... Which is exactly what I did.
Great sound for the price (as long as you aren't averse to some bass in your music), and amazing accessory package and build. Very musical IEMs.CanJam London 2019 Impressions thread
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... Which is exactly what I did.
Great sound for the price (as long as you aren't averse to some bass in your music), and amazing accessory package and build. Very musical IEMs.
GiullianSN
Headphoneus Supremus
Looking forward to see what is coming. Sub 1k is like a battle royale these days. I hope it shines.
You sound like a man who knows what's what. Did you hear the Bible Khan?
Jomo Audio Tornado: Highlight of the show for me, what is it? It's the most consistent ear tip I have used. Good seal with wide bore and less likely to get pressure within your ears when trying to get a deep fit. Easily one of my favourite tip.
Jomo Audio Trinity SS: The best implementation of the new Sonion E-stat IEM I have heard. Finally one sounds shimmery in the right place and well balanced but difficult to drive with low powered source.
InEar SD5: I gave it more time this year, a very natural sounding IEM. Works well with a wide array of recordings unlike the PP8 that can be a bit too ruthless.
64 Audio U18t: Best sounding IEM within their range, a warm neutral tuning with a great balance across the range.
FiiO M11Pro: Great DAP with the build quality to rival AK competitions at a much lower price, output power on the low side if you are planning to drive full size.
FiiO FH7: A well built, well balanced hybrid at a reasonable price point. Easily completes with more expensive offerings, amazing value in the current market.
InEar SD5 Union Jack, JH Audio Sunburst: Joint prettiest IEM shell at the show.
Benchmark HPA4: Extremely clean and quiet, drives pretty much everything. Including high sensitivity IEMs extremely well.
Acostune range: Interesting design, very solid and coherent sounding IEMs throughout their model lineup. I would personally pick the cheapest one within the range as it is already very accomplished only separated by minute differences between the models.
MySphere: Surprising amount of bass but still can't cope with all kind of music. Clipped on heavy EDM bass.
RAAL: Truly surprisingly capable across the whole range, great dynamics even without any earcups. Did not clip on the same music the MySphere did but overall a bit too bright for me. Might sound smoother at a quieter venue.
I was informed that RAAL was collaborating with Schiit Audio to make a special version of the Jotunheim in Black and Red which will contain the optional DAC, Energiser and Power Amp in one box. It was supposed to be at CanJam but wasn't finished in time.
Right, so I'll start off by thanking @jude, @third_eye and anyone else who helped organise the event. Thoroughly enjoyed it and it's great to see an event like this available to us in London now! It's a very far cry from the small get-togethers we used to arrange back in 2006. Thanks to all who organised this, along with the industry experts who gave their time at the seminars.
My main takeaway for the day, though, was just how nice, friendly, helpful and patient all of the exhibitors were with me and, I have to assume, everyone else! I was changing equipment, going back two or three times to some stands (Sunday was a lot better for this as it was a little calmer) and just generally using up far more patience than was due. It seemed a shame that I couldn't buy something from all of them, as not only were they all great, but so much of the kit was just outstanding. It's a great time to be shopping for cans, and a difficult time to make a decision.
Here are some short and concise thoughts from me - bear in mind I prefer a warm-neutral sound and I'm particularly sensitive to harshness in the upper reaches. Real-life (unamplified) almost never hurts my ears with sibilance and I always look for equipment that mirrors this, so my opinions should be viewed in this context.
My pre-show goals were to find a pair of closed cans as an alternative to my HD800S. On top of this, I wanted to audition top-tier IEMs, with the specific caveat that they can't be ported. I also wanted to check out the FiiO M5.
Closed cans
I managed to check out the Focal Stellia, having read so much about them and, while it's clear they're very good, well made and well engineered, they're definitely not to my tastes. Probably one of the prettiest headphones I've ever seen though. Next up was the MrSpeakers Ether Flow 1.1. Again, a little too analytical and sharp for my tastes, but I can see why people like them. The additional pad/filters helped, but it still wasn't quite the sound I was looking for. While wondering around looking for other things to audition, I popped into the Meze stand and decided to have a listen to pretty much everything they had there and I have to say, I was blown away by the performance/price ratio on those 99s! They're amazing, for that price I seriously doubt there are many things that get close to what I like in a closed headphone! Kudos to them!
