[Bosk]

To be fair, we keep asking for more powerful and better sounding daps and those all come with increased weight and heat.
I don't hear much chanting for a new, smaller, less great sounding dap. We don't talk about those as much, we want to talk muscle cars.
If they made a small TOTL everyone would complain it didn't sound as good. Which it wont, because it can't. We need science to have some extremely large leaps regarding power and heat before we can have both small and powerful.(and sound great)

Manufacturers are guided by what the market dictates. I've been extremely impressed with my DX240, yet it seems to have garnered a fraction of the attention of the DX320.

People fall into the trap of assuming more expensive is automatically better, or that bigger is better. We can see this same market trend occurring with mobile phones, yet I'm perfectly happy with my iPhone 12 Mini and don't need anything larger.

At some point the market will crave a new direction and manufacturers will oblige by releasing smaller products as the next "new" thing.

 

[discord]

Here are my impression from my 2 days at SoCal CanJam. I've narrowed it down to just a few items that I feel I can more confidently describe, despite listening to a lot more stuff than what's in this post.

Campfire Audio Trifecta

Very warm IEM, and I say this as someone who’s owned an XE6 CIEM for 7 months now and so I’m fairly used to a very warm IEM. Definitely a basshead IEM, and the bass is very impactful when it hits (e.g. kicks in electronic tracks hit really hard), and I would say it hits a bit harder than XE6. Big soundstage but the overall sound seems like there’s a thin blanket between the notes and my eardrums. The treble quality is the worst I’ve heard in quite long time, with cymbals sounding splashy and coarse. The treble doesn’t have the extension I prefer by my standards either, and if you’ve heard the Vega OG, it sounds similar in terms of treble extension, meaning fairly rolled off and couple that with a substantial elevation in the lower mids + bass. This is definitely not an IEM for vocal based music (or vocals generally), and the midrange seems dated relative to today’s offerings at cheaper price points (e.g. Campfire’s own Supermoon). Macrodynamic contrast is very high, at least as high as XE6. Speaking of XE6, I’d say that pulls off a “fun” sound signature better than the Trifecta, which stumbles pretty hard as I’ve already described. To sum it up, the closest thing from Campfire that I’ve owned to the Trifecta is the Campfire Vega (original version before 2020 version), and the Trifecta sounds similar to that but on steroids (i.e. amped up macrodynamics and bass impact) with subpar mids and a highly questionable treble from both a tuning and quality perspective. The Trifecta wasn’t really my cup of tea, although I suspect that fans of Vega, Atlas, and Dorado would like this sound a lot. With all that said, I don’t consider this a TOTL IEM by my standards and certainly would not spend the asking price of $3,375 for it.

Empire Ears x Astell&Kern Odyssey

I’m going to describe this IEM relative to Odin (which I own) for the most part and EVO which I’ve demo’d twice in the previous year and again at CanJam this year. Odyssey has a wider stage than Odin, similar to Jewel or Traillii levels of width, with notes imaging a bit from further out in front of me relative to Odin, which has a more intimate presentation than Odyssey. It’s warmer and less analytical sounding than Odin, while not being any less technical than Odin and so more of a really nice blend of musicality with technical performance. The upper mids are definitely less pronounced than Odin and EVO and a bit less than the Aroma Jewel as well, however the midrange is not recessed, and so it comes off as a pretty well-balanced sound overall between bass-mids-treble. The instrument timbre is more natural relative to Odin, and I prefer listening to vocals with it. The treble is more extended than Odin and EVO and is smooth, no sibilance, harsh peaks, etc, and detail retrieval is up a bit in this area as well. Odyssey definitely has more mid-bass and sub-bass than Odin, sitting somewhere between Odin and EVO bass quantity wise. I tend to think of the overall bass quantity as similar to the IE 900 as an approximation. Odin is more sub-bass focused than Odyssey, whereas Odyssey is more balanced between sub bass and mid bass. As for bass quality, well, it’s got dual W9+ drivers plus Weapon X and so it’s very good in terms of speed and avoiding bloat into the midrange. Overall, I found Odyssey to have a tuning suited for all-around listening / many genres. I definitely prefer Odyssey to Odin and it implements the wish-list / feedback of things that some people wanted, such as Weapon X BCD driver from EVO, less upper mids than EVO and Odin, more treble extension and more bass than Odin. Overall, I prefer Odyssey to any of the IEMs in Empire Ears lineup that I’ve listened to (Odin, EVO, LX, Valkyrie MK2, and Hero).

Odyssey is definitely a large IEM, its shell size is slightly deeper than EVO’s and the faceplate has a little more surface area as well relative to EVO’s. I wish the stock cable were more supple like the Liquid Links Martini or Conti which are relatively inexpensive when compared to TOTL cables.

