What impressed me a ton was Redscape Audio. The 3D head tracker and sound software were consistent no matter what angle you turned your head.
CanJam NYC 2019 Impressions Thread
- Thread starter AxelCloris
- Start date
I'll lend you my AndromedaSS...
Agree! I have the FA7 and the sound is fantastic. Given the price, US$300, it's a steal as an everyday type IEM for being out and about.
Last post of this evening, I promise 
This was my first CanJam and I had a great time with trying out incredible gear, meeting fellow audiophiles and discussing audio gear. I'll also add that being able to discuss the in and outs of gear with company reps is terrific. Yes, my wallet is a little lighter, but it’s worth it. I ended purchasing a Solaris and an Empire Ears Phantom, both of which will be hundreds to thousands of hours of enjoyable music listening.
CanJam NYC will be on my annual trip schedule, as well a side trip to Audio 46.
Thanks to @jude and company for organizing these events and to everyone I talked too.
This was my first CanJam and I had a great time with trying out incredible gear, meeting fellow audiophiles and discussing audio gear. I'll also add that being able to discuss the in and outs of gear with company reps is terrific. Yes, my wallet is a little lighter, but it’s worth it. I ended purchasing a Solaris and an Empire Ears Phantom, both of which will be hundreds to thousands of hours of enjoyable music listening.
CanJam NYC will be on my annual trip schedule, as well a side trip to Audio 46.
Thanks to @jude and company for organizing these events and to everyone I talked too.
Hear, hear!Last post of this evening, I promise
This was my first CanJam and I had a great time with trying out incredible gear, meeting fellow audiophiles and discussing audio gear. I'll also add that being able to discuss the in and outs of gear with company reps is terrific. Yes, my wallet is a little lighter, but it’s worth it. I ended purchasing a Solaris and an Empire Ears Phantom, both of which will be hundreds to thousands of hours of enjoyable music listening.
CanJam NYC will be on my annual trip schedule, as well a side trip to Audio 46.
Thanks to @jude and company for organizing these events and to everyone I talked too.
lambdastorm
500+ Head-Fier
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Just got back from the 2-day show. Awesome headphones, fantastic staff. I really had a blast.
Some highlights from the show:
1. Rupert Neve booth
I first heard the RNHP at CanJam 2016 as working prototypes. I was so impressed by how clean and effortless they sounded I ordered 3 of them when they first came out. One year later I bought another one for my office, and 4 months ago another one for my bedroom rig. There's more to the it than just sounding good. in fact, each RNHP I have sound different. To give you some context, RNHP underwent several revisions during its time of production.
Here's a picture of the internals of my first RNHP #0339 vs my 3rd one #1291. Notice how the 1st unit has gold caps (FW) and the 2nd one has black ones (KW):
Visiting Neve booth again this year proves useful. One of my biggest gripes about older units is the nickel-plated RCA jacks which looks and feels cheap. Guess what? This time we got a shiny golden RCA jack. I didn't take any pictures, but moving forward all RNHPs after serial #1800 will have gold-plated RCA jacks. Isn't that fantastic? And on top of that they're doing $399 show special. I'd get one if I don't have 4 RNHPs already.
2. FiiO booth
FiiO strikes again with their 4-driver IEM FA7. It's obvious that they're going for a warm, laid-back sound, or 'pop-tuning' if you will, and they passed the test with flying colors. During my 20 minutes with these, they sound warm and syrupy with good bass extension. There's a pleasant warmth to the sound that's quite addictive yet not overdone. I'll be grabbing a pair soon.
3. Caprice Audio
Luis at Caprice Audio was showing his passive filtering device. I dunno what to make of it since there's no other device quite like it: this thing DOESN'T reclock, rebalance, or do anything to alter the signal. All it does is passive filtering and it doesn't even need AC. Anyways, I did a brief A/B on his Z1R connected to a Questyle CMA600i, and the difference is clearly there: The blackground is darker, the transients sharper and the sound has a little more focus. Thanks to the closed-back Z1R I was able to turn the volume up a bit louder than my usual listening level and the difference, while not night-and-day obvious, isn't hard to tell. I wish the device has a USB port though, and was assured by Luis that a new version with USB is in development right now.
4. Cardas Audio
Angela at Cardas Audio has a lot to offer. Other than the fantastic A8 & EM5813 IEM they also have some XLR solderless connectors and the classic Cardas solder that everyone seems to like. Given that I've had the EM5813 before I thought the A8 would be an improved 5813, wrong. During my 20 minutes with these they sound fantastic out my my iPhone. Music really has body on these and the bass, while plenty, isn't overdone like the 5813. Good stuff. They are also running promos on their connectors and solder. You get 1/4 lb solder for $30! For someone like me who only DIYs occassionally that's pretty much a lifetime supply of solder.
5. Benchmark Audio
Benchmark was exhibiting their HPA-4 with some high-end cans. Utopia, Grado PS2000e, LCD-4, you name it. The Utopia was my favourite. Clean, fast and punchy, they're everything a high-end headphone can dream of. The PS2000e on the other hand didn't fare so well, the treble's a bit too hot on the Benchmark. I didn't get a chance to hear the LCD-4 though.
