Hey all!
Sorry for the late entry, I spent the weekend with wife and child who were at the show with me when we went on Saturday. Speaking of which, we had a really positive reception of our three-month boy. A lot of people saying "gotta start them young!" which I was not at ALL expecting. Very happy with the community not immediately scowling at my family for bringing a baby to an audio show. Granted my son is very well behaved for a baby, which maybe makes me lucky! Unsure.....
Anyways, audio impressions. We only spent about five hours at the show, of which about three-ish were listening time so I did not get a lot of things people were looking for, only really the things that I was wanting to hear. Having waited this long to post impressions, my memory is a little shaky but I do remember clearly how I felt with the experiences so hopefully that, and the notes I took, helps here.
Listening was done on the iFi xDSD Gryphon via Bluetooth from my Pixel 8a on the balanced 4.4mm connection of my Hart Audio cables unless otherwise specified. Files came primarily from Qobuz, but occasionally from Spotify. I figure if i'm going to be testing things, I might as well use them in a fashion that, while not the most audiophile of fashions, is how I listen on a daily basis. I did not know prices for majority of these (they were looked up after the fact or loosely based on memory), which very much helps prevent any bias in my personal opinion.
Starting with the disappointment (either through lack of my own testing or through the Law of Diminished Returns) I wanted to talk about the iFi Valkyrie. Very nice unit to use, though in the moment of listening I could not figure out how to turn on xBass and the others. It did feel good to use, but in the short amount of time I chose to listen to the unit with my own reference being my Focal Elegia, I personally did not hear a difference between the Valkyrie and the Gryphon. I will be keeping my money, but I would absolutely recommending finding reviews from actual reviewers about the unit (which will be coming out eventually!) and finding your own time to listen to this product. It's very very cool in theory but overall not for me. If you're on this thread and haven't already checked out the
Ifi Valkyrie Thread, it's definitely worth a read. One more thing: my Gryphon uses the power button as a PAUSE button on quick presses, which I really like; the Valkyrie uses the power button as a MUTE button instead, which I found really annoying coming from the Gryphon. Huge oversight by iFi.
Special thank you to Campfire Audio for lending me their table and knowledge for their products. I was hoping to check out the Taurus from the multiverse series but they did not have one on hand. Anyone reading this who would be willing to lend me their Taurus, feel free to message me. I would love to check it out! IEM's here were listen to with my personal XINHS cable (unless otherwise specified) and either my personal set of Campfire's Marshmallow tips or Final Type E eartips, as elaborated below. All of these IEMs were of fantastic build
Axion - this was a very fun listen at $250, very much worth this price. It's not as resolving as other IEM's, especially at this price point, but Axion is extremely comfortable with both sets of tips for me. Can either be worn over the ear or bullet-style. Overall tuning takes a V-shape, but the midrange is well represented so maybe more of a U-shape? Very dynamic off of both the included USB-C cable (which is not for sale anywhere on their website, maybe has some DSP? unsure...) and my 4.4 cable, very fun IEM's
With the marshmallow tips these were a tad bit boomy in the mid-bass, but otherwise very nice, On the final tips, the midrange was a little on the wispy/thin side and the treble was a little darker. Definitely prefer these with marshmallow tips
Clara - I do not have notes on where I remember changing eartips on these because I was so pulled in to how these sound, so I am referencing the notes from listening with Marshmallow tips but I did change to Final tips at some point. I also listened in on these with the stock cable bc I was too lazy to changed the cable to my own from their "Time Stream Duet" cable, which was actually quite ergonomically sounds and did not have any significant microphonics, which I really appreciated.
Clara overall has some of the hardest hitting and deepest subbass I have ever heard, even though it is volumetrically less than my reference IE600. This is an insanely tactile IEM. Midrange and treble were silky smooth, not a lot of notes on that tho, sorry! Very resolving, great imaging, fantastic fit for my own ears. This to date is the best IEM I have heard in my life, probably worth saving up the money for.
Supermoon - Weirdly enough, these did not like my Marshmallow tips in terms of fit. They sounded good, treble was plentiful, but I had to take these tips off. On the Final Type E, these are good fun. I would have liked more midbass but the subbass was damn great. Would also have liked a little more midrange, but it was very high quality midrange capable of smoothing out bad details. In J-Cole's "MIDDLE CHILD," his voice normally comes along as very processed. That quality was not present on supermoon, he sounded very natural and as if he was actually speaking in front of me. Treble with these tips was actually quite nice, pulled back in comparison to the marshmallow tips and not at all spicy like I was told these would be.
