Some impressions from the Sunday (IEMs only) - all impressions taken using my Lotoo PAW6000, balanced where possible, using the same test tracks:
Spirit Torino
My first port of call on walking through the door was the Spirit Torino stand, manned by Andrea Ricci and the London-based daughter of one of his Spirit Torino colleagues, who was acting as translator for the day. I’m quite comfortable saying I’m a fan of the Spirit Torino house sound, owning both the original Twin Pulse from Spirit Labs and the Mistral Pro previously, and being the current owner of the Mistral Radiant. I deliberately made a beeline for their stand as I wanted to try out a new model that they have just launched, which marks their entry into the world of in ear monitors – the IEM Twin Pulse Beryllium (may just need to be shortened to Twin Pulse in future for catchier marketing).
IEM Twin Pulse Beryllium – 2xDD (isobaric design)
The IEM is a entirely CNC machined from aluminium, with a pretty unique shell design that looks vaguely reminiscent of a really ornate bullet. Even more unique is the fit – it actually slots into the ear very nicely with foam tips, but it is designed to point into the ear with the IEM cable mounted almost perpendicular to the barrel. It’s basically a steampunk riff on the old school Sony XBA-Z5 or EX1000 – pretty eye catching and more than a little unusual compared to the more modern pseudo-custom IEM designs, but it’s comfortable enough. Foam tips are recommended by the designer to ensure a uniform fit and seal, but I suspect the rubbery Xelastec tips from AZLA will also work well here, and help with fit.
In terms of technology, a high-flux neodymium motor drives a twin-diaphragm design, with both dynamic drivers being coated in beryllium and set up in an isobaric design, matching the bigger over-ear Twin Pulse designs. The whole idea is to reduce distortion and improve the transient response of the monitor, giving something with the characteristic physicality of a dynamic driver but the detailing and speed more akin to EST or armature drivers. The IEM is also carefully pressure vented in three different locations on the shell (ironically not the faceplate at the back, which looks semi-open but is actually just a solid metal plate in the characteristic Spirit Torino logo design) – this is done to better control the driver response, and also to reduce wearing fatigue for longer listening session. Obviously I can’t comment on that after a quick 10 minute audition in show conditions, but I did manage to acquire one of the Twin Pulse demo models at the end of the show, so I will be writing up a fuller review in due course.
So, what does it sound like? For starters, the tonality is tuneable, with a removable nozzle section that can be swapped out for one of three core tunings – basically, bass light, reference and bass-heavy, with the filters exclusively affecting low end response through venting. The demo model was set up for reference, which is reasonably linear with just a dollop of low end. Spirit Torino tune against isophonic preference curves (basically everything as loud as everything else), so they will never be anemic or overly light in the low end anyway.
The reference filters are quite Goldilocks – not overly bassy, not overly lean. Tracks like “Disc Wars” from the Tron Legacy soundtrack extend low and have a good if not overwhelming sub presence, but definitely enough to capture the dynamic shift and power in the track, which is a collaboration between Daft Punk and an orchestra. Sticking with Daft Punk, “Get Lucky” drops low and doesn’t lose its funk, giving a nicely liquid but deep sounding bassline. Moving over to bass texture, the bass guitar on “Bad Rain” by Slash is punchy and growling, keeping out a good amount of fine grain around the fat bass notes. Texture on the bass is palpable and rich.
Moving up to another orchestral track (“Palladio” by Escala), the detail around the bowed strings and subtle room sounds is so clear on it practically screams flagship, which is impressive considering this is pitched at just over the 1,000 euro mark. Switching up to something a little crispier, the Twin Pulse can get bright and a little tizzy on “Beat It” by Fall Out Boy, but it definitely captures the energy of the high octane MJ cover.
