Canjam SoCal Headphone and Audio Show 2019 Part 2

[Belgarathian]

So how do you like it?

I enjoy it (particularly the aesthetic) but it never wow'd me (Chord Qutest + Pathos an upgrade from Audeze Deckard).... Plugged my LCD-X into the Bryston BHA-1 and it's night-and-day. Just seems cleaner, less veiled. That said, the Pathos is a 1/4" TRS and the Bryston is a 4-pin XLR balanced which may make a difference. It didn't seem like a subtle difference either... Don't know, maybe it's just me!

There doesn't seem to be an audible noise floor, even with the gain pot all the way over and the volume on full fed by the Qutest at 2V

 

[Sal1950]

Just so you get a good feel of the reception I get at shows, here is how this guy at Cardas reacted:

What have I ever done to make you to treat me so disrespectfully. If you had come to me in friendship then this scum would be suffering this very day. And if by chance an honest man like yourself should make enemies then they would become my enemies. And then, they would fear you.

 

[MC_RME]

The most amazing thing I heard was Rob Watts saying (again after yesterday's session) that he can measure and hear distortions at 300 dB down. Let me say that again, he is saying he can easily identify differences that are 300 dB lower than reference. That is 50 dB

Several times quoted and no one saw the obvious typo?

 

[Tks]

Several times quoted and no one saw the obvious typo?

50 dB?

As for the Canjam coverage. I must say.. I melt everytime I lay eyes on the Meze Empyrean's. Honestly you can bring Focals, HD800S's, LCD's and such, but they all look like products of an up and coming industry compared to the aesthetic design and sophisticated look the Empyreans exude.

Reminds me of the RME DAC and no doubt would go well with it ;-D

While other headphones look like they're coming in with improperly tailored tuxedos (overkill tryhards), while the Meze are in just a nice custom made Italian suit for business/happy hour. It also helps that the cans look like they took ergonomics somewhat as serious as the aesthetics. Also little things like interchangable magnetic earpads (easy swap, not the current Paleolithic bullshit we have to put up with these days for many other headphones where you're worried you're going to pry them to pieces when changing pads, or simply making a mess if nothing else).

 

[amirm]

Several times quoted and no one saw the obvious typo?

Folks among here are mind readers.

Corrected.

 

[amirm]

Was Watts repeating his claim that his custom noiseshapers run at -350dB as in the presentation below?

The very thing.

 

[RayDunzl]

Was Watts repeating his claim that his custom noiseshapers run at -350dB as in the presentation below?

That covers the lowest 6 bits or so of 64 bit...

He could probably claim more (less?) if it's just the precision of the calculations he's talking about (didn't listen to his spiel).

 

[amirm]

Ouch, he actually turned away after the introduction? I just had a flashback to high school dances.

No, we didn't talk. That was a joke. He just didn't pay attention as I walked up to the table. I should have put my crown on so that he would know the King of Audio had approached him!!!

 

[Thomas savage]

Speaking of Jude, we finally met face to face and it was very friendly on both sides.

This pleases me.

Well done old man, a much appreciated effort.

 

[daftcombo]

The most amazing thing I heard was Rob Watts saying (again after yesterday's session) that he can measure and hear distortions at 300 dB down. Let me say that again, he is saying he can easily identify differences that are 300 dB lower than reference. That is 50 bits of dynamic range!!! Not 24, not 32, but 50 bits. He says this is impossible but that he hears it. Right.....

Which device is good enough to produce only -300dB of distortion? We need to find one in order to test it, I guess.

Then, which other parts of a system (amp, speakers/phones) are good enough to make you hear distortion of -300dB in a device and not adding any higher distortion?

Isn't it the accumulation of distortions (THD, IMD) in the chain that is audible, instead of a -300dB distortion signal?

 

[Tks]

Which device is good enough to produce only -300dB of distortion? We need to find one in order to test it, I guess.

Then, which other parts of a system (amp, speakers/phones) are good enough to make you hear distortion of -300dB in a device and not adding any higher distortion?

Isn't it the accumulation of distortions (THD, IMD) in the chain that is audible, instead of a -300dB distortion signal?

Must I drag someone outside this forum to tell you how we can't measure some things? How the human hearing sense will never be fully measurable nor understood by us nor emulated? That means while we can hear it, useless machines will never be able to hear it.

fOrGeT aBoUt AlL tHaT sCiEnCe MuMbOjUmBo

 

[maxxevv]

Which device is good enough to produce only -300dB of distortion? We need to find one in order to test it, I guess.

Maybe his prototype device immersed in liquid helium or chilled to -200 Kelvin ?

 

[pozz]

That covers the lowest 6 bits or so of 64 bit...

He could probably claim more (less?) if it's just the precision of the calculations he's talking about (didn't listen to his spiel).

He doesn't go into specifics apart from making claims so there's no way to tell. I just listened to another talk he delivered six months ago to make sure, and it was the same story in the same order. In general, he presents claims and his reasoning but no data. When he mentions listening tests it's in an offhand way.

 

[invaderzim]

No, we didn't talk. That was a joke. He just didn't pay attention as I walked up to the table. I should have put my crown on so that he would know the King of Audio had approached him!!!

That actually seems worse. He didn't ignore you because of your background he just ignored an interested person.

 

[phoenixdogfan]

Maybe his prototype device immersed in liquid helium or chilled to -200 Kelvin ?

Either that or his eardrums.

 

[phoenixdogfan]

That actually seems worse. He didn't ignore you because of your background he just ignored an interested person.

He was probably immersed in setting up some Bybee interface to his cables, and was preoccupied with how to align the electrons without interfering with the mu-Meson flow.

 

[invaderzim]

He was probably immersed in setting up some Bybee interface to his cables, and was preoccupied with how to align the electrons without interfering with the mu-Meson flow.

That is when you drop a few small signs next to things on the desk that read "Free Samples"

 

[phoenixdogfan]

That is when you drop a few small signs next to things on the desk that read "Free Samples"

So that's how you got your Dave!

 

[Dialectic]

Next station was all Sony. DMP-Z1 digital media player (US $8,000) with Sony headphones.
View attachment 28213

I was surprised about the lousy feel of the volume control and to some extent the "gold" finish of them. The display was also pretty hard to see at sland angles that it makes you look at it.
View attachment 28214

The headphones were decent sounding: MDR-Z1

View attachment 28215

At US $2,000 though, not for me.

I heard these cans at Sony headquarters in Tokyo in late 2016. I found them wet and woolly in the low end and hot in the treble. Tyll's measurements confirmed those suspicions:

https://www.innerfidelity.com/content/sony-mdr-z1r-sealed-over-ear-headphones-measurements

 

[chriskilbourn]

Any change of expression on Dr Olive's face when this was mentioned?

Would have been great if there was a video recording of the Q&A.

I have a video recording of the Q&A haha. Working on editing it now.