e-earphone's 2013 Spring portable audio festival - Day 1

While Fujiya Avic may host the most crowded headphone event in the world, e-earphone put on the most comfortable one: elbow room all around, space to walk, recess tables, and loads of space to chat it up with your favourite geek manufacturer. The showroom ladies, too, are a big step up from Fuji's geezers.

Things started at 11 AM on 25 May. I showed up at 15:00 sharp. I wasn't fashionably late. I was sick. Still am. I managed to dribble snot around the seventh floor, which had some pretty damn hot products on display.

I took copious notes, and drank not a drop; my verse should have been clear. Alas, the clean streak I rocked for a couple of weeks ended this evening in more than a bottle of wine, and some strangely toxic Thai curry. 

Apologies all around.

Here are products of note from Day 1. 

Venturecraft

As rabid as my aunt Launa, this company turn out new DACs and amps for your portable almost every six months. The big news this show was the new Raytheon 5703WB-powered DAC/headphone amp for your portable and computer. Venturecraft call it Go-DAP TT. It's big, beefy and sports the above Raytheon valves in a socketed pair. The socket allows them to be switched out - rolled - like socketed op-amps. 

TT has all the goodies you expect from recent Venturecraft devices: iDevice charging/synching, PC USB DAC, some sort of EQ, and decent build quality. TT gets warm and has the typical Venturecraft background noise. It does a pretty good job of keeping its channels tracked at low volumes. It is supposed to keep up its warm goodness for up to 8 hours. 

I was told that it will go for 79.800¥. 

EK Japan

Raytheon is getting love from this year. TU-HP01, EK Japan's soon-to-be released portable headphone amp, sports a single 6418 and the Muses 8820 op-amp. HP01 has good tracking, pretty decent sound stage, and doubles as a mitts warmer in the winter months. EK Japan also have a nice case for your source and amp. Obviously, TU-HP01 is a hybrid. Unlike the half-arsed automobiles boasting the same nomenclature, HP01 won't cost a small fortune. It will ring in at a paltry 19.950¥.

Chord & Major

It was nice to croak a bit of English on through my dissolving vocal chords. C&M's Ms. Yoko speaks Taiwanese, English, and Japanese- I'm not sure in what order. She walked me through a new range of earphones called Major 9'13. The models come in typical flavours with typical names: Jazz, Rock, Classical. But they sound and look great. Lots of bass and wood. Jazz comes in walnut; Classical in palisander; Rock in maple. Each have strong bass and boast excellent housing and cable construction- this despite the fact that they are made in Taiwan, come in damn fine wooden boxes, and tip the scales at a smooth 13.500¥.

Audio Technica

Rather than showing something new, AT brought their historical line of wood headphones starting with the storied ATH-W10LTD, the headphone that, in the late 1990’s, kicked off AT's love affair with wood. Comparing it directly with every hitherto wood release in front of some of the engineers who actually developed the headphones - priceless. 

Love Harmony

Love Harmony make DACs and degaussers. Their DAC lineup supports either 1-bit sampling and/or DSD decoding. Perhaps the most interesting component is the AX-W3 MK II combo degauss/DAC. It's worthy of lust but comes at an unsexy price point. 

The unit that really caught my eye was the AX-M3, a degauss-only unit for headphones and guitars. Okay.

"First thing's first," said the rep. "You got to listen to the before... then we'll let you hear the after."

Fair enough.

I spent about five minutes with the before, some sort of quasi-classical elevator music. I took notes. I did the eyes-closed thing that proves to the outside world that I know how to listen to headphones. 

"I'm a professional, dammit!" emanated from my in-the-music face like the microbes from my nose and mouth.

Then, I was asked to remove my Sleek Audio CT7s. Glad I did. 

“It’s going to get loud,” was the curt warning I received prior my earphones thrashing under the weight of rebellious square waves. If they break-

Fortunately, they’re still kicking strong.

I was directed to put the CT7s back in my ears. I turned the amp down and put my thumb up. "Go ahead," I said in croaky-throated foreigner Japanese. 

The two seconds or so it took me to re-calibrate the volume were tense. Love Harmony were all frowns as I did my best Swedish impression. Let's face it, that was a long time ago- and I'm anything but stoic.

