[Star Ace]

It is fine for folks to adhere to foams only, whether you are Mr. Ball, or the regular listener. But there are so many treble killing silicon tips out there that I do not find them useful-plus foams tend to deteriorate faster than most materials used.

The graph above tells me these are not truly Grado-esque, but more treble oriented, with a decent amount of bass to balance things out. Grados are about mids that people describe as "highs" but are not treble. These Sabers have highs-Grado has decent highs, but not great upper treble or the best extension (especially so the latest X versions, it appears to me-I have no measurement equipment, but the new X version is a Grado that is afraid to offend the modern audiophile. I like them, but wish they had more air and extension.)

I personally see no problem with the above graph in a world where DT990s exist, so I do not see why the Sabers are so bad, with or without foams. I would get them if I had the means, even though I generally like more mids than CFA generally seems to prefer. They should be a nice addition, and Campfire Audio usually makes them sound unique in some way that circumvents the need to adhere to an strict "audiophile" target.

(I always am bemused by comparing measurements of "hated" models of any brand with those of the "accepted audiophile canon", and find many inconsistencies of opinion-in *my* opinion, there is a lot of group-think in the audiophile community, and too much "graph-thumping", as it were. *And some are selling themselves* while providing supposedly neutral feedback. Please do not be offended and like what you do, whether it is the "right" target or too "weird". Of course, I appreciate the graphs to give me a better idea-however limited-of the flavor of the earphones-in this case, my idea of what they were was wrong, comparing people's statements with the actual graph.)

Just in case it wasn't obvious, I doubt the Saber was designed to sound "good" as defined by a target, but more, to do their own thing. It is not an accident or "bad design" that the treble does what it does. You may not like it, and that is fine. 500 models made for those who would love this signature, and I honestly believe I would be, based on the measurements-it should sound better in real life.

 

[productred]

It is fine for folks to adhere to foams only, whether you are Mr. Ball, or the regular listener. But there are so many treble killing silicon tips out there that I do not find them useful-plus foams tend to deteriorate faster than most materials used.

The graph above tells me these are not truly Grado-esque, but more treble oriented, with a decent amount of bass to balance things out. Grados are about mids that people describe as "highs" but are not treble. These Sabers have highs-Grado has decent highs, but not great upper treble or the best extension (especially so the latest X versions, it appears to me-I have no measurement equipment, but the new X version is a Grado that is afraid to offend the modern audiophile. I like them, but wish they had more air and extension.)

I personally see no problem with the above graph in a world where DT990s exist, so I do not see why the Sabers are so bad, with or without foams. I would get them if I had the means, even though I generally like more mids than CFA generally seems to prefer. They should be a nice addition, and Campfire Audio usually makes them sound unique in some way that circumvents the need to adhere to an strict "audiophile" target.

(I always am bemused by comparing measurements of "hated" models of any brand with those of the "accepted audiophile canon", and find many inconsistencies of opinion-in *my* opinion, there is a lot of group-think in the audiophile community, and too much "graph-thumping", as it were. *And some are selling themselves* while providing supposedly neutral feedback. Please do not be offended and like what you do, whether it is the "right" target or too "weird". Of course, I appreciate the graphs to give me a better idea-however limited-of the flavor of the earphones-in this case, my idea of what they were was wrong, comparing people's statements with the actual graph.)

Just in case it wasn't obvious, I doubt the Saber was designed to sound "good" as defined by a target, but more, to do their own thing. It is not an accident or "bad design" that the treble does what it does. You may not like it, and that is fine. 500 models made for those who would love this signature, and I honestly believe I would be, based on the measurements-it should sound better in real life.

Very well said, especially that last paragraph. I'd add that I have (guess we all have) iems that aim at the best of fidelity. But there are sonic presentations outside of that realm that sounds great to different people or with different genres with a sculpted response. I think Campfire is doing just that and at costs that could be described as extremely reasonable (or even conservative) in today's market.

 

[Layman1]

Is there a review page set up here on Head-Fi for the Saber?
I've written a review, but can't find where to publish it and am pretty useless at these kinds of things (I mean admin/tech stuff, as opposed to reviews hopefully)

If anyone could post a link to the review page (or set one up and post the link), I would be enormously grateful.
Got a lot of good things to say about the Saber

 

[productred]

Is there a review page set up here on Head-Fi for the Saber?
I've written a review, but can't find where to publish it and am pretty useless at these kinds of things (I mean admin/tech stuff, as opposed to reviews hopefully)

If anyone could post a link to the review page (or set one up and post the link), I would be enormously grateful.
Got a lot of good things to say about the Saber

Why not post it here first? It's Saber's dedicated thread anyway.

 

[Layman1]

I figured out how to create a product page for the Saber.
It's far from professional quality, and if anyone wishes to improve it, feel free!

