The first thing I listened to when I got there on Friday was the Questyle player. It sounds quite OK, but the user interface is for shit (particularly the click-wheel, which barely works at all).
Had a brief chat with Brannan; mentioned that I was having a battery life issue with my BTS, and he said he would swap it out for me. Noble not only makes great products, they have a solid grasp of how to make customers happy.
If you have a use case for a portable player, you gotta hear the AK Jr. Austell & Kern takes a lot of heat, and deservedly so, for their outlandish pricing, but they nailed it with their new entry-level model. I'm thinking I will go back on Sunday and see whether it can handle a 128 gig card; officially, they say 64, but so does Pono, and 128 gig cards work perfectly in the Pono Player. I'm the biggest Pono fanboi around, but the combination of a more phone-like form factor and Bluetooth could change my mind.
I didn't hear the Riva Turbo X at CanJam, so yesterday was my first encounter with it. "Blown away" would be a gross understatement.
More details to come later, but quick winners list for pure sonics. Some have better price/performance ratios than others. Some are ludicrously priced.
AK Jr. and AK380 (hated the 100, 240 and all the mk2 iterations of their lineup)
I've been eyeing the AK Jr. hoping that it wouldn't sound awful. (That they used a WM8740 like in the AK120 MKI seemed promising.) Will definitely be looking forward to impressions. If it gets anywhere in the neighborhood of the performance of the GO450 + Leckerton, I'd buy it just for the convenience factor alone.
Anax, would you please elaborate on AK Jr a bit?
I will tomorrow when I get some energy back. What specifically were you curious about? As much as like it, I think it should be properly priced around $299, but hey, it's a different world these days. I suppose if a Yellow Toblerone can charge that much, the AK jr. is like downright stealing for it's fit, finish and sound by comparison.
JBL M2s seem pretty interesting.
I'm curious if you find the Jr to be occasionally bright and frequent soft in the sub-bass region?
It's pretty much the best speaker Harman ever produced, period. This is one of the reasons I have been trying to get a hand on JBL Pro 7 series (LSR 708 & 705) which is called baby M2.
I'm curious if you find the Jr to be occasionally bright and frequent soft in the sub-bass region?
Plasma tweeter things. Please fire phasers or photon torpedos at my eardums. Fuck this shit. Needs bigger woofer too. Where is the woofer?
HE-400S. Fantastic $299 deal from Anaxilus' mega transportable rig. Thank you HFM for offering great sounding affordable products normal people (that is people other than young Taiwanese, Chinese, or Korean kids with rich parents) can own.
VIVA Egoista. No comment.
so, big question:
HE-400S vs Ether?
VIVA Egoista. No comment.(click to show/hide)
Open baffle speakers. Don't remember. Sounded good and nice / open like all dipoles. Woofers are the 12" from AE (OJ has a pair of the 15" versions). Scanspeak mid and tweeter? Wasn't familiar with the music (classical), and didn't have time to tell the dude to play something I knew, so hard to render reliable opinion.Quote (selected)(click to show/hide)
Synergistic Research tweaks. I run against the grain here (opposed to burns, OJ, and Anax's earlier experience, but then again the comparison was against two stacks one stock and the other with the full SR treatment), but I prefer the STOCK setup. The stock setup sounded more resolving and open to me. Luis smiled when I told him that.(click to show/hide)
I even tried the SR plug thing by itself. Hard to say. Placebo or nocebo effect possible since go close. But I felt stock without the SR plug sounded better a tiny bit, or maybe different. The SR plug seemed to increase blackground, but at expense of fine detail.(click to show/hide)
LOL ! Give your impressions NOW ! (http://www.mariejulien.com/themes/lalietyosh/smilies/vl4.gif)
Campfire Audio Jupiter and Lyra. The surprise of the show for me. Jupiter (Anax helped me roll some tips) was really nice. Possible new reference grade IEM to UERM (that's high praise). With the right tips, a tiny bit warmer, a tiny more laid back in the upper vocals, and more sparkly. Cleaner, clearer sounded too. The Lyra is a dynamic with superior timbre, but with some peakiness that Ken Ball said could be addressed with the right tips - comply foam.
What's ironic is I used to think stuff sold by ALO was too expensive. Hahaha, well I have to say that stuff from ALO is a great deal these days because all these other fuckers keep geometrically increasing their prices while ALO has held steady.(click to show/hide)(click to show/hide)
That's why you need Anax to roll tips for you.
I didn't hear either of those things (and I listened to it with Noble PR in R mode, which is pretty revealing of treble issues), but ... when you say "sub-bass," what frequencies are you talking about? Because of the kind of music I listen to, I generally don't care much about what is going on below 41 Hz (the open fourth string on a bass tuned to A440); if there are strange things going on between 20 and 41, I might have heard them, but I wouldn't have taken note of them. My evaluation track for low bass is "From Ankara to Izmir" from the Jerry Douglas/Russ Barenberg/Edgar Meyer album, because of Meyer's insane bass solo, and that sounded just fine to me.
