CHANGSTAR: Audiophile Headphone Reviews and Early 90s Style BBS

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Author Topic: CES 2015  (Read 8484 times)

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Tari

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Re: CES 2015
« Reply #50 on: January 12, 2015, 11:56:51 PM »

CES Show Report 2015









Ayre has long been a respected player in the 2 channel domain, but it wasn't until Charles Hansen and company designed the Pono that they realized there was an untapped market ready and waiting for high performance products from prestigious names.  Enter the Codex.   It is a DAC/headphone amp projected to sell around the $1500 mark.  Can also be used as a preamp.  Seen here driving some sennheiser headphones, it sports both 1/4" and 3.5mm jacks for compatibility with both portable offerings and serious studio affairs.  At a show that featured kilobuck power strips and speakers that could fund a warlord, Ayre's first foray into the field comes as a breath of fresh air.  "Why don't you take a seat right over there?" Hansen would offer, as he graciously runs down the feature set of the Codex, which  includes up to 2X DSD and 32/384 resolution for compatibility with even the most obscure audiophile releases.  As for the sound?  Well, let's just say Ayre will have to fend potential suitors off with a stick when this releases.





Pass Labs has their own rabid following among sound enthusiasts.  Nelson Pass has long been respected as "the Einstein of audio", a phrase he took such a liking to that he trademarked it and prevented anyone else from using it.  With the explosion of personal audio in the audiophile sector, Pass has chosen to make its first incursion into the niche market with its as-yet nameless headphone amp.  This amplifier will bring the famous brute force Class A low feedback oblation to the table.  Sporting volume control, this beast of an amp will retail for $3500, making it far cheaper than entering the Pass realm in the speaker world.  As for the sound?  This amp isn't some half-nelson.  The gentlemen at Pass Labs will be fending off potential customers with shotguns on their rooftops as if it was a zombie apocalypse.





Fang "Because I'm Crazy" Bian is no newcomer to headphilia.  Ever since designing his first headphone at age 16 to hide his bald spot (it failed, they were IEMs) Fang has been pursuit of ultimate headphone fidelity.  With the minor exception of some brief missteps along the way (HE400, 500, HE-6, all his DAPs) Fang has developed some truly world class headphones, such as the headphone that eventually became LFF's triumph, the Code-X.  In recent years though, Hifiman has been overshadowed by upstart competitors like JDS Labs and Obravo.  Enter the HE-1000, Hifiman's gaudy statement headphone that "buying Chinese" is no longer an act of economy, but one of preference.  Sporting a diagraphm so thin it cannot even be measured in quarts, the HE-1000 really screams "flagship" in every possible way (other than being the ship in a fleet that carries the commanding admiral.)  Fang was inspired to try for an asymmetrical magnet design atypical of any competitor on the market, and the resulting product is indeed one that will go down in the annals of cached defunct websites.  As for the sound?  Let's just say Fang went out and murdered a few people after the show on the off chance they'd end up hounding him for a pair.  I know I will. 





Meridian, long a household name in househol ds with hifi magazine subscriptions, has released their new Explorer 2 combination DAC-amp.  This product is a culmination of decades of experience and innovation in a field.  Bob Stuart and company recognized that their first release in the quadrant was an unmitigated success by all measures and many purchasers had already re-written their wills to include a stipulation that they be buried with their Explorers, there was an equally loud outcry that the product support an as-yet unreleased proprietary high resolution format in a cluttered, oversaturated market.  Enter the Explorer 2, capable of decoding Meridians MQA lossless format.  Sporting curves that would have even the most linear triode jealous, the Explorer 2 chassis is truly a reference product for the on-the-go audiophile.  Sound quality?  Lets just say Bob Stuart has been slowly poisoning the water supply at audiophile meets over the last two decades as a precautionary measure lest he is set upon by clamorous customers.





Audeze has long been known as a company not around for long, that has a history perhaps paralleling that of the fledgling market it has come to represent.  Over the past few years it has helped proved emphatically that "headphones don't have to be hi-fi's special needs cousin", as paraphrased from a talk Alex Rosson probably gave.  With their first fruits all sporting very similar packages and with ergonomics that make the egg chair seem comfortable, Audeze went back to the drawing board for their newest release.  Partnering with BMW Designworks, Audeze finally look posed to release their first product with mass-market aspirations.  Given Audeze's new Nofux­™ technology, the new EL-8 will have diehards and newcomers alike elated with the direction Alex and Sankar have taken this company.  As for the sound?  Audeze went back in time and killed your grandmother just to be sure.




Note: All pictures courtesy of sounstageglobal.com.  This show report did not involve any listening to actual gear on the part of the author, he kind of just looked at pictures online and figured how they would have sounded, and let's face it, this has provided about as much usable impressions as your average show report. 
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AustinValentine

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Re: CES 2015
« Reply #51 on: January 13, 2015, 12:32:39 AM »

:slow clap:  :money:
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n3rdling

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Re: CES 2015
« Reply #52 on: January 13, 2015, 02:38:01 AM »

I doubt it they resemble anything like the k340. They're not an akg after all. Who knows, they might perform beyound expectations and make other high priced/high end headphones a run for their money.  I wouldn't automatically make assumptions yet.

Me, personally, would love to hear an interesting headphone like them.

If they're powered by a normal dynamic HP out (TRS etc) then it's very likely they're crossing over the treble duties to the electret driver and using a small step up transformer inside the headphones to get the voltage levels high enough to drive the electret.
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shipsupt

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Re: CES 2015
« Reply #53 on: January 13, 2015, 01:22:07 PM »

Tari, thanks for the report! 

Do you think the HE-1000 grills will fit my '39 Studebaker?


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Yeah, well, you know, that's just, like, your opinion, man.

kothganesh

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Re: CES 2015
« Reply #54 on: January 13, 2015, 02:30:41 PM »

Tari:
the only question is: have Dr. Fang and Bob Stuart been charged with murder ?  :)p13. I am also trying to visualize Audez'e and the grandmoms.  Wait, that's euthanasia.
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AstralStorm

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Re: CES 2015
« Reply #55 on: January 13, 2015, 07:30:57 PM »

If the new RE-300 are any indication, Hifiman's build quality stepped up from "broken Chinese cables, swanky looking undampened shell" to "Chinese cables, nonresonant dull OEM shell". Which is good.

So, hopefully, they will combine retuned RE-300 driver with RE-272 driver while preserving the new qualities.
(Or it could be half-wooden, painted red gold with silver inserts. Ugh.  :spank:)
« Last Edit: January 13, 2015, 07:54:16 PM by AstralStorm »
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Anaxilus

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Re: CES 2015
« Reply #56 on: January 13, 2015, 10:17:49 PM »

res
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Anaxilus

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Re: CES 2015
« Reply #57 on: January 13, 2015, 10:18:02 PM »

res
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DrForBin

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Re: CES 2015
« Reply #58 on: January 13, 2015, 10:28:44 PM »

hello,

@Tari, coffee just came out my nose. :money:
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