Eletech

Eletech table display presentation is hard to miss at any of the CanJams, it draws you right in and captures your attention regardless of if you are a cable believer or not. It’s not just the presentation of their elaborate display with various cables, but also several high-quality leather goods, such as IEM and storage cases. Of course, it is always a pleasure to talk to Eric, one of the guys behind Eletech, to catch up with the latest developments as well as audiophile gossip from SGP and around the world.

While being familiar with many Eletech cables since I had a chance to review most of them (links here), I always try to look for something new at the table and was surprised when Eric asked me if I was interested to hear their latest IEM prototypes. Yes, in-ear monitors! I was warned that tuning wasn’t 100% finalized yet and the team is still collecting the final feedback. CanJam show is always a perfect place for that. One of the prototypes was Eletech Romeo, featuring a huge soundstage, big full-bodied bass, clear detailed mids, and a natural clear treble. Romeo did have a more balanced signature with extra emphasis on bass. Then, I tried the Eletech Juliet prototype, which had a completely different tuning with a more intimate soundstage, closer to neutral bass, more forward mids, and natural treble. Juliet prototype had a more mid-centric tuning. Personally, I preferred Romeo IEMs.

Then, realizing that I’m still at the table of a cable manufacturer, I had a chance to try two new Eletech thicker-wire IEM cables. I believe these are also at the final pre-production stage. Eletech Copper cable with iems I tried had a very balanced sound, adding more weight to the bass, keeping mids “warmer” and more forward, and keeping treble natural and clear. This cable didn’t change a sound to a typical V-shaped sig and instead kept it more balanced, warmer, and natural. Another new cable was Eletech Silver mixed with 1% Gold. With the IEMs I tested, I heard a very holographic soundstage, literally surrounding you. It also enhanced the bass with deeper sub-bass rumble, clear, resolving, and still natural mids, and airy extended treble.

Last but not least, Eletech was also showcasing their new modular Versa adaptive connectors, co-engineered with ddHiFi, which allowed to swap between 2pin and mmcx, with more connector tips to follow. Such a modular system allows you to get one cable that can cover many different IEMs without the need to get a second one.

NightJar and Subtonic

Straight from Singapore with their latest IEMs and cables, this was one of the busiest tables at the show with many visitors gathered around to listen to Symphonium Audio, NightJar Acoustics, and Subtonic Audio products. If understand correctly, these three companies work very closely together and collaborate on many of their releases. Of course, I heard about Subtonic Storm when Chang, one of the designers behind it, visited CanJam NYC last year, though I didn’t have a chance to talk to him directly back then. This year, the whole team was at the show, and I had a chance to hear Storm again along with some of the latest NightJar releases.

I have to admit, last year when I very briefly auditioned Storm, I didn’t realize that it requires a more powerful source to drive it to its full potential. This year, they had a proper setup at the table using iBasso’s latest PB5, a powerful dual NuTube balanced amplifier. Using P6 Pro as a source to drive PB5, Storm sound performance scaled up with more clarity and higher level of natural definition. Properly driven, I heard Storm to have a tight articulate bass, clear-revealing neutral mids, and very detailed natural treble. At the table, Chang suggested that I should try their Sovereign Symphony upgrade cable, and I found it to open up the soundstage even wider, giving the bass a deeper rumble and adding more sparkle to the treble. Of course, many are aware that Launch Edition Storm has sold out, but the Regular Edition Storm (the same internal design and tuning) should be around the corner.

I heard a lot about NightJar Singularity, a single DD IEM that received one of the Watercooler awards. Singularity has a warm bassier sound signature with surprisingly balanced, smooth, natural, and still detailed tuning. It is a basshead IEM, no question about it, but it was tuned quite balanced with an elevated bass tilt (more sub-bass emphasis) and plenty of clarity in mids (with a proper pinna gain) along with a nice natural treble sparkle to maintain clarity and resolution.

And if Singularity wasn’t enough to satisfy your basshead craving, NightJar was showcasing their upcoming Duality prototype with a “dual” DD. That IEM was a sub-bass monster with a 20dB bass lift in its baseline tuning. On top of that, it comes with impedance adapters to elevate the bass even higher. The adapters at the show were pigtail-type and stackable, but I was told by Chang they are working on a more compact solution when the final production model is available. What I enjoyed here is while it has lots of bass, you can still hear mids pretty clearly, even some treble. While applying the adapter to boost the bass even more, it didn’t drown the mids.

