Good Evening All,
My first post here, was inspired after my first visit to CanJam. I've done a few HiFi audio shows but wasn't aware of CanJam's existence until this year; glad I found out about it! Was a wonderful event and glad I spent the better part of Sunday there; my only regret was not going Saturday too! Minimal issues with the lines (helped being there at 10am), tons of gear to demo, nice discounts and everybody was friendly and helpful.
While a newbie to the head-fi game, I have a fairly extensive hifi stereo setup with some years under my belt in both the home audio and pro audio spaces (musician as well as production/engineering). My current head-fi setup is very modest in comparison, with a computer feeding a JDS Labs EL II DAC and a Pro-Ject Debut Espirit Carbon (w/ Ortofon 2M Blue Cartridge), all to a JDS Labs EL II Amp and the Massdrop x Sennheiser HD6xx. Looking to upgrade my can game, I set out for CanJam.
I had a few targets in mind after perusing the vendor list; knowing I'd want a good 10-20 minutes which each of my main targets, I had to keep my booths visited to around 10 or so. Here's my review of each:
1) Audeze: I was most excited to demo some Audeze phones, so I started here immediately. Qobuz streaming via Ipad to a Chord Hugo 2 was the station. I demoed the following:
LCD-X - This was the pair I wanted to demo most of the entire event, having almost bought a pair without hearing them a few weeks ago. Glad I got to hear them, because I wasn't too impressed. I spent a lot of time with these and played a few different genres at various volumes, A/B-ing between the LCD-3; bass was OK but not too noteworthy, soundstage seemed fairly shallow, overall they seemed a bit closed and middling.
LCD-3 - This was more of what I was expecting to hear out of the LCD-X. Most immediate improvement was in soundstage and clarity/detail in the upper frequency range. These sounded more open, more expressive.
LCD-4z - Outside of the price range I would be looking to spend on cans, didn't spend too much time with them but I didn't notice too much of a sonic difference compared to LCD-3. Visually, I did admire the gold hue to them.
2) Etymotics: Spent quite a bit of time here; having involvement with pro audio, I've heard good things about Etymotics having really flat frequency response, clarity and isolation for IEMs. While IEMs are not on the top of my needs list, I figured this would be a spot to start. Glad I did, because I was impressed. I demoed the ER4SR, ER4XR, ER3SR and ER4XR all through Qobuz into a Chord Mojo. I expected to lean towards the ER4XR, but after multiple A/Bs, I actually preferred the ER4SR. When comparing to the ER3 line, I noticed barely any differences, really; ER3s were a little louder (without volume adjustment), while the ER4s seemed to have more detail in the highs (most noticed when listening to cymbal shimmer between the two IEMs). Ultimately, I was very impressed; incredible isolation with the deep insertion, very good clarity and detail, exceptional pacing and rhythm. Everything was tight; precision is the word to describe it all. One thing to note is that bass was definitely lacking (the XR had definitively more bass presence, which slightly muddied everything to me when compared to the SRs intense precision) and that these IEMs sound pretty mid-forward despite the flat response. I was happy to spend $250 on the spot and walk away with a pair of the ER4SRs.
3) Focal: Hard to miss the Focal display, with it being right in the entry way. They had quite a few stations set up with many different listening options, definitely a good display! The station I was at had an Ifi DAC/Amp, can't remember which model. I listened to the Clear and Stellia models. While I wasn't blown away, I enjoyed both models; neither seemed to do too much, but definitely not too little, either. Fairly neutral, detailed phones, I feel like I have an idea of the Focal "house sound" now. The Clears were not particularly noteworthy but the Stellias were very nice for Closed-Backs, providing ample clarity, detail, with a smooth listenability to them that would make them enjoyable for hours of casual listening.
