CanJam 2026 is now my 14th CanJam, and looking back at all the previous shows I’ve attended, I truly can’t believe how far the hobby has advanced in such a short span of time. It’s truly a testament to all the amazing people behind the scenes of this industry - from the giants of the audio world to the 1-person operations within this space, everyone is contributing something, and we as consumers are treated to a plethora of incredible gear that I had the privilege of being able to listen to this go-around.
As with all my previous CanJam writeups, these impressions are sure to change given the time constraints I have on the showroom floor and the general setting in which I am listening in. All listening was done with my iBasso DX270, and my top 3 eartips of choice are KBEAR 4540 Coffee Eartips, NiceHCK07, and Baroque Stage. A majority, if not all, of the IEMs I listened to were paired with Coffee tips. And without further ado…
64 Audio Ocean | 3.5/5
Ocean would be the IEM of the show for me just in the sense of what I was hearing in the Bloom Room and on the showroom floor. It appeared to be one of those must-listens at the show, and immediately upon arrival at the 64 Audio booth, I could tell there was a sense of excitement in the air - both from listeners and the exhibitors themselves. Immediately, it was made clear by the 64 Audio booth exhibitors that this was a revolution of the U12t (which was surprising since it’s proposed as a successor to the Fourté), and the next great tuning within 64 Audio’s lineup, as the flagship pricing of $3,999 would indicate on its lonesome.
Upon first impression, I noticed quickly just how amazing the sibilance control was on this set. It’s actually much more reminiscent of XIO than U12t to my ears, as it has incredible command over the highs, giving off a detailed treble extension with a relatively smooth descent. Some hi-hat elements had some splash to them, but for the most part, it was an easy listen in that regard. As for the bass, I am already looking forward to using the modules and included filters to try and control the bass that I found to somewhat overshadow some of the instrument presentation in my tracks of choice. If the -2dB filter didn’t immediately solve my issues, I would be surprised. As for the quality of the bass, though, it is superb in its texture and natural replay. Definitely one of 64 Audio’s best bass tunings to date, but again, I do feel as though I got a touch too much of it. Midrange is quite good, as expected from 64 Audio at this point for me, but some general fine-tuning of this set, I believe, will only improve it. I can easily see this set bumping up to a 4 out of 5 with some more time and tinkering, so do ensure you go through the paces of playing with this one, as 64 Audio did a great job allowing for easy and intuitive tuning adjustments to be made with this one.
Astell&Kern Clarus | 2.5/5
Best known for their DAPs, Astell&Kern always seems to have a vested interest in the IEM market and have contributed a handful of successful collabs within the hobby with a number of different brands. While a standalone IEM that really sets their lineup apart is somewhat missing from their catalog, Clarus marks a proper step forward for them… kind of.
Above all else, Astell&Kern is known for their class-leading aesthetics, build quality, and the feeling you get when you hold their products in your hand. There is a premium feeling in their offerings that is akin to tech giants like Apple rather than anyone else in the industry. Sadly, that description doesn’t seem to carry over to Clarus, which I would expect it to at this price. Looks and feel aside, the tuning of this IEM is competent, and possibly even the best I’ve heard from the South Korean brand. There is good tonality here paired with solid technical detail retrieval. The mids have a natural timbre presentation to them, and the treble has proper contrast and extension here to my ears as well. Most of that is forgotten, though, when all things considered here are taken into account. For the price, and with the build, the sound doesn’t overcome these shortcomings, and I am still waiting for that standalone A&K IEM to truly set itself apart from the pack and usher in a new era for them where DAPs aren’t the true focus for their product and design team.
Aune AR9000 | 4/5
After hearing so much praise about this headphone, I figured there was no way it could possibly live up to the hype. I’d actually say even with those expectations, AR9000 managed to surprise me even further with what it did in its sound signature. Previously, I found myself liking Aune’s headphone tunings, but was waiting for one of them to “click” with my preferences, and lo and behold, AR9000 did just that.
Off the bat, I knew AR9000 was an excellent all-rounder, presenting a musical tonality that had impressive and immersive technicalities, offering proper contrast to a bass response that I found to truly rumble and have excellent presence. It was addictive, especially when paired with the impressive vocal clarity that had shimmer and a level of prevalence that sounded both natural and emotional to my ears. Sadly, I don’t have too many notes on how the stage of this headphone presented to my ears, as the showroom floor can really prohibit you from getting a good taste of that, but given how much I liked about this headphone - from a build and aesthetics standpoint, as well as from a sound point of view - I can only imagine anything better than average would truly complete this headphone. From the small teaser I got of the staging and imaging, I’d imagine this headphone would quickly shoot up my ranking list as a top headphone pick for me currently in the hobby.
