e-earphone's 2013 Spring portable audio festival - Day 2

e-earphone’s 2013 Spring headphone festival Day 1 completely rocked (and deserves all the lip time it gets). So did Day 2. But, it’s now two weeks after the show ended, and a testament to shigzeo’s unfortunate sense of timeliness. In the mean time, your hair has grown. My hair has grown. The world has spinned and Japan has lost a friendly with Bulgaria while PKing Australia back to a tie. Apologies all around.

The good news is that I’ve had time to distil a few things I saw at the show. (Also, I no longer carry communicable diseases.) 

Cough cough.

Day 2 started much like Day 1 did: late. I was sicker than ever, and relying on a repertoire of language which hadn’t seen use in ten years. It was a dismal failure. Fortunately, I had my notebook and still could write.

“I’m going upstairs,” I penciled to a Mr. Tak, shop manager at e-earphone’s Tokyo branch. It was time for floor 10. 

The following is what caught my eye:

Maxell

Maxell is not a name I've considered much since the middle of the 90‘s when I upgraded from Sony’s Walkman to Minidisk only to find that Maxell made MD disks, too. Woohoo! Recently, Maxell have followed TDK's lead and begun attending high-profile headphone events. The wares they brought to Osaka caught my attention because of their price. RF500, the entry model, will set you back 5.380¥ while the high end DBA700 hybrid dynamic/balanced armature earphone will set you back 6.500¥. 

Sounds familiar.

Strangely, it was DD600, the middling offering, that I liked best. It’s on my buy list. Next to the DBA700, which puts out out dirty, compressed sound, it’s a delight. The DBA700‘s performance was lacklustre in all aspects. I wanted to ask: “can you clean these thing?” but I didn’t. I did check the nozzles though.

It wasn’t wax. 

RF500 is all upper mids. It’s like a wannabe Final Audio 1602, but with none of the clear, wide worthwhiles tucked in. But DD600, wow. Good balance and reach in both ends and a wide, detailed sound stage. For 4.980¥, it’s a winner. 

Aurisonics

I stopped by Musica Acoustics’ booth for a good 50 minutes with the intention of chatting up Dimitri long enough that he’d let me hide my luggage behind his booth. There was no fooling Big D. (no, not that Big D.). Soon enough I was testing amps and earphones. And my luggage was still out in the open. 

It was Aurisonics (yes, that Aurisonics) that totally caught me off guard. 

While not brand-new, ASG-2 Stearth (sic) was refreshing. Its full-range 15mm dynamic driver delivers weighty, detailed bass riddled with space. The dual balanced armatures make a perfect complement and provide airy, fluid highs and upper mids. Wide and organic. Smooth and non-fatiguing. I’m thinking of other dynamic adjective pairs to put together. Give me a moment.

It reminds me of something else out there, but I can’t quite put a finger on it...

Anyway, this earphone held me in thrall till that bugger of a Russian introduced me to a new brand, that, evidently, loaned their only prototype portable headphone amp/DAC to Musica for the show. 

Shozy

Tight build, beautiful chassis designs, and great DAC units peg Rhapsodio as a manufacturer to watch. Under Dimitri’s watchful gaize I spent a good time with each of their headphone amp/DACs.

Firstly, you won’t find better built units in the same size category. Sound is pretty good, too. Detail and resolving power drip through every frequency and there is space in spades, especially in the midrange. Tracking and background noise could be improved. 

To me, the most interesting model was robot lookalike, PX-Magic. Yes, the prototype. Its interesting because it sounds much like its larger siblings, exuding the same control and grip. For earphones, it has more power than you’ll ever need, and it somehow sports a USB DAC as well. It’s tiny. Perhaps too small. With earphones and source plugged, rotating the front-mounted volume dial is very difficult. I even cursed a couple of times. Dimitri let that pass.

And I would, too. This thing will sell because of its size and functionality. It looks cute, too. But its frustrating ergonomics will have people learning sailor speak in no time. 

Looking forward to getting more familiar with Rhapsodio’s goods.

Shit.

