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I liked it soooo much, it has the best quality price ratio of all the IEMs I tried at Canjam
CanJam London 2023 Impressions Thread
- Thread starter AxelCloris
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Christer
Headphoneus Supremus
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Big Thanks to YOU "inexperienced kid" for being THE ONE and ONLY ONE! among ALL these posters who actually brings up THE ONE and ONLY Reference Point that matters to me: How HIFI products like a Headphone compare to real live unamplified acoustic music as it sounds live.
Your mentioning a Friday Night visit to the BBC Proms and the Meze Elite sounding very realistic compared to that ,has put those on my list of headphones I need to audition.
A question though, how close did the new Heddphone V2 sound compared to the Meze Elite with the same Reference point applied?
There will be quite a price difference between those two I suspect?
PS .Where you an Arena floor Prommer or where ? And which concert ?
The sound in the Albert Hall can vary QUITE a lot depending on where you are in the vastness of it all.
Looking forward to read how HIFIMAN headphones sounded to you with the same" Reference Point" applied.
Cheers CC
Last edited:
With all respect to the Heddphone V2 they are miles apart.
Part 2 of my amateurish feedback from Sunday. Again, very brief general impressions from a relative newbie and first timer at CanJam.
Audeze:
I sat down at the Audeze table for a bit but ended up having a nice chat with a fellow listener instead, mainly about Sennheiser lol, and so didn't do much listening. It was quite busy there. As they weren't on my radar as such, superficially because the brand's line up isn't particularly asthetically pleasing to me, I didn't honestly pay enough attention to them. I listened only to the LCD X. Comfort was good and build quality appeared good too. Sound was nice all round, nothing for me not to like and much more enjoyable to my ears than the Focals I heard, but not quite matching what I was really enjoying from Meze. Had I known what I was going to do next, I should have tried some of their closed backs, but hey ho, another time hopefully.
ZMF : What an amazing experience their room was! So relaxed, so friendly and eye candy galore, which included some pretty stellar DAPs on the table too. However, the real star, and the one that matters most, was the sound of what I listened to. Absolutely phenomenal to my ears!
The unamed one - Having not found a Denon 9200 or 7200 anywhere to listen to at the show (something I was really hoping for) it seemed fortuitous to find a gorgeous looking wooden closed back sat right in front of me. In an instant I was provided with a 4.4mm balanced cable so I could plug in my DX300 and I was away. And boy was I away! One of my chief test tracks is a live B&W Sound Society recording of Tanishé performing Zambezi. This version, although this is not the recording I have:
On the live recording he speaks briefly to the audience and a female band member laughs at what he says. She then laughs again and the audience laugh too. On all the headphones I currently own, she laughs about 3ft from my right ear. On most, not all, of what I listened to on Sunday she laughs about 15ft away. On these ZMF's she's still about 15ft away, but then that second laugh and crowd laughter suddenly revealed more layers within the crowd. Lol, I then laughed myself at this and instantly rewound to hear again. Could this really be true? It was! Then the Mbira kicks in. This will instantly find out any headphone that doesn't work for me in terms of 'brightness'. The Meze Elites btw had me rewinding this part in utter disbelief at the Mbira realism. I heard nothing else that day that matches the Elites for realism on instruments, ALL instruments on EVERYTHING I chucked at it! They had me listening with amazement and huge amounts of enjoyment. These ZMF's however had me listening with emotion. So next up was to try some rumble with Nitin Sawney's Nadia. Oh dear!... At this point in proceedings I had to fight my bottom lip to stop it trembling and I suddenly had some dust in my eye I think. Maybe it was the track, it's emotional for sure, but the sound of these ZMF'S was doing it's work here and no mistake. My composure regained I proceeded with some more of my test tracks and now I was just in heaven. Big grin on my face and so involved in everything I listened to. I put them down and then it dawned on me again that these were actually closed backs, What! All I really knew about ZMF beforehand was that they look lovely and are out of my price range, but I had to ask what model I'd just listened to and the price. The news that they plan on them being about £1000 on release made me feel like I'd just won the lottery. I already knew I would be buying the Meze 109's that day because bang for the buck and pure enjoyment, I couldn't walk away without a set at show price. These ZMF's at that price takes bang for the buck to new levels in my book. Bouyed by this I asked what other closed backs they had. Instantly I was presented with three more models to try.
Vérité Closed, Atrium Closed, Atticus - Presented with these three lined up I had already forgotten which was which before I put them on as I'd not read up on ZMF at all before attending. All three had that same level of comfort that I found with the unnamed set. All three were of a more sophisticated build, it seemed on brief impressions (I particularly liked the fact that the unnamed set have 3.5mm connections to the cups and felt more portable) The sound was again, on all three, emotional and engaging but one stood out in particular. Upon asking, it turned out to be the Vérité. On finding out the price, I was both not at all surprised, but also doubly pleased that the unnamed set now seemed to represent even more value. I really really liked the unnamed set, albeit a very very close call, perhaps even a tad more so than the Vérité. Although the soundstage on all was incredible for closed backs, on the Vérité it was up on levels that defy logic to me...Absolutely sublime!
