CanJam μ Impressions

Okay, intriguing stuff, thanks!

I've also read in a recent FS thread that the new production Jot is (much) more warmpoo than the earlier version which had some treble issues with certain headphones. Could be a good or bad thing depending on synergy, I guess. But I'm not sure this thread would be the best place to ask about that.

 

Had a great time seeing familiar faces and meeting a few new ones. Thanks for hosting @purr1n !

Impression #1 is you're all terrible at listening to headphones.

Elex vs Clear - I've compared before, but the differences seemed less pronounced this time around. Elex sounds a bit more 'shouty' in the treble, where the clear is a bit more even. I was mostly distracted with other stuff going on, but the differences seemed minor and not worth me selling an Elex to get a Clear.

HE-6 on a Aegir (fed by RME) - Definitely kicks the HE-6 up. Aegir paired really really well with the HE-6. I'm planning on purchasing now.

Very nice of @Donald North to stop by. Really enjoyed his amplifiers and learning about the process of amplifier design and manufacture. Stratus was a real treat.

Lots of good stuff on the horizon as well.

Also seemed to have not come back with a pretty base looking dual 3.5mm to 4pin xlr cable we were using with the Focal headphones if anyone happens to spot it with their stuff please let me know.

 

Yes, but bear with me if my explanation isn't objectively clear or "good". I've been looking at getting 1 new DAC, possibly 2. Also maybe 1 more tube amp after Stellaris and whatever solid state I get (maybe being the keyword). And possibly 1-2 more headphone:

- I've heard Yggdrasil many times but it was always on amps I wouldn't want, don't like much, etc. Heard it on Marv's Af and within about 5-10 seconds it clarified for me that yes, I do want the Yggdrasil for Stellaris, even if it may not be a perfect synergy by some standards. Not sure if Marv's was A1 or A2, but it just immediately sounded more "right" with Marv's Af than most other DACs in my price range (including most stuff I heard at canjam today). Funny enough, right after I think it's not perfect but close enough, Marv then briefly explained (and Donald or Marv feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) that a big part of the DNA sound (and I imagine possibly EC given the CD players there when I stopped by for the Studio Jr launch) is that the source is an old school Sonic Frontiers CD player. This also made perfect sense after listening to Stellaris on the CD player as areas where I thought it was "only" an A became closer to an A+. Not a huge difference % wise, but still a noticeable difference.

- Chacha's X-Sabre was also pretty good. The analogy I used with him was it would be like running a dump truck with a bunch of kids playing bumper cars. It definitely has an aggressive go go go feel to it. Paired well with LP IMO as it takes some of the "plainness" and "laid backness" of LP and neutralizes it without ruining Cavalli house sound. I would definitely buy one if I had something I wanted to kick into gear. Not necessary with Stellaris or EC Af overall though.

- Some of the "new Schiit" purrin mentioned above was a fun listen - immediately figured out what portable gear I want in the office just with a quick listen. Not saying it was perfect overall, just perfect for what I need/want in the office. (edit: sorry must be deliberately vague here).

- See above regarding comments on modded HD800 and HE6 + HFM.

 

With the above being said, I'm going to say thanks to all of those who immediately told me to go to canjam today since I've never been before (never cared enough to go in past for various reasons). Was definitely good to go to 1x. On the flip side, I don't see myself wanting to go again for a while.


May be blasphemous for SBAF, but some brief impressions from canjam (mods please move or delete if wrong section)
Event:
- There wasn't much socializing unfortunately unless someone went with a friend - everyone looked like they were listening so seriously, some took notes, etc... but then almost everyone would just up and go. "oh this was amazing, thanks, now let me go listen to more stuff with some more music I probably don't know".
*** Side note that I don't like bringing up but more than a few I stood/sat next to seriously needed a shower and/or deodorant as well - this alone would make SBAF mini meet win anytime.

