The Toronto Audiofest 2024 was a fun show, and by all signs, the audio hobby still beats with a vital, passionate heart.
Takeaways?
First, if what I saw of this year's inaugural Earvanafest was any indication of the high-end headphone industry's general health, it must be doing very well. The couple of times I stole a gander at the event, it was teeming with activity. It might explain why this year the Audiofest organizers decided to host the headphone component of the show in a much bigger space than usual, and call it Earvanafest! Second, ribbon-based tweeters are becoming more ubiquitous with every show, and for good reason. They sound great!—airy, extended, transparent, sweet, and disarmingly natural.
Lastly, I came away thinking that digital playback has made huge, and by huge I mean sonically significant, gains in sound quality in just the last couple of years, even since my last Toronto Audiofest. I have no doubt that we're living in a golden age of digital reproduction, to the point I find the argument of which format is objectively better—digital or LP—more moot and unresolvable than ever. There may be preferences for one format over the other for whatever reasons, but Vive la différence! There are untold riches in both formats.
The lesson is to just enjoy ourselves. And that's a wrap!
First, if what I saw of this year's inaugural Earvanafest was any indication of the high-end headphone industry's general health, it must be doing very well. The couple of times I stole a gander at the event, it was teeming with activity. It might explain why this year the Audiofest organizers decided to host the headphone component of the show in a much bigger space than usual, and call it Earvanafest! Second, ribbon-based tweeters are becoming more ubiquitous with every show, and for good reason. They sound great!—airy, extended, transparent, sweet, and disarmingly natural.