Giving it a little run in the treble test tracks I normally use, “Go” by The Chemical Brothers has a nicely prominent mid bass, with the swirling synth that wraps itself around the rhythm section of the track adding a nice sense of space to the sound. It’s suitably sparkly, and notably wid for an in-ear, definitely painting a wider staging than usual, with the synth runs coming in from way over the left shoulder. Giving it one final tester (this time for sibilance), “Whiskey And You” by Chris Stapleton sounds good, but bis ordering on harsh in the poorly mixed (or mastered – I’m never sure which) chorus, with lots of bite to Stapleton’s already gritty vocal. This IEM has high end resolution and technical capability, but it most likely won’t be one to forgive poor recordings. it’s never unpleasant, but definitely not an in ear that will coat everything in sugar and honey when the engineer covered it in broken glass and spikes.
Definitely bold, definitely not for everyone, but one of my listening highlights of the show, and an IEM I’ve ended up bringing home with me.
Soundz
It’s always fun coming across a new audio brand at a show like this. It’s even more fun when that brand produces one of the most surprising and just downright enjoyable tunings of the day. I spent a decent chunk of the day in three separate sitting with Alexis and the team at Soundz, getting an interesting potted history of their growth from a brand focusing on stage IEMs to where they are now, launching a full line of balanced armature designs aimed squarely at the audiophile market. They focus on all-BA designs, taking pains to point out they are using the latest generation armature designs from Sonion in their IEMs, allowing them to take advantage of the relative maturity of the BA designs and the rapidly advancing capability of the new drivers to produce in-ears that sound more like the sort of thing that could only be produced from a seriously beefy dynamic driver two or three years ago.
All the designs are based on a pseudo-custom shell, and are all pretty compact for the number of armatures they pack in, feeling quite reminiscent of the shell designs InEar use, but note quite as “custom”. most of the designs also offer a tiny bass switch on the bottom of the main faceplate, allowing for a serious bass boost when engaged, or a more linear (but not anywhere near flat) bass response with the boost turned off. My preferences lie firmly in basshead territory, so while I tried all the IEMs with switch both up and down, my core impressions with be with boost engaged, as that’s where maximum engagement and fun lays for my particular preferences. All models also come with a nice metal carry case, and a silver premium cable in a choice of connection as well.
It should also be noted that Soundz core market is custom IEMs, so all universal models are also available as customs for a few hundred euro more, in a variety of shell designs. Their custom models also offer an ambient porting option, which acts as both pressure relief and allows the listener to hear noise from outside, which is essential for stage musicians – it apparently makes the IEMs sound more like open back headphones, but as they didn’t have any “custom demos” with them, I can’t confirm or deny that assertion. They also have some other pretty interesting technology involving flexible resin nozzles on the customs, which are supposed to dramatically enhance comfort and fit. Again, not something I’m able to comment on directly.
Flame – 8 BA with tuneable bass boost switch
Kicking off the demo tracks with Emile Sande, the sub bass on “Heaven”is substantial, with her vocal cutting through a little crisp and sharp. There is plenty of thump coming from the all-armature design, which sounds a lot more DD than BA in terms of physicality and slam. Soundz apparently use newest generation Sonion quad-BA stack (presumably vented) for lows, and it’s a beauty. The quad-BA does another fantastic job on “Disc Wars” – the soundscape is thick and thrumming, with plenty of dynamic swing as the timpani start pounding.
Sticking on Daft Punk, the “Get Lucky” mid bass punches pretty damn hard, with the flame definitely moving some serious air with very good low extension. It’s not stereotypically dry like a lot of BA designs, with lots of liquidity and roundness to the bass guitar notes of “Hello, It’s Me” by Sister Hazel. Despite the liquidity, it still retains a good texture, feeling thick, but still letting the listener hear the strings resonating. Going for another texture test, the “Bad Rain” bassline is dirty and aggressive, just as it should be. Guitars crunch with very good definition and bite. This is not a relaxed or laid back monitor, erring far more on the side of being very lively and engaging. It produces some BIG sounds for something that is barely the size of a normal single DD shell.
