Campfire Audio - Introducing 2 new models Hello Andromeda and Nova

[kino lau]

  I have the Therium also, Should I get the Vorpal which is a mixture of silver and copper wires, or should I get the Draug2, which is all copper.  I know they are all good, but which one will compliment the Andromeda well is the question.

Well the Draug2 is for full size headphones, so that easily eliminates it from choices. I asked Trevor about the SolvX and he recommended the Vorpal over it for IEM's. There's still time before Trevor starts my cable, so I'm waffling back and forth on this one. I may give the stock ALO cable a go for a little bit just to see how it sounds now that I'm getting better acquainted with the Andromeda's signature. I'm coming from my 846's so the two are pretty different.

 

[Jalo]

  Well the Draug2 is for full size headphones, so that easily eliminates it from choices. I asked Trevor about the SolvX and he recommended the Vorpal over it for IEM's. There's still time before Trevor starts my cable, so I'm waffling back and forth on this one. I may give the stock ALO cable a go for a little bit just to see how it sounds now that I'm getting better acquainted with the Andromeda's signature. I'm coming from my 846's so the two are pretty different.

Yes, I am very interested in your comparison between the stock silver litz and the Therium.  Please let me know how they are alike or dislike.  I have tried many different kind of silver and copper cables(ALO, Moon, Stefan, Crystal, SAA, TWag etc.).  In general, I do not like copper cable unless I need to tame some sibilance like in the case of the HD800 which I used all copper (Stefan Audio Art-the Voice).  I also did not like SXC (silver plated copper) in general they are neither warm or crisp.  I used the Therium for my U12 because it is a warm phone with a lot of bass.  Trevor is recabling a crystal Piccolino cable for me to try.  I want to keep the Andromeda clean, crisp, and sparkle at the top but slamming, tight, visceral at the bottom. Which cable should I use to achieve that?

 

[musiclvr]

My understanding of the Resonator Box is that all the BA transducers (5 of them) will dump their sound into the box and allow the sound to mix or settle down prior to delivery to the ears via the three bores.  I don't think the bores are individually tuned at all.

By the way, why are you selling your Andromeda? I thought you like it alot.

Hmmm that's interesting. Well whatever Campfire Audio has done in the execution of their tuning in their iem line is nothing short of awesome!

I closed my listing after giving them a listen. They just drew me back in. Initially I was thinking about going a different direction; as in from a totl earphone to totl planar magnetic headphone. Then I found a good deal on a pair of like new condition Nova's!! So now I got drawn back into the Campfire Audio fold head over heels! Hahaha

 

[Jalo]

By the way, the function of the Resonator Box was discussed in one the early reviews by either Twister6 or Meodaug.  I can't remember which is which now.

 

[musiclvr]

After listening to my new Nova's for about 40 minutes; I can honestly say I am blown away be the tuning of the Nova!

To my ears the Nova is like listening to an artist in a well dampened room. Where sound quickly decays but is never forced or strident.

The Mids are prominent and lush. The star of the show.

The Bass is textured and quick with a soft mid-bass rise. Thankfully there is no overlap at all if the upper bass into the lower mids. I truly love and appreciate that.

The highs are sparkly enough to render seperation with sounds like birds chirping which is to say there is ample soundstaging. The treble is not detailed enough to truly render the finest details in live recording though making hand claps sound congested.

I find that the overall tuning of the Nova left me relaxed and refreshed! Like I didn't feel the need to tear apart my music and extract every last nuance. Rather it let me listen to music as a whole.

So if I were to have owned the Nova first and then acquired the Andromeda; I would be just as excited but for different reasons. The Andromeda is a reference monitor that lets you hear everything in a recording without giving you listening fatigue. Now that is a feat and worth its entry price alone.

I am currently in the beginning of reviewing the HD800S and find that there are similarities with the the Andromeda. Where the Andromeda comes out ahead in so far, is the bass texture. Where the Andromeda trails is in the treble. This is only because I find the treble of the HD800S more linear from the lower mids up. The Andromeda has almost as much extension but not as much linearity. This is fine though because, again, I find that I am not hitting a wall of treble fatigue like I might with the HD800S. They both are able to extract massive amounts of detail though so I am just nit picking here.

 

[Jalo]

Where the Andromeda trails is in the treble. This is only because I find the treble of the HD800S more linear from the lower mids up. The Andromeda has almost as much extension but not as much linearity. 

