[adorable]

CanJam 9/30/2023 F

Etymotic ER4SR. Wow, for $300~ and a super-light and tiny driver in a tiny tube, amazing performance. Not big and heavy like the other IEM.
Very nice across most music types that I listen to, with a touch of britleness and shreekiness at the high volumes needed on the main floor on some tracks.
An easy 90% pick where most music just comes out nice and lively. And the one vendor that used fresh, new ear tips with every customer and had a large range of foam and silicon tip sizes to fit your ears perfectly for testing.
The 2nd coolest aspect? Charging box for their Bluetooth adapter that's lit! Perfect for use at night!

 

[adorable]

CanJam 9/30/2023 G
Once you've gone to CanJam enough times, you know which vendors you've tried before and which products are new, so it's easy to skip and save time (eg. I've tested Hifiman and Sennheiser gear before). Bruel and Kjaer is one of those unique booths where they're not selling headphones, but make test dummies for testing headphones. Really cool how they can take a pair of headphones, put it on their dummies, and in seconds, get a frequency plot of the human head hearing response (versus headphone response). Fun day chatting if you're technical and wanting to know more about this niche.

 

[pankaj1431]

Fir prototype sounded beautiful, even without kinetic bass!

Others, more experienced than I, liked Oriolus Mochacino more than me. However, I did get to finally test the bird and totally get that one.

Wow… thanks for sharing your impressions and seems like Anni -23 will be added to your arsenal!!

 

[adorable]

CanJam 9/30/2023 H
One of the nice things about CanJam is you will come across brands you've never heard of before. That's FatFreq for me, and their Sakura has got to be this year's top IEM pick for me. Smooth, excellent across a broad range of music that I listen to, lively, never fatiguing, even better than the Etymotic (although they are designed for different uses - theirs for monitoring accuracy). Definitely a 95% earphone to consider first!

 

[Aetherhole]

Got back from So Cal Can Jam a while ago. So, so glad I was able to go. Said hello to a few youtubers and got selfies with them, DMS, and Zeos Pantera, Director’s Garage (didn’t get a selfie). Cool to see others out there, too.

I was in the first group that got to go up to room to listen to the Sennheiser HE-1 at 10:30. Phenomenal system. I took a handful of photos of the system, as well as it on another attendee, Jeffrey’s head (closeup of the headphones). The Sennheiser Rep used my camera to take just a couple of photos of me listening to the system. It was one of the few things that I heard today that really brought a big a smile to my face.

Loved the Warwick Acoustic sound booth. Got to try both the Aperio and the Bravura. I must say, they are MAGICAL. I actually preferred the Bravura, mostly for its vocal timbre. Both are substantial in bass and impact and FAST. I also listened to both of them more at the headphones.com booth, too. I‘m so close to pulling the trigger on the Bravura.

Didn’t try too many IEMs, four or five in total, but I really enjoyed the new 64audio Volür.

So many more things to mention, but wiped out, so I‘ll just leave you with a few of my photos.

 

[adorable]

CanJam 9/30/2023 I
As you move from the main floor to the side rooms, you'll see bigger amps, bigger headphones, and more seats occupied for a longer time due to the quieter listening environments. It's a good way to take a break from looking at each row of products in the main floor to give your ears a rest from that room's higher noise level. At the end of the day for me, was it worth the money? Yes, because I found a few new products that make me happy to listen to, and it was a nice weekend break despite light showers now and then outside.
Posted all these photos for those who couldn't make it or just forgot to take a photo of that booth that had that product they wanted to look up and buy later.
I do miss the raffles CanJam used to have, but hopefully that'll all return in the future as the economy picks up and more vendors return.

 

[MillionAntz]

Really appreciate everyone’s thoughts, impressions etc. I’m hoping to go to a CamJam in the near future but very helpful getting an idea of what it’s like and whatnot.

 

[NovaFlyer]

We kicked things off yesterday with a pre-show watercooler meetup. I brought my Tungsten (double magnet) for everyone to try. As always, it was a blast to see @HiFiHawaii808 famous reaction: “Thus is so gooood I gotta get one”

I’ll be walking around the show with the e Tingsten to test amps, feel free to grab me for a demo. Mimic Audio has them, and those guys are great so head over there to try these wonderful headphones!

Your Tungsten Double Magnet was truly outstanding. I think I heard @HiFiHawaii808 say he was going to buy 1 or even 3.

 

[goldwerger]

Quick highlights (detailed impressions will follow later):

Amps

1. Mass-Kobo - yea, it’s really fantastic. Very powerful, effortless, neutral tuning
2. Riviera AIC-10 - it’s been around but I find not many folks have listened to it. It’s at the cross-zone desk right to the left of Mass-Kobo, the Riviera distributor has the amp there to try - beautiful, sweet, smooth, a touch warm but very clear (hybrid amp: 2 x 12ax7 tube gain, with solid state output stage)

IEMs

1. 64 Audio Volur - I really liked it. Great timbre, good bass. Was fun from first note

Quick note to echo what @reeltime mentioned - tried to auditor the HEDD2, but it’s so open and was too noisy. The rep asked me what I thought, and I answered truthfully that it seems like it may be good, but I really couldn’t tell. Hope there may be a chance for quieter audition setting tomorrow

I’ve had more people today stop to introduce themselves to me from head-if threads than ever before, it was an utter blast to meet all of you. Love these in person connections. And reconnecting with so many others. Biggest highlight of my day above all

 

[goldwerger]

Your Tungsten Double Magnet was truly outstanding. I think I heard @HiFiHawaii808 say he was going to buy 1 or even 3.

