[Alexzander]

The EE Evo implementation is actually quite energetic and full range. I haven't experienced the new UM iterations past the MK2 but that one is kind of... "trust its working" I can feel and hear the BCD on EE. (Granted I had to get my left BCD repaired which was unfortunate)

Mentor and Mest MK2 BCDs have night and day difference.
I’ve never heard such pinpoint imaging in dynamics like on MM.
Evo’s BCD is superior to MK2 imo but still far away from MM.

 

[Kiats]

Received a nice surprise package from @Eric Chong of Eletech this Friday afternoon: the lovely Calvary Companion Case as well as the Romeo prototype.

Gorgeous leather! Look forward to seeing how it will develop a lovely patina as it is used and ages.

Will have a great weekend listening to the Romeo. At first listen, I can understand why for some of the Coolers at CJ NYC, this was the IEM that grabbed their attention.

 

[Xinlisupreme]

I finally got to hear a couple Acoustune IEMs thanks to @Chang. They look and feel premium and I love the unique design elements. They both sounded great but one in particular had more of aa bassy tilt that I liked quite a lot. I forget which one that was and Acoustune's naming conventions are so random I do not even know the names of these IEMs. Sadly they don't fit my ears all that well. Grateful for the opportunity though.

Hi @Rockwell75 the black one look HS1657cu (discontinued) and the grey one the HS1790ti (new line up)

1657cu here below , maybe you'd like 1677ss also

 

[NYanakiev]

Hi all. I am hoping some folks ( especially if you live in the UK ) can help me with a question. I have a friend that is finding a good price on some gear he is interested in from a place called: hifonix.co.uk
Does anyone know if this is legit and a good company? Tks.

Yup. Very much so

 

[Tristy]

The Raven is the Evo but less spicy. I think its in a weird place TBH, because with EE you're after TOTL bass or after what the Odin offers within the EE family of products. The 1.5k-2K rise on the Evo leaves the LX a feeling veiled, more of a specialist bass cannon. You can listen to any genre on the Evo (and ofc the Raven) and it won't feel lacking, just different.

I'll add, with the advent of Fat Freq in the market, the Grand Maestro is very competitive in the niche, and the Scarlet is an insane bass cannon; however for the money I'd need to get ears on between the Maestro Mini/Scarlet to see which bass meme is worth shelling out for. And again... the Singularity/Duality exists/is on the way with more insane bass shelves. Going even less expensive, the ISN H40 @ 199 and EST50 at 450 are very compelling "budget" bass cannons which have more chops than you'd think for a chinese cable company making IEM's.

In the end its absurd bass memes and bass cannons with top tier technicalities. It gets expensive real quick

Hmm not really sure if thats how I’d describe Raven, do you own it? I’d say EVO is a spicy Odin haha… Raven is something different.

 

[Sajid Amit]

Agree. The FW mod can only try.

The 1ZM2 is better than the OG 1Z. To give you an idea or context: the 1AM2 is, if not on par with, close to the OG1Z.

Of course YMMV.

+1

 

[Rockwell75]

Cross-posting from the CanJam thread...so awesome to see so many Watercoolers in one place!!!

Sorry for the length of this post, and for the amount of pics, but having just arrived home from CanJam NYC, and having spent zero time on my computer or the forum during the event, just plowing from experience to experience, both in the showroom and around it, am just now getting to write this out. Feel free to skip, this will be some incoherent mumbling I'm sure.

This was a truly epic CanJam for me - okay only my second, but I feel confident my senior fellows would agree that a lot, maybe most, of that epicness comes from events that are not in the showroom of CanJam, but would otherwise never occur but for CanJam! So thanks to all of the amazing people who put this thing together (far too many to name!), this was a CanJam for the ages and I feel very excited to return to NYC next year for more fun

First, it was great to see the Big Apple again as it always is! Despite its craziness, this city is alive, even during massive rain downpours, the streets are still packed, especially in Times Square, the scene of the crime!

