At last, it’s time for the world’s premier headphone show to return to the great New York City. If you’re new to this congregation of audio nerds, here’s a quick introduction to what this convention even is, and what you can expect to see this year. CanJam is produced by Head-Fi, one of the biggest audio communities around, where they bring some of the industry-leading brands to showcase their products and converse with the wider headphone community. This is a chance for you to check out some of the top headphone models that you’ve always wanted to listen to but haven’t gotten the chance until now. Attendees also have the opportunity to get a first look at new products and preview what, manufacturers have coming out for the rest of 2022.
This year, CanJam will be held in glorious NYC, but you can catch future shows in Chicago, London, and Singapore. For NYC, CanJam will be taking place right at the heart of the city in Times Square, so you’ll only be a short walk from all of its main landmarks.
So what’s the event actually like? Well, you can expect a ton of different brands to have showings, from heavy hitters like Audeze, HiFiMAN, and Dan Clark Audio, to manufacturers you might not be as familiar with like Eksonic, Eletech, and Ferrum. You can find a huge list of all of the different brands here. Some of these brands won’t be new to us at MajorHiFi, but we are looking forward to what each one has to offer this year.
In addition to these brands, there will also be a presence from some of the top distributors as well, like Audio46, Linsoul, and Bloom Audio. Audio46, in particular, will have a variety of demos for convention-goers to try, such as selections from Strauss and Wagner, T+A, SeeAudio, BGVP, and Kennerton.
I for one am most looking forward to checking out Kennertion’s new Rognir Dynamic, as it is their latest flagship headphone. I’m definitely interested to hear what Kennerton can do with a dynamic driver, as using this principle is mostly a departure for the manufacturer. They have the opportunity to bring something new to the table with a premium dynamic closed-back headphone.
For T+A you can expect a full setup, as you’ll be able to try out one of their Solitaire planar headphones with high-end amplifier systems as well. I’ve been hearing quite a bit about T+A recently, and just from staring at pictures of these beautiful sound systems, it feels like I’m in for a treat.
If you haven’t had a chance to check out Strauss and Wagner yet, they will have a variety of products to check out, both wired and wireless. Their newest USB-C earbuds, the EM8C will be one of the top contenders to check out due to its popularity with current Android phones. Like most of their selection, we have great things to say about them already. Other selections will include their over-ear Bluetooth BT501 headphones and their EM205 earbuds, showing that CanJam won’t all be expensive audio gear. Strauss and Wagner’s presence shows that the casual market isn’t forgotten about, as CanJam is a place for all kinds of music enjoyers.
The show floor is worth the ticket alone, but that’s not all that CanJam 2022 has to offer. There will also be seminars that you can attend, tackling a variety of subjects. In the Winter Garden and Music Box rooms, there will be a couple of instructional seminars that sort of work as an introduction to the hobby. At Saturday’s event, you’ll be able to get an overview of different driver principles, frequency response, impedance, sensitivity, and a basic idea of acoustical theory. Basically, this will go over what the specs side of headphones actually means. The 201 version later in the day will cover wider concepts like pinna interaction and individual ear geometries. These seminars will be conducted by various members of Grell Audio.
Other Saturday educational seminars include Amplification 101, Digital Audio 101, Streaming 101, and a seminar on measurements on Sunday. Sunday will also feature a few special presentations, with the first being a showcase from Chord Electronics of the long-awaited Mojo 2. Here, Chord will present an overview of some of the Mojo 2’s groundbreaking features, like its UHD DSP which offers a fully transparent and lossless digital tone control. Sunday’s event will also have a special presentation from Dan Foley of Audio Precision, where he’ll go over modern measuring technics for headphones, DACs, and other audio devices.
If CanJam 2022 in NYC sounds like the perfect weekend for you, then you can purchase tickets here, and attend the shows on February 26th and 27th at the New York Marriott Marquis for what is sure to be an exciting event.
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