Noble Viking Ragnar

This is basically a reference-y type of IEM, and so it sits the same arena as Jewel and Traillii, although I’d put it closer to Jewel than Traillii. The mids are very nice, female vocals in particular were a standout. The upper mids seem a bit more elevated than Jewel and a bit less than Odin, and so this is a bit of warning to those that can’t handle upper mids to such a degree. Lower mids seems to be at a similar level to Jewel, with a mid bass quantity that’s somewhere between Odin and Jewel, which is to say it’s definitely not a bass cannon despite having two DDs for the bass. Sub bass quantity is at about Odin levels but with a less pronounced rumble feeling. The implementation of e-stats for the treble is really well done, kind of reminding me of Annihilator and X in detail retrieval up top and in overall treble quality. There’s really nice extension to the treble as well. This is not an IEM I’d want to use for electronic music as the overall bass quantity is a bit lower than what I’d want (Jewel is the lowest bass quantity I’d want to go for electronic for my preferences), but female singer-songwriter music that I tried, it’s really impressive I thought due to those mids. I’d say this IEM leans on the brighter side, and so when it came to source pairings, I ended up preferring it with my WM1ZM2 instead of my N8ii. The WM1ZM2 brings the mids back a bit with a touch of added warmth and is a less bright source relative to the more analytical and bright sounding N8ii. Also, the stock cable and build of the Viking Ragnar is very nice.

The Viking Ragnar versus the EE Odyssey: The Ragnar has more elevated upper mids than the Odyssey, is overall less bassy, less warm, and more extended in the treble while having a brighter and more crisp treble. I always got the feeling that Ragnar’s stage was less wide than Odyssey and that the notes were coming from closer distance from out in front of me than the Odyssey but testing staging and imaging can always be tricky in a CanJam environment, particularly when A/B’ing 2 IEMs that are new to me.

Astell&Kern SP3000

UI seems pretty responsive and navigating through music seems similar to the “Cover Flow” feature of iTunes and iPods from late 2000s / early 2010s. The build quality and aesthetic are really nice as well. For the sound, using Aroma Jewel, it’s got a very dark background and super clean sound. It’s less analytical sounding than my N8ii and not as euphonic as my WM1ZM2, and so sitting at a middle ground between those 2 DAPs. Bass texture is not as impressive to me as the N8ii. Overall, this is a very good DAP, but not necessary for me to own given what I already have (N8ii, WM1ZM2). I remember when I first got the N8ii as a demo, I was impressed with it within a few minutes and knew that was a must-buy, and I had a similar experience when I received the WM1ZM2 as well, but with the SP3000 not so much, but I’m sure this DAP will definitely have its fans. The next DAP in this list however is a different story…

Hiby RS8

This is an impressive sounding DAP, but first I’ll talk a little about the build and software. The build is pretty solid I’d say and premium feeling. For example, the volume knob has lots of resistance to changes but remains very smooth and linear. The physical weight felt a little bit heavier than my WM1ZM2, which is to say that the RS8 is a very heavy DAP. On to the software, it’s definitely a fast UI experience. I will say that I did have a situation where the DAP had to be restarted because it became unresponsive while using the Hiby Music Player, not sure what happened there. I’m sure that @gLer can fill us in on the software and much more about this DAP later on since he started the RS8 thread. As for the sound, very euphonic with lots of note weight and punchiness to the sound while still being revealing enough for me. Bass texture is impressive, I’d say RS8 > N8ii > WM1ZM2 and SP3k in this category. For punchiness of the sound, RS8 > N8ii W/ P+ > WM1ZM2 and SP3K. I listened to the RS8 against the LP6 Gold as well, and while I enjoyed the tonality of the LP, the RS8 is at least as good while being more energetic. Overall, very nice tonality and energy from what is definitely a TOTL R2R streaming DAP.

That's a wrap! It was very nice to meet those that frequent this thread: @Rockwell75, @HiFiHawaii808, @Skyediver (amazing sky diving stories!), @Chronos, @Shecky504, @wazzupi, @morserotonin, @wolfstar76, and @stacey. If any of you ever want to get together in SoCal to listen to gear, I'm down to meet up again.

 

[gadgetgod]

Here are my impression from my 2 days at SoCal CanJam. I've narrowed it down to just a few items that I feel I can more confidently describe, despite listening to a lot more stuff than what's in this post.

Campfire Audio Trifecta

Very warm IEM, and I say this as someone who’s owned an XE6 CIEM for 7 months now and so I’m fairly used to a very warm IEM. Definitely a basshead IEM, and the bass is very impactful when it hits (e.g. kicks in electronic tracks hit really hard), and I would say it hits a bit harder than XE6. Big soundstage but the overall sound seems like there’s a thin blanket between the notes and my eardrums. The treble quality is the worst I’ve heard in quite long time, with cymbals sounding splashy and coarse. The treble doesn’t have the extension I prefer by my standards either, and if you’ve heard the Vega OG, it sounds similar in terms of treble extension, meaning fairly rolled off and couple that with a substantial elevation in the lower mids + bass. This is definitely not an IEM for vocal based music (or vocals generally), and the midrange seems dated relative to today’s offerings at cheaper price points (e.g. Campfire’s own Supermoon). Macrodynamic contrast is very high, at least as high as XE6. Speaking of XE6, I’d say that pulls off a “fun” sound signature better than the Trifecta, which stumbles pretty hard as I’ve already described. To sum it up, the closest thing from Campfire that I’ve owned to the Trifecta is the Campfire Vega (original version before 2020 version), and the Trifecta sounds similar to that but on steroids (i.e. amped up macrodynamics and bass impact) with subpar mids and a highly questionable treble from both a tuning and quality perspective. The Trifecta wasn’t really my cup of tea, although I suspect that fans of Vega, Atlas, and Dorado would like this sound a lot. With all that said, I don’t consider this a TOTL IEM by my standards and certainly would not spend the asking price of $3,375 for it.



