CanJam NYC 2017 Impressions Thread!
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Feb 6, 2017 at 4:09 PM Post #121 of 323
Bests of the show IMO 
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IEM - 1964 U18 and Tia Fourte
System - Innuos Zenith -> Aqua La Scala MKII Optologic -> LTA mz2-s -> HD800s
Headphone/AMP Combo - Hifiman Shangri-La 
 
Feb 6, 2017 at 4:15 PM Post #122 of 323
I have to agree!
 
I went early sunday morning into early afternoon, so I got to hear almost everything.
 
Best iems were 1964 Tia Forte by far...also sounded very different from anything I've heard.
 
Was really nice meeting Hiroaki Sato...the designer of the Sony walkman. Even after having the 1A, i have to say I want a 1Z now after hearing it.
 
Schiit stacks sounded wonderful and hi-end, but didn't really wow me. Very transparent and natural sound.
 
Ken Ball was very nice and humble. Really enjoyed trying the vega, though I prefer the andromeda I currently have.
 
Jack Vang from empire ears was also super nice. Just really nice great guy. 
 
Best headphones of the show were focal utopias.....driven from the questyle stack with the insane snake of a kimber axios cable.
 
All in all a nice show and it was great to meet the vendors and try all the gear out. Definitely have a clear picture of my future purchases now.
 
Feb 6, 2017 at 4:55 PM Post #124 of 323
Feb 6, 2017 at 5:08 PM Post #125 of 323
Best IEMs I heard at the show were the Campfire Dorado, Empire Ears Zeus-XR and the Unique Melody ME.1. I need a proper amp for the ME.1 with my Aune M1S. The impedance is pretty high and the sensitivity is kind of low.
 
Feb 6, 2017 at 5:20 PM Post #127 of 323
My first CanJam, too, and had a blast. I brought along my trusty Chord Hugo/X5 2nd Gen rig to test the various headphones. In terms of cans there, I guess MrSpeakers Aeon is my new must have. Great sound, compact, VERY comfortable; in short, the compact-ish headphones been thinking about for travel. And at $699 (limited intro price) you can't go wrong. I think Dan's now creating/tuning headphones that rock. 
 
I listened to the Elear's for the first time and I was delighted that a) they were comfortable, and b) they sounded great. Now that I have the Ether Flows, I wouldn't rush to get them, but maybe someday.
 
By far the biggest surprise for me was the ENIGMAcoustics Dharma D1000. I'd read so many negative reviews, and yet they sounded really good! Can't recall what sources they were connected to.
 
Ended up buying a Questyle qp1r player at exhibitor's discount after the rep assured me the scroll wheel had been improved. The dastardly wheel is still pretty quirky, but the player and chip are so good that's okay. Also bought some plush lambskin replacement earpads from the Dekoni Audio guys for my Final Sonorous III and they worked like a charm.
 
Feb 6, 2017 at 5:52 PM Post #128 of 323
I actually think I saw a Stax Lxxx in a separate room off to the side that had some crazy attachment on the top. It was on someone's head while they were sitting in what must have been an elaborate surround sound speaker demo. I didn't bother to inquire given the circumstances.


That would have been the Smyth Research demo room a few of us raved about earlier in the thread. Mind blowing. I imagine they made many future sales in those two days of the show.
 
Feb 6, 2017 at 5:53 PM Post #129 of 323
  My first CanJam, too, and had a blast. I brought along my trusty Chord Hugo/X5 2nd Gen rig to test the various headphones. In terms of cans there, I guess MrSpeakers Aeon is my new must have. Great sound, compact, VERY comfortable; in short, the compact-ish headphones been thinking about for travel. And at $699 (limited intro price) you can't go wrong. I think Dan's now creating/tuning headphones that rock. 
 
I listened to the Elear's for the first time and I was delighted that a) they were comfortable, and b) they sounded great. Now that I have the Ether Flows, I wouldn't rush to get them, but maybe someday.
 
By far the biggest surprise for me was the ENIGMAcoustics Dharma D1000. I'd read so many negative reviews, and yet they sounded really good! Can't recall what sources they were connected to.
 
Ended up buying a Questyle qp1r player at exhibitor's discount after the rep assured me the scroll wheel had been improved. The dastardly wheel is still pretty quirky, but the player and chip are so good that's okay. Also bought some plush lambskin replacement earpads from the Dekoni Audio guys for my Final Sonorous III and they worked like a charm.


I tried the Questyle Audio QP1R and found the scroll wheel to be awful. Half the time when scrolling nothing happened. It made my FiiO scroll wheel look great.
 
Feb 6, 2017 at 5:57 PM Post #130 of 323
I tried the Questyle Audio QP1R and found the scroll wheel to be awful. Half the time when scrolling nothing happened. It made my FiiO scroll wheel look great.


Did they have the wheel sticker on it? It works very easily with the sticker. Without its horrible. However even with the sticker, it's not a fast wheel. But it fixes all other wheel related concerns.
 
Feb 6, 2017 at 6:00 PM Post #131 of 323
Did they have the wheel sticker on it? It works very easily with the sticker. Without its horrible. However even with the sticker, it's not a fast wheel. But it fixes all other wheel related concerns.


I don't know as it was the demo unit on the table.
 
If it had the sticker I can't imagine how bad it was before.
 
Feb 6, 2017 at 6:15 PM Post #132 of 323
They announced an updated QP1R at CES that has an improved scroll wheel that doesn't need the sticker.  I'm not sure what they had at NY, but the new one I tried at CES worked much better than the old ones.
 
Feb 6, 2017 at 6:19 PM Post #133 of 323
.....

As I don't have a kick ass media setup in NYC where most my headphones live to produce a transfer function for my room, I was assured they have my name and the unit I buy will come pre-loaded with the transfer function developed in that killer 11.1 Dolby Atmos demo room for my exact ears.

What a time to be alive.

Wow that's awesome. Didn't think of that possibility. Is this true for everyone that pre-registered for the demo ?
I didn't bother to ask about this, apparently I wasn't thinking straight after what I had just experienced :)
 
Feb 6, 2017 at 6:36 PM Post #134 of 323

The one I bought at CanJam didn't have/doesn't use a sticker like the old one; that said, the wheel's still not great. But definitely improved, I think. The thing is, though – and unlike the FiiO – you can bypass the wheel to navigate (with the left/right touch tone buttons). It's a great sounding player...yet by A/B comparison you realize what an overall cool and economical player the X5 2nd Gen is.
 
Feb 6, 2017 at 7:30 PM Post #135 of 323
Would love to hear some more thoughts on the Katana and Utopia!


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