Brise Audio Ibuki | 4.5/5
Plain and simple, Ibuki was my best listen of the show, and a set that ushered in a new standard for what IEMs can still progress towards in the level of detail and tonal balancing it brought to my listening session.
Ibuki doesn’t come with the same caveats of Fugaku, and I think that’s what really sets it apart for me. While costing around a quarter of the price of its older brother, it presents the advantage of not being source-locked, allowing you to pair this one with whatever level of amplification you’re willing to provide it, which happens to be my biggest gripe with Fugaku. Context aside, Ibuki is simple at its core and possesses every characteristic you want and expect in your gear. It’s coherent, balanced, detailed, focused, and just sounds “correct”. As audiophiles, we can open up our dictionaries and thesauruses to search far and wide for the perfect word to describe the sound we’re hearing, but Ibuki rewrites the rules. It forces you to describe it solely as it is, which is natural and effortless. It’s funny, sometimes all you need is something that’s balanced, not trying to find the last word in technical detail or presenting you with a monsoon of bass that makes your skull reverberate… Instead, the best connection we can have with our music is through a sound that is pure. That is Ibuki.
CrinEar Nightfall | 2.5/5
CrinEar is looking to continue their unstoppable run of recent releases that have, for better or for worse, gotten the eyes of just about everyone in the hobby. Reference is most likely near the top of the list for one of the most influential and price-redefining IEMs to come out in recent memory, reshaping how IEM users even define how reference sounds. Monolith took on new driver tech from the Crinacle-led brand and had just about everyone (including myself) chiming in on its sound signature… will Nightfall carry the torch of expected fame and notoriety?
While it may have the budget end of the hobby talking, I don’t think it’ll have nearly the same reach Reference did at the top of the hobby as well. Nightfall presents an incredibly safe listen, albeit lacking in true nuance to the sound and being quite a bit rolled off to my ears. The best aspect of it is the comfortability, as I can already envision myself recommending this to every newcomer in the hobby looking for something comfortable and inoffensive in its tuning approach. I do believe there’s enough bass kick and presence here to satisfy consumers coming from much bassier sound profiles as well, as this IEM has some good low-end hit and rumble. Again, the treble lacks that definition and contrast I would like to pair with that low-end, but perhaps this can be treated as the gateway drug the mass market needs to really move this hobby into the mainstream. If anyone can do it, it’s Crin. As for me, I’d prefer to save up a few bucks and consider some other options, including something in his own lineup, like the Daybreak.
Head(amame) Pro | 3/5
It’s rare when you enter a room at CanJam and find a spot for intent listening, but when you do, it must be cherished. You also have to think to yourself “surely they must be listening to something good if no one can focus on anything but the music.” Was that the case with Head(amame) Pro? I believe so, for the most part…
Head(amame) Pro is the first headphone released by Morgan Andreychuk, founder of the brand, after a long and extensive approach to fine-tuning every aspect of this 3D-printed headphone. I make note of it being 3D-printed because, upon first glance, you may not even know it, which is high praise to those within the 3D-printing community. The tuning of this headphone is in part to none other than Brian Hayden, founder of Capra Audio. To me, the best aspects of this headphone are in the story of it, the comfortability, and the people behind the brand. This is a company that cares about this project and also aims to deliver a reference sound signature at $469. To my ears, I don’t find this one to be my definition of true reference, instead rather V-shaped in its mostly emphasized midbass hit and crack, paired with its present and prevalent treble. It’s a tuning style that I find much more colored than something truly reference, but all told, it’s a fun sound signature that I would enjoy in small dosages with my music collection, but would find most of my time spent with it in gaming. For the price, Head(amame) Pro hypothetically slots into my collection nicely as something to have around the house for an array of different listening sessions, but never acts as my mainstay for music listening. All in, Head(amame) Pro does a lot of things well and offers the hobby something it hasn’t had before at this price - a polished and accessible 3D-printed headphone.
