Thank you to HiFiMan, Schiit Audio, Meze Audio, Bloom Audio, and ZMF Headphones, my patrons and supporters, as well as the CanJam team for making this report possible.
This year was not only my first New York CanJam, but my first time visiting New York entirely! I came a couple of days early to do a bit of tourism, and meet a few friends. The weather, despite the threat of a snow storm, only snowed a bit, with most days simply being freezing and windy. Years ago, I'd bought a serious Millet Design box-wall down jacket, so along with a couple of layers of pants, was able to deal with the cold quite well.
I picked up the vibe of the city pretty quickly. It's really not radically different to either Sydney or Tokyo, both of which I've lived in. Times Square was full of tourists and people trying to hustle me for money, so I stayed away from it as much as possible. I headed down to the WTC memorial and museum instead, which has been on my bucket list for many years.
When I got to the show, having not done a report for a few years, I was a bit overwhelmed. Not only did I want to try a lot of gear, I had a lot of people to both catch up with and meet, and as always, after the fact I found I had missed both people and products I wanted to meet and listen to respectively.
IEMs most glaringly didn't get enough attention. The sheer number available means that I'll probably have to dedicate most of a CanJam to them in the future.
What was most amazing though is how much reviewers now play a part in not just commenting on products, but being actively involved in collaborations, and even research into optimal sound quality. Who would have thought, say, a decade ago, that a reviewer might be making their own headphones, as DMS did, or going from reviewing IEMs to creating their own brand?
Anyhow, onto my impressions...
Abyss
My first foray into the local audio scene was a trip with the Watercooler members to Audio46, where I checked out the new Abyss Joal. The Audio46 team was live-streaming and you can see Warren Chi in the background being interviewed as @goldwerger tries out the Joal on the owner's Hugo 2/ENLEUM set-up.
With everyone talking in the store, it was hard to listen with a pair of open-backed headphones, so my impressions should not be taken as being particularly accurate. That being said, I wrote that the Joal is full and fun-sounding with good dynamics, albeit the soundstage is a bit closed in, such as when I tried one of my more recent favourite tracks, Evergreen’s Faithless, something typical of planar headphones that have smaller cups. Instrument timbre when listening to Dave Brubeck’s Castilian Drums I wasn’t totally happy with, but since that could well be connected with all the background noise, I’ll wait until I can get a pair in for review to be sure.
Later in the show I met with the Abyss team, and they took me through how they changed the materials in the Joal to make it more affordable. Notably, they now have a headband adjustment that clicks, something which customers seemed to prefer, even if internally it is a less sophisticated mechanism than that on the Diana.
With the DCA E3 and Meze Poet, the Joal adds to a very compelling list of headphones available at the $2k price range, before we even consider various models not far above and below that.
Schiit
It had seemed that Schiit Audio’s create was going to be held up by Fedex, but it turned up at the last minute, in time for Saturday, and as the guys had managed to set it up quickly, I parked myself in front of the new Valhalla 3, fed by a Bifrost, and then Stjarna with turntable and Mjolnir 3.
A battered pair of HD800s (not S) signed by Axel Grell were provided for the Valhalla 3, and Massive Attack’s The Spoils was mellowed out just nicely, even if the sibilance of the classic HD800 model was still apparent. Naturally, the set-up wasn’t super-detailed, but pleasant enough without overdoing it.
The Stjarna and Mjolnir rig was paired with a pair of Audeze 4zs, and with Jimi Hendrik playing, the sound was relaxing and enjoyable with a big soundstage. Now if only I hadn’t sworn off vinyl.
Focal
When you entered the right-hand doors of the show, the first thing you encounter is the Focal listening stands. This gave me a chance to try the new Hadenys and Azurys, relatively inexpensive open and closed-back headphones respectively. I’d missed these headphones neither having gone to any shows with them, nor into the stores in the city to see about auditioning them.
I bought, as usual, a Chord Hugo 2/2go set-up to the show, and my first impression of the Hadenys was that it sounds like a mini-Utopia, with clear, crisp highs and a slightly full bass. That made it nicely balanced for rock and pop, such as C.A.Y.A by Geoffroy. It was clearly not as resolving as the Utopia, but it made me think that it could be a good headphone for someone who wants to get an idea of what the 2022 Utopias are like without needing to outlay so much money.
The closed-back Azurys was a bit boomy in the bass in comparison, but managed to bring through the mid-range OK regardless. Not surprisingly the soundstage is somewhat narrow.
Briefly trying the Stellia, I wasn’t a fan of the thin sound, which lacks bass, even if did deliver vocals quite nicely. Bizet (classical) sounded a bit odd tonally, however. Someone posted on my Youtube report that they have the Stellia and that they don't sound like that at all, so I may have to give them another shot when I have a chance.
Switching to the Clear MG, Bizet this time was good with fairly clear percussion, if, typical of the Clear range, not with the most micro detail. It does a better job of a lighter sound signature than the Stellia, with a bit less bass than the Hadenys or Utopia.
Final
Final had the new version of the D8000 series on hand, the DC versions, with improved designs that handle the bass better, including a new style of cloth earpad. I recognised the sound of the D8000 Pro, which still stands as one of my favourite headphones. They have a bit of a drop at 4 khz which makes them easy to listen with. The soundstage out of the Hugo 2 sounded a bit more closed in that I remembered, so I have them on my list to try in a quieter environment to get a better handle on their sound.
Grado
Grado had both the S950 and new HP100 on hand, which use the large G-cushions. Grado were the first, or one of the first headphone manufacturers to offer different earpads to adapt headphones to a different tuning. The show floor was too noisy to really evaluate these headphones (as was Audio46 once the Watercooler group got in there), but with the big G cushions on, the S950 sounded light and open, which might work with classical or jazz, but was too bass light for other types of music, even the Melody Gardot I had on show rotation, though it might work at quieter volumes. Tonality I wasn’t sure about even so.
However, with the flat ear pads on “flats” the sound was much warmer, if more congested, not a surprise given that the flat pads put the drivers right up against one’s ears.
Noble Audio
Noble Audio continues its tradition of putting different materials in the shells of its IEMs, making each pair unique. However, rather than their regular IEMs, they’ve attracted attention recently with good-sounding TWS earphones, and at the show with FoKus Apollo noise-cancelling headphones. Trying them both with my iPhone and a DAP (to get the better-sounding APTx going) I found that they had a good overall balance and punch with tracks such as C.A.Y.A. from Geoffroy.
The sound was impressive enough that when a fan of my Youtube channel asked me what had been good at the show so far, I pointed him to the FoKus Apollo and later on in the show I saw him with a Noble bag — he had been so impressed with them that he had bought a pair on the spot!
Continued in the next post...
Last edited:
Austrian Audio
)
etc etc because they don't think about it from the beginning)
