[ExpatinJapan]

I'm familiar with the other measurements posted to date, which gave me the impression of a big difference in bass levels between the Ara, Andromeda, and Solaris - but in the measurements from the unnamable forum, the bass levels actually look very similar. Thus, I'd like to see Crincle's measurements as another reference. And there's the added bonus of being able to use the graph comparison tool on his website.

The more information, the better for sure!

 

[iBo0m]

I based my comment on what CA had said that the Ara is similar, but different than the Andromeda Gold.

At this time I'm not planning on purchasing the Ara and I doubt that I would qualify to get a review copy.

Yea, I was just curious. I believe there were some measurements I saw, but i wouldn't consider Ara to follow precisely Gold's path.

The nozzle and price tag suggest a similar IEMs, but it needs more review probably.

Anyway, I'm wondering why Andro 2020 didn't get the same nozzle as it already proved to be a fit improvement in Polaris, Q4, IO and Gold...

 

[James-uk]

 

[NewEve]

Not what I expected but alright…

 

[ExpatinJapan]

I received the Andromeda MW10 back yesterday.

So here is a quick summary from some shuffling back and forth.

Stock cables:
Ara - smokey litz
MW10 - Superlitz

Ara: More treble extension. More refined. Detailed. Excellent imaging and separation. More reference.
Seems wider.

MW10: More lower mids and bass. Vocals more forward. More a wall of sound effect. More linear.

To the listener the Ara might appear more refined or a MW10 ‘developed’. It has been said that the Ara is a mid way point between the Gold and the MW10.

oh well i will have to get out the Gold again sometime...

They are close.
Very close. The above is from very picky listening.

 

[MarkF786]

Expat,

How would you compare the Ara bass to the Andro and Solaris?

Thanks!

Mark

I received the Andromeda MW10 back yesterday.

So here is a quick summary from some shuffling back and forth.

Stock cables:
Ara - smokey litz
MW10 - Superlitz

Ara: More treble extension. More refined. Detailed. Excellent imaging and separation. More reference.
Seems wider.

MW10: More lower mids and bass. Vocals more forward. More a wall of sound effect. More linear.

To the listener the Ara might appear more refined or a MW10 ‘developed’. It has been said that the Ara is a mid way point between the Gold and the MW10.

oh well i will have to get out the Gold again sometime...

They are close.
Very close. The above is from very picky listening.

 

[ExpatinJapan]

Expat,

How would you compare the Ara bass to the Andro and Solaris?

Thanks!

Mark

Solaris is Mr.Bass

Ara has four Bass drivers but they are dialed back to be more tighter and defined than large.

Andromeda (Green)is a different kettle of fish. As there as been effectively 3 versions internally.
Its not lacking bass, but has gone from a v shape towards a w shape in recent iterations. Space and treble often more being its signature trademark than bass.
- Also varies from 1<ohm to ....2, 3ohms.
- More warmth and body in the 2020 version i think.
which would require me to break out the old Hifi-m8 v1 with its impedance switches of 11/2/1ohms to check that too.

....and tips can of course make a difference.

So theres a generalization there, also there are graphs, the play of different output impedances and tip choice.

its a minefield.

I could pop them onto the switcher later today (?) and do a more effective listen for you.

 

[Colors]

I like the Andro comparison!

 

[James-uk]

Some more good comparisons here. This is a really good headphone channel.

 

[Colors]

Some more good comparisons here. This is a really good headphone channel.

Andro 2020 sounds like Andro Stainless Steel o.o

 

[MarkF786]

Thanks, Expat!

In the graphs in the unspeakable forum, it appears there's only a couple db's difference between bass levels from highest to lowest (Andromeda, Solaris, Ara), and I thought some people have even said subjectively the Ara had more bass than the Solaris.

My concern from the graph from the video in this thread, was that the Ara's bass was something like 5-10 db's lower than the other two - and thus that it'd be "lacking" in that area.

If you can share specific impressions in that regard, it would be helpful for me and others.

Though I own some bass-heavy IEMs (like the IER-Z1R), I think they have too much bass, requiring that I turn up the volume past safe levels to hear the rest of the frequency range. Something more neutral may be good.

Kind regards,

Mark

Solaris is Mr.Bass

Ara has four Bass drivers but they are dialed back to be more tighter and defined than large.

Andromeda (Green)is a different kettle of fish. As there as been effectively 3 versions internally.
Its not lacking bass, but has gone from a v shape towards a w shape in recent iterations. Space and treble often more being its signature trademark than bass.
- Also varies from 1<ohm to ....2, 3ohms.
- More warmth and body in the 2020 version i think.
which would require me to break out the old Hifi-m8 v1 with its impedance switches of 11/2/1ohms to check that too.