From this point on, I only did listening with my Final Type E tips for whatever reason I did. I think I was just trying to get through models since I had a lot I wanted to listen to
Cascara - forgot to get a pic of this, but it was also the blacked out version if I remember these correctly, Midbass was a boomy, but otherwise solid midrange and treble. Maybe this was still me coming off of the high was Clara and Supermoon produced for me, but I was not impressed with how Cascara sounded. Left me feeling "Meh."
Moon Rover - this was the first departure in tonality from what I assume is Campfire Audio "House sound" to my ears. Moon Rover was mid-forward in comparison to its compatriots. Insanely resolving, as expected from the planar. Overall pleasant sound that did the most job I have ever heard of separating the vocals from the rest of the mix. A fun listen, this and Clara would work well in a collection for me
Andromeda Emerald Sea - this is a beautiful shade of green, and super insanely sensitive on my Gryphon. Overall, I was not impressed with the sound of these: they felt a little mushy, had a lot of treble, and didn't have an overall wow factor to me. I get what the rep was talking about in terms of them sounding "analog" but they were overall not for me.
Leaving the Campfire booth, the wife and I walked around with the boy to check out a bunch of speakers. Since I don't know a whole lot about them, I'll just be posting pictures. The rep for the T+A room talked to me about their very nice speakers, and I did get my first taste of positional tonality, which was incredible to listen to. I'll stick with my headphones for now tho. Along the way, I did listen to the Focal Hadenys, but forgot to take a picture. They were punchy, had a shimmery treble, and were quite comfy. Listening time was short because Focal Naim was showing off their new integrated system, which was QUITE loud so I left their booth.
And now, back to headphones
Beyerdynamic T5p 3rd gen - I was surprised that these were not as bright as Beyers typically are. Bass has good slam, warmth did leak a little into the midrange but was overall decent. Imaging was solid, as expected for a beyer. If you have wide ears or cannot stand things pressing against your ear, these are a hard pass. The tuning foam on the inside of the cups juts out quite a bit, I got used to it but you might not be able to.
Dunu Arashi - forgot a picture of these but that's OK. Had a little trouble with getting the height adjustment right but after it was right the Arashi was quote comfortable if a little heavy. They sounded bright and tight, impact was decent as a result but the treble energy was a little too much for my taste.
Mirph Designs Mirph1 - this was a fantastic listen for me. Very dynamic and resolving on the busy track that was Meshuggah's "Swarm," subbass reaches very deep, midrange was notated as "reasonable." Did a fair bit of head bobbing to that song. I need more time with this can, or just add it to my collection. Super cool headphones/
Auribus Acoustics Sierra Open Monitor - Had an issue with these where the arm had to be lifted off the headband for a little bit in order to adjust the size of the headphones, but once they fit they were fantastic. I was quite surprised to see these run off of my Gryphon, ideally they should be listened to on a more powerful amp but the gryphon was still really good. These are incredibly resolving, have very low reaching subbass, and lean bright on treble but otherwise are a fantastically balanced can. Great separation between instruments when listening to Rings of Saturn's "Abducted" remake, fantastic headphone. I personally prefer the Mirph1 when it comes to overall tonality and comfort, but YMMV.
HarmonicDyne x Z Reviews Eris - forgot a picture here again, my b. For a headphone that talks about "Bass Violence necessary for change," these have really fun bass but not the best bass I have ever heard in my life. Maybe the best bass for the price tho, which rationalizes the headphone a bit more. I felt the midrange was a bit snuffed out and the treble was a bit "snippy" (tinny?), so these are definitely not for me. What I can appreciate about it is that if someone wants a closed-back headphone but can't deal with cup resonance or need situational awareness, these are a good option. Surprisingly open for a closed-back, I was trying to listen to music and Zeos was talking to someone else behind me about something. He was super clear to hear in the background
SJY Audio Horizon Closed Carbon - these were a real highlight. Super comfortable, insane impact and tactility. I like to call it a "Midbass boosted balanced tuning," something that I thought was going to be fantastic but did not think would be this good. Treble is crispy in the best way possible. Gryphon was also able to power these balanced but would definitely benefit from a more powerful amp.
