I had a small amount of time with Sony IEM-Z1R,
- They're big and knobby, I was surprised at how comfortable they felt in my ears. I would still be worried and longer wear potentially being fatiguing but I have no idea.
- Mirroring what everyone else said, people should add this one to the list to check out.
- I think I might want a little more bass out of them.
- $2300 list makes me hesitate though I would probably pick these over a 64Audio TOTL or the JH Layla but those were pretty nice of IEMs
- Want to demo again some day
I didn't have much time to visit RMAF this year, I was primarily checking out IEMs, haven't really had time to work out my thoughts on everything either
Campfire Atlas,
- Wow! these are nice, good bass without over powering or muddying things up
- Slightly weird fit, seemed like a deeper insert using a smaller tip than I'm used too
- Thought these sounded fantastic all around would probably be happy with them
- They are a little bit heavy
Campfire AndromedaS,
- I think I couldn't get a good seal despite foam tips
- I thought these were some of the worst sounding IEMs I've ever heard, so I think it must have been me, since everyone says good things about these
64Audio and JH Layla
- Nice TOTLs, still kind of sounded boxed in and IEMy
- Flashy shouty designs and big knobby enclosures which wasn't what I was going for
- Comfortable, more expanded sound stage, nice clarity good bass and over all pleasant but doesn't rival a good over ear HP IMO
Westone,
- Never heard anything from them before, surprised they don't get more love/attention here
- I think I preferred to W60 over the W80
- Compact, not to flashy, can lay down on a pillow with these in
- Seemed a little warm sounding, good deep bass and I like the overall sound signature
- Seems a little still boxed in IEMy, but there's some sound stage there, not as large as some of the others
- I liked it enough to pull the trigger, ticks all my boxes for a nice portable, fit and comfort were some of my top priorities this round
I wish I had stopped by and checked out Mackie's offering. Someone asked me if the Westone W60 is $900 better than the 1More Triple driver I have. No, really can't say it is. Then again I'm really enjoying them and I think it is a step up all around. I never had the most comfy fit from the 1More, and my ears hurt from them after an hour (or maybe hours if it's a good day and I'm using them for a phone call). I just wanted to note I think they're still impressive for the price as a budget option. If you want an IEM without spending a ton, that's what I would buy.
Raal Earspeaker,
- Really surprised by them, I hated the MySphere when I heard them last year, had really low expectations
- I like bass and the demo track I heard seemed to have plenty
- Seemed like amazing detail and realism to some of the sounds, above avg for headphone, felt like I was in the room with some of the sounds
Final Audio,
- Their really expensive HP, didn't like it for the asking price, Maybe if it was 1/3 the cost
- That Cayin 300B amp was pretty and that really brought that HP to life, for that money I would buy an Abyss (well I did already)
Meze Empyream,
- Very comfortable
- Listened through the manly amp
- Had a sense of silk through the whole thing, nicely balanced, good deep bass, clear, not over powering
- One of my favorite over ears I heard along with the Raal
Mr Speaker Ether2 [?],
- Super light, great feel, really comfy
- Pissed off at Qobuz streaming, didn't work for crap there
- loved the trebles and mids, felt really light footed and airy
- demo track I heard had plenty of bass but it was undefined, and bleh, not sure if that was the track, I didn't stick around long enough to check other tracks
ZMF (his new high end beryllium coated driver),
- These things look solidly build with a lot of attention to detail, would call it a work of art
- comfy fit
- I was luke warm on the sound, nothing really bad, seemed evenly balanced
- Overall nice
Fostex TH-909,
- Guy kept talking when I wanted to listen LOL
- I think I like these, but I didn't stay around long enough to seriously listen
- Fostex have good bass, sounded good too me, comfortable
That's about all I remember... It was fun but I only had a couple hours to spare for it. I wish I could have checked out the 2 channel rooms etc. iI did a quick run around of the canjam highlights I could get too and that was it... Maybe next year...
One more thing, I got the chance to play around with the new MacBook Pros at some of the booths, those are nice and quick. The keyboards don't seem as bad as some people said, no problems with palm rejection, arrow keys didn't mess me up. the touch bar is a little weird and gimmicky but I weasn't too put off from it. Really like the compact size, great screen, 13" is as light as the MBA, but has the retina IPS panel (vs TN in the MBA), now has a quadcore CPU, two extra USB-C ports. I do feel like it may be time to update since it's been 4 years.