CanJam SoCal 2024 was another great one. I put some more faces to online ear friends which is always fun.
Disclosures:
- I'm a ZMF guy who enjoys more soulful tunings over the pursuit of purity. My favorite headphone for the past couple years has been the Caldera Open.
- I really don't like putting stuff down or saying something is better. It's all subjective and kind of silly.
- I can't fit IEMs into my weird ear canals. I tried for a while again at the Noble booth. They were patient with me. I really liked the Sultan and Ronin when I held them exactly in the right spot. I skipped most IEM stuff, but one day I'll figure it out.
When I got in I went straight for the ZMF room where they always have a really well curated collection of amps and beautiful ZMF rarities. It's always a treat to chat with
@zach915m, Bevin, and the ZMF team. This year
@L0rdGwyn himself of Aegis design fame was hanging out with his fan club. I've been rocking the
ZMF Aegis since launch and it is a constantly evolving and rewarding journey into NOS tube chaos. It is definitely one of my favorite amps ever at this point. I'm listening to it while I write this with a smile on my face.
I quickly grabbed a seat at the
Cayin Soul 170HA to see how it stacked up to my HA-300mkii. It wasn't going for the big lushness of 300b. It was clean, dynamic and had very nice separation and staging. Impressive micro detail for tubes. On my listening sessions in the loud show environment I preferred the Ultralinear mode toggled to Dynamic. I listened with various ZMFs and my personal Calderas I had slung around my neck all weekend. It felt natural / neutral / got out of the way - one of the best amps I heard at the show.
Scooted down to the
Ray Samuels B-21 @reeltime has been gushing over in the garage. Yep, it's good. BIG sound with lots of detail on Calderas, but the top end was warmer than I had expected on that pairing. It was nice as someone who cringes when treble is dramatically emphasized for the sake of pulling out detail. I hate to repeat myself with this over and over, but it just felt natural. I think that is my highest praise. The power of this thing is FUN. Luckily the director stole it back to his garage.
Having already tested out and written about most of the ZMF library, I jumped over to the new
Bokeh Open. I absolutely loved this headphone. I wrote a rave review of the Boke Closed and my opinion of the Bokeh Open is perhaps even more positive. Most everything I thought about the Closed applies here. It is warm and cozy, but definitely not leaving you missing detail. It moves air in a tactile way that tethers you to the notes. The BO shares a lot of DNA with the Atrium Open, but the LCP driver has a unique flavor. Clearly this is going to be another big hit and super competitive with anything in this price bracket. I think ZMF collectors are going to jump on it. Again, one of my favorite listens at the show.
The
Susvara Unveiled - was fantastic. I actually think I much prefer the top end of this to the OG although I admittedly did not A/B. It retained the ethereal quality of the original, but the treble felt more realistic to me / less enhanced or intense. The MSRP is way too expensive for me, but I totally get it. It didn't melt my mind like the HE-1 did years back, but this is certainly at the top of the summit.
HE1000 Unveiled - was a really interesting one. It had more of what I’d consider the HIFIMAN sound to it than the Susvara. Very detailed treble tuning, but lots of beefy low end. More hifi v-shape. The upper mids seemed more forward on whatever combo I was hearing it on. Curious to see what else will be unveiled over time. The era of HIFIMAN timeline known as the GREAT UNVEILING. HE-400 unveiled. Then the inevitable re-veiling in the modesty series.
Empyrean 2 - As an OG Empy owner I wanted to hear this new tuning. It was cleaner and tighter for sure. I wasn’t missing much of the mid-bass when I was listening. I didn’t back to back, but I still love the OG for its enveloping warmth with a sprinkle of twinkle. Sometimes I use Elite pads on the original Empyrean to clean up the mid bass bloom. I liked these new hybrid pads and the overall tuning of Empyrean Strikes Back.
105 AER - At like half the price of the 109 this seems like a great deal for people who really dug that tuning. Another fun and amazingly comfortable headphone in the Meze lineup.
Dunu Arashi and V Model 53 - This combo really surprised and delighted me. I haven't seen a whole lot of chatter about this one, but don't sleep on it. The fit and finish really stood out on both the headphone and amp, but they weren't just about looks. Very nice extension, tasteful midrange, and nice detail and dimension. Great tuning overall. I sensed a hint of planar flavor up top, but it wasn't distracting. I think at $1500 for the headphone these are going to be well received by reviewers.