I arrived too late to join in on the early Watercooler Friday festivities, which are now affectionately known as EyalJams, but I will be sure to change that up next year.

Arrived on Friday afternoon to the Marriott Marquis ready to meet up with some Watercoolers for dinner, and having eaten nothing all day flying across the country, some of us were very ready for a gorge fest!

As I checked in and started getting settled, I saw that the crunch time had arrived for show setup, everyone working far harder than me!

So, on to a dinner to remember! A group of us walked three blocks down 46th to Becco, a Bastianich restaurant, part of their empire! And their Italian did not disappoint... But better than the food was finally, after so much waiting, coming together with this group of friends who really enjoy the company of serious audiophiles. It was a gorge fest, with plenty of lively conversation, laughing, and huge portions of delicious Italian food!

After an amazing dinner, we said goodnight, time to crash and then get up for the show!

Saturday, Day 1- Today, I tried more iems than any other day of my life! At the outset, I will say that the floor was noisy, I didn't try to do any critical listening, just looking for big or little problems. Most here were tested using my L&P P6Pro and Shanling M9 plus, except for the Novus which I tested on AK's new SP3000T and the UM Mason ST which I tried on the new L&P E7. Here were my highlights with initial impressions which are admittedly of little help, but it'll be good for my note history:

1. Oriolus Trailli Ti: Trailli doesn't have a DD does it? Beautiful timbre, bass hits are surgical and have beautiful texture, with light sub bass elevation. Note weight is excellent, mids are a bit forward creating perfect vocals. Among the best things I've ever had in my ears, though my credit card would give a polite "no". Wish I would have taken a pic of it, but it was very popular.

2. Noble Onyx: preorder, BCD set, great execution of the BCD. Good deep bass, wide staging, holographic sound, a great release, would love to demo. Good price for a very TOTL sound.

3. EE/AK Novus: Must try to demo this longer, staging seems as impossibly huge as the price, vocals are beautifully isolated, this is an awesome tuning, great on new SP3000T. It's beautiful with an Audemars Piguet like bezel and crystal!

4. Eletech Romeo and Juliet: Romeo the clear winner, Juliet feels unfinished. Romeo is awesome, with deep and impactful bass, with clear mids and sparkling treble. Very fast, sounds like DDs with BAs. One of the best bass qualities and quantities I've heard accompanied by the top down tuning. Some songs can sound like a big 2 way system with fat woofers, then all of a sudden you get a song that surrounds you holographically. Great, engaging stage, great low rumble.

5. CFA Trifecta: As good as I recall, likely CFA's greatest creation, the deepest pounding DD bass ever, but excellent detail and resolution across FR. I know lots say it's a specialist, but I could easily see it as the primary iem for my library which seems to love it. I must get this (my wallet cries)!

6. NG Erebus: Awesome deep bass with thick note weight but great treble, staging is holographic, this is great.

7. Noble Onyx: New BCD set, great execution of the BCD. Good deep bass, wide staging, holographic sound, a great release, would love to demo. Very TOTL sound.

8. UM Mason ST: Just wow, beautiful, this is amazing, still the bass disappoints, but just barely, as it's over done by everything else going on here. I prefer AP definitely listening to them back-to-back; AP has wonderful bass and Mason does not. Both sounded lovely on the new L&P E7.

9. PMG Apx: Not as bright as I thought it would be. Still, a lot of energy up there. Beautiful detail, good low thump, but lacks midbass a bit, though very airy with great separation, an exciting tuning. But yes, too bright for me, but just barely. On 2nd listen, using Baroque tips, great all arounder for a treble head, incredible detail, layers on layers, you're sure to hear some new things in your music. Beautiful soundstage and incredible tuning, wide and tall, too light in sub bass.

10. Dita Project M: Much better than I expected. More balanced with great deep bass, but yes, energy up top may be pushing it. Treble focused songs sound a little thin, but not bad. This is a super deal with a fun tuning.

