Impressions from Canjam 2017
ELECTROSTATS:
The Stax SR-009 is a headphone I previously owned powered by the KGSSHV and while I did like that combo, I never got used to its slightly ethereal, floating presentation. It's been a while since I had that and for the most part I've not thought about it too much. Out of curiosity I tried the same headphone powered by the BHSE and that is quite a pairing. Everything is more planted, notes are rich and fuller but the speed and air that a good electrostat system should have are retained. It's made me reconsider the SR-009 again as I very much enjoyed this setup and it surprised me.
While I was upstairs I didn't know that the Sonoma Acoustics room was a walk in room. Out of curiosity I tried out their Model One. There was another manufacturer I spoke to prior to visiting that room and I have to say they were quite disparaging about Sonoma... In fact this was one of three slightly unpleasant conversations I had with manufacturers about competitors... but I'll leave those politics to the side for now.
The headphones themselves I don't mind the look of. They remind me of the HE1 headphone in terms of look. A lot of people complain about the weight of larger headphones and there is no such problem here, these weigh around 300g, so very comfortable however I also felt it made them feel cheaper in the hands than they should do. They are very large drivers which easily sit on the head and cover the ears.
The difficulty here was most of the music selection on offer is not what I listen to and finding something to A-B to what I had with me was difficult. The source was running DSD and I only had FLAC on my setup...
Tonally these are quite weighty sounding, significant low frequency response. Mids are also thick but slightly recessed and the highs I found a little rolled off. These did not sound like what I expected an electrostat to sound like and they were a little slower. Volume wise, I was probably a little past the 12 O'clock mark for comfortable listening so I didn't find it too underpowered as others did. The sound is pretty open, not huge and there were some layering capabilities but nothing like the higher end Stax setups.
I compared this to the Lotoo Paw Gold>KSE1500 with the few songs I could find a match for. Yes, not the same thing at all but it's a reference point. Immediately it was apparent that the detail retrieval of the KSE1500 is far more capable than the Model One. Soundstage noticeably wider, presentation faster. The soundstage of the model one seemed slightly deeper. Mids are not recessed on the KSE1500 and highs are far more present. The mid bass response of the Model one is far more emphasized than it's subbass response and the KSE1500 simply reaches far lower. Overall the KSE1500 demonstrated some limitations of the Model one, mainly in terms of clarity, soundstage and detail retrieval. The KSE1500 is more natural sounding, more instrumentally accurate but also flatter.
Nevertheless if price is taken into consideration I sincerely feel that the Model One is relatively good value despite all the above. You get the headphone and a decently matched amp and DAC section in quite a compact package. I'd seriously consider it as a good introduction to Electrostatic systems and especially for someone who does not necessarily want the punishingly revealing presentation of some other electrostats.
It is a comfortable lounge listening setup both in terms of comfort and listening style.
Sennheiser HE1; Actually this isn't in reference to an audition to this year's Canjam but last years. I mention this here for a couple of reasons because I notice someone said that they couldn't try their own source. Last year, I was allowed to request this and I used a modest Questyle QP1r playing FLAC feeding via digital optical and had the opportunity to try around 20 tracks... and in that respect if users were not allowed to try their own sources at this year's Canjam, I think that is a crying shame.
I think I am the only person who thinks the HE1 doesn't sound natural... there is so much weight in the low frequency response that the headphones vibrate on the ears. Immense clarity, air and instrumental separation with a huge weighty foundation. It's a very full frequency assault on the ears, very visceral, very musical. I like that type of presentation but it's not what I think of as completely natural. It does sound so immense it's like a set of floorstanding speakers but I don't think I could close my eyes and imagine myself in a concert hall unless it was a venue with very unusual acoustics.
Soundstage is not the widest and certainly the HD800 and Abyss AB-1266 is wider... possibly on a par with the HE1000 V2. Slightly above the average for flagship open headphones, I'd say. It's that clarity plus weight though... incredible. This does not sound like an electrostatic presentation, it sounds like a hybrid... which it is.
I originally came away wanting to place an order for those last year and so contacted Sennheiser on the basis that the advertised price was, at the time, £35k. For that, I could live with the couple of unusual niggles I had with it; mainly the choice of DAC... which is well implemented but could have been a better choice (in my opinion) but also whatever amplifiers sit in the headphones, requires cooling fins; it was the end of the day and I could easily notice the warmth from the fins on my ears.
