[Pansbjorne]

One note re: Abyss closed back: they seemed VERY power hungry. I had the amp up to FULL VOLUME and they were just barely loud enough.

Would explain the sound going portable. Gonna have to swing by again tomorrow. Hopefully when it's less crowded

 

[msing539]

Wife wanted this shirt. I said, "Name one ZMF headphone." She replied, "The ones with the twirls on them."

 

[chrisnyc75]

Would explain the sound going portable. Gonna have to swing by again tomorrow. Hopefully when it's less crowded

I commented "wow, these REALLY like power" and the Abyss guys laughed like "yeah, we know"

 

[Stefano Z.]

I want to give my take on this canjam since it's quite different from what I am reading.
Disclaimer: the noise was very loud, especially close to abyss stand... But in general it was not easy to evaluate stuff. So, stream of consciousness, all imo ofc:
GSX mini + meze 109 Wow, great value for sure, beats many expensive setups
Auris audio ha2-se 2 (or was it plus?) The best amp I heard the atrium closed from, especially for the cost (I mean, the Lina stuck is great, but hell expensive). Made those big bass tighter and punchier compared to other tubes amp I heard it from, especially at zmf stand.
Zmf atrium closed is what I would buy now to replace my Atticus. Super bass punch, and the opposite tuning of the VC. I like the VC more for a clean meaty sound, but the atrium for a super meze 109 effect, in closed form. I wish the bass was tighter to be honest. But again, for that there's the VC.
Caldera probably my favorite overall. A perfect middle ground, beefier than Diana, not too dyna pinch like atrium, not too 3k sunk as vo... Very layered etc etc. Love it.
The new auteur sounded larger also than what I remember being the old one. This large effect makes it a bit more enjoyable than the og to me, which I found a bit lean (by memory though).
Zmf really divides in pre post atrium damping now, and pre post 3k bbc deep. Atrium open really started a new era.
DCA... I enjoyed the stealth most of all. Balanced, full.. all dca reminded me of my old ether 2 somehow in tuning, but better. I just enjoyed the stealth more than the expanse... But all were good and easy to listen.
Heddphone was unexpectedly good, giant but not so heavy... But again, sounded full, from top to bottom, and very well balanced. Really surprised by how good it was.
The abyss 1266 was really difficult to evaluate due to the mess. Super clean, tight but full bass for sure.
Envy amps everywhere! No comment, it's what you think it is.
Wa33 was another discover. This beast really pops things out of any headphones. Sometime we go with the trends and forget what we have already.
Ferrum stacks, erco or oor with supply was legit, full and not bright at all. Between the obtainable amps, one of my fav with the GSX mini.
Spirit headphones... I just say I was not expecting those price tags related what I was earing.
D8000... I'll listen again tomorrow. It's in the very good list, but couldn't get a grip on it.
Focal... Damn I want to love you but never could. New utopia got the mg treatment and the upper end sounds too dull to me. More musical overall, but I preferred many of the previous. Stellia has been surpassed by many closed cans, and, maybe I'm crazy, but I preferred the celestee. Maybe I'm a bit fed up of the be timbre from past ownership experience. I mean, i liked the celestee.
Clear mg... Dull again.
People at canjam... Most are cool people I could happily chat with during the queues, but hey, I saw people tearing pads apart, dropping headphones on the table like they have no value... That hurts a lot.
I hope this was useful to someone!

 

[chrisnyc75]

Caldera probably my favorite overall. A perfect middle ground, beefier than Diana

This is the vs that I'm fascinated by. I've spent a decent amount of time with Caldera, only a brief listen to Abyss Diana TC. Abyss strikes me as considerably more resolving, but maybe a bit less euphonic. Caldera "beefier"? I'm not sure. Abyss has more treble detail. Does Caldera have more bass resolution? Not sure. But one thing is certain - ZMF is definitely a contender in the "Best Planar" category now.