That is interesting, if my memory did not fail me, I remember the frequency chart in this thread showed the Andromeda was pretty flat all the way up to around 10khz.  That means it should go through low treble and into mid to high treble range pretty stable and linear. Bass description is accurate as HD800s does not have tons of bass.

 

[musiclvr]

That is interesting, if my memory did not fail me, I remember the frequency chart in this thread showed the Andromeda was pretty flat all the way up to around 10khz.  That means it should go through low treble and into mid to high treble range pretty stable and linear. Bass description is accurate as HD800s does not have tons of bass.

The Andromeda on its own is a class leading in-ear monitor no question about in my opinion.

My observation (without having looked at the graphs recently) of the treble presentation of the Andromeda, if I really had to pin point it, would be that there seems to be a peak in the treble above 8k that is more prominent than the HD800S.

Admittedly I have not tip rolled with the Andromeda as the ones that came in it for me fine. Also, I have only had a couple listening sessions with the HD800S so far. As these two fine phones are different beasts altogether I just though I would mention my early impressions....

 

[audio123]

The Andromeda on its own is a class leading in-ear monitor no question about in my opinion.

My observation (without having looked at the graphs recently) of the treble presentation of the Andromeda, if I really had to pin point it, would be that there seems to be a peak in the treble above 8k that is more prominent than the HD800S.

Admittedly I have not tip rolled with the Andromeda as the ones that came in it for me fine. Also, I have only had a couple listening sessions with the HD800S so far. As these two fine phones are different beasts altogether I just though I would mention my early impressions....

for me i decided to choose Fidue Sirius over Andromeda siriusly

 

[GaryAR]

I decided to try my faithful old Sensorcom Double Flange silicone tips on my Andromedas and they're pretty outstanding, just as they were with my Earsonics. They're extremely comfortable, they seal very well so the bass is extremely tight and unlike foam-style tips there is not a hit to the treble. In short, very much the same result that many of us reported with the Earsonics SM3 several years ago.
 
Unfortunately mine are about shot and you can't get them on eBay anymore, and technically they don't sell direct. Since they don't have a US vendor they agreed to sell some to me so I'm thinking of offering to do a group buy, however shipping is pretty expensive... 28£ or around $37. They sell for 8£ per set of 6, about $10. If anyone has any interest in going in feel free to PM me, cost would just be what I pay plus equally divided shipping. 
 
Gary
 

 

[prismstorm]

  My understanding of the Resonator Box is that all the BA transducers (5 of them) will dump their sound into the box and allow the sound to mix or settle down prior to delivery to the ears via the three bores.  I don't think the bores are individually tuned at all.
 
By the way, why are you selling your Andromeda? I thought you like it alot.

I think I have read somewhere (in reviews of the Andromeda) that the resonator box only applies to the two high drivers. The single mid driver and two bass drivers do not use the resonator box, and it has been this way since the Jupiter. 

 

[WCDchee]

My understanding of the Resonator Box is that all the BA transducers (5 of them) will dump their sound into the box and allow the sound to mix or settle down prior to delivery to the ears via the three bores.  I don't think the bores are individually tuned at all.

By the way, why are you selling your Andromeda? I thought you like it alot.

Most multi BA designs typically have multiple bored so that they can damp each one with acoustic filters to further tune the wound.

As for campfire, they don't use filters, which is something I like. They use bores of different shapes and sizes to affect the resonance in each bore, and that helps in the tuning, thus it is important to maintain multiple bores.

 

[alvinmate]

After few months of struggle deciding what to get I finally decided to order Andromeda. Hope with my LPG it will be a great pairing.
 
Had the option of getting K10U or Fidue Sirius but couldn't decide... too many good IEMs are coming out these days however I think I will be happy with my purchase.

 

[audio123]

After few months of struggle deciding what to get I finally decided to order Andromeda. Hope with my LPG it will be a great pairing.

Had the option of getting K10U or Fidue Sirius but couldn't decide... too many good IEMs are coming out these days however I think I will be happy with my purchase.

even after getting sirius, I am keen on the Andromeda too

 

[alvinmate]

Hmmm should have bought both at the same time

After few months of struggle deciding what to get I finally decided to order Andromeda. Hope with my LPG it will be a great pairing.

Had the option of getting K10U or Fidue Sirius but couldn't decide... too many good IEMs are coming out these days however I think I will be happy with my purchase.

even after getting sirius, I am keen on the Andromeda too

 

[audio123]

Hmmm should have bought both at the same time

both are really good. andromeda for extension and details. sirius for the mids and soundstage.
now it to find an iem that combines both andromeda and sirius strengths!