The bizarre headphones of CanJam 2026

I’ve been reviewing headphones for a very long time, and I’ve listened to every thing from the hardly serviceable to multi-thousand-dollar open-back headphones. But not too long ago I’ve been uninspired by the state of mainstream choices. Most are completely good — nice, even — however they lack a definite character. Something to remind me why I fell in love with headphones to start with, touchdown me on this loopy profession. I wanted some revitalization. I wanted to see one thing cool. I wanted to be round different individuals with an emotional connection to headphones. I wanted to go to CanJam.

CanJam is a small audio present produced by Head-Fi.org, the biggest audio-focused on-line discussion board, with a number of occasions a yr at totally different locations around the globe, together with London, Shanghai, New York City, Dubai, and Southern California. It’s the place primarily boutique producers exhibit their newest headphones and associated gear to lovers continuously trying to find probably the most correct and interesting audio expertise they will discover. You gained’t discover Bose or Apple right here — though Sony’s Pro division was there, as had been some acquainted names like Sennheiser and Audeze.

In all my years masking A/V gear, I’ve by no means truly made it to a CanJam. Either it wasn’t an curiosity for the shops I used to be writing for, or private obligations saved me from going. But this yr, my first at The Verge, felt like the best time. So on August twenty ninth, I braved the 405 from Los Angeles right down to Irvine, California.

CanJam SoCal 2026 was in a conference area on the Irvine Marriott. Most exhibitors — together with bigger audio names like Sennheiser, Focal, and HelloFiMan in addition to area of interest manufacturers like Astell&Kern and Noble Audio — had cubicles within the greatest room. Many arrange listening stations with tablets working Qobuz (the streaming service of alternative for audiophiles due to its hi-res lossless audio) to reveal their headphones, DACs, amps, media gamers, and even cables. Others had been in quieter rooms off the primary hallway, extra conducive to listening. And crowding into these rooms and cubicles had been a pair thousand audio lovers.

My first cease was the Campfire Audio sales space. Campfire Audio builds earbuds in Portland, Oregon; I’ve listened to its $1,500 Solaris and $300 IO in-ear screens prior to now. Today, although, was for an in-ear monitor that debuted at CanJam Singapore in May: the Campfire Audio Chimera. Most mainstream earbuds and headphones have a single driver per ear that has to breed each frequency from the bottom bass to the best treble. Two in case you’re fortunate. The Chimeras have 9. It’s a “quad-brid” design, that means they use 4 various kinds of audio supply in a single IEM: a dynamic driver for bass and decrease mids; a dual-diaphragm balanced armature (BA) for midrange readability and two extra for the excessive finish; 4 electrostatic tweeters so as to add high-end air and spaciousness; and bone conduction for additional bass.

Because of the variety of drivers, the Chimera are chonky: concerning the measurement of a chunk of Bubblicious bubble gum. It took some finagling to get them comfortably in place. Once I did, although, I used to be instantly impressed. The low finish was good and full, with out getting muddy or overpowering the frequencies above. An open excessive finish gave area to permit cymbals to shimmer and decay whereas avoiding any abrasiveness. The actual star, although, was the midrange. Both the quiet, conversational passages of Tracy Chapman and passionate wailing of Janis Joplin sounded as in the event that they had been proper there in entrance of me. Even although I used to be listening whereas standing in a convention corridor, the Chimera delivered one of the vital detailed and fulfilling listening periods I’ve had in a very long time. But they’re additionally $7,500.

That pricing isn’t extraordinary within the audiophile world — boutique, hand-built audio gear is all the time dearer — however the Chimera are at one other stage, even in comparison with the remainder of Campfire’s lineup. In addition to the design and engineering essential to create a small(ish) in-ear with 9 drivers all working collectively, a lot of that value can be due to supplies and manufacturing. They have a carbon fiber and brass Damascus building, with folded layers that create a topographical map design. And due to that course of, the slight variations in end make every Chimera distinctive. They even have a six-conductor cable that by itself is dearer than most individuals’s earbuds, and embody a microfiber fabric, IEM cleansing device, and 9 totally different tip choices.

Not each product at CanJam is that far out of attain, although. Fosi Audio had wired in-ears for underneath $150 that sounded good for the value, plus an fascinating transportable CD participant. The Dan Clark Audio Aeon Core planar magnetic headphones — which aren’t low-cost at $900, however nonetheless extra accessible than the Chimera — had a pleasant, large soundstage, the place the background vocals within the Black Crowes’ “Remedy” wrapped round to sing from my left and proper, with Chris Robinson in entrance. Snare hits snapped and cymbals sizzled, though on “Fast Car” by Tracy Chapman the snare verged on being an excessive amount of. I’ve been a fan of Dan Clark Audio headphones because the firm was MrSpeakers, and I may simply envision myself enjoyable on the sofa with the Aeon Core.

The Aeon Core are closed-back headphones, so it was straightforward to focus on the music even with the bustle round me. But many audiophile headphones are open-back, and a busy present flooring is just not a great area for getting a very good impression. I attempted a pair of $1,449 HiFiMan Arya headphones with an onboard Wi-Fi receiver. Wi-Fi remains to be uncommon in headphones (though the not too long ago introduced Sonos Ace Ultras have it); it’s higher at streaming lossless audio over longer ranges than Bluetooth. They sounded good, however with their open-back planar design it’s troublesome to get a robust opinion.

On my final loop of the present flooring to see if there was something I missed, a glowing ear cup caught my eye. It was a vacuum tube. In a pair of headphones! The Écoute TH2, which had been funded on Kickstarter last March, are supposed to duplicate a high-end two-channel audio system, all within the headphones themselves. They have a built-in vacuum tube preamp with a 6P1 tube and dual-mono amplification (the left and proper channels are pushed independently from the DAC to every driver). They even have strong ANC (a present flooring is nice for testing that) and an 8-band EQ, and so they’re actually comfy. On a dwell recording of “A Pirate Looks at Forty” with Dave Matthews, Jack Johnson, and Tim Reynolds, I felt the viewers round me as if I used to be on the present. There’s a number of high-end element, however the higher frequencies are boosted an excessive amount of for my style (I didn’t get an opportunity to attempt to tone it down with the EQ). Still, the TH2 are an extremely fascinating pair of headphones.

And they’re what’s nice a couple of present like CanJam. I by no means would have recognized concerning the Écoute in any other case; there are such a lot of headphones on the market and just one me. Decades in the past, CES was once extra about audio than robots, however there’s no going again the place that’s involved. It’s all of the extra purpose why CanJam and reveals prefer it want to stay round.