Firing up “Palladio” by Escala, this is one of my usual test tracks to check both weight in the low and mi ranges, and also masking in the bass / mids transition. There is a click in the lower eft half of the soundscape around the 20 second mark (some room noise from one of the orchestral players), which can get lost quite easily on gear that blurs the bass to mids transition, or beefs up the low end too much. On the Flame, there is fantastically clear detailing on the click, surrounded by lots of texture from the cello and strings. Sage positioning is fairly close on these, with the listener being placed close to the instrumentation, which spreads out around the head rather than sitting the listening position further back. This has the added benefit of giving the Flame a notably large note size, which is always a good indicator in my book that I will enjoy the sound.
In terms of timbre, piano tone on these IEMs is rich but fairly realistic – it leans more towards warm and euphoric than cold and accurate. Other technicalities are also at a pretty high level for the price tag, with “We Shall not be Moved” by Mavis Staples showing fantastic detailing in the chorus and just general instrumentation. The baritone vocal in the chorus is clear as a bell but quite low in the mix, as it should be. It’s overall very good with choral vocals full stop, leveraging the technical benefits of armatures without needing to resort to analysis.
Listening to more guitar based fare, “World On Fire” by Slash comes through the nozzles as crunchy as you like, actually bordering on harsh. i’m not usually a fan of brighter signatures, but this doesn’t actually bother me, so it’s just on the right side of the line to give zest without being unpleasant. As with most things, I suspect this could probably be toned down with tips, most likely foamies. Again, difficult to tell from a few short auditions, but I imagine this has the possibility to get fatiguing if you pair the IEMs with a naturally bright source, but for the energy and anima the tuning imparts, it’s definitely worth the “rush” for me. “Shadow Life” from Slash is similar – staccato and crunching, but with a razor sharp edge. Not unpleasant though.
The last Slash track in the random Slash rotation is “Starlight” – the dissonant harmonics that pepper the start of the track are off the scale pinpoint and crystalline but not hard to listen to at all. Hats off to Soundz here – they have pulled off a classical V-shaped tuning with plenty of bass and a bright treble, but it’s very well done. Similar results occur with Chris Stapleton and his sibilance masterpiece; the thickness of the vocal notes are good enough to fill out the air around the edges of each word in that problematic chorus and make them pleasant but audible, in a very gritty and emotive rendition.
Switching up top “Go” sounds suitable booming. The swirly synths swoop and glisten where they should, and listeners feet also tap when they should. “Omen” by The Prodigy again sounds very high energy, with the warbling synth in the top right of the stage wending in and out behind the wall of noise very clearly. They have obviously designed the upper frequencies to be robust enough to cut through the wall of bass being produced underneath, and it works pretty damn well here.
Overall, these are a V-shaped bass-prominent (with the switch on) masterpiece of engaging and fun tuning. The latest-gen armatures in use allow a lot more technical proficiency to underpin the fat bass and crunchy upper end, giving a sound that feels like it’s turned up to 11, but without losing that sense of detail and clarity that you get with a proper high end in ear. This was the IEM I came back to most in my day at Canjam, and the other IEM I managed to arrange to take home with me at the end of the day. As with the Twin Pulse mentioned above, a full review will be coming on this one in due course.
Wave –
7BA with bass boost switch
Despite spending a fair bit of time on the Flame, I thought I’d better try some of the other models as well, just in case I was missing something different in the Soundz lineup. The Wave is the next model down in their current line, and shares a very similar design, sporting one less BA in a practically identical shell. It also has the selectable bass tuning switch, with a similar level of boost.
So, where is the difference? In simple terms, the Wave is slightly more linear than the more V shaped Flame. This manifests mainly in a slightly more forward and flat midrange – listening to “Heaven” by Emile Sande again, the vocal is definitely a shade more forward in comparison, and consequently feels a little sharper in the ear. It has the same sense of power and weight as the Flame, but not quite the finesse. Paradoxically, by flattening the mid and not pushing the treble quite so far up, it draws an almost more more raw and edgy sound out in the mids by highlighting them a bit more. For my preference, the Flame is the better (in both tuning and technicality), but only by a very small margin in both.