We listened to them together AIC 10, as good as I’ve heard them. Glad we shared that special moment buddy! And, yea, we both know @HiFiHawaii808 .. he’s getting a pair or three

(will share very detailed notes on these headphones in a separate review, hopefully will complete this week; been taking extra care with it over weeks of listening to get it right; to be continued)

 

[Saberpunch]

HifiMan HE-6 new version
8.9 Quite good
Great soundstage and has a modest emphasis on the top (highs).

Hey, great impressions! Really curious about this one, but is Hifiman remaking the HE-6 and that is why you label it as "new version"?

 

[xianghao123]

Cfa 3 with AKG K1000
Omega and X9000

 

[Alenotta]

DAY 1

ZMF
Heard a lot of great headphones, amps, DACs and misc gear today. My target is generally a sweet midrange with some lushness to the low end. I'm a super fan of ZMF. Their new JDS amp and entry level headphone didn't disappoint for that euphonic midrange forward house sound. The portable Bokeh headphone brings it with the low end, but stays in line overall with the ZMF sound. It is certainly a sibling of the Atrium Closed. Beyond the portable drivability, the Bokeh would be an easy recommend for someone looking for an entry into ZMF that doesn't break the bank. The JDS collaboration amp is very fun with similarly ample bass extension. It was also my first time hearing the Aeolus which I really enjoyed for its musicality. Nothing in the room (or show) dethroned my beloved Caldera in my heart. Oh, and the Enleum in the ZMF room was a great authoritative amp with the Caldera - my first time getting to hear that.

NITSCH
I got a lot of time with the Nitsch DSHA-3FN in the ZMF room and also at a meetup with Christian the day before. This amp is spectacular. I really enjoyed the OG Ravenwood in the ZMF room last year and this is that amp resurrected into a smaller form factor. It was originally designed with Focals in mind, but ZMFs sound great on it. I liked it with both my AC and Caldera quite a bit. It has a very shimmery, airy thing going on in the uppermost treble that is mind tingling. I'll write a bit more about my sound impressions later on somewhere on headfi. I also got to hear Christian's upcoming collaboration with Jupiter Audio Research on a modded HD600 called the NITSCH JAR600. You wouldn't believe what that 600 sounds like with these mods. Incredible. There is one floating around CanJam I believe if you can find it tomorrow. The mini but mighty Magni Piety made an appearance in the ZMF room. If you all don't have this fun little amp already...you should get one. Nitsch is at the top of my list of cool brands to keep an eye on!

MODHOUSE
The Modhouse Tungsten double sided at Mimic was very nice. It was a bit warmer than I had anticipated. I think it's a nice relax-into-music headphone. Sort of that Empyrean style of top end roll off without losing detail. It is forgiving like listening to a vintage speaker system with big enveloping sound.

(Edit: I’m going to write more from DAY 2 but this impression of the Modhouse was heavily influenced by the Amps and Sound I first tried it on. On Day 2 it sounded nothing like an Empyrean to me - go figure.)

DMS
Another big speaker sound came from the DMS headphone. I thought it was a very exciting tuning (especially on the super expensive amp I demo-ed it on). Lots of low end. The treble energy was there, but it wasn't fatiguing. I want to try it on some different amps tomorrow.

GRELL x DROP
The new Grell headphone was doing some cool stuff. I thought it was a bit bright on the SMSL pairing, but I switched it over to their new OTL to check what dulling the high end would do. I preferred that headphone with the top tamed. It isn't as mid-centric as the 600 series. It'd be interesting to hear it on a nice SET amp. Very cool idea with driver angled frontally into your ear.

HEDD
The HEDDphone v2 was impressive. Detailed and dynamic. Moves a lot of air like V1. I think it captures the sound of live music pretty well. It wasn't tuned as much for midrange as I am typically drawn to, but it was no doubt a TOTL sound. Instruments sounded natural, but this headphone excelled with some tracks that had fat electronic synths. It digs deep and create some gratifying thickness.

The Warwick headphones sounded great at the headphones.com table. Gotta get in that booth tomorrow.

Questyle had some great portable amps to check out. Their new one had 1W of power and a desktop AKM chip.

CanJam has become more and more exciting over the past several years as both upstarts and mainstays swing for the fences with fun new ideas.

Taking note of all the things people are pointing out on this thread and adding them to my list. If I can pull myself out of the ZMF room that is. See you all tomorrow.

 

[alota]

Cfa 3 with AKG K1000
Omega and X9000

Omega and x9000 with transformer box?

 

[Rebel Chris]

Nice impressions everyone! Did someone had a chance to listen to the new Schiit Skoll phono pre?

Kind regards Chris