I listened for a minute or so. But it took much less time for my self-respect to melt. I squealed something like "Holy shizmononger uck uck uck!!" and met the worried face in front of me with wild, feverish eyes. 

“Shizmonger!” I croaked again.

The CT7 is a detailed, fast, attack-friendly custom earphone that I rate ahead of many pricier options from competing companies. De-gaussed, it's wider, clearer, sharper than my Zeiss Makro Planar 100/2 stopped down to f/5,6.

It's not placebo. Something happened. I can’t tell you whether or not Love Harmony's rep switched an impedance switch at the back or a engaged a software EQ. 

What I can tell is that ‘before’ sounded okay. ‘After’ sounded great. Holy frack. 

Four days later, here's what’s rubbing me: I should have done the degauss-before and after with from my iPod, with my own music. Whatever. Whether magic, or tricksy tricksy poofery puffery, my CT7's sounded way better after degauss.

And there goes my credibility. All in a day’s work.

 ​

Fujiya Avic's 2013 Spring Headphone Festival

Increasingly, the headphone world turns to Japan’s chaotic, heady festivals for the introduction of new products. There’s less red tape here. And a better entrenched geek culture. 

Thousands of fans flock to see what hundreds of vendors and manufacturers have cooked up. Every year in May, headphone engines rev up. By October, they wind down again.

This May began on a Saturday, an eleventh, at 10:30 in the morning. I shewed late, having an article and a shoot to finish first. Even at 13:00 with only four and a half hours left, the floor of Stadium Place in Gaienmae teemed with expectant, sweating fans. #HPFES2013 had begun.

FitEar
​The FitEar booth was unreachable till about 15:00 when the crowd had gone to fill its collective stomach. Parterre is what drew them: the youngest universal sibling in the line of popular earphones represented thus far by F111 and ToGo!334.

“How many drivers does it have?” Asked a fan at the front of the queue. “It’s a secret,” smiled Mr. Suyama. And that was that. 

Shure enclosed their newest three-way, four speaker unit SE846 earphone in the clearest of shells. The 10-layer low-pass filter can be seen as clear as day, the double unit bass driver and its accompanying mid and high boxes blink back at you with paparazzic clarity.

Someone will buy a Parterre. They will take it home, shine a powerful light at its body, and give a good approximation of what is inside. Another may actually dissect it. Under a reading lamp, any old pre-ojisan can tell that it sports at least two drivers.

FitEar’s queue burned into the next room for hours. And excited by the wait, by their peers, by the energy, queuers flooded the the booths around them. The most immediate beneficiaries: Pioneer, Sony, and Ultimate Ears, showed products both semi-new and semi-old.

Pioneer’s focus remains on the DJ while Ultimate Ears are thrusting into the home. Sony are attempting to proselytise the portable DAC and closed headphone markets. But we knew that already. Their products ran the news wires months ago. The smartest ones waited. Even if products were ready months ago, patient makers tweaked, marketed, and bided their time elsewise. Saturday was their day to explode on hapless, queuing headphone fans.

Seeing the headfi boys, snuffing up the sacrificial solder - someone was tweaking an Astell AK120, someone else was calibrating a wide angle lens - plus a few unexpected meetings kept me off the main drag for most of the day. Regrettably, I saw only a third of the show.

What I saw was pretty cool.

Kitsch
​To fully capture what Fujiya Avic have put together would take an excited attendee three days. Maybe four. Most of the action took place on the 7th floor, but large booths and presentations went on from floors eight to ten. It was Disneyland without the kids and overpriced candy floss; it was CES sans those WTF booths. The silliest booth there was Kawasaki Special Printing Co. LTD., a company specialising in custom print jobs. IN this case, it's headphones. Their angle was simple: sexy anime. 

Yep, cartoon babes loudly printed on your headphones. 

In Japan, sonsy cartoon girls sell. This year’s Headphone Book sold out several times because of a bundled FitEar anime insert. Currently, one-offs create too much waste. And no printing job is perfect. Sending in a pair of Ultrasone ED8 for a tattoo of your favourite hentai heroine is still too risky. Kawasaki are confident, however, that their process will be improved. 2D boobs and blush are destined to be the wave of the future.

