CanJam 2016 OC Meet Impressions

Hey guys, late to the party I know... Overall I thought the show was really fun for socializing, great to see some of you guys! For listening, obviously lousy in the crowded rooms, but upstairs was better. As with most shows, pretty impossible to make any considered judgements. My impressions are mostly in line with OJ's BTW.

1 - Like last year, I was blown away by the Jeff Wells amps and Abyss combo. I will admit that what he's doing with his amps are probably adding a heaping scoop of some kind of very pleasant euphony, think the best mashed potatoes dripping with gravy and glitter - - GOOD tasting glitter - - huge soundstage, MBL speaker kind of soundstage, gobs of detail and low end, smooth midrange as if the singer is whispering in your ear - - well, she is, but... - - Maybe not the picture of accuracy, but seductive as hell and I'm seriously eyeing his Milo at $1.5K. HOWEVER - the Milo was not nearly as impressive with whatever he was demoing it with, which I can't remember - anyone? It may have been an Ether, but.. I think for his amps to really shine, you might have to mate them to the Abyss. Also, the Woo WA5 with the Abyss was quite good too, especially the setup with the upgraded cables and tubes.

2 - The year of the proto-stats... not really impressed. I liked the Etherstat better than the Hifiman stat. The Warwicks were pretty bad. I liked the Warwick guys and hope the best for them, but it might have been a better idea to refine them more before showing them. I was very disappointed with the Sennheiser IEM stat. It was clear and neutral except I heard a significant u shaped dip in the upper bass/lower midrange. Some upper bass notes literally disappeared. Tuning not to my taste.

3 - Questyle totally hit a home run for me with their little fixes for my QP1R! Bruce had a little clear sticky thing he put on the scroll wheel that totally fixes it and now the UI works like it was designed to - BRAVO! Also they finally have a leather case in a choice of three colors that fits beautifully and adds a great color accent and I'm not so worried the thing will slip out of my hand anymore. I even popped for the carrying pouch, so I'm finally set with this little beast. I love this DAP! They also had this "reference" stack, pretty expensive I believe, with ceramic circuit boards! - hmmm - but it sounded damn good.

4 - I also sprang for the Riva TurboX. I couldn't resist, Donald was looking so sad in the corner there I felt so sorry for him... ... Actually, they were demoing the little ones in stereo and they sounded really good, but as I was talking to Christine somebody changed it to the single TurboX in the middle and I didn't notice initially. I turned to listen some more and noticed a slight increase in bass energy, but the imaging was the same. When I realized it was the single speaker, I was pretty taken and bought it on the spot. Plus they threw in some awesome extras AND at a show price, so it was definitely a good value.

5 - The Cavalli Spark sounded great again. I compared it to the QP1R built in amp and found it to be a little more fluid and invisible, just there and honest. I also got to hear the Tungsten amp with the DAC 19 up in Warren's room with the Ether and the Ether-C. It also had that open, honest sound signature, very very balanced, direct and out of the way. However I too felt the DAC 19 was holding it back. Oddly, I usually prefer the open backed Ethers, but in this case I preferred the closed.

6 - With the IEM's...
A) I liked the Savant a lot.
B) I also liked the 4 driver Empire a WHOLE lot!
C) The RHA T20 is a huge improvement over the T10 I heard last year and a narrow mid bass hump gave the sound a real kick in the pants, very fun.
D) The new Cardas have the same sound signature as the first, more expensive ones, and I didn't like them just as much - under water is right. Listening to these IEMS, I feel 20 years older, sitting by the fire in a Churchill chair with a Havana and smoking jacket - heart stopping, cigar dropping out of my hand onto the bear rug, smoke swirling up from the now smoldering bear-hair, one bud slipping from my now deaf ear, badly reproduced music eeking out of the miniature kettle... whatever, I didn't like them much...
E) I never liked the UERM, but I really liked the new UERR! I thought they took quite a risk to go with this tuning. To my ear, it really was neutral. Most headphones, especially IEMS, in my opinion are tilted up in the high frequencies and it really fatigues the shit out of these aging ears, so I was pleasantly surprised to hear this tuning. They might even be a little rolled off in the highs, but there's no loss of detail, they're just tuned that way. I'd buy these for sure.

7 - The Pioneer table was pretty bad I thought. The guy mentioned this was the first time they were bringing these to market in the U.S. because they had to retune everything from their brighter sound that the Japanese market prefers. It was still too bright for me and kind of hi-fi sounding. I did plug their more expensive headphone into my DAP and it sounded a lot better than off their DAC/AMP, but still not all that good.

