Yeah.The horror show of speakers.
| Aune AC45/55 I tried the AC55 - it is very likely the best on-ear foam-pad clip-on/Walkman type earphone I've ever heard. At over 150 EUR it should be, but the market for such a product outside of Asia is likely going to be very limited. I'm no stranger to ear-clip headphones, and these clips were quite difficult to use properly. |  |
| Aune AR9000 (PROTOTYPE) One of the highlights of the entire show. It's ALMOST there, they just need to iron out a few very tiny things, but it's already extremely impressive. |  |
| Fostex TH1000RP Quite thin sounding, soundstage is a bit claustrophobic like most Fostex. |  |
| Fostex TH1100RP More full-bodied than the 1000. I think this will make quite a few people happy after a pad swap to bring out more bass and soundstage. |  |
| Softears Twilight I loved these single dynamic driver IEMs. Full bodied, bassy and highly detailed. Ergonomics were surprisingly above average. |  |
| Letshouer DX1 Just a good all-rounder |  |
| Letshouer S08 Another good all-rounder |  |
| Letshouer Mystic 8 Anything acoustic, orchestral or live just sounds great |  |
| Snowsky Wind (FiiO) Quite easily the single worst headphone in the entire show |  |
| FiiO FT7 Can't fault it. Just a middle-of-the-road pleasant planar. |  |
| FiiO FT7 The hype is somewhat lost on me. It's good, but it's not the best thing since sliced bread. However, sub-bass texture and extension is fabulous. |  |
| Yamaha HA-L7A This headphone amp actually has some funky DSP modes that are a bit gimmicky for me, but that actually do work well for what they're supposed to sound like. Much better looking in person and fun to use. Did a fine job of powering the Yammie planars. |  |
| Yamaha YH-C3000 (PROTOTYPE) A show highlight for me. Not neutral!! Fun!! punchy, bassy, clean, tight and drop-dead gorgeous |  |
| Yamaha YH-5000SE (left) Sounds REALLY good paired with the Yamaha amplifier - a huge improvement over the first time I heard these with different amping. I still don't like the midrange/upper-midrange tuning - there's something glaring that reminds me of pinna-gain in IEMs, so I can definitely see some people liking these. Soundstage is AWESOME. | 
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| Yamaha YH-4000 (PROTOTYPE) (right) This might be my personal highlight of the entire weekend. It's not neutral. Bassier than the 5000, more intimate. It just got my toe-tapping. The tuning of this, with the soundstage of the 5000 would be my ideal Yamaha. |  |
| Moondrop Horizon Very 'calm' sound, like the planar siblings. |  |
| Mamoritai Euphony (amplifier) Fosi Audio i5 (headphone) This was a very fun and engaging combination |  |
| TRN Azure Dragon 14.6mm planar. Lean and detailed sound. Could be a touch bassier for my taste, but very competent neutral'ish sound. |  |
| TRN Shell Thin and trebly. Not for me |  |
| Auribus Sierra This one's not for me. Somehow a bit too diffused sounding. |  |
| Meze 105 Silva mmmmmmmmmm... lush and punchy, like an HD650 dipped in chocolate |  |
| Meze Poet Truly high end INTIMATE sound. I prefer the bigger presentation/staging of the Empyrean II |  |
| Campfire Audio Alien Brain Good all-rounder |  |
| Campfire Axion This one didn't 'move' me, so I moved on quite quickly. |  |
| "Zeitgeist Germany" IEMs The ergonomics are SPECTACULAR. With a sound to match. Very bassy, and tight. Just really good fun. |  |
Nice summery with headphones I didn't realized.High End Munich 2025 - Part 1
In no particular order, this is a just small collection of notes/thoughts I had on what little time I had with these different headphones.
I mainly focussed on headphones/IEMs I haven't heard before and revisited a few old friends through different sources.
Remember these impressions are under noisy exhibition conditions and not always with ideal source gear.
Aune AC45/55
I tried the AC55 - it is very likely the best on-ear foam-pad clip-on/Walkman type earphone I've ever heard.
At over 150 EUR it should be, but the market for such a product outside of Asia is likely going to be very limited.