Forward a couple of months and I was assigned a concierge, had some discussions, registered my interest and they came back to me to say that the price excluded VAT, a few material changes and my final price would be £55k... that plus I was also quoted an additional £5k (I think) because I wanted it in black marble rather than white. Ultimately that killed my interest completely. It's not quite what I consider a no-compromise solution and £40k would be my limit for such a system given that I feel my very best desktop setup excels in certain areas when compared at just over half the price.
Edit: It's a fair point well made by Raypin but my perception of an unnaturalness in the HE1's presentation may well come from my use of a Digital Optical Source. Having found that the Chord Dave presents the same recordings noticeably differently depending on input... and despite galvonic isolation, very differently from source to source on the same USB input, it's quite possible that the HE1 may have a more natural presentation, to my ear, with a more optimum source via Coax.
PLANARS:
The one thing I learned at the event is that I am a very low volume listener compared to the average person who was at the show and nearly every booth I visited, I needed to turn the volume down a good 20%.
I mention this because the one IEM which I do like and have a pre-order for is the Audeze LCD-i4. There was much talk about how much power this requires to drive it properly and also the gentleman at the booth said he considers it to sound almost identical to the LCD-4 headphone. The latter part of this I didn't find;
I used a Sony WM1z for my audition so bear in mind this already has a thick presentation. It is a Japanese model so not volume capped. For my usual listening levels, or as high as I like, standard output, volume was up to around the 100 mark and I didn't get the impression there was a lack of overhead power. The LCD-i4, as expected, is tremendously open sounding and quite capable of layering vertically. Rich sounding with a robust low frequency response, both in terms of quantity and quality. Mids are also thick, sweet sounding and then highs (5kHz+) were probably not quite as emphasized... now some of this may well come down to the WM1z's presentation but unfortunately I did not bring any other DAPs to try... different day, different things I could fit in my bag.
Is it a baby LCD-4? I don't think so... it shares the same (again my opinion) forgiving, polite presentation the LCD-4 has, similar detail retrieval but to my ears I found the low frequency response and mids to be noticeably thicker. I suspect similar to how the KSE1500 has an unusually weighty presentation in the low frequencies compared to most electrostatic headphones due to the effect of minturisation and the interaction with ear canals it is a similar effect comparing the i4 to it's headphone brother. Nevertheless it has a far more headphone like, open and layered presentation than most IEMs I've experienced and of everything I've been in contact with the only thing I would compare to this particular part of its presentation is the (unfortunately) no longer available Final Audio Design Lab II... which I regret not purchasing earlier in the year despite my misgivings about its lack of subbass response.
Nevertheless the LCD-i4's has a presentation I very much like and I look forward to receiving this whenever the next batch arrives in The UK.
Heading over to Hifiman I was able to get the answer to a couple of questions I've had with their products. I was able to A-B my HE1000 v1 to the v2. My understanding is that the drivers are the same and the main changes are down to some material changes such as the earcup. The wood around the cup is thicker on the V2 compared to the V1.
I did not experience the staggering differences that others have described, I felt the differences were more subtle. To my ears the soundstage of the V1 is slightly wider than the V2 and in that respect it's very similar to the difference I experienced between the Sennheiser HD800 and HD800s (I found the HD800s to be ever so slightly narrower)... it's the reason I didn't upgrade my HD800 and for the most part why I'm not so interested in the HE1000 V2. The most significant difference was the presentation of the mids, which on the V2 are slightly more forward... there is a little more clarity, more high frequency detail and air but not so much that I'd have been able to tell if I didn't have the two headphones side by side. Overall careful pairing of the V1 with an amplifier (in my case the Auralic Taurus MkII) and cables manages to overcome the relative weaknesses of the V1 enough that I couldn't justify the cost of the return and upgrade offer Hifiman have. In that respect if I were in the market for the HE1000, I'd strongly consider sourcing a used V1 and putting the difference in price towards some well matched sources and cable.
The Hifiman Susvara (Edition 6) was an unusual experience for me. On Saturday I auditioned them along with being told that the amp Hifiman recommend hadn't arrived in time; that's fine. It was paired with an EF-6 instead. I was told that Hifiman recommend a significantly powerful amplfier to drive this headphone and that the tonality is different between that amp and the EF-6... I do own a very powerful amplifier so I was more interested in whether the Susvara would play well on its own. Trying it out, it was less musical than the HE1000, more clarity, more detail retrieval, more analytical and with simblant recordings, you experienced that. It presents quite a large landscape, wide and deep. For the detail retrieval alone, I could see the appeal but it's difficult for a baseline comparison when not familiar with the amplifier.
