I think I will always remember my visit to NYC. I travelled all the way with my proposal ring and kept it in my coat’s pocket untill we visited the Empire State Building.
Yep, I asked my wife on the top of the empire state building 
(What it really means is you fighting against the freezing wind so your ears don’t fall off, and you have to make your proposal in the middle of approx 150 other tourists - I hadn’t have the courage to knee-, but saying it is cool nonetheless).
What an amazing story - thank you for sharing this with me, brother. Absolutely amazing 
Todays the big day for me, boys. I was so hyped to get there I left the hotel to make it there for 9… it starts at 10.
Anyways - needless to say, I can’t wait. I was able to convince the wife and my son to come along too, it’s a beautiful thing. There’s nothing like waking up early in NYC to go grab a coffee on a bright, beautiful day like today.
I hope everyone is having a great weekend, and I hope today treats you as good as you deserve
Peace and love 
Have all the funs!!!
Have a blast. Wish I was there.
Have fun! Hope you have lots of eargasms!
Everything looks amazing 
.
Take notes. 
Don’t forget Prestige, A8000 and Mest MKii.
Feeling like a kid at the toy store? 
First CanJam in the books - it was amazing. Tried so many things. Got most of the list done as well so impressions coming soon on what I tried, thanks again for everyone contributing with the recs!
Absolutely coming again next year.
Side note - it is …. Strange seeing Crin, DMS, Resolve and Zeos in person, I can’t describe the feeling 
Asked for autographs? 
Can’t wait to hear the recap and thats pretty cool seeing them there!
Honestly, I did not 
I hesitated saying hi, but I definitely could have. Crin and DMS were both walking around freely but I guess I didn’t want to bother them. Cronos from Headphones.com was super nice and also, I met @shuoer (Joseph)! He’s legitimately a super nice dude. He sat down with me while I tried the EJ07 and the Cadenza 12 and had a really cool conversation about custom impressions and both the IEMs. I can now say he’s a seriously genuine guy. So go easy on him!
Thanks brother, I’ll do my best to go off my notes + some memory! It was really cool. Crin is also pretty damn tall, about my height actually (5’11 - ish) - which was surprising. @Timmy-Gizaudio wasn’t lying!
Back in Boston after a tiring drive home, but we’re all good safe and sound 
Few packages at my door step arriving home always feels amazing, 2020 Sundara, Simgot EA500, & NiceHCK Black cat. I cracked open the Sundara as I’ve been waiting a long time to get my hands on my very own open back. So far, I’m digging them left my balanced cable I got for them in the car so listening on SE as of right now because I’m too lazy tbh 
Anyways - I’ll be working on my CanJam Impressions throughout the day today, so look out for that. I look forward to writing it very much as there are a few sets I can’t get off my mind since I left CanJam, no doubt.
Thanks all for following this journey
Have an amazing day 
Pick up a Sabaj PHA3 and some Aperex E180F tubes for it (holland manufacture if you can get your hands on them) to hear what those Sundaras can really do! ($40 for the Sabaj and $60 for the tubes, not including shipping). Seriously, unless you already have a tube headphone amp, then you will already know what I’m talking about. Glad you had a great time. I hope the family got to enjoy the Big Apple as much as you did!
Dude. Thank you for this Rec, I’ve heard so many great things about the Sundaras on tubes, I know that one day I’m going to have to dive into that rabbit hole. I don’t know much about Amps and DACs when it comes to names and specifities but I always knew I’d invest as soon as I get into over ear planes and what not!
Thank you, I’m definitely going to look into this
Nice. The stock tubes it comes I’m with are actually OK for the amp. But when I picked up the Sabaj, I went down the new old stock rabbit hole fast, wondering how good it could sound on original, non-reproduction Chinese tubes. And the rest is History. I have a pair of, at least from internet searches, the last Mullard E180F I’ve been able to find, apart from single-tube options on various sites. And I have the Amperex mfg. Philips set. I tend to prefer the mullards for their linearity (they still do tube things, just in a more “modern” way). But the Amperex sound beautiful and flowery.
Definitely good to know that the tubes that are packaged with the Amp are decent enough considering different types of tubes are so foreign to me. But that is pretty damn cool you have one of, if not the last of something. I know tubes are an older tech but I am happy a lot of people still use them to this day.