However my heart belonged to the ZMF stand - I tried both the Verite and Eikon closed models in several combinations of wood. I must have swapped back and forth about 20 times over the two days and just couldn't make up my mind. The bass response and texture on the Verite is just sublime, defined and impactful without being too overbearing and masking the rest of the spectrum, while the Eikon, at significantly lower price, had a slightly more agreeable (to my ears) top end. After what seemed like an eternity, I finally decided on the Eikon as, as much as I would love the bass of the Verite, I just felt that with my sensitivity, I would be guaranteed to avoid listening fatigue with my slight preference for the Eikon. The debate around the rest of the tonality falls away to this main concern for me. Regardless, I just couldn't believe the quality of build of all of their cans - those are some seriously lovingly-made headphones. Special thanks to Zach and Bevin at that stand - patient as saints, the pair of them and as friendly as I've come to expect from the good people of Chicago!
I bought the ziricote wood pair with the magnesium chassis that was used at the show - not yet released so I hope Zach doesn't mind the few photos I've placed below - I just had to share them because I think they look gorgeous!
IEMs
My goodness, there were a lot to try. I'll list everything I listened to and what it boiled down to for my personal purposes in my choice....
Noble Khan and Encore - I'd heard these before at Audio46 in NYC a few months ago, fantastic sounding, but the piezo electric driver is the only thing that I can't get on with in this IEM. Great sounding otherwise and I'm interested to hear about the new release mentioned earlier in the thread. Encores are also great at that price range.
Jomo Trinity Brass - a very, very serious contender for the best IEMs I've ever heard. Sounded absolutely fantastic in every aspect and, to be honest, if there was a more obvious support structure in the UK, I think I might have opted for these at the end of the day. Very impressed and I hope there's a plan to correct this in future, these are superb.
Empire Ears Legend X and Wraith - again, both superb. My overall preference was for the Legend X, but the ported design unfortunately ruled it out for me. The Wraith beats it in most areas though - just fantastic at micro-detail and the speed was excellent too. The bass, while hardly lacking in precision and slam, was just a heartbeat less intoxicating than the Legend, but I particularly liked the smoothness of the top-end on the Wraith, so it became a serious contender, especially with Josh's ultra-cool demeanour - it's hard not to like the guy and want to give him your business.
Inear SD4 and PP8 - wow! I can't believe the sound these things generate at this pricepoint! I think they must be the most value-for-money IEMs around, at less than half the price of most of the stuff I was listening to, they were both instantly in the running! (I wasn't able to listen to the SD5, but if the other two are anything to go by, it's worth an audition!)
Meze Rai Penta - nice sounding, but having heard the 99s, I don't feel these are as "jaw-dropping for their pricepoint" as the little closed cans are. Nothing against them, but didn't quite make it into the running for serious consideration (no shame in that, most of the rest of the stuff was much more expensive)
FiiO FH7 - pretty good sound for the price too, but again, not really on the list of challengers
64Audio Tia Fourte, Tia Fourte Noir and u18t - whoa boy. I'd actually pretty much decided on the Jomo and then stupidly put the Fourte Noir into my thick head via my ears. They're definitely the best sounding IEMs I've heard, and the standard Fourte isn't far behind (again - this was decided by bass response.) However, I ended up buying the u18t! Unported (my key concern) and only a smidge behind the two more expensive Tias, but with a bit more of a dynamic response that's definitely edging towards the neutral side of warm. Absolutely fantastic IEMs and I'm very, very happy with my purchase (or I will be when it arrives). I spent almost as much time debating whether I should get the custom vs universal version, but without any experience of customs and with half an eye on future upgrades, it was the universal version that won out in the end, in spite of a very generous CanJam offer of free impressions.
Other comments
I managed to check out the M5 and I'll definitely be ordering one when they become available! Fantastic little piece of kit for my purposes, and the sound was better than I expected.