....and tips can of course make a difference.

So theres a generalization there, also there are graphs, the play of different output impedances and tip choice.

its a minefield.

I could pop them onto the switcher later today (?) and do a more effective listen for you.

 

[mashuto]

Thanks, Expat!

In the graphs in the unspeakable forum, it appears there's only a couple db's difference between bass levels from highest to lowest (Andromeda, Solaris, Ara), and I thought some people have even said subjectively the Ara had more bass than the Solaris.

My concern from the graph from the video in this thread, was that the Ara's bass was something like 5-10 db's lower than the other two - and thus that it'd be "lacking" in that area.

If you can share specific impressions in that regard, it would be helpful for me and others.

Though I own some bass-heavy IEMs (like the IER-Z1R), I think they have too much bass, requiring that I turn up the volume past safe levels to hear the rest of the frequency range. Something more neutral may be good.

Kind regards,

Mark

Granted I have not heard the Ara, but based on descriptions, and some of the early graphs I have seen, I find it hard to believe that the Ara could have more bass (subjectively) than the solaris. Its my understanding that the Ara is supposed to be a more reference tuning than any other CA IEM so far. And its built off the Andromeda Gold, with bass tuned down. I do have the new Solaris and the andromeda gold, and subjectively, the solaris has more bass for me. Perhaps just due to it being a DD or having more subbass extension. But I like some bass in my music I do have the IER-Z1R, and love the bass, and also have the atlas. And from that background, I found that the bass in the andromeda gold never quite satisfied me unless I turned the volume up past where I normally liked. The solaris on the other hand is alright for my bass cravings.

So thats kind of the long way around to say that some of the early impressions of the Ara seem contradictory, and some of the comparisons of it being like a Senn HD650 seem off to me too as I own the HD650 and the andromeda gold sounds nothing like them. Then again who knows, the Ara could be completely different.

 

[MarkF786]

mashuto, I agree on many points. I tend to hear the Solaris as fairly neutral in terms of bass, and thus suspect the Ara would be deficient in that area. But I can see potential arguments against that.

For example, using the graph below, comparing the three IEMs, the relative bass levels would vary depending on the chosen frequency we normalize them on - though even more importantly, how the human ear would perceive the difference. If we normalize them at 500 Hz, bass would be largely the same amongst them. But if we normalize them at 1K, 2K or 10K, the Solaris would have lower bass than the Ara. Really, only if we normalize them between 3-6K would it appear the Solaris has more bass than the Ara.

This is part of the reason why I look forward to Crinacle measuring them, so we could use his graph comparison tool for these thought experiments.

In the end, we'll need to hear them

Campfire Ara (GRN) compared to Andromeda (GRY) and Solaris (VIO)

 

[MarkF786]

One more comment: comparing the above graph of the Ara to Crinacle's graph of the Andromeda Gold, at first blush they actually seem very similar. Maybe in reality the difference is minor.

Since Jude used a different system to measure the new CA IEMs, it's limited the usefulness of those graphs, for example, we can't compare his Ara graph to his prior Andromeda Gold graph (or any prior CA measurements), and so far I haven't seen any comparison of graphs, measured with the same gear.

 

[mashuto]

mashuto, I agree on many points. I tend to hear the Solaris as fairly neutral in terms of bass, and thus suspect the Ara would be deficient in that area. But I can see potential arguments against that.

For example, using the graph below, comparing the three IEMs, the relative bass levels would vary depending on the chosen frequency we normalize them on - though even more importantly, how the human ear would perceive the difference. If we normalize them at 500 Hz, bass would be largely the same amongst them. But if we normalize them at 1K, 2K or 10K, the Solaris would have lower bass than the Ara. Really, only if we normalize them between 3-6K would it appear the Solaris has more bass than the Ara.

This is part of the reason why I look forward to Crinacle measuring them, so we could use his graph comparison tool for these thought experiments.

In the end, we'll need to hear them

Campfire Ara (GRN) compared to Andromeda (GRY) and Solaris (VIO)

Yea definitely based on those graphs, the solaris looks like it could potentially be the most bass light of the 3. But I do remember looking at Judes graphs from the announcement video which seemed to show the ara as flattest through the bass, with solaris the most boosted. Again, seems like theres definitely some confusion out there about these and how they are marketed vs how some are measuring them.

And again all I can compare here is the andromeda gold and the solaris. And I am much more satisfied with the bass on the solaris. But again, really might just come down to DD vs BA bass. I really like the gold, but find myself more satisfied overall with the solaris.

Regardless it will be good to see more data points come out about the Ara, even though at this point I definitely will not be buying them and probably need a break from spending money in this hobby (anyone wanna send some over for free?).