I'm no stranger to ear-clip headphones, and these clips were quite difficult to use properly.Aune AR9000 (PROTOTYPE)
One of the highlights of the entire show.
It's ALMOST there, they just need to iron out a few very tiny things, but it's already extremely impressive.Fostex TH1000RP
Quite thin sounding, soundstage is a bit claustrophobic like most Fostex.Fostex TH1100RP
More full-bodied than the 1000.
I think this will make quite a few people happy after a pad swap to bring out more bass and soundstage.Softears Twilight
I loved these single dynamic driver IEMs.
Full bodied, bassy and highly detailed.
Ergonomics were surprisingly above average.Letshouer DX1
Just a good all-rounderLetshouer S08
Another good all-rounderLetshouer Mystic 8
Anything acoustic, orchestral or live just sounds greatSnowsky Wind (FiiO)
Quite easily the single worst headphone in the entire showFiiO FT7
Can't fault it.
Just a middle-of-the-road pleasant planar.
FiiO FT7
The hype is somewhat lost on me.
It's good, but it's not the best thing since sliced bread.
However, sub-bass texture and extension is fabulous.Yamaha HA-L7A
This headphone amp actually has some funky DSP modes that are a bit gimmicky for me, but that actually do work well for what they're supposed to sound like.
Much better looking in person and fun to use.
Did a fine job of powering the Yammie planars.Yamaha YH-C3000 (PROTOTYPE)
A show highlight for me.
Not neutral!!
Fun!! punchy, bassy, clean, tight and drop-dead gorgeousYamaha YH-5000SE (left)
Sounds REALLY good paired with the Yamaha amplifier - a huge improvement over the first time I heard these with different amping.
I still don't like the midrange/upper-midrange tuning - there's something glaring that reminds me of pinna-gain in IEMs, so I can definitely see some people liking these.
Soundstage is AWESOME.Yamaha YH-4000 (PROTOTYPE) (right)
This might be my personal highlight of the entire weekend.
It's not neutral.
Bassier than the 5000, more intimate.
It just got my toe-tapping.
The tuning of this, with the soundstage of the 5000 would be my ideal Yamaha.Moondrop Horizon
Very 'calm' sound, like the planar siblings.Mamoritai Euphony (amplifier)
Fosi Audio i5 (headphone)
This was a very fun and engaging combinationTRN Azure Dragon
14.6mm planar.
Lean and detailed sound.
Could be a touch bassier for my taste, but very competent neutral'ish sound.TRN Shell
Thin and trebly. Not for meAuribus Sierra
This one's not for me.
Somehow a bit too diffused sounding.
Meze 105 Silva
mmmmmmmmmm... lush and punchy, like an HD650 dipped in chocolateMeze Poet
Truly high end INTIMATE sound.
I prefer the bigger presentation/staging of the Empyrean IICampfire Audio Alien Brain
Good all-rounderCampfire Axion
This one didn't 'move' me, so I moved on quite quickly."Zeitgeist Germany" IEMs
The ergonomics are SPECTACULAR.
With a sound to match. Very bassy, and tight. Just really good fun.