There was an issue that was not because I was underpowering it (though everyone at the HiFiGuides stand initially thought it was power related), but the right earcup was a little finicky. It started with not having any sound coming through it. Swapping the left and right plugs of my cable did not fix this issue. Zeos had to take over, plug in a Magia cable (which btw are quite nice), make sure the unit he provided didn't have any loose terminations, and that seemed to fix the issue. Unplugging the Magia cable from the Valencia amp into my Gryphon did not bring the issue back and that was how I did my listening impressions.
Opal Audio AM7 - this was an interesting listen. Very pretty headphone in person, though the build definitely screams "prototype," since I scraped my finger on the back of the slider where a couple of retention/friction screws are sticking out on each side. Bass a little anemic but had really good impact. These are more midrange focused, and are good at what they do. Also beware the clamp: might be fine for you, but was a little much to me. Since this wasn't mine but belonged to Pasta, I didn't feel comfortable asking to unbend the headband to reduce clamp. Really cool headphone otherwise, I will be keeping an eye on Opal Audio since the kickstarter for the AM7 was successful.
Modhouse Tungsten w/ honeycomb pattern - obviously these would not have worked off Gryphon, so I resorted to the provided stack, which is as follows:
Pixel 8a USB -> Hiby FD5 as DAC -> RebelAmp as pre-amp -> Orchard Audio Valencia as amp. I am not certain if this is Single or Double magnet, I think I heard that these are double magnet but i'm not 100%
Tungsten is overall a very cool headphone. I get what they were trying to do: make a headphone that competed with Summit-Fi that was not itself Summit-Fi in terms of pricing. Any sibilance that I heard with my music prior was gone, but the resolution was maintained. Bass is insanely tactile and slammy. Midrange is very smooth, neither too forward nor back. Treble is insane, snappy and sparkly. Unfortunately for me, the tuning of these was not within my preference. I did not get to listen to Susvara OG this trip with limited time but to my memory I do prefer them to Tungsten. I definitely need to do more listening to this on other sources and compare it to Susvara OG. Maybe I should listen to this how I had first heard Susvara, which would need to be at the Headamp table, but maybe next time. This is otherwise a super cool headphone.
Audeze LCD-S20 - this is a weird but cool closed-back. Insanely good at isolating from the world, bass hits insanely hard and is plentiful, and is a very comfortable headphone (especially with improving the headband adjustment system between this and Maxwell/MM-100). Gryphon could drive these, but I unfortunately had to resort to a single-ended connection, which was a bit lacking. That being said, I did have one issue with this in terms of the midrange: the 1-2K elevation is a bit strange, and listening to Billie Eilish resulted in her sounding nasally. I had never had this issue listening to Billie before, so this was definitely a turnoff for me since she is one of my favorite vocalists. Otherwise, the S20 is super cool for the right person.
Grado S950 - unfortunately this was the only Grado I was able to try at the show, since I'm personally not interested in the HP100se and there were no other Grados (was really hoping for at least an RS1x or even a SR325x), but the S950 made up for it and was quite a different and interesting experience from Grado. This headphone SLAMS, has really good bass and treble, and was overall quote comfortable. I could feel that this was a bit heavier than anything else I had ever heard from Grado, but didn't feel like too much. The dual XLR was an unbelievably welcome change, being able to use my own cable was a pleasant experience, I REALLY hope they make the smart decision to trickle that tech down to their cheaper models, especially since people have been asking that of Grado for YEARS. Also, shoutout to Moon Audio for allowing me to listen to this with my own cable and not trying to force their own line of cables at me. Really appreciate that, was not expecting that from then.
I did have ONE issue with the Grado that I was not expecting at all: the midrange was thin/wispy on the provided G-cush pads. I was really weirded out by this, since Grado is known for their mid-upper midrange and treble. Moon Audio was very kind to let me change pads in this instance, especially since the S950 by default ships with both G-cush and F-cush. I chose to put on my own pair of Dekoni Audio Fenestrated Lambskin Grado pads, which completely fixed this issue in the midrange. It did overall warm up the headphone, but I do not believe the technicalities were affected by this. I really preferred the S950 this way.
All in all, I had a blast at AXPONA. This was my first time going, and I will definitely be back at a later date. Whether or not I will have the wife and child with me is up for discussion later, but hopefully I will be able to go to more than one day.
Take care, have a great day!
V/R
Dyl, @AtypicalAudio on YT,
@BarefootDyl everywhere else