Your enthusiasm makes me enthusiastic to try them one day, so thank you! It’s also pretty damn sick that there are a ton of really affordable tube amps available everywhere*, even Amazon. So there really isn’t much risk in trying one!
So, the Sabaj isn’t a complete tube amp. It’s more of a hybrid, but the tubes are definitely on the signal chain, so they impact the sound nicely. I guess this is an older amp by Sabaj, so, they were marked down in December/January to $27 on Amazon. Apparently people started buying them because the price went up after I bought mine. Good hunting! Can’t wait to hear about can Jam!
Dom Q’s short but fruitful Adventure to CanJam NYC 2023
Hey guys, top of the morning/afternoon to you all
Going through my notes this morning and shuffling through my thoughts on my 4 hour drive home with the Monarch MKII in my ears the entire time allowed me the rare and amazing opportunity to realize that the Monarch’s are truly an amazing piece of audio equipment for my personal taste. Especially at $1,000. I had the ridiculous opportunity to listen to roughly the equivalent of 30 thousand freedom eagles worth of transducers alone - not to mention all the amps and DACs that were in the room, I don’t even want to begin adding up that total. It’s definitely above $40,000 if I had to guess, probably even closer to 50 big ones.
The Monarch’s absolutely without a doubt trade blows with IEMs that are double, triple and even quadruple the price and sometimes even outright beating them. I can safely say I am quite content with everything I have right now in my stable. I felt this way about a month ago, but this weekend has allowed me to really confirm my beliefs. Regardless, it was so fun. I got to speak to many audiophiles at the show, exchange thoughts and ideas, and share my impressions on the fly with people that actually understand the terminology! It was a cool feeling being there, in the same room, with 100s of other like-minded individuals.
With that being said - here are my impressions of all of the IEMs and Headphones I had the opportunity to hear yesterday - this may go long, but I appreciate you for making it this far. Here it goes:
Let’s start off with the ones I really didn’t vibe with, the biggest disappointments of the day, and why exactly that is.
The FatFREQ Maestro SE.
Yeah. The big brother to my beloved Maestro Mini … what can I say? It’s a less comfortable, slightly more resolving, slightly more textured Mini. And that’s where it ends for me. Maybe I wasn’t driving them properly? Maybe I wasn’t in the right surroundings to really enjoy them? But I don’t think so, and I’ll get to why I feel this way later. I used the same tips on everything, same source as well to keep it consistent - Azla Crystals, and for IEMs I used my BTR7, wired directly to my phone, high gain, balanced boost mode on, using my library - songs that I am very familiar with. The Maestro SE was truly a disappointment - they are not worth the massive price increase, in fact, I’ll take it a step further and say I enjoy the Mini more. Upgrade path dug up there, I can wipe the sweat off my brow
ThieAudio Prestige
I had a feeling this one wouldn’t do it for me after hearing some impressions around the interwebs, but when they were first announced, I was all aboard the hype train. I will say this, they are absolutely gorgeous, one of my favorite faceplate designs of all time, and they are stupid comfortable. They are so much smaller than the Monarch MKII, lighter as well. The Monarch’s feel more premium and expensive in my opinion because of that weight, but the Prestige is miles more comfortable. There’s no question. But from a sound standpoint, there is absolutely more mid bass presence - although, because it’s highlighted more in the Prestige, the lack of texture really stands out. The Mids are the star of the show in the Monarch’s so I can accept the fact that the bass may not be the best part of them, because those mids are just 11/10 as our brother Nymz has stated. They also come across less detailed than the Monarch’s, but this might be a benefit to some. EST treble can come across as a little whispy in the Monarch’s on some tracks, causing the Timbre to shift slightly to an, overly airy, unnatural quality. My ears have the ability to enjoy that but I know some others may not. So let’s say, the timbre is more laid back on the Prestige. It goes without saying then that the treble sounds less sparkly & both female and male vocals are more recessed compared to the Monarch’s but somehow female vocals can come across as slightly harsh in some of my tracks. I won’t go into specifics, to hopefully shorten this post a bit but take my word for it.