Empire Ears x Astell&Kern Odyssey

I’m going to describe this IEM relative to Odin (which I own) for the most part and EVO which I’ve demo’d twice in the previous year and again at CanJam this year. Odyssey has a wider stage than Odin, similar to Jewel or Traillii levels of width, with notes imaging a bit from further out in front of me relative to Odin, which has a more intimate presentation than Odyssey. It’s warmer and less analytical sounding than Odin, while not being any less technical than Odin and so more of a really nice blend of musicality with technical performance. The upper mids are definitely less pronounced than Odin and EVO and a bit less than the Aroma Jewel as well, however the midrange is not recessed, and so it comes off as a pretty well-balanced sound overall between bass-mids-treble. The instrument timbre is more natural relative to Odin, and I prefer listening to vocals with it. The treble is more extended than Odin and EVO and is smooth, no sibilance, harsh peaks, etc, and detail retrieval is up a bit in this area as well. Odyssey definitely has more mid-bass and sub-bass than Odin, sitting somewhere between Odin and EVO bass quantity wise. I tend to think of the overall bass quantity as similar to the IE 900 as an approximation. Odin is more sub-bass focused than Odyssey, whereas Odyssey is more balanced between sub bass and mid bass. As for bass quality, well, it’s got dual W9+ drivers plus Weapon X and so it’s very good in terms of speed and avoiding bloat into the midrange. Overall, I found Odyssey to have a tuning suited for all-around listening / many genres. I definitely prefer Odyssey to Odin and it implements the wish-list / feedback of things that some people wanted, such as Weapon X BCD driver from EVO, less upper mids than EVO and Odin, more treble extension and more bass than Odin. Overall, I prefer Odyssey to any of the IEMs in Empire Ears lineup that I’ve listened to (Odin, EVO, LX, Valkyrie MK2, and Hero).

Odyssey is definitely a large IEM, its shell size is slightly deeper than EVO’s and the faceplate has a little more surface area as well relative to EVO’s. I wish the stock cable were more supple like the Liquid Links Martini or Conti which are relatively inexpensive when compared to TOTL cables.






Noble Viking Ragnar

This is basically a reference-y type of IEM, and so it sits the same arena as Jewel and Traillii, although I’d put it closer to Jewel than Traillii. The mids are very nice, female vocals in particular were a standout. The upper mids seem a bit more elevated than Jewel and a bit less than Odin, and so this is a bit of warning to those that can’t handle upper mids to such a degree. Lower mids seems to be at a similar level to Jewel, with a mid bass quantity that’s somewhere between Odin and Jewel, which is to say it’s definitely not a bass cannon despite having two DDs for the bass. Sub bass quantity is at about Odin levels but with a less pronounced rumble feeling. The implementation of e-stats for the treble is really well done, kind of reminding me of Annihilator and X in detail retrieval up top and in overall treble quality. There’s really nice extension to the treble as well. This is not an IEM I’d want to use for electronic music as the overall bass quantity is a bit lower than what I’d want (Jewel is the lowest bass quantity I’d want to go for electronic for my preferences), but female singer-songwriter music that I tried, it’s really impressive I thought due to those mids. I’d say this IEM leans on the brighter side, and so when it came to source pairings, I ended up preferring it with my WM1ZM2 instead of my N8ii. The WM1ZM2 brings the mids back a bit with a touch of added warmth and is a less bright source relative to the more analytical and bright sounding N8ii.

The Viking Ragnar versus the EE Odyssey: The Ragnar has more elevated upper mids than the Odyssey, is overall less bassy, less warm, and more extended in the treble while having a brighter and more crisp treble. I always got the feeling that Ragnar’s stage was less wide than Odyssey and that the notes were coming from closer distance from out in front of me than the Odyssey but testing staging and imaging can always be tricky in a CanJam environment, particularly when A/B’ing 2 IEMs that are new to me.



