[Layman1]

would you place ve10 in the same category with storm ?

I'm not the person you addressed this question, but I'm happy to volunteer my point of view if you would like and in the hopes it can be another helpful point of reference to others

I've heard both Storm and VE10; not hugely in depth and not in the same session, but I found both to be extremely impressive.
I've recently heard things like EE Raven, the Fir Audio IEMs, Campfire Trifecta and Supermoon and such like.
But funnily enough, when I listened to the VE10, my first thought was that it reminded me most of the Storm, rather than those others.
Perhaps the Rn6 was the closest in tuning out of those others I've heard.
But yes, VE 10 reminded me of the Storm; my impression would be that the Storm was a bit more neutral.
I feel the V10 had a bit more warmth in the low end (just a tinge; by no means a 'warm' IEM) which added a sweet touch of musicality, and I think it had a bit more shimmer perhaps too.
Storm was *comparatively* more neutral-reference in tuning, and as such it might come across to a listener as being slightly more technical, but I think this is more a factor of tuning rather than any actual disparity in technical prowess between the two IEMs.

As always, this is just the thoughts of one person, based on relatively brief listening, so please treat them as just an additional piece of information and don't go buying either of them solely based on my comments. Well, unless you want to pay me commission or something, in which case, please proceed

 

[mainguy]

Got to say there is nothing like a Canjam to make you realise reviewers are not all that useful for gauging which iem/headphone you'll like. it's the ultimate 'you have to listen to know' experience.

Can be a bit annoying as you realise the trusted sources you used to inform your buying decisions actually have tastes very far from your own! Which is fine of course, just makes life less convenient. Glad I'm in London so can come to Canjam every year and establish what I need to buy next. Honestly anyone spending 1k+ should try and attend one of these events if they can, even if they need to travel, it's just so enlightening.

 

[Cabbages]

Got to say there is nothing like a Canjam to make you realise reviewers are not all that useful for gauging which iem/headphone you'll like. it's the ultimate 'you have to listen to know' experience.

Can be a bit annoying as you realise the trusted sources you used to inform your buying decisions actually have tastes very far from your own! Which is fine of course, just makes life less convenient. Glad I'm in London so can come to Canjam every year and establish what I need to buy next. Honestly anyone spending 1k+ should try and attend one of these events if they can, even if they need to travel, it's just so enlightening.

Its defs hard to compare to reviews, especially when everyone hears differently/have different preferences. I’ve had IEMs which I like but are otherwise reviewed relatively negatively by some reviewers aswell as IEMs I hate which some reviews write as great.

 

[DarginMahkum]

Nah, they did allow people to handle it:



Satoshi from final was there to share more information about the 6 years of R&D involving a collaboration with a famous acoustic engineering lab in Kyushu University to study HRTF responses and more beyond just the headphones and drivers. It weighs ~220 g, is extremely comfortable despite not looking so. Shame we could not plug it in to listen to it though!

2024 or the 2025 CanJam will be very interesting, as we will see this technology being introduced and maybe being used in multiple models. Then there is HifiMan, that is very eager to get rid of all the drivers they have in their stock. Their flagship has not seen any changes for years and the technology used in Susvara is now being applied pretty much to whole product line. I believe they have something new in their sleeves that will change the planar technology as we know it. Maybe a new method of e-stat / planar hybrid that can be driven by normal amps, even portables? They were silent and kept saying that "we don't know anything, boss didn't tell us anything", but sometimes silence is also expressive.

 

[ostewart]

Got to say there is nothing like a Canjam to make you realise reviewers are not all that useful for gauging which iem/headphone you'll like. it's the ultimate 'you have to listen to know' experience.

Can be a bit annoying as you realise the trusted sources you used to inform your buying decisions actually have tastes very far from your own! Which is fine of course, just makes life less convenient. Glad I'm in London so can come to Canjam every year and establish what I need to buy next. Honestly anyone spending 1k+ should try and attend one of these events if they can, even if they need to travel, it's just so enlightening.

As mentioned in the "Ask the reviewers" seminar, it's good to try and find a reviewer that hears things similarly to you if possible - that will help a lot, rather than just going off the reviewer that has the most views for example.

But it will never beat hearing the products yourself of course.

 

[Barolo]

Had a great day with my son mainly listening to headphones and iems,we started at zmf and what lovely people there are, my
Favourites were the atrium closed while my son liked the open version and the new $1000 entry version were like a baby version
Onto the audeze stand my favourite were the LCD 4z the x had a very wide soundstage but we're more nuetral nothing really stood out to me,onto final audio stand and my favourite headphone of the show the d8000 almost perfect for the both of us great bass,mids,treble,soundstage and on the warm side.We were both a bit disappointed with the meze empyrean,elite not sure if it was the set up and lack of music choice.Standout iems for us were the VE 10 and Phonix we also were impressed with ultimate ear premier 21 once you had a good fit,big bass smooth mids if slightly recessed and non fatigued treble,excellent separation.Had a listen to spirit torino iems great package two cables three filters and we'll made but so hard to get a good fitting.