Caldera - Before leaving I saw a pair of open backs free near by. At this point I again didn't know the model ( there were so many headphones available to listen to and in a wide variety of woods) so I just listened. I think at this point I was already away with the fairies by my experiences with the closed backs and in all honesty, just like when at the Audeze stand, I didn't give them the time and respect they deserved. They just ticked every single box but without surpassing my favourites from the day.
Apologies for the rambling on the ZMF's, but they warrant it! I could probably say I've become an instant fanboy, such was my experience on the day, but mostly because their sound was just so emotionally engaging. Everything I've read since, in terms of tailoring your own choice of wood etc just reaffirms to me that this company is next level in everything it does. Thank you ZMF.
Hifiman : I finished off my day with finally getting a seat at the Hifiman stand. This was very busy all day long. I've written much more than I'd planned on this post so I will now go very brief. Here I listened to Audivina, HE1000, HE1000se, Edition XS and Arya Organic. Unfortunately the room noise was coming through quite strong on all listens and there was a conversation taking place right next to me. But immediate thoughts were the lightweight feel and build of each, good comfort levels and nothing at all to dislike sound wise, but nothing to immediately grab me either. Without doubt my favourite was the Arya Organic. Very nice tuning! Then like a fool I spotted the Susvara free, so I leaned over, unplugged it from it's amp and plugged it into my DX300, lol. Immediately the friendly rep that had lent me the 4.4 cable told me that it won't work, although I could try. The penny then dropped about what it takes to drive them and by the time I'd quickly unplugged, the amp was taken and so I lent back over to put them back and chalked it off to experience, deciding to leave it until hopefully next year and going off to buy the Meze 109 before heading home.
What I learnt from CanJam was that I was able to pretty quickly gain a feel for what I liked, what I didn't like, what appeared in between and what totally blew me away. I also realised that in truth I probably hadn't done a single headphone full justice but did get pretty good first impressions. So anything I've written in my two posts really shouldn't be taken as criticism on the things that didn't immediately float my boat. They are just my snapshot impressions from own personal tastes, nothing more.
Highlights from the show for me are the Meze Elites. I still can't get over how true to life they represent instruments. My gob was truly smacked.
ZMF blew me away on every single level and I now have some closed backs on my wish list that are potentially obtainable.
Honourable mention to Hedd for something truly unique. Speed and attack were unrivalled, although they are not my listening choice.
Also Spirit Torino Centauri. Totally quirky sound but one that I really enjoyed. Headband discomfort let it down unfortunately.
What a day! What an event! Thank you to everyone involved in putting this amazing experience on.
Audeze:
I sat down at the Audeze table for a bit but ended up having a nice chat with a fellow listener instead, mainly about Sennheiser lol, and so didn't do much listening. It was quite busy there. As they weren't on my radar as such, superficially because the brand's line up isn't particularly asthetically pleasing to me, I didn't honestly pay enough attention to them. I listened only to the LCD X. Comfort was good and build quality appeared good too. Sound was nice all round, nothing for me not to like and much more enjoyable to my ears than the Focals I heard, but not quite matching what I was really enjoying from Meze. Had I known what I was going to do next, I should have tried some of their closed backs, but hey ho, another time hopefully.
ZMF : What an amazing experience their room was! So relaxed, so friendly and eye candy galore, which included some pretty stellar DAPs on the table too. However, the real star, and the one that matters most, was the sound of what I listened to. Absolutely phenomenal to my ears!
