Where possible, impressions using mine or other known desktop (both tube and SS) and portable upstream gear. Sometimes vendors do themselves no favors with their demo rigs.Dharma-Bass and woofer were too slow to keep up with electret. However, better integration than the K340. I'd prefer a little more speed and precision down low. Might be good if you listen to slower, less complex music.
Obravo-The bass and woofers on both versions are sill very much behind the speed and sound of the air motion tweeter. The vocals were also sucked out and severly recessed on the protos I heard. Not quite up to par of the K340 or Dharma yet. I gave them my opinion on them and they said it was still a work in progress. Hope for the best.
Nighthawk-Pretty decent and neutral response with decent spacing. For the $$ definitely competes with more recent phones who feel they are worth 4-digits. Be aware that proficient solid state amps tighten up the signature with the exception of leaving a little upper bass accentuation which makes it stand out. I'd prefer if it wasn't there or if shifted lower to the mid bass as I know they were going for a room gain effect a la speakers. Via some tube amps, the overall signature becomes a little looser blending the upper bass to the rest of the signature for a more coherent overall sound. Not quite in my top 3-4 ToTL phones out there atm, but better than many who claim to be up there and cost a lot more. Has that sweeter bio-cellulose timbre that some of us quite like.
HE1000-Heard this as organic, relatively quick with slamming and extended low bass that was tight and clear during CES. On the Hifiman amps, it sound slower, softer and honestly nothing special. I was able to ninja a set for our own comparisons using our own amps at our tables. Via our SS and tube amps, everything improved. Speed, detail, extension, space, clarity. In fact, from the Gungnir/Mjolnir it was one of the most resolving phones I'd ever heard next to the modded HD800 and I'd say better than the 009 easily. HOWEVER, The overall timbre seems to have become more dry and analytical in tone with a more stat like ethereal note weight unlike the meat and heft to the CES version that was so natural sounding. To be continued....
R10 v.1-Bleh, grainy, mid-fi, veiled wtf. Basic rudimentary measurements were posted. Would have liked to hear the final version Milos came up with at the meet. Honestly, I've never been moved by any R10 in a transformative way so far (bass heavy or bass light, prefer bass heavy myself of all the degraded samples I've heard). I tend to put it up there with the K1000 as a vintage iconic phone whose praise escapes me. They're okay. Love the engineering and craftsmanship of the cups though!
Sony Qualia-Saw one, looked away and it was gone. Oh well.....
Kingsound stat-On their SS entry level amp, very thin, dry and brittle signature. Sounds just like the TH500RP from Fostex but with a smoother overall texture. Still has a very low-fi mp3-ish signature (on both of them). The higher end tube amp helps to flesh out the Kingsound which makes me wonder how thick and 'tooobey' that must sound. However, it still sounds relative thin and ethereal with no real weight. These make the modern stats and Stax sound like orthodynamics in comparison. I can also hear something like an aluminum can resonance coming from the enclosure, not good.
Ether-Dan's best phone yet to my ears. Surprisingly, the overall tone was similar to my modded HD800s which others who compared the two commented on as well. Keys differences to my ears were the HD800 still being notably more resolving of micro detail/inner harmonics and decays, precise in imaging, and articulate in transients. The Ether has a more
extended low bass but it's a bit bloomier and softer in the mid bass and the transients a tad less articulate. it's like comparing a hard open hand slap (Ether) to a fist punch (modded HD800). This not just unique to the Ethers but many phones to be fair less competent than the Ether.
Stax 007 mk1 via BHSE-Very boring to me yet again. Dynamically blunted and uninvolving. I can see the attraction to those wanting a pleasing and forgiving sound to just zone out. This is what I call a Muzak phone. Suitable for background listening only while I do more meaningful tasks. Actual live music just doesn't sound like this to me no matter how impressed people seem to be with this phone.
EL8 open-Seemingly somewhat linear but very thin and dry sounding. Another lower-fi mp3 phone guaranteed to turn you Redbook audio to artifacted mp3s. Just don't like this sort of sound. No dynamicism really either.
EL8 closed-This was a phone I was hopeful of at CES despite having a clear narrow band treble peak and resonance. It was smoother and more clear than the open version despite this major flaw which seemed to me could be fixed. This version at Canjam sound exactly like the EL8 open version but with a cover slapped over the grill and resonances and peaks bouncing around all over inside the cups covering all the frequency bands. Hot mess! This was the most unpleasant and unrefined thing I heard that Canjam. I suppose the sample I heard at CES was a special good one that was already damped or there's a QC issue. Just wow. Speechless....
LCD-XC-Still a little wonky in the mids compared to the LCD-X. Synthetic timbre.
Cayin EL34 amp-A bit too smeared and blurry with a slightly romantic sound that's essentially compressed in dynamics and tone. A common type EL34 sound I'm not fond of in quite few power pentode amps.
Stax 727-Sounds like a more powerful, more refined 323 to me. Equally veiled lacking in clarity and resolution. No inner detail, articulation or plankton. Boring.
Chord TT via HO-Warm and gooey. WTF? Worse than the Hugo even and I'm not a huge fan of that. No thanks.
Grace 920 via HO-Very solid state sound and Sabre treble! Hash, etch and sizzle everywhere. Pretty offensive and mechanical sounding to me. Needs a lush phone to hide this stuff (if possible).
Grace 905-Much better than the 920 but completely different sound with that unique old school Burr Brown tone. Warm but clean and clear with good punchy and overly precise bass impact. Not very resolving and tonally compressed a bit but pleasant, clean and smooth sounding.
Ayre Codex-Bleh, nothing special
Auralic Taurus-Definitely not as bright as before. Retuned to be warmer absolutely. Clean but rather clinical in presentation.