 

[Nooseybear]

As mentioned in the "Ask the reviewers" seminar, it's good to try and find a reviewer that hears things similarly to you if possible - that will help a lot, rather than just going off the reviewer that has the most views for example.

But it will never beat hearing the products yourself of course.

Even that can be dangerous... For example I agree with Crin on the vast majority of his iem rankings, however I totally disagree with him on headphones!

 

[nihalsharma]

Got to say there is nothing like a Canjam to make you realise reviewers are not all that useful for gauging which iem/headphone you'll like. it's the ultimate 'you have to listen to know' experience.

Can be a bit annoying as you realise the trusted sources you used to inform your buying decisions actually have tastes very far from your own! Which is fine of course, just makes life less convenient. Glad I'm in London so can come to Canjam every year and establish what I need to buy next. Honestly anyone spending 1k+ should try and attend one of these events if they can, even if they need to travel, it's just so enlightening.

Very good points put here. The versatility of sound from multiple devices is what makes this hobby more interesting. Reviews are for a basic understanding of what’s there to look for in an audio gear. I also look for multiple reviews and if they all echo the same thoughts, you have a decent idea. Problem is where the reviews differ a lot.

We too have multiple small meetups here, where people bring their stuff and we get to listen the gears. That’s the best thing to do and helps a lot in making decisions. Blind buys most of the times bite back really hard.

 

[Nooseybear]

I'm not the person you addressed this question, but I'm happy to volunteer my point of view if you would like and in the hopes it can be another helpful point of reference to others

I've heard both Storm and VE10; not hugely in depth and not in the same session, but I found both to be extremely impressive.
I've recently heard things like EE Raven, the Fir Audio IEMs, Campfire Trifecta and Supermoon and such like.
But funnily enough, when I listened to the VE10, my first thought was that it reminded me most of the Storm, rather than those others.
Perhaps the Rn6 was the closest in tuning out of those others I've heard.
But yes, VE 10 reminded me of the Storm; my impression would be that the Storm was a bit more neutral.
I feel the V10 had a bit more warmth in the low end (just a tinge; by no means a 'warm' IEM) which added a sweet touch of musicality, and I think it had a bit more shimmer perhaps too.
Storm was *comparatively* more neutral-reference in tuning, and as such it might come across to a listener as being slightly more technical, but I think this is more a factor of tuning rather than any actual disparity in technical prowess between the two IEMs.

As always, this is just the thoughts of one person, based on relatively brief listening, so please treat them as just an additional piece of information and don't go buying either of them solely based on my comments. Well, unless you want to pay me commission or something, in which case, please proceed

Adding my 2 cents as the Storm and VE10 were two of the iems I specifically wanted to audition at Canjam this year.

Storm: These were the most 'headphone like' iems I tried on the day, in the sense that the soundstage is really wide (for an iem), and instrument separation is incredible. Everything just sounded clear, coherent and just as it should. The best analogy I can think of is the Sennheiser HD650, and I would argue they have similar soundstages! The Storm was also very detailed, but not in a way that details jump at you (like the QDC VX or some of the other recent flagship iems). Tuning I would describe as warm-neutral, with very natural timbre. Nothing really stands out, but that's by design.

However, these were a) very hard to drive and b) super sensitive to source and tips pairing. For context, I first tried them with my Fiio BTR7 and thought they were a little mediocre. They seemed to lack dynamics and both low and high end extension. It's only when I was encouraged to try them paired to a Hiby RS8 that they opened up. Even paired with my Ifi Gryphon I felt they weren't quite showing their full potential. I tried to switch from stock eartips to my usual eartips (the ones I tend to prefer for most iems), and was shocked at how much they affected the frequency response (and not in a good way). Overall these remind me of the OG Andromeda in terms of how picky they are, and I'm worried I'd always feel like I'm not quite getting them right if I owned them.

VE10: They have a similar warm-neutral tuning. I noted very good instrument separation, however to me the soundstage was relatively intimate. Bass is tuned more for mid-bass than sub-bass but is still very pleasing (in line with VE house sound). Treble was present but slightly rolled off. They were quite detailed but not exceedingly so, maybe slightly less than the Storm. Dynamics were really good.

Where they differed from the Storm (aside from soundstage width) is that the VE10 are super sensitive and take very little power to drive. I expect they will pick up noise in sources that aren't completely black. They also don't stand out in any way, giving you more of a reference frequency response (similar to the storm). For that reason I prefer my EXTs to these, and the person sitting next to me made the exact same statement (unprompted by me!).