So my amplifier weighs as much as a small child, no chance of bringing that along so instead on Sunday I came back along with the Abyss AB-1266 I use with my amp, so I could work out how much the EF-6 was adding or not. The Abyss has the ability to be a punishing headphone and it took me a while to find an amplifier I felt matched well; I personally use a Wells Audio Headtrip amplifier. Even so, side by side the Susvara is even more punishing, it will destroy poor recordings. Soundstage of both headphones are quite similar, tonally the Susvara is far brighter. Detail retrieval is similar as are the extension. Mids of the Susvara are relatively thin but forward in comparison but the massive difference is in the low frequency response and it's this which I like so much from the Abyss. The Susvara just doesn't have that, it lacked some soul and I simply don't see another amp changing that because the EF-6 into the Abyss had quite a robust bass response. The only way a recommended amp will rectify this is if it is only tuned for the Susvara... and ultimately if you're going to spend that much then there are other options which can be considered as a complete package.
OTHER THINGS:
The only other IEM (to the Audeze LCD-i4) I considered was the 64 Audio Tia Forte. Driven by a Lotoo Paw Gold the first thing which struck me was the low frequency response. It is a chunky monkey! Very deep very sweet... for me it might be a bit too much of a good thing. This provides a robust foundation and compliments the also rich mids. Vocals were very sweet, emotional then some quite nice detail at the top. They sounded quite wide for an IEM and had excellent layering capabilities... but that bass is palpable and I found them slightly slow in this region, adding a little too much decay for kick drums or double-bass... slightly unnatural.
So out of curiosity I compared it to the JH Audio Layla I... which I personally enjoy for its hefty low frequency response but, again, its superb soundstage... my dials are in the 12 O'Clock position although admitedly, I don't usually pair it with my LPG. What struck me was that actually the bass response is very similar between the two, in terms of quantity, quality and depth. The difference is that the Tia has much more clarity and air and so the bass seems (or is, in relative terms) more emphasized and in that respect it didn't quite meld the bass and the upper frequencies... almost like a slightly out-of-phase crossover. Mids on the Tia are slightly more forward and less thick and the high frequency response similar but far more discernable due to the clarity. Tonally these aren't so similar as my description may make; The Layla can seem ever so slightly V-Shaped while the Tia is relatively flat until the lower frequencies where these are clearly emphasized. Clarity on the Tia is apparent though, however I could have played with the pots on the Layla to change things a little.
Overall I enjoyed the sound of the Tia (despite its disembodied bass) however it isn't flat and did not impress me as much as the Audeze LCD-i4.
I've got a pre-order for the Smyth Research Realiser A16 and so was booked in to get my measurements done but also have an audition.
OK, this is one product which genuinely wowed me enough to illicit a completely unconcious but very vocal response from myself. I've tried a lot of headphone surround systems... some work better than others but nothing which could make me forget I had headphones on. The A16 demo I tried was modelling a Dolby Atmos 16 speaker setup. In the room was such a system made by Yamaha.
Now I can describe the experience and you can even watch reaction videos on YouTube however it is quite something else to experience this system in person. Setup, you initially look at the speakers which sound is supposed to come from (face forward, turn left, turn right) to set up the head tracking. Immediately after this tones are then played through the headphones to simulate which speakers the sound should come from and right then it took me a good few seconds for my brain to adjust to the fact I was listening to headphones, not the speakers... it is so similar if I'd been told I was listening to the speakers, I'd have believed it. At some point the gentleman taking my measurements told me that 'this frequency is for the rear speaker, 130 degrees behind and above you'. Without looking I was able to point to where I thought the speaker should be to make that sound and low and behold, when I took the headphones of an looked up, that is exactly where they were.
Moving onto the actual demo experience and putting this all together is one of the most emmersive audio experiences I've had. The panning is so accurate, the positioning so spot on, this was a Dolby Atmos setup in headphone format... it is staggering. You can look around, look up (as I did with a rain storm demo) and the tracking and directional sound were spot on. This system genuinely is the Occulus Rift of the audio world. In fact it's the one thing I'd love to see is the A16 paired with a VR headset for a truly emmersive experience.
