Over roughly the past decade an alternate high-end audio universe has been emerging—a universe centered on very high-performance headphones, earphones, portable and desktop headphone amplifiers, and amp/DACS. In short, it is a world that might be described as “personal audio on steroids.” CanJam, in turn, an event jointly sponsored by RMAF and HeadFi.org that is in essence a showcase for and celebration of all things relating to high-performance personal audio.

Depending upon who you are and what your background might be, you may or may not have positive associations with the words “headphone” or “earphone.” But let me provide both some reassurance and an open invitation to explore. Set aside everything you know about the cheesy earbuds that come with mobile phones or the wildly inaccurate-sounding, big-bass headphones you may have encountered, because CanJam folks are serious audiophiles who approach music reproduction in much the same way as traditional high-enders do. The key distinction, however, is that for CanJammers the musical transducers of choice are those that can be worn on (or in) one’s ears. What’s the draw? Well, headphone and earphone based systems appeal on several levels:

·      Sound Quality: Todays finest top-tier headphones offer balanced and extended frequency response, dynamics, resolution, transient speed, and focus that precious few loudspeakers at any price can hope to match or surpass (although in fairness speakers do continue to enjoy a significant edge in terms of 3D soundstaging).

·      Value: While today’s best headphones have become quite expensive (with prices for state-of-the-art models presently falling in the mid-$5000 range), listeners often remark that the perceived sound quality per dollar ratio for good ‘phones is typically off the charts.

·      Simplicity: Like traditional audio systems, headphone/earphone-based systems typically require source components, amplifiers, and transducers, but there are some differences. For example, headphone/earphone-based systems rarely require equipment racks and never need room acoustic treatments.

·      Convenience: Unlike fine speaker-based systems, headphone systems typically do not take up a lot of space and—importantly—they can be enjoyed at satisfying volume levels at almostmost any time of the day or night without fear of disturbing friends, family, or neighbours. Better still, it is easy to configure high-quality headphone or earphone-based systems for on-the-go listening (or at least for easy portability *).

* For example, the author brought to RMAF a PC-based music server, a CEntrance portable balanced-output amplifier/high-res DAC, and a pair of Audeze LCD-3 planar magnetic headphones—all of which neatly fit within a backpack. In a very real sense, the system represents “high-end audio to go.”

What follows is a mostly pictorial survey of new headphone, earphone, and related products seen and heard at RMAF—some of which will become Hi-Fi+ review subjects in the months to come.

Abyss Headphones

The eagerly awaited Abyss AB-1266 planar magnetic headphone ($5,495) is now in production and has proven to be worth the wait. Abyss ‘phones were prominently featured in several manufacturers’ demonstration in the main CanJam display area and were also on demonstration in the Abyss room in one of the RMAF towers.

In the Abyss room, in particular, listeners could hear the Abyss AB-1266 matched with the Light Harmonic DAC and Cavalli Audio Liquid Gold amplifier or with the AURALiC VEGA digital processor and a heavily upgraded Woo Audio WA5 amplifier.  Both demos sounded exceptionally good, leaving no doubt that the AB-1266 is a formidable contender for state-of-the-art honours.

A Hi-Fi+ review of the Abyss AB-1266 is already underway. Watch for it later this year.

ALO Audio

CanJam marked the release of ALO Audio’s clever and very well priced Island portable 192/24 USB DAC/balanced-output headphone amplifier ($299). The little Island is a USB-powered device and is compatible with both Macs and PCs, and it provides enough “oomph” to drive even quite difficult headphone loads. Better still, the Island is compact, stoutly built, and adorably cute.

Another ALO milestone involved the release, earlier this year, of ALO’s exotic, valve-powered Studio Six desktop headphone amplifier ($4900). The Studio Six is a Class A, SET design that features a zero-feedback circuit. For CanJam, ALO offered a show-special price of $3900 for the StudioSix, which made this already appealing amp even more attractive to prospective buyers. Note: For an upgrade fee of $200, ALO can build the Studio Six with upgradedTeflon capacitors.

