[jamato8]

So I made a last minute decision to drive up from San Diego this morning. I had 2 goals. See if the DCA Expanse I bought earlier this week stacks up to other top headphone and how does it sound on other equipment. I currently run them out of the Naim HE and really enjoy that combo. Amazing resolution while still being fun and plenty of pace, rhythm and timing.

The first thing I tried out was the new Focal Utopia. I have the original with Danacable Reference that I’m probably going to sell since think I prefer the Expanse. I didn’t bring my Utopia but I got to hear the Utopia 2022 out of my same setup, Naim HE. It was only 10:30am and floor was still pretty quiet. So the new one had nice kick and sounded excellent, but I could tell it had less resolution than my Original. I’d say that’s due to the Danacable. So original plus Danacable for less money combined is better than new model. Be sure to remember that when I sell mine

Next I stopped by the roon setup because they had DCS Lina stack and no one there. I believe I tried a balanced LCD-5 out of it first. That was a pretty enjoyable listen. But then switched to my Expanse. Not only did it sound worse, I know my Naim He for a 1/10 of the price sounded better. I was shocked. The Expanse and the Lina amp do not mix well. Flat and no bass. Saves me $30k

I tried some other random stuff but eventually found the Abyss and Woo amp room. I tried their new WA23 Luna headphone amp that was sourced by the DCS Lina dac without the additional clock. This was the highlight for me. Simply the best. The Expanse has lots of bass, great impact and the mids and highs were perfectly blended in the mix. I like this much better than the Abyss 1266 out of their top if the line amp. The WA23 was also a much better match for the Expanse than the top of the line amp. The WA23 is $9k so out of my price range. I also got to hear the Meze Elite out of their portable tube amp. I get why people like this headphone. It’s got great bass and is a really fun listen. But the Expanse on my Naim HE is just as fun but also has much better resolution across the board. Think my Utopia/Danacable also beats it.

Next I went to the Dan Clark room. I got to test the Expanse against the Stealth on some nice tube amp. Forgot the make but wasn’t as great as the Woo but have no idea even in same price bracket. Anyway, the Expanse is a big win over the Stealth for me. It’s warmer, better bass, impact and more fun. The Stealth didn’t do anything for me.

That pretty much if for me. Had no interest in trying iem headphones and was getting hungry and didn’t want to spend $22 for a burger and fries. Found great food nearby and headed back home.

Did the Expanse have the speed and impact to you, that I read about? Not sure if I read it or heard it on a video but I have the Voce with the new earpads and it does a very fine job with both.

 

[561915]

Lol @ 64 Audio running 256kbps Apple Music all day into a $30k dCS stack. You’re welcome for fixing that btw.

 

[QuantumQ]

Just finished up day 1 and, wow, what a fabulous show! So well organized that it made it a breeze to enjoy. If anyone is on the fence about going day 2, just do it. Regardless of what you were hoping to get your ears on, there are plenty of units of all over the event, so wait times are very short. Certain times are noisier than others, so be patient and you’ll have no problem soaking up the flavors.

 

[kumar402]

Lol @ 64 Audio running 256kbps Apple Music all day into a $13k dCS stack. You’re welcome for fixing that btw.

Well they know that in noisy env it doesn't matter if you play Hi res or Mp3
All we need is music playing and shiny gear

 

[AnalogEuphoria]

Lol @ 64 Audio running 256kbps Apple Music all day into a $13k dCS stack. You’re welcome for fixing that btw.

256kbps AAC is arguably transparent and with all the noise from the show floor I really don't think it matters.

 

[xirxes]

Big his of the day: ZMF Planars are very nice, very nice indeed, everything fairly balanced to my ear and not an obvious dead leg on anything that stood out… pretty awesome for a first planar.

Mobile Enleum amp: prototype at show and packs a wallop! Very “23R” sound with the same circuit I’m told, but less power reserves, cutting out the full sized loudspeaker circuit at hand the price! Big win and great match to DCA flagships- powered them on high gain at 60-80% max.

