[Fatsosixsixsix]

Too bad these aren't on Black Friday sale. Looks like 64 Audio will get my cash this week.

Generally the higher end CA models are excluded from Black Friday sales. Andromeda new stock wasn't included in last year's Black Friday sale either

 

[candlejack]

They are more expensive before discount and still more than the Solaris. I'm not going to rush into buying a 4th CA product when I have disliked the 3 others I've bought from them before at full price. Empire Ears will have a discount too, so I may get something from them and skip the N8. I rather get something on discount than pay full price. If my track record with their products is not good, then I don't feel the need to rush into buying another product from them at full price. One person has said that they have hiss with the Hugo 2 (same problem I had with the andros) and that is what I use so I'm not exactly sure that I will like them. A discount at least ensures that I wouldn't lose money if I had to sell them used in a month if I disliked them.

Your logic sounds solid to me. I didn't realize you have to buy blind. In that case, ensuring that you can sell your item without losing a lot of money might take precedence over absolute purchase price. (y)

 

[Lookout57]

They did add a promotion for Black Friday sales of the Solaris, add a balanced cable for $99.50 For Andromeda, blanched Litz free or balanced Ref8 for $49.01

 

[Audiophonicalistic]

Damn. I just jumped on the hype train

 

[jmills8]

Damn. I just jumped on the hype train

 

[candlejack]

They did add a promotion for Black Friday sales of the Solaris, add a balanced cable for $99.50 For Andromeda, blanched Litz free or balanced Ref8 for $49.01

Pretty cool, but not the same as a discount on the earphone itself.

 

[Malcuso]

audionewbi, sorry to see you canceled your order. I'd interested to hear impression on the Calyx. The Tia Fourte which is also a hybrid was very bloated and was not a good pairing to my ears.

 

[UNIISO]

Saw that Solaris is back in stock yesterday just in time for thanksgiving, so impulse visited CA HQ in the afternoon to audition and potentially buy Solaris onsite. Though they must be super busy with all the last minute prep before Black Friday sale went online, the CA people are just as friendly and easy going as ever!
I ended up skipping Solaris but want to share a little impression on Solaris (burned-in demo ) vs Andro Green vs Andro White CK (my own ) vs Andro S all from ZX2 single end:

As I seldom post impressions at all, just a brief background of my preference and gear:

Longtime head-fier started in cassette walkman time ( DD9 anyone? ) with a brain burned-in to analogue sound . Very sensitive to sibilance/vocal harshness and yet a sucker for open sound with top-end shimmering; Prefers a slightly forward/larger than life vocal image in quiet passages but can't tolerate congestion and sub-par separation when music becomes complex; Between technical competence and cohesive presentation always go for the later. Usually lean towards a neutral warmish sound with dark background, a liquid fluid FR with no obvious peaks, a slightly elevated mid bass and upper-mid for enhanced realism without harshness. Listening to a wide spectrum of genre with Jazz / Jazz-rap / Indie-pop / Progressive Rock / Chamber classic leading the mix.
I'm a believer that if a piece of music is enjoyable in its melody and composition, equipment should deliver that joyfulness as immune to bit-rate as possible, good recording / mastering shall shines through via better file-gear combo, but good music shouldn't be ruined by gear at 320k. On that token I also believe proper portable synergy can be found at different price level and fidelity level with some coloration of sound, I often find OK sounding stuff at entry level, and just flat out offensive sounding gear in mid-tier or even 'TOTL'.
Currently using Andro white-CK and Fitear F111 as secondary when listening to pure vocal ( mainly indie pop/folk ); ZX2 as main source with Mojo-Poly and DFR for streaming and occasional fullsize headphone sessions. Had and sold Togo-334, Private-333, Calyx M, QP1R and AK120 in recent history.

