Interesting. I find the Vision Ears IEMs to sound very different from each other. The Elysium, in particular, does not sound congested to me. I would say their bass to mids transition tends to be tuned on the warmer side which can serve to reduce clarity and therefore increase perceived congestion. Maybe this is what you are referring to. I would have preferred the Phonix to have a more defined bass shelf to improve clarity especially for classical music.
Abyss are stubborn about this but they should offer multiple sizes for the O rings. I use O rings that are 7 mm larger on each side (versus I think 23 mm standard on each side), which makes a very substantial difference.I tried the Abyss φ while I was at CanJam as they were on my list as a possible successor to the LCD4.
I liked the sound very much.
Gutted by the fact that the headband would not go wide enough to stop them trying to crush my head.
It probably only needed 5mm or so more, but it just wasn't there
I was hoping for the same thing when I saw them listed as an exhibitor, but since no one in the thread who attended has mentioned them, I am guessing they weren't even on static display like they were at Munich. T+A's website says an August release, but I talked to a US dealer who said the US distributor is saying more like September or October. I was also wondering if the Bathys would be shown by Focal at the show but no dice there as well. We will all have to wait a bit longer to get impressions from anyone who actually gets to hear the T. And I for one would love clarification on whether wired operation can be set to truly bypass ALL the internal electronics - or not.
Oh gosh.... decision time! Need to book my Summer vacation days off via work soon. I'll cost it all up and find out about the up to date Entry Visa requirements. Anybody in the UK care to join me?Sounds like the hallmarks of a good studio monitor, so I think Audeze would be pleased by that.
If you can do this, like @HiFiHawaii808, I highly suggest that you do.
Galaxy's Edge is a Star Wars fan's dream. There is so much ambience and immersion that you truly feel as if you've stepped into a different world. The headlining rides are tremendous, but much of its charm lays in the details, the little things. I've done it multiple times now, and still find new things in repeated experiences.
As for CanJam SoCal 2022... it's already one of the largest CanJams ever, and is well on its way to possibly being the largest CanJam ever (and that includes pre-pandemic CanJams). https://www.head-fi.org/threads/canjam-socal-2022-september-17-18-2022.963875/
IIRC, there are rumours that Paris is cancelling their Galaxy's Edge, so he might want to do that in SoCal after all.
£2950 for the Utopia plus a free Focal headphone stand. So about $3700 US.
I was referring to congested to a degree I just didn’t like any of their iems. It was unfortunate I was really looking forward to the EXT when I was checking things out.
Can you imagine! Rob Watts and myself on the plane together possibly discussing my DAVE with Super 3 Farads and details of the new upcoming MScaler! Duh Yah! That would be an eye opener! Would be an honour though! Hey Rob........Though I don't know what his exact plans are, I do know that he'll be in SoCal for CanJam, and that he's a Star Wars fan... so maybe you can entice @Rob Watts (Chord) to join you?
EDIT: I should also mention that, in an effort to limit attendance, Disneyland now requires that park reservations be made ahead of time. https://disneyland.disney.go.com/experience-updates/park-reservations/
Wow, what a great show! That was my first ever Jam and I have to say it was an exceptionally constructive use of my time given how few really good sets (I am strictly an IEM person) I've heard!
Big thanks to the organisers, exhibitors and attendees, everyone I interacted with was exceptionally chilled and friendly - didn't seem to be any focus on sales at all, just enthusiasm for sharing impressions - and not once did I feel under pressure to move on to another stand.
My biggest takeaway: 2 days are needed if you want to take it all in, I managed to fit about a dozen iems into 4 hours with one break for coffee.
Second biggest takeaway: you really need to apply some method to that many rapid comparisons, and mine was probably a bit lacking - only brought one source and one set of tips (in an attempt to be consistent), and couldn't really volume match (ended up listening to everything pretty loudly as that seemed to be the only way of levelling the playing field). I did take notes!
My hot take, with the disclaimer that I'm an unrepentant bass head that listens to dance music almost exclusively (the instrumental, orchestral kind, vocals aren't a big feature but have to be tonally pleasant when they do appear). Imaging, separation and dynamics are all dog whistles for me.