8 - The ampsandsound SET amps were probably very good, but I had trouble judging what I was hearing because it was just so damn loud. I talked a long time with Justin Weber, the guy who makes these and he seemed to really know audio, not just as an engineer and designer, but as a listener.

9 - The new HD800s was a good improvement. i didn't get much time with it but while I thought they successfully tamed the high end, it came at a cost. The top end now seemed overly smooth. However, it might have been the Moon headphone amp they were using in the Source room. I don't like this amp, so it's not really a fair test.

10 - I don't know why I didn't hear the Hifiman Code-X at Shaizada's, but I got to listen to them here and wow, I was impressed. I don't really like the HE1K so I wasn't expecting to like these, but this is the first Hifiman headphone since the 560's that I really liked, kind of like 560's with good bass. They also had an interesting pair of on-ear headphones that could be open or closed back with little plates that clipped on magnetically. They were kind of cool, the SQ seemed fine.

11 - OMG, I HATED the Taction headphones. It was like WHO'S SHAKING MY FACE??, GET AWAY!... not my thing I guess. I don't like those seats that shake in the movies either.

12. - Cayin had an interesting tube amp that's not available in the U.S. yet, but it had a pot for various load options and two single ended outputs that were tuned differently. The guy at the table spoke very broken english, so I couldn't understand most of what he said, but I really liked the amount of tweaking you could do right on the front panel. I'd like to play with this amp some more.

I think that's it... sorry it's so long...

 

IIRC, the Milo was being demoed with the Dharma. Wasn't a fan of those in any setup that used them.

I almost plunked down the cash for the Riva X but I so rarely use bluetooth speakers that it didn't seem worth it to me.

 

If I had known they didn't have a US distributor at the time, I think I would have picked up a pair of IEM's on the spot. As of now, I'm currently wading through Japanese proxies for the HP-NHR21k's. But oh that sound was fine.

 

I would have considered buying their portable DAC/amp on the spot too, but they said it wasn't in production fully yet and not for sale at the show.

 

@abernardi did you mean Hifiman HEX instead of Code-X? I would be surprised if the Hifiman table had a LFF Code-X on it, but it's possible! Thanks for clarifications

 

right, sorry... Edition X

 

so many positive reports of the HEX. gotta hear it one day!

 

I own the PM3s and did get to listen to the Sine at Can Jam. I do think the Sine had a better sound, the biggest difference was the bass extension. They did do better in in most other HP aspects except isolation. I like the PM3s to block crying babies on airplanes better than the Bose quiet comfort 15. BUT the Sines are on ear HPs. I dislike on ear headphones so they will not replace my PM3's. Shame, I really did like the sound.

 

They were demoing the Dharma 1000 with the Milo. It also had the Dana cable with the Dharma's. My booth was right across from them. I listened to it for a second, but couldn't really evaluate in such a short time with unfamiliar music. My initial impression was that the Dharma sounded less bright and peaky on that amp compared to the Dharma I had on my Lyr 2/LISST.

 

WAND? Is that the manufacturer or the product?

Edit: Nevermind, I googled it and I see it's a forthcoming Riva multiroom product. Cool!

 

RIVA's new multi-room wireless audio solution. It's like Sonos, but more better.

 

Reading this thread is such a breath of fresh air, thank you!!! I was starting to feel sick with the one on HF apart from a couple of neat down to earth reports... I keep adding likes to every other posts in this thread lol .

 

Had a busy week, but here are some overdue impressions of Canjam last weekend:

Audeze

Sine - I've been hearing a lot about these and wasn't too excited to listen to them since I was disappointed with the EL8's. But boy was I wrong, Audeze has redeemed themselves. Perhaps my favorite Audeze after the LCD2.2 (nonfazor), the Sines were a lot of fun. Firstly, its metal build is sturdy, while keeping a fairly trim figure. And by sturdy, I mean that it would serve as a good daily driver---something I wouldn't be afraid to toss in my backpack in between classes. The sound? Fantastic, smooth (without too much of the traditional Audeze thickness), and well balanced, while maintaining a good amount of heft in the low end (for those familiar with Koss Portapros, it sounds like a very refined version of those). Bass is reminiscent of the old non-fazor days, had a fair amount of ballz. Staging is decent, maybe a bit intimate (more or less the same as the LCD2.2 nonfazor), and isolation is fair (though I don't think I would have a problem playing these on the plane). With the Cipher cable (which allows you to play via the iphone's lightning port) it retails for $500---something I would easily recommend to a newbie getting into this hobby (assuming he has some spare change too haha). Thumbs up Audeze. Well done.