More updates to come tonight.
Some highlights from the show:
1. Rupert Neve booth
I first heard the RNHP at CanJam 2016 as working prototypes. I was so impressed by how clean and effortless they sounded I ordered 3 of them when they first came out. One year later I bought another one for my office, and 4 months ago another one for my bedroom rig. There's more to the it than just sounding good. in fact, each RNHP I have sound different. To give you some context, RNHP underwent several revisions during its time of production.
Here's a picture of the internals of my first RNHP #0339 vs my 3rd one #1291. Notice how the 1st unit has gold caps (FW) and the 2nd one has black ones (KW):
Visiting Neve booth again this year proves useful. One of my biggest gripes about older units is the nickel-plated RCA jacks which looks and feels cheap. Guess what? This time we got a shiny golden RCA jack. I didn't take any pictures, but moving forward all RNHPs after serial #1800 will have gold-plated RCA jacks. Isn't that fantastic? And on top of that they're doing $399 show special. I'd get one if I don't have 4 RNHPs already.
2. FiiO booth
FiiO strikes again with their 4-driver IEM FA7. It's obvious that they're going for a warm, laid-back sound, or 'pop-tuning' if you will, and they passed the test with flying colors. During my 20 minutes with these, they sound warm and syrupy with good bass extension. There's a pleasant warmth to the sound that's quite addictive yet not overdone. I'll be grabbing a pair soon.
3. Caprice Audio
Luis at Caprice Audio was showing his passive filtering device. I dunno what to make of it since there's no other device quite like it: this thing DOESN'T reclock, rebalance, or do anything to alter the signal. All it does is passive filtering and it doesn't even need AC. Anyways, I did a brief A/B on his Z1R connected to a Questyle CMA600i, and the difference is clearly there: The blackground is darker, the transients sharper and the sound has a little more focus. Thanks to the closed-back Z1R I was able to turn the volume up a bit louder than my usual listening level and the difference, while not night-and-day obvious, isn't hard to tell. I wish the device has a USB port though, and was assured by Luis that a new version with USB is in development right now.
4. Cardas Audio
Angela at Cardas Audio has a lot to offer. Other than the fantastic A8 & EM5813 IEM they also have some XLR solderless connectors and the classic Cardas solder that everyone seems to like. Given that I've had the EM5813 before I thought the A8 would be an improved 5813, wrong. During my 20 minutes with these they sound fantastic out my my iPhone. Music really has body on these and the bass, while plenty, isn't overdone like the 5813. Good stuff. They are also running promos on their connectors and solder. You get 1/4 lb solder for $30! For someone like me who only DIYs occassionally that's pretty much a lifetime supply of solder.
5. Benchmark Audio
Benchmark was exhibiting their HPA-4 with some high-end cans. Utopia, Grado PS2000e, LCD-4, you name it. The Utopia was my favourite. Clean, fast and punchy, they're everything a high-end headphone can dream of. The PS2000e on the other hand didn't fare so well, the treble's a bit too hot on the Benchmark. I didn't get a chance to hear the LCD-4 though.
More updates to come tonight.
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As always a very good time was had, great to connect with so many headphone buddies. Another "as always" pleasure was to share some time with Jude who was buzzing all around the show. Thanks so much to you and the crew for doing what you do so well. It was my third year in a row attending and I am never less than extremely happy that I could make it. Yesterday I was SC but I made sure I could make it back in time to catch the fun today. I did get in most all of my listening list. Dan of Mr. Speakers was rightfully very proud of his Voce electrostatic. It hits all the right parts and avoids any areas of issue, in other words I liked them very much. Comfort was outstanding. It was a first time for me to hear the Sony MDR- ZR1, very musical and well made headphone, I consider it to be a value. I also now several of my friend's are so happy with their Susvara, very open and balanced in my opinion. The latest version of the Abyss was noticeably better.
You need to look into Caprice Audio's two passage devices, impressive build quality and great concept.
More to come, time for some not so quiet listening to a very interesting prototype that came my way.........
You need to look into Caprice Audio's two passage devices, impressive build quality and great concept.
More to come, time for some not so quiet listening to a very interesting prototype that came my way.........
Last edited:
Second to this.
I bought RAI Penta and Lotoo PAW Gold Touch at CanJam!!
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That is awesome. Congrats on the win.
singingbee
100+ Head-Fier
can you give us your impressions of the rai penta?
Some brief, novice impressions in no particular order:
1. Schiit had my favorite DAC/AMP combination with the Mjolnir 2 / Gungnir. I think this will be my next rig. The Ragnarok 2 / Yggdrasil was also very impressive, but I think I preferred the tube sound of the Mjolnir. The Lyr 3 was a nice upgrade from the Jotunheim for the AFO. I was surprised to be pushing past 1 o'clock on high gain though.
2. Soekris. The dac1541 sounded very good with a similar holographic? smooth multibit sound. It was driving the HD800s well via the amp section. They informed me it puts about 500 mW into 300 ohms. For the price this seems like a really good all in one option with a very small footprint.