Tier 1:
64 Audio u12t (M20 module) for the subbass extension/precision (new level for me) and seriously vivid and separated upper mids and treble. Very aggressive tuning but in a good way. Put myself down for a discounted pair and will see if I still feel as strongly about them in a week or so when they follow up. Very good match to my library.
Elysian X: a bit more balanced than u12t and hyper detailed across the range as a result. Similarly aggressive tuning and nearly as dynamic/layered - pretty much unobtainable now as I understand it but glad I got the chance to experience them.
Both of these got multi track deep dives, and really made me buzz.
Tier 2:
Sony z1r: I brought this with me - a more relaxed midrange tuning than the above with really good bass texture slighty weighted towards midbass, layers similarly but doesn't provide the sheer level of detail the Tier 1s do. If discretion proves the better part of valour I will continue to love these as a "1 and done" TOTL.
Campfire Audio Supermoon: These were great - spacious, airy, noticeably smoother on the attack than anything else I heard; super lush, slightly stepped back mids that manage to preserve a lot of detail - imaging is great, very evenly weighted across the stereo field, great sense of dimension to them at the expense of some dynamics (more so than z1rs, which are also good in that respect). Would love to see these released as a universal so I can pick up a used set at some stage. They are not quite bassy enough to be a main set for me but if I listened to more classical I would be very happy with something like this tuning.
64 Audio Nio (M15 module): Dark, warm and rumbly. The bass head in me really got off on these - if you want a set that makes you feel like you're standing in front of a soundsystem these should definitely be a contender. They sound a bit congested/dense, and image as a flat wall, but very exhilarating. Another one I would like to pick up used - for Dub sessions.
Tier 2/3 (kind of a copout, stuff I really enjoyed but can't justify collecting)
Symphonium Helios:
This is probably Tier 3 but reminds me of the u12t enough to bump it up with bias scoring (price is a factor as well). Doesn't image / immerse quite as well as the others in T2 but still sounded pretty special (upper mid / lower treble energy was a tiny bit more uneven / unrefined). Insanely long nozzles, my single tip strategy failed here somewhat as they ended up floating in space several mm from my ears!
Elysian Diva:
Very slightly too biased towards upper mids and lower treble for my tastes but impressive all rounder with excellent details. Needed a power boost to get to test volumes.
Symphonium Triton: Nios with a shade less energy and slightly more coherent but less extended bass. I'm underselling them a bit - from a VFM perspective these were #1 out of what I listened to. Huge nozzle like the Helios.
Effect Audio Gaia (Collab with Elysian): prototype tuning with slightly boomy midbass and overly aggressive/gritty upper mids for my ears. If they can tone down those aspects it's more of a fit for my tastes than Diva and will match it for detail at a slightly lower price.
Tier 3 (everything else - had high hopes for some of these, but ended up a bit underwhelmed):
64 Audio Trio: listened to these straight after u12t and only gave them a couple of minutes. No idea why they sounded so flat - I'm sure others have had a totally different experience but the sub bass and general sense of energy were notable by their absence, and I stopped caring about the rest shortly thereafter.
Subtonic Storm: Probably Tier 2 but at those prices I was expecting fireworks and I didn't get them. Tries to go where the Elysian X does but can't quite get there, and was twice as hard to drive as anything else I heard. This is harsh and leaves out all the things it gets right but it should be a lot cheaper than it is. Possibly the curse of the start up trying to recover R&D.
Campfire Andromeda: Only thing I have against this is it doesn't work with my library, and my source was too high impedance so I wasn't getting quite the intended tuning. Tier 2 detail/imaging/immersion but missing too much low end extension to work with my tunes.
Campfire Trifecta: I am clearly not the intended market for this set - probably superb with some styles of music but not the ones I listen to - very full, textured bass with absolutely no slam at all - this might have been another source impedance/matching issue.
Effect Audio Axiom: wispy treble, recessed, thin mids (really not to my taste but may have some synergy with something out there). I didn't intend to listen to these, just wandered over to fondle their cables
Speaking of which, the Liquid Links Venom was the clear winner from a purely aesthetic/build quality perspective.
Looking forward to next year's show already!