Haven't heard Noble PR so no comment on this. Basically I think we're talking about the same "sub-bass", and I feel my AK Jr has an inconsistant issue in that region. I can be a very happy man without worrying too much about the sub-bass (and the occasional brightness) in this Jr-UERM combo, just want to report my finding. May be the source recording/mastering problems I've never heard before, but I suspect the Jr the most.
Plasma tweeter things. Please fire phasers or photon torpedos at my eardums. Fuck this shit. Needs bigger woofer too. Where is the woofer?(click to show/hide)
I'm pretty sure those are Daleks...
Ask Anaxilus. If you have a DNA Stratus coming in, rest assured, you aren't missing anything.
Murky, soft, unresolving, undynamic. The Heed integrated sounded better.
Do you know if you had ProEQ on? I know myself and Paul had it enabled. Without it, it can sound a bit more clinical. Even then, it's not the last word in refinement and performance. It's a $500 AK DAP that should be priced between $250-$300 whose biggest strength is build quality and UI.Ok I don't have the proEQ on and I think the Jr's sonic is not redeemable by proEQ. But as a small compromised package of DAC and DAP, I'm sold. If Sony ZX1 can be on the Pyrate Leaderboard the Jr should as be on. It's cheaper and sonically better.
What was the headphone used ? popcorn
Positive Feedback room. Forgot what this setup was. Good sounding from 200Hz on up. Aren't rich audiophiles supposed to have big houses where big woofers aren't a concern, or where the WAF is not a factor?
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Gj-48pb4iv1ZQw_YyvDKJGnziJA6dQxca677C0Nw018=w1122-h841-no)
EA MMMicroones with Playback Designs IPS-3 all-in-one DAC/Preamp/Amp. Speakers were great steal at 2K with stands, not as much since they raised it to 4K. All-in-one by Koch and co is 13K.
LOL! My notes on that one was: "MBL bright". I think their show room last time was better. This time their mega blenders were not up to snuff.
Lots of rooms were pretty crapy this time around actually. More so than in the previous years going by memory.
Pretty sure you have a dream crab on your face right now.
The ZX1 is on the leaderboard??? I didn't do it. Who did that?
If I recall, I think it made it because it has a polished build and UI with passable SQ at a not so passable price. I'd advocate the AK Jr. in it's place. Though it's possible the ZX2 sounds better than both IME, but it's again more $$.
Lyra full bodied IEM sound? Into which orifice are you inserting them? God I swear, you speaker and headphone people with IEMs.... facepalm
Well I always insert things as deep as possible for max isolation. And that's how they sound.
EDIT: Just saw the measurements at Stereophile (http://www.stereophile.com/content/mbl-radialstrahler-101e-mkii-loudspeaker-measurements). The measurements there don't look too bad at all. Dunno. Don't think that's what I heard. Maybe something was weird with their setup or their music. One thing that may be happening is that these are omnis and the high frequencies may be adding up from reflected sound differently than with classic speakers. I remember reading about this when they measured the Mirage stuff. Possible anechoic chamber measurements don't apply here. Who knows. (I do have the Mirage nanosats and may one day measure them in all sorts of crazy fashions).
As far as hearing them before, I think I got confused. These were not it, it was the Muraudio PX1 (impressions from the 2014 show: http://www.changstar.com/index.php/topic,1615.msg42939.html#msg42939). If blenders are one's thing, I felt the PX1s were moar bettar.
EDIT2: LOL! The Muraudio dudes had curtains all over the place (reduce reflections) if I remember correctly and from the pics I took. These guys did not. Maybe that was one of the differentiators. Maybe this type of speakers require you treat all your walls?
Maybe with whatever tips you used....
This is why I always use wide bore silicone tips that are as open as possible first to let me hear what the driver can do. Then use other tips to adjust the FR via acoustics. You really missed out. I'll hook you up on the 27th
I think Jr can be qualified to replace zx1.
I've seen complaints that the Jr's got a really slow response speed (screen, loading music, etc) and a screen that is hard to navigate on because it's so small. Can anyone comment on that please?
Jr's a disappointment for me personally because it does not have an optical out or coaxial out like many other DAPs or A&K DAPs out there. :p It may be just me though.
Going to have to diverge here. I thought the Jupiter was kinda effed up sounding. I think audiofrk heard some of the issues that I was picking up on. I did think the Lyra was better although I'm not really into the "full-bodied" IEM sound.
Really excited for the HE-400S. I might've just found my first HiFiMAN.
