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The Spring Headphone Festival 2024, sponsored by FujiyaAbic, was held on April 27. The event was held at 5th and 6th floors of Station Conference Tokyo.
Audio-Technica exhibited its newly released wooden portable headphones, the ATH-WB LTD. The ATH-WB LTD is a wired version of the ATH-WB2022. The developer says that the key point is the use of a new diaphragm and airflow to extend the sound.
The sound is very clear for a closed, a wide sound staging and a three-dimensional. The bass is well-controlled that gives an excellent punchy sound.
ATH-WB2022
At Fostex, the T50RP mk4, the successor to the 20-year-old T50RP mk3, was on display. The T50RP mk4 has not attracted much attention because of its modest name change, but in fact, I think it was the dark horse of the event. The T50RP mk4 is a completely new model with a new coil pattern layout and the latest technology.
Comparing the T50RP mk3 and T50RP mk4, the T50RP mk3 has a dark sound with low efficiency, like old planar headphones, while the T50RP mk4 has a surprisingly high efficiency and sounds excellent. Priced at 35,000 yen, the T50RP mk4 is good for users who want a low-priced planar headphone.
T50RP Mk4 on the left,Mk3 on the right
At the Harman booth,I noticed the rebirth of AKG brand products. On display were the N5 ANC TWS and the N9 ANC wireless headphones, both of which feature the LC3plus codec-compatible dongle included. For more information on LC3plus, please refer to the interview with Fraunhofer directly in this series. I was surprised to see this LC3plus on the market so quickly. https://ascii.jp/elem/000/004/149/4149687/ (Japanese link)
I tried the N9 and the USB-C dongle worked fine with my iPhone 15 Pro Max. The sound quality is quite excellent, punchy and vocals are excellent. I compared the sound quality of the N9 with the same song using regular Bluetooth without the dongle, and found the LC3plus mode to be sharper and the instrumental sounds to be more crisp. The N9 will be priced at around 55,000 yen.
N5 on the left, N9 on the right
I had a chance to talk with Ken Ball, about the new Fathom from Campfire Audio. I learned the great sounding of Fathom comes from his less is more philosophy.
The sound quality of Fathom is excellent, with a unique super purity that is different from existing products.
Campfire Audio FATHOM
The qdc shows SUPERIOR EX, a collaboration between two major custom earphone brands, qdc and FitEar. The price is 33,000 yen including tax.
The SUPERIOR EX is a redesigned version of qdc's SUPERIOR single dynamic driver product, tuned by Suyama of FitEar. Suyama said that he tuned the product to maximize the dynamics of the music while retaining the qualities of the original. This allows users to enjoy music at a higher volume than the original model.
qdc SUPERIOR EX
Bliss Audio presented the "FUGAKU," an IEM/cable/amp combo portable audio system and is priced at 2.5 million yen. IEM employs xMEMS cowell unit without use of aptos
The sound quality is highly direct, as is typical of a multi-amp system, and is characterized by a powerful and rich sound similar to home audio.
FUGAKU
As is typical of a technology company, final exhibited a unique project called “10 Minute Acoustic Lecture”.
This was a hands-on exhibit in which visitors could learn about the differences in the sounds they perceive while watching a video and actually wearing the final E500 and listening to the sound.
In short, different people perceive sounds differently due to differences in thier external shapes, but humans are equipped with a filter to cancel out these differences and make them sound the same. However, in the case of earphones, the filter does not work well because the sound is heard directly without passing through the outer ear. Therefore, the way we hear with earphones differs from person to person.
final’s own personalize service(JDH - personal dummy head service) is a method to absorb such individual differences on the earphone side.
iF you have an interest in this service refer to my article. (Japanese link) https://ascii.jp/elem/000/004/177/4177228/
There were more new products than expected at this year's Headphone Festival. The venue was crowded from the start. We look forward to the next one.
Audio-Technica exhibited its newly released wooden portable headphones, the ATH-WB LTD. The ATH-WB LTD is a wired version of the ATH-WB2022. The developer says that the key point is the use of a new diaphragm and airflow to extend the sound.
The sound is very clear for a closed, a wide sound staging and a three-dimensional. The bass is well-controlled that gives an excellent punchy sound.
ATH-WB2022
At Fostex, the T50RP mk4, the successor to the 20-year-old T50RP mk3, was on display. The T50RP mk4 has not attracted much attention because of its modest name change, but in fact, I think it was the dark horse of the event. The T50RP mk4 is a completely new model with a new coil pattern layout and the latest technology.
Comparing the T50RP mk3 and T50RP mk4, the T50RP mk3 has a dark sound with low efficiency, like old planar headphones, while the T50RP mk4 has a surprisingly high efficiency and sounds excellent. Priced at 35,000 yen, the T50RP mk4 is good for users who want a low-priced planar headphone.
T50RP Mk4 on the left,Mk3 on the right
At the Harman booth,I noticed the rebirth of AKG brand products. On display were the N5 ANC TWS and the N9 ANC wireless headphones, both of which feature the LC3plus codec-compatible dongle included. For more information on LC3plus, please refer to the interview with Fraunhofer directly in this series. I was surprised to see this LC3plus on the market so quickly. https://ascii.jp/elem/000/004/149/4149687/ (Japanese link)
I tried the N9 and the USB-C dongle worked fine with my iPhone 15 Pro Max. The sound quality is quite excellent, punchy and vocals are excellent. I compared the sound quality of the N9 with the same song using regular Bluetooth without the dongle, and found the LC3plus mode to be sharper and the instrumental sounds to be more crisp. The N9 will be priced at around 55,000 yen.
N5 on the left, N9 on the right
I had a chance to talk with Ken Ball, about the new Fathom from Campfire Audio. I learned the great sounding of Fathom comes from his less is more philosophy.
The sound quality of Fathom is excellent, with a unique super purity that is different from existing products.
Campfire Audio FATHOM
The qdc shows SUPERIOR EX, a collaboration between two major custom earphone brands, qdc and FitEar. The price is 33,000 yen including tax.
The SUPERIOR EX is a redesigned version of qdc's SUPERIOR single dynamic driver product, tuned by Suyama of FitEar. Suyama said that he tuned the product to maximize the dynamics of the music while retaining the qualities of the original. This allows users to enjoy music at a higher volume than the original model.
qdc SUPERIOR EX
Bliss Audio presented the "FUGAKU," an IEM/cable/amp combo portable audio system and is priced at 2.5 million yen. IEM employs xMEMS cowell unit without use of aptos
The sound quality is highly direct, as is typical of a multi-amp system, and is characterized by a powerful and rich sound similar to home audio.
FUGAKU
As is typical of a technology company, final exhibited a unique project called “10 Minute Acoustic Lecture”.
This was a hands-on exhibit in which visitors could learn about the differences in the sounds they perceive while watching a video and actually wearing the final E500 and listening to the sound.
In short, different people perceive sounds differently due to differences in thier external shapes, but humans are equipped with a filter to cancel out these differences and make them sound the same. However, in the case of earphones, the filter does not work well because the sound is heard directly without passing through the outer ear. Therefore, the way we hear with earphones differs from person to person.
final’s own personalize service(JDH - personal dummy head service) is a method to absorb such individual differences on the earphone side.
iF you have an interest in this service refer to my article. (Japanese link) https://ascii.jp/elem/000/004/177/4177228/
There were more new products than expected at this year's Headphone Festival. The venue was crowded from the start. We look forward to the next one.
