I wasn’t planning to go to the CanJam, but I happened to be in Hell’s Kitchen this afternoon and felt that I would regret not swinging by. Going in, I was mostly interested in hearing the Abyss and the CA Andromeda, and perhaps the Chord DAVE. Here are some random impressions:
Abyss was kind of a disappointment. I ended up listening to it in 3 different systems: the (noisy) JPS table, the (quiet) Woo Audio room, and the also quiet Wells Audio room. I admit that I came in expecting thunderous bass and tremendous body, but that was not what I heard. What actually captured my attention was how sibilant Abyss was in every setup—more so at the JPS table with the Mytek Brooklyn DAC and the Eleven-something (?) headphone amplifier I’ve never heard about before, but the same sibilance was present with the big Woo amp and the Headroom Reference monoblocks. There also seemed to be a disconnect between the lows and the midrange, so despite the decent and not at all overwhelming bass, the body of the music was missing. I experimented with positioning and the seal: from the tight clamp in the Woo room to the looser feel in the Wells room, but the sound didn’t change much. In any case, this was very useful for me to learn as it allowed me to strike the Abyss from my list. I haven’t tried the Diana because there was a bit of a line for it, and I also figured that there’d be little point in doing so as JPS headphones are clearly not voiced for my preferences.
I also felt that Andromeda was another strike-it-off-the-list entry. The reviews often mention its sparkle and upper midrange sweetness, but I found it cold-sounding and uninvolving out of the ZX300 they hooked it up with for me. Maybe some tip- and source-rolling would make it sound the way others hear it, but I am now not tempted to try. I also tried the Vega while there, but somehow the Vega just wouldn’t stay in my ears with the Spiral Dots, so we had to switch to foams, and the foams made everything bassy, muddy, and muffled. Oh well.
This out of the way, let’s get to the stuff that was awesome.
The Viva Egoista STX + 007 mk2 was spectacular. The full-bodied sound reminded me of the best planars, but it was also electrostatic-detailed and fast with precise soundstaging. The entire spectrum felt seamless with nothing drawing undue attention to itself—drums sounded impactful, but not boomy, voices were lifelike with not a hint of hardness and just the right amount of sibilance, etc. Meet conditions, noisy floor, crappy source (we even had it plugged into an iPhone for a while), and it was still amazing. This setup almost makes me reconsider electrostats again, except the size, the aggressive styling, and the exposed tubes all make it impossible for me to actually have something like this in my life right now. I haven’t tried their dynamic amp, but the electrostat setup was beyond compare.
64audio U12 and U18 (both labeled “A” on the display, but obviously universals) were also great, if obviously not at the same level of visceral impact as the Viva setup. I had to really push them into my ears to get the proper seal and thus the lower frequencies, and this gave me a quick appreciation of the Apex technology—if I were to do this with the iSines, I would then have to do my best fish impression for a while to get the pressure equalized, but here it just happened on its own. Fit with the Spiral Dots was great. The sound was seamless and slightly sweet. The presentation was less forward than the Utopia, but definitely not laid-back either. The soundstage is a bit smaller than with the iSine, but more precise. I preferred both U12 and U18 to the Tia Forte, which I felt had some hardness in the midrange, which made the vocals sound a bit shouty. In any case, if I ever feel like spending $3k on an IEM, this might be my kind of ticket.
I stopped by the Audeze table, not really to listen to anything but just to be a fanboy for a minute. I tried the LCD-MX4 out of curiosity, and these really do have the LCD-4 sound with more comfort and for 3/4 of the cost. I felt they were just a little more forward out of the Deckard than the LCD-4, but that’s not a bad thing. Anyway, I think they’re pretty great.
Chord occupied several tables next to Audeze, so I did get to hear the DAVE with LCD-MX4. However, DACs and amps at this level are all about the finer points, and I cannot possibly judge these finer points at the meet. I could, however, tell that getting the DAVE would not be a life-changing experience, so I think I can happily forget about it now. The user interface on that thing is also typical Chord nonsense, except without the glowing balls.
Hifiman table was busy-busy-busy. The Shangri-La amp was broken, so everyone would plug the headphones into the Shangri-La Jr. amp (which itself was connected to DAVE) and drive them that way. The combination sounded like a decent electrostat setup and reminded me of the old Orpheus in its lightweight precision. Great soundstaging, detail, accurate bass, but something is missing in the midbass, just like with the Abyss. The Shangri-La Jr. headphones with the same amp were very similar, but had a bit of hardness/shoutiness in the mids. I would not pay $8k for this. Both Shangri-La amps were butt-ugly in person in the trying too hard to be cool way—lots of sharp lines and reflective surfaces that people manning the desk had to polish twice in the 15 minutes that I spent at that table. I gotta say that I also found the attitude at this table completely off-putting. People were polite, but in an English aristocrat talking to less fortunates kind of way—think Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Nothing to do with sound, obviously, but left me feeling eh.
What else…I got to meet Jeff Wells. He’s really tall. I fanboyed for a bit by mentioning that I loved my Headtrip with LCD-4, but found it hissy with the Utopia; his response was “good, good” (it’s been a long day, and for what it’s worth, I really did not expect him to give a hoot). He said that all Headtrips are going to look like the Reference—taller and with rounded corners—in a couple of weeks and gossiped that the only regular Headtrip in attendance today actually belonged to Netflix, who are going to feature it in some upcoming production. He also explained how his amps handle balanced inputs, and they really are convenience inputs only, with the negative leg attached to neutral through a resistor. I guess this limits my Yggy's potential since this makes it run effectively single-ended, but it also makes me more interested in seeing what the Analog 2 upgrade does.
The Wells room also had the Headtrip Reference monoblocks powering the Abyss in a setup that looked like it was competing for the title of the most impractical setup possible. I was not impressed by its sound despite people making the “mind? blown!” gestures in its vicinity, but I blame this squarely on the Abyss because I know Headtrip to be a great amp with the LCD-4.
Finally, I chatted with Focal and Stax guys about their upcoming products, and didn’t learn anything interesting except for a wink-wink nod-nod from the Stax guy. Apparently/allegedly, it’s wait-and-see on the 009 follow-up.
(And then I ran out of time.)
Take your own smug picture with the new HD 820... can you catch the convex shape of the glass? Any songs give you chills?
My number one desire was to hear and spend a lot of time with the Kann. What a disappointment. (Heard at the end, the guy that ran their attendance at shows resigned. So maybe that's why. Dunno. Still bummed/annoyed)