3. Mr. Speakers. The Voce was immediately impressive. The bass quantity/quality was stunning. The amount of air this headphone moves is impressive. Listening to Bjork "Hunter" from Homogenic was incredible. I could feel columns of sub-bass moving around my head. The mids were ethereal with a very wide soundstage. I hope to own this one day. The Ether 2 was very fast with solid bass response and very clean, well controlled bass consistent with the Mr. Speakers house sound. The mids were very clear with fast, non-sibilant treble. The sound stage was relatively narrow compared with similar offerings from HifiMan and Audeze. They are extremely light weight and disappear on the head. I can see how some may feel this headphone is a bit damped. I was able to test the MassDrop version of the Ether Cx. This was very impressive for the price and I'm definitely going to try to pick one up if the drop becomes active again.
4. Focal. The Utopia had a very impressively clean bass response. Great comfort. Excellent sound stage. The Stellia was a close second. I listened to the intro of "One" by Metallica, which happened to be loaded on the touchscreen kiosk. I've heard this song hundreds of times, but this was a very different experience. The mortar shells and machine gun fire in during the introduction had stunning impact and resolution. The mortar explosions sounded like they were occurring yards away. Then the helicopter. Wow. It was as though like I could feel the rotor blades moving air above my head. This was a very impressive closed back with impactful bass, large sound stage, and clean treble. The HD820 was a disappointment in comparison.
5. ZMF. I didn't get enough time to listen to everything for very long as this was a very popular exhibit. I'm in the market for a metal headphone and the Atticus had excellent mid-bass and clear mids and somewhat veiled treble. The Eikon seemed much more neutral. I didn't get that sub-bass slam that I've heard described, but I was listening out of my iFI iDSD micro BL testing some metal tracks. The Aeolus seems like a great option for metal with less mid-bass bleed into the mids. I think this may be my next metal headphone upgrade from the Emu Teak. Bass was very impactful, but less sub-bass vs. the Atticus. The mids and treble seemed less veiled with possibly lower distortion. The weight of the Aeolus seemed lower vs. the Atticus as well.
1. Schiit had my favorite DAC/AMP combination with the Mjolnir 2 / Gungnir. I think this will be my next rig. The Ragnarok 2 / Yggdrasil was also very impressive, but I think I preferred the tube sound of the Mjolnir. The Lyr 3 was a nice upgrade from the Jotunheim for the AFO. I was surprised to be pushing past 1 o'clock on high gain though.
2. Soekris. The dac1541 sounded very good with a similar holographic? smooth multibit sound. It was driving the HD800s well via the amp section. They informed me it puts about 500 mW into 300 ohms. For the price this seems like a really good all in one option with a very small footprint.
3. Mr. Speakers. The Voce was immediately impressive. The bass quantity/quality was stunning. The amount of air this headphone moves is impressive. Listening to Bjork "Hunter" from Homogenic was incredible. I could feel columns of sub-bass moving around my head. The mids were ethereal with a very wide soundstage. I hope to own this one day. The Ether 2 was very fast with solid bass response and very clean, well controlled bass consistent with the Mr. Speakers house sound. The mids were very clear with fast, non-sibilant treble. The sound stage was relatively narrow compared with similar offerings from HifiMan and Audeze. They are extremely light weight and disappear on the head. I can see how some may feel this headphone is a bit damped. I was able to test the MassDrop version of the Ether Cx. This was very impressive for the price and I'm definitely going to try to pick one up if the drop becomes active again.
4. Focal. The Utopia had a very impressively clean bass response. Great comfort. Excellent sound stage. The Stellia was a close second. I listened to the intro of "One" by Metallica, which happened to be loaded on the touchscreen kiosk. I've heard this song hundreds of times, but this was a very different experience. The mortar shells and machine gun fire in during the introduction had stunning impact and resolution. The mortar explosions sounded like they were occurring yards away. Then the helicopter. Wow. It was as though like I could feel the rotor blades moving air above my head. This was a very impressive closed back with impactful bass, large sound stage, and clean treble. The HD820 was a disappointment in comparison.
5. ZMF. I didn't get enough time to listen to everything for very long as this was a very popular exhibit. I'm in the market for a metal headphone and the Atticus had excellent mid-bass and clear mids and somewhat veiled treble. The Eikon seemed much more neutral. I didn't get that sub-bass slam that I've heard described, but I was listening out of my iFI iDSD micro BL testing some metal tracks. The Aeolus seems like a great option for metal with less mid-bass bleed into the mids. I think this may be my next metal headphone upgrade from the Emu Teak. Bass was very impactful, but less sub-bass vs. the Atticus. The mids and treble seemed less veiled with possibly lower distortion. The weight of the Aeolus seemed lower vs. the Atticus as well.
Almost as good as the Utopia... best closed-back I've ever heard.
I liked the Clear better...
At half the price or so I do feel the Clear is the better value.
The Stellia is a beauty to behold and sounded wonderful, very open. The Clear is another visual favorite.
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