 

[chesebert]

I want to give my take on this canjam since it's quite different from what I am reading.
Disclaimer: the noise was very loud, especially close to abyss stand... But in general it was not easy to evaluate stuff. So, stream of consciousness, all imo ofc:
GSX mini + meze 109 Wow, great value for sure, beats many expensive setups
Auris audio ha2-se 2 (or was it plus?) The best amp I heard the atrium closed from, especially for the cost (I mean, the Lina stuck is great, but hell expensive). Made those big bass tighter and punchier compared to other tubes amp I heard it from, especially at zmf stand.
Zmf atrium closed is what I would buy now to replace my Atticus. Super bass punch, and the opposite tuning of the VC. I like the VC more for a clean meaty sound, but the atrium for a super meze 109 effect, in closed form. I wish the bass was tighter to be honest. But again, for that there's the VC.
Caldera probably my favorite overall. A perfect middle ground, beefier than Diana, not too dyna pinch like atrium, not too 3k sunk as vo... Very layered etc etc. Love it.
The new auteur sounded larger also than what I remember being the old one. This large effect makes it a bit more enjoyable than the og to me, which I found a bit lean (by memory though).
Zmf really divides in pre post atrium damping now, and pre post 3k bbc deep. Atrium open really started a new era.
DCA... I enjoyed the stealth most of all. Balanced, full.. all dca reminded me of my old ether 2 somehow in tuning, but better. I just enjoyed the stealth more than the expanse... But all were good and easy to listen.
Heddphone was unexpectedly good, giant but not so heavy... But again, sounded full, from top to bottom, and very well balanced. Really surprised by how good it was.
The abyss 1266 was really difficult to evaluate due to the mess. Super clean, tight but full bass for sure.
Envy amps everywhere! No comment, it's what you think it is.
Wa33 was another discover. This beast really pops things out of any headphones. Sometime we go with the trends and forget what we have already.
Ferrum stacks, erco or oor with supply was legit, full and not bright at all. Between the obtainable amps, one of my fav with the GSX mini.
Spirit headphones... I just say I was not expecting those price tags related what I was earing.
D8000... I'll listen again tomorrow. It's in the very good list, but couldn't get a grip on it.
Focal... Damn I want to love you but never could. New utopia got the mg treatment and the upper end sounds too dull to me. More musical overall, but I preferred many of the previous. Stellia has been surpassed by many closed cans, and, maybe I'm crazy, but I preferred the celestee. Maybe I'm a bit fed up of the be timbre from past ownership experience. I mean, i liked the celestee.
Clear mg... Dull again.
People at canjam... Most are cool people I could happily chat with during the queues, but hey, I saw people tearing pads apart, dropping headphones on the table like they have no value... That hurts a lot.
I hope this was useful to someone!

Which Spirit did you try? I would recommend Bricasti M3/GSX2/Pulsar at Headamp (assuming they still have that setup).

 

[CL14715]

I have to say guys, I was pretty underwhelmed NY the Susvaras. I heard them at both the Hifiman station and in I believe the Headamp station (the one where there were three seats and all the TOTLs in one room) and I just was not liking them the way I expected to.

However, the Calderas are freaking amazing. Easily my 2nd favorite headphone I've used (only slightly behind the Elites). Really am amazingly balanced set of cans for a VERY competitive price.

Elite's are my favorite headphones by far.

 

[Stefano Z.]

This is the vs that I'm fascinated by. I've spent a decent amount of time with Caldera, only a brief listen to Abyss Diana TC. Abyss strikes me as considerably more resolving, but maybe a bit less euphonic. Caldera "beefier"? I'm not sure. Abyss has more treble detail. Does Caldera have more bass resolution? Not sure. But one thing is certain - ZMF is definitely a contender in the "Best Planar" category now.

I own Caldera so it's a not so different story: a hp I know vs one I'm listening just now. But I could AB directly with low noise (at one stand out of the main hall) and the fullness of caldera was evident, while Diana sounded a bit drier and devoted to speed and details.
Outsider this comparison, I find the caldera to be excellent not in the absolute details, but the the easiness of earing them compared to its timbre

Which Spirit did you try? I would recommend Bricasti M3/GSX2/Pulsar at Headamp (assuming they still have that setup).

Pulsar, Valkyria and Radiante at their stand.

 

[CL14715]

If anyone sees one of the Meze headphone couches try and pilfer it (not literally, I mean get it for a good deal). I will pay you.

 

[G8torbyte]

My first CanJam and I really enjoyed the experience. On arrival I bee-lined to ZMF's room to try some amps with my Atrium.

