CanJam NYC 2024

Intro.

I spent the whole year waiting for the CanJam NYC ‘24 and… almost didn’t make it to the show. A month earlier, after a routine ENT (allergy) doctor visit at which I agreed to also ‘clean’ my ears, I ended up with full-blown vertigo due to a ‘shock’ damage to my ears after they used ear vacuum wax removal, though I’m finally getting it under control. Then, the night before the show, I drove out of state to pick up my daughter from college and twisted my right knee while carrying her luggage downstairs. My wife was teasing me, it’s a sign from God, not this year! But I put my foot down, not the one attached to my twisted knee, the other one, and decided – rain or snow, I’m still going!!! There was no snow, especially since this year the show moved from Feb to March, but on the way back home after the show, we did get a lot of rain 🙂

Since 2017 when the NYC show first started 8 years ago, this was my 7^th “Big Apple” CanJam considering one year under COVID it was canceled. I only attend on Saturday, and it is not enough to be able to cover everything in one day. If you have been living under a rock, CanJam Shows are a well-established international phenomenon, spreading across the globe from NYC, SoCal, Chicago, and Dallas to London, Singapore, Shenzhen, and Shanghai. For those in the US and Canada, CanJam is a big deal because aside from the annual NAMM show geared toward musicians, we don’t get as many audio shows focusing on portable and desktop audio gear. And, unfortunately, we don’t have as many physical audio stores as in some other countries since brick-and-mortar locations are rare here, and paying a restocking fee when you change your mind about buying online can add up.

I am always very excited to see and to talk in person to many manufacturers and retailers, though got even more excited after reading some of the pre-show announcements of products I wasn’t even aware of. But the biggest source of the excitement comes from a chance to meet in person people from our ever-growing Watercooler Head-fi community, another phenomenon of its own, with head-fiers from around the world discussing audio and non-audio related topics and driving each other crazy with friendly encouragements to empty their wallets. It is a great and very friendly mini community where head-fiers talk about anything, regardless of the price tag, personal placebo effect, or cable beliefs. You can spot Watercoolers at the show wearing magnetic tags with their screen names, and now even some manufacturers joining the fun!

The CanJam Show is being held on the weekend at the Broadway Ballroom of the Marriott Marquis Hotel located in Times Square of Manhattan, a two-day event, and you do need both Saturday and Sunday if you are serious about trying most of the products, though even 2 full days is probably not enough. Usually, I attend on Saturdays and focus only on portable gear. I don’t mind driving to Manhattan (from NJ) and always reserve a parking spot ahead of time, it saves time and money. On the way to the show, while walking to the hotel from the parking garage, it also became traditional for me to see cosplay performers, soliciting tourists for pictures, while I return the favor by taking pictures of Elmos, Mickey Mouses, and other characters. Then, off to the hotel, to get to the 6th floor where CanJam NYC 2024 was about to start.

As my usual disclaimer, in the past I have written CanJam reports simply to report what I saw at the show, to help people discover new products, or to bring up names of brands and products they were not even aware of. In the last few years, I added more details, including brief impressions which I feature in my report now. However, it is impossible to do an accurate sound analysis in a noisy environment while being surrounded by dozens of people in such a short time. I noticed sometimes people quote my show report as a review, but it’s not. I will review a product when I have a chance to spend more time with it, doing focused testing in a quiet environment, but here you will only find quick impressions. Now, with this disclaimer out of the way, let’s proceed to find out what I came across at the CanJam NYC 2024 show!

Overview of the Showroom.

Just like the last year, I decided to start this report a bit differently. After skipping the main waiting line since I needed to pick up my Media Press pass, I raced down the isles before the main crowd of attendees poured in. This allowed me to take a lot of pictures of the tables with manufacturers and retailers putting the finishing touches as the show was about to begin. A picture is always worth a thousand words, as long as it is not blurry (when I rush with my phone camera and under the neon lights from the ceiling). Plus, it can give you a better idea of the show scale and the majority of manufacturers and retailers in attendance since I can only cover a fraction of the day in the report. For your enjoyment, in this section, you will only find pictures without any comments.