- Joined
- Aug 15, 2011
- Posts
- 8,338
- Likes
- 4,710
Fujiya Headphone Festival Spring 2018 (10th Anniversary)
This year, Fujiya Avic celebrated it's 10th hpfes (Headphone Festival) anniversary with a suite of new product offerings from various brands. The show had over 100 exhibitors spread over 5 floors representing over 200 brands. The show attracted an audience of more than 10,000 over the two day weekend. The show attracted both exhibitors and visitors from overseas.
Various Head-Fi members were present at the show, with the usual suspects @Currawong , @arnaud , @ExpatinJapan, and @shigzeo meeting up together. Other Head-Fi members also attended and introduced themselves rather discretely. @CEE TEE made a visit all the way from the States for his first Fujiya Headphone Festival and we had a blast hanging out throughout his entire trip here.
Sadly this year I didn't cover as many exhibits nor take as many pictures as I usually do. I focused on some key exhibits that I personally had interests in.
1) Stax
First stop, had to be the Stax. I've been a Stax fan for ages, I've been to their office and showrooms a couple of times and I couldn't miss their newly announced SR-009S flagship. Some of us were lucky enough to get in 20 mins of listening time just before the show started letting the crowds in. So it was still quiet with just us and the exhibitors on the floor.
The SR-009 had been the flagship of Stax since March 2011 and had won many hearts with electrostatic lovers. However development hadn't stopped there for the Stax engineers. They found ways to improve the SR-009 without having to revise their design nor materials completely.
The SR-009S still has the same diaphragm, same materials for the housing, stator, earpads, headband, and headpad. Stax did however had improved on the way they prepared the stator by going through the etching process twice producing even smoother holes reducing air resistance. The electrodes are also now gold plated to further
reduce resonance.
The external guard mesh is also more cupped rather than just flat (that the old SR-009 was). The housing is also a little thinner...not so much on the main body but the outer concave bezel is a little thinner.
One other difference I found was the inner dust protector mesh that was different on the SR-009S over the SR-009. The SR-009S had a thinner mesh as shown in the pictures below.
So what does all this mean? To my ears (and to others I talked to) the SR-009S is a marked improvement over the SR-009. It just sounded more dynamic, a little cleaner and less diffused. There was a nice crisp to it and although there was more bass depth to it, it also did sound somewhat more energetic and lively.
The SR-009 had a slight upper mid hump between the 1-2kHz which my ears seem particularly sensitive to seems to be less apparent on the SR-009S which is to my preference.
L: SR-009S
R: SR-009
SR-009S driver
Inner dust protective mesh of the SR-009S
SR-009 Driver
Inner dust protective mesh of the SR-009
Stax SRM-D10 DAC/Amp
Another STAX product I dabbled briefly was with the new SRM-D10. It was a nifty (not so little but light) unit that has a DAC (DSD-capable) in it. The USB input did not work with my NW-WM1Z so I just tried line in from my Sony instead. I tried it with the SR-L300 and it drove it reasonably well. I have to say though I can't really see myself out 'n about with any open headphone let alone a Stax.
2) E.A.R. Yoshino
Leaving the Stax exhibit, we bumped into Tim de Paravicini...it was more like @Currawong pulling @CEE TEE & I aside and said, "That's Tim!! That's Tim!! I saw him a few years back!", and I have to be frank...."Who's Tim?" and @Currawong explained. He is a most entertaining individual who's not shy in not mincing his words. It was a great learning experience to him share his expertise.
L-R: Hiroko Yoshino, Tim de Paravicini, @CEE TEE, @Currawong
Still standing strong, the HP4
3) Oriolus
Slowly making out of the room, we stopped by the Oriolus table. They showed off their new offerings including their Oriolus Reborn which was a very nice hybrid however it was their BA300S balanced (hybrid) tube amp that caught my eye. It takes in balanced 4.4mm in from the likes of the NW-WM1A/Z (in fact it was designed to match the form factor of the NW-ZX300) and has only a 4.4mm headphone jack out. There's no volume pot, depending on the DAP's volume control. The battery lasts for approx 7-10 hours.