It was a popular destination and the background noise kept us from getting critical listening but I did have fun with the following:

This is their new prototype collaboration with JDS Labs. The XLR connection was not wired up but it sounded good on the other connection. I'll definitely keep an eye on it if they use various wood casings later in the development. The Atrium-Closed were a big attraction and I enjoyed the sound on the Bottlehead. Check out those caps!
I have a Decware on order from last year and still patiently waiting for the assembly since their back-order is a long list. The Caldera sounded nice (Atrium even better) on the Decware that ZMF brought so it made me glad that my patience will be worth it.

My first listen with an electro-stat, very interesting. Vioelectric/Lake People/Nimbus had a nice array of gear and as a bonus Fostex was teamed with them.
The Meze Elite with the Feliks Euforia EVO was a beautiful experience w/o having to pay about $8K. Also visited Woo Audio to try the WA-22 but they did not have one there. They did have an older WA2 paired with a Sennheiser 660 and it sounded fantastic. T+A (Theory and Application) had some nice gear. My wife joked that the acronym reminds her of the other "T 'n A" reference so I explained the definition since I'm now an audio nerd.

So much to see and try and not enough time. My focus was on amps and headphones. Even with that limited scope I think it would take 3 days to fully experience all the audio gear not including all the IEM vendors that were there. I could only visit for today and maybe hit 10% of all the exhibits. I'll be back next year and make more time.
Other highlights were arriving the evening before the event and seeing Lady Liberty and a nice sunset over Jersey from the Empire State Building with my wife. Sat in on the informative seminar with Fried Heim on balanced circuitry. Then toward the end of the day Zach @zach915m from ZMF came out to the break area outside of the exhibit hall and we had a nice chat. I told him how much I've enjoyed his work, especially the Atrium, and his superb customer service. He appreciated that and it topped off a great day.

 

[dougms3]

Spirit Torino makes some excellent sounding headphones.

Valkyria's strength is the top end and the way it makes music sound so realistic like you're listening to live music.

The centauri was quite impressive as well as the pulsar aluminum. I think I prefer the pulsar over the valkyria. Signature is warmer, more body and bassier than the valkyria. Sigfried amp is a really nice space saving design, an amazing amp but $12k, yikes.

Other things that I was really impressed with, Yamaha YH-5000SE, Final Audio D8000, Fir audio xenon6, Viva audio Tube amp, DCS lina stack, Earmen stack (huge sound from a compact setup).

 

[daijobudes]

This Canjam was a great improvement in comparison with last Year.
All the major brands and many more were present and the atmosphere was great and Fun!
Quick impressions:
Iems:
Elysian Annihilator - still one of the best when you have unlimited budget
Odyssey - Comeptitor to Anni with more bass and deeper bass (bass head Anni)
Viking Ragnar - good! But there’s space for improvement , not TOP
Best Bang for the BUCK - AüR Aure (406$USD)
Midrange was untouched by me - no comments here expect for Diva - diva is disappointment
RADON 6 XENON 6 - Ra6 darker XE6, same drivers all same differently tuned!
Xenon 6 is improved Z1R!
Cables:
I own 3 totl cables :
BRISE Yatono (my fav for BA)
Crystal Duet (black and white 8wire) - best for DD/Hybrid
EA Centurion- best for getting out all juices from the iems (any) and sources
Impressions about BRISE silver concept ultimate:
Very nice scaling, Brise signature, not bright, a bit aggressive, good for BA
DITA CELESTEE - a little disappointed- resolution is good, but Crystal is better and Brise is better
Soft! Good for smoothing out the aggressive iems - but at that price - skipping it (I planned on buying one)
Brise - will wait till final product!
All cables purchased through Musicteck will be serviced through it (bottle neck - too many orders, waiting time can be longer than through Brise JP)
And PS
Mest MK3 was worse than andromeda new
Ps andro - 3(out of 5)
Solaris - best from Andro, Trifecta, Solaris.
I’d say Solaris is successfully tuned, imo price still not justified.
I’ll be there tomorrow! Stay Tuned!
PPS
Final Audio had the most friendly team , giveaway of eartips(free) and free custom ear molds! (Got one ordered for IE900)

 

[Arcamera]

Any Kennerton headphones present?

 

[mtoc]

personally will vote for yamaha YH5000se, that's it, give it a try if you can, no silly one thousand words mumbo

 

[Heartsmart]

I think it is QA 390 from QLS HiFi.
I have QA 361.

Sorry! Referring to post #112.