[Ojisan]

Might be fun to post our first IEMs, the gateway drugs that got us all here. For me it was Campfire Vega OG. Blew my mind as to what an IEM could achieve. First "DAP" I used wwith it was a modded Wolfson DAC iPod... No pictures, alas...

My first MP3 player in 2001 (after generations of cassette/CD/MD walkmans) - Panasonic SD-SV80. It's only 44mm (1.73in) square.

My first real IEM purchase (2006?) - Shure e4c. I was always a stock earbuds user before this

 

[Ojisan]

Nice impressions! The porti-fi scene in Japan looks amazing. Inspiring me to schedule a trip there (with room in between for solo audio adventures )

Thanks! You can be like the family picture in it!

 

[phiemon]

Ok, so here is a quick overview of how the show was for me.
Disclaimer 1) it was very well attended and the main floor was quite noisy.
Disclaimer 2) All these impressions are my experience and therefore my own preference, my subjective opinion. Please don’t be offended if I didn’t like your personal favourite bit of gear.

Saturday
Booked in for the first session of the day with the Sennheiser HE-1. This was located upstairs in it own listening room.
Wow what can I say? What a way to kick off a CanJam weekend.
I had a 15 min slot of pure audio heaven. The HE-1 was hooked up to a DCS DAC and sounded phenomenal. Obviously I will never own something like this but boy what an experience. I would encourage anyone who has not yet had the opportunity to try this out to do so.

Next stop ZMF again upstairs in the room door. Congratulations to Zach, Bevin and the team for providing such a great set up. I kid you not there must have been getting on for nearly a 100 headphones in that room. All beautiful in design. All set up on high quality rigs. Incredible. I enjoyed all of the their offerings but I didn’t really have a standout.

Next up was the DCS room. Another fantastically well set up room. Oh boy talk about a kid in a sweet shop. My personal favourite here was the LINA stack? Not sure if that’s the right name or how you spell it. I particularly enjoyed this with the Meze Elite.

Next stop was in the main hall. I made a beeline for Vision Ears as I was keen to try out the new VEX and also revisit the EXT.
I liked the VEX but was not blown away by it. The fit was fine but I didn’t really like the design all that much. Kind of looked a bit cheap looking to me. Certainly not the usual high standards that I’ve come to expect from Vision Ears. I had a problem with the fit on the EXT which was no surprise as I struggled with it when I had it on loan as part of a tour. The VEX was probably one of the biggest disappointments and surprises to me. Maybe I was hoping for too much?

Next was Astell & Kern to treat the Aura. This time the VE design was top notch and much more to my taste. Sound wise, again I liked it but it didn’t blow me away. Again maybe my expectations were set too high. It’s hard to say what does 4K sound like but for me it felt overpriced. I came away from both stands feeling more than happy with my Phonix with no desire to add to my stable.

Next was Noble. Absolutely stunning designs, esp some of the wood options. What wasn’t so good for me though was the fit. Unfortunately I could not achieve a single seal with their IEM’s despite trying a handful of sets. Shame because if they sounded half as good as they looked it could have been wonderful.

Next was Campire Audio. To be honest they weren’t really on my radar but I thought I’d try them anyway and I was so glad I did. The Trifreca was extremely impressive. Big, bold, muscular sound almost headphone territory. Hard to describe but a wonderful, engaging experience. I also very much liked the Super Moon. Very enjoyable planar in an IEM.

Next I tried the Raven and the Evo. Again not really on my radar but I enjoyed both very much. The Raven is BIG but to my surprise it was quite a good fit and the EVO fit me even better. Both sounded great. Different but great. If I had to pick one I would opt for the EVO. I just connected with it from the first song to the last.

Next was Elise Audio. They covered a wide range of gear but I was mainly there for the XE6, RN6, Singularity & the Elysian audio IEM’s.
I really enjoyed the RN6 and can see why it’s receiving so much praise. Definitely a very versatile IEM and easy to recommend. The XE6 was brilliant fun. Some songs on this set gave me several wow moments. I’m not sure if I could live it full time but if I was in the right mood to rock out these along with the Trfecta would probably be my first choice to party with.
Next up was the Elysian X.. I didn’t know much about this IEM prior to the show but I really liked its tuning. Great fit and great sound.
Next was the Singlarity. I liked it, particularly the Bass but something about the treble area didn’t quite gel with me. Good but not great is how I would rank it.
Next was the Diva. Loved this one. Particularly when the bass switch was turned to its max setting. I think there were 3 settings/profiles to choose from. I know I will be in the minority on this one but I actually preferred it to the Anilator ( please forgive the spelling) I A/B them for a good 15-20 mins on two separate days and still came to the same conclusion.

