[Watagump]

This was my first Canjam and I enjoyed it immensely.

I loved the atmosphere and the relaxed, informal setting that allowed me to try pretty much anything I wanted. I was there to audition IEMs and I definitely did that! My brief to all of the reps I spoke to was neutral / balanced / reference, in keeping with my ER4XRs. I listened to DSD256 on a vanilla DX228, balanced cables where possible.

Westone:
I started at Westone as I was curious about their house sound. I also see a lot of refurbished sets for sale around and wondered what was going on. I loved the form factor but felt that the house signature was too warm, closed-in and blunted for my liking, even the W80.

64Audio:
Following advice, I was steered towards the U12t and U18t. I found the fit a little awkward and whilst preferring the 18 over the 12, felt that there was too much bass for my liking and not particularly involving.

INEAR:
I was looking forward to trying the Pro-phile 8 which was immediately comfortable, even for its size. The only downside was a single ended cable. I had forgotten to bring a 4.4B - 3.5SE adaptor so used an A&K source they had. I was immediately taken in by the clarity and crispness of the sound with an improved soundstage over my etymotics (although that isn't necessarily that difficult). These were my new reference point for the rest of the show. I forgot to try the switches as I was so enthralled!

Vision Ears:
The house was not my cup of tea, being mainly V/U shaped and not detail/retrieval focused.

Noble:
Jim was really welcoming and accommodating, starting me off with the Katana, which I found a little polite on a reaudition in the afternoon. He noticed my DX220 and suggested I try the Khan to see if there was a repeat of the previously reported interference. Running the latest firmware I can report that there was none. I loved the Khan signature except the overly piercing highs on top of a more "normal" set of highs. I felt that this was coming from the piezo driver and remarked that I would be interested in the Khan but minus the piezo element: a Khan Junior, if you will.....

Campfire:
The gentleman at the stand was very engaging and started me off with the Andromeda. I love the CA design but not the sound, unfortunately. It is a little too warm and relaxed for me. On further discussion, the rep said that this was the house signature and that I was unlikely to find the more referential/neutral sound that I was looking for. Still, very glad I tried them.

Empire Ears:
The guy was on his own and really busy but hats off to him for his level of energy and interaction. He suggested the Empire Studio Reference and Phantom. I preferred the definitely not neutral or particularly reference but lively sound of the ESR. The Phantom was too bass heavy for me. As I was there, I tried the Wraith (which sounded wierdly tinny with the copper cable but better with the recommended silver) and Legend X (excessive sub bass for me but still not that special, I have to admit). The ESR was close second to the PP8 on my list.

Meze:
Exception to my rule but tried the Empyrean. Wow. Worked OK with the DX220 but far better with the rep's N6ii and the desktop setup. Even so, I welled up listening to "roygbiv" from Boards of Canada as the analogue piano washed over me and instantly took me back to warm summers as a child. I didn't see if they had a Rai Penta - if so I missed out on hat.

AMP3:
Chatted with the operator, where I buy a lot of my stuff, to audition the AMP9. Accidentally hot-swapped it. To my surprise, I wasn't that impressed with the differences from AMP8. Smoother, more mature, maybe but not really leaps and bounds ahead of the AMP8, in contrast what I have read on the DX220 thread. Forgot to try the wood IT04 (I have a normal pair of IT04). Agreed that Cayin software and support had a lot to be desired, having previously owned a N5ii. He suggested I try Jerry Harvey and even the Audeze LCDi4.

Others:
Briefly auditioned the Layla but wasn't really feeling it. A bit lifeless, for me. Don't quite get the ergonomics of the bass adjustment on the cable. The LCDi4 were amazing but again, overly bassy - the detail and airiness were superb, however. The Audeze stand had an A&K Kann which is an absolute beast. Could be used as a murder weapon. Tried the Focal Stellia as it was there and felt that it couldn't compete with the Empyrean.

Summary:
As of now, I will be on the lookout for a pair of Prophiles. It would be nice for Empire to have a UK distributor, the European ones don't stock the ESR. I'm hoping that Noble come out with something new soon, too. I will be back next year and will probably take little more time auditioning each IEM, or maybe keep going back to the ones I like again and again.

Thanks to everyone who made Canjam possible. My only wish is that it be a little more frequent in the UK. I would go back to one next week and buy stuff, for sure.

Something new from Noble is coming soon. Another hybrid in the sub $1000 region.

 

[Sunstealer]

Something new from Noble is coming soon. Another hybrid in the sub $1000 region.

I did try the 5 driver prototype that Jim had with him and liked it a lot. Do you mean that?

 

[Watagump]

I did try the 5 driver prototype that Jim had with him and liked it a lot. Do you mean that?

Nope, its a 2 driver hybrid, I wasn't aware of a 5 driver.

 

[STR-1]

Thanks to Jude and the team for another great show.