However, I have to make mention of that A&K KANN cube. OMG, what is that thing?!?! I was staggered to learn how well it's been selling too - which is great news, but I'd love to know what specific lifestyles require that beast! Didn't get to try it, but it looked more intimidating than anything else at the show!
Once again, thanks to all involved - I'll leave you with a bit of ZMF Eikon porn....
My main takeaway for the day, though, was just how nice, friendly, helpful and patient all of the exhibitors were with me and, I have to assume, everyone else! I was changing equipment, going back two or three times to some stands (Sunday was a lot better for this as it was a little calmer) and just generally using up far more patience than was due. It seemed a shame that I couldn't buy something from all of them, as not only were they all great, but so much of the kit was just outstanding. It's a great time to be shopping for cans, and a difficult time to make a decision.
Here are some short and concise thoughts from me - bear in mind I prefer a warm-neutral sound and I'm particularly sensitive to harshness in the upper reaches. Real-life (unamplified) almost never hurts my ears with sibilance and I always look for equipment that mirrors this, so my opinions should be viewed in this context.
My pre-show goals were to find a pair of closed cans as an alternative to my HD800S. On top of this, I wanted to audition top-tier IEMs, with the specific caveat that they can't be ported. I also wanted to check out the FiiO M5.
Closed cans
I managed to check out the Focal Stellia, having read so much about them and, while it's clear they're very good, well made and well engineered, they're definitely not to my tastes. Probably one of the prettiest headphones I've ever seen though. Next up was the MrSpeakers Ether Flow 1.1. Again, a little too analytical and sharp for my tastes, but I can see why people like them. The additional pad/filters helped, but it still wasn't quite the sound I was looking for. While wondering around looking for other things to audition, I popped into the Meze stand and decided to have a listen to pretty much everything they had there and I have to say, I was blown away by the performance/price ratio on those 99s! They're amazing, for that price I seriously doubt there are many things that get close to what I like in a closed headphone! Kudos to them!
However my heart belonged to the ZMF stand - I tried both the Verite and Eikon closed models in several combinations of wood. I must have swapped back and forth about 20 times over the two days and just couldn't make up my mind. The bass response and texture on the Verite is just sublime, defined and impactful without being too overbearing and masking the rest of the spectrum, while the Eikon, at significantly lower price, had a slightly more agreeable (to my ears) top end. After what seemed like an eternity, I finally decided on the Eikon as, as much as I would love the bass of the Verite, I just felt that with my sensitivity, I would be guaranteed to avoid listening fatigue with my slight preference for the Eikon. The debate around the rest of the tonality falls away to this main concern for me. Regardless, I just couldn't believe the quality of build of all of their cans - those are some seriously lovingly-made headphones. Special thanks to Zach and Bevin at that stand - patient as saints, the pair of them and as friendly as I've come to expect from the good people of Chicago!
I bought the ziricote wood pair with the magnesium chassis that was used at the show - not yet released so I hope Zach doesn't mind the few photos I've placed below - I just had to share them because I think they look gorgeous!
IEMs
My goodness, there were a lot to try. I'll list everything I listened to and what it boiled down to for my personal purposes in my choice....
Noble Khan and Encore - I'd heard these before at Audio46 in NYC a few months ago, fantastic sounding, but the piezo electric driver is the only thing that I can't get on with in this IEM. Great sounding otherwise and I'm interested to hear about the new release mentioned earlier in the thread. Encores are also great at that price range.
Jomo Trinity Brass - a very, very serious contender for the best IEMs I've ever heard. Sounded absolutely fantastic in every aspect and, to be honest, if there was a more obvious support structure in the UK, I think I might have opted for these at the end of the day. Very impressed and I hope there's a plan to correct this in future, these are superb.
Empire Ears Legend X and Wraith - again, both superb. My overall preference was for the Legend X, but the ported design unfortunately ruled it out for me. The Wraith beats it in most areas though - just fantastic at micro-detail and the speed was excellent too. The bass, while hardly lacking in precision and slam, was just a heartbeat less intoxicating than the Legend, but I particularly liked the smoothness of the top-end on the Wraith, so it became a serious contender, especially with Josh's ultra-cool demeanour - it's hard not to like the guy and want to give him your business.