Astell&Kern SP3000

UI seems pretty responsive and navigating through music seems similar to the “Cover Flow” feature of iTunes and iPods from late 2000s / early 2010s. The build quality and aesthetic are really nice as well. For the sound, using Aroma Jewel, it’s got a very dark background and super clean sound. It’s less analytical sounding than my N8ii and not as euphonic as my WM1ZM2, and so sitting at a middle ground between those 2 DAPs. Bass texture is not as impressive to me as the N8ii. Overall, this is a very good DAP, but not necessary for me to own given what I already have (N8ii, WM1ZM2). I remember when I first got the N8ii as a demo, I was impressed with it within a few minutes and knew that was a must-buy, and I had a similar experience when I received the WM1ZM2 as well, but with the SP3000 not so much, but I’m sure this DAP will definitely have its fans. The next DAP in this list however is a different story…

Hiby RS8

This is an impressive sounding DAP, but first I’ll talk a little about the build and software. The build is pretty solid I’d say and premium feeling. For example, the volume knob has lots of resistance to changes but remains very smooth and linear. The physical weight felt a little bit heavier than my WM1ZM2, which is to say that the RS8 is a very heavy DAP. On to the software, it’s definitely a fast UI experience. I will say that I did have a situation where the DAP had to be restarted because it became unresponsive while using the Hiby Music Player, not sure what happened there. I’m sure that @gLer can fill us in on the software and much more about this DAP later on since he started the RS8 thread. As for the sound, very euphonic with lots of note weight and punchiness to the sound while still being revealing enough for me. Bass texture is impressive, I’d say RS8 > N8ii > WM1ZM2 and SP3k in this category. For punchiness of the sound, RS8 > N8ii W/ P+ > WM1ZM2 and SP3K. I listened to the RS8 against the LP6 Gold as well, and while I enjoyed the tonality of the LP, the RS8 is at least as good while being more energetic. Overall, very nice tonality and energy from what is definitely a TOTL R2R streaming DAP.














That's a wrap! It was very nice to meet those that frequent this thread: @Rockwell75, @HiFiHawaii808, @Skyediver (amazing sky diving stories!), @Chronos, @Shecky504, @wazzupi, @morserotonin, @wolfstar76, and @stacey. If any of you ever want to get together in SoCal to listen to gear, I'm down to meet up again.

Man everybody is praising the RS8 so much. I am getting intrigued hehe. But surely gonna cost a bomb. Great impressions mate. All you guys that joined the SoCal had a fantastic time <3 I am kinda jealous(forgive me for this).

 

[twister6]

Your whole post resonated but this especially. Andrew's table felt like a family gathering. It was further testament to his GOAT status that he let us all sit behind the table as though we owned the place. He had the single best collection of portable gear I've ever seen in one place. Once again it was great to meet you (and everyone) and I'm really hoping we can all do this again sometime.

Perhaps in Feb at CanJam NYC?

 

[discord]

Beautiful write up, Jeff! One of my many highlights of the weekend was the multiple times many of us met up at Andrew's MusicTech booth which in a way became the unofficial meeting point for us all. It was great to land there after several excursions elsewhere to chat it up and share impressions, or giggle amongst the group about new sonic pleasures just experienced.

Yeah MusicTeck was basically our unofficial meeting up point. I also liked how they allowed us to sit behind the table, here's @Rockwell75 and @HiFiHawaii808 behind the table as if they worked for MusicTeck :

 

[Rockwell75]

Perhaps in Feb at CanJam NYC?

NYC doesn't work for me as unlike SoCal I can't fly there and back over a weekend and would have to take an extra 2-3 days off work. Im seriously considering SG in 2023 as it lands right in the middle of my spring break.

Here are my impression from my 2 days at SoCal CanJam. I've narrowed it down to just a few items that I feel I can more confidently describe, despite listening to a lot more stuff than what's in this post.

Campfire Audio Trifecta

Very warm IEM, and I say this as someone who’s owned an XE6 CIEM for 7 months now and so I’m fairly used to a very warm IEM. Definitely a basshead IEM, and the bass is very impactful when it hits (e.g. kicks in electronic tracks hit really hard), and I would say it hits a bit harder than XE6. Big soundstage but the overall sound seems like there’s a thin blanket between the notes and my eardrums. The treble quality is the worst I’ve heard in quite long time, with cymbals sounding splashy and coarse. The treble doesn’t have the extension I prefer by my standards either, and if you’ve heard the Vega OG, it sounds similar in terms of treble extension, meaning fairly rolled off and couple that with a substantial elevation in the lower mids + bass. This is definitely not an IEM for vocal based music (or vocals generally), and the midrange seems dated relative to today’s offerings at cheaper price points (e.g. Campfire’s own Supermoon). Macrodynamic contrast is very high, at least as high as XE6. Speaking of XE6, I’d say that pulls off a “fun” sound signature better than the Trifecta, which stumbles pretty hard as I’ve already described. To sum it up, the closest thing from Campfire that I’ve owned to the Trifecta is the Campfire Vega (original version before 2020 version), and the Trifecta sounds similar to that but on steroids (i.e. amped up macrodynamics and bass impact) with subpar mids and a highly questionable treble from both a tuning and quality perspective. The Trifecta wasn’t really my cup of tea, although I suspect that fans of Vega, Atlas, and Dorado would like this sound a lot. With all that said, I don’t consider this a TOTL IEM by my standards and certainly would not spend the asking price of $3,375 for it.

