AXPONA Day 1 over. Jude Mansilla stopped about 4 feet away from me, but I didn’t get a pic…! D: Talked with the ZMF crew and Mr. ZMF himself, and he wrote down my IEM recommendations! 
All the headphone stuff is in a moderately sized room, divided into 2 halves. Sadly, I think it’s too noisy to really get a solid enough grasp of headphone sounds.
From the Campfire booth, everything was surprisingly good, and well-tuned! Andromeda, Supermoon, Trifecta, Solaris. Supermoon was the stand-out, I thought. Very nice guys to talk to.
From the Empire Ears booth, most things sounded alright, but held back by lack of breathability or harshness. But then I heard the best thing of the entire day without doubt, Odin. The new Raven was very similarly good sounding, but with a bassier, warmer, and obviously smoother sound, that I felt masked overall clarity and spatial definition over Odin. I felt the Hugo 2 they had to demo from was definitely too bright, compared to my phone.
From the ZMF Warship booth, I tried Atrium and Caldera, on a black DAVE and Feliks BigTubeAmp/Envy, played off a MacTop.
My notes on Atrium: highly dynamic; kinda fatiguing(in lower treble?); nice space; smooth vocals, clear; maybe kinda flat sounding; detail wall; bass impact good, not great; bass definition lacking; dulled around the edges; pretty good; a little harsh in lower treble.
My notes on Caldera: Nice imaging and space; punchy; unremarkable?; nice detail and air and sparkle; more treble focused than bass?; wish it was more bassy and smoother.
At the Audeze booth, I tested LCD-3 and 4z off Holo May and Bliss, from some MacTop with Qobuz whatever nonsense. I felt both headphones exhibited blunted resolution, but the 4z had awesome vocal realism. Vague spatial definition. Meh… The new MM-400 or whatever it was called is there. MM-100?
From the Black Ice Audio booth, I heard the upcoming ModHouse “Silver” prototype, off an Aries something hybrid tube DAC+amp. I really liked it! Smooth, pleasant, detailed, and warm-ish. Pleasant bass, not overwhelming (or very dense). Very good with no problems. Not amazing. Strong L/R presence; not very spacious. The higher end “Gold” model is also coming soon, with single or double-sided options.
From the Moon Awdeo booth, I heard Susvara, Arya Stealth, Expanse, and HE1000se, off Bartok and DCA tower. I thought HE1000se is too bright/edgy for general use, and Expanse was smoother, but still too energetic/bright, with not very good bass definition. Susvara was definitely good, but I felt a bit more harsh/fatiguing treble than HE1000se. Not a great listening experience here…
From the Mytek booth, I heard some serious stuff… Corina, X9000, Susvara, and Expanse, off GSX Mini, Mytek HPA+DAC2, and the Liberty + absolutely hulking Grand Cayman prototype. Hearing Susvara and Expanse from the HPA+DAC2 and GSX Mini was my favorite headphone experience so far, whereas there seems to be a power issue with the estats, causing them to be too bright.
Susvara + GSX Mini notes: More breathable and cleaner than Expanse+Mytek. Bass light/neutral, but good extension. Bright still… Very neutral and realistic.
Expanse + HPA+DAC2 notes: Brighter, much worse tonality. More bassy. Smoother, more “solidified” sound. Both headphones are good.
Arya Stealth + Aurender something+Anni+Qutest: Bright-neutral. Good bass impact. Great space. Fairly smooth, but a bit overly bright. Very crisp.
Favorite item of Day 1 = Odin.
Runners up = Supermoon, Silver, Susvara, Arya Stealth.
That’s a hot demo room/store, for sure. Rather be there than waiting in line to hear 3 pre-selected songs on HE1. 