Sonically it gave a larger soundstage to my NW-WM1Z which was extremely welcoming.
4) Meze
Moving on from Oriolus, I stopped by the Meze exhibit to see the Empyrean. It uses a rather interesting trace pattern on the diaphragm, the arcs on the middle upper half of the diaphragm is for bass whilst the circular in the lower half is for midrange/treble (if I understand it correctly). Another interesting pointer that caught my attention was the offering of 3 different earpads (full leather, partial leather/Alcantara, full Alcantara) are non-magnetic however the mesh is. The driver's magnetic field holds the earpad cup mesh into the driver enclosure. No separate external magnets required for the earpads to snap onto the housing and cause any kind of interference to the driver itself.
Sonically however, I felt it was a little too bland for my tastes. I was hoping for more "bite" to it to draw my attention to any particular strengths of the signature (e.g. bass impact, airy highs, mids clarity, etc.) however especially coming straight from the SR-009S, I was a little underwhelmed. Changing to the different earpads, I think the full Alcantara was probably my preferred of all 3 however still not as engaging as I would have liked.
Their concept however was pretty cool.
5) Campfire Audio
We moved from the 11th flr to the 6th flr and stopped by to talk to Ken and Caleb. Ken showed off his new Atlas which is target to take the Vega's place moving the Vega down a notch. The Atlas is no less impressive. Ken has done a tremendous job in creating such a full sound from just a single dynamic driver (playing balanced from my NW-WM1Z).
The casing has some weight to it however fit in my ears comfortably.
6) Ultrasone
Ultrasone did not any new products this round however we took the opportunity to give their Edition 15 another listen. Overall Ultrasone has been tending toward the "right" direction in the past few years especially ever since the Edition 5. The prices are still somewhat unrealistic however the signature Ultrasone is settling for in their high end headphones have been more "mainstream" for the audiophiles.
Ultrasone does know how to make light comfy headphones too.
Pathos Acoustic amps also made it to the same Timelord showroom as Ultrasone and Chord however I did not get a chance to listen to them.
This year, Fujiya Avic celebrated it's 10th hpfes (Headphone Festival) anniversary with a suite of new product offerings from various brands. The show had over 100 exhibitors spread over 5 floors representing over 200 brands. The show attracted an audience of more than 10,000 over the two day weekend. The show attracted both exhibitors and visitors from overseas.
Various Head-Fi members were present at the show, with the usual suspects @Currawong , @arnaud , @ExpatinJapan, and @shigzeo meeting up together. Other Head-Fi members also attended and introduced themselves rather discretely. @CEE TEE made a visit all the way from the States for his first Fujiya Headphone Festival and we had a blast hanging out throughout his entire trip here.
Sadly this year I didn't cover as many exhibits nor take as many pictures as I usually do. I focused on some key exhibits that I personally had interests in.
1) Stax
First stop, had to be the Stax. I've been a Stax fan for ages, I've been to their office and showrooms a couple of times and I couldn't miss their newly announced SR-009S flagship. Some of us were lucky enough to get in 20 mins of listening time just before the show started letting the crowds in. So it was still quiet with just us and the exhibitors on the floor.
The SR-009 had been the flagship of Stax since March 2011 and had won many hearts with electrostatic lovers. However development hadn't stopped there for the Stax engineers. They found ways to improve the SR-009 without having to revise their design nor materials completely.
The SR-009S still has the same diaphragm, same materials for the housing, stator, earpads, headband, and headpad. Stax did however had improved on the way they prepared the stator by going through the etching process twice producing even smoother holes reducing air resistance. The electrodes are also now gold plated to further
reduce resonance.
The external guard mesh is also more cupped rather than just flat (that the old SR-009 was). The housing is also a little thinner...not so much on the main body but the outer concave bezel is a little thinner.
One other difference I found was the inner dust protector mesh that was different on the SR-009S over the SR-009. The SR-009S had a thinner mesh as shown in the pictures below.
