp. You can read about it in Burrawong's Review
here
FitEar debut their first hybrid with Fostex collaboration. I have to admit this one didn't thrill me as much as i found the treble a little rolled off for my tastes.
Antelope showed their Zodiac Platinum with Rubidium Atomic Clock.
This was surprise #1. Stax announced the release of the SR-L700 and to be honest, I wasn't expecting very much however when I heard it, I felt tonally it was a good fit between the SR-009 and SR-007Mk1s. The SR-007/9s probably edged out in terms of resolution over the SR-L700 however, tonally the L700s were very well balanced.
The Sennheiser HD800s was also a recent announcement. Very subtly it smoothed out the treble peaks.
Axel Grell
Currawong
Marshal Banana
Audeze showed off it's LCD-4s. Another nice sounding headphone however heavy as always.
There's been much talk about the Cowon Plenue so I had to give it a shot. It was nice too but I have to say, unless I have the Pioneer/Onkyo/VentureCraft the differences aren't glaringly different.
The Shure KSE1500 was the #2 surprise. I have to admit when I first heard it I was telling myself, "It's not that great"....I think I couldn't believe it myself that it sounded brilliant that I convinced myself that it was "just nice". We were given only 5 mins to listen & take pix as there was a rather convoluted queuing system just to listen to these. However later when Jude showed of his personal loaner/review unit, he had his AK380 line out into the KSE1500's line-in amp and it was just really brilliant. Mentally I jumped onto the other side of the spectrum and til now, a few days later, I can't forget about the KSE1500 - which will be detrimental to my wallet. Keep an eye out on these chaps.
Chord had a very fancy presentation of the Mojo which unfortunately I didn't attend. I have to say I do like the Mojo. It's left a bigger impression on me than the Hugo (but I haven't heard the Hugo for many many months).
Noble Kaiser 10 Universal Aluminium were really beautiful sounding. Excluding the Shure KSE1500 electrostats earphone/DAC-Amp combo,I would have to say that the K10 Universal Aluminiums would have been the most impressionable earphone to my ears. In fact I was desperately trying to hunt down Brannan to see if I could borrow a pair for 2 weeks. Most of you would wonder why I would do that when I already have the custom K10's but somehow I just feel the urge to compare the two.
One of my favourite transportable tube amp makers Analog Squared Paper was there too. Shikada-san continues to improve his offerings with tweaks here and there.
Ultrasound showed their Edition M's there. They're the introductory to the Edition series using 30mm drivers. They're not as V shaped as their Edition 8s. They are very light too. However tonally they're not my taste.
AudoQuest's Skylar (background) was present along with the NightHawk and Beetle.
Who are these handsome devils!?
Suyama-san of FitEar and John Darko of DigitalAudioReview
Kawahata-san of Fostex & Jude
Nao-san of Sony and Currawong
The fans at Yamazaki-san's Atomic Floyd exhibit
Narumi-san, our friendly Ultrasone girl
Tomoe-san, our local celebrity made a show too
Hope you guys enjoyed this long lengthy picture post. Yours truly
(Photo courtesy of Kenzo Kono of Emilai)