In a conversation with ALO founder Ken Ball we learned that at present the firm has no plans to release a CE-approved version of the Studio Six, but our sense is that this decision could be revisited if there were enough interest on the part of prospective UK and European customers. (Hence, if you live outside the US and think the Studio Six might be the amp for you, do drop Ken Ball an email at support@aloaudio.com to let him know of your interest.).

Alpha Design Labs

ADL’s X1 portable headphone amplifier/Apple-compatible 192/24 DAC ($479) has undergone a long and, we gather, at times convoluted gestation process en route to the marketplace. But now the X1, which debuted earlier this year at the Munich High-End show, is in full production release and on sale in the US. As the attached photos will show, the X1 is a sleek piece of kit and quite a looker.

Apex Hi-Fi

Apex Hi-Fi focuses on high-performance headphone amps/preamps and amp/DACs, with all sales and marketing tasks handled by industry veteran Todd Green of Todd The Vinyl Junkie (TTVJ) fame. For CanJam, Apex rolled out its ambitious new Teton valve-powered, single-ended, output –transformer-less (OTL) headphone amplifier/preamplifier ($5,000), which—during a too brief listen—was sounding very fine indeed.

In case you are wondering, almost all Apex amps are named after mountains and/or mountaineering terms and thus promise, um, “peak” listening experiences.

For a detailed press release on the Teton, click here: http://www.hifiplus.com/articles/scoop-apex-hi-fi-announces-new-teton-preamplifierheadphone-amplifier/

Be sure to see the recent Hi-Fi+ review of the slim Apex Glacier portable headphone amplifier/DAC: http://www.hifiplus.com/articles/apex-hi-fi-glacier-portable-headphone-ampdac/

Astell & Kern

Astell & Kern is a division of iRiver, which—almost overnight—has soared to prominence on the strength of its popular AK100 and AK120 portable high-resolution player/DAC/headphone amps. The AK100 and AK120 have been well-received thanks to their well-conceived features sets, excellent sound quality, and incredibly chic, fashionable industrial designs (which look so cool that they might even induce a bit of design envy amongst the Apple folk).

For CanJam, however, Astell & Kern took a slightly different tack, and launched the new AK10 USB DAC/headphone amplifier ($299), which one Astell & Kern spokesperson described as “an AK100 without the display screen or onboard file storage.” Thus, the AK10 is positioned as a perfect add-on for listeners who like to store and play favourite music files from a PC, Mac, or tablet device. Like its bigger siblings, the AK10 is beautifully designedr and a joy to look at or to use (it is also astonishingly compact.).

Stop Press: We learned at CanJam that Astell & Kern will be taking on US sales and marketing responsibilities for the Japanese high-end headphone/earphone company Final Audio Design (apparently the two firms came together through a project in which Final provided expert contract design work for a future Astell & Kern OEM product.).

Audeze

Many audiophiles (this author included) consider Audeze’s LCD-3 planar magnetic headphones as a “Top-3” product that is a very desirable device through which to enjoy music. For some listening contexts, however, one potential drawback is that the LCD-3 is an open-back design that is, of course, not suitable for use in noisy environments.

Never ones to rest upon their laurels, however, the Audeze team has been hard at work creating a new very high-performance closed-back planar magnetic headphone called the LCD-XC ($1,799). The XC features a new driver (different from the one used in the LCD-3) that incorporates a “waveguide-like” frame said to improve efficiency and minimise unwanted interactions with the headphone cup. The result is a closed-back ‘phone that offers plenty of noise isolation, yet that retains (most of) the open, energetic, and highly articulate sound of the LCD-3. Cool.

Interestingly, having created a new driver for the LCD-XC, Audeze went on to apply the driver in a new open-back model, called the LCD-X ($1,699). Both the LCD-XC and LCD-X are easy to distinguish from the flagship LCD-3 in that both feature machined aluminium frames in lieu of the hardwood frames used in the earlier LCD-2 and LCD-3.

Finally, Audeze showed a proof-of-concept prototype of its upcoming DDA-1 DAC/headphone amplifier with—get this—built-in DSP correction. In theory, the DSP system could be used to achieve hyper-accurate, ultra-flat frequency response with any of Audeze’s headphone models, but might also allow user-adjustable voicing curves. At show time, price and time of release information for the DDA-1 were not yet available.