The unamed one - Having not found a Denon 9200 or 7200 anywhere to listen to at the show (something I was really hoping for) it seemed fortuitous to find a gorgeous looking wooden closed back sat right in front of me. In an instant I was provided with a 4.4mm balanced cable so I could plug in my DX300 and I was away. And boy was I away! One of my chief test tracks is a live B&W Sound Society recording of Tanishé performing Zambezi. This version, although this is not the recording I have:
On the live recording he speaks briefly to the audience and a female band member laughs at what he says. She then laughs again and the audience laugh too. On all the headphones I currently own, she laughs about 3ft from my right ear. On most, not all, of what I listened to on Sunday she laughs about 15ft away. On these ZMF's she's still about 15ft away, but then that second laugh and crowd laughter suddenly revealed more layers within the crowd. Lol, I then laughed myself at this and instantly rewound to hear again. Could this really be true? It was! Then the Mbira kicks in. This will instantly find out any headphone that doesn't work for me in terms of 'brightness'. The Meze Elites btw had me rewinding this part in utter disbelief at the Mbira realism. I heard nothing else that day that matches the Elites for realism on instruments, ALL instruments on EVERYTHING I chucked at it! They had me listening with amazement and huge amounts of enjoyment. These ZMF's however had me listening with emotion. So next up was to try some rumble with Nitin Sawney's Nadia. Oh dear!... At this point in proceedings I had to fight my bottom lip to stop it trembling and I suddenly had some dust in my eye I think. Maybe it was the track, it's emotional for sure, but the sound of these ZMF'S was doing it's work here and no mistake. My composure regained I proceeded with some more of my test tracks and now I was just in heaven. Big grin on my face and so involved in everything I listened to. I put them down and then it dawned on me again that these were actually closed backs, What! All I really knew about ZMF beforehand was that they look lovely and are out of my price range, but I had to ask what model I'd just listened to and the price. The news that they plan on them being about £1000 on release made me feel like I'd just won the lottery. I already knew I would be buying the Meze 109's that day because bang for the buck and pure enjoyment, I couldn't walk away without a set at show price. These ZMF's at that price takes bang for the buck to new levels in my book. Bouyed by this I asked what other closed backs they had. Instantly I was presented with three more models to try.
Vérité Closed, Atrium Closed, Atticus - Presented with these three lined up I had already forgotten which was which before I put them on as I'd not read up on ZMF at all before attending. All three had that same level of comfort that I found with the unnamed set. All three were of a more sophisticated build, it seemed on brief impressions (I particularly liked the fact that the unnamed set have 3.5mm connections to the cups and felt more portable) The sound was again, on all three, emotional and engaging but one stood out in particular. Upon asking, it turned out to be the Vérité. On finding out the price, I was both not at all surprised, but also doubly pleased that the unnamed set now seemed to represent even more value. I really really liked the unnamed set, albeit a very very close call, perhaps even a tad more so than the Vérité. Although the soundstage on all was incredible for closed backs, on the Vérité it was up on levels that defy logic to me...Absolutely sublime!
Caldera - Before leaving I saw a pair of open backs free near by. At this point I again didn't know the model ( there were so many headphones available to listen to and in a wide variety of woods) so I just listened. I think at this point I was already away with the fairies by my experiences with the closed backs and in all honesty, just like when at the Audeze stand, I didn't give them the time and respect they deserved. They just ticked every single box but without surpassing my favourites from the day.
Apologies for the rambling on the ZMF's, but they warrant it! I could probably say I've become an instant fanboy, such was my experience on the day, but mostly because their sound was just so emotionally engaging. Everything I've read since, in terms of tailoring your own choice of wood etc just reaffirms to me that this company is next level in everything it does. Thank you ZMF.
Hifiman : I finished off my day with finally getting a seat at the Hifiman stand. This was very busy all day long. I've written much more than I'd planned on this post so I will now go very brief. Here I listened to Audivina, HE1000, HE1000se, Edition XS and Arya Organic. Unfortunately the room noise was coming through quite strong on all listens and there was a conversation taking place right next to me. But immediate thoughts were the lightweight feel and build of each, good comfort levels and nothing at all to dislike sound wise, but nothing to immediately grab me either. Without doubt my favourite was the Arya Organic. Very nice tuning! Then like a fool I spotted the Susvara free, so I leaned over, unplugged it from it's amp and plugged it into my DX300, lol. Immediately the friendly rep that had lent me the 4.4 cable told me that it won't work, although I could try. The penny then dropped about what it takes to drive them and by the time I'd quickly unplugged, the amp was taken and so I lent back over to put them back and chalked it off to experience, deciding to leave it until hopefully next year and going off to buy the Meze 109 before heading home.
What I learnt from CanJam was that I was able to pretty quickly gain a feel for what I liked, what I didn't like, what appeared in between and what totally blew me away. I also realised that in truth I probably hadn't done a single headphone full justice but did get pretty good first impressions. So anything I've written in my two posts really shouldn't be taken as criticism on the things that didn't immediately float my boat. They are just my snapshot impressions from own personal tastes, nothing more.
Highlights from the show for me are the Meze Elites. I still can't get over how true to life they represent instruments. My gob was truly smacked.
ZMF blew me away on every single level and I now have some closed backs on my wish list that are potentially obtainable.
Honourable mention to Hedd for something truly unique. Speed and attack were unrivalled, although they are not my listening choice.
Also Spirit Torino Centauri. Totally quirky sound but one that I really enjoyed. Headband discomfort let it down unfortunately.
What a day! What an event! Thank you to everyone involved in putting this amazing experience on.
What did you like about the Prestige Ltd? Asking as I've only tried one ThieAudio IEM.
