While e-earphone's portable headphone festivals aren't as well-known as Fujiya-Avic's big shows, instead of making their main, December show larger, instead they've spread the shows across the country, reaching out as far south as Fukuoka. This gave me an easy opportunity to check out a few products and a couple of brands I had no experience with. While I wasn't hoping for much, as most of the companies attending would be distributors, I ended up surprised by a couple, where the main people responsible had attended. The show was small -- only in one room and so there wasn't much to discover.
I took along a FiiO X7 as a transport for my Chord Mojo, which I used for amplification, sometimes with an ALO Audio Continental V5. Most of my listening was done at a moderate level.
[size=17.030000686645508px]Acoustune / Pentaconn[/size]
It's hard to tell when I see a shiny, multi-coloured product whether or not it is worth checking out, but Take Saegusa of Acoustune, more well-known for the new Pentaconn headphone plug and socket system that graces Sony's latest products, asked me to try some new IEMs he had designed.
The HS1501 and HS1551 are very industrial-looking pairs of large, all-metal IEMs that come in two forms: One with an aluminium chamber (silver in pictures) and another with brass (gold-colored, "CU" version). The IEMs themselves use a new material for the dynamic drivers and include a high-quality cable. With no idea initially about the price, the sound was remarkably coherent and even throughout the range, with a very clear un-IEM-like treble and great imaging. Expecting a high price for them, I was surprised that they plan to sell them under US$500.
Acoustune is also working on a pair of full-sized headphones using the same material technology as used in their IEMs. I had a quick listen to a prototype and, despite the DIY housing, the imaging was very good.
The only downside is that they are large, and the brass-chambered version is heavy. At time of writing they are only on the verge of initial release and the company doesn't have a US or European distributor, in case you want to buy a pair.
[size=17.030000686645508px]1MORE[/size]
I'd seen this company make its way into Head-Fi with what seem like good-value products, but not yet had a chance to try any of them myself. I had a quick listen to their three-driver and 4-driver IEMs, the latter of which is quite attractively designed. They sounded generally quite good out of the Mojo with only what I call a somewhat "IEM treble" present that detracted slightly from the sound.
What took me by surprise was a pair of full-sized triple driver headphones they were releasing. That's not IEM drivers, but three, full-sized drivers inside. With a price target somewhere around the $200-300 mark the sound was pretty good, with nothing stand-out. The headphones themselves fold up, so may be worth putting up against similar models in that price range to see how they stand out.
[size=17.030000686645508px]Shure[/size]
I had to have another listen to the 'stats as I'd probably been unfair on them the first time I listened. The bass was much better than I had remembered, but sadly the amount of volume I could get out of the system was quite limited with the mostly non-compressed acoustic music I like. Turning up the volume on the Mojo just resulted in distortion. However it was the only system, that day, that had me listening all the way through songs. The only sonic negative, which I think had distracted me the first time, was a bit too strong upper-mid/treble.
[size=17.030000686645508px]RHA[/size]
This was the first time to have a listen with the new CL1 IEMs, which, like the T20s I review, very over-built. Most of what I heard was good, except the tonal balance. While the treble was excellent, there was far too much of it.
[size=17.030000686645508px]Clarion[/size]
I mostly know this company from their car audio so it was a surprise to find out that they had made a pair of digital headphones, the ZH700FF. They are asking big money for them: 138k yen, or over US$1200. I plugged in my iPhone, turned the volume up a bit and got....clipping in the bass. Complete fail. Unbelievable.
I took along a FiiO X7 as a transport for my Chord Mojo, which I used for amplification, sometimes with an ALO Audio Continental V5. Most of my listening was done at a moderate level.
[size=17.030000686645508px]Acoustune / Pentaconn[/size]
It's hard to tell when I see a shiny, multi-coloured product whether or not it is worth checking out, but Take Saegusa of Acoustune, more well-known for the new Pentaconn headphone plug and socket system that graces Sony's latest products, asked me to try some new IEMs he had designed.
The HS1501 and HS1551 are very industrial-looking pairs of large, all-metal IEMs that come in two forms: One with an aluminium chamber (silver in pictures) and another with brass (gold-colored, "CU" version). The IEMs themselves use a new material for the dynamic drivers and include a high-quality cable. With no idea initially about the price, the sound was remarkably coherent and even throughout the range, with a very clear un-IEM-like treble and great imaging. Expecting a high price for them, I was surprised that they plan to sell them under US$500.
Acoustune is also working on a pair of full-sized headphones using the same material technology as used in their IEMs. I had a quick listen to a prototype and, despite the DIY housing, the imaging was very good.
The only downside is that they are large, and the brass-chambered version is heavy. At time of writing they are only on the verge of initial release and the company doesn't have a US or European distributor, in case you want to buy a pair.
[size=17.030000686645508px]1MORE[/size]
I'd seen this company make its way into Head-Fi with what seem like good-value products, but not yet had a chance to try any of them myself. I had a quick listen to their three-driver and 4-driver IEMs, the latter of which is quite attractively designed. They sounded generally quite good out of the Mojo with only what I call a somewhat "IEM treble" present that detracted slightly from the sound.
What took me by surprise was a pair of full-sized triple driver headphones they were releasing. That's not IEM drivers, but three, full-sized drivers inside. With a price target somewhere around the $200-300 mark the sound was pretty good, with nothing stand-out. The headphones themselves fold up, so may be worth putting up against similar models in that price range to see how they stand out.
[size=17.030000686645508px]Shure[/size]
I had to have another listen to the 'stats as I'd probably been unfair on them the first time I listened. The bass was much better than I had remembered, but sadly the amount of volume I could get out of the system was quite limited with the mostly non-compressed acoustic music I like. Turning up the volume on the Mojo just resulted in distortion. However it was the only system, that day, that had me listening all the way through songs. The only sonic negative, which I think had distracted me the first time, was a bit too strong upper-mid/treble.
[size=17.030000686645508px]RHA[/size]
This was the first time to have a listen with the new CL1 IEMs, which, like the T20s I review, very over-built. Most of what I heard was good, except the tonal balance. While the treble was excellent, there was far too much of it.
[size=17.030000686645508px]Clarion[/size]
I mostly know this company from their car audio so it was a surprise to find out that they had made a pair of digital headphones, the ZH700FF. They are asking big money for them: 138k yen, or over US$1200. I plugged in my iPhone, turned the volume up a bit and got....clipping in the bass. Complete fail. Unbelievable.
