I didn’t know where else to post my thoughts on here about the stuff I listened to, so I just decided to put it in a new thread. Feel free to move it if it fits in a better spot. I’ll probably make dedicated threads for some of this stuff for more discussion. It’ll be posted here first in this forum so it’s fresh and hot! Obviously, take into account that these were heard during not ideal situations…
**Ferrum Audio Hypsos/ORR - The power supply unit was cool as heck although with a small learning curve. The amp sounded pretty clean and detailed; it was pretty nice. It got drowned out amidst all the other new stuff but I don’t think this should be overlooked. They also had some nice cables from Atlas. I’m tempted to buy tbh.
Focal Celestee - Yeah this thing has almost no soundstage. Other than that, it sounded pretty good. I think I would take this over the Radiance.
Focal Stellia - Uh, yeah something “wrong” with the mids here. I don’t know what it is. Liked everything else though.
Dunu Falcon Pro - Sounded pretty decent. Couldn’t really complain for $200 but I haven’t heard much in this price range.
**Circimaural RAAL - This was one of the standouts for me. Treble was pretty outstanding. Pretty impressive treble for around 2 grand (not including the RAAL amps they had it with).
64 Audio Duo - Tbh it didn’t really impress me that much. Bass was kind of muddy but the mids and treble were fine. After this I listened to the U12T and it didn’t take me long to hear which one I liked better. Personally, I’d save up for the U12T rather than go for the Duo. Interesting design though.
**64 Audio U12T - Damn I really wanted to buy this but I don’t have a use case for them at the moment. So I’ll hold off but this’ll be the next IEM to buy for me. I liked it a lot.
Westone 80 pro (something)/Etymotic - They were in the same booth and they sounded pretty boring. I wouldn’t buy it personally but if that was the sound they were going for then that’s that.
Empire Ears Odin/EVO (I actually don’t remember the name of the new one) - The Odin had way too much in the upper mids for my taste. Much prefer the new one they came out with as it was less intense and more relaxed. The driver crinkling thing was pretty distracting to me.
Audeze CBRN - Man, I got nothing. It was waay too noisy for me to make any kind of impression, unfortunately. The only things I heard were the crowd and the dang crinkling of the driver any time I broke seal for adjustment. I seriously thought I broke it or something. lol But I know it’s because of how thin the diaphragm is.
Audeze LCD-5 - Man oh man, this was the first time hearing an over-ear open Audeze planar hp. They only gave us around 4-5 min. of play time and the line was always full–as you’d expect. Build was great and lightweight indeed. The hinges that hold the yolks had a very smooth chamfer that made it very nice to hold. As for sound, it sounded pretty warm and slightly thick while still keeping treble extension. Bass, I thought, was pretty slammy and hard-hitting. I know some people were concerned that the small driver would impact “slam” quality but since I’ve no prior experience with Audeze planars, I couldn’t tell you. I preferred the Susvara though overall…by quite a bit. lol
**1st tube amp - I was at the Cardas booth and they were demoing their latest totl hp cable. It was attached to an Elear and woo wa22. They didn’t have any tracks I listen to so I just picked one I knew (ACDC Back In Black). It didn’t take long for me to go, “Ah, now I know what people are talking about.” Yeah, tubes. I like em.
Empyrean Elite - Ahhh, sounds pleasurable. That’s pretty much all I thought. I was more distracted by its build more than anything.
**Zaehl HM1 - Oooh this one was definitely cool. Although it was paired to an RME, I was still impressed by it. Super clean in a good way. I was tempted to just yank it and run away with it! Don’t know how else to describe it other than I really liked it.
ampandsound FORGE - I was looking forward to this one since I’m amp hunting for a Utopia. It sounded nice but I think it was a bit too colored for me. I actually preferred my experience with the woo wa22. It still sounded good though; maybe a tube roll might suit me better. But the good part is that it helped me find out that I wanted something dryer in tube amps. Not the biggest fan of the build, at least when comparing it to some of the woo amps I saw. But not bad by any means.
Dan Clark Stealth - Build on this was pretty exceptional. Very solid and sturdy. I listened to this with the FORGE at first. I did not like it to be honest. I think it’s because I kept hearing the RME in the chain so I got a bit distracted by it. Gave it a second chance at the Dan Clark booth a few hours later and I definitely liked it more. It was attached to a TT2 and M-sclaler. First thing I noticed was that it sounded similar to a MrSpeakers Aeon Closed (OG) but way more technically capable and “less dead.” It is very impressive from a technology standpoint but it wasn’t my cup of tea. Out of the three (Stealth, VC, Stellia), I would take the VC over both, then the Stealth, then the Stellia.
Audeze LCD-XC - I couldn’t listen to it much as it was too fatiguing for me.
Ausounds - This is a company focused on bluetooth hps that use planar tech. I honestly didn’t expect much. Yeah, it sounded wonky and messy. Easily the worst sounding experience of the show to me. I applaud the effort though.
VZR Audio - New company that claims hps for all-use purpose (gaming, music, movies). Didn’t look into it that much since it wasn’t on my radar. But I did listen to it…meh.
**Hifiman Susvara - I haven’t been compelled to get into planars much for various reasons. But the Sus has been my only hope in an attempt to convince me, so I was happy to try it out in Dan Clark’s more quieter booth. It was connected to a GSX MKII. Didn’t pay attention to the DAC. Build is alright, the LCD-5 definitely wins here ergonomically. The Audeze has a more refined build but I can’t argue much as the Sus was pretty comfortable. So, about sound…I want it. It didn’t take long for me to find that out. I couldn’t really complain about it nor could I find any fault that it was simply bad at. I mean it’s not perfect but it just sounds so evenly balanced that I don’t have any more words to describe it. I think I might prefer my Utopia slightly more but, at this point, it just depends on what I want at the moment. Just to be clear, I DO NOT like the Sus out of the GSX MKII. Too bright and light on the impact. But it wasn’t hard to look past that and hear what the Sus was capable of. But yeah, this is definitely up on my wishlist!
GSX MKII - Too bright for me. Even if it were to be paired with a smooth DAC to compensate, the lack of impact is a turn-off for me. Now I know. Not the biggest fan of it.
**standouts from the show