Thanks for sharing your impressions-- we certainly hear things differently here, especially with respect to the mids. I think Trifecta is significantly better than Xe6 across the board when it comes to midrange presenc and timbre-- Xe6's mids are all over the map (sometimes here, sometimes there, sometimes veiled by bass, sometimes not) and are nowhere near as natural sounding to my ears. On Trifecta vocals are stable and centred and there is no veil in the mids anywhere that I heard. Certainly the Xe6 has an advantage when it comes to treble extension, and possibly overall technical chops being a hybrid. The Trifecta can't compete with those e-stats...but what it lacks there it more than makes up with its fantastic coherence. Also the bass is flat out overwhelming on Xe6 until you've had some time to adjust, but I never found the that to be the case with Trifecta, whose bass is powerful and dominant but that I never heard getting out of line. YMMV and all that.

Yeah MusicTeck was basically our unofficial meeting up point. I also liked how they allowed us to sit behind the table, here's @Rockwell75 and @HiFiHawaii808 behind the table as if they worked for MusicTeck :

Love it. That booth felt like home.

 

[metaljem77]

Yeah MusicTeck was basically our unofficial meeting up point. I also liked how they allowed us to sit behind the table, here's @Rockwell75 and @HiFiHawaii808 behind the table as if they worked for MusicTeck :

This is brill!! love it!

 

[justsomesonyfan]

Certainly the Xe6 has an advantage when it comes to treble extension, and probably overall technical chops being a hybrid. The Trifecta can't compete with those e-stats...

hmm.. not sure that est has anything to do with it, surely it is one of the better treble driver types, but something like the ier z1r is a prime example that dd can compete if not beat good est.
Then again I'm on team planar anyways

 

[Rockwell75]

Caught some beautiful symmetry as the sun was going down on my way home.

 

[wolfstar76]

California was wonderful but it’s always nice to come back to beautiful BC.

I am not envying the green and stream up north since we have palm trees in the desert, that's enough for California

 

[Rockwell75]

hmm.. not sure that est has anything to do with it, surely it is one of the better treble driver types, but something like the ier z1r is a prime example that dd can compete if not beat good est.
Then again I'm on team planar anyways

Yeah but in fairness Z1R's treble is not a DD in the usual sense-- it's technically a super tweeter. I don't know any 10mm DD drivers that can muster the degree of treble shimmer and detail of e-stats, or even BAs.

 

[yaps66]

Beautiful, congrats! I tried the Traillii at Andrew's table and fell in love with it all over again. Enjoy!

I know a few who purchased it based on my rec who didn't connect with it at all...I never see you post about it so maybe you didn't either?

Thanks. Was just chatting with Joop (@drftr) about the faceplates. The nice thing about Traillii is they allow you to customise the faceplates and shells. Took a bit of trial and error and the final product is what you see in the picture. Wasn't sure if having different designs for the left and right would work but I am happy with the end result.

You are right that I did not post anything about the Zen Pro. My bad! I also feel like I have neglected it a little so I took it out and paired it with the Shanling M7 and have been listening to some jazz and electronica and I am falling in love with it all over again! The ZP have such a neutral presentation to music and coupled with the slight warmth of the M7 lends a very enjoyable presentation to both classical, jazz and electronica. Yosi never sounded so good! The ZP is also a technical wonder. Nice wide stage with great pin-point accuracy and great coherency! Single DDs are such a wonder to listen to. Together with the Isabellae, Advar and the Vortex, they comprise my four favourite Single DD iems!

Perhaps just one criticism. It can get a little too intense (in your face) on some very busy tracks.

Water cooler survey
So we are going to play a game of Date, Marry, Discard. If you went to Canjam, Which IEM what do you want to spend time with?
Which one or do you want to buy?
Which one or do you not want any further discussion/consideration with?

Ideally pick 1, but multiple can fall in each category

Date: Mentor. BA + Bone conduction is a surprisingly good combination that I want to listen more to. UM , you should organize a tour of this IEM

Marry: Odyssey. I imagine EEs house sound is defined by its bass and this is its best interpretation yet

Discard: XE6, but only because of its overpowering bass. I’d thought I’d like it more, but I’m not sure if a lot of brain burn in would help it. This isn’t a declaration that this IEM is bad, but this cup of coffee is a bit harsh for my liking.

Anyone can jump in on this but think of all the IEMs you listened to recently.

I would add a fourth category, affair! Here are my selections. Of course all hypothetical since I was not at CanJam and so all selections are based on Cooler impressions!

Date: Odyssey. I have not heard EE sound yet but from all accounts, I will love it!
Marry: Mentor. I do love UE sound. I could live happily ever after!
Affair: Trifecta. “balls deep in dynamic swagger”
Discard: Diva. Again based on some cooler reactions.

Here is my full SoCal CanJam reflections post. Sorry for what is essentially a re-post-- I felt I could take the liberty in this thread.

CanJam SoCal Impressions & Reflections

Sitting here back at home over coffee & relaxing with my cats on Sunday morning trying to gather my thoughts over what was a thrilling, exhausting, emotional, breakneck, and ultimately eminently satisfying weekend. My heart, mind and spirit are full right now-- and not merely from the fact that for two days I was essentially a kid in the candy store I've been dreaming of for the last two years. On the surface I came to SoCal to demo gear, and indeed that was a pre-eminent highlight of the weekend. But in retrospect I can tell even now that the true magic of this past weekend, besides it being my CanJam deflowering, was the fellowship and community I share with so many fellow enthusiasts this last few days-- something no doubt magnified tremendously by the crushing weight of isolation so many felt over the course of the last few years. It was so nice to attach faces to so many names, to see people light up in person when hearing something for the first time, or to directly share the joy with someone when you're both talking about something you both love.

