[PointyFox]

I was kinda liking Neptune but its nowhere touching the Fiio new iem for the price. I got this same instant convincing thought trying Meze 99 classic again , and this still gave me the same impression after 2 years.

I didn't visit the FiiO booth. What new IEM do they have? The Meze 99 Classic is great for its price. Very little closed-back sound, and the closed-back sound that IS there somehow sounds pretty good. Might be the wood? I got the Neptune since it was the best cheapest IEM there so I can leave it on my desk at work and not worry too much about someone taking it.

 

[zzz]

Focal Utopia

utopia's very much open.

 

[PointyFox]

utopia's very much open.

Thanks. Fixed.

 

[gearofwar]

I didn't visit the FiiO booth. What new IEM do they have? The Meze 99 Classic is great for its price. Very little closed-back sound, and the closed-back sound that IS there somehow sounds pretty good. Might be the wood? I got the Neptune since it was the best cheapest IEM there so I can leave it on my desk at work and not worry too much about someone taking it.

FA7 is the one

 

[toaster]

I kept swapping between the Solaris and the A18t, and the woolen BA bass of the A18t was a total embarrassment after the Solaris.

Can you describe the bass difference in a bit more detail? And what do you mean by "woolen" bass?

Really want to hear the Solaris, but the size and no custom option is kind of a deal breaker for me...

 

[Zhanming057]

Some quick thoughts about the stuff I tried today. Happy to answer any questions as well:


- Woo WA11 Woo's first serious solid state amp made me a bit skeptical at first. It's actually very good - and this is coming from a self-avowed Mass Kobo fan. The Mass Kobo 404 and 424 are more powerful amps, but the WA11 is versatile, composed and definitely powerful enough for the Diana Phi. The USB-C decision is user-friendly and forward-thinking. It feels like what a high end portable amp in 2019 should be. Woo has a winner here. I need more time tomorrow to check out the amp part independent of the DAC, though.

- Meze Empyrean Soundstage is a bit small and feels "closed-in" a.l.a Utopia's, but vocal range is very good, good mid-bass and incredibly easy to drive. I felt no harshness on those straight out from the SP1000's balanced jack. I didn't quite like it on the Dave, a bit sibilant without the treble energy to back it up. The HA300 pairing was very strong on vocals, but I can't help but feel that at the $3,000 mark there are better headphones to put on a 300b amp. It's best use cases seems to be on a strong portable amp (Xi Audio Broadway, WA8/11 comes to mind) as a semi-portable system or for people who care about mobility.

- JPS Abyss 1266 Phi TC(?) Sounds quite like the Abyss 1266 Phi, more strong technically. Seems to have better bass energy and cleaner midrange-lower-mids imaging. I didn't get to try it without the Superconductor cable so I'm not sure how much of the improvement is the cable and how much is the headphones, but I don't feel like I need to upgrade from the Phi's.

- JPS Diana Phi Much closer to the 1266 phi than the Diana is to the 1266. Not entirely usable straight from the SP1000's single end jack, but pairs excellently with the WA11 and was surprisingly competitive with the 1266 phi on the Formula S. A bit expensive for what they are at MSRP but I still bought a pair right there at the booth - enough said.

- Focal Stellia Pretty close to the Utopia's, a bit more bass, less soundstage, a bit less resolution, more focus and thickness to lower midrange, butt ugly (IMO), about what you'd expect a closed back Utopia to sound like. Borderline good straight out the SP1000, excellent on the WA8, much more drivable than the Utopia's. No buy from me at $3,000 but would be a nice choice at a lower price point.

- DMP Z1 - very much meh. It sounds nice but is simply not on the same technical level as a Hugo2/Broadway stack. The latter plugs into an iPhone and is about half as expensive and is even more portable. I will say they make the Z1R's sound pretty good. I briefly tried this in HK and wasn't that impressed. I'm still not.

- Noble Khan. This was the biggest surprise for me. Past run-ins with piezoelectrics for me were wildly inconsistent in their treble performance. The Khan is a very competitive IEM with the Tia Fourte at $2,300 MSRP. It's got good clarity, good bass extension, the treble is a bit metallic, with a general tone that I can best describe as "shiny", but not in an unpleasant way. Treble extension is also good. Perceived soundstage is however nowhere as large as the Fourte, and I think some people might not like the treble. For show floor pricing I came close to buying one, but I have too many CIEM's as-is.

