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!