Hercules Audio Moses Legend | 4/5
Hercules Audio is on my radar at every show. Having released the base model of Legend, Moses, and Noah, the surprisingly accessible IEM in Hercules’ collection, I was very intrigued by what Benjamin thought could be improved upon for Moses.
As expected, the sound here is incredibly thick and weighty, which I found to be mostly the case in Moses’s sound signature as well. Where I believe Legend strays away from Moses is in its upper midrange and treble frequencies. There’s a fine line between present and too much in most IEM tunings, and somehow Benjamin has found a way to strike perfectly in the middle between those two in these frequencies. Vocals are clear and bold in the best way, and the treble detail is on display for those who felt like there wasn’t enough in the original tuning of Moses. It never came close to sibilant in my library, but I never felt like I was missing any level of detail either. Whether that’s due to limited time spent with the IEM or just an excellent tuning approach, it’s a win nonetheless in my book. While Legend still maintains its core DNA of Moses and can be described as somewhat of a safe listen, Legend does just enough for me to consider this an improvement and another desirable flagship on my long list of gear I would love to own one day.
Ice Lab Lumira | 3/5
Ice Lab has long been a favorite brand of mine just for the simple fact that they are completely set apart from the hobby in how well they’re able to capture esoteric tunings in a way that are still digestible for long-term listening sessions. Prismatica is most notable for its extensive midbass reproduction to my ears, where Spectrumica takes things up a notch in its approach to Ice Lab’s take on a balanced and natural sound signature. Lumira is entirely different from both of these, perhaps presenting Ice Lab’s most mature tuning to date.
Lumira ropes you in immediately with its impressive micro and macro detail retrieval. It’ll even make you ask yourself “this set is going to be $399?” However, some of this tuning’s pitfalls begin to reveal themselves deeper into your listening session when the level of contrast becomes very apparent at higher listening levels. There is a lot of upper midrange presence here, and clearly some extra spice up top for good measure. However, with that said, there is an impressive level of control here in Ice’s tuning over the planar drivers, as the sibilance command is relatively impressive for the energy you have in this set. This set is clearly designed with detail at the forefront of its mind, with tonality as a bit of an afterthought. I do want to mention, though, that I believe this IEM is entirely set apart from the market it’s priced in and offers something against the grain from what the hobby has opted for, which is overly warm and rolled-off tunings as of late. Ice did mention he created this IEM as a playground for source swapping and cable rolling, so if that’s your thing, Lumira may be the perfect canvas for you to paint your audiophile picture. As it stands, Lumira is a unique offering that is needed in a price bracket that is crowded with a sea of overly similar tunings, albeit being a bit rough around the edges at times.
Kiwi Ears KE4 MKII | 2.5/5
Death, taxes, and a previous IEM tuning being revisited to add more bass and treble. These are the 3 guarantees in life, and KE4 MKII joins Orchestra II as a victim of the bass shelf and treble spice tuning revision. Does it work out like I found it to on the Orchestra II?
The short answer is no, I don’t. KE4 originally was already as meta of a tuning as they come. It’s soft, warm, relatively bassy, and pretty delicate in its tuning approach. It was as fine of a tuning as you could hear with nothing coming across as offensive or worth griping about. Now, KE4 MKII turns everything up, opting for bombastic bass, forward upper mids and treble, and a tuning trying way too hard to appease an entirely different group of people. While that isn’t inherently wrong, it makes you ask “why was this done under the KE4 branding?”, because I can’t imagine personally ever envisioning this as an upgrade over the KE4, rather an entirely new tuning approach in general. While the KE4 MKII is fine in practice in its tuning approach, I find it entirely unnecessary, and an IEM I wouldn’t consider much outside of recommending it to a certain listener.
Moondrop x Crinacle Silicon | 1.5/5
Moondrop and Crinacle, what can go wrong? Apparently more than I thought… After a plethora of highly successful collaborations between the two giants of the industry, Silicon, to my ears, is categorized as a big whiff and a rather uncompetitive option in its price bracket.
Searching for something positive in my notes, I can start with the fact that I love the look of this IEM, and the comfortability of it is top-notch. After that, things get ugly. I found this one rather blunted, lacking any type of contrast in its sound signature, with everything kind of blending into itself. There wasn’t a clear direction here, to me, in this tuning approach, and the general layering in this IEM left much to be desired. The bass was present, but the mids were infiltrated. The midrange was there, but it lacks definition. The treble comes through at times, but it’s dull and lacking any sense of richness. Nothing on this IEM resonated with me, and I continue my search for a recent Moondrop release that has surged my confidence in the idea that another market-redefining IEM is on the horizon.