Otherwise, to read my humble review or to post one of your own, please find the link posted below for your convenience
https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/campfire-audio-saber.25725/reviews

 

[Layman1]

In response to a question by @TjFont about how the Saber compares with Andromeda 2020:
Unfortunately I have not heard the Andromeda 2020. I did hear one of the earlier (green) Andromeda models a couple of years back, but have only a vague recollection; clear, spacious, fairly neutral with a tinge of organic warmth?
From that point of view, they would sound somewhat like my iBasso IT04 IEMs.
I'd say compared to the IT04 (and my vague recollections of Andromeda), the Saber probably has a low end and lower mids that are more close to those of the Dorado 2020, and upper mids more like that of the Andromeda?

I would say that the Saber though is quite a bit more coloured than the Andromeda; more energy, more impact, more rumble and slam. It's definitely capable of a delicate touch when required though; I listened to quite a bit of quiet acoustic singer-songwriter type stuff (James Taylor, Norah Jones, Van Morrison etc) and it did very well with those, remaining very calm and relaxing without any sharpness or sibilance etc.

Of course, if anyone out there has heard both Saber and Andromeda 2020, please do contribute your thoughts, no matter your level of experience; it all helps!

 

[productred]

I figured out how to create a product page for the Saber.
It's far from professional quality, and if anyone wishes to improve it, feel free!

Otherwise, to read my humble review or to post one of your own, please find the link posted below for your convenience
https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/campfire-audio-saber.25725/reviews

Great review great read. I would only add that the bass driver seems to be improving alot with some light run-in, and the sub-bass would come out more in quantity when the beryllium diaphragm loosen up a bit.

 

[Layman1]

Great review great read. I would only add that the bass driver seems to be improving alot with some light run-in, and the sub-bass would come out more in quantity when the beryllium diaphragm loosen up a bit.

Forgot to mention, I always burn in any IEM's I'm reviewing for at least 150 hours, usually 200.
I am patient to wait a week or so while this happens, so I'm not losing anything if it doesn't make any difference.
But more importantly, I figure if burn-in really is a thing, then I'm making sure that factor has been dealt with prior to any critical listening
Agree with you that I did feel there was a tightening up of the low end from a first initial listen compared with 200 hours later, but it's a bit subjective for me to state that with any real authority

 

[productred]

I have not put mine on a burner but after approximately 200 hours of play time it sounds way more coherent now, and when it becomes to sound coherent its special quality begins to shine through (deep and agile bass, surprisingly detailed mids, and decently extended treble which shimmers)...............have to admit it sounds funky out of the box, but now the sound makes its asking price an absolute steal. The BA tweeter is the antithesis to the now super popular EST tweeters.

Overall sound signature in a few words: in-your-face, agile, cool-lows warm-mids cool-highs (if that makes any sense to you), great wake-up pair for morning commute

 

[Layman1]

I have not put mine on a burner but after approximately 200 hours of play time it sounds way more coherent now, and when it becomes to sound coherent its special quality begins to shine through (deep and agile bass, surprisingly detailed mids, and decently extended treble which shimmers)...............have to admit it sounds funky out of the box, but now the sound makes its asking price an absolute steal. The BA tweeter is the antithesis to the now super popular EST tweeters.

Overall sound signature in a few words: in-your-face, agile, cool-lows warm-mids cool-highs (if that makes any sense to you), great wake-up pair for morning commute

Agree, I really think this product is something special, and I'd love to see some elements of its tuning carried forward to the next flagship releases from Campfire, whatever (and whenever) those might be

 

[Sebastien Chiu]

Saber owners - how is your Saber treating you a few months into owning it? How have you liked adjusting to it over time?

 

[JS27]

Saber owners - how is your Saber treating you a few months into owning it? How have you liked adjusting to it over time?

Loved it when I first got it, love it now. The Saber didn't take a lot of IEM and/or Brain-burn for me......I went to the N8ii a few weeks after getting the Saber and the changes I noticed are more from the switch in amplification vs. brain/driver burn-in.

Stick by my early impressions in this thread 100%.......if you dig the upper-mids/treble, linear tuning of earlier Grado or Beyerdynamic this is a good-time machine. I recently picked up the Dorado 2020 and together they make a great complimentary pair for metal/rock heavy diets.
Will watch out to see if any of the other three Saber owners chime in.

 

[Layman1]

Saber owners - how is your Saber treating you a few months into owning it? How have you liked adjusting to it over time?

Haha, was listening to it yesterday
I very much still stand by everything I've already said about it. It's a great IEM in my opinion and I hope Campfire will release something similar in a non-limited edition; ideally something more high-end in terms of their range, like Dorado 2020 or Solaris 2020.
Well, they've just released that new custom IEM, so will be interested to hear impressions of how that sounds, and whether any of the Saber 'tuning DNA' has carried across to it

 

[Sebastien Chiu]

Haha, was listening to it yesterday
I very much still stand by everything I've already said about it. It's a great IEM in my opinion and I hope Campfire will release something similar in a non-limited edition; ideally something more high-end in terms of their range, like Dorado 2020 or Solaris 2020.
Well, they've just released that new custom IEM, so will be interested to hear impressions of how that sounds, and whether any of the Saber 'tuning DNA' has carried across to it

Nice to hear. Thanks for the update.

 

[VishnuKare]

@Layman1 and @JS27, are you still using Saber?. Please let me know if it will be a good buy going into 2024? (The price for a B-stock Saber is around 360USD)