Zeos Eris - I was steeled against the incoming bass violence. The tuning wasn't shockingly weird. This is a headphone that unabashedly embraces extremes for the fun of it. If you wear it for long enough you'll start cursing at things performing animated hand gestures in first person POV. I think the people saying they are fun for gaming and movies are probably spot on.
Viking Weave Draupnir - I heard this right after Zeo’s Eris in the tasting flight of bass violence. Two drivers per side on this thing! Very visceral and fun headphone. Having those two drivers angled at your ears creates an interesting sense of space inside the cup. The top end was smooth, the upper mids were a bit darker, gobs of mid bass. A fun combo of syrupy and explosive. Love seeing new ideas like this.
Fostex TH1000RP and 11000RP - were very pretty, but they weren't satisfying my TH-X00 itch. These were much less about bass impact. The upper mids into the treble seemed a bit emphasized, but they weren't troublesome. The tuning was unique and not what I had anticipated.
Airbus Acoustics Sierra - This headphone brings me to my thesis statement about the future of the audiophile hobby. We are going to see so many more interesting 3d printed headphones. I was very impressed with what this headphone was doing with soundstage using a 50mm dynamic driver. I talked the founder and designer Juan and his team/fam who created the headphone locally here in Long Beach. They explained that, among other cool things, the 3d printed baffle is pointing the driver at the ear to hit the sweet spot of the pinna. This trick isn't new, but the implementation was impressive. The bass extension was noticeable, but the top end detail balanced it out creating a tuning that felt a bit enhanced in a way that wasn't unrealistic. This was a headphone I had to come back and listen to several times. Hard to argue with it at 900 dollars. I think these are going to impress people.
This bridges into
Hifi For All Dahlia - another amazing 50mm dynamic driver utilizing 3d printed parts. I absolutely loved the tuning of this one. I heard the Dahlia on the amazing
NITSCH DSHA-3FN. Very natural vocal midrange, fun punchy low end and great detail on top. Similar to DMS’s Project Omega, you can tell the creator has an affinity to the 600 series style of sound. Another startup sitting at 900 dollars with a price to quality ratio that is something to talk about. The cool factor here is that each headphone comes with two tuning rings called “Earpad Resonators” that go inside standard ZMF pads. I mostly preferred the dynamic resonator over the balanced, but both were great. This 3d printing revolution is letting creators quickly iterate on their tuning ideas and we are getting some very cool products as a result.
A distant 50mm dynamic cousin was nearby in the
DMS Omega - I wrote about this one last CanJam. Love this headphone. I’ve almost bought it a couple times. I think he’s created exactly what he set out to create. It is all the best parts of a 600 series, but more dynamic and more everything. It is an incredibly fun headphone that I’ve enjoyed on all the chains I’ve heard it on at the two CanJams. I would love to listen to Sierra, Dahlia and Omega back to back on the same chain. All unique and wonderfully tuned 50mm dynamics from creators thinking outside the box. Good job everyone!
If you want to hear the heights that the 600 series can scale to, you have to check out NITSCH's JAR600. Christian let me check them out on the new
WOO Audio WA24 and that is some of the best scaling I've heard. I love my 660s2, but the JAR600s are special. The new anniversary WA24 amp sounds fantastic. I don't have a strong enough background knowledge of the WA23 to go into differences, but with the beefier transformers the WA24 was damn good. I plugged my Calderas into it and Christian said it was one of the best pairings he'd heard with them. If I had 11-15k to spend on a headphone amp I'd be sweating with these new unobtanium choices.
In that same room I found the new
Abyss Dianna DZ. I haven't loved every Dianna tuning, but the DZ was one of the non-ZMF flagship highlights for me. It was doing everything right and put the warmth in all the right places. The bass is obviously super fun, but the treble was an equal standout for me. It was perfectly non-fatiguing and highly resolving. I moved between the WA23 and the fancy Abyss DCS Lina stack and was thoroughly impressed. Great job Abyss team.
Scaling up 8mm from all the innovative 50mm drivers to a 58mm dynamic is the
Audio Technica ATH-ADX3000. I checked this out back to back with the 5000 and came out thinking I may slightly prefer the tuning of the 3000. I heard this on a ZMF Aegis and the tubes did some nice things on M impedance. It seemed like both the 3000 and 5000 have a bit of a treble focus. Bass weight was nice, but more focused and nimble.
Moving over to the very pricey
ATH-AWKG I can report that I enjoyed this year’s inclusion of ZMF hybrid pads. I think the new pads helped smooth out some of the treble and upper mids. This headphone sounds very wooden to me. I was aware of the material resonance in a Fostex closed type of way. I think I’d really need to experience this headphone for an extended session to let the brain burn-in happen.