Regarding the events of this weekend I am reminded of the following quote:

"To a traveler standing near a mountain range many eminences seem to have approximately the same altitude; it is difficult to disengage Everest from its lofty neighbors. But as the range recedes in the distance, the highest peak lifts more and more above its fellows, until it alone fills the horizon."

I imagine something similar will hold true with respect to the community bonding of the last few days.

Following will be my best attempt at an impressions post of the last few days. Before I get going a couple general caveats and points to note regarding my impressions.

1) Most of what I will be talking about are IEMs & sources that I heard for the first time this weekend. As such I will not pretend to be able to be truly comprehensive with anything as my demos in all cases were by necessity brief and done along side the breakneck pace and underlying excitement, noise and enthusiasm of the event. The most I can say now is simply whether or not I liked something and what I noticed off the cuff. Everything I say here is subject to revision pending more time & thought with the gear in question.

2) I try to avoid saying things like "a is better than b" in a general way as quite often a and b don't really compare in an apples-apples way. Is the Aroma Jewel "better" than the Fir Kr5? Well...it depends. They both do totally different things and either could be "better" or totally undesirable depending on what you're looking for and what you prioritize.

3) I have a fetish for single driver setups as I feel the coherence you get is worth its weight in audio gold. Because I put a lot of stock in this something like my Campfire Supermoon excels for me in ways that no hybrid setup, no matter how complex or nuanced, can compete with. This might not hold for you and, well, YMMV there.

4) All listening here, unless otherwise noted, was done through my AK SR25ii.

Started the event off right with one of our custom Watercooler name tags courtesy of @HiFiHawaii808







Favorite IEMs heard:

The Campfire Trifecta was the show stopper for me. Impressions of this IEM so far have been very mixed—with I would say the majority being less than favorable somehow. I had thought to myself that CFA had at best a bit of a misfire on their hands. That being said I wasn’t even expecting the Trifecta to be at the show given that it’s a limited edition, sold out everywhere, and most importantly that Campfire wasn’t even going to be present. It was then with a combination of surprise, delight and trepidation that came over me when, immediately entering the show floor on Saturday morning, the first thing that grabbed my attention at the Bloom table was the Trifecta in a disembodied hand reaching from the clouds and beckoning me to listen. I wasn’t expecting much and I am ashamed to say that it was mostly morbid curiosity that compelled me to sit down and listen. Trifecta impressed me immediately with it’s massive ballsy sound, impeccable coherence, solid resolution and beautiful dynamic & analogue timbre. This is a sound that completely embraces you with warmth and depth and takes you for a ride. Unlike CFA’s previous DD only units that suffered from some combination of veiled mids, metallic treble, overdone bass or crap extension—the Trifecta, in my brief time with it, gets everything right. Bear in mind that I’m a bass & lower mids fiend, as that is what a lot of my library is, and I don’t listen to a lot of female vocals. I went back to the table 4 times over the two days and gave the Trifecta a good once over and continued to find it utterly compelling with the only false note being treble that is a touch aggressive (but nicely extended and never metallic) at times…but never to the point that I hit skip. CFA’s house sound has always existed along two prongs. You have the highly technical with a dash of fun sound of the Andromeda and utterly perfected in the Supermoon, and then you have the more hair on the beast & what I characterize as a “balls deep in dynamic swagger” type sound that Ken Ball has been obviously been passionate about for years but never quite perfected until now. The three DDs in the Trifecta, positioned as they are, act as so many matches whose intensity increases exponentially when they are brought together give the illusion that one is listening to a full size single DD headphone. Single DD and single driver enthusiasts should give the Trifecta a serious look. Approach it with an open mind, you may be very pleasantly surprised.




Hot on the heels of the CFA Trifecta was the Noble Viking Ragnar. Ragnar may be the closest thing to a bonafide Traillii competitor I’ve yet heard. I was able to hear the Ragnar over a few demos starting with an early peek on Friday night. The sound is pleasantly energetic and immediately engaging with the highlight, I would say, being the midrange. I never had any issues with the upper mids or highs but for those who like a more relaxed presentation this may not be the best option. It’s not exactly a basshead either— I would say it’s between Jewel and Traillii in quantity and arguably superior in quality to either. Recommended for people who enjoy the Jewel but would like something a little more energetic and engaging. I could even see this being a great compliment to the Bird for many. Also build quality is utterly top tier—that Damascus shell is really something. Puts the Jewel to shame in this dept. The cable is excellent too.