AURALiC Ltd.

The Chinese firm AURALiC Ltd. was out in force at CanJam, showing its impressive new VEGA Digital Processor ($3,499), which is a combination high-res DAC/balanced-output preamplifier, coupled with the firm’s TAURUS MkII fully balanced headphone amplifier/preamp ($1,899). For optimal sound quality and versatility, the VEGA supports PCM files up to 384/32 resolution, DSD64 and DSD128 files, and DXD files, while offering six digital filter modes to allow users to fine-tune the VEGA’s overall sonic character.

But brand new for the CanJam show were the firm’s cool new Gemini 1000 ($995) and 2000 ($1,995) combo headphone stands/headphone amplifiers. The upper sections of the Geminis features sleek, curvaceous headphone stands produced under license from Klutz Design, while the bases of the stands incorporate powerful, Class A headphone amps. The Gemini 1000 uses a Class A single-ended design while the Gemini 2000 features a Class A balanced-output design.

Aurisonics

Hailing from Nashville, Tennessee, Aurisonics is a new, high-performance earphone maker that, by design, offers both generic-fit (that is, universal fit) and custom-fit in-ear monitors. In fact, for most of Aurisonic’s custom fit models there is an equivalent generic-fit version available. The entry point for the line is the ASG-1 ($300), which features a 15mm dynamic driver, with the ASG-2 ($549) serving as an upper-end model that features the hybrid combination of a 15mm dynamic bass driver and two balanced armature-type tweeters (for both models, the “G” in the model number denotes the generic-fit version).

Interestingly, Aurisonic produces all of its earpieces (both generic and custom-fit) on a 3D printer. A very wide range of finishes is offered, as indicated by the nickel-plated ASG-2 shown here.

Beyerdynamic

The German firm announced two new (or at least new-to-the-US) products at CanJam: the A20 headphone amplifier ($649) and the Tesla T51p headphone ($289), which is an improved and updated version of the original T50p headphone.

The T51p features a revised load impedance (60 Ohms), revised clamping pressures, improved padding, and significantly upgraded signal cables—all with essentially no price change vis-à-vis the predecessor T50p model.

BMC

Our friend Drew Baird and Moon Audio introduced us to a very clever and elegant new product from the German firm BMC: namely, the BMC PureDAC ($1,690), which is a combination headphone amplifier, preamplifier, and DSD-capable DAC. What sets the BMC apart is the fact that—please note—the preamplifier and headphone amplifier sections of the PureDAC are independently controllable (e.g., you could play the preamp at low volumes while running the headphone amp at high volumes, or vice versa). It is Mr. Baird’s expert opinion as a distributor and reseller of many different brands of headphone amplifiers that the PureDAC offers extraordinary value for money.

Cambridge Audio

Under the auspices of a booth run by its US distributor Audio Plus Services, Cambridge Audio showed its tiny new DacMagic XS—an asynchronous USD DAC priced at a manageable $199.

Cardas

At CanJam as at the Munich High-End show, the big news for Cardas involved the release of the firm’s long-awaited and thoroughly delightful EM5813 Model 1 Ear Speaker ($395), which has recently been reviewed in Hi-Fi+ issue 103 and will also be reviewed in an upcoming issue of our sister publication, The Absolute Sound.

Cavalli Audio

Cavalli Audio has been on such a roll of late that we wonder if company founder Dr. Alex Cavalli ever has time to sleep. For CanJam, three current production Cavalli amplifiers were on display: the Liquid Glass hybrid tube/solid-state amp ($3,950), the Liquid Lightning MkII solid-state electrostatic amp ($4,850), and the brand new Liquid Gold fully-balanced solid-state amp ($6,450).

What is impressive is that each of the Cavalli amplifiers is, within its respective class, a legitimate state-of-the-art contender. In particular, many show attendees felt the combination of the Cavalli Liquid Gold amplifier and the Abyss AB-1266 planar magnetic headphones constituted the finest headphone-based music reproduction system they had ever heard.

