[cristobalroy]

Today my "mission" was to try several IEM to find the best match for my A&K SP1000 SS.

- The LCD-i4 surprisingly needed more power than the SP1000 can provide. It more power hungry than my "big" HE-X ! Volume was loud enough, but sound was "flat" out of the SP1000 (I could not try balanced since Audeze do not propose a balanced cable, which is STUPID). The LCD-i4 definitively need an external amp ! Powered by the HUGO 2 if became a totally different animal !

- Very very disapointed by the sound of the Empire Ears Zeus XR ! And I did not finded it confortable, with the adele option is it really BIG.

- 64 Audio U18 and Fourté were very pleasant, and confortable. U18 more accurate and Fourté, more... fun. But the fun of the fourte IMO is reached at the price of a lack of reality. They add something that is not in the recording... to please us

- the SHURE KSE 1500 electrostatic again was my final choice. They are as enjoyable as the fourte while being Faithful to the reality of the recording. No artificial input in the sound. My first reaction when I heard the SHURE out of my SP1000 was "HOW SWEET !" Finally my SP1000 has find his perfect match and is 100% musical. And then when I listened to the intro of Mahler 3rd symphony I was shocked by the extreme energy and Bass that this system can provide. It can be a Sweety or a Monster...depend of the music. Plus they are so small that they are super confortable. They fit 100% inside the ear.


AND SO....I BOUGHT TODAY ON THE SHOW A SHURE KSE1500



So, I failed in my quest to find an IEML as good as the SHURE (for the SP1000) that will not need an extra amplifier. It seems that this extra energizer box is the price to pay to get such a sweeeet, punchy and accurate sound !

Hello, just curious on the sound of KSE1500, I own once the Se846 and i don't like the very forward vocal of it, The KSE1500 also has a forward vocals. Thanks.

 

[Zoide]

Can anyone comment on the Stax L300?

Thanks

 

[Rob Watts]

Mm..thanks for the impressions specially Stax T8000. On the chord plus upscaler, was that the Chord Blu Mk 2 that was connected?

Yes it was - it was the first unit ever made, and has clocked up a lot of air-miles...

 

[czy6412]

Any Impression on QP2R and comparison with TOTL AK?

 

[raypin]

Mm..thanks for confirming.

To attendees, please post your impressions of the Dave and Chord Blu Mk 2.

 

[Mkoll]

To those there, I'd be happy to hear impressions of the new Questyle CMA400i.

 

[fast3000]

My first show! Took my son it was awesome! Met some really pleasant folks including our very own Ethan - a top bloke.

 

[ezekiel77]

The Shanling M2s was really impressive; if it had a second SD slot I'd be regretting getting the QP1R. I can't believe they got that much sound into such a tiny player.

Thanks for your impressions. I have the JH13v1 and it's still a very good IEM despite its age. Just two questions, what EA cable did you try with the JH13v2 that made it sound warmer? And did the Shanling M2S have a similar signature to QP1R? FYI I have and love QP1R as well. Thanks for your time!

 

[The Audio Session]

We had a blast as exhibitors at our first CanJam! Thanks to everyone for coming to see our headphone lineup, it was a pleasure meeting you all! We also enjoyed checking out the huge range of audio gear at the venue and we already can't wait for the next event.

 

[MikeJSmith]

I attended yesterday and had a great time playing around with what was on offer. Everyone was very friendly and lots of interesting people to chat to.

My main aim was to try headphones in the ~£800 region. Overall, I was planning to principally look at closed headphones, as I want something i can use in the house without disturbing others or being disturbed by them. They'd be my first proper headphones and will go with my current kit of an iBasso D80 and Chord Mojo, so most of the time I used the headphones i tested through that set-up along with using what was on offer. I tried several phones and as I'm not an experienced reviewer, I'll keep it brief and please accept my lack of proper terminology!

- Mr Speakers Aeon: Pretty disappointed by this, sound was lacking body, low end felt particularly missing. According to the guy on the stand, this may be impacted by the mojo not being enough to drive it but to be honest I don't buy that. Also didn't sound that great hooked up to a Schiit stack so I decided that the Aeon definitely was not for me.
- Focal Elear - Again, this disappointed me , it sounded fine but lacked excitement. I'd describe it as forgettable. I think I was expecting too much - Maybe I should read less reviews!
- Audioquest Nighthawk / Nightowl; Beyerdynamic T5P; Audeze LCD-2, Audeze LCD-XC - I enjoyed all these in different ways. I really liked the Audioquest Carbons and the T5P. the LCD-XC was ridiculously heavy - I'd never be able to wear them for long, just looking down hurt my neck. The LCD-2 was probably the best sound for me so far from the above, I had heard them at Headroom show last year and came very close to buying them then. Still very impressed by them, but A) they are open and B) ...
HifiMan Edition X V2 - Wow - this was more like it. I loved these, low end was great, highs were sweet and didn't grate at all., Vocals came through lovely. I kept coming back to these throughout the day as my reference to what I wanted to buy. Only downside was that they are open, but I found they seemed to leak less than the other range. I also tried the HE1000 V2 and the Susvara - both brilliant and a step up, but too pricey for me so I didn't spend too much time with them.
Fostex TH900 Mk2 - yes, yes, yes - these were the ones I wanted at the end of the day. Dynamic, powerful, great low end fast, controlled, tight. Didn't feel boomy at all. Hit all the highs and mids for me too. I had prepared a playlist of everything I like to listen to (a pretty wide range) and these phones performed well with everything.

i then spent about an hour walking between the HifiMan & Fostex phones, alternating and trying the, Popped back to Aeon / Elear to see if a days listening had changed my mind (no!). And ended up buying the Fostex right there. Got a good deal and lots of freebies, so shout-out to the guys & gals at the TekZone Sound & Vision stand.