| Swecci Audio Kukulkan Hand-painted, high-end IEM All in all, it sounds good. Didn't spend long enough with it to say more. |  |
| Swecci Audio Scale Very yummy bass. |  |
| Audeze CRBN2 Somehow I liked it, but not all of it, since it wasn't what I expected. There wasn't any of the treble air and spaciousness I expect from an electrostatic. But it makes up for it with phenomenally detailed and deep bass. |  |
| Palma Audio DSH-1 Sounded exactly the same in open or closed form. When 'closed', it didn't isolate as much as when I put my hands over the backs of the cups, so it's not as functional as it could be. |  |
| Lotoo Everything was just so impressive. I tried my own IEMs with these devices and the way they scaled up... just jaw-dropping |  |
| DCA Corina Very 'polite' and calm kind of presentation. Reminded me a little of the Moondrop planars. |   |
| Hifiman Shanri-la Mini Better tuning than the Big Shangri-La. Overall a kind of thin sound, but big scale from the large drivers. Very shocking to see exactly the same headband on this as the Deva Pro |  |
| Hifiman Isvarna Probably the most fun headphone Hifiman has released in about 9 years. The asking price is .... something else. |  |
| Mirph Designs Vitrum (PROTOTYPE) Wonderful design from the maker of the Mirph-1 Uses a new type of glass-dome driver developed by GAIT Clearly some more work to be done with the bass extension and staging, but for a VERY early prototype, there's a lot of potential here. |  |
| AT | B Pristine Audio AB 92 - AirBorne - (PROTOTYPE PLANAR HEADPHONE) Powered by 'ClearWater' DAC/AMP/Preamp This headphone, despite having PLACEHOLDER grills and headband was for me, one of the absolute highlights of the entire show. Truly high-end planar sound. What it lacks in soundstage it makes up for in every other aspect. I can't wait to see the finished product! |  
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| Noble FoKus Rex5 Natural-disaster levels of bass and mid-bass. I had to make a HUGE scoop in EQ, and they were still bassy! ANC worked quite well in the noisy hall. |  |
| Moondrop Psyche These did not psyche me up ... (I'm sorry  ) |  |
| T+A Solitaire P Every time I hear these, I think - yup, these might just be the most technically superior planar on the planet right now. |  |
| Grado At least they look nice |  |
| ESD Acoustic - Kirin Overall feels like an attempt was made as emulating the Focal Utopia, but with no cup rotation and somewhat flabby bass, I wasn't convinced. |  |
| Nice |  |
| A bit thin |  |
| VERY nice. I could almost live with this one. |  |
| Nah... there's a tiny bit of midrange jankiness |  |
| This Koss was OK but the pads were incredibly stiff. It's not really part of the show, it was hooked up to a huge reel-to-reel |  |
| Perun (Russian Electrostatic) These are warmer sounding than the other Perrun with the suspension strap. Both of them were a highlight of the show for me. VERY tall soundstage, great tuning and lovely open airy treble |  |
| Moondrop Pavane Such an incredibly dull, closed-in, boxy sound. There are free Nokia flathead earbuds I have that are better. I would take a Vido, Kube or Sabia V6 over this any day. |  |
Oh for sure, more than a moment; we already met last year in Canjam London, which is when I borrowed the Mirph-1 for my review, so he wanted to pick my brains too for impressions.
It's too early to say where the project will go, since it's just an early prototype and was only there to generate feedback.
| Sennheiser HD505 Under exhibition conditions it just sounds like another classic open-back Sennheiser. (which is a good thing really) Nothing to complain about here. |  |
| SoftEars (no individual photos) Enigma - wow, these are REALLY fun Studio 4 - a bit trebly for me Stuidio 2 - huh, surprisingly smooth and dark/neutral Volume - wasn't for me Volume S - I can totally see why everyone loves these, but they have a touch too much pinna gain for me |  |
| Moondrop Pill Ows Surprisingly good fun - I think these would be awesome for office use - they ACTUALLY have bass! | CLICK ON THE IMAGE!!!   |
| Feliks Audio Bliss These were running a pair of STAX SR-X9000. Overall this was a smoother experience than I remember these headphones sounding through the flagship STAX amp. A stunning work of art and a chill vibe. |  |
| Nur Headphone A welcome surprise. These Italian planars had a very 'euphoric' musical kind of sound. Not weirdly tuned, just very emotive, and had great delicacy handling acoustic music. I don't know which filter they had inside, but I would like to hear these again. |  |
| Sivga - Unnamed Prototype These use the new GAIT glass dome driver. Sub-bass is missing :/ - quite a lean sound. Other than that, they have a lot of potential. Overall good sound. |  |
| Noble Audio - Shogun Wow. The whole package is just stunning. Design, finish, cable, sound... truly a high end IEM. |  |
| Aune IR3000 Also using new glass-dome drivers - didn't get confirmation if they're a GAIT collab A pleasant all-rounder I think these will be something of a crowd pleaser if they're under 200 EUR unless there's further development/improvement planned. |  |
TANCHJIM Fission (newly announced) These are kind of neat, with many tuning options with 4-switch positions and tuning nozzles. Every switch setting sounded too thin, except for the bassiest 'pop' setting, not sure what nozzle I had on. Overall neutrali'ish and a relatively good performer. Curious what the price will be. |  |