Astell & Kern Odyssey. I was eager to hear this IEM because of some private chats I’ve had with some EE enthusiasts I consider reliable. The hope is that it would be something along the lines of an IEM with bass quantity more than Odin but less than EVO and less upper mids than both IEMs. There is nothing at all fatiguing about this IEM so if you’re on the fence because of EE’s prior upper mid tuning (I finally got to hear Evo this weekend and the upper mids there murdered my ears) but really love their sound otherwise this may well be the IEM you’re dreaming of. I will say one thing here about this IEM and EE’s sound in general that I have noticed from my experience with LX, Odin and Bravado II. Empire Ears house sound consists in what I refer to as an “observer oriented” presentation. When listening to their IEMs you’re in the perspective of an audience member watching the presentation about a row or two back. Sony is another company I would say has this sort of presentation and I could see it appealing especially to old school 2 channel enthusiasts. It stands in contrast to what I would describe as an “in your face” presentation where, instead of from the perspective of an audience member, you’re totally immersed in the sound—it’s all around you. Campfire Audio is a company who specializes in this type of sound and my overall preference for it is one of the things that has endeared me to this brand over the year. Fir Audio is another one. I would say the Noble Viking Ragnor is slightly in this category and this, along with its midrange emphasis contrasted with the more bass centred sound of the Odyssey (which is by no means a basshead IEM but whose bass grabs your attention more than the Ragnar, whose midrange & highs are more central) comprise the biggest differences between these two IEMs. Both are top tier—choose your poison.




The Unique Melody Multiverse Mentor was my first exposure to UM’s Mason line and I was impressed off the bat—full spectrum goodness with great BA/BC bass and mids so seductive I wonder how this IEM comes from the same company responsible for the synthetic mids that characterize the whole Mest lineup to my ears. Imagine a Phonix minus a bit of the midrange magic (VE are still among the GOATS here) but better everything else and you have the Mentor. If I wasn’t so inherently averse to BAs (despite how good this is) I would be seriously considering it. Of the other UM IEMs I listened to the Mentor is most like the Mason FS...which I consider to be a slight downgrade.




I was enjoying breakfast with some fellow Watercooler-ers on Saturday morning and I had a chance to hear @morserotonin's Aroma Thunder. I didn’t know what to expect at first. Jewel (build quality aside) is a summit fi IEM for sure but it’s too reference sounding for me—YMMV there—and on account of that I’d kind of kept the Aroma Thunder hype at bay. When I put them in my ears I was totally blown away. They’re not the most sophisticated sound perhaps but they’re super engaging with fantastic bass, present clear mids, well extended treble and don’t do anything really wrong that I could detect. Perhaps not the best in any single category but I’m at a loss to find many IEMs that are as much of a fun yet sufficiently technical sounding total package that the Thunder is.



Favorite sources: For me this is a tie between the Hiby RS8 and the Sony WM1ZM2.
The RS8 has a beautifully seductive and analogue tonality...it is a perfect match with my Supermoon. Software seems a little laggy and buggy to me at times—the player froze a few times on me when trying to navigate and sweet jumping jebus is the player a brick. It’s the heaviest DAP on the market and for be very hard to pocket given it’s tendency to pull one’s pants down. I don’t have a lot of experience here but the RS8 is just what I’d imagined a TOTL R2R to sound like—a flowing river of analogue & technical sound. On the other hand Sony sexy is a thing. My demo with the WM1ZM2 was not ideal because it wouldn’t let me load my own SD card into it—as such my demo was very superficial and I didn’t get to listen to any songs I know. But damn that player is a work of aesthetic perfection and is probably edging the RS8 for me for just that reason.




Disappointments: The Elysian Diva didn't impress me-- which is too bad because that was the one IEM I’d squirreled away funds for and thought I might buy. It gives you a taste of the top tier treble Elysian is known for, and the mids are decent enough but…the bass does not do it for me. The thing with Elysian so far for me, which is kind of the inverse of a problem with many IEMs that focus too much on bass to the expense of mids or treble, is that while the treble is summit fi the bass often is far from it. On the Diva the bass was too boomy for me on the max setting and on the middle setting the Diva like a low-res Supermoon (which I was a/b’ing with it) with limp bass and marginally more seductive mids. On its own terms the Diva may even be a great IEM but for me having the Supermoon more-or less renders it redundant.

The Astell & Kern SP3K seemed mediocre coming from RS8 and didn't do the Odyssey any favors to my ears. I didn’t even like the Odyssey until I plugged it into my SR25ii.

I tried the UM Indigo on two occasions. It didn’t really connect with me for the same reason neither prior Mest I’ve heard has fully connected with me—it’s a technical powerhouse with zero emotion in the mids. Once the fireworks wear off there’s nothing of substance for me to sink my heart and teeth into.

I tried the Dunu planar hybrid (in planar only mode) and it was…well...meh. Coming from Supermoon’s stage &, especially, the fantastic bass it just didn’t cut it. Even at the $200 price point I’d probably still take the Timeless. YMMV.

Other random points:

1) The Aroma Ace is a great all BA IEM, as is the Oriolus Mellianus-- both are overpriced though.

2) Traillii may very well still be the GOAT-- it knocked my socks off today, and through my SR25ii no less. I put it in and literally lost track of time for like 30 minutes in lala land.. given the events and surroundings that is noteworthy. Still not sure about the bass in the long term though.




