Hi guys. Vian here
Another Canjam SG is in the books and boy, was it best one yet. With Ramadhan already behind us (last two Canjam SGs were smack dab in the middle of Ramadhan), I can finally get to do the full two days this year which I was so excited about, mainly because that means I can get to try more stuff, try stuff for longer since I don’t have to worry about time, and I can meet and interact with the community a lot more than I would the other two years I’ve been attending.
As per previous years, my main objective is to basically demo pretty much anything I can get my hands on since Indonesia just doesn’t have this kind of product diversity available to demo, let alone where I live in Batam. As with other years, most of the items I demoed were IEMs with some headphones I set aside to demo near the end of day 2. I’m not gonna bore you with impressions of every single one of them, so I’ll be picking several standout items in (almost) chronological order. I will probably make a full list of everything I demoed between the full two days including brief impressions notes on a separate post on this impressions thread and you guys can ask me off of that post if there’s anything you would like me to elaborate on and I will try my best to help you guys out.
1. CrinEar
For me,
Daybreak comes first,
Reference comes second,
Meta comes last, and I think a lot of the people who were demoing alongside me as well as some of my acquaintances I met during the event share the exact same sentiment;
Daybreak is the “best of both worlds” model that combines the bass performance of the Meta with the more forward vocal presence of the Reference. Coupled that with the projected price of under
US$200 without a limited production run like Meta, you just know the Daybreak will sell like hotcakes.
2. 7th Acoustics Rawon / Batagor Prototypes
Second stop was my guy Steven over at
7th Acoustics. He brought two different prototypes this year; the
Rawon, which is a
1DD+4BA hybrid tuned for lower frequency impact, and the
Batagor, a
4BA+2Planar Hybrid tuned for more upper frequency sparkle, in addition to the finalized version of the
Asteria that he brought last year.
Both sounded incredible in their own right, but I leaned towards the
Rawon more for the more impactful and satisfying DD Low end punch.
Batagor did have a better treble presentation but under the “wrong” circumstances, can come across just a little bit shrill, particularly in the female vocals, but it was a seldom occurrence during my demo time. The preference split amongst the attendees were fairly even from what I heard, with Rawon leading a 60:40 split vs Batagor. In terms of projected pricing, Steven said that the Batagor will be the more affordable model at around the
US$999 while the Rawon will be around
$1499 (CMIIW)
3. Ziigaat Odyssey / Kiwi Ears Astral
The
Odyssey is a
1DD+3BA config while the
Astral is a
1DD+6BA but they’re tuned, coincidentally IMO, eerily similar; a very fun warm-neutral tuning akin (to my ears) to the
Dunu x Gizaudio DaVinci. I say “eerily” because at one point, I had to do a double take and make sure I wasn’t listening to either one twice LOL. If I had to nitpick anything between the two, I would say that the Odyssey didn’t have as much detail retrieval compared to the Astral.
That being said, If I recall correctly, the
Astral is going to come at
US$200 when it comes out, which is US$30 or so less than the
Odyssey and when you consider the superior sound plus the better build quality and retail packaging (Ziigaat is infuriating in that regard), it definitely feels like the better deal. Overall, two of the first models I tried at the show that actually took me by surprise with just how much I liked them.
4. Mysticraft Prototypes
These are probably my highlight for Day 1 of the event. Mysticraft is Lee Quan Min’s new project (not entirely sure if this is a side gig or whatever it is) and their humble booth only had two different prototypes available; a
1DD+4BA+2Planar Tribrid Prototype with a projected pricing of around
US$999, and the insanely complex
Hexbrid which consists of
1DD+2BC+5BA+2Planar+2EST+1PZT in a 10 way crossover (yes, you read all that correctly) coming at a projected
$9000 asking price.
Starting with the
Tribrid, I’ll say this right off the jump like I did last year with the DaVinci, I’m buying this IEM whenever it comes out and when my savings supports it. Everything sounds so smooth and clean upon first listen. IMO there’s a whiff of Annihilator 2021 about its sound; plenty of bass energy and the micro planar treble presentation very reminiscent of how Lee tuned the Annihilator’s EST drivers, which is to say crisp and detailed without much harshness, and at $999, this IEM blows even Elysian’s own Apostle out of the water. Easiest recommendation for the $1000 price bracket right now.
Now for the main event, the
Hexbrid. One very apparent thing that stood out upon first listen was simply how coherent the sound coming from all these different driver types were; That in itself is mind blowing and we have yet to mention the superb tuning which was nothing but textbook Lee which to my ears sounded like the tribrid but with more of everything added to it. If I do have to nitpick, some tracks on the hexbrid will cause female vocals to be just ever so slightly dry, but that’s it; an incredible feat of audio engineering.
5. Moondrop Meteor
This was IIRC the last thing I really liked on day 1. The
Moondrop Meteor is a
US$549 1DD+2BA+4 Planar IEM which was available to demo at the SAM Audio booth. People, including myself, were visibly worried about the fit of the IEM considering how enormous the shell is, but the actual shell where the IEM sits on your ears is pretty much identical to that of the
Blessing 3, the
Dusk, and even the
Dark Saber, so fit was absolutely solid
The sound is why I put the Meteor in this highlight list. I was expecting a very limp bass which lends to a very lean and brittle sound signature, but it’s just not like that at all. The bass, though admittedly pretty mild and I would love to have it boosted, had sufficient impact and body, while the treble impressed me even more with the sheer effortlessness in its presentation. Overall, a pleasantly surprising listen similar to that to my experience with the
Dunu DK3001BD earlier this year which sounded pretty similar but with more treble grittiness compared to the Meteor.
