Campfire Audio Trifecta

[barrycro]

auditioned the trifecta Saturday at can jam and found them perfectly fine. admittedly I am a fan of cfa so maybe a bit biased but I don't understand why they are so polarizing. the signature is pretty balanced, they are very resolving and nothing seemed out of place. I know they might not be to everyones taste but I didn't experience anything so extreme to make me fall hopelessly in love or outright hatred. of course my listening time was short and I obviously lean more towards love than hate with them.

 

[Beh0lder]

everybody, and I do mean everybody, who I met at CanJam was so sweet and helpful and nice and it was so refreshing compared to the usual general toxic attitude of the internet.

That's my impression as well after CanJam 2022 in London. Every vendor was friendly, helpful, intrested in gear from other companies that I had on me and not focused maxing out sales for the day. I was not really fond of VE's VEx line and I chatted with Amin who was genuinely intrested in my take. That's what I enjoy in earphone biz, most of the people here are because it's their passion, and most of the IEMs themselves are handbuilt from the ground up. It's rare these days

 

[Hanesu]

Well, I am genuinly interested in learning more about prices of earphone internals, r&d costs etc. to understand those (shocking! …at least for me who is in this hobby for more than 20 years…) price increases of recent flagships. Are they justified or do we in deed get ripped off? I think it is fair to ask those questions as long claims get backed up with facts.

 

[chickenmoon]

Well, I am genuinly interested in learning more about prices of earphone internals, r&d costs etc. to understand those (shocking! …at least for me who is in this hobby for more than 20 years…) price increases of recent flagships. Are they justified or do we in deed get ripped off? I think it is fair to ask those questions as long claims get backed up with facts.

Prices are what they are because there are enough people willing to pay as much IMHO.

Look at the latest line of Sennheiser IEMs, from the horse's mouth they all sport the same drivers, and the difference in cost of the shells, resonators and accessories certainly accounts only partially for the massive difference in price between the models and if I had to guess I'd say that the 3D printed Zirconium shells of the IE 600 cost more than the machined Aluminium ones of the much pricier IE900.

So it means that prices don't reflect manufacturing costs but rather reflect on how they are positioned on a scale that goes from consumer to TOTL in a way their market analysts have determined maximises their profits.

As for the Trifecta, well, they sure measure like many cheap and not so cheap generic Chinese IEMs, they also have a very poor max THD as far as as flagship DDs go, below 1%, whereas Turii is below 0.1% and IE 900 below 0.05% if I am not mistaken which bears some legitimate questions IMO. They sure look super fancy though.

 

[bigbeans]

Great to see this community is still strong.

On a different note, given @Rockwell75's experience with LP DAPs at CanJam, I would encourage folks to try Trifecta on R2R gear. The triple DD's respond very well to them imho. I am curious how Trifecta responds to more linear gear like Lotoo, I will give this a try when I'm in Japan next week.

 

[Rockwell75]

I find both of your claims interesting - could you maybe let us know where you get your knowledge from?

Firstly from the marketing-- it's called a "10mm ADLC" which I think stands for Amorphous Diamond Like Carbon. This is a proprietary driver that they only use in their higher end DD IEMs. It first appeared in the Atlas but was also used in Solaris, Trifecta, Vega, Dorado 2020. It's a different driver than the one used in Honeydew, Mammoth and their collab projects like Solaris X and Pathfinder. So according to the marketing and description of the product it's something they developed or at least spec'd themselves. FWIW even the 14mm planar driver used in the Supermoon, while purchased from China (by the brands own admission) is specifically manufactured according to Campfire's custom specifications.

Secondly there was an interview with Ken Ball somewhere-- it may have been this Darko podcast-- where he goes into detail about how Campfire approached a speaker manufacturer about development of this driver and how they finally got what they wanted out of the development process and were very happy with the result.

 

[Rockwell75]

Great to see the troll can bring a community together.

On a different note, given @Rockwell75's experience with LP DAPs at CanJam, I would encourage folks to try Trifecta on R2R gear. The triple DD's respond very well to them imho. I am curious how Trifecta responds to more linear gear like Lotoo, I will give this a try when I'm in Japan next week.

Supermoon too. It sounded massive-- like a full size planar headphone-- through the LP6. The sound of the LP6 is the one thing I can't get out of my mind since coming home from CanJam. I need to get my hands on one.

Edit: As @HiFiHawaii808 will attest both CFA IEMs sound great out of the Hiby RS8 also.

 

[Rockwell75]

As for the Trifecta, well, they sure measure like many cheap and not so cheap generic Chinese IEMs,

They also measure vaguely like certain hybrid IEMs. The idea that everything, or even most things, to do with the sound of an IEM is reflected in the FR curve has very little to support it imho. The idea that Trifecta is at or near the level of SQ put out by generic "Chinese IEMs" is quite frankly bonkers to me. For anyone reading this thread I really hope you take the time to demo Trifecta for yourself if you get the chance.

they also have a very poor max THD as far as as flagship DDs go,

What is THD? And where do you get these numbers from?

 

[Bret Halford]

What is THD? And where do you get these numbers from?

THD = Total Harmonic Distortion. It is the dominant source of non-linearity in most transducers. I find it's not nearly as important to the listening experience as some might claim, but that's just me. No idea what numbers he's referencing.

I could definitely imagine having 3x identical drivers without a crossover or varied spectrum coverage would likely have a cumulative effect on distortion. So it wouldn't be surprising or necessarily concerning to me if Trifecta did exceed other DDs, particularly the single variety.

It's worth noting not all harmonic distortion is necessarily bad. Even order (2,4,6,8 etc) harmonics are generally considered musical and are associated with an analog or tube like tone, exactly like the Trifecta garners a lot of love for...