Moondrop Cosmo - This is another super competitvely priced planar option. Cosmo seems to be expanding on the Venus lineage with its tuning. The treble came across as being pretty laid back and even a touch warm which surprised me since I had read it was bright leaning. Maybe by day 2 my ears had no more treble left in them? I like the sci-fi look of these heavy metal headphones.
HEDDPHONE 2 GT - Wow, they really fixed a lot of what people had issues with last time. This was warmer than my memory of the original. Great impact on the Burson Voyager with those AMT drivers drop kicking your brain. Nice instrument separation. There was a lot of dynamic range between the two poles of the spectrum. Very unique treble presentation which felt both smooth yet capable of crisp details at the tippy top.
Final D8000 Pro DC - I haven’t spent a lot of time with the original of this. The DC seemed a little intense in the presence region. I heard it right after the HEDDPHONE 2 which comparatively felt more natural in the midrange in the moment. The bass on the voyager pairing was a little light on the tracks I heard. I wonder if this would be nicer paired with tubes that chill it out a little.
Metaxas & Sins Ethereal Reel to Reel - Almost as crazy conceptually as a Pud’s Small Batch creation. The reel to reel on headphones is something special. Loved the novelty of hearing the tape come up to speed. The system was very detailed and full of strata of sound to discover. The Metropolis inspired manakin amp may have provoked the unveiling arms race we find ourselves in. If you've ever wanted your attenuators at attention or desired dialing channel volume via purple nurple this is probably what you need to save up for.
Dan Clark E3 - I'm late to this, but I had to check it out in person. I used to own the Aeon Closed RT and this is probably the closest of the Flagship DCA tunings to that. I definitely prefer it to the Stealth. It seemed more about the mid bass than the sub. It did indeed feel pretty spacious for a closed back. Needs a lot of juice as compared to something like the Bokeh Closed. I’m hoping this is the direction DCA things are moving. On the shortlist of best closed backs.
Audeze CRBN2 - I think they've increased the punch with the new SLAM system, but it didn't feel quite up to Caldera level on first listen. Luckily CRBN avoids the treble forward tuning some electrostatic headphones adopt in pursuit of maximum speed and detail. I was sensing some elevation in the upper midrange in the horn zone on some tracks. Sometimes the vocals felt a little deep in the mix giving it a darker overall sound. Soundstage had nice width and there was tons of micro detail to get lost in. I didn't notice the STAX flatulence.
Headamp CFA3 - I absolutely love this amp. Probably top 3 solid state amps I’ve heard my Caldera on. I don’t have a ton written down on specifics because I was just loving it. Feels very accurate, but with much welcomed tonal richness. If I could just keep buying amps this would be a quick purchase. Lots of power and authority.
SCHIIT STUFF - I listened to the upcoming Gungnir 2 DAC, the size companion to the MJOLNIR, paired with that amp. It sounded great and authoritative with the Caldera. I didn't take any notes, but it was a very positive reaction.
LTA (Linear Tube Audio) - Checked out the Aero DAC with a tube stage feeding their amps. I really like the sound of the LTA stuff. The chain at their booth had a lot of soul. I also heard their amp at a couple other booths and always enjoyed it.
RAAL IMMANIS and MAGNA - My gosh these are fantastic. Like previous RAAL headphones they present themselves in a unique speaker-y way that maybe only ribbon drivers can achieve. They have the speed of estats, but with the right amount of low end power. I loved both of these. The Immanis was technically superior and had a huge grandiose sound, but the Magna was not far behind. Magna actually had some things about the treble tuning that were a little easier on my ears on first listen. I’d love to hear these in a quiet environment and just get lost in the music.
PUD's Small Batch Headphones - Got to try out some of these wild creations and present praise to Pud in-person. A lot of these sound as interesting as they look.
I had to go check out the ZMF talk about starting up a headphone company. Key takeaways: The ADS system is really a Smucker's Uncrustable. ZMF is the Pringles of headphones.
I've left out a bunch of other cool stuff, but I know these are some of the hot ticket items people want impressions on. The biggest 2024 takeaway for me is that 3d printing is offering enthusiasts a lane to jump into the fold and start making interesting things. The Bokeh Open is probably the headphone I'm most excited about, but these creative 50mm dynamic headphones are very cool and should be watched / listened to.
Thank you to the Headfi team and all the amazing sponsors that make this event come together and set records each year.
Also shoutout to my dad who has been coming out every year to make SoCal CanJam a father son tradition.