Campfire - Solaris
Apr 3, 2019 at 1:41 AM Post #4,501 of 12,045
@BlendS @Rockwell75 @cytoSiN @NovaFlyer

I had the chance to stop by Dignis yesterday and got one of their Arca cases. Length/width is similar to the Campfire Audio one, but the Arca case is taller.

Thank you for the update! Just a quick question, does the case offer any sort of crush resistance? The pictures make them look soft, and I'm worried about the case being squished in my bags.
 
Apr 3, 2019 at 2:04 AM Post #4,502 of 12,045
Much of it purchased through iTunes and taken from cds a long time ago, not flac. The ZX300 came with three DSD songs. The difference does not impress me much. By the way, one reason I went with the ZX300 is that it has a feature that is supposed to make lower res files sound better.
That file upscaler is useless. You can't replace high quality files with MP3s and expect to be wowed.
The higher bit releases also have different mastering, so they sound better.
If you are listening to RAP and Hip Hop and want that slam and speaker feel, Vega is the only way to go.
I would return the Solaris if you are still in the 15 day trial period.
 
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Apr 3, 2019 at 2:07 AM Post #4,503 of 12,045
Again, this has little to do with just the bass. Was merely giving an example of a notable deficiency. I do not want a worse iem just so I can get more slam and perhaps some rumble on certain songs. If anything you should've suggested the Atlas, which I'm already aware of.
 
Apr 3, 2019 at 2:11 AM Post #4,504 of 12,045
Again, this has little to do with just the bass. Was merely giving an example of a notable deficiency. I do not want a worse iem just so I can get more slam and perhaps some rumble on certain songs. If anything you should've suggested the Atlas, which I'm already aware of.
The Vega is my favorite iem out of the entire Campfire lineup. I think it's better than the Atlas, the bass response is tighter and punchier.
Solaris was not my cup of tea either, I much prefer single driver iems.
 
Apr 3, 2019 at 2:24 AM Post #4,506 of 12,045
What's the difference between multiple driver iems and single driver iems?
Single driver iems, are usually dynamic drivers or planars, where the entire frequency range is handled on just one driver.
Hybrid iems like the Solaris have a Dynamic driver that handles the bass, and a number of Balanced armature drivers that handle the higher frequencies.
Balanced Armatures to my ear, sound like plastic. The sound has no weight, its very unnatural.
The single drivers are the only iems that are truly coherent, even higher frequencies have a bass response that you can feel, it's not disjointed.
 
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Apr 3, 2019 at 2:42 AM Post #4,507 of 12,045
Well that's great to read.

Like I said before, the 15-day return period is extremely short given burn-in allotments, and I think Campfire further wants you to get it to them within the 15 days. Go figure. At least this isn't Europe and once you get iems you can't return them for sanitary reasons despite the tips being inexpensive, but whatever. Meh. It's not like the sound is bad or anything, I just wish the prices made sense and people sung consistent tunes.
 
Apr 3, 2019 at 2:55 AM Post #4,508 of 12,045
Well that's great to read.

Like I said before, the 15-day return period is extremely short given burn-in allotments, and I think Campfire further wants you to get it to them within the 15 days. Go figure. At least this isn't Europe and once you get iems you can't return them for sanitary reasons despite the tips being inexpensive, but whatever. Meh. It's not like the sound is bad or anything, I just wish the prices made sense and people sung consistent tunes.
Different people like different iems. No other way than trying them for yourself as far as I know.
And you can send it back if you inform campfire within the 15 days. . I wouldn't spend 1500 dollars on an iem that you are at best meh.. about.
 
Apr 3, 2019 at 3:02 AM Post #4,509 of 12,045
The single drivers are the only iems that are truly coherent, even higher frequencies have a bass response that you can feel, it's not disjointed.

If you ever have the opportunity (some meet or whatever), you might want give a listen to the Tralucent 1plus2 .... I have the 1plus2.2, and I find them very coherent, though they're hybrids. First post on the dedicated thread explains how they were designed to sound that way.
 
Apr 3, 2019 at 3:20 AM Post #4,510 of 12,045
@BlendS @Rockwell75 @cytoSiN @NovaFlyer

I had the chance to stop by Dignis yesterday and got one of their Arca cases. Length/width is similar to the Campfire Audio one, but the Arca case is taller.

Thanks for the information and pictures. I ordered the same Dignis case, along with the SP1000M case, just the other day and should have it in the next week or so.
 
Apr 3, 2019 at 4:17 AM Post #4,511 of 12,045
What's the difference between multiple driver iems and single driver iems?

With multiple BA iems the drivers cover different frequency ranges. JH audio uses up to 12 for the primary reason that it allows them to be driven louder without distortion as they are designed for stage use . JH also has a pod on some of their line that allows you to boost or cut the bass level by up to 15db.

I am not sure what you are looking for in an iem or headphone. It seeks like you have not yet been satisfied with a headphone or iem. Iems don't tend to offer a huge expansive soundstage. You might want to try the audeze LCD i4 if that is what you are after but they are comeback and even more expensive. If I am not mistaken you have one of the sennheiser hd6xx series (not sure which one) and felt that it sounded comparable to the LCD X driven from the output of a laptop. The 6xx series is not known to have a huge sound stage either. If you can share what you are looking for people can better assist you in suggestions. My best suggestion is that if you can get to a canjam or similar show. Then you can try a bunch of gear out. To get the best out of everything you might need to look at your source. The Solaris scales well with better daps too. I hope that you find what you are looking for and are eventually satisfied. In the end there is no substitute for hearing items for your self.
 
