Hey everyone, and multi time CanJam veterans in particular. I am still somewhat new to head-fi (I have only taken this hobby 'seriously' for 3 years) and this will be my first CanJam! I am bringing my 14yo son as well, he has fallen in love with my HD58X and this has sparked his audiophile curiosity. So pre-visit, I have some etiquette questions.
1. Is it frowned upon to bring your own headphones to test on source gear, amps etc? Will vendors let you do this?
2. Similar to question 1. If I bring my own DAP or portable DAC/AMP, will headphone vendors generally allow you to listen from it?
3. What things that I might overlook, should I definitely see or do?
I am that guy who wears $3k headphones at Starbucks, so I have no problem bringing my gear anywhere.
1. Bring it all.
But ask first. Sometimes they've got a complex setup they don't want to change and re-do. Sometimes it's very expensive gear and they want to do the setup for you - no touching until they're ready.
You may need to bring your own extension cable/power strip if allowed to plug in anything you need powered to test. Best to have your own battery powered devices.
2. Almost always, yes.
Again, show and ask first. They may want to setup for you.
3. Lots of $$$$
Like accidentally walking in front of a lcd-x $1000 hooked up to a Cavalli tube amp $5000 streaming through a $10000 dac.....
Do you bring Heaven home? Or live in Hell after the show without?
Come at the start and visit any vendors you'd like first! It'll get busy later, higher room noise, harder to get a good listen at times with the crowds.
E.g. Hard to compare open air headphones mid day with the crowds.
Go to the big rooms filled with many vendors first for the giveaways some have. They often run out later in the day. (Eg. One year was free SpinFit earbud tips - really nice brand of tips!)
Get a big breakfast and push through lunch. A break mid afternoon is better - avoid all the crowds.
If any big giveaways are done, usually end of the day - so time things so you can be present.
Cash + card.
Some take one or the other, and electronic card readers sometimes fail.
Have a playlist loaded and ready. 15-30 second clips useful of several song types (E.g. Jazz, r&b, etc - what you like). You can use this as a baseline to compare.
Obviously, if you come across the lcd-x + cavalli first, most everything else cheaper will....sound cheaper!
Useful to bring a favorite pair you own to compare.
If you're the type, take photos, post to the Event photos/comments thread that will likely be up by then so everyone who can't make it can see.
You might want to ziptie or stick an id tag on everything you bring in case you forget it at a vendor table.
Wipes. I use Zeiss eyeglass individually packed wipes from Wal-Mart. Quick drying alcohol, no residue or lint, can use it on headphones to cables to phones to laptops to monitors just fine.
3m n95 / n100 masks (home depot) if you're worried. Because the number of daily covid cases and deaths in CA have exceeded last year's 1st wave and still going up.
And before you get up and go from a vendor table testing - CHECK you've disconnected yourself!! Nothing like accidentally dragging $$$ equipment off the table because you forgot to unplug.
I've been lurking on this board for a while, can't wait to go to my first CanJam! I'm used to going to tech conventions, this will be my first Audio focused one.
Don't forget the NAMM Show summer 2022! Tons and tons and tons more audio gear there to play with. Follow Twitter tags a month or two before the show up get free passes from vendors.
Of course this is excellent advice for anyone attending. You can meet some really fun people at these events. I have a number of audio friends that I've made since my first CanJam back in 2014 and it's always great to add more to the list.
Definitely gonna give that a listen.