I wasn't as taken as some of you guys with these speakers. I thought they were a bit harsh. But did you guys notice that huge ugly box in the middle was a complete system in one box. I think all you needed was an outlet and speaker wires.
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/vsM9ydIUFzvW9ScRxDXaKorFMNXkrDoU3-_PoYqmr7s=w1122-c-h841-no)
I've seen complaints that the Jr's got a really slow response speed (screen, loading music, etc) and a screen that is hard to navigate on because it's so small. Can anyone comment on that please?
Jr's a disappointment for me personally because it does not have an optical out or coaxial out like many other DAPs or A&K DAPs out there. :p It may be just me though.
agreed using my gear and the comply tips the jupiter had this weird signature that pulled up the mids and brought down the highs till they were in this congested area. It was apparent with duets but very hard to pick out with orchestral ensembles. The lyra had good bass without being warm (comply tips) I didn't really feel it being laid back and the detail was good when A/Bing with the UERMs. Though on both iems when listening to Beethoven's moonlight sonata I noticed that the notes were distorting, I took note of this as I had earlier rolled my eyes in a speaker demonstration when the salesman said that it was difficult to reproduce piano notes. Today I was using the same stack with my UERMs and I remember that I didn't check its piano notes, sure enough no distortion maybe the campfire stuff needs to be broken in? Near as I can tell the low notes and the high notes (on the piano) are overlapping so some more depth should solve it, but I would need to check them again.
Positive Feedback room. Forgot what this setup was. Good sounding from 200Hz on up. Aren't rich audiophiles supposed to have big houses where big woofers aren't a concern, or where the WAF is not a factor?
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Gj-48pb4iv1ZQw_YyvDKJGnziJA6dQxca677C0Nw018=w1122-h841-no)
JBL M2. Really fucking nice. I assume this is trickle down from their K2. Big woofers for real audiophiles. Excellent horn design with nary a horn coloration. JBL Pro has really nailed it. Punchy, dynamic, clean. Probably could use a bigger room. Could probably sound even better with better ampage.
(https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xat1/v/t1.0-9/11390095_1122376284445246_5042010478380481424_n.jpg?oh=374a172f36bab07da69d53256ade6757&oe=55EFCB06)
Vintage JBL > Harbeth.
How easy is to power the HE400S?
Does it need a super great amp or is something like the PM3?
I remember that I saw a poster saying that they can even be used with the smarthphone output alone.
I didn't have any issues with that. Maybe I use better sd cards than those people. My test card is a Sandisk 64gb Ultra. It was pretty obvious to me the AKs are using faster processors than most of the competitors (AK380 even more so). The Questyles could vastly improve here with faster processing, larger fonts/screen, more responsive controls. Then again, not sure how production ready their firmware was.
Hey Guys - it was great to meet some of you at THE show!
As usual I loved hearing LFF's stuff at Darin's table (btw Darin I'm gonna definitely recommend that software to many people, it's sweeeet), the PMx's From Audio Zenith which are always stunning and a plethora of other phones. I was next to the ALO table which was an absolute pleasure too with all their new gear.
Anyways, just wanted to say thanks for stopping by, Marv/Anax, you guys are chillers!
It's probably shity coding. There's just no excuse for pretty much anything short of building the database to not be instant and even that should be done in the background and let you browse the directory structure in the meantime.
Another highlight, believe it or not was Darin's Out of Your Head and not the software itself as I learned it fairly well over the years. What truly amazed me was reaction of listeners.
Let me explain: there wasn't many interested parties around my own table so I pretty much had to stare at what was going on at Darin's during all four days ;-). I didn't count but there must have been at least few hundred listeners and pretty much everyone was shocked by the OOYH demo, like if they were experiencing a virtual reality headset. Setting up a hidden camera could be very entertaining ;-). I actually can't remember seeing one single person who wasn't astounded by it.
I know about this software from before it was even in beta, always thought it was a great product and should be hugely successful but this was a first time I saw a proof of success with my own eyes. On Sunday, when pretty much everyone was already gone Darin had two more sales.... ! Cudos to you man and hope more people will spread a word.
As usual I loved hearing LFF's stuff at Darin's table (btw Darin I'm gonna definitely recommend that software to many people, it's sweeeet)Thanks Zach. Great to see you again. Thanks for checking out my software. I wish I had more time to check out your headphones. Hopefully next time.
Hans giving him feedback,
Then I looked down at his badge and it said "Sean Olive from Harman"! facepalm I said, "Are you really Sean Olive? Ummm, nevermind. Just ignore everything I just said." I felt like such an idiot trying to explain speaker measurements to Sean Olive...jeez. He was super nice about it and at least he said he really liked my software. (Can you say "testimonial"?)
That sounds like a combination of things. Possibly poor fit with complys and/or the complys doing weird things and they get crushed in your ear canal. I really don't like the sound effect of complys and would only recommend them for taming treble happy phones.