Next was the Storm. I really enjoyed this one. Extremely nice coherent tuning. Also the design in the flash was stunning.

I finally managed to audition the UM Mentor. Wow I loved this IEM. Stunning new design and oh boy the Mids. The Mids were to die for. For me this one ticked a lot of boxes. For a couple of £1000 for a used example this is probably going to me next purchase

I tried lots of other gear but these were the main one’s I wanted to share. I hope it’s not too long

Very exciting impressions, thank you for that!

How did you like Storm exactly? How would you compare it to Mentor (for example, technically like soundstage)? Would you choose Storm or Mentor if you could? Which DAP did you use?

 

[mbirand]

Might be fun to post our first IEMs, the gateway drugs that got us all here. For me it was Campfire Vega OG. Blew my mind as to what an IEM could achieve. First "DAP" I used wwith it was a modded Wolfson DAC iPod... No pictures, alas...

mine was ie8 (around 2011/2012). it had an adjustable bass switch. its presentation to me was truly immersive and forward with excellent treble (at the time). when i broke it and i wanted a new one, i heard it was out of production. the replacement ie80 and later ie800 never felt the same way.

 

[mbirand]

anybody has any idea where can i find some information on sovereign symphony cable from nightjar ?

 

[haci]

Might be fun to post our first IEMs, the gateway drugs that got us all here. For me it was Campfire Vega OG. Blew my mind as to what an IEM could achieve. First "DAP" I used wwith it was a modded Wolfson DAC iPod... No pictures, alas...

Ex DJ here. After many years of silence in 2010 I got a Shure SE535. Had it for 4 years I think, would have been much nicer if cables were detachable.. Also learned to enjoy BA base..
Then a long silence until last year. Airpods Pro 2. Now Raven

 

[fejnomit]

- Link to part 1
- Link to part 2

Now onto part 3. I headed out to Akihabara (electric city) in Tokyo. This area is known for store after store of everything electronics, anime, cosplay, maid café, etc. A pretty wild place to visit but this time I am only here for one thing!


Potafes by e-earphone

This is the show I was really looking forward to because I have never been to Canjam or any other audio shows before. Two days, three stories of exhibit halls, in the middle of Akihabara. Let’s go!!!

Just a few minutes from the train station, you are greeted with this cool entrance by Audio-Technica. There was a live youtube stage straight ahead.


First, I headed to the bottom floor, to the furthest corner. There I found the Elysian table and I got to listen to Anni23 for the first time. Oh man, what a nice sounding set! I immediately recognized the bass character as Foster DD like DC Ti fresh in my memory from Fujiya-Avic audition. When I pointed that out to Lee, he acknowledged that it is the same Foster driver as DC Ti tuned differently. Very nice. While DC Ti is a big analog-sounding set, Anni23 is a distinctly multi-driver set with excellent resolution, separation, and tasteful overall balance. The bass sounds much more linear than Diva without bleeding into the mids. I found Diva to be too scooped in the mid-bass and prefer Ani23 by a large margin. The vocals are clear and present. Not too forward nor too back in the mix. Treble has a nice note weight and texture which adds to the realism of steel instruments. I ended up going back multiple times to the Elysian booth to hear the Anni. I must say that this was one of my favorites from this show. Thanks, Lee for a great conversation, insights, and auditions!



I took a picture of the next table by Effect Audio (below). Coincidentally, this gentleman in the green shirt was our fellow WC member @ranfan ! It probably took us another 30min of texting before we introduced ourselves!


@JordonEA greeted me here and I got to try the new Fusion 1. While it looks similar to Code 23 in the background, Fusion 1 is a very soft coaxial-style cable. The ergonomics didn’t bother me at all (but keep in mind that I am ok with the thickest cables around like PW Orpheus and Brise 8 wire). The sound of Fusion 1 leaned a little bit too much silver for my taste. Good clarity, extension, and punchy bass with a touch of warmth. Little behind in resolution compared to TOTL cables. There’s a lot of competition in this price bracket so I think it will come down to fit and taste.


Next stop was the Kinera Imperial booth. On the table far right is Loki (international version). I had no prior knowledge about this IEM but my friend insisted on trying. This audition was probably overshadowed by the strong character presented by Anni just before. To me, Loki sounded like a well-tuned neutral upper-mid-tier set with good resolution, maybe $2k range (oh I looked up and it’s 3k+…)? The first thing I noticed was the clean upper mids to treble. Good fast transients and punchy bass. Maybe a little bit on the sharp side. For me, it didn’t have the note weight that I want for instruments. Not bad but it didn’t stand out for me.