Overall I would say that in many ways the Storm and VE10 are very similar, with the Storm being more technically impressive if you can power the, properly and get good source synergy.

 

[LFC_SL]

Got to say there is nothing like a Canjam to make you realise reviewers are not all that useful for gauging which iem/headphone you'll like. it's the ultimate 'you have to listen to know' experience.

Can be a bit annoying as you realise the trusted sources you used to inform your buying decisions actually have tastes very far from your own! Which is fine of course, just makes life less convenient. Glad I'm in London so can come to Canjam every year and establish what I need to buy next. Honestly anyone spending 1k+ should try and attend one of these events if they can, even if they need to travel, it's just so enlightening.

As mentioned in the "Ask the reviewers" seminar, it's good to try and find a reviewer that hears things similarly to you if possible - that will help a lot, rather than just going off the reviewer that has the most views for example.

But it will never beat hearing the products yourself of course.

I agree with ost it is not a question of the reviewer's 'tastes' as such ; personal preference and reporting on the item in question are different things

 

[betula]

A few years back when I was working with K&S Distribution (Finals UK distributor) we had a prototype of the D8000

It ended up being nothing like the finished product, so I'd be careful judging on such an early prototype.

I think it was there to show off their new lightweight driver.

In this post you can find a bit more information on the headphones. The design (at least back in May) seemed rather final.

I agree with ost it is not a question of the reviewer's 'tastes' as such ; personal preference and reporting on the item in question are different things

Ideally it should be. Yet almost all the popular YT reviewers keep pushing their own taste as the 'objectively best sound' to different extent, maybe even without realising what they are doing. They simply favour some brands and dislike others, just as we all do. The problem is, with a follower base of inexperienced people comes a big responsibility. I don't want the whole industry to be shaped by the taste of a handful YT reviewers.
A few of them were roaming around at CanJam too and at some of the booths they were treated like some demigods, putting us regular human beings on hold. The attitude of the companies there was quite understandable, as these guys can stop or boost sales with half a sentence in a video.

I think, it is not good that a dozen reviewers get to shape future products and essentially the whole industry. I am not sure, how we the silent and critical crowd could balance out this phenomenon, but I am slightly worried to see these tendencies.
Rant over.

 

[ostewart]

In this post you can find a bit more information on the headphones. The design (at least back in May) seemed rather final.

Ideally it should be. Yet almost all the popular YT reviewers keep pushing their own taste as the 'objectively best sound' to different extent, maybe even without realising what they are doing. They simply favour some brands and dislike others, just as we all do. The problem is, with a follower base of inexperienced people comes a big responsibility. I don't want the whole industry to be shaped by the taste of a handful YT reviewers.
A few of them were roaming around at CanJam too and at some of the booths they were treated like some demigods, putting us regular human beings on hold. The attitude of the companies there was quite understandable, as these guys can stop or boost sales with half a sentence in a video.

I think, it is not good that a dozen reviewers get to shape future products and essentially the whole industry. I am not sure, how we the silent and critical crowd could balance out this phenomenon, but I am slightly worried to see these tendencies.
Rant over.

It was a little odd being the only "written" reviewer on the panel on Sunday...

 

[WoodyLuvr]

It has an AKM chip for DAC purposes, and an aditional Cirrus chip for ADC purposes - so yes, it has ADC functionality.

I'm really looking forward to this coming out, it looks really interesting.

Hmm, that's interesting. I wonder if the analogue input *always* gets converted, or whether it is possible to use it as an amp only with an external DAC.

Curiouser and curiouser! The Questyle CMA18 Portable DAC/AMP is spooling up to be quite the device indeed! Keeping my fingers (and toes) crossed that it will employ some sort of desktop mode that will bypass the battery for desktop/system duties.

 

[deep2285]

In this post you can find a bit more information on the headphones. The design (at least back in May) seemed rather final.

Ideally it should be. Yet almost all the popular YT reviewers keep pushing their own taste as the 'objectively best sound' to different extent, maybe even without realising what they are doing. They simply favour some brands and dislike others, just as we all do. The problem is, with a follower base of inexperienced people comes a big responsibility. I don't want the whole industry to be shaped by the taste of a handful YT reviewers.
A few of them were roaming around at CanJam too and at some of the booths they were treated like some demigods, putting us regular human beings on hold. The attitude of the companies there was quite understandable, as these guys can stop or boost sales with half a sentence in a video.

I think, it is not good that a dozen reviewers get to shape future products and essentially the whole industry. I am not sure, how we the silent and critical crowd could balance out this phenomenon, but I am slightly worried to see these tendencies.
Rant over.

