So who’s going? I’m toying with Saturday only. I can arrive at Penn Station before 11, and take the 5:40 PM or 7:40 PM train back. I’m checking with my cousin in the general area to see if he would be interested.
I think the Zach is gonna be so busy. He’s got a lot of new stuff to showcase, especially the Caldera Closed. That will be so fun for you guys.
The meze Liric 2 will be there and Axel Grell OAe-1 headphone as well.
Lastly, Ibasso is making yet another push with portable amplification with the Osprey.
Definitely wish I was going. Have a great time everyone.
Not sure if I’ll go at all. Cuz can meet, but not interested in show, so that would be time away from the show… My backup plan is Dallas in November, sister lives in the area.
I had the chance to listen to the Raal 1995 Immanis at the world of headphones at Heidelberg. Great sounding headphone. If you have the chance to listen to it at CanJam don‘t miss it.
Alright with CanJam coming up this weekend it’s time to get our full line-up going! Some things may be added or taken away but this gives a good idea of what you could find at our booth, F13-F18 this weekend.
Just wanted you to know that Lieven of Headfonia declared Immanis “Best of Show” at the World Of Headphones in Heidelberg on Saturday. Not bad for its first public unveiling. Have a great CanJam at the weekend.
You can now see the full report if you look on the Raal 1995 Head-Fi thread. It’s posted by Alex somewhere around page 30 (?).
Missing from ‘Best of Show’ summary is the chain that was used and I think the chain is as important as the transducer.
The amplifier was the Feliks Envy Performance Edition, so not quite the base model but certainly no NOS 300B’s or Elrogs in sight. Also the amp was unboxed from new on Friday night so nothing was burnt-in.
More importantly, and amusingly, was the super-expensive world class Source and DAC that was used. No it was not the Taiko Extreme Server or the dCS Rossini Apex and Clock………it was just an A&K SP3000 DAP. And also the DAP was connected to the Envy via RCA cables, which were connected to the 3.5mm output of the SP3000 with a very cheap adaptor.
I highly recommend you don’t sample Immanis directly after visiting the ZMF people, or other ‘warmer’ sounding gear. Or, when listening to Immanis go for the CA-1a first to remind yourself of what you heard last year and then………Well, I’ll leave to you to decide….just give it a chance…….but……BOOM….!
Just home from CanJam, it was quite a show this year! A few brief impressions:
Raal Magna & Immanis impressed, as promised. Immanis more so than Magna, but both were amazing. If you’re looking for bass weight and body to the sound, you won’t find it here. But if you want clarity & openness beyond what even e-stats deliver, you’ve come to the right place.
Valkyria didn’t impress me quite as much as last year. Very midrangey with incredible clarity & dynamics. Similar to Utopia, but maybe a bit less balanced. Not sure why my impression this year is so different from last year - different chain, different ears?
Caldera’s bass is at least equal to if not better than 1266 TC. Fight me.
Caldera Closed was a mixed bag. I could definitely hear the Caldera DNA in it, but it was quite different from Caldera Open. Bit more soundstagey than CO, but the treble seemed a bit peaky. The one I heard had thin pads on it, though, and I’m not overly fond of CO with the thin pads either so take my thoughts here with a grain of salt.
I really liked the looks of the new ZMF Aegis, though I didn’t have a chance to hear it with anything other than CO, so I can’t really comment on the sound.
Tungsten deserves every bit of the hype. (heard it on the HeadTrip amp, had to turn the volume DOWN a touch when I switched to Susvara). Very much in the same lane as ZMF Caldera; quite different from Susvara.
FIR Audio RN6 impressed every bit as much as the hype would suggest. Really well balanced, weighty sound with excellent timbre & clarity.
Canpur CP622B wasn’t my jam. Too midrangey & thin, didn’t line up at all with the reviews I’ve read (maybe I had the wrong tips on them?). Its little brother Canpur CP54E, on the other hand, at half the cost of its big brother, was a surprise hit. Solid Legend EVO / FatFreq competition.
Campfire Audio Trifecta was perhaps the biggest surprise of the day. I spent about 15 minutes listening to it just trying to understand what I was hearing. These do things I’ve never heard an iem do before, though a brief listen isn’t enough to figure out whether it’s revelatory or a gimmick that would get old fast. Definitely on my radar for further consideration, though.
Got to listen to Susvara on 4 or 5 different chains and think I finally understand why it is so beloved. It does wide open soundstage in such a holographic organic way that I think it may sound more like a e-stat or ribbon than it sounds like any other planar or dynamic.
Warwick Aperio did indeed come across as the most complete, even-keeled, “does absolutely everything well” system I’ve ever heard. Wide open soundstage? Check. Perfect timbre? Check. Deep dynamic bass? Check. Subbass rumble? Check. It does no wrong. I could easily be happy with just this and nothing else if I didn’t already have a rack full of gear.
HE-1 was every bit as amazing as its legend suggests. It made average to above average recordings sound almost like binaural recordings. I listened to my favorite song of all time and it sounded as live and impactful as I’ve ever heard it. I can’t fathom spending $70K on it, nonetheless it probably deserves its reputation as THE best headphone in the world.
Led Zeppelin II on reel-to-reel via WA33 + 1266 TC was positively jaw dropping. I’ve never heard reel-to-reel before, the sense of being just 1 step removed from the live performance is very real. It’s a shame the cost of entry and availability of tapes puts this out of reach of anyone without very deep pockets. I’m grateful to the Abyss guys for lugging that to NYC for us, though, it was a real treat to hear.
I really appreciated the quiet environment of the DCS room, and really want to thank them for providing a space that is actually conducive to analytical listening. I spent some good time there with Susvara & 1266 TC powered by the Rossini DAC + Lina clock & amp and came away once again amazed at how of all the myriad options & technologies for DACs, DCS’s ring DAC is probably the most reliably “audibly different” than the rest.
My biggest takeaways are probably the question whether Campfire Trifecta is a revelation or a gimmick, and that there is almost certainly a Susvara in my future.
It was great seeing & meeting many of you there, I’m only sorry I didn’t have it in me to stick around longer so I could talk to more of the headphones-dot-com guys. By early afternoon that crowd gets to me, my battery runs out, and I have to retreat back to my cave.
Sadly I did not get the chance to hear the amp or the headphone. This and Empy II are things that I missed out on because my social battery runs out after 4 or 5 hours in that crowd. lol
I know it is difficult. The decisions you have to make to cover the ground you want with in a certain time, no to mention a billion people to deke by.
Sounds like you did well for the day.
Looking forward to reading your guys impressions of all the cool stuff on show!
