First of all, big thanks to the organizers and exhibitors. It was a big event and some people were looking understandably tired towards the end, but always helpful.
This was my first Canjam or any event similar. We got there shortly after it started on Sat and it was already packed, and quickly got pretty hot in the main space until the air con kicked in later. At first I was sweating!
Impressions:
Klipsch HP-3 and heritage headphone amp were on my list to check out, and sounded great. The combo works well and both individually sounded good connected to different sources/headphones. The amp is definitely on my list to buy - they weren’t selling any amps at the event. Might pick up the HP-3 to match if I can afford it one day.
Next up were Campfire Cascades - they had two sets, one with the cloth pads and another with the leather. I tried the cloth first and was immediately surprised at just how much bass these things have. Asked one of the guys there what the difference was and couldn’t believe when he told me cloth was more linear, with more bass on the leather pads. Tried those next and jeepers this bass emphasis is huge. I love bass - my daily headphone is the B&W P7 (which I was using to test things at the show) and I even use them with BBE effects on a Cowon player (which makes the signature more V-shaped). I’ve also owned the Sennheiser HD630VB in the past. So yeah I’m a fan of the bass, so was pretty surprised I found a headphone that was even too overwhelming for me! Maybe I would buy one to use with cloth pads.
Also tried the Campfire Comets, but they just reinforced that I really am a headphone fan and not into IEMs in general, the SQ is too dependent on fiddling with a good fit.
At the Focal stand my favorites were the Clears. Elears seemed a bit congested to me, and Utopias were okay but didn’t seem as good as the Clears. Unfortunately they didn’t have the Elegias. In all the Focal range seemed good but didn’t grab me and make me think I needed to buy them - surprisingly that was also the case for a number of things at the show, and more expensive definitely didn’t equate to better. I had always thought that but it was a useful experience to hear it at the show. Also, each headphone was hooked up to different gear so that could influence impressions too.
The Chord team were great - so friendly and easy to chat with. Also, they had the most varied collection of tracks loaded up on their source devices (iPads or macs) - other stands were pretty slim on the range of choices. My partner, who came for an afternoon and isn’t into hi fi, listened to the M-scaler feeding into the Hugo 2 TT, and was seriously impressed at how real and lifelike it sounded - as was I. It also ruined everything for the rest of the afternoon, where no matter what she heard it wasn’t as good!
I heard the Dave but felt like I preferred the Hugo 2 TT/M scaler set up. Chord were also doing the Mr Speakers range hooked up to their sources, which made for a great way to trial the headphones too. I used to have a Mojo and am familiar with it’s sound (and sometimes regret selling it!). They had one hooked up to the Aeon Flow Closed - fantastic pairing, and I was surprised that Rob Watts said the Aeon Flow Closed was his favorite. I’ve been looking for a pair of high end closed backs and after today the Aeon Flow Closed are going to be it - so that was a nice surprise, I arrived thinking the Cascades would be me all the way.
The Hifiman stand was packed and I didn’t get in over the whole two days. Not too bothered, prefer closed backs.
Was genuinely impressed with the iBasso DX120 - so good for the money. I ended up listening to it 3 times over the weekend, and was considering getting one there and then. The UI is simple to use, sounds great. They also had the DX200 range: standard model, titanium and copper. I think I only tried the standard, had more bass kick than I was expecting, more than the DX150. Great player.
At the iFi stand I tried the xDSD and xCAN - Bluetooth DACs makes listening to your own music and tracks you’re familiar with so handy. But I don’t really understand why the two products - they seem so similar in features and sound I don’t get why they’ve released both. I used to have a micro iDSD (silver model) and the sound of both the xDSD and xCAN was reminiscent of the same iFi signature; a focus on the upper mids and lower treble in terms of resolution and detail, very easy to listen to sound.
Speaking of Bluetooth DACs I also tried the new touchscreen Lotoo Gold player - it was good, way easier to use than the Paw Gold they had there too. I thought the sound edged out ahead too.
One other surprise of the show for me was wandering around I saw an Oriolus stand - hadn’t heard of them before but was drawn to a simple-in-a-good-way player they had called the DP100. They had a black aluminum body version, which seems was released last year, and a copper body with gold plating (like the Sony WM1Z) limited version.
The UI is simple and a bit quirky but works well - no touch screen but a scroll wheel which you can also depress to select (I think Fiio did something similar on a previous player?). The sound was excellent, especially the copper/gold version, which added more body and fullness to the lows and mids. Again, I was wondering about buying one there and then. They didn’t have any stock of the copper/gold model to sell, but my partner who speaks Mandarin chatted with them for a while and overnight messaged her to offer the single demo unit they had, at a discount since it was used and minus the usual accessories including leather case. I went back and listened to it on Sunday, but in the end decided not to go ahead. It’s not that the DP100 copper/gold wasn’t good enough but reflects the huge competition- I can get the Klipsch Heritage Headphone Amplifier for only a bit more, and also here in China the A model of the Sony ZX300 is available crazy cheap for 2300 yuan. I feel bad for the Oriolus team for not taking them up on the offer! So friendly and helpful, and from my partner’s conversations with them the people manning the stand were actually the manufacturers, and heading back to the factory after the event.
Oriolus also had an interesting prototype for trial, the DP150. It’s a DAP with a tube amp, like the new Cayin flagship. Also, like iBasso and Fiio players you can switch the amp units, which changes the tube and also the DAC chip! Hadn’t seen that in a player before.
Although Sony weren’t there, there were a few products around at various stands, so I trialed the ZX300 and WM1Z. Their flagship headphone was also at another stand but I didn’t manage to trial it. I was surprised at how polite the ZX300 sounded. The UI wasn’t that intuitive, but was in Mandarin so I struggled, but more so than with other players there (most of which were set to Mandarin). I also trialed the ZX300 at the Sony store nearby, and will probably head back today. Didn’t have much time to really focus on it, but seemed like once my brain adjusted after a few moments there was sufficient detail and rhythm there. Oriolus had a ZX300 hooked up to a portable balanced tube amp, which accepts a 4.4mm balanced input. Sounded good, more full bodied and with more output power than the 4.4mm out of the ZX300 alone.
The WM1Z was smaller and lighter than I expected. Sounded good, but I wasn’t as floored as I felt I should be given the price. There were a few high end items like this I tried out of curiosity, knowing I had no intention of spending that much on them, but didn’t really feel like I was sorely missing out at a lower price range. Maybe also since I knew I’d never own them I wasn’t too critical in my listening and paid more attention when listening to something I would actually buy.
Also tried the Colorfly C10 and Opus range - they all seemed okay; not disappointing but not making me want to buy them there and then.
These Auris headphone amps are huge in person (didn’t actually listen to them):
So, thanks to all involved, really interesting experience. In future I would take a versatile source, with Bluetooth and coaxial, maybe optical outputs, to help trial with your own music. I had my phone but sometimes couldn’t get Bluetooth to pair or didn’t have the right connector. Also, a small microSD card with only a dozen or so familiar tracks for trialing would be handy - on some stands I swapped in the card from my Cowon player but it has my entire music collection on it.