Avant –
10BA with bass boost switch
Unsurprisingly, Avant is also similar to the 8BA Flame, but this time packing two more armature drivers as the top model in the line in a slightly thicker shell. In fact, it’s packing slightly more of everything – for me, it’s just the smallest shade clearer in the detailing and smoother in the highs (marginally). It’s basically more of the same excellence, but with an extra 400 euro tag on top for subtle hints of extra refinement.
Being honest, refinement isn’t why the Soundz range appeals to me – it’s all about that bombastic bass and raw, emotive upper end dragging you into the music and getting your feet tapping away unexpectedly. Make no mistake, this is a logical flagship for their range, but for me, the sweet spot is the Flame. Spot on (and impressive) technicalities for a c. $1k in-ear, and superlative engagement. Whatever Sonion are putting in the water for this new generation of balanced armature woofers is definitely working – the line between DD and BA has never been blurrier, even as the notes get clearer.
FiR Audio
One of my other key destinations for the day was the wide-ranging set of Elise Audio stalls. They are a relative newcomer to the UK audio dealer scene, but between them and Hifonix it seems they took up half the stalls in the show, so they seem to have their fingers in a LOT of pies in terms of brands right now.
The monitor I was most interested to check out was the FiR Audio Radon 6, which sits somewhere between their Xe6 and Kr5 models in terms of tuning, and alongside the Xe6 in terms of sharing the co-flagship slot.
Radon 6 – 1 DD 4 open BA 1 EST
FiR seem to have done some work on the sizing of their demo models, with the Radon 6 seeming a nice chunk smaller both in the hand and in the ear. It shares the DD / BA / EST setup from their other top end models, along with the all metal modular shell and the “Kinetic Bass” ported DD that plays directly into the outer ear, aiming to generate the same sort of bone conduction sound transfer you get at a live gig. It’s a slightly different take on things to the Sonion BC drivers, but generates a similar outcome, with a difficult to describe but easy to hear “physicality” to the sonic staging.
Kicking off with Emile Sande (noticing a theme here?), there is a nice solid sub bass ntro into “Heaven”. The staging on this track feels very three dimensional – snare drums feel slightly forward and just “right”, with a good sense of height. Sande’s vocals here are peppery but smooth, with a nicely analogue sheen cast over the harsher elements of her deliver by the Radon’s multi-driver blend. “Disc Wars” throws up a good but not great rendition, with the peripheral sounds popping up all over the soundscape. it’s fair to say the Radon 6 has the most pronounced spherical staging of all the models I’ve tested today.
Going to bass texture, “Hello, It’s Me” is fat and thick, with clarity in the reverb and very good layering / separation but also an effortless smoothness. This IEM won’t dazzle you with resolution, but it’s hi-fi enough to make sure you don’t miss anything either. There is more detail in the sound than you think there is on first listen, so it actually does itself down in the overall wow factor while still throwing some decent punches in the flagship space. It’s never going to be a resolution monster, but if you’re buying something where the key sales pitch is the tactile bass, that probably wont be an issue. Going back to texture, “Palladio” is very good and rich souding, but the small click in the foreground is fairly subdued and washed over by the bass underneath (yet still there if you listen out).
The guitars on “World On Fire” crunch along merrily, with lots of jagged edges to the fat guitar chops. “Shadow Life” sounds musical, with the slightly slower decay tuned in to the Radon (it’s NOT a quick IEM in terms of audible transient response) giving a nice organic tone to the stop/start main riff. “Millionaire” by Chris Stapleton highlights the euphonic beauty of the sound with certain instruments, with the chiming guitar that kicks the track off underneath Stapleton’s sandpaper roar sounding unfailingly sweet and ringing in the ear.