Hats off... That is some seriously impressive work!
And finally a note on passion and pride.
I mentioned some slightly... unpleasant (for want of a better word) conversations I had with three manufacturers. What this specifically was, were their opinions about competitor's products and their speculation about the reasoning for these products being developed and their price points.
There is one example of a product present at Canjam which is being ripped off by another manufacturer (who was not there). I can completely understand the frustration about this and I completely empathise; this should not happen as it undermines years of research, development and hard work to be innovative.
On the other hand speculating about products which have nothing to do with someone's release and are brought into an open market is something else entirely. It may be that things are brought out to compete but in a lot of ways it's this healthy competition which has led to evolutions in audio, especially in the last 10 years. Everyone can express their opinion but if I were a manufacturer I feel I would prefer to speak about my own product and let its performance speak for itself. Ultimately as a customer I am going to vote with my wallet based on what I like, not what I am told to like. This is not something I've ever experienced in my many years involved with audio.
Clearly I didn't speak to everyone at the show but there were a few standout people I very much enjoyed meeting. Steven Smyth of Smyth Research and his son James Smyth are passionate about what they do, and that passion oozes through when you speak to them. It's important; if you're proud about who you are... who your brand is, for me that resonates deeply in a product. At the cutting edge it adds something invaluable to just becoming a mere technical exercise and pushing boundaries and for me forms a significant part of why I invest into certain products.
Likewise I was very touched with the response I received when I met Valentine Kazanzhi of Kennerton Audio. I was one of the first people to own the Kennerton Odin in The UK and it's a headphone I very much like despite its initial shortcomings. Since then the team in St Petersburg not only changed my drivers for the newer version, polished my wood cups but custom made a more suitable headstrap. To briefly describe its presentation it is a balanced sounding headphone but not at all analytical; instrumental accuracy is excellent, bass response palpable while possibly not reaching to the lowest subbass capabilities of some others. Rich full mids and a nice sparkle on top. The soundstage isn't huge, but it's above average however clarity is excellent. It is also a relatively easy headphone to drive as well and does well out of a very good DAP so you're not tethered to a desktop. I love these headphones with classical music where their weighty but clear presentation and instrumental accuracy is presented in an excellent manner.
Touching down with Valentine and explaining I owned a pair of his Odin he warmly shook my hand and humbly thanked me for purchasing his product. He told me about the options which would be available in the future for earcup wood, finishes, customisation but also explained that as an owner (as with all Kennerton owners) if there were upgrades or changes one would wish, they would and could accomodate and arrange if contacted directly. Again, great pride, great passion.
It's a shame the Odin doesn't have more exposure than it does, it's still a relatively difficult headphone to source but it is one which should be strongly considered in a collection and I do hope Kennerton get the exposure and recognition they deserve.
I also had to touch down with Focal about an issue I have with my Focal Utopia headphones. I spoke to Focal's designer and then SCV Distribution about my issue and while these issues are usually referred back through the dealers components are ordered from, Andrew Stirling of SCV Distribution very kindly offered me a contact within SCV to deal with this swiftly and efficiently. He kindly explained some of the processes involved in the manufacturer of the Utopia, and the tight tolerences these are made with. I appreciate that kind of service a lot.
I was also greatly humbled to have met Hiroaki Sato and Sato Tomoaki of Sony (I apologise if I have their names wrong) and having the opportunity to thank them for their work on the Sony WM1Z player, MDR-Z1R headphones and TA-ZH1ES DAC/Amp; a combination I very much enjoy. I believe Hiroaki Sato worked on the MDR-R10. My one big regret from the whole show is that I didn't ask them to sign my WM1Z.
Overall it was, as the previous 2 London Canjam years, a great experience, a lot of work by Head-fi, the exhibitors and great, passionate people to meet... I thank you for your hard work organising this. Though I would have liked to have seen a return of Cavalli Audio at the show, the presence of Woo Audio (maybe one day) and the Abyss AB-1266 Phi for comparison, still an amazing myriad of cutting edge audio from many great companies.
Thank you.
I left on Saturday thinking that I'd be back on Sunday to buy the Ether Flow C.
. I just couldn't see how the weight of the LCD-XC would be viable for long term use while sat at a desk. The clamping on the LCD-XC weren't brilliant, tilt your head forward and they start to slide/move off your head. Perhaps thats just me, or perhaps the bands on the demo units had given a little.