Ampsandsound: killer tubes, I think I Prefer Red October to Nautilus.

Zahl amplifier: might be the upgrade to Enleum 23R, looking to get some more ear time on this baby very soon.

 

[561915]

Well they know that in noisy env it doesn't matter if you play Hi res or Mp3
All we need is music playing and shiny gear

256kbps AAC is arguably transparent and with all the noise from the show floor I really don't think it matters.

Arguably isn’t objective. Use your ears. Still kinda silly if you ask me. It’s like demoing an 8k TV with a 1080p video. Just because you’re standing 40 feet away doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t be trying to max out the experience for people. Especially when they’re trying to market their multi-thousand dollar IEMs. Plus IEMs tend to isolate better anyways.

 

[jwbrent]

Lol @ 64 Audio running 256kbps Apple Music all day into a $13k dCS stack. You’re welcome for fixing that btw.

Apple Music is lossless.

 

[audionewbi]

Hi, anyone able to sneak in a picture of RS8, thanks in advance.

 

[iamoneagain]

Did the Expanse have the speed and impact to you, that I read about? Not sure if I read it or heard it on a video but I have the Voce with the new earpads and it does a very fine job with both.

It was really amp dependent. As mentioned, people might think it was terrible out of the DCS Lina amp but one of the best out of the Woo WA23 Luna amp. My Naim HE isn’t quite as nice as the Woo but it’s got plenty of bass, impact, and speed. I did get to try the Voce out of Blue Hawaii but no way to compare the Expanse on that system. Plus didn’t get to choose the music. It was amazing clear and detailed but music wasn’t to my taste and didn’t put too much thought in how it sounds since have no interest getting whole new setup.

So I can see the Expanse getting a few mixed reviews just because more efficient headphones on the same setup might beat the Expanse, when in fact the Expanse is actually the better headphone when properly powered. It then has just as much bass and impact but think it beat most as far as resolution and balance. Nothing gets lost in the mix. I’m just happy my relatively cheap Naim HE not only competes favorably but beats a lot of the more costly setups.

The sad thing is no one at the show is going to get to hear the Expanse and Woo WA23 Luna together unless they already own the Expanse. The Woo amps were mostly hooked to different Abyss and a Meze Elite.

 

[561915]

Apple Music is lossless.

I know, but they didn’t have lossless enabled in the settings. That’s what I was trying to say. I enabled it on both of their iPads for them near the end of the day.

 

[xmr0613]

I know, but they didn’t have lossless enabled in the settings. That’s what I was trying to say. I enabled it on both of their iPads for them near the end of the day.

IIRC, last year when I was there the WiFi situation was not very good and many booths had trouble loading music, especially when they tried to use lossless. Personally I definitively can't hear any difference at all from 256kbps vs lossless on my Yggy2/Carbon/009 or Ygg2/GSX MK2/Utopia chain through a blind test, and the same thing for at least 5 people who were interested to try it. Not saying it can't make a difference to you, but I won't say it's comparable to playing 1080p on a 8k screen. But if switching to lossless didn't cause any internet loading issues, then sure why not

 

[iamoneagain]

I know, but they didn’t have lossless enabled in the settings. That’s what I was trying to say. I enabled it on both of their iPads for them near the end of the day.

That’s kind of sad. The other big issue at the event was the network connection. I went back to Focal booth to give the Stellia a listen but music kept pausing. The other thing is people don’t understand a line. I was waiting in the ZMF room and people just walked in and took the next available spot. Why would I be standing in the middle of the room if I wasn’t waiting to listen. I gave up and just left.

 

[jwbrent]

Any impressions on the Meze 109 Pro? I’ll be at the show tomorrow to give it a listen, but I was wondering if the hype was worthwhile.

Looking forward to hearing the latest iteration of the Utopia. I owned the original for a couple years but ended up selling it.

 

[Drak3]

Highlights Day 1