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Snapshots from CanJam at Rocky Mountain Audio Fest 2014 — Part 2

Snapshots from CanJam at Rocky Mountain Audio Fest 2014 — Part 2

Important: This is Part 2 of a two-part Hi-Fi+ blog. 

To see Part 1 of the blog, click here.

As we mentioned in the introduction to this piece, this blog should not be contrued as exhaustive, “cover the earth” reportage from CanJam. Rather, it is — as advertised — a collection of “snapshots” drawn from a handful of products that, together, serve to illustrate some of the emerging trends we observed in the rapidly expanding universe of high-end headphone and earphone based systems. Enjoy!

 

HIGH-PERFORMANCE CABLE MAKERS EMBRACE THE HIGH END HEADPHONE UNIVERSE

Crystal Cables

We ran into Gabi van der Kley, head of Crystal Cables, and she informed us that high-performance headphone and earphone-based systems have really captured her imagination of late. Accordingly, Crystal has begun developing a series of single-end and balanced cables geared specifically for use with Astell & Kern high-res portable player/amp/DACs, as a well as a highly specialized cable developed specifically for use with JH Audio’s spectacular Roxanne custom-fit in-ear monitors (Gabi van der Kley’s personal CIEM of choice at the moment). These cables will be co-branded and co-marketed between Crystal Cable and Astell & Kern.

, Snapshots from CanJam at Rocky Mountain Audio Fest 2014 — Part 2

MIT

Musical Interface Technology began testing the waters for a new range of headphone cables collectively called the Vero series. Judging by the A/B comparisons made possible at MIT’s demo stand, we think the Vero cables sound very promising indeed and we await their arrival in the market place. It’s too soon to tell just yet, but expect prices for Vero headphone cables to fall in the range of $250 – $500 each.

, Snapshots from CanJam at Rocky Mountain Audio Fest 2014 — Part 2

Nordost

Nordost, too, has bought in to the headphone universe in a meaningful way by creating a Heimdal-series of purpose built headphone cables. I had the opportunity to try a set of new Alpha Prime headphones from MrSpeaker that were fitted with Nordost’s Heimdal cables and I liked what I heard. Joe Reynolds, President of Nordost, is an enthusiastic headphone user himself and that extra bit of presidential enthusiasm shines through, I think, in the finished products.

, Snapshots from CanJam at Rocky Mountain Audio Fest 2014 — Part 2

WyWires

WyWires principals Alex and Nina Sventitsky are no strangers to serious, ultra high-end cables of loudspeaker-based systems, but their firm’s most important thrust at RMAF/CAN JAM involved promotion of the firm’s new Red-series headphone cables, which WyWires regards as “a very important growth market.” WyWires’ distinctive bright red headphone cables seemed to be sprouting up all over the CAN JAM demonstration areas, with many listeners reporting that the WyWires cables offered meaningful gains in terms of perceived improvements in resolution, articulacy, and transient speeds.

, Snapshots from CanJam at Rocky Mountain Audio Fest 2014 — Part 2

 

 

NEW HEADPHONES & EARPHONES
 

Jerry Harvey Audio

From Jerry Harvey, the big news was not so much a new product (JH Audio’s announcement of its impressive Roxanne custom-fit-in-ear monitor came last year), but rather the fact that only just now is JHA production capacity for the Roxanne slowly beginning to catch up with demand.  You might think the market for a roughly $1,649 (and up, depending on materials and finish chose) CIEM would be small, but you would be wrong. In point of fact, market response to the Roxanne was so strong that JH Audio had to put on two manufacturing shifts per day and still could not begin to keep up.

, Snapshots from CanJam at Rocky Mountain Audio Fest 2014 — Part 2

Needless to say, review samples were, um, very difficult to come by. Now, however, JH Audio informs us that a review sample of the Roxanne will be prepared for us in the next few weeks (fingers crossed on that one). The Roxanne features 12 (!) balanced armature drivers per earpiece (four bass, four midrange, and four high-frequency drivers), variable bass output via an inline low-frequency output adjustment control in the signal cable, and JH Audio’s signature FreqPhase technology said to provide virtually perfect phase and frequency response across the entire audio spectrum.


MrSpeakers

Dan Clark, the President (er, Head Master) of MrSpeakers, must surely be on his way toward becoming one of the best-liked men in the high-end headphone world, largely because he so keenly grasps that people want a lot (a whole lot) of performance at less than stratospheric prices. With this said, however, Clark used CanJam 2014 as a vehicle for rolling out his most ambitious (and expensive) headphone to date: the Alpha Prime planar magnetic headphone ($999).

, Snapshots from CanJam at Rocky Mountain Audio Fest 2014 — Part 2

In the beginning, MrSpeaker offered modified—and many would say significantly enhanced—Fostex headphones, whose Fostex roots were, at first, plain to see. However, with each new successive MrSpeaker model, we see more and more of Clark’s own design ideas emerging, and nowhere is that more true than with the Alpha Prime, which starts life with the core of a Fostex driver and certain Fostex headband pieces, but winds up in a totally different place thanks to Clark’s custom-designed, 3D printed ear cup housings and to Clark’s extensive driver modifications. I got to hear the Alpha Prime fitted both with Nordost and WyWires cables and came away impressed. In my too brief listening sessions, it seemed to me that the Alpha Prime is a legitimate top-tier headphone that punches far above its weight class, so to speak.