Ocharaku
​Ocharaku showed off Kuro. Damn. Ω will be doing a feature. Damn. Until then, I’ll just say this: if KAEDE was your thing but you couldn’t afford it or couldn’t nab one in time, Kuro might just fit your fancy. It does mine. ‘Donguri’ means acorn in Japanese. Despite autumn being acorn season, Ocharaku had it out for testing on Saturday. According to Mr. Yamagishi, donguri should be ripe for Fujiya’s October show. 

Zionote
​Zionote, distributor of Smart Audio, M2Tech, Ubiquo, EXS and many others, have got an ace portable amp up their sleeves. It receives power from a single 9V cell. Its sole input comes from a 3,5mm stereo jack. The signal exits single-ended from a 3,5mm stereo port, or balanced from an ALO Audio-style port. Signal noise is very low, channel tracking is good. It’s tough to judge an amp’s performance at a loud show where your ears are stressed by everything from the excited “yatta’s” of drooling fans to smiling models with tawny suntans and pigtails. Whoopee. But, for the estimate price of 30.000¥, this mystery box is certainly exciting. Zionote’s CEO, Mr. Machida, says the current box is temporary. The final design will go on sale sometime in summer. He is also making a Shure-style coaxial cable for earphones that should fit anyone who has adopted the new standard. The bundle will be sold for 45.000¥. 

Zionote also distribute Smart Audio’s USB interface/DAC/headphone amp. It spits out analogue signal from a 3,5mm headphone jack and from a pair of RCA ports. SPIDF is tossed from a toslink port. It is sold as a combo that comes complete with vibration-damping brass feet and a large magnetic dock. It will go on sale next week. I didn’t have time to test drive it, but I did get that curling feeling in my testicles that something fun was up. Smart Audio are based in Korea. Strangely, their new product is currently slated for sale in Japan only. 

Oliospec
​Oliospec run a typically noisy Japanese website but are banking heavily on fanless Windows 7 PCs. Models start at 100.000¥ and go up from there to taper off around 300.000¥. No matter what you choose, what you get is a noiseless, fanless, DSD/PCM converting PC for hosting true hi-res decoding. I think we will see fanless PCs take over from traditional component CD systems in the next few years.

MST Audio
​On the way back to the dark corner where I dropped off my mate’s rucksack, I ran into Ryuzoh, the bloke behind MST Audio and one of the FiQuest engineers. He sported mafia business casual and newly-gelled hair. Still, while telling me about MST’s AK100/120 modifications, he asked quite seriously not to be pictured next to his handiwork. Ho hum. Ω is looking forward to comparing modified and unmodified versions of the player. 

Centrance
​Finally, I demoed Centrance’s hifi M8, the near-legendary iDevice/PC USB DAC/headphone amp. Its amp section shares similarities with my favourite DACmini, but I’m willing to bet its output is even blacker. With selectable output impedance values, independent gain settings, and a mild equaliser at the back, it is the current do-all iDevice DAC/amp. The output impedance switch really works. Paired with the FitEar ToGo! 334, the high output value resulted in an audible drop in dynamic range. Particularly hit were the low notes, which felt muted. Switching the M8 to its lowest output value put back the goods. If you’re not into IEMs, the M8 is a champ with full-size headphones. On display was the awe-inspiring Audeze LCD-2. AT low gain, the M8 handled hard bass lines with nary a pop or warble despite its volume pot being set at a crowd-overcoming 80-90%. I set the volume pot down to less than half on medium and high gain settings. Michael Goodman has done an outstanding job. Though large, the M8 has a bag of tricks that may be unmatched even by the outstanding Cypher Labs CLAS DB plus your favourite amp. Sans proprietary connectors, it is the only iDevice DAC that is instantly accessible to both hobbyists and professionals alike.

What’s Next?
​Osaka will heat up with e-Earphone’s ポタフェス show at the end of this month. Ω will be there. But Tokyo really is where it’s at. Fujiya Avic show shave long set the bar. Each year it gets higher. Manufacturers know this. They wait, serving up their best to meet May and October deadlines. And I only managed to tour 1/6 of the show. I should have invested in a fast pass.