So what does all this mean? To my ears (and to others I talked to) the SR-009S is a marked improvement over the SR-009. It just sounded more dynamic, a little cleaner and less diffused. There was a nice crisp to it and although there was more bass depth to it, it also did sound somewhat more energetic and lively.
The SR-009 had a slight upper mid hump between the 1-2kHz which my ears seem particularly sensitive to seems to be less apparent on the SR-009S which is to my preference.
L: SR-009S
R: SR-009
SR-009S driver
Inner dust protective mesh of the SR-009S
SR-009 Driver
Inner dust protective mesh of the SR-009
Stax SRM-D10 DAC/Amp
Another STAX product I dabbled briefly was with the new SRM-D10. It was a nifty (not so little but light) unit that has a DAC (DSD-capable) in it. The USB input did not work with my NW-WM1Z so I just tried line in from my Sony instead. I tried it with the SR-L300 and it drove it reasonably well. I have to say though I can't really see myself out 'n about with any open headphone let alone a Stax.
2) E.A.R. Yoshino
Leaving the Stax exhibit, we bumped into Tim de Paravicini...it was more like @Currawong pulling @CEE TEE & I aside and said, "That's Tim!! That's Tim!! I saw him a few years back!", and I have to be frank...."Who's Tim?" and @Currawong explained. He is a most entertaining individual who's not shy in not mincing his words. It was a great learning experience to him share his expertise.
L-R: Hiroko Yoshino, Tim de Paravicini, @CEE TEE, @Currawong
Still standing strong, the HP4
3) Oriolus
Slowly making out of the room, we stopped by the Oriolus table. They showed off their new offerings including their Oriolus Reborn which was a very nice hybrid however it was their BA300S balanced (hybrid) tube amp that caught my eye. It takes in balanced 4.4mm in from the likes of the NW-WM1A/Z (in fact it was designed to match the form factor of the NW-ZX300) and has only a 4.4mm headphone jack out. There's no volume pot, depending on the DAP's volume control. The battery lasts for approx 7-10 hours.
Sonically it gave a larger soundstage to my NW-WM1Z which was extremely welcoming.
4) Meze
Moving on from Oriolus, I stopped by the Meze exhibit to see the Empyrean. It uses a rather interesting trace pattern on the diaphragm, the arcs on the middle upper half of the diaphragm is for bass whilst the circular in the lower half is for midrange/treble (if I understand it correctly). Another interesting pointer that caught my attention was the offering of 3 different earpads (full leather, partial leather/Alcantara, full Alcantara) are non-magnetic however the mesh is. The driver's magnetic field holds the earpad cup mesh into the driver enclosure. No separate external magnets required for the earpads to snap onto the housing and cause any kind of interference to the driver itself.
Sonically however, I felt it was a little too bland for my tastes. I was hoping for more "bite" to it to draw my attention to any particular strengths of the signature (e.g. bass impact, airy highs, mids clarity, etc.) however especially coming straight from the SR-009S, I was a little underwhelmed. Changing to the different earpads, I think the full Alcantara was probably my preferred of all 3 however still not as engaging as I would have liked.
Their concept however was pretty cool.
5) Campfire Audio
We moved from the 11th flr to the 6th flr and stopped by to talk to Ken and Caleb. Ken showed off his new Atlas which is target to take the Vega's place moving the Vega down a notch. The Atlas is no less impressive. Ken has done a tremendous job in creating such a full sound from just a single dynamic driver (playing balanced from my NW-WM1Z).
The casing has some weight to it however fit in my ears comfortably.
6) Ultrasone
Ultrasone did not any new products this round however we took the opportunity to give their Edition 15 another listen. Overall Ultrasone has been tending toward the "right" direction in the past few years especially ever since the Edition 5. The prices are still somewhat unrealistic however the signature Ultrasone is settling for in their high end headphones have been more "mainstream" for the audiophiles.
Ultrasone does know how to make light comfy headphones too.
Pathos Acoustic amps also made it to the same Timelord showroom as Ultrasone and Chord however I did not get a chance to listen to them.
Last edited:
.
!!