, Snapshots from CanJam at Rocky Mountain Audio Fest 2014 — Part 2

 

Noble Audio

Not too long ago we offered a blog on Noble Audio’s flagship Kaiser 10 custom-fit in-ear monitors, which feature ten balanced armature drivers per earpiece, a richly engaging and involving sound, and custom finishes to die for. But for CanJam 2014, Noble rolled out a product that I, for one didn’t entirely see coming, which is a beautifully executed universal-fit version of the Kaiser 10 ($1,599, same price as the CIEM version). I compared the universal fit model vs. my own review pair of Kaiser 10 CIEMs and sure enough the universal fit model did a spectacularly good job of capturing all the essentials of the signature “K10” sound.

, Snapshots from CanJam at Rocky Mountain Audio Fest 2014 — Part 2

The only significant difference I noted is that the CIEM version does, as one might expect, offer a superior degree of noise isolation, which makes the low-frequency output of the CIEM version sound a bit more robust and weighty than that of the universal-fit version. Even so, the voicing of the two versions is much more alike than not, which is a good thing. (It is well worth noting that the K10’s enjoy an almost cult-like following among some Head-Fi members.)

Obravo

For the past several audio shows I have been following the gradual evolution of the Taiwanese firm Obravo as it has worked to develop a line of hybrid Heil/dynamic driver-type headphones (the HAMT-1 at $2,000, the HAMT-2 at $1,500, and now the HAMT-3 at $1,000), plus a new hybrid ribbon/dynamic driver-equipped headphone (the HRIB-1 at $1,299).

, Snapshots from CanJam at Rocky Mountain Audio Fest 2014 — Part 2

Obviously Obravo sees the merits of exotic Heil- and Ribbon-type drivers, but they also perceive that the excursion and output demands of contemporary headphones—especially in the bass regions—can only be properly addressed by well-designed dynamic-type drivers. Thus, the design challenge for Obravo involves finding ways to get disparate driver types to work and play well together. Are they there yet? Only time will tell when full production models become available. But let me say that Obravo’s phones have gotten better each time I have heard them at successive shows, which suggests that the company is on the right “flight path.”

, Snapshots from CanJam at Rocky Mountain Audio Fest 2014 — Part 2

Oppo

Oppo’s PM-1 planar magnetic headphone (as reviewed in Hi-Fi+ issues 115 and 116, was eagerly awaited and generally well-received. Granted, some questioned whether the initial release version of the PM-1 was not perhaps somewhat too warmly balanced or to a degree overly dark-sounding, but Oppo’s revised ear pads for PM-1 have, as Hi-Fi+ has reported, done a fine job of resolving that issue. But now, as of CanJam 2014, Oppo has released its new cost-reduced PM-2 planar magnetic headphone, priced at a decidedly down-to-earth $699.

, Snapshots from CanJam at Rocky Mountain Audio Fest 2014 — Part 2

Several observations we would offer are that A) the PM-2 is actually remarkably similar in general construction—and especially driver construction—to the PM-1, and B) the voicing of the PM-2 is, if anything, even more likely to please fans of strict tonal neutrality. True, if you look closely, you will spot areas where Oppo has trimmed costs in the PM-2 by foregoing some of the almost gem-like finishing touches used on the flagship PM-1. Nevertheless, in terms of appearance, overall design, and sound quality, the PM-2 looks like a screamin’ good deal to us.

 

RHA Audio

About a year ago we took note of, and eventually did a web exclusive online review of, RHA’s then reigning flagship MA750i earphone, which we felt offered terrific value. Now, we’re pleased to report that the Scottish firm has gone even further to announce its even more ambitious T10i earphones ($199 or £149), which introduce technical features unheard of at their price.

, Snapshots from CanJam at Rocky Mountain Audio Fest 2014 — Part 2

What sorts of technical features? Well, for starters the T10i uses proprietary handmade RHA drivers and uses—get this—earpiece housings injection moulded from stainless steel. Moreover the T10i ships with three sets of passive voicing filters (reference filter, or filters designed to add small judicious touches of either treble or bass emphasis), plus one of the most elaborate sets of ear tips to ship with any earphones at any price. The list goes on and on, but the bottom line is that RHA Audio, already known for offering terrific value, is pushing its own performance envelope further still, leveraging the company’s rare gift for making genuinely neutrally balanced earphones that just sound right straight out of the box. In the T10i, though, RHA gives users the the additional option of applying subtle voicing adjustments that should help these earphones satisfy an even broader range of users—still at an eminently sensible price.

Ultimate Ears

For the Irvine, California-based earphone and custom-fit in-ear monitor maker Ultimate Ears, the big news for CanJam 2014 was not so much a new product, per se, but an altogether new way of producing the firm’s extensive line of custom-fit in-ear products.

, Snapshots from CanJam at Rocky Mountain Audio Fest 2014 — Part 2

Now as most reader already know, the first step toward acquiring a new set of CIEMs involves getting a set of ear-mould impressions of one’s ears. From there, the traditional process has involved sending those impressions to a CIEM maker who works through an elaborate, time-consuming, multi-step process of the converting the ear-mould impressions into a master mould, and finally into a pair of custom-moulded CIEM earpiece housings.

, Snapshots from CanJam at Rocky Mountain Audio Fest 2014 — Part 2

Ultimate Ears, however, now has a better and much simpler process in place, where ear-mould impressions a run through a precision 3D scanner, thus creating a hyper precise 3D model of the wearer’s ear canals and outer ear surfaces, and then the 3D model is used to product CIEM earpieces via a 3D printer. This approach greatly shortens production turnaround time and, according to UE spokesman Mike Dias, also makes for an inherently precise and accurate fit for the end user. Dias says that, once UE switched to this new production technique, the company began seeing a dramatic increase in reported end-user comfort and a concomitant fall off in calls from users seeking to have their new CEIM earpieces adjusted or reworked to correct fit problems. Who wouldn’t like this sort of “get ‘em sooner, and get ‘em right in the first place” construction methodology?

 

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