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One last post to wrap up my show impressions and this one focuses primarily on headphones I haven't covered before.
Headamp may not have made it over to CanJam London this time, and it appears they won't be doing so again unfortunately, but my Friday night preview sessions continued with Hifiman as they were setting up the booth for the weekend. I was able to spend some time with the recently released Arya Organic and Ananda Nano, both of which came out seemingly out of nowhere. The Arya Organic continued the trend of a new Hifiman open-back planar that doesn't sound like the rest, which started with the HE1000 Stealth as far as I am concerned. The new Arya goes for a sub-bass emphasis and more elevated upper treble making for a U-shaped sound which can be divisive. I knew instantly that I had to spend more time with this set to see how the $999 Arya Stealth and $1400 HE1000 Stealth compare to this $1300 offering, and Hifiman was kind enough to provide that very set in the photos as a review loaner to take back with me.
The Ananda Nano, on the other hand, is a pretty safe recommendation. I did not notice anything differently tuned from the usual oval cup Hifiman planar set but it was less bright than the previous Ananda Stealth, benefits from a price cut applied across most of the Hifiman line-up, and did feel more resolving albeit this is dependent on memory rather than A/B testing at the time. Given the lack of space in my luggage, I chose to instead take the EF600 DAC/amp for review over this for now but hopefully others will have reviews sooner than later. Then I laid my eyes upon the new EF1000 DAC whose name isn't the most descriptive given it also has a headphones amplifier and preamp built-in. The original EF1000 was a 2-piece headphone amplifier setup which had a separate power unit, used a tube preamp stage and a solid state amplifier stage, while also supporting headphones and speakers alike. This new beast is a single unit that occupies the same form factor as the EF1000 amplifier and uses Hifiman's Himalaya R-2R DACs inside. Think of it as an EF400/EF600 on steroids, including with the price tag! I didn't spend too much time with this amplifier since it was still being set up but hopefully will audition it sooner than later.
Sunday mornings are always the quietest time at any CanJam and this time was no exception. I decided to make use of this to try out open-back headphones and the Audeze MM-100 was on the list. This unicorn set has been delayed for months now with many people still starving for impressions and I am happy to say the MM-100 is shaping up to be a hit in the <$500 market. It's better built than the Sundara and Edition XS from Hifiman for those looking at planar magnetic headphones, and takes cues from the more expensive MM-500 (which itself borrowed some ideas from the even more expensive LCD-5) to put out a fairly neutral sound targeting professionals in the music industry first and audiophiles next. The headband and yokes appear to be shared DNA with the closed-back Maxwell although the design language is clearly from the MM line with the gunmetal gray ear cups and the clean finish. I thought the ear gain region was slightly reduced here compared to the MM-500 and LCD-5, which is good news for those who found those two sets shouty, but again keep the show condition caveat in mind. There's plenty of room for larger heads and ears alike, and Audeze has also gone with two 3.5 mm TRRS connections to save weight and allow for single or dual-entry cables depending on your preferences.
Last year my goal with CanJam London was to get familiar with e-stats and perhaps make a decision on a reference e-stat amp to use in my reviews. That ended up being a major success as I listened to the likes of the Audeze CRBN, STAX SR-X9000, Hifiman Shangri-La Sr/Jr, and many others while also walking away from the show with my very own @HeadAmpTeam BHSE I use in my e-stat headphone reviews every time. My audio review journey has been weird with a lot of planar headphones at my disposal and then a bunch of e-stats too, meaning I was suddenly finding myself without a lot of dynamic driver headphones for comparisons. I wanted to at least listen to the community favorites, with the likes of @TaronL helping out with Focal and then ZMF announced they would be at CanJam London. Meeting and listening to ZMF headphones was this year's goal, and imagine my surprise then to run into @zach915m the Friday afternoon and chatting briefly which led to meeting him on Saturday and then again on Sunday too! To say he, Bev, Kevin and the rest of the team were a delight would be an understatement. They had the most impressive display at the show by far, with a wall nook literally crammed with some of the very best looking headphones I've ever seen. The ZMF room also had something really useful that I want other manufacturers to do- useful guides about different amplifiers on hand, their output impedances, recommended headphones to be used with them, and even spare pads to try out. You could go pick any headphone and try with any amp available there, change out the pads, try out different wood types to see how the wood density played a role with music transients and much more.
The team were super patient and helpful throughout and everyone was happy to chat about anything and everything. What a cool experience this was! I listened to so much that I really would need pages to talk just about ZMF headphones, but in short I'd say my favorites were the Caldera (yes I still like planars, surprise surprise) but also the Atrium Open and Closed and the Auteur Classic. I left the show with a Caldera loaner unit for review thanks to Zach but something tells me there will be a few stabilized resin Atrium/Auteur units taking up residency in my place sooner than later. I also appreciated the different amps on hand (not pictured were the likes of the entire Holo stack) and the Bottlehead tube amp as well as the JDS collab both seem very intriguing indeed. I unfortunately did not have enough time to properly test them out at the show.
