The November Hi-Fi Show Experience

So I spent a better part of my weekend visiting the November HiFi show, it's my first audio show as a reviewer so yeah, please forgive me for the few pics I have, low res and shaky videos coz I wasn't familiar with the videocam I was lent for the event, and the cover pic isn't mine (credits to the November HiFi Show page) and I still felt more like a participant than a reporter, I just kept testing the stuff around me and forgot to take good pics in the audio bliss I was subjected to, yes, I'm sorry. Next year I'll likely bring my A7s for these events, and carry less stuff, so with that, here's a few things around the show.

Vinyls everywhere and at good prices too! 

Refreshments for the weary

Prices nearly everywhere were slashed (incidentally, the HD600 does sound good, and the wm1a can power it even on single but needs high gain, pretty sure it wasn't singing though and my amp is balanced so, missed opportunity)

I mostly let Mikey test out the Oriolus BA300S with my WM1A and his AK Kann, he liked it as well as the custom cable from Stiks Audio I have with my Elear, 

Soundwave Station had a lot of audio goodies to try, right beside the Noble IEMs too!  The Oriolus had a lot of stuff to show there too, quite an enjoyable area to stay in. Thank you Marloe Uy, Art Katana and Ron Nacion for being so friendly and accomodating.

Empyrean in the house!

Was it good? You betcha! There was depth in the bass, quite detailed and delicious mids, wonderful highs, wide stage, quite responsive and very much musical to my ears. I was using my Sony WM1A, the Oriolus BA300S in balanced to power it and for me, it sounded really really good! Can I afford it? Maybe in a few years with constant saving ^_^

Cayin N8, it's a really good player, the ability to go neutral and warm happy tube like sound is dangerous to your wallet. There's so much power behind the dap, and it's not just the ability to push volts or current, you hear the songs in a clearer and more impactful manner, frankly, it can be quite addictive but at the same time, I know it'll take a long long time for me to save up for this if I ever decide to take the plunge so, farewell for now N8.

Another enjoyable pairing, quite good technical, near reference and quite musical with expanded range in bass reach, near reference level in mids and beautiful highs. It's not as musical as the Cayin N8 on tube mode, but they are on par signature wise without tube mode, that is one of the better draws on the N8, the dual nature of its sound, though the Lotoo Paw Gold Touch seems to have a bit more extended range in all the frequencies. I wish I had more time on both, or money to buy both (If I win the lottery wooo!)

The Acoustune table was hosted by none other than the Director of Development and Senior Acoustic Architect of Acoustune Take Saegusa, thank you for being so patience and informative, I know you've been talking to a lot of people but you still took time to talk to me. I got to try the prototype of the Acoustune 1690, it sounded nice and quite balanced though it could use a bit more bass on the lower side (which incidentally, Saegusa mentioned there will be a a little more in the final tuning) the mids were quite beautiful, sounding clear and bodied without being thick, it was more forward than the 1551 series, something I really liked while retaining the rather analog like sound I love, wide stage, good bass, detailed mids, articulate highs that doesn't sound harsh (I secretly played my sibilant songs, passes that little test well) and overall musical. 

The Shanling table and the Mahogany room, M0 and M5s available for everyone to test. It was a nice balanced and detailed sound, had enough power to drive headphones like the elear to singing levels, UI was easy to use with minimalist controls which were logical (at least for me), easy to carry as well. Also met František Bína of Shanling who was quite accommodating and knowledgeable, thanks for the nice chat.

The experience there was awesome, very very very enjoyable and the atmosphere pleasant, if I didn't carry so much stuff in my little bag, I knew I could get around more, so lessons for today will be applied next audio event and yes, more pics and videos in better quality and maybe less me enjoying the gears around so I can do just that.