LCD4 - The LCD4 was literally at every listening station, and unfortunately, it didn't do it for me each time. To me, it felt unforgettable. Yes it technically outperforms the 3 by a bit (slightly better extension on both ends, midrange on par), but it isn't enough for me to warrant its steep pricetag. It still contains some remnants of the thick Audeze signature sound, but at the same time, it comes off as trying to be quick. It felt odd to me, like a fat kid doing ballet. Soundstage is a bit wider than the LCD3, but still falls short in comparison to other headphones (HEK, HD800, on par with Ether). Don't mind me though, I'm just not a big fan of the Audeze house sound anymore (or planar sound even), even the LCD4 sounds a bit congested to me. The new carbon headband was nice though, it distributed the weight better across my head in comparison to the old headband... but I can feel that after an hour or two of listening, the LCD4's weight would be pretty bothersome.

For what its worth, I tried these on the Rag/Yggdrasil, Cavalli LAu/Cantata DAC, The King amp. Unimpressive each time. Sorry.

Hifiman

HEX - I really really hoped the HEX was the spiritual successor to the HE6, but it sounds more like a love child between the 6 and 500, leaning more towards the latter. It's a smooth sounding can for sure, but its low end resembles more of the 500 (but with a tad more refinement, and more polite than either 500/6 unfortunately). Also the claim that it's 90% of the HEK is BS, they're two different cans. It's speed, soundstaging, and refinement is not even close to the HE1000's. Overall, don't get me wrong... it is a great headphone. But for the price? Nah, it should've been sold for a couple hundred less. If you can handle less comfort, way less efficiency (my iphone drove the HEX pretty well), and maybe no warranty, an HE500 from the classifieds section would serve you well.

Shangri La -

**Looks at price-tag**

"Nope these aren't the headphones I'm looking for"

**Puts them on**

"Meh, sounds alright. Electrostat speed without the STAX paper sound, sound has more weight than STAX for sure. Does everything well, but nothing special. It's like applying to college with a 4.0 and perfect SAT---great stats, but hey, there are others who have that too. And note to self... need to tell HFM to put better music on their DAPs....

...Nope these aren't the headphones I'm looking for"

Schiit

I'm familiar with Schiit's products since I've spent a good amount of time at their tables in the past. I've also been a proud owner of several of their products (at one point or another). But this time, nothing new. I did have the great pleasure to speak with both Jason and Mike. Both real down to Earth fellas... and Mike is just straight up hilarious (love their no fucks given attitude. Anyway, I joked with the guys if they pulled a fast one and snuck in a new product (hoping for a Modi 4490 or something of the sort)... but sadly, they said no. Jason did say that there might be an upcoming second SchiitShow, since all their new products just love being released at the same time.

When it rains Schiit, it pours Schiit.

And for the record, they won't be doing DSD anytime soon.

MrSpeakers

I know well that Dan isn't the most popular guy here, but you have to admit, some of his cans (well, cherry-picked ones at least) do sound pretty good. I've always been a big fan of his tuning (LOVED his Mad Dogs, Mad Dog Pros, Alphas were alright). Also, what he asks for is generally a bit steep IMO. Nonetheless, I've always been a pretty big Mrspeakers fan.

EtherC - I finally got to listen to the much acclaimed Closed Ethers. No clue if these had the 1.1 upgrade that Dan recently put out, but damn, these are good (I sampled these at Schiit's table). I've always enjoyed Dan's tuning: clean neutral sound, tight articulate bass, lush mids, and non-fatiguing highs, and a touch of warmth... I guess that's most of his headphones in a nutshell. Anyway, long story short, EtherC is the BEST closed headphone I've had the pleasure in listening to. Maybe not exactly true basshead cans, but the bass is enough for me (digs deep, has a very nice THUMP to it, doesn't spill into mids). Extremely open sounding for a closed headphone (maybe even beating the entire Audeze lineup in terms of soundstage). Super lightweight, and the carbon cups are very easy on the eyes. The only catch? The $1500 pricetag. Way too much.

EtherE - If there was one thing that impressed me most at Canjam, it was this. Dan's coming at the electrostatic market with his new Ether Electrostatics. At his table, he had two EtherE's powered by a Liquid Lightning (with tubes I believe?) being sourced by a Yggdrasil and TIDAL. Electrostatic sound without the electrostatic weaknesses. By that I mean the speed and clarity you would expect from stats, plus the bottom end you expect from planars/dynamics. In addition, I heard the most enveloping 3D soundstage ever... playing Mozart was an ear-opening experience for me (though it could be the magic of Yggdrasil or Cavalli's LL, or any combination of the three). It was just mindblowing how precisely the instruments were placed 360 degrees around me. I spent a good amount of time with these and tried every genre I could... it was hard walking away from these!