Liquid Carbon-Very clean and dynamic. Involving and pleasant sound with power and drive in a package and price point that's hard to beat. People looking for balanced drive in a smaller form factor without breaking the bank should consider this. I was expecting a more overwhelming euphonic coloration based on some impressions but didn't find this to be the case. What was euphonically colored was the Cypher Labs in front of it. Nothing my Geek Pulse Xfi didn't fix when I brought it from home on Sunday.
Liquid Crimson-I was not a huge fan of the original Liquid Fire, I thought it was okay with a certain exciting signature that I could understand people being attracted to. However, this Crimson is a much more pleasant sounding, resolving and transparent sound I can get behind more so than the Fire. Impressions are not complete, but this amp was one of a few that myself and others used to compare my modded HD800s with other phones. it did that job
quite honestly and splendidly driving everything well, dynamic or ortho. It's actually showing off the limitations of the upstream Resolution Cantata quite well. That's a good sign for an amp.
Riva Turbo X-If anyone is looking for a small portable bluetooth speaker rig, look no further. Clean, clear and dynamics with good SPL, coverage and overall performance. Built in DSP to ensure clean, non clipping performance preserving fidelity in way many of the other options out there have yet. I've actually been testing a unit at home for the past 3 weeks and will offer a dedicated comprehensive review in future. If not only for sonic performance, for the superior UI and number of refined performance features that are too plentiful to count here. This is a recommended blind purchase for people in need that prefer fidelity over euphony or degradation.
Cayin N6-Too warm and euphonic for my tastes for a reference DAP. UI is typical basic format from China. Only if you like relaxed and warm sound and care not for technicalities much.
Luxury and Precision Gold LP5-Much better execution of the Colofly steampunk'd motif in my opinion. Quality is improved and more refined over the C4 abomination. Sonics have likewise improved. I was ready to dismiss this outright based on past Colorfly experience. However, this provided a smooth and pleasing relaxed listen that was rather technically competent. While not quite as precise and ruthless as my reference rig (Venue 8 Pro>GO450>Leckerton 4627), it was smooth, coherent, linear, pleasant and committed no major audio gaffs. It was reminiscent of Bill's modded TTVJ hybrid tube portable but cleaner and more precise to me. Major drawbacks? It costs a ridiculous amount, targeted for a non hyper-critical listeners like myself, it ate my 64gb sdxc card. We actually had to disassemble the whole chassis and work around the board to get it out of the reader.
Questyle QP1-Best of the DAPs I heard at Canjam and no contest for the recently degraded AK players. Closest to my reference rig but still a bit less precise and immediate dynamically when using only the integrated amp. LO from the QP1 to my Leckerton still showed notable improvement. However, this allowed me to see how competitive as a source it was to my tablet>GO450. I actually preferred the QP1's vocals quite handily in comparison. Build quality and UI is superior or equal to other offerings that were here. I wasn't made aware till the end that the other color option was the QP1R which is an upgraded reference model. Things could get interesting wrt my portable status quo once I get a listen to it...
ALO Continental v.?-This thing is really beautiful to me. I mean really. I didn't notice the kind of microphonics you get with Todd's old hybrid amp. Sonically, I was able to get the amp to perform closest to my reference amp in single ended mode by using it's balanced output. There is potential here. However, it NOT your typical tubey sound some would expect. The treble is it's major flaw atm and it sounds very SS overall. I talked with Ken Ball who was very gracious and he is aware of the issue, they will make tweaks. We'll see how that translates in the future.
Aurender Flow-Meh, average performance for a alot of money. Consider it if the looks and packaging appeal to you.
Peachtree Nova-It's okay. Slightly better than the Grace 920 I suppose.
Peachtree Shift-Also just okay. Better than the Aurrender but not up to the refined and more technical performance my rig was providing. Both Peachtrees seem to have a similar house sound to me.
Wilson Sabrinas-Most impressive speakers here and sounded fantastic with the right tracks and right gear. The best I've heard from Wilson so far. Dynamics, tone color, resolution, everythi
ng was just spot on 'you are there' engagement. Definitely had some significant issues with some less than stellar popular tracks though.
Fritz speakers-As always, great performance at the right price. Please ditch the Cayin gear that's holding back your speakers Fritz!
Schiit Yggdrassil-DO NOT listen to it cold out of the box or even a day old for the love of gawd. DO listen to it after 2-3 days of constant power. It's my next DAC.
Final Audio FI BA SS/Heaven VII-Of all their stuff, I preferred the Fi BA SS which was my favorite single BA IEM and the closest to my reference UERM two years ago. Nothing has changed. Still the most resolving, linear, accurate of all their offerings so far. I thought the Heaven VII was the closest signature they had to the SS as my preference so I could recommend that as well. However, I am beginning to really zero in on single BA drivers struggling to maintain clarity and refinement in complex, busy pieces of music. I notice it in Etys and others immediately compared to my customs. I had a nice chat with the wonderful folks at Final Audio about this and I hope I'll be able to hear something using their expertise with a dual BA with either a simple or crossover less design in the future.
RHA T10-I met these folks two years ago at Canjam. They made some pretty darned decent sounding IEMs at great prices. They remind of the folks at Meelec who started making decent sounding really cheap phones years ago before the industry started to get ahead of itself. Along comes RHA and they do the same but also elevate the products aesthetic to match their performance and price ratios. Cheap doesn't have to equal bad, boring or ugly and these folks get it. I had a quick listen to their latest flagship which is the first to break 100 pounds sterling. It came with three tuning filters, wonderful strain reliefs and nice feeling construction. I preferred the treble filter as it seemed to match more with my prior preferences for a diffuse field tuning curve in IEMs and they seemed to match pretty well to their published curves below. I hope to have more in depth to say about them in future.
www.rha-audio.com/uk/headphones/t10.html