Next, I visited the Brise booth. They had just announced the new TOTL silver cable, Shirogane, based on an earlier prototype silver that I had bought. The prototype silver 8-wire had a nice silver character to the Brise Yatono sound but it was fairly conservative on the balance. The new Shirogane on the other hand was quite lively and punchy. It really caught me by surprise because this is very different from any previous Brise cables. They said the cable material is the same but made changes to the shielding and construction. The gray color you see in the picture is actually the silver color showing through a semi-transparent sleeve. As usual, very nice build. I love the understated looks of Brise cable. I heard they are coming to Canjam SoCal. If you are heading to SoCal, you should be able to try all the same stuff.


I visited the Noble booth next. I met Noble co-owner Jim Moulton and his family crew - fellow Texans! Having owned Kublai Kahn and now Ragnar, and auditioned Ronin on multiple occasions, I had to express my love for their tuning. We ended up talking more about life in Texas and Japan, and raising kids in an international environment (my kids were attending school in Tokyo this summer). Truly wonderful folks! Hopefully, I can meet again with my wife and kids and talk about IEMs on the side too I have a picture of their new Spartacus but the details slip my mind... sorry!



Speaking of families, Potafes had some family attendees too. Found these kids giving it a go at some headphones at multiple booths. They were screaming, “Youtube!!!”. I’m guessing their test tracks (shows?) are on Youtube. They are the next-generation audiophiles!


I tried the Thieaudio Monarch Mk3. This was actually a likeable set. The balance is very good. Makes for a very natural listen with good amount of note weight and resolution. It seems to fall behind on instrument separation and depth compared to some of the TOTL sets. It was easy to see why the Monarch series is so popular, especially at this price range.


Next, I visited the cool sets from Jomo – Fairlady and Skyline. Fairlady is a single DD + 2BA, and Skyline is a dual DD + 6 BA. Gotta love the name as a long-time gearhead and as someone who owned a Z car in the past. I auditioned Jomo Alpha Ti some months ago and remember being impressed with their neutral-natural tuning. I would say it was a U12t-type tuning with a little more authority in note weight and depth but a little closed-in with the stage. Fairlady and Skyline seemed to have the same tuning trend of being neutral-natural. Nothing sticks out and is very inoffensive. Fairlady was definitely flatter of the two. I think that the major shortcoming of Fairlady was the lack of resolution. It sounded pretty flat and unremarkable. Skyline had a little more punch, dynamics, and resolution to make things fun. Maybe a mid-tier contender?



I’m a fan of the VE midrange. Here, I got to hear the Aura! In short, this is Phonix LE infused with DD smoothness and bass. Not to be confused with other DD bass cannons because this is not. It’s rather a smooth analog-sounding DD with bass authority that was not present in Phonix OG/LE. From memory, it seems to have similar stage width to PLE. It has a neutral character that I notice with A&K collab IEMs. The mids don’t come forward as strong as Phonix OG or VE7/8, but it’s not lacking either. I thought the slight edgyness that I heard with Phonix OG/LE in the upper mids was smoothed out in this set. I would like to pick this up at some point and spend some time with it.


QDC had some nice sets. The white tiger and Superior. Superior was the type of neutral/natural tuning to compete with Monarch. I personally felt that the resolution was lacking for my taste. White Tiger on the other hand was tuned really well with excellent dynamics and resolution. The shell design and finish are superb. It’s slightly V-shaped with a lean but fast treble. On my first listen, I thought the vocals were thin and held back in the mix. I wanted to try again and spend more time with it but I didn’t get a chance to go back. Not something I would jump on but I would spend time with it if I have a chance. It's really challenging to give a thorough assessment of these wonderful IEMs. The White Tiger is a Japan-only model which makes it pretty unique. They said Anole V14s is still their flagship. But at roughly US$1300, I think this set has a good character for its price.


I already posted some of my comments about Lotoo Mjolnir here. Check it out if you are interested! In short, I loved it
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/new-top-lotoo-mjolnir.964478/post-17682156



More sights from Potafes



Finally @ranfan and I wrapped up the evening over a nice dinner and more listening sessions with our own gears!


Two days of intense listening and a lot of good discussion. Ahh now I have a bug in my stomach wanting to go to Canjam. So much fun!