That website isn’t working for some reason amoenus audioIt is Sunday evening and I thought, I report my views on CanJam London 2022, while they are still fresh on my mind (FWIW!)
I obviously did not check everything out, so my observations are naturally limited to my limited exposure to some.
I did not check any IEMs, because I am concerned with Covid.
And bear in mind that I am reporting on anything worth reporting.
The event:
This was my first CanJam, so I had nothing to compare it to, but full-blown HiFi exhibitions.
It felt smaller than I expected! Perhaps Covid had something with it. Also with the advent of open-back headphones becoming more popular, putting a lot of exhibitors and device to audition in one big hall, seemed not ideal, but hey - I made the best of it.
Only dcS had a private, quieter room away from other exhibitors.
The Chord electronics section
Chord had mostly Mojo2 on show, and one mScaler connected to a Dave! So there was my chance !
The Dave, sounded pretty impressive on mScaler set to by-pass mode. Though I did not hear anything super Wow, it was more powerful than my Hugo2, but sound quality was comparable. Regarding the mScaler, I did notice that X2 upscale immediately was noticeable, it immediately opened up the sound stage, individual instruments did pop out and became more noticeable. But X4 and X16 were less noticeable, specially on processed music , meaning not-live or orchestral music.
The X2 was a good improvement on any music I played. X16 does make a noticeable improvement on orchestral Classical music.
Basically what I am saying is that the mScaler in circuit is better than in bypass mode.
The Hifiman stand:
Hifiman were showing off some of their headphones, specially the new Sundara Closed back, and some electronics. I was only interested in the headphones. They did not have too many samples at hand, eg. there was one single Edition XS at hand!
I do own a pair a EDXS that I have modified slightly, so I was eager to check mine against an unmodified one. To me mine sounded better! then one of the Hifiman men, noticed my EDXS was different, so he had a listen too - with in five seconds he took them off, puzzled, took me to a corner, asked me what I had done, and started taking pictures of it from different angles - he liked them too.
Also, they had two HE1000se on the table, and I was trying everything I could reach - to my surprise, they sounded different! One was good, the other wasn't.
Astel&Kern
Cute DAPs that ultimately didn't work for me.
Audeze
First time ever I was seeing one, and now listening to one.
The LCD-XC blew me away, on my Hugo2 amp! Absolutely fantastic! the speed, the authority, the well-balanced tone, nothing a miss with those, I loved them.
Then I plugged them into the amp on the table that Audeze had provided, I believe a Burson Funk, and then the sound went flat and screechy! I told the guys at Audeze, they were happy I did like the phones anyhow. I tried some others, like LCD-2C and the new MM-500, although good, but the LCD-XC was still the king!
dCS Lina
I am fan of dCS in general! I have hear their DACs in high end speaker systems, and they have sounded fantastic.
So why am I not liking the Lina? It is huge, three box system, with a massive amplifier! they had a pair of Susvara at hand that was reaching its max output at half volume setting! and it did sound good too. But the size and I am guessing the price puts it at Lottery jackpot level.
No, thank you! even if it was £2k, I wouldn't want one.
amoenus audio
This device stole the show for me! www.amoenus-audio.ch
A smart black metal box of tricks! A DSP box, that would take in digital or analogue audio input, and processes the sound to create a realistic sound stage for headphone usage, at least that is what I understood of it. Price tag was over 3K euros, I believe.
The DAC section uses older DAC chips, but in bypass mode, sounded as good as any modern top-flight DAC. The amp was powerful enough to drive my Edition XS headphones to max tolerable levels with plenty of power in reserve.
But once you activate the DSP, it really, really created a genuine, believable sound stage. Actually, more than that. Dave Gilmour guitar on Speak to me , on bypass mode was recorded hard left and a little thin, but on active DSP, it became larger, warmer and moved in front of me to the left! There is defo some crossfeed elements in there somewhere, but the crossfeed on my Hugo2 has never impressed me, it just makes the sound more Mono, that's all - not with this device. You gotta hear it to believe it.
I enticed Chord guys to listen to the device (they were next to each other).
If one day, Chord would join these people and include their algorithm in their DACs as an extra, I would buy one for sure.
Me too, I already have two planar headphones.