So while I didn't add to my DD headphones collection just yet, what gave me pause on outright buying one was this thing. The new portable DD closed-back from ZMF that's nearly ready to go. Aimed at the $1000 market, this is a more streamlined set (dual 3.5 mm TRS instead of mini XLR, maybe not going to have custom wood finishes etc) that still gets tuned to the same extent as any other ZMF. In fact, I might prefer this over the Verite Closed based on my ~10 min with each! It uses an LCP diaphragm to make for a set of headphones you can drive off an Apple dongle too, let alone a more powerful DAC/amp. These headphones were extremely comfortable and, given the lack of well-tuned closed-back headphones to begin with, I will be keeping a close eye on its release.
Oh yeah, there was this thing too. Cool. See you guys at CanJam London 2024- hopefully in July!
Headamp may not have made it over to CanJam London this time, and it appears they won't be doing so again unfortunately, but my Friday night preview sessions continued with Hifiman as they were setting up the booth for the weekend. I was able to spend some time with the recently released Arya Organic and Ananda Nano, both of which came out seemingly out of nowhere. The Arya Organic continued the trend of a new Hifiman open-back planar that doesn't sound like the rest, which started with the HE1000 Stealth as far as I am concerned. The new Arya goes for a sub-bass emphasis and more elevated upper treble making for a U-shaped sound which can be divisive. I knew instantly that I had to spend more time with this set to see how the $999 Arya Stealth and $1400 HE1000 Stealth compare to this $1300 offering, and Hifiman was kind enough to provide that very set in the photos as a review loaner to take back with me.
The Ananda Nano, on the other hand, is a pretty safe recommendation. I did not notice anything differently tuned from the usual oval cup Hifiman planar set but it was less bright than the previous Ananda Stealth, benefits from a price cut applied across most of the Hifiman line-up, and did feel more resolving albeit this is dependent on memory rather than A/B testing at the time. Given the lack of space in my luggage, I chose to instead take the EF600 DAC/amp for review over this for now but hopefully others will have reviews sooner than later. Then I laid my eyes upon the new EF1000 DAC whose name isn't the most descriptive given it also has a headphones amplifier and preamp built-in. The original EF1000 was a 2-piece headphone amplifier setup which had a separate power unit, used a tube preamp stage and a solid state amplifier stage, while also supporting headphones and speakers alike. This new beast is a single unit that occupies the same form factor as the EF1000 amplifier and uses Hifiman's Himalaya R-2R DACs inside. Think of it as an EF400/EF600 on steroids, including with the price tag! I didn't spend too much time with this amplifier since it was still being set up but hopefully will audition it sooner than later.
Sunday mornings are always the quietest time at any CanJam and this time was no exception. I decided to make use of this to try out open-back headphones and the Audeze MM-100 was on the list. This unicorn set has been delayed for months now with many people still starving for impressions and I am happy to say the MM-100 is shaping up to be a hit in the <$500 market. It's better built than the Sundara and Edition XS from Hifiman for those looking at planar magnetic headphones, and takes cues from the more expensive MM-500 (which itself borrowed some ideas from the even more expensive LCD-5) to put out a fairly neutral sound targeting professionals in the music industry first and audiophiles next. The headband and yokes appear to be shared DNA with the closed-back Maxwell although the design language is clearly from the MM line with the gunmetal gray ear cups and the clean finish. I thought the ear gain region was slightly reduced here compared to the MM-500 and LCD-5, which is good news for those who found those two sets shouty, but again keep the show condition caveat in mind. There's plenty of room for larger heads and ears alike, and Audeze has also gone with two 3.5 mm TRRS connections to save weight and allow for single or dual-entry cables depending on your preferences.
Last year my goal with CanJam London was to get familiar with e-stats and perhaps make a decision on a reference e-stat amp to use in my reviews. That ended up being a major success as I listened to the likes of the Audeze CRBN, STAX SR-X9000, Hifiman Shangri-La Sr/Jr, and many others while also walking away from the show with my very own @HeadAmpTeam BHSE I use in my e-stat headphone reviews every time. My audio review journey has been weird with a lot of planar headphones at my disposal and then a bunch of e-stats too, meaning I was suddenly finding myself without a lot of dynamic driver headphones for comparisons. I wanted to at least listen to the community favorites, with the likes of @TaronL helping out with Focal and then ZMF announced they would be at CanJam London. Meeting and listening to ZMF headphones was this year's goal, and imagine my surprise then to run into @zach915m the Friday afternoon and chatting briefly which led to meeting him on Saturday and then again on Sunday too! To say he, Bev, Kevin and the rest of the team were a delight would be an understatement. They had the most impressive display at the show by far, with a wall nook literally crammed with some of the very best looking headphones I've ever seen. The ZMF room also had something really useful that I want other manufacturers to do- useful guides about different amplifiers on hand, their output impedances, recommended headphones to be used with them, and even spare pads to try out. You could go pick any headphone and try with any amp available there, change out the pads, try out different wood types to see how the wood density played a role with music transients and much more.