 

[chickenmoon]

@Rockwell75 : The numbers are from manufacturers' published specs.

 

[gLer]

The minute measurements are used to define the quality of audio gear is the minute I stop reading. May as well write off all tube amps, R2R DACs and Sony S-Master players while they're at it. If that's the argument here, best move along to the audio science forum...

 

[CodenameBK201]

Awake at 4 in the morning with my leg hurting and legitimately contemplating finally pulling the trigger on these. I had hoped for a set with more shaped sub bass (a la Empire Ears) but until that revised Evo comes out, I'm out of luck.

For the people who bought this set, have you ended up keeping it as opposed to wanting something else? I saw a few sets get listed post-canjam. To me, having demoed this and the fabled mentor that day, the Trifecta stuck out to me as unique and different rather than playing catch up with other iem trends. I did admittedly have noticeable hiss driving it direct from my sony am2. Im assuming that's intended and part of the hifi lofi charm?

Anyway, now I just need to convince myself (my wife) I should buy these.

 

[broopa]

Awake at 4 in the morning with my leg hurting and legitimately contemplating finally pulling the trigger on these. I had hoped for a set with more shaped sub bass (a la Empire Ears) but until that revised Evo comes out, I'm out of luck.

For the people who bought this set, have you ended up keeping it as opposed to wanting something else? I saw a few sets get listed post-canjam. To me, having demoed this and the fabled mentor that day, the Trifecta stuck out to me as unique and different rather than playing catch up with other iem trends. I did admittedly have noticeable hiss driving it direct from my sony am2. Im assuming that's intended and part of the hifi lofi charm?

Anyway, now I just need to convince myself (my wife) I should buy these.

I have no regrets and listen to mine almost daily. I think the biggest determining factor into worth is your music library. Listening to mostly hip-hop and jazz I can't ask for a better set of IEMs to compliment the music.

 

[Rockwell75]

Cross posted to the cooler:

Every now and again I get a PM from someone who finds value in the thread but for whatever reason doesn't post actively. I received the following message a little earlier and it totally made my day. Shared with permission.

"Rockwell,

I lurk on the Water Cooler. Frankly, I don't have the guts to post about the technical stuff....however, I know what sounds good to my preferences: Classic Rock, GD, Phish, Jazz, Pop and Hard Rock.

I own a decent list. Just started the hobby last year. Reading your enthusiasm for EXT I got it used and fell in love with it.
Would never think of parting with it.

Then: Traillii, Elysian X, Xe6, Mentor, UM Red Halo FS, EE Odin, Pathfinder. Yeah, I went off the deep end.

I even got the Orpheus and I still think paired with the Red Halo it's the summit....but I digress. A summit for technical and reference sound....

But for feel:

Wanted to thank you for your passion all things Trifecta. I bought one used and got it today. Figured CanJam would precipitate a firing sale and here it is... Hours later I am floored at how much fun this is for my type of music. Rush, YES, Floyd, Metallica, Zep, The Who.....I think I finally found one that has me smiling and feeling like I am actually "in" the music mix. Master of Puppets like you've never heard it before. You get lost. You smile. It makes this hobby worth the time spent agonizing if you have the "right" set. You kept using the word analogue in your comments and that's gold to me. It's like a great record player in your ears. For classic rock and hard rock, this one really resonates with me.

So THANK YOU for having the passion for this set. You find those on the boards that you trust. You didn't oversell how awesome Trifecta is and your influence and candor is much appreciated.

Thanks again,
Tom

PS....I really want to hear Erlkonig even more now after you got to try it in NYC...that one is on my list to acquire at some point...however, I really need to unload some inventory and pair it down to a more manageable level of sets that I will actually spend time with."

 

[metaljem77]

Cross posted to the cooler:

Every now and again I get a PM from someone who finds value in the thread but for whatever reason doesn't post actively. I received the following message a little earlier and it totally made my day. Shared with permission.

"Rockwell,

I lurk on the Water Cooler. Frankly, I don't have the guts to post about the technical stuff....however, I know what sounds good to my preferences: Classic Rock, GD, Phish, Jazz, Pop and Hard Rock.

I own a decent list. Just started the hobby last year. Reading your enthusiasm for EXT I got it used and fell in love with it.
Would never think of parting with it.

Then: Traillii, Elysian X, Xe6, Mentor, UM Red Halo FS, EE Odin, Pathfinder. Yeah, I went off the deep end.

I even got the Orpheus and I still think paired with the Red Halo it's the summit....but I digress. A summit for technical and reference sound....

But for feel:

Wanted to thank you for your passion all things Trifecta. I bought one used and got it today. Figured CanJam would precipitate a firing sale and here it is... Hours later I am floored at how much fun this is for my type of music. Rush, YES, Floyd, Metallica, Zep, The Who.....I think I finally found one that has me smiling and feeling like I am actually "in" the music mix. Master of Puppets like you've never heard it before. You get lost. You smile. It makes this hobby worth the time spent agonizing if you have the "right" set. You kept using the word analogue in your comments and that's gold to me. It's like a great record player in your ears. For classic rock and hard rock, this one really resonates with me.

So THANK YOU for having the passion for this set. You find those on the boards that you trust. You didn't oversell how awesome Trifecta is and your influence and candor is much appreciated.

Thanks again,
Tom

PS....I really want to hear Erlkonig even more now after you got to try it in NYC...that one is on my list to acquire at some point...however, I really need to unload some inventory and pair it down to a more manageable level of sets that I will actually spend time with."

Awww the laudatory comments are well deserved, Jeff… thanks, Tom, hope to see you post more!