In terms of overall enjoyment, I feel that this experience wins over the Ayre DAC/BHSE/009. Yes, the STAX was more nimble and spacious (though it did feel hyper-real at times), but the EtherE had a certain weight and warmth to it that not only felt truly involving, but extremely lifelike.

I know these weren't well received here, but I liked what I heard. Can't wait to hear the final production version.

Ether 1.1 - Best I've heard the Ethers. It didn't impress me too much last year at THEshow 2015 (too closed sounding, bass wasn't as impactful as I hoped, a little too congested). The newly upgraded ones are now something to write home about. Though keep in mind that Dan did have every link in the chain figured out... Yggdrasil with upgraded power cord>some pretty nice interconnects>Woo Audio WA5 with Sophia Princesses>some pretty nice ass balanced cables>Ether. Go figure.

Very nice looking setup, with a sound to back it up.

Cavalli Audio

Liquid Gold - Been waiting for a long time to give these a try. A monster of an amp, every headphone you throw at it gets driven to its potential (I tried the HE6, Abyss, LCD4). Test played Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture" for kicks on the Abyss, and WHOA, never ever heard bass like that. Insane explosive, skull-rattling bass! Unfortunately, the Abyss' highs didn't shine as much, they seemed flat and recessed in comparison. I remember reading Marv's modded Abyss remedied this issue and would love a listen one day. Anyway, my experience with the Abyss on the LAu has set the bar for the most insane low end I've heard (IMO more of a fun headphone with high "wow" factor, but maybe not something most of us would live with).

Liquid Tungsten - Cavalli's newest OTL/OCL (output capacitor-less) amp. What an experience that was... shoutout to my boy @MikeMercer for hosting the showcase. Dude seriously took me on a musical journey with his Ether's (Dan has already spoken of an upgrade over 1.1, and I'm sure Mike's set had it). I'm not sure what I can say that hasn't been said before, but amazing amazing amp. HUGE sound, coming from every direction, one thing that did stick out was the height of the soundstage--- it was endless. Widest I've heard the Ethers, but I still feel like it was more on the intimate side, with a touch too much warmth that I'm sure was due to Stillhart's (haha) DAC-19. The amp lets you basically listen to the DAC because the Tungsten essentially disappears. I know I'm more biased towards Schiit's MB offerings, and I would one day love to try the Tungsten on a Gungnir/Yggdrasil, wasn't exactly feeling the DAC-19 as much. Anyway, imaging was spot on, instruments were clearly rendered, while maintaining the right amount of space between one another. Voices felt a tad forward, but no complaints here, it was the most lifelike I've heard them... it seriously felt like the vocalists were right there, 5 feet away, singing to you. Bass hit hella hard, I expected no less from Cavalli; it wasn't the skull-shattering LAu bass, but it was a nicely textured bass that surely made its presence known... and it balanced nicely with the rest of the FR. Highs were smooth without any rolloff, strings and the crash of cymbals were a dream, with their decay being very natural. Overall, Tungsten is truly a seductive warm experience, I can see this amp as something you would listen for hours on end, something that'll keep you up until you realize that work is in a couple of hours.

Did I mention it drives the HE6 perfectly too?

"I am NOT afraid of HE6" said Dr. Cavalli with a chuckle. I had the pleasure in chatting with him for a bit; lovely fella, so so humble. Asked him where the Tungsten's 5W came from? I remember looking at the Tungsten board and seeing a tiny tiny power transformer (and keep in mind there was no external power supply either). Well, Alex said the magic is in the tubes, which are usually found in speaker amps. I did forget to ask him why name the amp Tungsten and not Platinum---could it be that another Cavalli beast is in the works?


A pretty good Canjam experience. I left the Westin that afternoon still pretty satisfied with what I have at home, maybe it's a testament to how good my chain already is? Can't wait to see how the rest of 2016 turns out.

 

If you could exercise discipline at the last moment before you post too, that would greatly improve things. Also by the sound of it, maybe you should spend less on audio gear and more on a less crappy internet connection

 

This is where one swift push of a button by a mod will dramatically improve signal to noise. Good people who write smart word are spending typing time that would otherwise be solid signal. :romanemporerthumbsdown

 

I thought Tyll meant the "other" button.