canjam nyc 2023 mini blog

spartaman64 · February 28, 2023

I only had a brief amount of time with each transducer since there's usually a line. Also, some of them had offline playlists so I couldn't play my songs. So this is all just rough impressions.

I'll start with the pictures.

Audio technica ath-w2022 anniversary edition

One of only 5 in the US according to the rep. I think it sounded great for a closed back headphone but many much cheaper open backs sound better to me. But its main selling point is probably the exclusivity and the hand-painted art on the cups.

Sennheiser HE1

I'm not sure if I really need to introduce this headphone but it's probably one of if not the most expensive headphones in the world at around 59000 USD. The rep told us the base is made from the same marble that Michelangelo used for his sculptures which is cool. As for the sound, they sounded ok. Ok, it was probably the best tuned headphone I've heard. But it sounded surprisingly not stax/planar like to me. I guess a lot of people will say that means it has a more natural timbre and people has said to me that planar's detail is artificial. I don't really understand that statement since I think arguably all detail outside of frequency response is artificial and it's just your perception of the sound. But anyways I enjoy that detail artificial or not so that makes the HE1 not rank at the top of my list. And certainly, to me, it's not far and above better than all other headphones but other people including the ones in my demo group heavily disagree with me so take that as you will.

Got my hd800 signed by axel grell. Not much else to be said lol. I guess maybe I'll talk a bit about the hd800. The widest soundstage on a headphone but imo overblown. It sounds maybe like a foot wider than other headphones not the back of an auditorium etc other people said about them to me. Also, there are some things I don't like about the soundstage. It sounds like all sounds are in the narrow band so less layered than other headphones' soundstage ime. There's some sibilance but thankfully I'm less sensitive to sibilance than most people. I'm also a basslet so I'm not disappointed in the amount of bass unlike some other people but it sounds a bit plasticky to me. It sort of reminds me of those hollow sticks we used to hit on the ground in elementary school called boomwhackers i believe. This might sound like I'm saying the hd800 is a bad headphone but not at all. The soundstage has a cool effect and its resolution punches above its weight but I guess the issue is its main strength (soundstage width) is not something I value a ton.

Subtonic Storm

Probably the most technical iem I've heard. The resolution, dynamics etc are stunning. I thought this is my new favorite iem but then I listen to u12t again and the tuning of the u12t is just too perfect for me.

I also got to see a lot of well-known people in the community. I met crinacle and resolve and I saw Dr. Sean Olive, Jude, Steve Guttenburg, Zeos, dms, golden sound. Funny thing is I got a lyft share ride from the airport to my hotel and resolve was the other passenger.

Some rough rankings for me probably not too accurate since they weren't demoed back to back but I tried my best

headphones:

bravura/aperio idk which one they had > susvara > old utopia > new utopia > he1 maybe > heddphone > x9000 > shangri la > caldera > clear mg > yamaha > ath-w2022 > bathys > d8000 > the new hifiman closed back > sundara closed

iems:

u12t > storm > maybe u18t > helios > anni maybe here > mest mk3 > diva maybe > tempest > meteor > s12 > cadenza > andro > qdc tiger > hifiman > trifecta

spartaman64 · March 3, 2023

i didnt quite dislike HE1 as much as this guy but i agree overall. and im glad to see im not crazy lol. when i heard he1 and was disappointed I thought there was something wrong with my ears or something.

CTR640 · March 3, 2023

€60K sjees, what did Sennheiser smoke to come up with that price? It must of out of this planet lol

The ATH-W2022 looks nice but IMO, the ATH-WB2022 looks much nicer. It sucks it can only be connected through BT and integrated USB dac so you have to connect it through USB on your PC/laptop for example. Stupid logic if you ask me.