3) The Elysian Annihilator is mostly a great IEM— hearing its treble performance through the Hiby RS8 was a thing to behold. But the bass is too weak and loose for it to be a top tier IEM for me. The tragic thing is this may not even be a tuning problem but a cheap driver problem—if the Annihilator had a bass driver of the same quality as CFA, EE or Sony’s…and less power demanding e-stats…well this could make me want to spend $4K on it. As it stands now it falls short of the mark for me.

4) I loved the Fourte and it's my presently my favourite 64 IEM. Still it’s showing its age on today’s market. I’ve heard rumours of a Fourte MKii possibly on the horizon and I will be watching for tha VERY closely. u18t is just as sterile as I remember and Trio is still too thin and bright for me.



5) Thanks to @theveterans I heard an OG Andromeda for the first time ever in the form of a Pacific Blue edition and I absolutely loved it. I think I may even prefer it to the 2020...would need to a/b. Hiss free through my SR25ii.




6) I really enjoyed my time chatting with Eric from Eletech—he’s one of the most passionate and kind people I’ve met in this hobby. I tried the Ode to Laura and it wasn’t the best match with my Supermoon-- it totally nerfed the bass but it did a lot of clarity to the mids & highs. Ironically this may have made me a full on cable believer. Talking to Eric about this and we figure the gold plated copper of my Victoria may offer the perfect synergy with Supermoon. We talked about the Jewel and he said it’s the IEM he uses to tune but that he wouldn’t listen to it for enjoyment. That’s basically how I see it.

7) The Stax 009 & Blue Hawaii is the greatest headphone/IEM product I've ever heard. And it's not close. Well actually Susvara is a close second. I couldn’t bring myself to listen to anything else for like an hour after I heard it.



8) Biggest out of nowhere was the EE/Elysian collab Gaea. I picked it up when I had 5 minutes to kill in an idle moment and it totally surprised me. I liked it more than Diva—it’s got much better bass at the very least. It was an enaging & dynamic set but consider this only the hottest of hot takes because of how short it was. I’m fortunate to be part of a tour and should get ears on this again soon. Stay tuned.

9) Perhaps the biggest surprise was this small Singaporean company called FatFreq. I actually met them all in the elevator when I first arrived and was heading out to my room and finally got around to checking out their table on Sunday morning. I tried their Maestro (?) sub-flagship and entry level models. These IEMs have some of most singularly unique and engaging bass I’ve ever heard in an IEM. Impressive still is all the mid-range and top end clarity. I would have bought the $500 mini-Maestro for $500 except there was no vent on the front and the BA was sitting right there. I’d be to paranoid a fleck of dust would get in and wreck it. Still I will be following these guys (and girl) and will be purchasing one of their IEMs eventually. Watch for them.






@HiFiHawaii808 @discord and all the other Cooler members I was privileged to meet are great people. Was a beautiful and exhausting couple days I will never forget.




Also Musicteck/Andrew is the Goat of Goats. It was fun meeting my dealer in person for the first time.



As a plus I got to enjoy some Michelin Star (vegan) Ramen (along with some vegan water LMAO).



As a final gesture this little guy bid me farewell:



It was a slice everyone...thanks for the memories.

This is the next best thing to being at CanJam. I really enjoyed reading the account. This has set the stage for CanJam SG for me! Thanks for taking the time to write this up and sharing a slice of your life with us. Precious!

That's an interesting way to think about it and I think you made this same point the last time I said something like this. Still, some degree of balance would be possible though-- I wonder how far you could push it.

The fear is you might just end up with a jack of all trades.

California was wonderful but it’s always nice to come back to beautiful BC.

Gorgeous! So peaceful.

 

[justsomesonyfan]

Yeah but in fairness Z1R's treble is not a DD in the usual sense-- it's technically a super tweeter. I don't know any 10mm DD drivers that can muster the degree of treble shimmer and detail of e-stats, or even BAs.

hmm.. still a dd on highs it all depends on the implementation, early est implementations were widely regarded as mediocre. I'd also argue ests are better used when using them for upper mids aswell rather than just highs.

 

[Rockwell75]

hmm.. still a dd on highs

Yes it's a special kind of DD specially designed specifically for highs and therefore different in a fundamental sort of way than the sort of driver one is talking about when describing treble extension on a single DD IEM.

 

[KuroKitsu]

To be fair, we keep asking for more powerful and better sounding daps and those all come with increased weight and heat.
I don't hear much chanting for a new, smaller, less great sounding dap. We don't talk about those as much, we want to talk muscle cars.
If they made a small TOTL everyone would complain it didn't sound as good. Which it wont, because it can't. We need science to have some extremely large leaps regarding power and heat before we can have both small and powerful.(and sound great)

Ahem, I want the roar of a 5.0 Stang or a 429 Hemi in my muscle car. But I also want a realistically portable device.

I know it's an analogy and all but....

If we're talking about tiny, powerful, and sounds good.. r2r2000 ticks all of those for me atleast, altho battery isn't very ideal, it's enough for daily use.

Actually sent mine to get modded by npaudio for a bigger battery, and upgraded caps+resistors and maybe if there's a good match, different op amps
early development pics

Upgrade to brick or bludgeon That looks massive.