[Oscar-HiFi]

So here's a little playlist of interviews we conducted with various brands at CanJam 2018, we hope to do more of the same thing next year!

 

[singingbee]

A nice day at CanJam, with unexpected results.

Went in with the idea of hearing a new amp for my Audeze LCD-3's, as I feel they sometimes struggle a little with my current one. I remembered seeing a few LCD-3's around CanJam last year so my focus was to go in and see what they had paired them with and hear different combinations.

The LCD-3's were a lot less popular this year (I think I saw one only, connected to a DAP?) so I ended up listening to a lot of other stuff instead.

A whole host of DAC/Amps from several vendors. I skipped those as I don't need a new DAC, but for those on the look for an integrated DAC/Amp, there were a lot of them around.

My highlights of the day from all the stuff I listened to:

- The new Mezze Empyrean. Those were good, really good. Heard them with the Questyle DAC + dual mono amps rack and with the Feliks Audio tube amp and they sounded amazing, I liked the tube amp more but I really can't point to any defects when powered by the Questyle either. This was at the Mezze suite where you had enough silence to hear them properly, but there was a couple of them at the main floor as well, at hifonix and Manley, where I heard people raving about them as well, so not just my ears. Mezze said they're still trying to lower the price point on those before launch, currently at 3000.

- Abyss Diana. Very dynamic. Show floor was a bit noisy to properly hear them when I was at the booth, but yeah, they're good.

- Manley. And Manley decides to join the headphone world! And what a nice amp it is. Always nice seeing historical hi-fi names jumping on the headphones bandwagon. They feel headphones achieved true hi-fi performance in the last few years and i like when more good people joins the party.

- Rupert Neve. Some will like the "professional" looking design of the RNHP more than others from this iconic studio consoles manufacturer, but truth is, a Rupert Neve will never be bad sounding. Thought and designed for studio applications the idea is that it just disappears in the sound for you to forget it is there, and it achieves that. At £450. A steal.

- Mr. Speakers - It's always nice to hear Mr. Speakers cans, and chat with Mr. Speakers himself. The closed Aeons were sounding lovely with the Schiit they had connected to them.

- 1More - I was curious to hear the over-ear triple drivers. I own both the triple and quad driver IEMs, so wanted to check the big sibling. They didn't disappoint, but I have no need for another over-ear pair of cans. What surprised me was the upcoming triple driver bluetooth IEMs that I also tried. Keeping my eye on those ones as they sound just like their wired predecessors.

- Stealth Sonics - Audiology/Hearing Aid devices company from Singapore that decided to expand to the headphone market, since they had the technology already, anyway. Their range has 3 models: The U2, dual driver hybrid; the U4, with a 4 driver balanced armature configuration; and the U9, the 9 driver hybrid beast. All of these models are also available in custom make, molded to your ear, named the C2, C4 and C9.
The U2 is the warmer of them all, with the stronger bass, so for bass fans, the U2 is the thing. Going up to the U4, it's more precise, it's really fast and the punch is something else. I'm not a bass head but I missed a bit of bass there, they were, however, very transparent, you could catch every little detail, and did I mention how fast they are? Finally the U9, these were designed for studio monitoring and I believe they are the best of both worlds, they sound effortless, they have that smoothness of the U2 bass without the U2's exaggeration (told you I'm not a bass head) together with that transparency and clarity in the mid-highs of the U4. Very, very, very nice.
I have more than enough IEM's already, so what I don't need is another pair, otherwise I would have gone for them. But I already have Nobles, Hifi mans, Sennheisers, 1Mores and no time to rotate between them all.

Oh, who am I kidding?! They are so nice I couldn't resist them!
I'm listening to those U9's at home right now!

Oh, right, I went in search of an amp. I sometimes get distracted.

what is the sound signature of the stealth sonics u9? is it more of a v shape?
im looking for an iem to upgrade my ca vega.

thanks!

 

[Jackpot77]

what is the sound signature of the stealth sonics u9? is it more of a v shape?
im looking for an iem to upgrade my ca vega.

thanks!

The U9 is pretty balanced overall - more of a natural and reasonably linear sound signature than an elevated V or U shape to my ears.

 

[episiarch]

My impression of Stealth Sonics U9 also was that it was pretty linear. My "reference sound" is Etymotics (4S/4-SR) and I thought the U9's presentation was somewhat comparable in flatness.

 

[Skywatcher]

Sorry about the delay here.

I agree with the previous posters. The U2 was the more "V shaped" of the lot. The U9 are more smooth and linear. I'm just back from travelling and did two 10-hour flights with the U9's and they don't tire you at all.

 

[John Willett]

Was a little disappointed with CanJam London this year - a 50% increase in entry fee - Sennheiser were not there (and I was particularly interested in hearing the new HD 820) and Violectric were not there this year.

Interesting - especially the new Empirion headphones, which I must listen to properly as soon as they are out properly.

Yes, quite a few interesting exhibits, but a small step down oberall from the prevuious year - but a 50% increase in price.