Preamble / Intro.

As many of my readers know, I only attend CanJam NYC and then spend the whole year waiting for the next CanJam, the annual Head-fi show I have attended for the last 8 years.  The NYC show is only one of many CanJams that became a worldwide phenomenon due to hosting a ton of audio gear under one roof, the reason many manufacturers choose these shows is to reveal their new products and to present their current lineup.  But these shows also feature popular distributors and retailers, like Musicteck, often even stealing the spotlight with multiple tables and dozens of products they carry in the store, including some from manufacturers who can’t attend the CanJam.  Such tables are very popular because you can test and compare at the same time in one spot many IEMs, DAPs, DAC/amps, and cables.

Since I don’t attend other shows, like the one in SoCal, I’m usually glued to the Watercooler thread on Head-fi during the CanJam weekends to read the impressions.  It’s not the same as being able to hear it yourself, so last year I contacted Andrew, the Musicteck owner, and arranged a brief audition of the new gear I wasn’t familiar with.  After spending a few days with all those goodies, I put together a Show Report, generating as much attention as my lengthy NYC writeups.  This year, I had people asking me if I was going to do the same, and I decided, why not?  The only thing, due to a Dallas show being back-to-back with SoCal, I wasn’t able to receive everything I hoped for, missing one of the biggest highlights everybody in the Watercooler was talking about, Brise Audio Fugaku.  That one will have to wait until after the Dallas show to get a chance to hear it.

In the meantime, enjoy my brief impressions, specs, pictures, and FR measurements of new products that Musicteck showcased at their tables during the SoCal show.  And just to be clear, while I titled this review CanJam SoCal 2024 Impressions, I didn’t attend the show, but rather had a chance to borrow for a week some of the products showcased at Musicteck tables during the show.  I do realize, this would never substitute the experience of attending the actual show, meeting like-minded audiophiles, catching up with friends, and talking to manufacturers and retailers.  But even a very brief audition in a quiet environment with the ability to capture FR measurements is still a dream-come-true experience I would like to share with everybody today.

IEMs.

Forte Ears Macbeth

Design: 11-driver tribrid with 5BA, 2BCD, 4EST

Teased at Eletech’s table with a few early prototypes during NYC CanJam early this year even before we knew the final brand name and model name, I knew these IEMs were heading in the right tuning direction, but didn’t expect the final product to be that refined.  Macbeth was another big discovery for me, with its comfortably fitting 3D-printed resin shells and a beautiful rhodium-plated copper faceplate, these IEMs host 11 drivers including 5BAs, 2BCDs, and 4 ESTs.  One of the BA drivers, “Diablo”, was an exclusive Sonion bass driver with DD-like performance.  As probably expected, Macbeth comes with a stock Eletech premium OCC copper litz cable.

I hear Macbeth to have a balanced sound signature with a clean and clear detailed tonality.  The tuning of these IEMs has natural transparency without too much exaggeration in the bass, too much coloring in the mids, or too much enhancement in treble while still being quite resolving with an impressive level of detail retrieval.  Also, I hear all the 11 drivers of this tri-brid design to be tuned and work together in perfect unison harmony, even considering the enhanced bass performance (deeper rumble, articulate punch) and extra energy in treble.  The tuning is just so effortless, natural, clear, and detailed, and still punchy, articulate, and energetic.  One thing to note, the pair-up synergy has a noticeable effect on the quantity of treble crunch.

Furthermore, the soundstage is big, spherically shaped, and evenly expanded in all 3 directions.  But what impressed me the most here was the holographic imaging and how accurately and convincing (in a natural and non-exaggerated way) sounds are positioned in space where you can pinpoint every instrument and vocal.  In general, I found Macbeth to work great with any genre of music I threw at it, though I did enjoy it with a volume a few notches below my usual listening level which usually helps to “relax” the treble presence.  Doesn’t matter if I was playing EDM, Top40, pop, classical, or instrumental tracks, this IEM has an effortless and pleasantly addictive tuning, with a perfect balance of enhanced (but not exaggerated) natural bass, clean and clear natural detailed mids, and a crystal-clear non-fatigue treble.

Jomo Audio Nautilus

Design: 4-driver tribrid with 10mm DD, 2BCD, 6mm PMD

Nautilus was another big surprise I discovered right before the SoCal CanJam.  Joseph Mou (JoMo) is a seasoned IEM designer with many Jomo Audio and MMR releases under his belt.  But what makes Nautilus stand out is how much he packed into this design from beautiful CNC gold-plated brass shells with natural mother-of-pear inlay, to a unique 4-driver design with custom 10mm Nanodiamond coated DLC Diaphragm dynamic bass driver, Dual (2) Sonion Bone Conduction mids drivers, and a custom 6mm planar magnetic highs driver.  Along with a premium quality 21 AWG OCC copper wire cable with solid metal components and gold-plated OFC high-end balanced plug, all this comes at a very reasonable $800 price tag which is a fraction in comparison to some of today’s other premium IEM releases.

