AUDIO VIDEO SHOW WARSAW 2024 REPORT PART 3 – THE HEADPHONE ZONE

For the next instalment of our Audio Video Show Warsaw 2024 Report, we head over to PGE Narodowy, the National Stadium of Poland. The Stadium is a huuuuge venue and Oscar is starting with the Headphone Zone, which is a Headfi Show within the main Stadium exhibition.

Check out our other reports so far from the Golden Tulip and the Sobieski Hotels.

AUDIO VIDEO SHOW WARSAW PART 3 – THE HEADPHONE ZONE

Welcome to the first part of my personal coverage of the Audio Video Show 2024, I’ll start with the Headphone Zone as this really does deserve its own report. 

I was pleasantly surprised to see a large area in the PGE stadium dedicated to headphones and associated kit, it was also consistently busy in this area which is a great sign for the industry in general.

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CRAFT EARS

My first stop in this area was Craft Ears, this is a company I have been aware of for quite some time yet, I have not had a chance to listen to any of their newer models. I had a listen to their current flagship model, the Omnium, and it they sounded excellent, a nice overall balance that carefully mixes engagement with technicalities in a fun yet well balanced way. A great all-rounder in my opinion and one that has excellent tonality whilst still having a healthy dose of impact and punch. Next up was their Aurum, for an IEM that uses electrostatic drivers for the treble they have an incredibly smooth and somewhat dark sounding tuning with great sub-bass rumble. Still great detail however, they concentrated on presenting a smooth and easy going sound that is non-fatiguing yet open and airy.

AUDMA

Audma were up next, unfortunately, this table was busy but, they make a headphone amp with a unique crossfeed kind of circuitry which allows you to emulate loudspeaker listening with headphones. You can dial in the settings via the knobs on the amp and they recommend using closed back headphones with the system for the best sound.

DIVALDI

Divaldi make a really cute little headphone amps, on demo was the Amp-05 Special Edition, a class-A design and has line level inputs on the back along with a balanced and single ended outputs on the front and volume knob on the top. The build quality is excellent, it’s a hefty little thing and with 900 mW (Class A), 2W max. (impulse) output power it can handle complex loads with ease. I listened to this little amp with a pair of the Final D7000 and they sounded brilliant, this little amp has that signature smooth class-A sound with plenty of grunt for dynamic swings in the music – very impressive indeed.

FINAL

It’s always a pleasure to listen to Final headphones, the main new thing at the show was the new D8000 DC model which sounds a little more refined and neutral compared to the original D8000 but, perhaps loses a little of the outright energy that made the D8000 such a fun headphone. Next up was their new A6000 IEMs, I really like these, the tuning is just right in terms of sound natural, detailed, and controlled. They won’t suit those looking for a more bassy sound signature however, if you value a well-balanced sound with excellent coherency, they are well worth a listen. They also had a display of multiple other models in their range, along with their Final X Evangelion and Final X Dragon Ball Z collab models.

AUDIO HEAVEN

These tables were run by a company called Audio Heaven; they featured a lot of kit from a few familiar brands. These included Xduoo, Sivga/Sendy audio, iBasso, Oriveti, Kinera Celest, Aful, Dunu and more! It was really good to see these brands being represented at this kind of show, Dunu were the first brand I ever wrote a review for. They also had a section of accessories including Spinfit and Symbio eartips alongside Dekoni earpads.

FERRUM

Ferrum had their usual stacks on demo along with multiple sets of headphones, another busy table, this is likely down to the fact that the Ferrum kit sounds great and can handle most headphones you throw at it.

RMS

RMS are the Polish distributor for a few brands, they joined up with Erzetich and HiFiMAN. Erzetich had both the Mania and Phobos V2021 on demo with NuPrime DAC/Amps as the source.

HiFiMAN

It’s always a pleasure to see HiFiMAN at shows, they had the new HE1000 Unveiled on demo which sound very spacious and clean, along with their Jade II electrostats and Shangri La Jr setup. I did get to have a sneak peak at a new product, as it has been leaked already, I can say it was the upcoming Arya Unveiled. I wasn’t allowed any pictures of them but, the sound was a little mid forward with slightly more body to the sound than the HE1000 Unveiled; these could be an interesting model from HiFiMAN.

MYTEK

Mytek had their Brooklyn Bridge II streamer paired with the beautiful Blue Hawaii SE amp and a pair of Stax SR-X9000 headphones – I heard a similar setup at CanJam London and wow… what a combo. Elsewhere they had their Liberty DAC II, Liberty THX AAA headphone amp and the Manhattan II DAC – these were mostly paired with HiFiMAN headphones.