- Woo WA33 I tried Woo's showroom system and was reasonably pleased with the WA33's performance with the Utopia and the Mysphere 3.2. But then I listened to another WA33 system from @llamaluv and it was vastly better than the showroom rig. I'm not sure if it's the tubes, the power, the DAC or some combination of the three. They didn't even sound like the same amp. The bottom line is that the WA33 is an absolute killer for strong planars, and if you were impressed with Woo's room setup, do know that they have the capacity to go above and beyond.

Items on the list for tomorrow:
- Campfire Solaris
- JPS superconductor cables for Diana Phi.
- Benchmark HPA4
- WA11 without the DAC part
- Mysphere 3.1 with the WA8
- Ether 2

 

[zmhaha]

It's strange. I find empyrean has very good soundstage, and leaps and bounds larger than utopia...

I would not bother with mysphere...its got the worst fit in all headphones. It's very hard to get the angle right, even harder to keep it there because of the mounting mech and heavy headband.

 

[zach915m]

Which ZMF headphone were used in FIIO booth, if anyone visited.
I really liked the synergy between M9 and that headset.

We had an auteur at the fiio booth!

 

[gLer]

We had an auteur at the fiio booth!

Haven’t even contemplated plugging my Auteur into the M9! Will get a balanced adapter and give it a go...

 

[PhilW]

Another big disappointment was the OBravo Ra ($10,000) Nice, but...

They do a cheaper Ra

 

[Mr. Pete]

My son and I had a "great" time Saturday. Enjoyed chatting with the Schiit team...and looked at the new Focal headphone amp. My son tried some IEM's...good knows what brand. I found the whole thing a very nice experience. This was our first headphone show. It was a very nice time and all the people were very nice.
Mr. Pete-------->
aging hippie

 

[kumar402]

We had an auteur at the fiio booth!

The kind of fan following ZMF headphones have and number of models it has, I wish you had a bigger table. It was very difficult to audition ZMF headphones in limited space as seats were always occupied.

 

[Bassslayer0488]

I was at the show yesterday and stopped at the campfire booth, big fan of there stuff. I saw that headphone that was mentioned earlier. Couldn’t really get much info, can someone gather a little more info on it?

It’s interesting and want to know more but unfortunately wife only gave me yesterday!

Thanks guys! Long time lurker, first time poster!!

 

[tunes]

Compared STAX on Blue Hawaii amp to both Hifiman HEKse and Susvara on the new HeadAmp GSX-mini. I found the sub base on the SR009 to be boomy and not controlled distracting from the crystal clear upper range of the STAX. This V configuration just wasn’t for me even though the treble is the best I ever heard. The Susvara came very close in treble detail and extension without sibilence but much more integrated across all frequencies and the bass is almost palpable when really in the recording. Bass is better controlled and less boomy. The Susvara is smooth as butter with great mids but doesn’t have the same 3D space around vocals and instruments as the HEKse which is similar to the Susvara but a bit less laid back and dynamic with a huge sound space only bested by the SENN HD800S that I wanted to pick up with the 10% off list price but forgot. The HD 800S is a fun headphone but not an all rounder TOTL can.

In the end, I am waiting for my HMS/DAVE combo to try with the HEKse. This may just be enough for me. I like the dynamics of the HEKse, bass response and larger sound space but the treble extension on the Susvara makes the STAX less appealing now. So if I need an amp with the Susvara, the overall package is less expensive than the STAX combo (depending on a wider range of amp selections). I also think replacing the stock cables could add more performance to both.

I didn’t like the Abyss PHI since I am not a bass aficionado and like the seamless flow of all frequencies better integrated with the Hifiman offering. I also didn’t think the sound space was bigger than the HEKse as others have implicated. Neither form factor for either PHI or Diana appealed to me and the Hifimans were more comfortable.

The Focal Utopias are still impressive for clear detail retrieval and up close vocals but very close in and fatiguing for long listening sessions, unlike HIFIMAN.

I really tried to enjoy the new Empyrean cans and respect the engineering but they seemed slightly veiled compared to the HEKse and more closed in. The plastic headband seemed a bit flimsy but they were comfortable and the detachable pads are a very nice option.

I compared some of the IEM cables at Effect Audio and bought a Lionheart as I couldn’t justify spending more on a cable. This one was more balance with less sibilence and excellent detail retrieval compared to the Whiplash silver coated copper stock cable that came with my EE Zeus XR Adel. Jack told me they are no longer offering the Adel option. That is disappointing since I have yet to hear an IEM that had as wide open a sound stage as the XR Adel at the expense of loss of isolation. I bought the solid plugs for noisy places when needed. I wanted to compare the Zeus with the Da Vinci X but didn’t see them there.

 

[GarageBoy]