I arrived home tired, but happy, and shared leftover soup and and knäckebröd with my wife. She, too, had a long day: pilfering the secrets of pharmameds from around Japan and the world near Yurakucho station. While she’s studying to further her career, I’m dreaming of acorns. 

When you’re flexing your inner geek, you can’t have it both ways.

​

Shure SE846 - The Cost of Three Dragons

UPDATE: I have published a full review of the Shure SE846 at Headfonia.

Matt Engstrom finished a wee interview by backing Daenerys Targaryen. You don't have to press me hard to force an 'amen'. The others are just squabbling pretenders, armed with "should be's" and high hopes. Targaryens have got dragons. You can take that to the bank.

And while I durst not call Shure's competitors 'pretenders', it's meet to give credit where credit is due. Love them or hate them Shure have debuted firsts upon firsts in the earphone industry and their designs have pushed boundary after boundary. Sometimes, that boundary clinks like micro injected metal. Sometimes, it clinks like coin. 

I hear both in the SE846.

The Dragons
ake no mistake, this earphone isn't another 'not custom' universal earphone. It was designed from the ground up for exact replication. It's got parts that resemble engine blocks and complex bongs. When all is said and done, it packs an engineering orgasm of never-been-done-befores. At least another ounce of improvements are ticker-taped over the sheets.

The much-touted low-pass filter comprises ten layers of metal and spacer. The drivers are specifically tuned from the ground-up for the SE846. You won't find them anywhere else. The exchangeable filter system, too, is about as proprietary as it gets. 

Shure made absolutely certain that this earphone would make an impact. It's not even out yet and it has. The ~1.000$ USD price is equally dragon as its technological advancements. Shure's newest products have always commanded top dollars. Their E500 was the first commercially available three-driver two-way universal earphone. The 'E' could have stood in for $. In 2006,  500$ USD for a pair of universal earphones was unheard of. In 2013, universals from manufacturers all over the globe command prices of up to 3.000$. 

Unlike boutique designers such as Final Audio, Shure price things based on the technology crammed inside their products, the cost of production, and of course, the ostensible market. Let's call it fair.

Though, it may not seem like it.

s I mentioned above, the tech inside is brand new, proprietary stuff that is probably years ahead of the game. If it's worth it to you isn't really important. It's worth it to the industry. Earphones aren't a stagnant commodity. They evolve to fit different moulds. Currently, the emphasis on high-end portable audio is an an all-time high whose summit we won't see for a long time.

The problem Shure's latest faces is simple: hitherto >1.000$ USD universal earphones re either boutique luxuries, or they are custom spin offs. The former is unique in that performance isn't that important in the overall picture. The latter is unique in that it siphons popularity from already well-known custom models. Shure enter this market with a decidedly different product.

I think it will work out for them.

Sound
he sound of the SE846 is decidedly Shure. ow-end aside, mids are well-emphasised and detailed. The top end is smooth. Cymbal decay is fast, sibilance is for naught. Soundstage and stereo imaging have taken on a new facet since last time: width. There's bite in the guitars irrespective of the tube you choose. Exercising the regions of 1-8kHz is apter than you think.

The human voice tops out at around 4.000Hz. Theoretically to get a good reproduction of it, 8.000Hz is what you need. uitars, drums, and most of the middle stuff you need to put together a good band is contained within those bounds. Sure, frequencies trip up beyond that. But the good stuff: your vocals and violins, cymbals largely stay within those bounds. Emphasising clarity and space within that range is something that isn't too hard to do with the SE846 kit. 

But Shure stick to their guns. Their high-end earphones have never been sibilant, nor etchy. The SE486 is never etchy. You won't get painful shivers in your ears no matter what filter you screw in. Trebleheads, the SE846 may not be for you. And that's okay. You've never been a Shure fan anyway. 

Interestingly, the SE846 sounds great with trance - and that despite kicking low-end arse. It's because of clarity. Honestly, this earphone's bass is something you won't forget. Ever. It's not the bass of a balanced armature earphone. It's got more low end kick than your JH16Pro - but here's the interesting bit: that bass is completely its own. We've all praised earphones that put out prodigious lows without muddling the mids and highs. But today, we'll have to re-analyse exactly what that means. here's nothing out there that really does what the SE846 does for the low end as an integral part musical gestalt. 

