Cardas earbuds...in colors!

I just grabbed this image from George Cardas' Facebook page--it appears he's experimenting with different finishes for his upcoming earbuds. It'll will be exciting to see if a wide variety of colors will be available to match to your iPod, Zune or other portable player.

New earbuds from Cardas Audio

Here are some nice photographs of the upcoming earbuds from Cardas Audio. I've been able to audition very late prototypes twice already; the last time was at CES where George Cardas himself demonstrated them against a very nice headphone rig consisting of a high quality DAC and a pair of Sennheiser HD800s. These earbuds have been a personal project of George's for quite some time, and I agree that these are something quite special.

I've experienced state-of-the-art headphone reproduction in the past; up until a few months ago I owned a pair of Grado GS1000s and AKG 701s modded with Stefan Arts Equinox cabling and a Woo Audio tubed headphone amp. In addition, I wrote the Headphone Planet column for TONEAudio for several issues in 2007-2009. So I like to think I know what a good pair of cans can achieve.

In addition, I haven't head a pair of earbuds that I truly liked. I'm fairly claustrophobic, and inserting devices into my ear canals has always felt intrusive, uncomfortable and aggressive. The Cardas earbuds were the first in-the-ear devices that felt comfortable and unobtrusive. I tried two sizes of these as well, and I actually preferred the slightly larger version. These buds felt like they had been custom-made for my ear canals and after listening for quite some time I felt little or no listener fatigue.

Okay, they're comfortable. But how did they sound? Well, the Grado GS1000s have always been my personal reference because they sound warm, open and expansive with full, realistic bass response. The Cardas earbuds easily matched and even surpassed the sound quality of the Grados, expanding on all of their strengths. These are the first earbuds that made me say, "I need these."

I talked to a couple of people in the Cardas camp about the projected price and date of arrival. Right now there isn't a set price, but I heard some ballpark figures that were much lower than I expected. I've seen and heard some of those earbuds that require a custom fitting for the ear molds, and the price tags of those products are fairly hefty. If the Cardas earbuds come anywhere near the projected and approximate prices, they will be a huge hit. Best of all, they're obviously wired with Cardas cabling.

I'm trying to get a little more information about the technology behind the Cardas earbuds, and I'll update shortly. But for now enjoy the pics of these precious little jewels and be prepared to audition a pair when they arrive. I'm putting my name on the list!

CES 2011...Cardas Audio

Since I was a guest of Cardas Audio for the CES (I even got to put my name badge in one of their cool leather holders), I used their room as sort of a home base. When I say room, I have to specify that it was their MAIN room, as many of the rooms at the Venetian had the words "Cardas Audio Ltd." on the banners over their doorways. That's because many other exhibitors used Cardas cables in their reference systems. Why? Because Cardas was introducing their new top-of-the-line Clear at CES. To paraphrase Van Halen, everybody wants some.

I use Clear Light in my own system, which is the entry-level cable in this premium line. Above that, you have the just-plain Clear and the flagship Clear Beyond. The Beyond, of course, was extremely impressive, and was one of those cables that is as "thick as a garden hose." The Beyond was used in many of the most expensive, state-of-the-art systems including the one with the Trenner & Friedl Dukes. Admittedly, the Beyond is such a high-performing cable that only the very best systems can extract all of its performance. Even a couple of people from the Cardas camp admitted that the Beyond was too much cable for their systems (although I bet it's perfect for George Cardas' amazing home system, which you can find on YouTube). For most people, myself included, Clear and Clear Light are all the cable they'll ever need. But if you're one of those audiophiles with a no-holds-barred rig, you'll want the Beyond to take it to the next level.

The price of Beyond is high, but there are quite a few brands that charge more for their top-of-the-line offerings. In a world full of $30,000 8' pairs of speaker cables, the Beyond is priced fairly and sanely, especially when you see how complex its construction is.

The Cardas room also featured the new LP releases of Ben Harper's Pleasure and Pain, which I've written about extensively. Dean Peer's new 180 gram limited pressing of Airborne was also there, and yes, I now own my very own copy, given to me by Dean himself. (I know, I'm a name-dropper.) In fact, I'm traveling to San Diego next week for the Music Night at Blackbird Audio Gallery featuring Dean Peer, and I hope he'll sign it!

I also had a chance to speak to George Cardas himself about his latest audio interests, which include finding the right solution to the preponderance of DACs in today's audio market. He also gave me a preview of Cardas Audio's upcoming earbuds. This is the second time I've heard them, and I have to say that I want a pair badly.

This surprises me, because I've disliked every pair of earbuds I've ever stuck in my ears. I'm somewhat claustrophobic (which was a bit of a problem in the packed elevators at the Venetian, and which is why I got so much exercise in its stairwells), and I'm always uncomfortable with having something slid into my ear canals. The Cardas earbuds were downright unobtrusive and fit into my ears very comfortably due to the revolutionary shape. In addition, the sound was so spacious and extensive that I felt they were more like wearing tradition cans. Earbuds, in my opinion, often sound aggressive and forward because of the nature of their placement. Not these ones.

George demonstrated this by having me first listen to a pair of Sennheiser HD800s, one of the best headphones currently on the market, through a headphone system consisting of products from Ayre and Musical Fideilty. The sound was pretty amazing, smooth and full and believable. I then switched to the new Cardas earbuds and the soundstage was larger, the bass was fuller and the overall sound was less fatiguing. I don't have any pictures of these yet because they still haven't been formally announced, but they are great-looking little devices, made from metal instead of the ubiquitous plastic of most earbuds. George said that the materials used helped to contribute to the more solid and engaging sound. I'll speak more about these in the future, especially if I get a chance to test-drive them.

Once again I'd like to thank the Cardas Audio crew for their incredible hospitality to this humble blogger. I was able to meet most of the gang including George, Colleen Cardas, Darcy Cardas (George's wife), Mary Cardas (the oldest daughter), Angela Cardas Meredith (the youngest daughter), Josh Meredith (Angela's husband and the principal sales and marketing executive for Cardas) and Brian Von Bork. I even got to meet Luke Cardas, the nine-month-old son of Angela and Josh. Children aren't allowed at CES, but Luke had a Cardas name badge, so nobody dared to question his importance at the convention!