Ultrasone

Like Shure, Ultrasone have begun unveiling products here. Moreover, they have kicked off bespoke products for the Japanese market. The most interesting of these was a dual-entry MMCX Edition 8 that is sold exclusively here in Japan. If my head were a little wider, I’d have walked away from Osaka about 180.000¥ lighter. Perhaps I should be thankful that my head is shaped like a sail. I can’t afford a divorce now.

Of course I spent time with the new Edition 12. In Japan, it will sell for 186.000¥, or almost 600$ USD more than its projected USA price. The good news for those who can’t afford the ED10’s +2.000$ USD price, there is an option. Edition 12’s chassis is open and extremely light; featherweight, like I used to be. Comfortable, like I used to be (in tight jeans).

I foresee a few build issues. Like the ED10, ED12’s fulcrums rattle in their cups. Metal will be chaffed. Overall, however, the presentation certainly says “more than a grand”. Fans of rock music, specifically rock music with a lot of high cymbals are going to love the upper midrange focus and fast attack speed. Even the rather quiet e-Earphone floor was too loud to give a good preview of the ED12. 

It’s still early. Honest reviews will take weeks, months perhaps. Look for idiot reviews from idiot sites right after debut. I’m sure say-nothing-repeat-everything Steve G. will put something up right soon. 

My audition of the ED12 was far too short. 

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MH Audio

M Audio audio displayed their new HA-11 portable headphone amplifier. It’s pretty rad and comes packed solidly in a milled/extruded aluminium chassis which is markedly larger than previous amps. It will also come at a higher price point. I’ve been informed that the price point will be around 50.000¥. That nets a lot of functionality and of course, that famous MH Audio build quality and sound. 

The ON/OFF switch contains an embedded LED. The knob- oh the knob! What a feel: silky smooth with the perfect amount of dampening. Knobfeel approves, I’m sure. Part of the reason HA-11 is larger than HA-1 is that it packs a battery of switches on its port side. Those switches have functionality like: tone, bass, gain, and voltage.

Tracking is good at low volumes. The prototype had more background noise than is comfortable for use with sensitive earphones, but perhaps MH-11 isn’t designed with Sleek Audio in mind. I was told the design wasn’t final, either. Overall tonal balance is even, though that can change depending on what you do with to the switch settings. 

The power plant is supplied by dual 9V batteries. The rightmost switch halves the 9V voltage output, allowing for longer battery power while halving output volume. Second to the right adjusts tone. I didn’t spend long enough with the amp in the right environment to really ‘get’ its effect on music. The other two switches are: ohm output and gain level. 

I’m looking forward to the final version.

Fostex

Fostex weren’t far away. Their reps looked healthy; at 33 years of age apiece, they should be. Relatively. One, the engineer, sported a beard; the other, a sales rep, made do with a shop bib. I drooled over the final two prototypes of a new version of the Kotori custom headphone. Kotori’s parts can be changed in and out for the best possible look. Audiophiles may argue that it's meant for muggles. I beg to disagree. This thing sounds damn good.

Especially as Fostex keep tweaking it for the best sound. At the show, fans got to give input on the sound. Between the two choices, which sound did we prefer?

Disclaimer: whenever I see pink, I go for it. Same goes for yellow. Purple is next. Black is after that. So, while generally, my thoughts are best taken with a bit of salt, I think it's safe to say that this time, they're as honest as possible.

Here's the skinny: the black Kotori was very much a portable HD600. No, not the same quality of sound, but a similar quality of presentation. Overall balance trended toward neutral, and for a small-driver closed back portable headphone, right/left spatial lay was wide (by portable definition) with little trans frequency bleed. As befits a portable headphone, bass was strong and comfort and isolation levels high. Upper mids were a bit dirty, but for an ostensible price point of roughly 13.000¥, I’d say: not bad. 

Purple: while not antitheses to black, it was every bit the HD650 to the HD600. Low end detail splashed into the mids. There was more frequency bleed and a distinct softness to the midrange that didn’t quite fit faster genres. Not bad, but not the sort of sound Headfi would be into. Also, not really a typically Japanese sound.

Here's to hope that black makes the cut.

