Gizm0Guru
New Head-Fier
Definitely not muddy. Muddy at this price would be borderline disrespectful haha. They're new true wireless, the Orbit, super muddy - but $249 haha.
Campfire Audio Trifecta
- Thread starter bigbeans
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MaxwellDemon
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Indeed! I have a feeling these will become very very quick favourites on my end. I can't wait for you to also get yours and write your in-depth review about it!
MarkParity
1000+ Head-Fier
People call IEM's and headphones "muddy" to justify the effort put into burning them in for 100's of hours before even listening to them. Burning in is IMHO something that has rarely if ever made any difference to my ears.
I will carry on blissfully unaware of the burn-in effect.
I will carry on blissfully unaware of the burn-in effect.
We know
. Despite your journey 'looking elsewhere', you can't resist coming back. We still love you bud 
.FYI I appreciate your comment about using a Sony DAP. My WM1Z is my favorite pairing so far which spurred a friend to try Trifecta with 1ZM2. After trading notes with him, I decided to pick up a 1ZM2. Can't wait to try this combo!
MarkParity
1000+ Head-Fier
Wow I'm humbled you remember me.We know
FYI I appreciate your comment about using a Sony DAP. My WM1Z is my favorite pairing so far which spurred a friend to try Trifecta with 1ZM2. After trading notes with him, I decided to pick up a 1ZM2. Can't wait to try this combo!
The Sony 1A and 1Z DAP's are very good, and just seem to have great synergy with CA's dynamic driver IEM products so glad I could help.I'm still tempted by the Trifecta, I'm still looking for one last "flagship" purchase in the $1000's category because, well, curiosity.
Its either an IEM in the Flagship category or a headphone though, something from Meze, DCA or Hifiman, really not sure yet, or indeed if I will get anything in this price bracket at all.
Sounds like fun! I think @Rockwell75's recent poll could provide some inspiration with your iem journey. A good friend of mine who calls Trifecta 'disgusting', loves Mentor. Mentor will very likely be my next purchase as well. Jewel is my favorite all rounder.Wow I'm humbled you remember me.
I'm still tempted by the Trifecta, I'm still looking for one last "flagship" purchase in the $1000's category because, well, curiosity.
Its either an IEM in the Flagship category or a headphone though, something from Meze, DCA or Hifiman, really not sure yet, or indeed if I will get anything in this price bracket at all.
Picking between iems and headphones is difficult for sure. I started with headphones but swung to iems for portability and noise isolation. Hard to beat the stage/dynamics of a headphone though. If you buy a Hifiman, make sure to get that warranty! Good luck, half the fun is in the journey.
I've been posting on this site for over a decade (and lurked before I signed up) and this thread was what got me my 100th post. Amazing, as I've spent so much of my life reading opinions and discussions from the many users around the globe here! I keep thinking I hit my endgame every three-four years, but an itch ends up needing a scratch. Abyss Diana TC is gonna be my next itch for desktop setup, briefly had one for a bit and have been desiring it since it left.
Really enjoying these buds though when I'm not at my desktop. powered easily by with my Sony WM1A DAP when I went to vegas two weeks ago. I recently also got some of their Orbit BT buds to see if my podcasting habits will ever leave airpod pros--they easily have battery life on the pods but as someone else mentioned, both are muddy as expected at the price point.
Really enjoying these buds though when I'm not at my desktop. powered easily by with my Sony WM1A DAP when I went to vegas two weeks ago. I recently also got some of their Orbit BT buds to see if my podcasting habits will ever leave airpod pros--they easily have battery life on the pods but as someone else mentioned, both are muddy as expected at the price point.
MaxwellDemon
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Perhaps! I don't really know if I believe in it either. It potentially might be brain burn-in, the thing is I do know it makes a difference. The earphones gotta be used anyway, and if my brain gets used to it properly, then that is another win in itself...
Having said that, I couldn't resist trying the Trifecta again this morning and I am absolutely loving this regardless of burn-in. That soundstage is insanely huge!
this has generally been my take, even if the effect itself is fictitious--our own brain hardware sometimes needs to adjust to minute differences which really flavor the experience.
Panda Bear's Dolphin (Spotify Link, though I'm listening via CD RIP...) is a fantastic pairing of a song with this IEM. It's shuddering bass compliments well with the other pulsating sounds throughout the track to truly highlight this IEM's highs and soundstage. Gonna build out another playlist from my normal audio nirvana list with ones that specifically make these bump for me and post soon
(At least to me). And these things really really sing with the WA 7 Fireflies. Haven't used them a ton at my desktop setup as I usually use Headphones, but these are making me reconsider potentially mixing it up more often (which unfortunately necessitates reconfiguring the setup since my monitors are massive and I've hidden away my Fireflies...)
(At least to me). And these things really really sing with the WA 7 Fireflies. Haven't used them a ton at my desktop setup as I usually use Headphones, but these are making me reconsider potentially mixing it up more often (which unfortunately necessitates reconfiguring the setup since my monitors are massive and I've hidden away my Fireflies...)