Nautilus has a huge soundstage expansion with holographic-level imaging, typical for this type of dual Sonion BCD driver.  The sound tuning is W-shaped, balanced, energetic, and very engaging.  The tonality is naturally revealing with an enhanced bass impact, forward mids, and crisp resolving treble.   In more detail, I found Nautilus to have a very deep multi-dimensional bass with a textured extended rumble and faster attack punchy mid-bass.  The mids are clear and detailed, with more neutral lower mids and forward (due to slightly enhanced pinna gain) naturally detailed upper mids.  The treble is crisp and detailed, energetic, but not overwhelming, at least not to my ears which are usually sensitive to harshness.  This is a typical performance of PMD resolving highs, however, I found it to be non-fatigued during my listening session.  You will have to go through eartips rolling, and to my ears, I found eartips with a narrower bore opening to give a more natural crisp tonality in treble.

AME Mousa

Design: 15-driver hybrid with 13BA, 2BCD

This is another brand I’m not very familiar with, though I did discover it early this year at Musicteck tables where they showcased a collection of their IEMs.  Due to a limited time during the NYC CanJam show, I only had a chance to hear AME Raven which I found to be quite good.  Then, before SoCal CanJam, the buzz started circulating about the upcoming Mousa model, and I was happy to get a chance to hear their latest flagship.  The pure copper shells, each 22g, have quite a heft, but they were surprisingly comfortable to wear, though please keep in mind that eartips selection here will be very important to keep them secure in your ears.  Inside, there are 15 drivers under the 6-way crossover, including 13 BA drivers (8 Sonion and 5 Knowles) and 2BCD Sonion drivers.  Also, included with Mousa is Eletech premium custom copper cable.

I found AME Mousa to have a big soundstage expansion, thanks to its dual Sonion BCD drivers, with the holographic level of imaging.  To my ears, it has a mildly V-shaped, closer to balanced, sound signature with a warmer tonality and enhanced presentation of the bass with a deep sub-bass rumble and a strong elevated mid-bass.  It was hard to believe this bass was coming from BA drivers.  Mids are warmer, and organic, with a fuller body, and a slightly pulled-back presentation.  Lower mids have fuller body while upper mids are more forward and have natural detailed clear tonality.  Treble is crisp and resolving, but in a natural non-fatigue way.

As I was listening to Mousa, a comparison to EE/AK Novus came to mind.  These IEMs have very similar bass and treble tuning which I was surprised to hear considering Novus has 2xDD bass drivers while Mousa has 2xBA Sonion bass drivers.  And the same with treble, considering 4EST drivers in Novus vs BAs in Mousa.  On the contrary, despite both using a combination of BAs and 2xBCD to cover mids and high frequencies, their mids sound different in tonality.  Novus mids are more forward and revealing while Mousa mids are warmer, more organic, and also slightly pulled back which creates a mild V-shaped sound tuning in comparison to Novus balanced tuning.

Empire Ears Triton

Design: 4-driver tribrid with 9mm DD, BA, 2BCD

Lately, Empire Ears has been busy with A&K collaborations, last year’s Odyssey, and this year’s Novus releases, both of which took some spotlight off the Raven which I talked about in my last year’s SoCal ’23 coverage.  So, I was happy to see them getting back with a new EE release, Triton IEMs, a tribrid design featuring their signature W9+ 9mm DD sub-woofer, BA mids, and new dual BCD drivers.  As EE mentioned in their release notes, the Triton name represents three phases, the Past – referring to their Olympus series, the Present – Valkyrie’s Dragonhide faceplate and Legend X compact shell design, and the Future – introduction of new dual Bone Conduction Drivers, assuming the same dual Sonion BCD as implemented in Novus.

Also, as part of a Limited Launch Edition, there was a new EE Monarch cable, designed using 5 different precious material conductors, Solid Core 4N-purity silver, Silver Plated over 6N-purity OCC copper, Solid Core 5N-purity OCC Silver, Gold Plated over 4N-purity Silver, and Palladium Plated over 4N-purity Silver.  The cable is encased in a dual-layer transparent SoftFlex PVC shielding and complemented by a black-stranded nylon braiding.

So, how does it sound?  Triton is an L-shaped tuned IEM, so expect a warmer tonality with lots of bass.  The soundstage width is just average, having more depth/height with the sound extending more out of the head and having a more intimate center-focused imaging.  I found Triton to have a deep elevated bass with a boosted sub-bass rumble and a strong visceral mid-bass punch.  Mids are very smooth, warm, and organic.  Treble is also very smooth, organic, and on a darker side.  The main focus of the tuning here is on the bass, followed by very smooth organic mids.  While listening to Triton, it reminded me of Legend X’s, just with a smoother (in upper frequencies) sound performance.

