I had limited time on Saturday, and sadly probably won't make it back today (we developed a sick kid last night, sigh). Some quick impressions of just a few things:
Etymotic ER4 SR & ER4 XR
I've been a huge ER-4 fan for literally 13+ years, and using ER-4S amped for 12+ of them. The ER4 SR is just what I wanted from a new Ety: the same sound, but more so. Even more clarity, even more realism, and surprisingly strong (yet to me "correct") bass presence and slam. The SR is an absolute winner, and my next earphone purchase.
I am impressed by what's been done with the ER4 XR: I think it's the Ety that many people have been asking for for years: the ER-4 sound but with a bit of a bass boost. That said, it is not for me. (But I'm in the minority when it comes to bass preferences.)
Listened to 16/44.1 tracks out of a Mojo. Listening straight from an iPhone 5S I found the SR still more than acceptable, but IMO nobody should bother buying this earphone solely for unamped use. It wants to be fed from a good DAP or DAC/amp.
I also liked the suppleness and reduced microphonics of the SR & XR's new cable.
Flare new earphone prototype
This was great! It took some work for me to get a good seal (it probably gets easier with practice). But once properly inserted, it was superb. Full-range sound, really clean, really clear. Voices sounded amazing. All emerging from blackness, by which I mean somehow the Flare seemed to suck away some of the "isolation is great but now I'm just hearing the sound of blood moving through my head" noise (that's not just me, right?) that I experience with other IEMs.
I was talking with
@ClassicalViola, who has the Flare from last year, and it sounds like this year's shares the same sonic character. Versus Etymotic, I think those that like one will like the other, though the sonic presentations are somewhat different.
I will be watching for the start of the Kickstarter for this. (The prototype is sonically finished, but the gent at the booth told me they weren't satisfied with the cable attachment and were expecting a new fitting for that in the next week or so.)
It really likes the Mojo. Fed straight out of iPhone 5S, it was honestly a bit ordinary sounding and wouldn't have captured my attention.
Ether C Flow
Just, just, absolutely great sounding. I can't compare it with Ether C, because that's a year-old memory (but from memory I thought it was great, great sounding too). I guess I'd say this is exactly the closed headphone to get if you're an Etymotic lover.
Superb out of a Mojo, BTW.
Warwick electrostatic drivers / Sonoma Acoustics DAC/Amp
This is the electrostatic technology that can be manufactured in quantity that you may have seen
Tyll's write-up of earlier this year, built into a system from
Sonoma Acoustics, who seem to be a gang of people with Sony R&D backgrounds.
It sounded great! Clean, detailed, full, from high to low (maybe not ultra-low) I felt the whole range was there, beautifully represented and in correct proportion. They said it was "85% done," so if this is just 85%, I'm sold.
...well, I would be sold, but while pricing hasn't been decided yet, it sounds like it's not going to be down where very very good dynamics are. I guess we'll see.
But if you have a chance to hear it, do give it a listen, and give them your feedback while it's still only "85% done."
Meze 99 Classics
After all I've read about these I was expecting great things. And they certainly are articulate, and have very good (and not overblown) bass presence and slam. And the mids were good. But to me the overall sound was slow and thick. Not hugely so, but "Sennheiser veil" plus some.
Meze lovers, help me out: this wasn't what I was expecting (and I've gone back and reread reviews in case I'd remembered wrong). Is this just how they sound (and perhaps I was projecting my hopes onto them a bit too much)? Or was I listening on a pair that weren't broken in? Or ... ? (Listening via Mojo, so amplification wasn't a problem.)
Brainwavz pads and headphone hangers
I love the Brainwavz angled pads on my K550s. (If you have a pair of K550s lying around that you never use because of difficulty getting a seal, or insufficient clamping force, get a pair of the angled pads, which really could fix those problems for you.) Those are now being made in real lambskin as well, and the first of those should be showing up in the UK shortly. They also have a nice line of headphone hangers in various configurations.
Brainwavs also have a line of earphones including Bluetooth ones, but unfortunately I didn't get back to listen to those.
Bendy Head headphone stands
At the Headamp booth. They really are bendy, and conform to your headphone band while your headphone band is conforming to it. A really nice option if you have headphones you want to treat nicely. http://www.bendyhead.com/
Focal Listen
Ending my impressions with this one, which I think may have been passed by by many.
This is Focal's moderate-cost (they said £149) sealed headphone. (You'll have read plenty of other reviews of Elear and Utopia by now, right?)
This is a perfect office headphone to recommend to your friends. Maybe even yourself. The sound was very nice and very full-range, but a little too thick to be a daily driver for me (again, Ety lover here, but I could
almost like it). Earpads feel like nice plastic leather surrounding comfy squishy memory foam. Good isolation, very good comfort, with a thin and supple cable that gets out of your way. It really feels like the perfect office headphone for someone who doesn't want to spend £200 or £300. IMO a winner in its category.
Also, thanks much to
@ClassicalViola for the meetup and the chance to peruse/buy your CDs! Looking forward to keeping in touch.