11. Canpur 622B: lush, thick mid, and still plenty of air. Detail retrieval and resolution are great, holographic stage, does it sound like MM? With better bass, I think. Pretty great, would like longer demo.

12. Canpur 54E: really nice, powerful bass, thick mids, sparkling treble, maybe too sparkling. Sub bass a little boomy, but that could be the point, it does sound good.

Phew...my ears were tired, but I was getting very hungry! We stopped for a big group picture after the showroom doors were closed. Congrats to @Chang and @bogdan belonozhko for winning the year's Watercooler awards!!!

Saturday Dinner was a big one, long in the planning with such a big crew! At one of NYC's oldest steakhouses. What we didn't plan for was 1"/hour rain during the 12 block walk! Some were truly soaked by this storm that decided to hit Manhattan just in time for dinner (flood warnings for Manhattan)! Anyway, we finally made it to Keen's, famous for the mutton chop and prime rib, which the well-soaked @Zachik and I happily shared, while @Rockwell75 nabbed a bit of lump crab cocktail. Those who attended ate and laughed heartily throughout the fun night - highly recommend if you've never been, a real slice of old New York! Also, I must say that, after meeting @Frankie D, I'm thinking he and I have a future career in vaudeville or something!

Day 2: Usually, Day 2 gives you a little respite from the crowds of Saturday, but not so much on this Sunday. The hall was crowded, busy and lively with iem, headphone and luminaries everywhere! Truly an audiophiles dream meet up, but as others have said, the loud floor could sometimes interfere with testing. The Bloom room is always the best place for a quieter session and it is a respite from the mania of the floor which I greatly appreciate.

My first real listening experience of the day was a headphone, not an iem, but it was THE headphone: the Sennheiser HE1 (thanks to gentleman and scholar @goldwerger who gave me his time slot!)! This was the most emotional listening experience I've had in recent memory. Blown away with consistent goosebumps and eyes-welling, this all-in-one elegance is otherworldly. All I can really say is that every headphone/iem audiophile should really try to have this experience at least once, though after you do, you'll want it again as I already do (tip for 2d time: have your playlist very set for a 15 minute period and have a couple extra tracks in case you get more time). Thanks @ericpalonen for the awesome pics of the ever aging me having that Audio Gods moment!!!

Now it was back to the tables!!! Not craps tables, no they are much cheaper than these tables!!! Of course, MusicTeck is my favorite one-stop because of the shear magnitude of their offerings. But I also was today able to get finally to FatFreq, NightJar, CFA, and of course, Bloom. Again all useless impressions primarily from my P6Pro and M9+:

1. FF Grand Maestro: Wonderful TOTL sound with meaty, thick notes, and I want one.

2. Noble Ragnar: Male vocals are insane, beautiful and clear with excellent timbre, top end energy is too much for me, strange.

3. Noble Spartacus: This one seems to have even more treble energy. Noble must be great for treble and details. Detail retrieval and treble is powerful, good deep rumble, great BCD, reminds of Annihilator with better bass. Aspiring to Fei Wan but not that, still, I like this one most so far, stage is pretty tall and holographic, still it's hot at the top.

4. Nightjar Duality: I heard this at CanJam Socal and was apprehensive on the sheer quantity of bass. But, after a solid second listen today, I believe they have refined it further from that time, and I was absolutely blown away by a completely different sounding iem from anything else on the market. Thick and heavy but with screaming highs, this is going on the 2024 list for sure. Remember, @Chang, I want one!

5. CFA Supermoon: Planar magnetic iem, super-detailed, too light in sub bass for me, high energy at top, but I'm wondering if this is the timestream cable which never seems perfect.

6. CFA Fathom: New all BA sounds great, good BA bass, nicely detailed, speedy transients, beautiful timbre, great BA set.