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Kagerou
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Just got my pair, listened to them for about an hour and a bit for some initial impressions.
Disclaimer:
I have no technical expertise or understanding of IEMs or audio aside from probably the bare minimum definitions of what different types of drivers are, I barely understand those sound graphs and definitely am not qualified to speak on the technical aspects of IEMs. All of my impressions would probably qualify as "gut" impressions that I wouldn't be able to explain why the IEMs are doing this thing or that thing. I’m just a guy who’s fortunate enough to be able to afford nice IEMs.
Presentation:
So to start with, these definitely have the best packaging I've seen for headphones overall, definitely comes with enough goodies and overall presentation is obviously legendary. I love the little "stand" that comes with the headphones, and the big leather wallet type case is definitely the nicest and most efficient carrier I have seen come in with headphones. That said, for the price point, I would expect as much. The only other IEMs I have in the same price range would be the Empire Ears Odins, and although the round steel case that it comes with is nice, it is hard to pack back into and it is even more difficult to carry around without a bag of some sort. I will say the ear tips that come with the Odins feel nicer than the ones with the Trifectas.
I'm also not gonna lie, that little short story that came with the IEMs made little to no sense to me and I read it like four times but that's besides the point. (To be fair, I haven't been following CFA "lore", not that I knew there was even any)
Driving:
iPhone 12 Pro Max with converter Dongle, listening to Tidal lossless FLAC files.
Sound:
Sound wise, "lush" and "sweet" are the first words that come to mind. These are the first pair of TOTL DD headphones I have, so as you'd expect, it's quite a different experience that I was trying to wrap my head around. It created a sound that definitely made me want to bop my head and stomp my feet.
I actually have two distinct experiences off the bat. I was reading this thread prior to receiving the IEMs and decided to buy a pair of Spinfit CP360s for these and I listened to them with the original (non-foam) ear tips for about 25 min, then the Spinfits for another 25, before switching back to the to the original tips for the remaining 20-30 or so minutes.
With the original ear tips, comparing to the Odins, I definitely found the soundstage to be lacking, though given other reviews, I expect that to work itself out with more time with them. I found myself really enjoying the bass of these IEMs, while they aren't as detailed, they're definitely much more fun to listen to than the Odins. I noticed that I was eagerly awaiting every chorus/beat drop of every track I was listening to to "rock out" so to speak. To me, while the Odins are extremely technically impressive, I find myself tiring of their particular sound at some points and wanting something different, on the other hand, the Trifectas are probably not what you would call "reference" IEMs, but its something that I can listen to for hours and hours without tiring of it. The original eartips really give me that "lush" "sweet" sound that I described earlier, it's a very full, packed sound, with songs that have a lot going on in it at once really giving you an intense amount of energy. For example, songs like Helena by MCR, or Odoru by Ado are extremely fun to listen to. On the other hand, it also handles sad, soulful songs very very well, Father and Son by Cat Stevens, or Skinny Love by Birdy (cover) are both emotionally wrenching to me. However, like I said, it definitely felt like the soundstage was much smaller than the Odins.
If I had to give an example, when I'm using the Odins, it feels like I'm in a grand concert hall with just myself and whatever band/artist I'm listening to at the time, with each piece of the music coming towards me from different directions, whereas with the Trifectas, I feel like I'm in the mosh pit with everyone else and just feeling the raw energy of the music.
On the Spinfits, I initially liked them a lot. However, I quickly noticed an issue (for me), which is that it seemed to make some of the high notes unbearably sharp. Some of the same songs I listened to earlier seemed just worse and I found myself having definitely to back off the volume to be able to sit through some parts of the songs. Furthermore, the biggest problem for me was that it seemed to make female singers' voices even more recessed and quiet as opposed to the accompanying instruments. It made the bass and soundstage feel a little nicer, but that wasn't a sacrifice I was willing to make. I personally listen to a very wide range of music, so having a good "all rounder" is very important to me. I did feel that it enhanced male vocals though. Lastly, I noticed due to the sharpness of certain parts of the highs, it increased overall fatigue much quicker. It was a very noticeable difference when I swapped back to the original tips.
Edit: forgot to mention, one of the reasons the Spinfits caused discomfort is because it made the female vocals sound recessed, so I would up the volume, which would worsen the issue w the sharpness.
Conclusion:
Overall, I really like this pair of headphones, from presentation, to design, to just the sheer interesting-ness of having a product like this. I feel as though I would definitely enjoy them more over time, when the soundstage starts opening up some more. In the mean time, if anyone has any recommendations regarding eartips that can somewhat boost the mids-high mids some, I would love to know. I personally don't use any DAPs or anything like that out of laziness and convenience, but I'm willing to bet that having a nice one would probably enhance the experience a bit.