The team were super patient and helpful throughout and everyone was happy to chat about anything and everything. What a cool experience this was! I listened to so much that I really would need pages to talk just about ZMF headphones, but in short I'd say my favorites were the Caldera (yes I still like planars, surprise surprise) but also the Atrium Open and Closed and the Auteur Classic. I left the show with a Caldera loaner unit for review thanks to Zach but something tells me there will be a few stabilized resin Atrium/Auteur units taking up residency in my place sooner than later. I also appreciated the different amps on hand (not pictured were the likes of the entire Holo stack) and the Bottlehead tube amp as well as the JDS collab both seem very intriguing indeed. I unfortunately did not have enough time to properly test them out at the show.
So while I didn't add to my DD headphones collection just yet, what gave me pause on outright buying one was this thing. The new portable DD closed-back from ZMF that's nearly ready to go. Aimed at the $1000 market, this is a more streamlined set (dual 3.5 mm TRS instead of mini XLR, maybe not going to have custom wood finishes etc) that still gets tuned to the same extent as any other ZMF. In fact, I might prefer this over the Verite Closed based on my ~10 min with each! It uses an LCP diaphragm to make for a set of headphones you can drive off an Apple dongle too, let alone a more powerful DAC/amp. These headphones were extremely comfortable and, given the lack of well-tuned closed-back headphones to begin with, I will be keeping a close eye on its release.
Oh yeah, there was this thing too. Cool. See you guys at CanJam London 2024- hopefully in July!
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This is awkward I completely forgot about the 10 minutes in the Yamaha booth until reading this post
Apparently wanted to forget the experience. Looking at my bullet point notes I thought there was bass distortion, uneven mid to treble and soft sounding. Unsure if it is the official amp, the ear pads or what, suspect it is fundamental to the headphone. On the plus side the looping video indicates the headphone is individually handmade in Japan and so any buyer knows they are supporting the workers, which we need if Yamaha try for version 2 
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I have the Monarch OG and I found in the Prestige LTD what I miss in Monarch: soundstage and treble above all. But also texture, definition and resolution are better.
Thanks.
I went to the Royal Albert Hall with my daughter who studied music composition for film and games. She had a go at conducting too as part of her degree. Yet for some strange reasons this is the first classical music concert we have attended. I put that for context so you don't get led into thinking I'm some sort of expert. I'm not!
We went for Stravinsky's Firebird. Also on the programme was Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No.2 in F major. The programme opened with the European premier of Sammy Moussa's Symphony No.2. He was in the audience btw and was invited to stand up for very well deserved applause.
We were sat to the left of the Orchestra, in the Stalls, G. Fantastic seats and acoustics ( Although I have nothing to compare it to as it was my first visit). We are also going up again for Max Richter's The Four Seasons Recomposed. Pretty much the same seats, but this time to the right of the Orchestra.
There was no comparison for me between the Meze Elites and Heddphone V2. None whatsoever. Totally different beasts.
I should start by saying how well a headphone realistically represent instruments, particularly 'real' instruments, was not even on my radar. I have been to a lot of live music events over the years....WOMAD festivals, monthly Jazz concerts, more Reggae concerts than I can remember, lol, village hall intimate performances and pub Bluegrass and Folk sessions etc. Yet nope, my headphones listening and choices doesn't seek to replicate those experiences. This is perhaps why the Meze Elites just jumped out at me instantly. Perhaps because I was fresh from the Prom experience but this is precisely why the Elites immediately grabbed my full attention. I had literally never heard anything like it before. Neither did I hear anything quite like it for the rest of the day. I'm afraid I can't really give a detailed appraisal that might satisfy an expert because I lack both the knowledge and vocabulary. But I definitely know what I heard from feel and it was incredible!
The Heddphones were totally different to my ears. Again, I wasn't listening for realistic live instrument representation, and so it didn't jump out at me. What did immediately jump out at me was attack, speed, agility. Again, I don't feel confident to be able to actually define that but what I do know was that it almost took my breath away. It was seriously impressive, unique even, but I could not listen to music that way for long or indeed fully enjoy it. It wasn't dry or brittle or over detailed, so it was never fatiguing as such, but just not for me. The Meze Elites however were very very enjoyable. I felt I could listen to them all day, love them to bits but unable to fathom quite how they do what they do and so want to try to trip them up on something, and most likely completely failing to do so. Money no object, I would have walked away with a pair there and then. But then money no object, I would have come home with several sets of ZMF's too!