Fantastic write-up. This is why I love the 'Cooler!

 

[fejnomit]

Ex DJ here. After many years of silence in 2010 I got a Shure SE535. Had it for 4 years I think, would have been much nicer if cables were detachable.. Also learned to enjoy BA base..
Then a long silence until last year. Airpods Pro 2. Now Raven

That's quite a progression this year!

 

[ranfan]

Yes I’ve been trying to find the best fit - a fussy IEM in that regard. I was using Azla Standard but I wasn’t absolutely happy with the seal in my right ear which is always my problem ear - DUNU S&S on tonight and definitely the best fit so far, excellent seal and very comfortable. A touch less airy vs Azla but I can live with that…

I'm using mine with final Type E. Fit is great

 

[dleblanc343]

Oh the sweet memories. My first iem (bought in 2013). Yamaha eph-100.

Still have a set of these somewhere!

These were always under the radar back in the days and a very natural listen and amazing fit.


Need to dig them out...

 

[Tybot]

Might be fun to post our first IEMs, the gateway drugs that got us all here. For me it was Campfire Vega OG. Blew my mind as to what an IEM could achieve. First "DAP" I used wwith it was a modded Wolfson DAC iPod... No pictures, alas...

Easy for me. Klipsch x10 was my first taste. I wanted something that I could fall asleep with on my side. The sound blew me away at the time. What did I know. Lost then on an overseas trip and was pretty upset. Now I spend $50 on tips I don’t need.

 

[stacey]

Easy for me. Klipsch x10 was my first taste. I wanted something that I could fall asleep with on my side. The sound blew me away at the time. What did I know. Lost then on an overseas trip and was pretty upset. Now I spend $50 on tips I don’t need.

Ah I remember wanting to buy that when I got my IE8is. Good IEM!

 

[Rockwell75]

Easy for me. Klipsch x10 was my first taste. I wanted something that I could fall asleep with on my side. The sound blew me away at the time. What did I know. Lost then on an overseas trip and was pretty upset. Now I spend $50 on tips I don’t need.

Definitely some etymotic ear-rapey vibes there. The tips almost look like prophylactics lol

 

[Tybot]

Definitely some etymotic ear-rapey vibes there. The tips almost look like prophylactics lol

Lol. Still used them for sleep until IE800 took over and now IE900. Kind of sad I’ll never be looking for a new IEM for sleep. Can’t imagine a better fit/sound combo. Especially with a 90 degree 4.4 connector I can roll over 100x during the night and never break.

 

[newworld666]

Lol. Still used them for sleep until IE800 took over and now IE900. Kind of sad I’ll never be looking for a new IEM for sleep. Can’t imagine a better fit/sound combo. Especially with a 90 degree 4.4 connector I can roll over 100x during the night and never break.

I don't know if it is because I used to sleep with them => I broke 3 times de IE900, twice the IE600 and once the IE800.. So I definitely gave up to use any Sennheiser for sleeping.. Sennheiser replaced twice the IE900 and once IE600 under warranty and then I gave up with them.

I used for a long time Xelento with a balanced cable to an ifi Go blu and never broke up and probably the most comfortable to sleep with Soundcore A10 ( just limited to 5 hours playing time), unfortunately there can be some annoying drivers flex issue when moving the head on the side on my pillow.

Actually I am sleeping with :

1) Tangzu Princess Chang Le (amazing SQ for the price) disappears in the ears so impossible to feel anything while sleeping (with Spinfit CP1025 M)... same level of comfort as IE800.
2) Sony IER-M9, it's a low profile enough, but not as comfy as Xelento or IE900/600 but, I love the SQ (a pure balanced SQ with a perfect timbre like a reference for any genre and this IEM can probably be annoying for many users)
3) I use also a surprising good Kiwi Ears Quintet which a low profile enough too ... for 220€, maybe the best real bargain for 2023 with the 15€ of Princess Chang Le ?.. probably SQ is a bit more fun than IER-M9 but still balanced enough and same comfort as M9 for sleeping.
4) Sony WF-1000XM5 .. is just a bit too thick (not low profile enough for my ears) so it wakes up some nights due to a lack of comfort, but touch control are efficient and it offers the best battery playing time in LDAC mode of all my TWS and is as good as the iFi Go blu and far better than BTR7 or UP4(2022).

Usually to control my Z Fold 5 (after the 2, 3 & 4), I use the Sony RMT-NWS20, so I don't really touch the TWS or BT receiver clipped on my T Shirt Collar