[JustJoseph]

Dear folks,

For IO, I spent a week with it and I kind of like it. I understand the feeling of the guy who commented IO sounds terrible. He has the absolute right to dislike and comment on the IEM for sure. However, I think Ken would appreciate constructive feedback from him - why he dislike IO rather than criticizing in this approach although he has the absolute right because this is a open platform. I started to write reviews from late 2018. No IEM is perfect. I think the correct approach is - Complement on the pros and suggest on the cons. This is where manufacturers or designers can improve on their subsequent line-up. Ken is doing very good in this. He understands what need to be done to improve his product. Andromeda has been a benchmark for a lot of IEM manufacturers but he is still humble and continue to seek for improvement. Like what several head-fiers mentioned, Ken can simply hire a PR that bombard you with political correct answer but he chose to answer all the queries himself. He wishes to know what people think of his products but some haters chose to throw him with some nasty comments.

Every IEMs that Campfire Audio launch is like babies to Ken and his team. They put in countless efforts to make this happens. I mean you can dislike the IEM but at least appreciate the hard work. When you were mentioning IO as terrible sounding IEM, it sounds like "Hey Campfire Audio team, you all just screw this thing up and all your efforts were wasted. All those who bought your IEM are listening a terrible sounding IEM.". Rude. If I were Ken, I will take pride of my product and defends for my team too. If the comments were given in a more polite approach, it will definitely be accepted by him with open mind.

Thank you for your efforts @KB . Much appreciated.

Hi, thank you for your opinion. I felt that I had given reasons on why I thought the IOs was "absolute crap" instead of just saying so without explanation. I did list out pros and cons of the IO:

First impression: absolute crap! I can immediately hear that the tonality is very off. The vocals sound artificially boosted and the treble seems to have an artificial lift somewhere. This results in a bright sound that sounds terrible. The bass sounds meh too, I can't really hear it and it has poor extension.

Strengths
-very detailed for its price range
-treble is very clear
-excellent top of the line build quality

Weaknesses
-can't really hear the bass, weak subbass extension. The bass left almost no impression on me
-vocals are overemphasised and sound unnatural and harsh
-highs feel like they are artificially boosted when I listen to Ex;Re: New York, the background cymbals sound too loud

Conclusion: The unnatural, harsh vocals and artificially boosted highs make the iem sound unnatural.

Though I agree with you, the language used was quite strong. I used strong language because that was how strongly I felt about the IOs, they sounded absolutely terrible to me. I tend to speak exactly what is on my mind without any filters and say it the way it is. However, I recognize that it sounds rude. Therefore, I will make an effort to be more PC in the future and think twice before making such harsh comments, and be more civil instead. Thank you for pointing it out.

 

[JustJoseph]

I apologize to my friends in Singapore, My post was referring to one guy who's location stated SG had been bashing Campfire. If someone thinks I have a beef or anything off with Singapore I apologize and that is the furthest from the truth.

Kb

Thank you. After reading your post, I realised that I had misinterpreted your post, and I apologise for that. I also apologise for giving a harsh criticism of the IOs earlier, I should have phrased it better.

 

[Rockwell75]

Props to everyone who turned this thread from showcasing the worst of human behavior to some of the best. It's amazing how much can be accomplished when people are willing to admit when they misspoke or made a mistake and proceed in good faith. None of us are perfect, but we can all strive to be. Regarding the IO, I never had any prior designs on it as I'm not really a fan of all BA models...but I might have to head to headphone bar to try it out to see for myself lol

 

[yong_shun]

Hi, thank you for your opinion. I felt that I had given reasons on why I thought the IOs was "absolute crap" instead of just saying so without explanation. I did list out pros and cons of the IO:





Though I agree with you, the language used was quite strong. I used strong language because that was how strongly I felt about the IOs, they sounded absolutely terrible to me. I tend to speak exactly what is on my mind without any filters and say it the way it is. However, I recognize that it sounds rude. Therefore, I will make an effort to be more PC in the future and think twice before making such harsh comments, and be more civil instead. Thank you for pointing it out.

I think ultimately we wish to have a healthy platform for fellow audiophiles to exchange their ideas and impressions. Everyone can have the absolute freedom to comment, suggest, criticize and complement but we shall have a the basic respect to everyone

I appreciate your first impression on the IO and I apologize I could miss it at first. It will be useful for those who are thinking to get an IO but I urge all the users to have an audition with a source that you are familiar with. Sound can be very subjective.

I wish everyone happy listening and all the best @KB and the team!

 

[KB]

Thank you. After reading your post, I realised that I had misinterpreted your post, and I apologise for that. I also apologise for giving a harsh criticism of the IOs earlier, I should have phrased it better.

JustJoseph,

Thank you sir, I am guilty of having thin skin and am overly passionate about our builds. I need to ban myself from head fi for a while .

Again thank you,

Ken

 

[dRnRcR]

JustJoseph,

Thank you sir, I am guilty of having thin skin and am overly passionate about our builds. I need to ban myself from head fi for a while .