EE & A&K Novus

Design: 13-drive quadbrid design with dual W9+ 9mm DD, 5BA, 4EST, 2BCD

I covered Novus early this year in my NYC report where A&K introduced both the Novus and SP3000T at the CanJam show.  Unfortunately, it was just a brief audition in a noisy show environment, without a chance to measure FR or be able to do a direct comparison with EE Raven.  I was very impressed with Novus from that show, and not just the tuning, but also its beautiful design of 24k Gold-plated faceplate framing the Sapphire glass insert, along with a 6061-T6 aluminum shell finished in DLC, and the included premium brand-name EA hybrid Copper, Gold, and Silver cable.  Here, I got an opportunity to hear it again in a quieter environment.

I found Novus to have a big bold balanced sound, with a big expanded holographic soundstage, again, thanks to dual Sonion BCD drivers.  It has a very powerful bass with a deep elevated rumble and bloomy, rounded, mid-bass punch.  Then, a clear detailed mids with closer to neutral lower mids and less colored, naturally detailed upper mids.  Also, it has a naturally crisp resolving treble, with a balanced detailed presence in both the lower and mid-treble.

Relative to EE Raven, Novus has a stronger mid-bass, less forward upper mids with a bit of scaled-down pinna gain to make vocals less intense, and a bit less presence in the lower treble to give upper frequencies a more natural resolution with less harshness.  While I’m also a big fan of Odin’s tuning, I find Novus to be EE’s best-tuned IEM to date.

Alpha & Omega Omega

Design: 9-driver design with 10mm DD, 4BA, 4EST

I never heard of the Alpha & Omega brand before, so this was a discovery for me as well.  Considering it is a new brand, they debuted with quite a mature quality design and tuning, featuring a 6-way crossover to partition 9 drivers into 10mm DD bass (under dynamic enhanced housing acoustic chamber design) and Sonion BA bass, 3 Sonion BA drivers for mids, and 4EST drivers for highs and ultra-highs.  Omega also features a 3-way switch system to finetune the sound with different less drastic and more precise sound refinement steps.  For such a complex design, I found the size and the shape of their shells to be quite compact and comfortable to wear.

With 3 switches up, the sound tuning is closer to L-shaped with more bass emphasis, while still having mids/treble clear, detailed, and forward.  Here, the bass is powerful, deep, and visceral, with an elevated rumble and strong punch, plus, natural detailed mids, and crisp natural detailed treble.  The tuning is closer to but still in-between L-shaped and balanced, and the bass performance is very impressive, reaching a mature basshead level without overwhelming the mids.  Also, big, open, round soundstage, with vocals being slightly out of your head.

With 3 switches down, the bass is slightly scaled-down, both sub-bass and mid-bass, which makes the tuning more balanced and vocals/upper mids a bit more forward.  This is the most balanced tuning of Omega.

These are sound comparisons relative to the adjustment of 3 tuning switches:

• 1st switch down – a touch less sub-bass relative to all 3sw down, and a bit more body in lower mids
• 2nd switch down – bass quantity scales up
• 3rd switch down – a touch more bass (scaled up sub- and mid-bass) and a bit more body in lower mids
• 2nd and 3rd switch down – a touch more bass (scaled up sub- and mid-bass)
• 1st and 3rd switch down – a touch more bass (scaled up sub- and mid-bass), just a touch more than in 2nd/3rd down
• 1st and 2nd switch down – very similar to 3 switches down, the most balanced tuning

Lime Ears Terra

Design: 6-driver hybrid with 7mm DD, 5BA

Lime Ears has been around for years with some of their IEMs reviewed on Tw6, though I haven’t had a chance to test any of their IEMs myself.  This was my first encounter with Lime Ears and their latest Terra release which I found to have a rather pleasant balanced tuning.  Under the hood, you will find 6 drivers, one 7mm Titanium-Diaphragm DD for infra-sub frequencies, 2 BAs for low-mid frequencies, 2 BAs for mid-high frequencies, and one 2023 Knowles RAU New Generation BA for ultra-high frequencies.  The shells are metal with a Polymer Impregnated Synthetic Opal (PISO) multi-tone Crystalline Bello Opal faceplate which looks beautiful.  Terra comes with Effect Audio cable, and I think it was very clever and quite appropriate to implement the green/lime color theme in the color of the shells and the shielding of the cable.

As already mentioned, I found Terra to have a balanced tuning with a neutral natural tonality and a slightly more forward presentation of upper mids.  The bass has a nice sub-bass rumble with a more polite mid-bass punch.  Overall, the bass is not as elevated, having a modest amount of weight.  Lower mids are neutral, and upper mids are clear, detailed, and neutrally colored.  The treble is clear, detailed, and very natural, with a modest extension and airiness.  The soundstage expansion has above-average width with more depth/height than width.  It’s one of those tunings where nothing stands out too much, yet everything is in place where it is supposed to be to enjoy hours of its natural non-fatigue sound.

Page 1 – IEMs (Forte Ears, Jomo, AME, Empire Ears, Alpha& Omega, Lime Ears)
Page 2 – AMP/dongle (Cayin, Aroma), Cables (Eletech, EA, Beat Audio)