UK and EU customers may wish to note that all Cavalli amplifiers are CE-certified and that Cavalli Audio will happily build any of its present models with power supply voltages to suit your country-specific requirements.

CEntrance

For CanJam, CEntrance was essentially celebrating the full production release of its long-awaited (and oft-delayed) HiFi-M8, which is an exceptionally versatile portable product that combines an iDevice, Android, Mac, and PC-compatible, high-res, asynchronous USB DAC with an extremely powerful fully balanced headphone amplifier ($699). The end result is a DAC that can connect to just about anything coupled with an amp that can gracefully drive almost any headphone you’d care to name (except, of course, electrostatic headphones).

Frankly, the design of the HiFi-M8 was completed a long time ago, but what delayed release until now was the fact that Apple qualification testing seemed to take forever. Happily, that’s all in the past at this stage so that CEntrance is now busily filling back-orders as swiftly as it can.

Good news: Though HiFi-M8s are still in relatively short supply, CEntrance managing director Michael Goodman graciously provided a sample for Hi-Fi+ to review. Watch for our review of this ambitious product to appear in the next month or two. (Note: The images you see here are of our review sample.).

Final Audio Design

The brilliant Japanese headphone and earphone maker Final Audio design showed two newly released headphone products that had been previewed at the Munich High-End show earlier this year, plus a welcome new addition to the firm’s earphone lineup.

Specifically, Final showed both its Pandora 6 headphones ($699) and upscale Pandora 8 headphones ($1,600). Our take: both models are appealing, but we expect the big winner will be the Pandora 6, which offers levels of sonic suppleness and finesse rarely heard in headphones selling at a sub-$700 price point.

As a surprise offering debuting at CanJam, Final also introduced its new Heaven 2 earphones, which at $149 are by far the least expensive models in the Heaven range.

In the not-too-distant future Hi-Fi+ will be receiving review samples of the Heaven 2; watch for our upcoming coverage.

Focal

Following up on initiatives launched at the Munich High-End show, Focal was demonstrating its expanded range of full size headphones, which now comprise the Spirit One ($279), the Spirit Pro ($349), and the Spirit Classic ($399). What are the differences between these three? Well, the Spirit One, which is basically the original Focal headphone offering (http://www.hifiplus.com/articles/focal-spirit-one-headphoneheadset-hi-fi-89/), is designed for portable use and is to be powered directly from mobile phones, tablets, etc. Accordingly, the Spirit One has the warmest and, in some respects, most accessible voicing of the three—especially appropriate for use with less-than-perfect source components.

The Spirit Pro, on the other hand, is Focal’s professional-grade monitor headphone—one that is said to offer ruler-flat frequency response. Finally, the Spirit Classic roughly splits the difference between the One and the Pro, with voicing that is said to “Audeze-like”.

Fostex

Hi-Fi+ has favourably reviewed a number of Fostex products including the ravishing TH-900 headphone (http://www.hifiplus.com/articles/fostex-th-900-headphones/), the HP-A8 desktop amp/DAC (http://www.hifiplus.com/articles/fostex-hp-a8-headphone-ampdac-hi-fi/), and the HP-P1 portable amp/DAC (http://www.hifiplus.com/articles/fostex-hp-p1-headphone-amplifier-hi-fi-89/).

Now, Fostex has a new portable amp under development that is sure to attract further attention. The amp, shown in prototype form at CanJam, is a portable valve-powered unit to be called the HP-V1, with a slated price of $600.

Fostex, well aware that various third-party firms have been actively reselling modified versions of the firm’s T50RP planar magnetic headphones, is also exploring building its own upgraded version of the T50RP (which Fostex representatives dubbed the “RP Mystery”). The prototype sounds promising.

GoVibe

Ably represented at CanJam by the worldwide headphone reseller Jaben, GoVibe showed a pre-production prototype of its new Maverick portable, balanced output headphone amplifier. Pricing for the Maverick is yet to be announced, but if GoVibe runs true to form we suspect the Maverick will wind up being “value-priced.”

Watch for Part 2 of this report, coming soon.