Again thank you,

Ken

No shame in being passionate about products that you pour your heart and soul into. This is an attribute i wish more company owners put forward.

 

[Victorfabius]

am overly passionate about our builds.

Grad school is done for the semester and I'm getting back into the site more, but I've missed some excitement it seems. I selected the quote from Ken above to highlight an important reason why I come back to Head-Fi: engagement with those who have that passion. We're in this wonderful place where not only can we share this interest of ours with anyone else in the world, but we can also engage with the same people who develop the products we love (or whose products we're interested in). This affords us such a wonderful opportunity to provide feedback directly to the people who can best make use of it. For me, seeing the creators of a product have such passion for even (what I consider to be, anyway) their introductory product and not just the flagship of the brand is uniquely awesome. I love it, I love that passion, and I love that there's a place for it here.

That said, would it be amiss to get this thread back on topic? Because I have a question for those of you own or have used the IO: is the chassis similar in size, not just shape, to the Andromeda? I ask because the Andromeda hurt my ears (my genes, nothing wrong with the Andromeda!) and I kind of want to know whether I need to put the Io on my watch list. I'm a huge lover of what BA can do, and if the Io is a bit smaller, it'll be something I will look for in the future.

For those of you leaving impressions, thank you, I haven't read them all yet, but I intend to get through this thread looking for them. Good, bad, neutral, I appreciate your feedback! Also would love if you had an answer to my question above, too.

For those that have kept this thread from taking a worse turn, you da real MVP. Thank you!

 

[zombywoof]

Grad school is done for the semester and I'm getting back into the site more, but I've missed some excitement it seems. I selected the quote from Ken above to highlight an important reason why I come back to Head-Fi: engagement with those who have that passion. We're in this wonderful place where not only can we share this interest of ours with anyone else in the world, but we can also engage with the same people who develop the products we love (or whose products we're interested in). This affords us such a wonderful opportunity to provide feedback directly to the people who can best make use of it. For me, seeing the creators of a product have such passion for even (what I consider to be, anyway) their introductory product and not just the flagship of the brand is uniquely awesome. I love it, I love that passion, and I love that there's a place for it here.

That said, would it be amiss to get this thread back on topic? Because I have a question for those of you own or have used the IO: is the chassis similar in size, not just shape, to the Andromeda? I ask because the Andromeda hurt my ears (my genes, nothing wrong with the Andromeda!) and I kind of want to know whether I need to put the Io on my watch list. I'm a huge lover of what BA can do, and if the Io is a bit smaller, it'll be something I will look for in the future.

For those of you leaving impressions, thank you, I haven't read them all yet, but I intend to get through this thread looking for them. Good, bad, neutral, I appreciate your feedback! Also would love if you had an answer to my question above, too.

For those that have kept this thread from taking a worse turn, you da real MVP. Thank you!

I do not have the Andromeda, But I have the Jupiter and Nova...I believe that the Jupiter and Nova share the same overall design and shell size with the original Andromeda. The overall size of the Io is nearly identical to the Jupiter and Nova. The sound tube on the Io is a bit longer. The photos aren't great, but you can see the relative size of the Jupiter (left) Nova (center) and Io (right).

The Io has additional facets on the inner portion of one end to soften the corners in the area of the shell most likely to contact the ear. The facets on the inner portion of the shell opposite the sound tube can be seen on the Io (right). These are absent on the Nova (left) and Jupiter.

I have not seen the new Andromeda, but from photos it appears to have the same facets on the inner portion of the shell as the Io. Again, apologies for the poor quality photos. Hope this helps.

 

[Victorfabius]

I do not have the Andromeda, But I have the Jupiter and Nova...I believe that the Jupiter and Nova share the same overall design and shell size with the original Andromeda. The overall size of the Io is nearly identical to the Jupiter and Nova. The sound tube on the Io is a bit longer. The photos aren't great, but you can see the relative size of the Jupiter (left) Nova (center) and Io (right).



The Io has additional facets on the inner portion of one end to soften the corners in the area of the shell most likely to contact the ear. The facets on the inner portion of the shell opposite the sound tube can be seen on the Io (right). These are absent on the Nova (left) and Jupiter.

I have not seen the new Andromeda, but from photos it appears to have the same facets on the inner portion of the shell as the Io. Again, apologies for the poor quality photos. Hope this helps.

Holy smokes, that's an awesome response and the pics are good quality on my screen! That's extremely helpful, by the way. Not the answer I was hoping for, because it looks like it's going to hit the same spot in my ear that caused pain with the Andromeda. Ah well. Still, the Io is one snazzy looking IEM in your pictures. Thank you for responding so quickly, too!

 

[jaydunndiddit]

Holy smokes, that's an awesome response and the pics are good quality on my screen! That's extremely helpful, by the way. Not the answer I was hoping for, because it looks like it's going to hit the same spot in my ear that caused pain with the Andromeda. Ah well. Still, the Io is one snazzy looking IEM in your pictures. Thank you for responding so quickly, too!