6. Lime Ears Terra
Build is particularly exquisite with a gorgeous faceplate design and a sturdy cable. The sound was, to be frank, fairly surprising; I’ve always had this “irrational” fear of uber boutique brands employing frankly esoteric tuning philosophies in their IEMs, but the Terra went for a more “conventional” Bass boosted neutral signature people would now consider to the be “old meta” like you would find with the
Aful Performer 5, or even to some extent, the revered
Thieaudio Monarch MkII, which is to say that the
1DD+5BA hybrid Terra sounds straightforward, fun yet versatile, and lends itself well to any type of music. I would personally still vouch for the Mysticraft Tribrid on pure sound for the price range, but the Terra is an alternative I would wholeheartedly recommend.
7. Letshuoer Mystic 8
The
Mystic 8 sounds surprisingly meaty with a wonderful midrange presentation. Now that I mull over my experience, I actually felt the same way about these as I would with the
Softears Studio 4 when I listened to those for the first time. They are both all BA IEMs with a smooth, versatile sound signature with a well-bodied bass presence, a forward, well-detailed midrange, and a controlled treble profile. Overall, yet another pleasantly surprising listen beyond my preconceived expectations. The price is incredibly steep, though, at nearing US$1000, which I would assume might turn off some people and also put the Mystic 8 up against very tough competition around, including the Mysticraft Tribrid I mentioned earlier
8. Dunu SA6 EST
I am happy to report that with the
SA6 EST, Dunu went back to what worked best and made it even better; returning to the Original SA6 sound signature and improve it by implementing 2 EST drivers to complement the existing 6BA drivers. The end result is a delightfully fun neutral sound with a fantastic treble sparkle. Bass is moderate yet doesn’t come across thin at all, similar to my experience with the Letshuoer Mystic 8 earlier, and midrange is restrained (to my ears) but very well executed. At around US$640, it is going against tough competition like the
Thieaudio Oracle Mk3 or the
I/O Volare, but if you’re already hooked on the Original SA6 and are bummed that you can’t get one anymore, the SA6 EST is exactly that and then some.
9. Brise Audio Fugaku
There’s a lot to talk about when it comes to the sound of the Fugaku but if I have to use one word to describe it, it’s “effortless”. I’ve only ever experienced a MEMS equipped IEM with the
Soranik MEMS-3S and the first thing that stood out to me was just how smooth and effortless the sound is; the Fugaku is that but turned up to 11. Bass from the 2DDs runs very deep with tons of impact, the midrange is nothing short of spectacular, some of the best vocals I have ever heard from any IEM ever.
My one very minor nitpick, and it wasn’t something I noticed upon first listen until a friend of mine who has tried the Fugaku on multiple occasions pointed out, is the treble. Why? Because for how intense and exciting the treble response was from the Fugaku, it did feel very… rounded off around the edges, if that makes sense. The sparkle is very much there, but you did feel a very faint lack of incisiveness as well. But again, as I initially said, just a minor nitpick on an otherwise incredible listening experience.
10. Subtonic Storm
I started listening straight from my Fiio M11s, and as expected, the Storm sounded absolutely incredible, though I did feel like the overall presentation came across ever so slightly thin. I inquire about this to the person manning the booth whose name escapes me (I’m so sorry LOL You were so awesome and helpful too. I feel so bad right now), and he recommended doubling up by plugging my M11s to a Fiio Q7 Portable DAC/Amp for more power. Using the Q7 definitely helped beef up the presentation, but now the treble seems a little rough around the edges. So, I inquired again, and now we’re skipping a few steps to the top setup; swapping out the attached Nightjar Mira cable for the bigger Sovereign cable and plugging the Storm to a Benchmark AHB2 Speaker Amplifier; yes, a speaker amplifier to run a pair of IEMs. It was at this moment that all the hype I’ve been hearing and reading for the past nearly 2 years surrounding the Storm clicked in my head. I get it.
Rarely do I get emotional listening to music, but this is definitely one of those times. I listened to a few songs but one song I used that impacted me to the brink of actual tears was
The Star Knows from the Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight anime (pardon my weeb taste in demo songs LOL. It's on the Fugaku photo as well). This song has mostly orchestral instruments playing throughout its 6:15 run time and the climax near the end nearly drove me to tears. I’ve heard this song countless times on many different IEMs and headphones and I’ve never been so overwhelmed.
Once again, I get the hype and more. What an incredible IEM the Storm is.
and that pretty much wraps up my Canjam Singapore 2025 Highlights. I'll continue to tidy up my impressions not for every other thing I demoed throughout the weekend and will post it here as previously mentioned. In the meantime, Here's a collage of me with Crin, Timmy, Nico of Beyond the Music, and Steven of 7th Acoustics, as well as a Photo with Jude himself (which I will definitely use on all of my social media from now on LOL)
