CanJam 2016 OC Meet Impressions

Oh you guys are funny. The impressions here are so different than those at HF, where everything is proclaimed to be awesome. L700 seems to be winner. We should get this in as a loaner.

 

How was the build quality of the HFM stats?

 

Well yeah, I f'ing want diamonds, gold, marble, and servo activated knobs of thick girth for $35k.

 

DTF with @ohhgourami @velvetx @insidious meme on Friday was excellent. Saturday dinner was fantastic as well.

Big thanks for @shaizada for inviting me over to his place to listen to his setup. Absolutely amazing.

I don't have much impressions since I was basically booth bitch all weekend.

L700 was very good. Much better than electrostatic Ether, which made instruments sound super fake.

@n3rdling loves the Shangri-La! Look at the size of that smile!

 

You keep mentioning these "good value" products... in a very unspecific nebulous way. Being unspecific and nebulous is not the way of Changstar, I mean SuperBAF.

 

Wanted to thank everyone I met with during my extended stay it was a real pleasure being able to see everyone. Honestly don't get too many vacations from work and trust me work sucks and for the first time I feel really revived by listening to awesome audio and talking to friends. Big thanks again to @purrin @No_One411 @insidious meme @n3rdling @ohhgourami @Out Of Your Head @MikeMercer @Luckbad @shaizada @Merrick @abernardi @burnspbesq @neogeosnk @Kamaka @OJneg as you guys made my trip extra special. Lets not be strangers and get together more often. Really for me it's about the people and without you guys it would have been very much just a vendor show. Of course I love the vendors but the members are where my deepest connections reside.

Impressions by El Noob:

Noble: As many of you may have remembered at RMAF I walked away with not liking the prized Savant or the K10 but this time was a much different story. Yes, for me the Savant and Savannah didn't really have the bass signature I wanted so thus I wrote them off. I don't know what they did with the U6 but the new version just didn't sound as clean or bassy as I remember. The winner here was the K10 which ended up being my favorite as I felt the bass was there as well as the sound stage. It was a very clean sound with details as well as bass to back it up. It wasn't just 10 drivers playing over one another but the music was much more spaced out.

Mr Speakers: Unfortuantely for me the electrostat wasn't what I expected. I felt that this headphone is nowhere near done and almost everyone I met with had similar thoughts. Not to knock anything but the details and soundstage are not anywhere close to your typical electrostat (which means I don't know what the driver is doing). Also the bass impact though there didn't seem to have any energy or body to it. It was like bass impacted and there was just a big hole. I didn't listen to the Ether-C but did listen to the Ether and I still stand by my comments that I believe it's very good. However, I feel that it needs the proper amp. A few pairings I liked that gave the bass signature I enjoyed was the ampandsound Mogwai and Kensie, Ayre Codex, and the Cavalli Tungsten. I will get more on headphone/amp pairings later.

Enigmacoustics: Honestly the more I listen the more I like the Dharma's as to me when paired with the proper amp they are able to exhibit the bass signature I enjoy. The only pairing I found to do this was the Well Audio Milo which I found shocking as it didn't play well with my HD650. The details are spot on for me and I enjoy the easy laid back sound without the fatigue.

Sennheiser: I really got to listen to this headphone and am quite impressed with how smooth it is when paired with the proper amp. I heard it on the Ayre Codex and felt it sounded really good. There was no known bass distortion and the details just presented themselves in a very smooth manner. Still in the running but I hope to have it wrapped up next weekend.

Empire Ears: I had never heard of them before until the show. I was totally floored by how awesome these bad boys were. Excellent sound stage and bass. The air of the soundstage allows the drivers to do their work and though very expensive I felt their flagship Zeus 14 driver was really a great sounding IEM. The details come in and just create a very musical sound that is able to incorporate all bands of the spectrum really well. The price for me is a bit high at $2,099 but I guess more drivers equals higher cost.

Campfire Audio: Though I felt these didn't have the bass signature I really like I did find the mid range very well represented. The sound stage was also good though not as airy as say the Zues from Empire Ears. Their new headphone they are working on that is portable also sounded really good and I am looking forward to hearing once it's completed.

Hifiman: This was one of the first shows where I felt HFM did a great job by bringing our own @No_One411 along to help setup as the Shangri-La didn't disappoint as I felt after listening to the music it was one of the best headphone setups in show. The details and sound stage were really good despite the lack of bass punch. These are more true to the electrostat nature with no thin or harshness. Really a winner and one of the best in show for me.

AmpandSound: One of the shockers of the show for me was the Mogwai and the Kensie. Two amazing amps for the price with the bass and balls to be able to play with the planar and ortho drivers. Really a great sound with the Ether and the LCD-3. Guess it just shows that someone is doing something right because when I asked about price it really sealed the deal for me and I will be picking one of these bad boys up after a future potential in home audition. Honestly for small vendors totally out of left field and was probably for me one of the best new vendors at the show.

Ossic: For those of you who thought this was an audiophile headphone I definitely do not agree in the slightest. Even the gaming applications I believe are limited here as you have to turn your head physically in order to allow the sound to make shifts. I think it's a cool technology but more than likely more so when VR takes off.

Taction: The Taction headphone honestly was an amazing experience for me as it adds bass rumble to your sound unlike anything you have ever heard on a headphone. Think speaker bass but in headphone form. Definitely something that any gamer who plays single player games or watches movies will enjoy. This gets my approval for official ultimate bass head headphone.

Cavalli: I had mentioned last year that the best in show was the Cavalli Abyss and Liquid Gold at RMAF and again I heard the pairing and still am completely in love with it despite the price tag. However Cavalli showcased something even more special and that was the Tungsten. As everyone may know I am in love with the Eddie Current Studio as it is something I compare many amps to when I think high end. I don't think the details and soundstage surpass the Studio. However, after hearing it it definitely has bass and it's not as thin as the Studio. Overall it's a very enjoyable listen especially with the unmodded HD800 and Ethers. The sound stage is a bit more intimate than the Studio as it is closer together but all of the details ring through. I threw everything I could at it thinking it would trip up but the Tungsten held together and surpassed my expectations. Though I think the Studio is the better amp I believe the Tungsten definitely has left it's mark and will be another reference point for what I enjoy listening to. With the different sound signatures you could easily own both and whatever sound you enjoy more would place you into either Studio or Tungsten territory. I don't know the price but I will say that Warren did say it was above the Liquid Gold.

Airist Audio: After hearing the first iteration of the Heron I didn't find anything wrong with the amp but only the fact that something with the volume required it not to sound right. This time around though in version 2 they fixed that issue and I was able to listen to a much better sounding amp. Though I didn't find it as good as the ampandsound I did find it very enjoyable.

Ayre Audio: To me this amp/dac combo sounded really good with the HD800S. No bass distortion and overall just an awesome sound. Smooth, detailed, airy soundstage, and excellent bass. I would love an in home audition as this amp/dac combo to me was very impressive.

Questyle: Listened to the 800r Golden mono mode headphone amps and I think these are far and away better than the originals. Much less thin sounding as well as more pronounced bass signature. Overall a very pleasant listen. Don't have to tell anyone twice but the QP1R is still an amazing DAP for the price as well as now has a fix for the click wheel from Questyle.

Alright so best in show like last year:

Headphones Setups
1) n3rdling's clones powered by the Headamp BHSE, Shangri-la Electrostat, Cavalli Tungsten with Mr Speakers Ether
2) AmpandSound with Mr Speakers Ether
3) Codex with HD800S

IEMS
1) Empire Ears Zeus 14 driver IEM
2) Noble K10