Kiwi Ears

While at the show, I ran into Crinacle, and after catching up he mentioned his latest collab with Kiwi Ears. I don’t have much experience with budget chi-fi releases but was curious about this one since I’m already at the show, so why not try it? After circling the tables, at first, I didn’t see any signs of Kiwi Ears. Then, at the end of the day, on my way out of the showroom, I came across a Linsoul table that had Kiwi Ears and ThieAudio IEMs.

In there I spotted Kiwi Ears x Crinacle Singolo IEMs (11mm single DD with detachable cable) they had on sale, show special at $55. I’m sure they were surprised that out of everything on the table, the only thing I asked for was Singolo. Then, to my surprise, I found these to have a comfortable fit, a very wide soundstage expansion, deep rounded bass, natural detailed mids, more out-of-your-head projection of vocals, and a snappy, clear, natural treble. It was a nicely done balanced, natural, detailed tuning for everyday listening.

ZMF Headphones

Yes, I mostly review IEMs, though have dipped my toes in some full-size headphone reviews in the past. To me the problem with headphones is that it takes more than just headphones, earpads, and cables, but also a proper source matching beyond using a DAP or a dongle. That could open a new can (no pun intended since we are talking about “cans”) of worms for me since I’m comfortable reviewing portable setups of IEMs/DAPs and not ready for desktop reviews yet. But it is hard to miss a separate room Zack and Bev book at CanJams to showcase their ZMF headphone creations which are regarded not just for the tuning but also for the custom wood designs of earcups.

Since I had P6 Pro DAP on hand that could drive even some more demanding headphones, I stopped by the ZMF room to say hello to Zack and to try a few headphones. The room was filled with people, and I did get lost for a second when I was asked what I would like to hear. Once I decided to try closed-back headphones and got a 4.4mm balanced cable, I took a listen to Bokeh Closed, finding them to have a warmer natural tuning with a more intimate soundstage expansion, with punchy bass, clear organic vocals, and nice airy natural treble. Next, I tried Atrium Closed, and liked these even better, with a bigger soundstage expansion, punchy dynamic bass, more neutral mids/vocals with a thinner clear detailed body, and a crisp detailed extended treble. The tuning had a tastefully done V-shaped signature, and I was told that you could scale up the sound by changing the pads to sway material that should add more body to the mids.

I think next year I will try to spend more time with full-size headphones, trying different desktop amps to check out different pair-up synergies.

DUNU

Dunu table was quite busy as well, and I was a bit lost glancing over IEMs I’m not familiar with, so I asked to hear their current flagship offering – Glacier IEMs (DD/4BA/4EST). These have a very solid build using stainless steel with a mirror-finished surface. They do have some nice heft to them but were sitting comfy in my ears using large-size Azla Crystal eartips I had on hand. Right away, I noticed a very big holographic soundstage expansion and imaging, a deep powerful bass, neutral thinner lower mids, clear revealing micro-detailed upper mids, and crystal-clear treble. Overall, I found Glacier to have a rather revealing U-shaped sound tuning with a big powerful bass and brighter treble.

Next to Glacier, I spotted a collab release of Dunu x Precog Mirai (DD/5BA) IEMs. I haven’t been up to date with the latest Dunu releases or other reviewers collabs, so was curious to check it out, especially since Precog’s name is often associated and mentioned on Head-fi along with “U12t”. Thus, I kind of assumed it would be his take on an improved version of 7-year-old U12t design/tuning. While testing with P6 Pro and using Azla Crystal large tips, I found Mirai to have a big, expanded soundstage, deep, fast, punchy bass, neutral lower mids, and more revealing upper mids with crisp revealing treble. It sounded V-shaped to my ears due to elevated deeper bass, thinner lower mids, and more revealing upper frequencies. It was a rather good tuning, but still caught me by surprise since I was expecting IEMs with a fuller body, more natural tonality, and smoother treble, while this was the opposite.

Page 1 – Intro and Overview of the Showroom.
Page 2 – Effect Audio, Elysian Acoustic Labs, Empire Ears, Astell & Kern.
Page 3 – Bloom Audio, Fir Audio, Campfire Audio, Lunch Break.
Page 4 – Eletech, NightJar/Subtonic, Kiwi Ears, ZMF, DUNU.
Page 5 – Musicteck (Cayin, Oriolus, Noble, Rhapsodio, DITA, Flipears, Beat Audio, and more).
Page 6 – Final thoughts.