Having sold all my iems over a year ago to fund upgrades to my main music system, but now having the funds to return to the portable side of things, it was iems I was most interested in this time round (it had been headphones and Chord Electronics gear in previous years).

The best iem I previously owned was the Noble Kaiser Encore, which I bought a couple of years ago after comparing it to the Katana. So I was very pleased to see Noble Audio make a return to the London show - a very pleasant team to talk to and I do hope they found their trip over to this side of the pond sufficiently successful to want to return next year. I did listen to the Khan and it does have something going for it but listening to it through my AK380 (at home I would feed the AK380 through a Chord dac) it just wasn't for me. I listen to a lot of classical and jazz, some acoustic, folk and 70s/80s rock, and only occasionally something like EDM. It is very clear and dynamic but piano sounded very odd through the Khan. I also tried the not-yet-in-production hybrid, but again it didn't provide the sound I was looking for (sorry, didn't take notes and can't remember the detail of what I thought). Fortunately, the Kaiser Encore sounded just as good as I remembered it, although this time round I felt the Katana got closer to matching it. If all I listened to was classical I would be hard pressed to choose between the two (might choose the Katana). I happily bought the last sealed-box Encore the team had at the show.

I also walked away with a (20% off) Westone W60 (great all-rounder), which I easily preferred to the W80. And just as I have options with my headphones, I extended my iem options with a third purchase. After trying out the Campfire Andromeda, Solaris, Polaris and Atlas I finally settled on the Andromeda. I've not yet opened that one and might decide to sell it on unopened as after playing around with the Encore and W60 at home I feel I've got most of my preference bases covered.

Other iems I tried included the Jomo Trinity (I liked it, but it did not shout out 'buy me'), the Audeze LCDi4 (must try this one again in better conditions - impressively clear and detailed but next to zero noise isolation), the hellishly expensive 64 Audio Tia Forte and Forte Noir (preferred the Tia to the Noir, which I felt was a little too smooth up top), and JHA Layla and Lola (preferred the extra clarity of the Layla).

The big cans I tried included the Abyss AB-1266 Phi TC (awesome through the Woo Audio WA33 but don't think my DAVE can do it justice) and Diana (not sure if it was the Phi but either way much closer in performance to the 1266 than I was expecting), Focal Stellia (some say the best closed back out there, and I can well believe it - must listen again in better conditions), Hifiman Susvara (a significant step up in refinement from my HE1000se, but again don't think my DAVE would be up to the job), RAAL Requisite SR1a (Hmm, weird, interesting but experience spoiled for me by a little fizzing on the left-hand side, which I think had something to do with the connection), HEDDphone ONE (sounded ok, detailed and neutral if lacking a little soul), Warwick Acoustics APERIO and Sonoma Model One (listening to these two helped enormously by use of the very effective sound pod - APERIO very impressive, offering detail and refinement significantly above the already very good Sonoma).

The only downer for me this year was the cancelled lucky draw for a 64 Audio iem.

Roll on CanJam London 2020.

 

[Yassa]

So many great iem's and also its almost end of 2019, I personally will hold off buying anything this year as early next year could be interesting. Specially with a baby on the way iem's are my preference so no more money to waste. #make wise decisions

 

[KT66]

Any thoughts?

Only Dac+Amp i am interested in.

It looks stunning, but didn't listen to it, I'm quite happy with my M-Dac at home, I don't
need a reason to spend money!
I did have a quick listen to the headphone amp and loved it.

 

[Yassa]

It looks stunning, but didn't listen to it, I'm quite happy with my M-Dac at home, I don't
need a reason to spend money!
I did have a quick listen to the headphone amp and loved it.

Thats one thing i will spend money on. thank you for your thoughts

 

[ricmat]

hifiheadphones.co.uk has some deals which will continue post-show. Use code CANJAM19 for 20% off on these makers:

• Shanling
  • Except M2x, which on the flyer is £125 instead of £199.99, so that's 37.49% off
• Final
• Periodic Audio

Their offer runs until 5 August.

Thank you episiarch!

 

[KT66]

Thats one thing i will spend money on. thank you for your thoughts

One thing worth noting, that I don't think they'd thought of is placement and ventilation.
It's too tall to fit in a HIFI Rack, it has vents on top and will need clearance.
I think it's too big to go on a normal desk, it'll need to go on top of a rack I think.

 

[KT66]

Thats one thing i will spend money on. thank you for your thoughts

One thing worth noting, that I don't think they'd thought of is placement and ventilation.
It's too tall to fit in a HIFI Rack, it has vents on top and will need clearance.
I think it's too big to go on normal desk, it'll need to on top of a rack I think.

 

[AndrewH13]

Lovely afternoon spent at Canjam Saturday, as always, thanks to Ethan, Jude and the team, plus all the volunteers and exhibitors for making it happen.

I had a list of about 30 Iems, Headphones and DAPs I wanted to try, made less than half of them! But listened to most of my top choice items.

