CanJam SoCal 2017

The explanation I was given was that they had to prioritize power strips for laptops and amps, thus the USB driven dragonflies.

 

So, some impressions: (noise level plays into it, so please take some of these with a grain of salt, or take into account the fact that I was listening at 3dB higher than my average listening level in order to combat noise)

Cavalli Liquid Tungsten: I actually like this thing quite a bit. Some others may not, and I can see why. It makes Utopia lose that "edge" to the sound. Ultimately causing the imaging to become significantly less specific and razor sharp. But to me, that's just fine. The amp didn't try to "control" the tonality of the headphone, and instead, allowed Utopia to still impart its own tonality. I'm not sure how much of this was due to DAVE or my listening level, or whatever else, but... while I didn't enjoy Utopia, I could tell what the amp was trying to do, and I think I'll love it just as much in production form if the whole intention was to "take the edge off". Technicality-wise, I'm sure I can spew "oh, it keeps everything and separation and imaging and etc..." and someone among y' all will come in and tell me "it was loud, you're just BSing", so that's that. Bottom line: it sounded like the Tungsten was "taking the edge off". Some others may not like that, but I'd love it, especially when it comes to something like Utopia. Now to see what the production unit can do...

Cavalli Liquid Crimson Mini: The name is how it's "coined" internally due to how "similar" to the Crimson this amp supposedly gets. I couldn't tell, but yet again, it's that same "take the edge off" experience, just a bit lessened, and with a bit of warmth added on top. Some sharpness came through. It could be the DAVE, it could be the Ether C Flow, it could just be the interconnect, it could have even been my coffee. Take that how you will. I don't think I'd ever heard the Ether C Flow as being "warm", but here it is being "warm".

Cavalli Liquid Tungsten Mini: Again, how it's termed internally. Same thing as above. Less warm. Now I'm sure it's the coffee.

Mr. Speaker's Ether C Flow w/ Ether Stat earpads + new secret-sauce tweak for more even measurement: Good. Better than regular Ether C Flow to my ears. Shouty. Note: tried this on Woo Audio amp that was on Dan's table, not with Cavalli amps. I was listening to regular Ether C Flow on the Cavalli stuffs (except for Utopia on Tungsten). Anyway, personally, if I was buying an Ether C Flow today, I'd request those tweaks in a heartbeat.

Sony MDR-Z1R w/ its system (the DAP and the DAC/amp): Same as my impressions as before. Still very comfortable. Buena Vista Social Club's Chan Chan sounded and felt pretty... "pillowy" on it. Good for falling asleep to.

Sony's new DAP: For $3200, the interface is laughably bad and laggy. Hell, my recently acquired AK120 with its antiquated software runs a hell of a lot better. ZX2 was more responsive IIRC, so I don't get why this thing is so bad. Sorry, but I had to put this here because again, the damn thing is thirty two hundred dollars. Ya can buy phones that are 1000% more responsive at almost 1/1000 the cost. It's 2017 fer Christ's sake!

Fiio X5III: Good. Actually very decent with Noble X. If I didn't have AK120, I'd totally consider buying one just for Noble X. Though I think the price should be more like $199. Maybe $299 given that it's a full-on Android device and you can do other things on it and the interface was 500% more responsive than Sony's new DAP thing, but still...

Bluewave: Audible treble artifacts to me.

THX amp thing: decent. DAC3 held it back big time. It's a tech they're looking to license out to other manufacturers, meaning... 'lest you're thinking of starting your own amp/DAC/DAP business, forget it. They'll "consider the DIY and opamp routes", but those are not in the cards for now. I was treated like a king at their table, so I feel bad for saying this, but honestly, after hearing all of that "business talk", my mind just turned off and from this point on, I'll just ignore it and wait for commercial products that feature it. But chances are, I'll grab the Magni 3 when it comes out before anything that uses this tech even hits the market. Sound-wise, it was okay. Probably will play nice with speakers. Maybe that's why Benchmark is building a power amp with it. Think O2. Anyway, I still don't care for it.