64 Audio Blanc
I don’t have much to say about these to be completely honest … they came off as quite boring to me. Nothing special at all.
Dan Clarke Corina
I wanted to try these for J, but straight off the bat - I just don’t like Estat Timbre I guess. They come across as highly, almost overly detailed, with a slightly metallic timbre but with that being said I can hear things I’ve never heard before in some of my library. Small minute details come across so clear, and I actually had to look around to see if someone else was making these noises. Everything is very fast & detailed but also has a glossy type timbre, and after a while, I know these wouldn’t vibe with me.
The next few are a Rec from Goober, and I’ll keep ‘em short with my notes from the show;
Noble Audio
Ronin
The best balance between all the sets I tried. Female vocals have a touch muffle like quality to it, good separation, decent resolution. Not overly special. Stage is decent, slightly more intimate playback with vocals.
Kublai Khan
Very nice female vocals. Nozzles are super long, suction effect on initial insertion. These have potential, but they don’t wow me on first listen. They don’t … pull me in.
Ragnar
not my thing. Too much energy in the upper mids, not enough mid bass coming through to balance it out.
FIR Audio
XE6
Lots of mid bass, but everything else has nice presence to balance it out - vocals come across natural and not harsh but have enough energy. I can really feel the bass on my outer ear, which adds somewhat to some texture in big drum kicks. Very comfortable, nicely made. If you like Mid-Bass, these are it.
Thanks for the recs to try out, brother
Focal Clear MG
Maybe I didn’t get a sufficient seal and the environment was too loud but these weren’t for me. I assume they’re great Headphones, but in these circumstance, did not get a proper go at them. They’re built very beautifully however. In terms of the sound, they reminds me of a Monarch MKII but in over ear form. Slightly bright leaning, mid bass is present, but I couldn’t really get a sense of sub bass note texture. Vocals did sound excellent, however. Comfortable as well. Just too much treble.
Yatono 8 and 4 wire
To my ears, these have an emphasis on the treble and upper mid range, overall changes the sound to become more airy. Too much energy for me in the treble, not a good match with the Monarch MKII. $2,000+?!?!?!? Build quality is excellent, I will admit - I mean, god damned military grade. Really heavy and honestly, feels amazing. But Jesus Christ, cannot justify that $2,500 price tag.
Now, onto the good but not amazing sets:
Cadenza 12
These were so very smooth, all parts of the FR are extremely buttery and the playback is addicting, honestly. I could see these being a set one could wear for hours and hours without any fatigue whats so ever. The fit is great too, very comfortable - ingress/egress is very easy, and there’s no pressure build up or driver flex from the DD. I guess the reason why I’m putting this one in the good and not great section is because I wasn’t exactly wowed by them - really fantastic IEM, don’t get me wrong - but I sit here and I think back on them and I can’t remember anything that blew me away besides how smooth it was and how much I love the cable.
FatFREQ Grand Maestro
This was something I did not expect to find here - A balanced tuning. Everything has nice texture, lacking sparkle in the treble area for me personally but it allows for no harshness to be found. Fit was troublesome, similar to Maestro SE. Overall, very open sound, nothing is cluttered within the mix. Overall, similar in a sense to the Cadenza 12. I’m sure there are differences but these weren’t at the same booth so, couldn’t A/B.
Kiwi Ears orchestra lite
Just going off my notes because I don’t have the sharpest memory regarding these:
Campfire Audio Trifecta
Oooo a big boy over on Head-fi in the water cooler zone … I had high hopes, I’ll be the first one to admit. But going off of my notes and my memory on these, I would say the Mid Bass has an analog, almost fuzzy texture to it. It’s really nice, in my opinion. Definitely a pro for me. I can confirm that the sound stage for my particular HRTF is outrageous. Very spacious, and a by product of that is that the detail retrieval is amazing - effortless really. Those were the two positive stand outs for me - but a deal breaker for someone like my self is the fit - they were impossible to get seated properly, I tried multiple tips on these just to make sure. I’m sure with some serious tip rolling, it’s possible - but unfortunately, with the limited amount of time I had, I settled on what I believed was a good seal based on the low end response. Still, fit is weird, and aesthetics even though don’t matter as much, are … strange. YMMV.