Fostex are also readying an MMCX cabled earphone. I really don’t want to chat so much about it. While it has a decently shielded cable and good attack, mostly, it sounded sloppy, hardly befitting the Fostex name. I’m assured things will change a bit from now till production starts. 

I hope so.

Zero Audio

Though their sales staff and engineers make the rounds at audio shows here in Japan, marketing their strongarm is flabby by comparison. And it’s a damned shame. Their new dynamic driver boasting earphones, Carbo Basso and Carbo Tenore are fabulous. I had my wallet out. (Unfortunately, neither Zero, nor e-earphone had units for sale at the show. It’s still zero for Zero here at Ω. Perhaps tomorrow I’ll purchase a pair. More on that later.)

Both earphones exhibit clear, detailed mids and highs. Basso does so with stronger low end tug. Not a hint of boom or bloom. Tenore’s treble is more dynamic in relation to its mids and lows. So-called ‘neutral’ or ‘reference’ lovers will dig this earphone. Zero engineered their earphones with handsome cases and good cables. For the price, neither can be beat.

If you haven’t tried their already famous balanced armature ZH-BX500 and ZH-BX300 earphones, you won’t know how far they’ve come. In their new dynamics gone is the unshaved rawness that permeated the balanced armature series. Cables are better, and so is stress relief. If you’re in the mood for a great Japanese earphone at a great price, I suggest skipping BX and going straight for Carbo.

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Final Audio

Pandora Pandora Pandora. Open and free to test. And unfortunately, far from ready. The prototype Final had on board was stuck together with spit and prayer. Currently, it may look like hell, but its command of the languages of middle and upper ranges is lovely. In fact, more than any other audio product it reminds me of the 1601/02 series earphone. Rather dissimilar to the 160x series, Pandora employs dual drivers, one a large dynamic, and the other a balanced armature. Pandora tasks each driver with a very familiar job: woofing and midding for the dynamic; tweeting for the balanced armature. 

I’m assured that the over large headband will change and the production model will be polished. Honestly, with such a unique signature and the Final badge, I’m not sure that will matter. Even at its 69.800¥ price point, Pandora is sure to gain a following.

The other hybrid they exhibited has the momentum of price and familiar design behind it. Like Pandora, bass is delicate; unlike Pandora, the mids are a bit dull. David Bowie haters will revel in his newly neutered vocal range. They can then strangle him with the Final cable. (It’s that strong.)

Unfortunately, I didn’t get a picture of it. (Mind you, it isn’t quite as exciting as Pandora.)

And that was Day 2. 

I made it home later that night, sweating, coughing, and tired. But, what audio geek wouldn’t be fluttering happy to spend a long two days with the industry’s best makers? Unlike Fujiya’s thumb-in-bum crowdedness, e-Earphone’s festival was laid back with room for laughs. I’ll be going to the next one.

Fully medicated of course.

 

Lifehacker's noise cancelling headphone article draws headfi's Bose bashers

At headfi, a good Bose bash has long earned headphone geek streetcred. If you still have leftover energy, explaining why active noise cancelling headphones suck is a good time... So, as Lifehacker shot up the well-written layman's article, "How Do I Choose the Best Noise Cancelling Headphones?", headfiers began polishing their pitchforks. 

Author Alan Henry had a couple of good points regarding noise cancellers' ability to cancel noise:​

Don't expect miracles. Remember, even the best active noise cancellation can't block out everything. You'll still hear high-pitched sounds, abrupt and sharp noises, and even that jet engine on your flight will seep through—no noise cancelling set of cans can make you think you're not in a plane, but they can help you forget for a little while.

​He also quoted headfi founder, Jude:

Trying to satisfy my persnickety audiophile preference for hearing fine details, timbral accuracy and precise imaging, while surrounded by the cacophony of planes or public transport, is almost pointless—not even the best of the current consumer noise-cancelers can overcome plane and train noise enough to free up the more delicate, gauzy sonic details audiophiles like me chase.

My favourite headfi-style comment was this:​

Bose are a joke. They don't deliver anything remotely close to what they demand for the product. Audio-Technicas ANC-9 are superior in just about every way possible.

As Alan's article made the headfi front page, I'm expecting lots of old-fashioned Bose bashing to come.

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.

​