Throneward
ig the entire package or pan it. It's your choice. But denying what Shure are capable of is ridiculous. Personally, borderline etchy treble is my game. And I could do with a big more edge in vocals. The SE846 may not be for me. Detailed, powerful bass - if kept in its place - is something I've craved, but - in light of demoing the SE846 - realised that my heretofore favourites do lack in key areas. Personal listening habits aside, I'm keen on this earphone.

The coming weeks and months will tell whether or not Shure's new masterpiece of micro injected metal will keep the throne. For now, it marches with the assurance of cutting edge technology and a proven track record of innovation. Of course, Shure's new designs are extremely robust - no more cracked backs or 145$ cable replacement operations. 

Dragons are key to the throne. Awe ensures its legacy. Be certain, Shure are praying for the later.

NOTE: Below, you will find pictures of Shure's recent press event in Tokyo. Mr. Engstrom and Mr. Sullivan performed their spiel in front of Japan's biggest wigs and nerdiest ears. It was a great time. Just check out Shure Japan's SE846 poster - what incredible product photography. 

The close ups were taken a day later at Shure's HQ. Unfortunately, I left the macro setup at home. Expect better pictures from fans in the coming days.

It's headphone month in Japan - Fujiya Avic and e-Earphone

Last February's cold was broken by an intimate gathering of the maddest audiophiles around Japan. It's now May and temperatures tip above 20 degrees on any given day. Three months is a long time to go without a show - especially for us nerds. 

Famous Fujiya
Saturday 11 May, Fujiya Avic kicks off their Spring Headphone show in Tokyo. Most of Japan's big makers will be there as well as the upstarts and outgrowths of former biggies. Ω image is looking forward to meeting the local crazies as well as Headfi's most febrile lot: the Tokyo group. Expect pictures and endless, lusty slobber from the lot.

Follow #hpfes for more information.

UPDATE: Ω's impressions of #HPFES2013 can be found here. 

Location info:
 開催日 ： 2013年5月11日 (土曜日)
  開催時間 ： 10：30 開場 - 18:30 終了
    会場 ： スタジアムプレイス（青山東京メトロ銀座線 「外苑前」駅３番出口 徒歩２分）

COMMING SOON - ポタフェス
Not to be outdone, e-earphone will host a two-day show in Osaka on the 25-26 weekend. 2013 looks to be the year of e-earphone. Every time I set foot in that shop, I get giggly pimples of excitement. Naturally, Ω will make it to their show. The Tokyo group? I have no idea, but I hope I'll see at least one. 

UPDATE: Ω's impressions of ポタフェス Day 1 can be found here and Day two can be found right here.

Location info: 
 〒542-0076 大阪府大阪市中央区難波４丁目２−１
 難波御堂筋ビルディング
0120-010443
namba2.com‎ 
 
Japan is full of trade shows and large, nerdy gatherings. If you're in the area, stop by, say hi; we can toast amps/DACs and squeal with delight like the girl scouts we really are. 

Forza Audio Works - cables good enough to munch

Forza Audio Works cables have made the rounds in TouchMyApps headphone reviews. Finally. 

In case you don't know, Forza is a cable and interconnect company run by Matthew, one of the kindest gentlemen in aftermarket audio. If TouchMyApps didn't convince you of the fact, let me reiterate: Matthew is a gentleman of the highest order. His cables are works of art. If you have an interconnect need, he can meet it.

Forza also do iPod modifications. Ω will be purchasing one in the coming months to keep abreast of the mod world (and because our beloved iPod shuffle 512MB from 2005 has finally bit it and we (I'm being cheeky here by saying 'we' as it is just me) want an upgrade).

But enough about us, the whole tamale is here. ​

​

Antelope Audio Zodiac Silver debut

Ω image is taking a good look at Antelope Audio's Zodiak Silver DAC/headphone amp/pre amp. Silver is the entry Zodiak model but still supports a host of great input and outputs.