The infamous, infinitely hyped, incredibly popular - U12T (using the M20 module)
Great for everything, smooth across the FR.
Those are my notes…. They weren’t exactly underwhelming, they are a fantastic pair of IEMs but, for half the price, the Monarch MKII has more of a wow factor for me personally. I will say though, that BA bass, tho?!?! Actually impressive. Felt and sounded like a DD if I was blind.
Trio
More bass than the 12, more engaging, warmer mid range, subdued treble, easier to listen to - probably my favorite out of the 4 64 Audio offerings I tried.
Nio
Less bass than the trio, more expansive sound stage, details come across easier. Very wide stage, smooth, no harshness but has enough energy
UM Mentor
Okay. This is it - the final leg. Thanks for Sticking with me through this entire write up! I know these aren’t the most detailed ever, but I sure hope they help someone, maybe. Also, if I don’t mention something in here, feel free to ask!
The real winners of the day - the ones that really burned an impression onto my soul.
The ZMF Caldera
I was pretty pumped to hear these, they were at the top of my mental list going in. Luckily, ZMF had their own room, so it was definitely a lot quieter, thus, allowing me to truly enjoy their offerings.
The space.
The Depth, separation and layering were absolutely mind blowing. Seriously. I haven’t heard something quite like that - the detail retrieved by these headphones in such a natural way, genuinely had me grinning ear to ear. This was the first “goosebumps” moment of the day. I can’t think of a single fault, nor did I write one down. Truly a star.
Audeze MM-500
The first thing I wrote down for these is “sound stage is wide” - I think the initial shock of being able to hear a proper open back for the first time had my brain into scrambled eggs focusing on the staging … it was very spacious. Sub bass digs deep, lots of rumble and texture with a subdued mid-bass impact. I would of liked a little
More mid bass but, these are open back, let me not forget. The sub bass was impressive considering these are fully open. They were very comfortable, built fantastically, and they work with many genres from
rap, to classic rock, to jazz. Great stuff. Probably the open back I gravitate towards when it comes time to
Drop over a Kilobuck.
My favorite open back Headphone of the day:
*** Dan Clarke Audio Expanse***
Wow - amazing timbre, it was so naturally impressive, Punchy mid bass, I could do with a little more energy there but it is highly enjoyable. Extremely detailed and spacious. And they are very comfortable. Build well, of course and I absolutely love the way they look. If I had F-U money, these would be it.
Top IEMs time - my personal favorite section of the day. (In no particular order, besides the last two).
Start off with one of my Bucket list IEMs:
The OG EJ07
The first thing I noticed was the sub bass goes deep, really deep and it’s clean, as well. There’s Lots of space for things to play within their own bubble, some bubbles are far, some are close and intimate, so staging and overall dynamic presentation is top notch. Very nicely balanced with a little more emphasis on the upper mids and treble but overall, a genuine beauty of an IEM.
Vision Ears EXT
I quite enjoyed these - they’re warm, with powerful mid bass with amazing separation and texture. Each individual pluck from a Bassist can be heard so clearly, it was highly satisfying and it’s probably one of the best playbacks of a bass guitar that I’ve heard to date.
Elevated upper mids, just on the edge of being harsh, like literally right on that border, it’s dare I say, perfect in that regard.
I love these.
The fit is strange - but after a while and In your ear, it’s not bad.
But now - the main event.
Elysian acoustics
Diva
These are the true upgrade to the Dark Magician - the best vocals I’ve ever heard, rivaling the OG Dark Magician with better resolution and better bass response. More texture, more energy without being bloated. Really well done. Extremely comfortable, lovely build quality. Loved every second. Wanted to back to these before I left but didn’t have the chance … one day.
Annihilator
But these, these were the best IEM I heard at the show. So exquisitely balanced with every single part of the FR. The best example of beautiful dynamics with absolutely 0 harshness. If I ever were to “upgrade” from the Monarch MKII, these would be the way to go. Perfect amount of everything. I cannot find a flaw, period.
And that’s all I have.
I genuinely hope everyone who’s read this enjoyed my thoughts - I really wished I could of seen some of You guys there - hopefully, one day.
Take care, gents