4) Dekoni: I have a pair of their pads for my HD6xx, so I wanted to check out their booth. Primarily, though, was that they were demo-ing the Drop x Panda THX BT headphones, which I had heard much about and contemplated getting in on. My impressions of the Panda, unfortunately, were not particularly positive. They didn't feel like $400 phones; build quality seemed cheap. I won't knock the BT connection dropping out constantly because there was so much wireless activity at CanJam it's impossible to keep that up, but the SQ seemed pretty middling, nothing stood out about it. The joystick mechanism to control volume, change tracks, etc. seemed quite finicky, as well. Overall, this will be something I pass on.
5) HIFIMAN: Having heard the HE560 in the past and thought it was a solid pair for the price, I was excited to demo the Sundara and Arya. The station I was at was setup with a small portable headphone amp, I can't recall the brand but it wasn't a Fiio or other major player. Unfortunately, this amp just wasn't cutting it; on the Arya, it could not generate enough volume, even at max, to drive the cans to a level where I could drown out the noise from the individual listening next to me. It left my impression of the Arya negative; I brought it up to the gentleman from HIFIMAN who agreed that the amp was not remotely a good match for the Arya. The Sundara didn't fare much better, and with no other station available at the moment and time dwindling, I cut my losses. Fairly surprised that they had such a lacking amplifier there to demo such power-hungry planars, perhaps not the wisest choice.
6) Benchmark: I have nothing but respect for Benchmark, a company that appears to do everything the right way. I had some great interactions with their staff at Capital Audio Fest and NYAS in the past, as well. With that being said, their presentation at CAF this year was one of my least favorite of that show; I put more of the blame on the Martin Logans that were coupled with the Benchmark gear than Benchmark's, but it's alwaya tough to differentiate. This show, I was quite impressed; the DAC3 B through the HPA4 might just be the finest combo in the hobby if you are seeking an incredible defined, anayltical experience. had a chance to demo the following through the DAC3 B and HPA4:
Sennheiser HD650 - This combination was perhaps the most clinical display of precision that I heard the entire show. Details that I never heard before through go-to source materials were jumping out at me. If you are after a neutral, clinical, defined sound (towards the realms of scientific, almost), this was a homerun. Admittedly, it was a tad too much for me for casual listening.
Meze Empyrean - Now this combo had it all; power, clarity AND feel. The sound had a lot of texture; there was warmth that I didn't think I'd hear through Benchmark gear, but still a fine amount of detail and clarity. This was a thick sound, overall; maybe too thick for some, but it hit well with me. Alas, unfortunately, the Empyreans are a tad more expensive than I'm looking to spend at this time.
7) ZMF: To be honest, I have heard little about ZMF, being new to the game on hifi headphones. Their room setup was perfect, though; their own space, lots of staff on hand, and exceptional listening stations with a plethora of amps and DACs. This was THE SPOT to be at CanJam! I had phenomenal time in this room. The main station I demoed most from was a Schiit Yggdrasil DAC feeding a tube amplifier, the Bigger Ben, by brand ampsandsound. Damn, what a combination; exceptional musicality was to be heard through this (quite pricey) setup. I demoed pretty much all the phones ZMF had to offer, but I'll highlight my favorites:
Atticus (special edition wood and comphor) - A few hits of my go-to sources in and I knew this was a winner. An entirely different sound than I heard all day; this was WARM. A frequency response that seemed thick in the low-mid and mid range, very nice soundstaging from closed-back cans, and just exceptionally enjoyable musicality to it all. I can see these working exceptionally well with Rock and Metal music. Possibly my favorite experience of the day.
Aeolus (Sapele wood) - These phones sounded similar to the Atticus and LOOKED even better! Beautiful phones, truly. Nice comfort level, as well. Sound signature was similar to the Atticus but more open (no surprise since its not a closed-back), better soundstaging, at the expense of a little less warmth. I really loved what I was hearing from these; just the type of phones that you can never be fatigued from. It was hard not plunking down $1,000 and walking out with a pair!
Booths I missed that I really wanted to check out were SendyAudio and Stax, and to a lesser extent Matrix Audio and Dan Clark Audio. Hopefully next time. A wonderful experience, all-in‐all. Thank you to all who organized it!
