thanks for the notes! Super interesting to hear about the SE but honestly thats the best result you could hope for! Which would you say are generally better than the current IEMs you own ,regardless of price?
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It’s my pleasure, man! I appreciate your response 
Honestly, I’m happy the SE was somewhat of a disappointment - that’s $1850 I don’t have to spend!
Out of my 3 main sets I’m using now, Maestro Mini, Dark Magician, Monarch MKII, I’d say there wasn’t a single IEM I heard yesterday that tops the mini. For now, those are, no hyperbole, my bass head end game. In terms of the Monarch, the Annihilator is the direct upgrade. I’d say its just more cohesive, more smooth, better in every single way. And if I wanted to replace or upgrade my Dark Magicians, it would be the Diva. The Diva had the best Female vocals I’ve heard thus far, but the Annihilator wasn’t far behind. If I could compare the two:
Get the Diva if you value vocals first and foremost with an extremely beautiful mid range.
Get the Annihilator if you want a more balanced overall FR. Amazing bass, mids and treble. Techs are of course top notch.
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Thanks so much for giving these a shot, bro! I’m also not a big fan of estat timbre or bass presentation (notice I don’t own a pair), but it’s that detail retrieval that keeps me trying out estat rec’s from various people claiming that they overcome or limit some of my claimed dislikes. Dan from DCA made some similar claims about the sonic performance of the Corinas and because I dig DCA’s house sound with their planar lines so much it got me interested. Thankfully, you and a couple other folks with opinions/ears I have some trust in all concur that they’re still estats, though very good ones apparently, and come with the same issues common to most estats and all that I have tried.
I was stoked to read your write up and all about the epic first CanJam you had! It’s amazing what you can get your ears on at these shows. The underrated part to me is the cool folks and industry insiders/legends you end up chatting with. I loved your shout out to Joseph earlier in the thread.
Anyways, great write-up, thanks again for accepting my DCA mission and I’m happy you had a good time. One question though: Now that you’ve been to one CanJam are you thinkin’ this might become a semi regular thing for you?
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Glad you had fun. I had interest in the Audeze MM-500, so glad you got to try those. Sounds like you liked them quite a bit! I have one or two more headphones left in me, one dynamic and one Open planar - and I think I want the planar to be the MM-500.
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BTW, I just wanted to add that it’s amazing to me how people can hear some things so similarly and hear others so differently. In this instance, your notes on some sets sound like exactly what I might have written or said (thinking MM-500 and Expanse specifically) and on others we are pretty far apart (Prestige/Monarch Mk2 and U12t). It’s really cool to get to know how you hear what I hear a little better and it’s VERY interesting to me that the over ears are where our tastes seem to align more.
Again, great notes, great writeup, and great thread, bro! 
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I have a question that could seem strange: did you bring your family in canJam? How did they react/act during the visit? I’m curious about how a non audiophile could percieve this kind of event.
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Gonna save this for when I get off work 
Thanks for the essay in advance brother 
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J! You’re the man - thank you for this Rec, brother. I was looking to get my ears on the Expanse no doubt, and when I walked into the room, the Expanse and the Corina were both available so it was a win-win. Cool side note I didn’t mention - there was only one amp available at the time for the Expanse, a Chord Amp/DAC of some kind, with two output jacks. This super chill dude with an accent asked me if I’d like to share the Amp and listen to some tunes together. We both sat there and shared a moment, me with thr Expanse, him with the Stealth I believe… it was, dope. One of my personal highlights of the whole day. He also had some similar music taste as well. My face when he played daft punk RAM … 
Anyways - yeah, unfortunately that Metallic/glossy timbre of the Estat was a deal breaker for me personally - however, like what I said before, the details … dude, the detaaaaiiiilllllssss - it was pretty spectacular and honestly, an experience. These were my first Estat cans as well, so quite the set to start off with
Thanks for reading, man. I appreciate your support, more than you know. This little article took me about 2-3 hours to get done but it was a blast, start to finish. Being able to directly interact with you guys is the reward. I’m happy to embark on the missions bestowed on me! And yes, I will absolutely make this a yearly thing now. I am excited to go next year, for sure! I’ll be writing a little something when I have the opportunity on the entire experience, beginning to end, besides the audio stuff to give you guys that haven’t been a little picture of it all. Preformatted text
Hell yeah, brother! I tend to embrace the subjectivity of this hobby, it’s what makes it interesting to me. I bet there’s someone out there that hates the Diva and the Annihilator but it’s all in good fun. We take it all in stride, and I will say, everyone at the show was super respectful and open to really accepting my ideas and what I hear, so, shout out to those dudes. I wish I caught their names.
It is interesting how we differ when it comes to in-ears but align more so on the over-ear stuff … this is really good info because now, I know I’ll be able to really take your words on Over-ears and no buy so blindly. Amazing stuff.