Disclaimer:
I have no technical expertise or understanding of IEMs or audio aside from probably the bare minimum definitions of what different types of drivers are, I barely understand those sound graphs and definitely am not qualified to speak on the technical aspects of IEMs. All of my impressions would probably qualify as "gut" impressions that I wouldn't be able to explain why the IEMs are doing this thing or that thing. I’m just a guy who’s fortunate enough to be able to afford nice IEMs.
Presentation:
So to start with, these definitely have the best packaging I've seen for headphones overall, definitely comes with enough goodies and overall presentation is obviously legendary. I love the little "stand" that comes with the headphones, and the big leather wallet type case is definitely the nicest and most efficient carrier I have seen come in with headphones. That said, for the price point, I would expect as much. The only other IEMs I have in the same price range would be the Empire Ears Odins, and although the round steel case that it comes with is nice, it is hard to pack back into and it is even more difficult to carry around without a bag of some sort. I will say the ear tips that come with the Odins feel nicer than the ones with the Trifectas.
I'm also not gonna lie, that little short story that came with the IEMs made little to no sense to me and I read it like four times but that's besides the point. (To be fair, I haven't been following CFA "lore", not that I knew there was even any)
Driving:
iPhone 12 Pro Max with converter Dongle, listening to Tidal lossless FLAC files.
Sound:
Sound wise, "lush" and "sweet" are the first words that come to mind. These are the first pair of TOTL DD headphones I have, so as you'd expect, it's quite a different experience that I was trying to wrap my head around. It created a sound that definitely made me want to bop my head and stomp my feet.
I actually have two distinct experiences off the bat. I was reading this thread prior to receiving the IEMs and decided to buy a pair of Spinfit CP360s for these and I listened to them with the original (non-foam) ear tips for about 25 min, then the Spinfits for another 25, before switching back to the to the original tips for the remaining 20-30 or so minutes.
With the original ear tips, comparing to the Odins, I definitely found the soundstage to be lacking, though given other reviews, I expect that to work itself out with more time with them. I found myself really enjoying the bass of these IEMs, while they aren't as detailed, they're definitely much more fun to listen to than the Odins. I noticed that I was eagerly awaiting every chorus/beat drop of every track I was listening to to "rock out" so to speak. To me, while the Odins are extremely technically impressive, I find myself tiring of their particular sound at some points and wanting something different, on the other hand, the Trifectas are probably not what you would call "reference" IEMs, but its something that I can listen to for hours and hours without tiring of it. The original eartips really give me that "lush" "sweet" sound that I described earlier, it's a very full, packed sound, with songs that have a lot going on in it at once really giving you an intense amount of energy. For example, songs like Helena by MCR, or Odoru by Ado are extremely fun to listen to. On the other hand, it also handles sad, soulful songs very very well, Father and Son by Cat Stevens, or Skinny Love by Birdy (cover) are both emotionally wrenching to me. However, like I said, it definitely felt like the soundstage was much smaller than the Odins.
If I had to give an example, when I'm using the Odins, it feels like I'm in a grand concert hall with just myself and whatever band/artist I'm listening to at the time, with each piece of the music coming towards me from different directions, whereas with the Trifectas, I feel like I'm in the mosh pit with everyone else and just feeling the raw energy of the music.
On the Spinfits, I initially liked them a lot. However, I quickly noticed an issue (for me), which is that it seemed to make some of the high notes unbearably sharp. Some of the same songs I listened to earlier seemed just worse and I found myself having definitely to back off the volume to be able to sit through some parts of the songs. Furthermore, the biggest problem for me was that it seemed to make female singers' voices even more recessed and quiet as opposed to the accompanying instruments. It made the bass and soundstage feel a little nicer, but that wasn't a sacrifice I was willing to make. I personally listen to a very wide range of music, so having a good "all rounder" is very important to me. I did feel that it enhanced male vocals though. Lastly, I noticed due to the sharpness of certain parts of the highs, it increased overall fatigue much quicker. It was a very noticeable difference when I swapped back to the original tips.
Edit: forgot to mention, one of the reasons the Spinfits caused discomfort is because it made the female vocals sound recessed, so I would up the volume, which would worsen the issue w the sharpness.
Conclusion:
Overall, I really like this pair of headphones, from presentation, to design, to just the sheer interesting-ness of having a product like this. I feel as though I would definitely enjoy them more over time, when the soundstage starts opening up some more. In the mean time, if anyone has any recommendations regarding eartips that can somewhat boost the mids-high mids some, I would love to know. I personally don't use any DAPs or anything like that out of laziness and convenience, but I'm willing to bet that having a nice one would probably enhance the experience a bit.
Last edited:
Kagerou
Head-Fier
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Yeah literally only w the Spinfits
Edit: I’ll also give the marshmallow foam tips a try tomorrow and give an update and the final audio type E’s I have on my Odins
Last edited:
Which Spinfits? There are many and each of them make different sound register emphasis.
Kagerou
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Wrote in my post. CP360
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