I didn’t get chance to listen to much more through the Rn6 due to the fact everyone wanted a turn, but overall, it sounds like a very good IEM, but not a mind-blowing Ley good one. I suspect it’s the sort of tuning that will grow on you as you realise there is nothing really missing, so if you have the money, it’s a very good all rounder. On the flip side, there are similarly good all rounders for a LOT less dollar (the Rn6 clocks in at a few pennies under 3,000 UK pounds, so it’s firmly in the megaTOTL price bucket). If you’re looking for something to wow, this probably won’t blow enough of your hair back to justify the price tag, but if you’re looking for a long term flagship companion, the dial may just swing back the other way.
Canpur
Another brand I’ve not come across before, Canzur arrived fully loaded at the show with no less than 8 models on display, ranging from single DD and single BA models at just over 100 euros all the way up to a 3399 flagship packing 6 BAs, 2 next-gen bone conduction motors and 2 EST drivers. As the flagship was a. Out of my price range and b. Being enjoyed by Head-Fi main man Jude Mansilla while I was sat at their booth, I settled for trying the CP54E first, consisting of 5 armatures and 4 EST drivers.
CP54E – 5BA 4EST
Out of the gate, the shell size was small but I struggled to get a perfect fit with the tips that were recommended – can’t see this being a huge problem for most users though, as I do have abnormally large ear canals. Sonically, the sound is the very popular audiophile style of neutral tuning with a small lift in the subs to give it just a bit of weight. These don’t come across as the most beefy or imposing of in ears in terms of sonics, but they don’t feel lightweight either. It will be a nicely judged tune for someone who leans more towards neutral / linear rather than a V or U shaped sound, but still wants a little bit of fun injected into proceedings.
As you would expect with 4 EST drivers, there is plenty of clarity, things like the cymbals in “Get Lucky” by Daft Punk coming through crisp and very cleanly. Oddly, the detailing in Palladio is less audible than I expected, but the texturing in the cello is all there and it’s still a very clear and insightful rendition of the neo-classical track. For an all-BA set, there is a nice punch of physicality in songs like “Beat It” by Fall Out Boy, the armature drivers moving a little bit of air to give the track some decent anima.
Guitar sounds are crispy, with less chug and more edge to notes for slightly thinner and leaner rendition than a lot of. This is an IEM that will work well with rock and metal.
Overall, a very tasteful sound – at 1699 euro it’s priced a little outside my comfort zone for the sort of tuning it offers, but it doesn’t sit in my usual preferences either. There is definitely some accomplished design going on here, so will look forward to hearing what else they come out with when I next get a chance.
CP622B –
6BA 2BC 2EST.
Now this is more like it. After a personal recommendation from the man Jude himself (after he’d finished listening), I managed to grab a quick session with these. The sound coming from their BC model is immediately bigger and a lot grander in both note size and staging. It’s a much more engaging and fun tuning that grabs you from the go, with the unique magic of bone conduction helping to create that physical sensation and engagement in the ears that almost takes you to a live gig situation.
Bass is thick and voluminous, with lots of sub emphasis. It’s a owerful sound that fils up the low end convincingly on tracks like Heaven and Disc Wars but doesn’t muddy up the overall signature. Overall tuning is sort of W shaped – they aren’t the thickest through the midrange, but there is a nice balance to the musicality that keeps things in check with the bass and offers some pretty good technical chops. On tracks like “Mother Maria” with lots of breathy vocal and layers of guitar, there is a sweetness to the sound and a nice clarity and roundness to the breathy vocals of Beth Hart, pushing the listener forward towards the music. again, another CA “in the music” style tuning. The guitar opening on “Millionaire” by Chris Stapleton sounds as good as anything I’ve heard today, which is no small feat.
Overall, too rich for my meagre budget but definitely can hold its own in the deep end of the current flagship market. Shells are much thicker but very comfortable in the ear. One interesting point that was notes is that these use the newest generation of Sonion bone conduction motors, which are targeted at the 2-3Khz range rather than being more full spectrum or bass-focused, so they are specifically poking at adding realism to vocals and mid range instrumentation with the newer version.It will be interesting to see manufacturers start blending the old and new BC motors alongside the other usual hybrid tech to get a more “full spectrum” conduction experience in future.