Products:
- ZMF stuff sounds really good with ampandsounds and Yggdrasil or Metrum DACs. Most of my minor complaints about Auteur and Aeolus are resolved. Auteur goes from ~93/94 to 96/97 in my book with the above. Both Zack and his wife seemed like very nice people as well.
- HE6se sounds mostly like HE6. However, keep in mind that I'm extrapolating here as both HE6 yesterday were modded and HFM didn't have a big enough amp for HE6 in their booth. Rep confirmed same drivers just different headband, etc. between 6 and 6se (some difference in sound may be due to this).
- HEK is different than HE6, although HEK is probably technically better in some ways (again, extrapolating due to lack of sufficient amp for HE6 in booth). Think I saw Susvara and definitely saw Shangrila, but didn't try either as there was a line for both and I'm not spending 6k or more than my car on an HFM headphone that may or may not fall apart in 5 years.
- Unfortunately even with all of the campfire audio gear there, only the comet and atlas even somewhat fit my ears and neither have the sound I'm looking for. My ear canals are sadly still relegated to CIEM.
- I'm still a bit surprised ampandsounds doesn't have more traction on here or on headfi. While I prefer the DNA house sound, ampandsounds has some very enjoyable stuff. Excellent tonality. Didn't get to talk to him today, but Justin was also very accommodating to me in the past when I wanted to hear his amps.

 

Just interjecting to ask if anyone had ears on these at canjam: http://kaldasresearch.com/. $500 stats seem worth checking out.

 

Our local group (In India) did a group buy and the batch should deliver by next month
Those who demoed it put it above Stax 300LE and 700 at least
This was with KGSSHV/KGSSHV Carbon + Yggdrasil A1

 

@jexby - I guess the read between the lines version should be me mentioning my preference for another house sound. But in more detail, 2 main things. I also want to make clear that not I'm trashing any of parties/gear/people mentioned:

1) I actually agree with most of your criticisms on individual aspects. I will say that previous a&s stuff was not as technically proficient in stuff you mentioned above as some competing tube amps in similar $1.8-3k range. But at the same time, I don't think the "mono" (mono is name, not that you only get left or right channel overall) a&s amps I heard with ZMF today were so lacking on all of the above technicalities as to fall into the warmpoo category (like getting a B instead of an A). As for tone, I've always felt that the ampandsounds house sound was more about great tone and some warmth. something to help you relax vs other brands seem to be more technical but slightly less relaxing, so no better/worse here, just different flavors.

Why I thought it sounded good though was that one of my minor complaints before on ZMF stuff was something was always ever so slightly off with tonality in Aeolus, Verite, Auteur, Eikon - they were always slightly on edge or "twitchy" to me. and some other things I can't quite describe concisely in the tone. ampsandsound + Yggdrasil/metrum seemed to pull tonality (and potentially too far for some) the other way today and finally resolved these issues. For me, tonality >> most other things, so I guess that probably adds a lot to it. So anyways this is where I thought the a&s amp I heard today sounded very good. Hopefully this all makes sense.

Also disclaimer that idk how much of a difference different tubes / variables make here.

2) The other half of it was the im surprised at traction part - i know sbaf seemingly doesn't have that many warmpoo fans and users - it seems to be a closet thing here for those who may be. but from what i see during my occasional headfi time, there are definitely (open) warmpoo fans there - some of them just don't describe it as such. so i always imagined user base alone would have caused more traction.

 

Enjoyable time at the Casa de Marv yesterday. I was like everyone else where it was more hanging out than listening. I'm just bad with reviews on things. But being able to sample different things is nice, esp stuff that isn't even out yet. Thanks again for the invite, @purr1n and the peeps that attended. Hopefully the next one will be at least as good.

I also did go to CanJam today because I had a ticket for Saturday that CJ did let me in with, and I thought someone would have ZMF for me to listen to. Anyway, I'll likely get a ZMF after sampling what they had at the table there. Also spent time talking to other SBAF'ers that didn't go to the meet on Saturday.

 

Endorsed by Blue Man Group.

 

Last thing I wanna be thinking about when contemplating headphones is a fuckin prostate exam.

 

Bend over and take a deep breath, we listening to the Kaldas.

 

Exactly! Took something like 7 photos before any audio gear made an appearance. Priorities are right.

Damn, makes me wish I'd been in CA for the event, although I doubt I'd ever live there again - to each their own...

Damn, you beat me to it! Was even going to include a picture of packs of KY. Oh, what the heck -



Cheers

 

Yes, but everything up to the box of jelly screams Golden Shlong Award to me.