Oddly, I think the longer stem is a huge help. I had issues with the stubbier nozzles on this style of shell from CA, but both the IO and Polaris V2 fit like a glove and actually seat flush. I'm able to lay down in bed with them on my side and not feel any discomfort. YMMV of course, but this is a experience I didn't have with the Andro/S and Jupiter's. I somewhat have this issue with the Solaris too but the shape of the housing helps mitigate the seating of its stubby nozzle as well.

 

[zombywoof]

Holy smokes, that's an awesome response and the pics are good quality on my screen! That's extremely helpful, by the way. Not the answer I was hoping for, because it looks like it's going to hit the same spot in my ear that caused pain with the Andromeda. Ah well. Still, the Io is one snazzy looking IEM in your pictures. Thank you for responding so quickly, too!

No problem. I never use them in the same manner as @jaydunndiddit so I couldn't have commented on that, but he was right to point out the longer sound tube on the Io does make the fit a bit different than with the previous style shell on my Jupiter and Nova. On the other hand I never had a comfort issue with either the Jupiter or Nova. Glad I could be some help.

 

[morndewey]

Over reactions to original KB post.

 

[audio123]

Unboxing on the Campfire Io. Enjoy & Happy Listening, as always!

 

[dRnRcR]

Dat cable.... So sexy. I have the orions and i love them but the new polaris and io look so slick. Might have to move out of Vancouver so i can afford this lifestyle.

 

[JustJoseph]

Review of the IOs taken from reddit, posted by u/malvinvnv. This is a more detailed impression unlike mine and includes a graph taken with a IEC60318-4 coupler.

Alright, so there's been a lot of chatter in the recently released Campfire Audio's new "budget" lineup, the IO and the Polaris v2. Honestly my attention went more to the IO since it was quite hotly debated, and there's quite a strong interest and opposing viewpoints regarding its sound. It's also been the source of controversy in some communities as of recent. This only piques my interest even more. I feel that, since CFA is quite a big brand now, anything new from them is definitely worth trying.

Well, I got a pair of ears to listen to it and some time today so I think I will write a little bit of something for all of you to read.



Ok let's start with some impressions. As for build there's nothing that we don't know already so I am gonna skip that except to state the fact that it is red. I would like to note that I am using Symbio tips and my source is either the Shanling M0 and a 2016 MacBook Pro. Both has lower than 1 OI, and should be suitable for measurements. I do not have any other source with higher OI to listen or to measure with, unfortunately.



Let's start with some subjective impressions. When I first listened to the IEM, it is immediately noticeable that there's some upper mid suck-out here. It doesn't sound recessed or anything but I find the combination to be extremely off sounding.It sounds as if I am listening to something from the back stage, but the tweeter is facing me. It is quite a gripping experience to be completely honest as it is probably an experience I've only experienced once, and it is with ATH-E40s I tried a while back.

The bass is adequate, pretty much reminiscent of most 2BA IEM combos. There are some subbass extension but not much air is moved around. The bass presentation is pace-y enough to be able to keep track of bass notes pretty well. Moving on to the treble, as with all CFA lineup, they have a rather exciting and sparkly presentation.

I strongly believed that there is something going on with the upper mids. There's some thickness to the midrange so vocals has enough weight. However, it does tend to get really shouty at times. Male or female vocals regardless. Acoustic instruments sounded thick, but feels as if it is missing some of its upper harmonics and it can be offputting. It did sounded really hollow to me during the demo.

The treble is pretty much CFA's signature. It has a very energetic sounding treble that, on certain cases in this IEM helped enhance the sound quite a bit. Like I said earlier, it sounds as if I'm backstage with a live tweeter in front of me. It's hollow, odd and sparkly at the same time.

I don't think that it is worth it to get this IEM just to enjoy CFA's treble though. There midrange flaw makes it extremely hard for me to recommend to anyone, especially those who don't listen to electronic music that much often. Even if you do, other IEMs at the same price range can do a lot more for the same price. Fiio FH5 is something that comes to mind when talking about other recommendation at the same pricepoint

Now, please note that this impression is done without first consulting the graph. The following graph is measured right after my listening session:



As you can see from here, it has an excellent channel matching. I have not yet tried another unit to find its variance. I hope it is pretty consistent.

From the graph it is immediately clear that while anything below 1kHz is as expected of a single BA, the 1.5kHz to 6kHz range is an oddity. I am very sure that this... trough is the one that affects the sound as a whole. I really can't say much honestly, as the graph confirmed everything I've listened and my impressions of it.

Bottom line is, while this is a very attractive looking IEM priced extremely competitively, you'll still be better off served by something else. It is not something I can easily recommend to anyone due to this flaw.

I felt that the "backstage with live tweeter" analogy was very accurate based on my experience. When listening to songs, (eg Ex:Re - New York), I felt that the cymbals were at the forefront when usually they would be at the background.

I do not wish to stir any more drama. The intention of the post is to show a more detailed review of a user who faced similar experiences as me. Perhaps the graph would help too, but bear in mind that this is not an official graph, and hence may not be accurate. I hope the feedback can be taken in good faith.