It's the influencer era but there are still ways around it. Reading as much as possible in comparison to YT channels helps quite a bit in making better decisions on audio gears. I have purchased a lot of IEMs based on user reviews from Headfi and I personally haven't had a bad experience until now. I almost never watch YT videos.

 

[Imusicman]

Ok, so here is a quick overview of how the show was for me.
Disclaimer 1) it was very well attended and the main floor was quite noisy.
Disclaimer 2) All these impressions are my experience and therefore my own preference, my subjective opinion. Please don’t be offended if I didn’t like your personal favourite bit of gear.

Saturday
Booked in for the first session of the day with the Sennheiser HE-1. This was located upstairs in it own listening room.
Wow what can I say? What a way to kick off a CanJam weekend.
I had a 15 min slot of pure audio heaven. The HE-1 was hooked up to a DCS DAC and sounded phenomenal. Obviously I will never own something like this but boy what an experience. I would encourage anyone who has not yet had the opportunity to try this out to do so.

Next stop ZMF again upstairs in the room door. Congratulations to Zach, Bevin and the team for providing such a great set up. I kid you not there must have been getting on for nearly a 100 headphones in that room. All beautiful in design. All set up on high quality rigs. Incredible. I enjoyed all of the their offerings but I didn’t really have a standout.

Next up was the DCS room. Another fantastically well set up room. Oh boy talk about a kid in a sweet shop. My personal favourite here was the LINA stack? Not sure if that’s the right name or how you spell it. I particularly enjoyed this with the Meze Elite.

Next stop was in the main hall. I made a beeline for Vision Ears as I was keen to try out the new VEX and also revisit the EXT.
I liked the VEX but was not blown away by it. The fit was fine but I didn’t really like the design all that much. Kind of looked a bit cheap looking to me. Certainly not the usual high standards that I’ve come to expect from Vision Ears. I had a problem with the fit on the EXT which was no surprise as I struggled with it when I had it on loan as part of a tour. The VEX was probably one of the biggest disappointments and surprises to me. Maybe I was hoping for too much?

Next was Astell & Kern to treat the Aura. This time the VE design was top notch and much more to my taste. Sound wise, again I liked it but it didn’t blow me away. Again maybe my expectations were set too high. It’s hard to say what does 4K sound like but for me it felt overpriced. I came away from both stands feeling more than happy with my Phonix with no desire to add to my stable.

Next was Noble. Absolutely stunning designs, esp some of the wood options. What wasn’t so good for me though was the fit. Unfortunately I could not achieve a single seal with their IEM’s despite trying a handful of sets. Shame because if they sounded half as good as they looked it could have been wonderful.

Next was Campire Audio. To be honest they weren’t really on my radar but I thought I’d try them anyway and I was so glad I did. The Trifreca was extremely impressive. Big, bold, muscular sound almost headphone territory. Hard to describe but a wonderful, engaging experience. I also very much liked the Super Moon. Very enjoyable planar in an IEM.

Next I tried the Raven and the Evo. Again not really on my radar but I enjoyed both very much. The Raven is BIG but to my surprise it was quite a good fit and the EVO fit me even better. Both sounded great. Different but great. If I had to pick one I would opt for the EVO. I just connected with it from the first song to the last.

Next was Elise Audio. They covered a wide range of gear but I was mainly there for the XE6, RN6, Singularity & the Elysian audio IEM’s.
I really enjoyed the RN6 and can see why it’s receiving so much praise. Definitely a very versatile IEM and easy to recommend. The XE6 was brilliant fun. Some songs on this set gave me several wow moments. I’m not sure if I could live it full time but if I was in the right mood to rock out these along with the Trfecta would probably be my first choice to party with.
Next up was the Elysian X.. I didn’t know much about this IEM prior to the show but I really liked its tuning. Great fit and great sound.
Next was the Singlarity. I liked it, particularly the Bass but something about the treble area didn’t quite gel with me. Good but not great is how I would rank it.
Next was the Diva. Loved this one. Particularly when the bass switch was turned to its max setting. I think there were 3 settings/profiles to choose from. I know I will be in the minority on this one but I actually preferred it to the Anilator ( please forgive the spelling) I A/B them for a good 15-20 mins on two separate days and still came to the same conclusion.

Next was the Storm. I really enjoyed this one. Extremely nice coherent tuning. Also the design in the flash was stunning.

I finally managed to audition the UM Mentor. Wow I loved this IEM. Stunning new design and oh boy the Mids. The Mids were to die for. For me this one ticked a lot of boxes. For a couple of £1000 for a used example this is probably going to me next purchase

I tried lots of other gear but these were the main one’s I wanted to share. I hope it’s not too long