Thank you again, J! I appreciate you!
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Thanks, man! It definitely was a blast. I would absolutely, whole heartedly recommend the MM-500. They are a fantastic Headphone and genuinely on my radar after hearing them. They are beautifully balanced and I really would love if you got your hands on your very own pair, I bet you’d enjoy them! Thanks for the support, dude
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Dude, not weird at all!
Yes, I did bring my Wife and my 6 year old son buuuuut that didn’t really end well he’s usually such a fantastic kid, I mean, I know a lot of parents say this but I can genuinely say my son is very well behaved everywhere we go. He’s quiet, he listens very well and he’s very well spoken with his manners and what not. Unfortunately, during CanJam I think there was just too much commotion, too many people and sounds and sights for him - he became restless and refused and I mean straight up refused to try any headphones or anything. Unfortunately, my wife being the great women she is, agreed to take him back to the hotel so that I could enjoy the rest of the convention.
My time got cut a bit short of the 5pm cut off time but it was all good, my son was driving my wife insane so I had to bolt I would say, it’s not a place for children but my wife was absolutely 100% down to listen to headphones with me. It’s great fun, and the fact that you can bond with your significant other with something that everyone enjoys, music, makes it actually a cool thing to do together.
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My pleasure, brother I look forward to hearing what you think!
Just wanted to chime in quickly after having lurked here. Thanks a lot for the write-up! Very interesting to read all of it. And that you say you preferred the Maestro Mini over the SE; that saves me both sleep and a good chunk of change 
Hope you had a great time overall, and I hope I can get to test some of those badboys out for myself
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I appreciate you stopping by, man! The more the merrier is what I say.
I absolutely can confidently say, save the $1300+ and go with the Minis. It embraces the sound signature a lot more and is more of an analog playback through and through. Glad I could help!
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The Expanse really are a different beast. They really are the best open back headphone I have ever heard and I think they appeal to a wider audience than the Stealth based on the open back design combined with the tuning differences.
It sounds like you got in a pretty epic demo lineup! There really isn’t anywhere like these shows to get your ears on so much of the best of the best from so many manyfacturers in one place. I still remember my first most fondly, but I have enjoyed each one I’ve managed to attend since for sure.
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This was an epic write-up and I’m so happy that you had such an awesome experience at CanJam (your son’s overloading/overdosing on the sights and sounds aside. I feel for him for how rough that was, but your wife is such a team player. Make sure you get her a spa day or something!!! LOL).
This makes me both want to get to CanJam next year so badly and makes me scared of the experience. I would love the opportunity to hear the TOTL Summit-Fi level gear I’ll never buy, and be around the people that get the hobby like we do. But it scares me that either I’ll fall hopelessly in love with something I can’t have, or that I really won’t have that feeling at all. I dunno which one would be worse.
Having had the experience and heard what you’ve heard, as well as our experiences together and times we’ve talked shop extensively, what are 3 IEMs from CanJam you think I should definitely keep on my radar, that I need to listen to when I have my chance at a CanJam in your opinion?
This definitely feels like it vicariously scratches an itch, but makes another spot even itchier LOL!!!
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Amazing write-up brother 
Can’t help imagine you giggling like a kid while writing this hahaha 
You’re a champ for taking the 64A Trio - I’m getting worried just looking at the bass hump and treble… but that aside now I’m even more interested in the Maestro Mini after your comments on the SE 
Also glad you had the chance to try my Fav 07 (hope you had a nice environment and listened at a good volume); it’s too bad because I feel like if you had more time with it alone you probably would’ve most likely being converted LOL. And as much as I think the U12T is overrated I gotta agree the BA bass on it is pretty good/DD level - the treble and mids tho? No thanks hahaha.
Always heard great things about the DIVA and that praise coming from a fellow DM owner makes it even more reassuring, but also scary because I don’t want to drop $1500 
But if I ever get the chance to come to and visit I definitely want to try the more expensive sets like the UM Mentor, VE EXT, and Annihilator.
Anyhow, it looks like you had a heck of a time 
- just make sure you control your wallet after hearing all those great sets 
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Ohya and how do you think the Orchestra Lite stacks up against its current competitors?
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My 2 boys are quite the movers, especially when we are outside. So I feel for you. If it was my family, my wife would have called me approx 20 minutes after having arrived at the hotel
Thanks for the report, brother. It seems the diva would interest me … If I had the money for it…
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So awesome your family made the trip and attended a portion of it with you. Hats off to your wife for taking one for the team and allowing you to stay. I enjoyed reading your journey and sharing some of your excitement via your write-up’s. It’s actually good to hear your take on the on Maestro SE and even more awesome that the Mini is somewhat better. Seems like you went the opposite route as HBB with it. Which is probably in line with how more of us would feel in this forum.
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