MysticCraft x NiceHCK Dragonforged | 3.5/5
If this collaboration made you turn your head upon first glance, you’re not alone. Although pleasantly surprised, I came into this listening session with my usual expectation of a top-shelf-level tuning as I do with all things Lee-associated. Having heard quite a bit of Lee’s now extensive list of tunings, Dragonforged managed to surprise me in more ways than one.
Every once in a while, you catch yourself listening to BA bass and ask yourself “how in the world is this BA bass?”. Incredibly dynamic, punchy, fast attacking, and a great compliment to the rest of the sound signature. The general dynamics of this set remind me of NiceHCK’s Rockies, and the rest feels very Lee-esque. Emotional and present midrange that boasts proper technical detail and coherency, with incredibly unique treble colorations that capture a sense of space and nuance within the music that only MysticCraft IEMs can usually get right. While exaggerative, it usually adds that xFactor or discerning difference against what the rest of the market has to offer. With all that said, it does feel as though NiceHCK and Lee played mostly to what they usually do well, instead of trying to capture something entirely unique. Nothing about Dragonforged will jump out at you after you get over the fact that it’s quite punchy for BA bass, but I’d be remiss not to mention that I’ve heard that same characteristic offered in sets in a much lower price bracket. Still though, all things considered, Dragonforged possesses a more than competent tuning and a build and design that completes the full package.
ThieAudio x Elise Audio Vera | 3.5/5
Elise Audio is no stranger to collaborations, but this seems to embark ThieAudio on a new journey of working directly with dealers to get inspiration for new tunings. Initially, Vera captivated me with its dazzling looks on the faceplate, but I wondered if the sound would do the same.
In a word, smooth. Vera is a low-key and laid-back IEM that presents an overarching theme of delicacy in every note delivered. There isn’t one part of the frequency response that jumps out at you, setting the stage for the midbass to have a nice hit to each note, the subbass to have good presence, vocals to come through clear, all while presenting tasteful colorations and proper nuance in the mix. With that said, you do have to ask yourself during your listening session whether this is an IEM that really sets itself apart from tunings both inside and outside of ThieAudio’s lineup. But perhaps that’s not even what Vera is looking to do. Instead, opting to be in company with some of the easiest to listen to IEMs the hobby currently has to offer, putting a spotlight more on tonal balance than anything. If that was the goal, Elise and ThieAudio knocked it out of the park, and Vera joins a shortlist of some of the safest IEMs to buy in the space currently.
ThieAudio Clairvoyance MKII | 3/5
ThieAudio has an unfortunately steep mountain to climb, giving the hobby some of the best tunings in recent memory in the Monarch series and with the ThieAudio Valhalla. With every new release, a high expectation is to be had, whether it’s a complete market shifter or an entirely new player in the space, ThieAudio is no stranger to the spotlight. But instead of voyaging a new expedition… they return to their roots in one of their older tunings.
Clairvoyance was the contrasting model to the Monarch series in that it presented something away from the more tonally focused and colored Monarch tuning approach, opting for a higher focus on detail retrieval than the usual colorations you can find in ThieAudio’s tunings as a whole. Clairvoyance MKII does that… though maybe with too little of a focus on the tonal aspects of this tuning. Clairvoyance MKII does a lot of things right, with its bass texture, extension, and presence coming in just right. Mids are well layered and presented as well, with a natural timbre to it all. Where I find my biggest gripes to lie is in the treble. With my choice of tracks, I found there to be a splashiness to the upper frequencies that sounded relatively unnatural and a bit artificial at times. With some slight adjustments here, which I am confident ThieAudio can make, Clairvoyance can become a serious player in their lineup and another great compliment to the Monarch series. As it stands, though, Clairvoyance remains something I will keep in the rearview mirror but hope to revisit down the line with some revisions to the tuning.
Conclusion
Just looking back on my ratings, it’s become increasingly clear that the hobby is evolving fast. Great sound is trickling down the monetary ladder quickly, and the hobby has never been more accessible. It’s always a great reminder to come to CanJam and celebrate all the different brands, tuners, and teams behind these products, and I am happy to see everyone I know and care about in the hobby enjoying them just as much as me. Until the next CanJam, friends. Peace!