On top of all that, I had a look at some lovely cables (still not 100% convinced by the need for them, but they look darn cool), iems, amps and much more.

Can't wait till next year when I suspect I will be trying out amps! And may well have a pair of HiFiMan Edition X V2's in my arsenal too!

Mike

 

[Jackpot77]

Any Impression on QP2R and comparison with TOTL AK?

Didn't get chance to compare against anything other than the AK70 (not really a fair fight), but posted a link to some initial impressions last week in the QP2R thread, and will have the other half of the review plus some comparisons finished in the next few days hopefully. I have been lucky enough to have a demo unit on loan for the last few weeks, but sadly had to give it back to the distributor at Canjam so everyone else could get a listen. Very very good sounding unit - slightly different tuning to the QP1R, but along the same lines.

 

[Ra97oR]

Thanks to electomod and Dekone for coming to CanJam London with the full range of Dekone pads. Now finally having electromod as their official UK dealer.

Having tried the whole range of them, I have settled with the TH900 Elite Sheepskin pads for my TH-X00 Purpleheart. It completely fixed the comfort issue with the original pads and even affected the sound in a positive way.

More to come when I get more head time with the new pads.

 

[Greg02]

Thanks for your impressions. I have the JH13v1 and it's still a very good IEM despite its age. Just two questions, what EA cable did you try with the JH13v2 that made it sound warmer? And did the Shanling M2S have a similar signature to QP1R? FYI I have and love QP1R as well. Thanks for your time!

I tried the Lionheart and Leonidas. I'd be hesitant to say that they're necessarily warmer than stock though, because according to https://doublehelixcables.com/product/eidolic-4-pin-sirens-series-jh-connectors-for-layla-and-more/ the 4 pin connector adds +15dB of bass and resistors are needed to tone it down. Since I normally listen with the bass pots all the way down, the warmth is very probably caused by that so not really an apples to apples comparison.

The M2S sounded a bit more warm/musical than the QP1R, which I'd call analytical and accurate. The Shanling had a very natural and pleasant sound though; I really liked it.

 

[hamlesh]

Thanks for your excellent feedback did you get the chance to Mrspeakers Aeon? Are they really that good to knock Ether Cs out of the park

I've been going back and forth on planar closed options for a long while - getting a chance to listen to a variety of options was my primary reason for attending CJ.

After reading/watching loads of reviews, my target list was (in this order);

• Audeze LCD-XC
• MrSpeakers Ether Flow C
• MrSpeakers Aeon Flow

I was there both days, on Saturday I gave all of them a really good run through several times. I got a little distracted by the Ether Flow (open) - just an incredible set of phones, but I'm typically an open guy, thats what I'm drawn to, the majority of my headphones are open. It was a welcome distraction though I left on Saturday thinking that I'd be back on Sunday to buy the Ether Flow C.

As much as I liked the audio profile (and design aesthetic) of the LCD-XC, it was just far too heavy. I have music on most of the day while at my desk, one reason I was interested in a closed option, is so the rest of the guys in the office don't have to be subjected to my music all day long . 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.

I went back on Sunday to give things another listen, after having had the night to think and reflect. The LCD-XCs' were already out of the equation by this point. Spent a fair bit of time at Mark's (Electromod) stand, doing AB comparisons of the Ether Flow C and the Aeon Flow.

Its all subjective, but to me, the Aeon Flow outperformed the Ether Flow C, for sure. I was really confused and conflicted by this, I preferred a lot of intangibles about the Ether Flow C, the way they feel, the way they look, but on what matters most, the sound, the Aeon Flow just won the day for me. Logically its in-keeping with Dan's design philosophy, he's taken what they've learnt from the Ether Flow C and put that learning into the Aeon.

So I left on Sunday with a set of Aeon Flows

Now just need to replace the stock cable (although so far today, its not been that annoying, the length isn't too bad) - any cable recommendations?

Also finally got around to replacing the stock T50RPmk3 pads, and made a decision on a DAP, after having played with all of the ones at the show!

 

[Deezel177]

Pretty surprised by the amount of negative reactions towards the Zeus-XR. Did you guys try the non-ADEL (XR) or the ADEL version (XRA)? It should be noted that the XRA is significantly leaner and sharper than the XR. The XR custom is, in turn, more bodied and natural than the XR universal demo. Though, it must be said, the U18 is pretty amazing, and it wouldn't surprise me if you were at least slightly underwhelmed by the XR after hearing the U18.