Oh, and on Hifiman. Again, sorry for the lack of the specific reference point you're after. What I can say is that I particularly liked the Arya Organic. I suppose there's a 'warm' theme going on here for me. They floated my boat.
Best of luck with your auditions.
Exactly my thoughts on the yet to be released closed back from ZMF. The closed back Vérité was exceptional to me for soundstage from a closed back, but this other one just had something about it that I really really liked. If they do release it as is, at that price point, it seems like a complete game changer to me (forgive the tired cliché, but it just is).One last post to wrap up my show impressions and this one focuses primarily on headphones I haven't covered before.
Headamp may not have made it over to CanJam London this time, and it appears they won't be doing so again unfortunately, but my Friday night preview sessions continued with Hifiman as they were setting up the booth for the weekend. I was able to spend some time with the recently released Arya Organic and Ananda Nano, both of which came out seemingly out of nowhere. The Arya Organic continued the trend of a new Hifiman open-back planar that doesn't sound like the rest, which started with the HE1000 Stealth as far as I am concerned. The new Arya goes for a sub-bass emphasis and more elevated upper treble making for a U-shaped sound which can be divisive. I knew instantly that I had to spend more time with this set to see how the $999 Arya Stealth and $1400 HE1000 Stealth compare to this $1300 offering, and Hifiman was kind enough to provide that very set in the photos as a review loaner to take back with me.
The Ananda Nano, on the other hand, is a pretty safe recommendation. I did not notice anything differently tuned from the usual oval cup Hifiman planar set but it was less bright than the previous Ananda Stealth, benefits from a price cut applied across most of the Hifiman line-up, and did feel more resolving albeit this is dependent on memory rather than A/B testing at the time. Given the lack of space in my luggage, I chose to instead take the EF600 DAC/amp for review over this for now but hopefully others will have reviews sooner than later. Then I laid my eyes upon the new EF1000 DAC whose name isn't the most descriptive given it also has a headphones amplifier and preamp built-in. The original EF1000 was a 2-piece headphone amplifier setup which had a separate power unit, used a tube preamp stage and a solid state amplifier stage, while also supporting headphones and speakers alike. This new beast is a single unit that occupies the same form factor as the EF1000 amplifier and uses Hifiman's Himalaya R-2R DACs inside. Think of it as an EF400/EF600 on steroids, including with the price tag! I didn't spend too much time with this amplifier since it was still being set up but hopefully will audition it sooner than later.
Sunday mornings are always the quietest time at any CanJam and this time was no exception. I decided to make use of this to try out open-back headphones and the Audeze MM-100 was on the list. This unicorn set has been delayed for months now with many people still starving for impressions and I am happy to say the MM-100 is shaping up to be a hit in the <$500 market. It's better built than the Sundara and Edition XS from Hifiman for those looking at planar magnetic headphones, and takes cues from the more expensive MM-500 (which itself borrowed some ideas from the even more expensive LCD-5) to put out a fairly neutral sound targeting professionals in the music industry first and audiophiles next. The headband and yokes appear to be shared DNA with the closed-back Maxwell although the design language is clearly from the MM line with the gunmetal gray ear cups and the clean finish. I thought the ear gain region was slightly reduced here compared to the MM-500 and LCD-5, which is good news for those who found those two sets shouty, but again keep the show condition caveat in mind. There's plenty of room for larger heads and ears alike, and Audeze has also gone with two 3.5 mm TRRS connections to save weight and allow for single or dual-entry cables depending on your preferences.
Last year my goal with CanJam London was to get familiar with e-stats and perhaps make a decision on a reference e-stat amp to use in my reviews. That ended up being a major success as I listened to the likes of the Audeze CRBN, STAX SR-X9000, Hifiman Shangri-La Sr/Jr, and many others while also walking away from the show with my very own @HeadAmpTeam BHSE I use in my e-stat headphone reviews every time. My audio review journey has been weird with a lot of planar headphones at my disposal and then a bunch of e-stats too, meaning I was suddenly finding myself without a lot of dynamic driver headphones for comparisons. I wanted to at least listen to the community favorites, with the likes of @TaronL helping out with Focal and then ZMF announced they would be at CanJam London. Meeting and listening to ZMF headphones was this year's goal, and imagine my surprise then to run into @zach915m the Friday afternoon and chatting briefly which led to meeting him on Saturday and then again on Sunday too! To say he, Bev, Kevin and the rest of the team were a delight would be an understatement. They had the most impressive display at the show by far, with a wall nook literally crammed with some of the very best looking headphones I've ever seen. The ZMF room also had something really useful that I want other manufacturers to do- useful guides about different amplifiers on hand, their output impedances, recommended headphones to be used with them, and even spare pads to try out. You could go pick any headphone and try with any amp available there, change out the pads, try out different wood types to see how the wood density played a role with music transients and much more.
