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The annual Potafes 2024 Summer Akihabara was held on July 13 and 14. The number of exhibitors at this year's event was 136 brands.
The venue was so crowded that the aisles were filled to capacity as soon as the event started.
The S series is a new series in which final audio has renewed its focus on BA drivers, employing two custom-tuned BA drivers.
The silver model is the S4000, which uses a stainless steel housing. The copper-colored model is the S5000, which uses a brass housing.
When I listened to the sound, it was not the usual BA sound with a sharp tone, but a tone similar to that of a dynamic driver, which showed a new approach to BA drivers.
final new S-series, S5000(left), S4000(right)
Also at the booth, a wireless model of the new VR3000 was demonstrated side-by-side with a wired model. The purpose of this demonstration was to show that tone and latency are the same even with wireless technology.
I actually compared the two products and were impressed by the minimal difference in tone quality and, in particular, the extremely short latency. The dongle employs proprietary codec for this, and the ultra-low latency of 20ms is said to have been achieved. The “VR3000” wireless will be priced at just under 20,000 yen.
VR3000 wired and wireless comparison demo
Another surprise at the final booth was the new “Fusion-G” earpieces. The new earpieces have a double-layered construction, with a foam outer layer and a silicone inner layer, and are designed to combine the best of both worlds.
The sound quality was excellent, with no loss of quality in the high frequency range, which is common with foam earpieces.
final's new Fusion-G earpiece
Dita Audio exhibited an adapter for USB-C with interchangeable plugs, taking advantage of the Awesome plug's terminal interchangeable feature. The sound was quite good, and the L-shaped terminals made it an excellent accessory. The price is said to be around 4,000 yen.
Dita audio type-C awesome plug adapter
The FIIO “BT11” LDAC-compatible dongle caught my attention. This is a dongle with LDAC and aptX functionality, which means that the iPhone can also support LDAC. This will be good news for iPhone users.
FIIO BT11 LDAC transmitter(blue LED dongle)
The iBasso “DX180” was a hot new model, featuring four CS43131 DACs, hardware analog FIR filters, and a “delay-parallel” mechanism. It is priced at 78,000 yen. The sound quality is also very high for the price, with a characteristic sound spaciousness and high resolution.
iBasso DX180
Kajima Corporation exhibited the “OPSODIS 1” stereophonic speaker, which is currently undergoing crowdfunding. This speaker is a technology developed from Kajima's expertise in concert hall design, and it gives an extremely high sense of three-dimensionality. I heard a demonstration of ambient sound in a subway, and it was hard to believe that the sound was coming from the speakers, as it floated from side to side and even behind. The ability to reproduce not only left and right, but also depth and height is astonishing.
OPSODIS 1(sound bar like box speaker under the display)
The annual Potafes 2024 Summer Akihabara was held on July 13 and 14. The number of exhibitors at this year's event was 136 brands.
The venue was so crowded that the aisles were filled to capacity as soon as the event started.
The S series is a new series in which final audio has renewed its focus on BA drivers, employing two custom-tuned BA drivers.
The silver model is the S4000, which uses a stainless steel housing. The copper-colored model is the S5000, which uses a brass housing.
When I listened to the sound, it was not the usual BA sound with a sharp tone, but a tone similar to that of a dynamic driver, which showed a new approach to BA drivers.
final new S-series, S5000(left), S4000(right)
Also at the booth, a wireless model of the new VR3000 was demonstrated side-by-side with a wired model. The purpose of this demonstration was to show that tone and latency are the same even with wireless technology.
I actually compared the two products and were impressed by the minimal difference in tone quality and, in particular, the extremely short latency. The dongle employs proprietary codec for this, and the ultra-low latency of 20ms is said to have been achieved. The “VR3000” wireless will be priced at just under 20,000 yen.
VR3000 wired and wireless comparison demo
Another surprise at the final booth was the new “Fusion-G” earpieces. The new earpieces have a double-layered construction, with a foam outer layer and a silicone inner layer, and are designed to combine the best of both worlds.
The sound quality was excellent, with no loss of quality in the high frequency range, which is common with foam earpieces.
final's new Fusion-G earpiece
Dita Audio exhibited an adapter for USB-C with interchangeable plugs, taking advantage of the Awesome plug's terminal interchangeable feature. The sound was quite good, and the L-shaped terminals made it an excellent accessory. The price is said to be around 4,000 yen.
Dita audio type-C awesome plug adapter
The FIIO “BT11” LDAC-compatible dongle caught my attention. This is a dongle with LDAC and aptX functionality, which means that the iPhone can also support LDAC. This will be good news for iPhone users.
FIIO BT11 LDAC transmitter(blue LED dongle)
The iBasso “DX180” was a hot new model, featuring four CS43131 DACs, hardware analog FIR filters, and a “delay-parallel” mechanism. It is priced at 78,000 yen. The sound quality is also very high for the price, with a characteristic sound spaciousness and high resolution.
iBasso DX180
Kajima Corporation exhibited the “OPSODIS 1” stereophonic speaker, which is currently undergoing crowdfunding. This speaker is a technology developed from Kajima's expertise in concert hall design, and it gives an extremely high sense of three-dimensionality. I heard a demonstration of ambient sound in a subway, and it was hard to believe that the sound was coming from the speakers, as it floated from side to side and even behind. The ability to reproduce not only left and right, but also depth and height is astonishing.
OPSODIS 1(sound bar like box speaker under the display)