Apr 3, 2019 at 4:38 AM Post #4,512 of 12,045
The HD650 has more space than the Solaris driven only by a Magni (3) vs a ZX300, with the Solaris being driven balanced too whereas the HD650 is single-ended. I know that the HD650 isn't known for soundstage, hence my disappointment that supposedly even expensive iems do not have similar soundstages. I think the space of the Solaris now is adequate, but not an inch more. It is neither expansive in any meaningful sense of the word nor notable in my opinion. I've heard the scaling stuff before, good thing for me the ZX300 is supposed to match or be extremely close to the WM1A with the Solaris (and reportedly according to a Campfire Audio employee even the >$3000 WM1Z is within around 10%) and the Sony daps are supposed to be excellent matches, so no thanks. I'm not heading down that hole. Like I said the sound is ok, but it comes at an interesting price. Ok sound for that price is not quite ok. There needs to be some wow factor, something truly engaging.

I've decided to take Kitechaser's advice and return both the Solaris and the balanced cable I got for it. Hopefully there's no issue that I'm on the thirteenth or fourteenth day and on the opposite coast. Onto the Sony IER-Z1R is the plan. Sony include a balanced cable so the difference comes out to $350. Obviously that sucks but there people really double-down on the soundstage being something, relative to an iem I suppose, and the bass is supposed to be very good. The issues there are that the mids/vocals might be recessed and I was just pleased to read that there might be harshness in the treble too, although others claim that the treble is terrific and that the highlights are in the lows and highs. Unfortunately I like vocals, but I'll place some blind trust in Sony that the IER-Z1R is not the goddamn HD800(S) of iems. Have to hook those up to my standing nightlamp for a prayer at balanced sound that isn't deeply flawed because scaling.
 
Apr 3, 2019 at 5:41 AM Post #4,513 of 12,045
The HD650 has more space than the Solaris driven only by a Magni (3) vs a ZX300, with the Solaris being driven balanced too whereas the HD650 is single-ended. I know that the HD650 isn't known for soundstage, hence my disappointment that supposedly even expensive iems do not have similar soundstages. I think the space of the Solaris now is adequate, but not an inch more. It is neither expansive in any meaningful sense of the word nor notable in my opinion. I've heard the scaling stuff before, good thing for me the ZX300 is supposed to match or be extremely close to the WM1A with the Solaris (and reportedly according to a Campfire Audio employee even the >$3000 WM1Z is within around 10%) and the Sony daps are supposed to be excellent matches, so no thanks. I'm not heading down that hole. Like I said the sound is ok, but it comes at an interesting price. Ok sound for that price is not quite ok. There needs to be some wow factor, something truly engaging.

I've decided to take Kitechaser's advice and return both the Solaris and the balanced cable I got for it. Hopefully there's no issue that I'm on the thirteenth or fourteenth day and on the opposite coast. Onto the Sony IER-Z1R is the plan. Sony include a balanced cable so the difference comes out to $350. Obviously that sucks but there people really double-down on the soundstage being something, relative to an iem I suppose, and the bass is supposed to be very good. The issues there are that the mids/vocals might be recessed and I was just pleased to read that there might be harshness in the treble too, although others claim that the treble is terrific and that the highlights are in the lows and highs. Unfortunately I like vocals, but I'll place some blind trust in Sony that the IER-Z1R is not the goddamn HD800(S) of iems. Have to hook those up to my standing nightlamp for a prayer at balanced sound that isn't deeply flawed because scaling.

I hope that you like the Sony. From my experience you will never get the soundstage of an open back headphone from an iem. You need the effect of the outer ear to have a true soundstage.
In re gards to higher end gear it is true that you might only get an extra 10% performance out of the wm1z over the wm1a. As you go higher it is chasing smaller levels of improvement. My sp1000 is not 4x better than my old ak300 but the difference is noticable. In regards to balanced output the biggest benefit to me most of the time is increased power output. On the hugo TT2 the balanced output is actually less transparent than single ended. On schiit gear the balanced is better I think due to schiit focusing more on balanced than single ended.
 
Apr 3, 2019 at 7:34 AM Post #4,514 of 12,045
@BlendS @Rockwell75 @cytoSiN @NovaFlyer

I had the chance to stop by Dignis yesterday and got one of their Arca cases. Length/width is similar to the Campfire Audio one, but the Arca case is taller.

You can actually change the compartments inside from <> to > or <, which can be helpful if you have a particularly big cable (something like an 8-wire from Effect Audio or a DHC product with a large plug). For me, it seems easiest in the default configuration, where I can just place the cable on top of the compartments. The inside part of the lid has a stretchy pocket, which can hold a silica gel packet, some eartips, or an adapter.

Pros:
Fairly compact
Configurable
Build quality (from what I can tell so far)

Cons:
Not pocket-friendly (I don’t personally do this anyways)
No interior lining (like with CA cases)

Thanks! When you say similar length/width as CA case, you mean the mean the small one, right, not the Solaris case?

Also, any idea if they're planning to distribute these in the US at all? Their shipping is brutal for us right now.
 
Apr 3, 2019 at 8:14 AM Post #4,515 of 12,045
I'm loving the Solaris sound but I just can't get a comfortable fit. I think the spout is just too wide for my ear canal with any tip that provides a proper seal. And I've tried a LOT of tips. Unfortunately, I was stupid enough to buy from an authorized retailed and not from Campfire directly, so I will have to pay a 15% restocking fee if I return them. Won't ever be making that mistake again...
 

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