Sonoma Acoustics e-stat: Best of show for me. Woo! Why? Because finally someone is bold enough to try and copy the HE60... down to the headband. It sounded pretty similar to the HD6xx series as well. And no, this ain't the unit that had volume/power issue. My friend (the guy I photographed above) was unlucky enough to "score" that unit on his first sit-down. And I think one of the other pairs got a channel imbalance based on impressions from those I got the chance to converse with. My pair was... pretty good. Maybe a bit off, but my ears are off, so I couldn't tell. Anyway, it sounded like a decent e-stat. Nothing stood out. Good speed. Probably won't impress, but may prove to be valuable for longer listening sessions. I don't think it's got the same potential and "maturity" in the sound as HE60, but gosh, when was the last time anyone even tried to copy/match/bring back HE60? <- yeah? I thought as much. I still think it's the coffee.

Zenith Audio PMx2: Finally, something with a focus on tonality. Pretty spot on! Kind of bright/almost shouty to me. It's a sound that causes me to think the headphone lacks impact/weight/warmth, but it's not offensive. Overall far better than any Oppo headphone I have ever heard (including my own modded attempts, so kudos, Alex! ), and very technically proficient now for an ortho. The tonality was a bit too bright for me, though, and it kinda prevented me to do any in-depth analysis. Plus the environment was too loud anyway, and we've established now that it was the coffee. Alex reassured me the bright tonality was due to that pair being Darin's and that he tuned that pair that way to fit Darin's tastes. I'm guessing Alex's own tuning would be a bit more "calm" than that. So... I'm looking forward to the loaner. Maybe I should head over to the loaner thread and see if I can "strong arm" my way into it. Hahaha. But seriously, I'm not even sure if I'll have enough time to check anything out within the next month or so, so I may have to hold back a bit and wait until summer.

Beyond the show: I'm missing my Super Best Audio Friends. I think a meet is due.

 

let's wait a year, i think trump promised us we'd all be millionaires soon, or more like $6k will be 2 bucks of present-day dollars.

 

They've already released the power amp (AHB2) to good reception. I know @ohhgourami likes it a lot at least.

 

I hear Audeze finally made a full-sized headphone that doesn't break your neck in two.

 

They offer an upgrade for all previous headphones, too! It's only $500.

 

New pads too

 

Fun show, was nice to see old friends and new faces over the weekend. Didn't have a chance to step out of the booth often to listen to other stuff around this time around. Parking seemed a bit like a nightmare, I parked a block away and some people I talked to seemed to valet and pay $50, unfortunate.

Was nice the venue was so close for me. My boss's wife walked over to the venue from their apartment and called him to show her inside, that was a bit funny and unexpected.

 

Anti-Vegan pads? Sign me up!

 

That is an impressive demo, I actually had to take my headphones off to make sure music isn't playing through my speakers lol. Gotta give the software a try.

 

You are totally entitled to your opinion. I used to own the Milo, and I find it weird you had to crank it. It puts out 18w into 32 ohms (I think.) Its also one of the punchiest amps I have heard, to the point where even if you hadn't mentioned it, I would have said it is dynamic and punchy. Thats just weird all round, having to crank it especially. Maybe there was something wrong with it, I onno.

 

12 watts into 32 ohms per the product page. 18 watts is the rating into 8 ohms.

 

this is exactly how i felt about the Milo. it sounded as Marv puts it -- "muddy squishy soft poo strain."

i heard 2 of them, one at the ZMF table and another at the Wells table, and I disliked both of them. was better with the Eikon/Atticus at the ZMF table than with the CodeX on the Wells table, but both were still a big dislike for me. much preferred the ZMF phones out of the Decware amp.

 

The Wells Audio Milo sounds completely disgusting. I mentioned last year that music was being drowned in tar.

 

I recently heard Wells Audio Innamorta (sp?) amps in a vinyl rig ... through (I forget which) speakers and that same soft, veiled, and somewhat compressed sound signature came through. I know it wasn't the source nor the speakers (I'd heard them before). And it's strange, because Jeff talks about loving dynamics, detail, and impact. I just didn't hear it. I think he'd find what he likes in modern tube designs as opposed to the classic tubey sound he professes to dislike and may have written off all tube circuitry as a result. Super nice guy, though. And I wish him success.