The other thing is if you know the IE800 sig, you know the bass can appear to be somewhat neutral. However, once anything below around 80hz shows up it massive overload. Similar thing here with the Jupiter. This could be the cause of low notes blending with highs on a piano. Coupled with the single dynamic driver maybe not being as articulate and fast as a multi BA.
Harbeth. Some three way. BBC style thin wall cabinets? Seriously? Bullshit. I don't know these fuckers can turn a such design weakness into a "feature". Everything in the universe resonates, so we are going to make cabinets that resonate the right way? WTF? Did the Sheriff of Nottingham burn down all the forests in the UK?
As usual I loved hearing LFF's stuff at Darin's table
Synergistic Research tweaks. I run against the grain here (opposed to burns, OJ, and Anax's earlier experience, but then again the comparison here was two stacks: one stock and the other with the full SR treatment), but I prefer the STOCK setup. The stock setup sounded more resolving and open to me. Luis smiled when I told him that.
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/p-cqjLeTk_R6AE3YVtnPvi53IJ7jeqxs4TSmxeXLusM=w1122-c-h841-no)
I even tried the SR plug thing by itself. Hard to say. Placebo or nocebo effect possible since go close. But I felt stock without the SR plug sounded better a tiny bit, or maybe different. The SR plug seemed to increase blackground, but at expense of fine detail.
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/OsKTJ5oEipIBkXm-XOMUiCT11lRiDREknjrRprNhm3M=w1122-h841-no)
Not to get too off topic from the show impressions, but I've heard the original HOT at RMAF last year and in home. I heard a larger sense of space and maybe a slightly blacker background. I did measure it with a meter and remember one channel being 2.5 ohms and the other 3 ohms as compared to a 1/8" Grado adapter that measured .5 in both channels. Don't know if the difference in channels cause a slight imbalance that gives a sense of space and I admit I could be fully talking out of my arse with that. Interested to see what the Carbon one goes for price wise and what Tyll thinks of it.
We heard exactly the same as you with myself and OJ totally expecting some sort of mushy rolled off resistor based gizmo. Like I said, it was like going from TRS to XLR which was totally surprising as I bitch about TRS jacks quite a bit. Seems the Carbon didn't perform purr1n and LFF.
Welp, was only able to make it towards the very end of T.H.E. Show, but got to check some things out.
HE400s
IMO has good bass definition. Perhaps a bit on the analytic side of things. The aesthetics shows consistency with the new HiFiMan product line up look, with the exception of the Rolls Royce like T-1000.
Possible the source was not doing any favors to the 400s. Did hear them out of what they had there at the booth.
Did anyone get a chance to try a > 64 gig card in the AK Jr.? I meant to do that on Sunday, but I got there late and got side-tracked.
No 64GB card is SDHC. SDXC is the standard for cards above 32GB in size.
For reference: can anyone compare the 400S to 400i?
Beg to differ. It's not as simple as that. I've talked to the Sandisk guys a few times at CES over the years.
You can beg to differ all you want, but bullshit from Sandisk sales reps at CES doesn't mean this is correct.
None of those cards are technically SDHC. It's clearly outlined in the SD Association spec starting at 3.00 and consistent today at 4.10. The NAND density on those cards is too high to be considered SDHC. ALL of these manufacturers are skirting the fact that they aren't supporting all the correct iops from a controller standpoint to label these SDXC. So no, there are no 64GB SDHC cards, despite what anyone is branding them.
NAND is considered lifeblood for mobile devices. I have to know this shit if I want to remain employed.
For reference: can anyone compare the 400S to 400i?
Only got a quick 5 minute a/b session on Sunday (they were already packing up) with my stack (rwimod/piccolo) the 400i was almost exclusively tremble (not bright just excentuated) and mids were hollowed out. The 400s was just neutral not sweet mids but not hollowed out, tremble was a little less present but still far from rolled off, and the bass was present came in and faded out when it needed too.
Thanks LFF for making listen to them. Other than the code-x never been into hifimans but the 400s is damn good.
Been awhile since I heard the 400i at CES in Jan 2014. All I remember was it was pretty neutral but bass had lost its magic from the 400 and was now one note. Didn't leave a memorable impression with me. I liked the 400s more so this time. A little more engaging, still neutral, bass seemed more textured but not to original 400 capacity. I want to say it sounds a little better to me for quite a bit less money. This is not a direct comparison though, so...
It's no HD800. Mid-fi level at best.
Yup...if you used their player.
I found the 400S to be very capable using my source material. Certain not Mid-Fi IMHO.
Was that amp the EF-100?
I remember that's what I first tried the HE1k in at CanJam. Boy did it suck... What a joke (and a poor choice to promote a 3k headphone).