Inear SD4 and PP8 - wow! I can't believe the sound these things generate at this pricepoint! I think they must be the most value-for-money IEMs around, at less than half the price of most of the stuff I was listening to, they were both instantly in the running! (I wasn't able to listen to the SD5, but if the other two are anything to go by, it's worth an audition!)
Meze Rai Penta - nice sounding, but having heard the 99s, I don't feel these are as "jaw-dropping for their pricepoint" as the little closed cans are. Nothing against them, but didn't quite make it into the running for serious consideration (no shame in that, most of the rest of the stuff was much more expensive)
FiiO FH7 - pretty good sound for the price too, but again, not really on the list of challengers
64Audio Tia Fourte, Tia Fourte Noir and u18t - whoa boy. I'd actually pretty much decided on the Jomo and then stupidly put the Fourte Noir into my thick head via my ears. They're definitely the best sounding IEMs I've heard, and the standard Fourte isn't far behind (again - this was decided by bass response.) However, I ended up buying the u18t! Unported (my key concern) and only a smidge behind the two more expensive Tias, but with a bit more of a dynamic response that's definitely edging towards the neutral side of warm. Absolutely fantastic IEMs and I'm very, very happy with my purchase (or I will be when it arrives). I spent almost as much time debating whether I should get the custom vs universal version, but without any experience of customs and with half an eye on future upgrades, it was the universal version that won out in the end, in spite of a very generous CanJam offer of free impressions.
Other comments
I managed to check out the M5 and I'll definitely be ordering one when they become available! Fantastic little piece of kit for my purposes, and the sound was better than I expected.
However, I have to make mention of that A&K KANN cube. OMG, what is that thing?!?! I was staggered to learn how well it's been selling too - which is great news, but I'd love to know what specific lifestyles require that beast! Didn't get to try it, but it looked more intimidating than anything else at the show!
Once again, thanks to all involved - I'll leave you with a bit of ZMF Eikon porn....
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all these things inside the Jot?
Yeah, apparently so. One of the Schitt Audio guys heard the Raal Earphones at one of the previous CanJam's and was impressed enough to be modifying the Jot the next day. The "energiser box" is only there to add resistance (up to 5.6ohms) to the signal as the ribbon drivers only have a resistance of 0.2ohms from end to end. Connecting an Amp straight to the Earphones would cause damage to the Amp, so you need the box to add a resistance load to the signal to stop that happening. Modifying the Jot's already impressive amp to provide the power shouldn't be an unrealistic proposition and as mentioned you just need to have a resistance load applied to not blow the amp. Since this would be a custom box for the Earphones both these things can be accounted for easily.
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First part of my impressions on Canjam London are up on my blog - JH Audio, Westone, oBravo, Beyerdynamic, Ibasso, InEar and Jomo Audio. Only 8 more manufacturers to go!
https://audioprimate.blog/2019/07/30/canjam-london-2019-part-one/
https://audioprimate.blog/2019/07/30/canjam-london-2019-part-one/
Just phoned them up and they can get the ESR pretty much straight $-£ conversion after VAT and tax (they were also offering 10% off). The gentleman I spoke to also suggested the Ultimate Ears RR so will look forward to trying that out too.
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Anymore impressions of the FiiO M11 Pro? Anyone have any thoughts on the M100 Pro vs AK SP2000?
how about the bluetooth ? does M11 pro has bluetooth 5.0 with aptx-HD ??
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Leetransform25
500+ Head-Fier
Not sure if it has 4.2 or 5.0, but I'm sure it does have Aptx-HD. From what I heard 4.2 and 5.0 doesn't matter a whole lot anyway in terms of audio
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If you are referring to the Noble Khan, I have heard it at a quieter shop for an extend period of time.
Not my cup of tea to be perfectly honest, I would take the Katana over it myself.
Interesting. Yes. Bloody autocorrect!
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