My patient wife carrying my iBasso/ Mojo for iem listening!

Two headphones stood out, I'm just going to dig out pictures, but on the iem front, the Tia Forte (for 2nd year running - if only not so expensive!) and Solaris were my favourites that I tried.

Only the 3rd time I've listened to Stax, and never before the 009S with the Head-Amp Blue Hawaii. Kind of wished I hadn't. Absolutely fantastic with 4 different tracks I tried it with, wow!

And then finding a Hugo TT and M-Scaler also in the set-up, haha!

My favorite Headphone at the show that is in my pricerange, the Heinz Electrodynamic Designs, HeDDphone

Had an interesting chat with Stephan Ruhl, Sales Manager Europe, and he let me unplug their Tablets and connect my iBasso to their Hugo2, which is similar to how I would use it if/when purchased.

Fast fulll bass, lively mid-range, and crisp treble, what more could you want? Ok, maybe not for those preferring a rolled-off warmer sound, but for me it brought life to music and is a really promising headphone. Although heavy in hand, it seemed lighter on head than I was expecting.

Only problem I see, and that's only now looking at the photograph of me listening ..... the headband seems to have worn off the top of my hair (only joking)

 

[jamato8]

This was my first Canjam and I enjoyed it immensely.


AMP3:
Chatted with the operator, where I buy a lot of my stuff, to audition the AMP9. Accidentally hot-swapped it. To my surprise, I wasn't that impressed with the differences from AMP8. Smoother, more mature, maybe but not really leaps and bounds ahead of the AMP8, in contrast what I have read on the DX220 thread. Forgot to try the wood IT04 (I have a normal pair of IT04). Agreed that Cayin software and support had a lot to be desired, having previously owned a N5ii. He suggested I try Jerry Harvey and even the Audeze LCDi4.

Thanks to everyone who made Canjam possible. My only wish is that it be a little more frequent in the UK. I would go back to one next week and buy stuff, for sure.

I have tried hot swapping and don't care for it. To me, the sound changes and is doesn't have the same fine quality of the standard AMP9.

 

[NDonchev]

Hello, here are my impressions of the event. Keep in mind that I've never been to such event before and I went all the way from Bulgaria for it.

I was really eager to try the Schiit Gungnir and Schiit Yggdrasil but they were not there. Also I wanted to try some top tube amps and was hoping I will have that opportunity on Woo Audio's exhibition. That didn't happen either as they had mostly mobile devices and electrostatic amps. One of my top options for a new DAC was the Chord Qutest, but it haven't been on Chord's exhibition.

I was expecting that there will be an easy way to play your own music (via Tidal, for example) for testing equipment. On a lot of the booths that was not possible. For example on the Chord booth 2 of the three computers were connected to Tidal and the other one was not. I guess that is normal on such events, but as it was my first, I was a bit surprised.

So, it wasn't exactly what I was expecting, but overall I'm really, really impressed by the event. I liked the atmosphere and it was nice to meet fellow CanJamers. This is a lonely hobby in my country, not much people who are interested in such expensive headphone equipment.

There were so many things to try that I have read about but never though I will have the possibility to audition. Top electrostatic gear, some Schiit, the Hugo TT2 and Dave and many more.

I was also really impressed by the Noble Khan. I can't believe an IEM can sound sooo good. I even though of buying it despite that I don't need IEMs. But keep in mind that I have never tried high-end IEMs before.

Also, I was impressed by Schiit's Jotunheim and Ragnarok 2. Really liked how it sounds. So basically, now I'm waiting for my Yggdrasil to arrive. It was really hard to decide between it and the Gungnir without hearing them, but I hope I did a good choice.

Benchmark DAC3 was another peace of equipment that I liked a lot.

Amazing event! Thanks very much to the people that made the effort to organize it.

That is not all I want to say, but I have to go now. I just wanted to share some of my experience.

 

[HungryPanda]

My favorite Headphone at the show that is in my pricerange, the Heinz Electrodynamic Designs, HeDDphone



Had an interesting chat with Stephan Ruhl, Sales Manager Europe, and he let me unplug their Tablets and connect my iBasso to their Hugo2, which is similar to how I would use it if/when purchased.




Fast fulll bass, lively mid-range, and crisp treble, what more could you want? Ok, maybe not for those preferring a rolled-off warmer sound, but for me it brought life to music and is a really promising headphone. Although heavy in hand, it seemed lighter on head than I was expecting.

Only problem I see, and that's only now looking at the photograph of me listening ..... the headband seems to have worn off the top of my hair (only joking)

The HEDDphone was truly a surprise, I really wanted to hear it and loved it

 

[krismusic]

So many great iem's and also its almost end of 2019, I personally will hold off buying anything this year as early next year could be interesting. Specially with a baby on the way iem's are my preference so no more money to waste. #make wise decisions

I was surprised how many IEM manufacturers were exhibiting. I don't remember there being so many in previous years.