FELIKS AUDIO

It’s great to see the guys from Feliks Audio at shows, having given the Feliks Audio Envy Performance Edition my Reviewers Preference award I know how this amp sounds. The real treat though is the Envy 25th Anniversary Edition amp – these were built in very limited numbers and paired with the Susvara is a phenomenal combo that gives you speed and agility whilst sounding utterly natural and effortless at the same time. Elsewhere I had a listen to the HiFiMAN HE1000 Unveiled with the Echo II and that was a great match too, the Echo II giving these headphones a hint of warmth and body that makes them sound a little more enjoyable to my ears.

IFI AUDIO

iFi Audio are another very familiar brand to me, as I use their iCAN Phantom as my reference headphone amp, and they had a huge range of products on demo and display. From the new ZEN 3 series, iDSD Diablo 2, Pro iDSD Signature, GO Link, GO Bar Kensei and their Silent Power bits too. I had a listen to the ZEN Can 3 headphone amp with the ZEN DAC 3 as the source and it was a great, affordable setup. Plenty of drive for full size headphones with tunability built in too: xBass/xSpace, 3 gain options and gaming/movie modes too (and support for xMEMS drivers).

GRAAL WIBROAKUSTYKA

Sadly, I have no idea what this was, and I didn’t have enough time to experience it. I’ll assume from the name that is has to do with vibrations at the same time as listening to headphones giving you a more immersive listening experience.

AUDIOMAGIC PL

Audiomagic seem to be quite a big distributor of head-fi related gear, they had a range of Meze audio headphones including the new 105 Aer, Cayin amps, Topping, Yulong, Kanto, Noble and much more! I sat down with Noble and had a listen to their Chronicle – a limited-edition IEM with Damascus titanium shells (they are a work of art themselves). I thoroughly enjoyed the sound of these, a punchy and fun sound that never tips too far into being bass heavy or overwhelming. They have a sense of get-up-and-go to them without being too in your face or fatiguing – an easy going yet versatile and engaging sound signature.

AUDEOS

Another big player in head-fi kit in Poland are Audeos – an online retailer/distributor handling a lot of different brands from budget to high-end. They sell Soundz IEMs, you can find my Avant review here, Effect Audio, InEarz, Tanchjim, Shanling, Canpur, Elysian Acoustic Labs, Empire Ears, Softears, Fosi Audio, Hiby, Aune, ZMF, M2tech, Lotoo, Spirit Torino, Viva Audio and more! There was so much to see on these tables, once again showing that headphones are gaining popularity across the globe. The Viva / Susvara combo is a winner every time I listen, and this setup was using Tellurium Q cables throughout.

MARK LEVINSON (BY HARMAN)

There was a pair of the Mark Levinson No. 5909 headphones on demo and display.

HIFI PRO

Another big retailer/distributor showing off a range of HiFiMAN, Bugani, Astell & Kern, Kinera, Campfire Audio, Unique Melody, Abyss, WooAudio, Fostex, Dan Clark Audio, HEDD, Auralic, Violectric, RAAL, DCS and Fiio. They had the new Fostex TH1000RP and TH1100RP headphones, the new Fiio turntable and S15 streamer – the main product I wanted to listen to was the FH19 as I am currently using the FA19 a lot. The FH19 is quite different, it offers up superb bass with excellent depth and body whilst retaining great control over the midrange and very crisp treble. I can see the treble being a little hot on some recordings, or if you listen at louder volumes however, during my test they didn’t sound overly bright which is good. The FA19 is more linear and monitor like, the FH19 is a bit more dynamic, punchy, and fun with a lot of energy (breakdowns in metalcore are superb).

JBL

Lastly, we come to JBL and their range of headphones and earphones. A good display of their different models and I must say that the Tour One M2 really do sound very good for a Bluetooth headphone (review here).

It was great to see so many head-fi brands being represented at the Warsaw show, and judging by the amount of people in this section, I can only see this bit growing over the next few years. Stay tuned for my main coverage of the PGE Stadium coming very soon plus check out our other reports from Stu and Lin from the Golden Tulip and the Sobieski Hotels.

ALL IMAGES AND TEXT ARE COPYRIGHT HiFi PiG AND MAY NOT BE USED WITHOUT PRIOR WRITTEN CONSENT FROM THE EDITOR

Oscar Stewart

Additional photography by Kelly Bowden

Follow all the HiFi PiG coverage of the Audio Video Show Warsaw 2024 here