The team were super patient and helpful throughout and everyone was happy to chat about anything and everything. What a cool experience this was! I listened to so much that I really would need pages to talk just about ZMF headphones, but in short I'd say my favorites were the Caldera (yes I still like planars, surprise surprise) but also the Atrium Open and Closed and the Auteur Classic. I left the show with a Caldera loaner unit for review thanks to Zach but something tells me there will be a few stabilized resin Atrium/Auteur units taking up residency in my place sooner than later. I also appreciated the different amps on hand (not pictured were the likes of the entire Holo stack) and the Bottlehead tube amp as well as the JDS collab both seem very intriguing indeed. I unfortunately did not have enough time to properly test them out at the show.
So while I didn't add to my DD headphones collection just yet, what gave me pause on outright buying one was this thing. The new portable DD closed-back from ZMF that's nearly ready to go. Aimed at the $1000 market, this is a more streamlined set (dual 3.5 mm TRS instead of mini XLR, maybe not going to have custom wood finishes etc) that still gets tuned to the same extent as any other ZMF. In fact, I might prefer this over the Verite Closed based on my ~10 min with each! It uses an LCP diaphragm to make for a set of headphones you can drive off an Apple dongle too, let alone a more powerful DAC/amp. These headphones were extremely comfortable and, given the lack of well-tuned closed-back headphones to begin with, I will be keeping a close eye on its release.
Oh yeah, there was this thing too. Cool. See you guys at CanJam London 2024- hopefully in July!
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Wow... them Yamaha's are £5000.
Had no idea hahaha.
I demoed them thinking they're Yamahas so probably ~£500ish and performed well at that range (e.g. compete with hifimans entry-mid level offering at that price).
For £5000 the acoustic phone box surely has to come with it. Googling "acoustic phone booths" and some are going for £5k so I assume with Yamaha you buy the booth and get a free pair of headphones. Not sure what I'd do with the booth, but it'd be more useful than them headphones.
Must have been something wrong with the setup that the Yamaha rep didn't notice (was he an audiophile?)
But have to say the impressions many of you have posted are fantastic, detailed and well written (especially that IEM aficionado - jackpot77 - extremely helpful stuff).
Seems like lots of you came prepared and focussed unlike me hahaha.
Had no idea hahaha.
I demoed them thinking they're Yamahas so probably ~£500ish and performed well at that range (e.g. compete with hifimans entry-mid level offering at that price).
For £5000 the acoustic phone box surely has to come with it. Googling "acoustic phone booths" and some are going for £5k so I assume with Yamaha you buy the booth and get a free pair of headphones. Not sure what I'd do with the booth, but it'd be more useful than them headphones.
Must have been something wrong with the setup that the Yamaha rep didn't notice (was he an audiophile?)
But have to say the impressions many of you have posted are fantastic, detailed and well written (especially that IEM aficionado - jackpot77 - extremely helpful stuff).
Seems like lots of you came prepared and focussed unlike me hahaha.
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anyone compared raven to storm and xe6?
I have heard all 3, Raven and XE6 at Canjam London and storm some time before that… quite honestly, all three couldn't be any further apart haha. All going for very different signatures and experiences so it depends on what you’re looking for?
I didn't try Yamahas. In fact, I wouldn't even care to try them among 10 headphones that cost $200. Sorry but Hifiman's even entry level HPs are not that badly tuned. What a joke!
I didn't try Yamahas. In fact, I wouldn't even care to try them among 10 headphones that cost $200. Sorry but Hifiman's even entry level HPs are not that badly tuned. What a joke!
You have two options Neo. Take the blue pill, you wake up in your bed and everything is normal, the Harman Target is untouchable, you won't have to worry about testing anything for yourself or listening to new gear. Agent Resolve will never hurt you again. You will be comfortable, happy even at times, and all those who enjoy headphones that do not meet the Harman Target will simply be mad, to be ignored, or in the worst cases, eliminated.
Or you take the red pill, have your own ears and judgement, and no longer think a single line in 2D space can sum up the audio experience, which is the sum total of waves intefrering spatially and in time, a fourdimensional array of oscillations interacting with your unique biology to produce an output. The people who enjoy wildly different sound signatures are no longer crazy, just different. The world becomes complex, and headphones.com reviews will no longer provide you with that same warm cosy comfort that all is well. You will have to venture out into the world, think, and i daresay feel for yourself.
So, which will it be Neo?
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