7. Elysian Pilgrim: The new inexpensive Elysian Pilgrim here! Wow, straight Elysian sound and tuning with a nice bass, treble that stays in check, this is great, sounds certainly better than Diva and Gaea to me. It's not Anni, but it reminds you of it. Why does it need so much power, even more than Anni?, thinness/shallow note weight in mids and a little shouty. Anni got this right and I hope they fix before release. In any event, this would be a great buy as-is.

As this CanJam came to an end, I went to the Bloom Audio room for their raffle, and lo-and-behold, I lucked out and won an ET Raphael!! Thanks, guys!!!!! What an awesome way to end an otherwise awesome show!

At the end of the day, a lot of sad adieus until the next show!!! Thanks again to everyone, this was a terrific show!! And nothing ends a time in NYC like a coal-fired pizza, so grabbed that and made my way back to LA! Until next time!

Epic post, wonderful pictures, great memories. That walk in the rain sure was something...I'm glad you caught a picture for posterity. The view from your room was mint!

Ok, now got everybody in the picture tagged, even @bigbeans dad! Maybe next year we should have a dedicated Watercooler Seminar session, just to go around the room and introduce ourselves

There was talk of a Watercooler seminar at some point...not sure what happened. I think given the breadth of our community we could easily do an "ask the enthusiasts" roundtable that would be quite interesting.

Hi Fellas, I recently acquired the Sony WM1Z and I think it is simply one of the most amazing sounding source (for my preference at least).. it brings musicality to most amps and iems/headphones that I use it with without sacrificing details and resolution..

100% I started this hobby in earnest in 2019 at which point the WM1Z had already been out for a couple years. It wasn't until the end of 2023 that I finally got my hands on one and it was and continues to be a complete and utter revelation for me. It's basically taken me right out of this hobby and imho as far as portable sources go (purely in terms of sonics) it's so far ahead of everything else I've heard I can hardly believe it. Add on to that its battery life, the buttery smooth UI, and the Sony sexiness that oozes from every pore of the thing...I'm inclined to consider it the single greatest portable audio product of the last 10 years, maybe ever.

 

[Fantanest]

Made a video comparing these totl iems! Subscribe if you think that's helpful!

 

[Rockwell75]

Made a video comparing these totl iems! Subscribe if you think that's helpful!

An overview of the Musicteck table

Onyx feels like an odd man out there...I personally wasn't impressed with it and don't think it holds its own with anything else in that list. YMMV.

 

[Tristy]

Made a video comparing these totl iems! Subscribe if you think that's helpful!

What did I just watch? A nice test of my MacBook speakers though.

 

[tjzurlaaa]

Hm starting to think the OG gold brick has a more lush smoothness with more low end presence but the New gold brick brings out more soundstage and resolution ( both Goldbricks having a more analog/warm signature than most other daps)

 

[twister6]

Made a video comparing these totl iems! Subscribe if you think that's helpful!

Interesting idea, but in reality we are not hearing how these IEMs sound in our ears, but rather a relative sound comparison as the sound gets "filtered" through laptop or smartphone speakers How did you record these?

 

[Rockwell75]

Hm starting to think the OG gold brick has a more lush smoothness with more low end presence but the New gold brick brings out more soundstage and resolution

The OG gold brick is calling you.....

 

[LFC_SL]

What did I just watch? A nice test of my MacBook speakers though.

As I understand it content creators use a microphone to record music playing through different headphones (or earphones, or speakers) for the YouTube viewer to 'hear' the differences between the headphones (or earphones, or speakers). I doubt this is a reliable 'demonstration' as the recording goes through YouTube uploading and then processed through the device you are watching YouTube on. But YouTube is so big that every approach has its follower. Very much YMMV

 

[kumar402]

Hm starting to think the OG gold brick has a more lush smoothness with more low end presence but the New gold brick brings out more soundstage and resolution

nothing like that....I have owned both and newer one is a better product. Just debloat the walkman.
Also there are lot of impressions that with new fw1.08 and with DSEE Ultimate, the bass impact and all are so much better.

and if few reports are to be believed then you can tweak the sound just by changing language, go figure.
Switch to JP they say but don't quote me for that.