Now onto the impressions:

First of all fit is a bit tricky. I have a medium sized ear that're OK with most JH product that are known for being oversized. Solaris is both large and favors deep insertion. I uses medium peeled Symbio-W on my Andro with perfect sound and comfort, but the shallow seal it forms on Solaris put too much leverage on the outer shell that seal won't maintain. I ended up trying with small foams and Final-Es which grant deeper insertion and proper seal, but also brings the rims of the nozzle ( end of the black housing ) against my ear canal, as that part is wider and ridged the fit isn't quite ideal.
With ~100pg read from here and some impressions from the forum that can't be named, I had very high hope of Solaris to be an Andro with more physicality, carries more weight in note and a bit more body in the mids as those are the only things lacking for me from Andro. Soundstage / immersion improvement would be icing on the cake as I love Andro's staging as is.
From ZX2 single-end, they're every bit of what's advertised, but in such a very different way from what I've imagined. IMHO, Solaris is not an enhanced Andro by any means, it is just a totally different sound, altogether. And as a side note this has been my experience with CA so far, their product line shares similar technical root that you can pick out, but swings drastically in terms of overall presentation style. To me there isn't a clear 'house sound' formed yet from CA ( vega - atlas - cascade branch aside ). I love the team, their business model and ethics, but an audition is recommended before buying as extrapolation from existing product doesn't really work well.
So what I mean by that: I would take Andro and enhance the physicality on a note-2-note, element-2-element basis, that each piece still hangs exactly where they're but with a stronger sense of presence via the flesh in the note. But Solaris isn't that, it is truly tuned towards a two channel system experience where now you're back in a room again, you feel the sound together with the room that's recorded in. With Andro I feel instrument and voice floating in an empty space of nothingness, with Solaris I feel the environment they're navigating through. In more than one way this is more true to life than Andro, but personally Andro best embodies the 'Campfire' experience with this sense of surreal-ness.
I applaud to the Solaris that I don't hear any disjoint from the DD-BA hybrid ( which I tends to pick up on every other hybrid ), and the immediate benefit it gains from Andro with its DD incorporation. It sounds healthy with no obvious flaw where Andro can't hide the weightless nature after the initial wow factor. If anything, I feel a slight lacking in micro-detail, Andro sure isn't technically better, it's just that Solaris brings that into attention.
After convinced that Solaris is indeed very nice but not my cup of tea, I went on to audition Andro-S and the OG green Andro together with my Andro White-CK to 'anchor' my hearing. And there I find out that my White-CK sound somewhere in between the Green and the SS, and that I just loved the Green Andro all along. JD told me that the White-CK share identical component as Green, but they did get feedback that there's some systematic sound difference just from the housing, and that's part of what motivates the SS initiative in the beginning.
At the end of the day, I ordered a new stock Green Andro with Ref.8 cable upgrade as part of the Black Friday promo. And I will be quietly waiting for CA's next release.

 

[Ricky64]

Saw that Solaris is back in stock yesterday just in time for thanksgiving, so impulse visited CA HQ in the afternoon to audition and potentially buy Solaris onsite. Though they must be super busy with all the last minute prep before Black Friday sale went online, the CA people are just as friendly and easy going as ever!
I ended up skipping Solaris but want to share a little impression on Solaris (burned-in demo ) vs Andro Green vs Andro White CK (my own ) vs Andro S all from ZX2 single end:

As I seldom post impressions at all, just a brief background of my preference and gear:

Longtime head-fier started in cassette walkman time ( DD9 anyone? ) with a brain burned-in to analogue sound . Very sensitive to sibilance/vocal harshness and yet a sucker for open sound with top-end shimmering; Prefers a slightly forward/larger than life vocal image in quiet passages but can't tolerate congestion and sub-par separation when music becomes complex; Between technical competence and cohesive presentation always go for the later. Usually lean towards a neutral warmish sound with dark background, a liquid fluid FR with no obvious peaks, a slightly elevated mid bass and upper-mid for enhanced realism without harshness. Listening to a wide spectrum of genre with Jazz / Jazz-rap / Indie-pop / Progressive Rock / Chamber classic leading the mix.
I'm a believer that if a piece of music is enjoyable in its melody and composition, equipment should deliver that joyfulness as immune to bit-rate as possible, good recording / mastering shall shines through via better file-gear combo, but good music shouldn't be ruined by gear at 320k. On that token I also believe proper portable synergy can be found at different price level and fidelity level with some coloration of sound, I often find OK sounding stuff at entry level, and just flat out offensive sounding gear in mid-tier or even 'TOTL'.
Currently using Andro white-CK and Fitear F111 as secondary when listening to pure vocal ( mainly indie pop/folk ); ZX2 as main source with Mojo-Poly and DFR for streaming and occasional fullsize headphone sessions. Had and sold Togo-334, Private-333, Calyx M, QP1R and AK120 in recent history.

Now onto the impressions:

First of all fit is a bit tricky. I have a medium sized ear that're OK with most JH product that are known for being oversized. Solaris is both large and favors deep insertion. I uses medium peeled Symbio-W on my Andro with perfect sound and comfort, but the shallow seal it forms on Solaris put too much leverage on the outer shell that seal won't maintain. I ended up trying with small foams and Final-Es which grant deeper insertion and proper seal, but also brings the rims of the nozzle ( end of the black housing ) against my ear canal, as that part is wider and ridged the fit isn't quite ideal.
With ~100pg read from here and some impressions from the forum that can't be named, I had very high hope of Solaris to be an Andro with more physicality, carries more weight in note and a bit more body in the mids as those are the only things lacking for me from Andro. Soundstage / immersion improvement would be icing on the cake as I love Andro's staging as is.
From ZX2 single-end, they're every bit of what's advertised, but in such a very different way from what I've imagined. IMHO, Solaris is not an enhanced Andro by any means, it is just a totally different sound, altogether. And as a side note this has been my experience with CA so far, their product line shares similar technical root that you can pick out, but swings drastically in terms of overall presentation style. To me there isn't a clear 'house sound' formed yet from CA ( vega - atlas - cascade branch aside ). I love the team, their business model and ethics, but an audition is recommended before buying as extrapolation from existing product doesn't really work well.
So what I mean by that: I would take Andro and enhance the physicality on a note-2-note, element-2-element basis, that each piece still hangs exactly where they're but with a stronger sense of presence via the flesh in the note. But Solaris isn't that, it is truly tuned towards a two channel system experience where now you're back in a room again, you feel the sound together with the room that's recorded in. With Andro I feel instrument and voice floating in an empty space of nothingness, with Solaris I feel the environment they're navigating through. In more than one way this is more true to life than Andro, but personally Andro best embodies the 'Campfire' experience with this sense of surreal-ness.
I applaud to the Solaris that I don't hear any disjoint from the DD-BA hybrid ( which I tends to pick up on every other hybrid ), and the immediate benefit it gains from Andro with its DD incorporation. It sounds healthy with no obvious flaw where Andro can't hide the weightless nature after the initial wow factor. If anything, I feel a slight lacking in micro-detail, Andro sure isn't technically better, it's just that Solaris brings that into attention.
After convinced that Solaris is indeed very nice but not my cup of tea, I went on to audition Andro-S and the OG green Andro together with my Andro White-CK to 'anchor' my hearing. And there I find out that my White-CK sound somewhere in between the Green and the SS, and that I just loved the Green Andro all along. JD told me that the White-CK share identical component as Green, but they did get feedback that there's some systematic sound difference just from the housing, and that's part of what motivates the SS initiative in the beginning.
At the end of the day, I ordered a new stock Green Andro with Ref.8 cable upgrade as part of the Black Friday promo. And I will be quietly waiting for CA's next release.

This is the most helpful review thus far (for me...). Query whether you have auditioned the Tia Trio or Forte, and whether you are able to contrast? Thanks.

 

[Audiophonicalistic]

Oh my...

Half price? I couldn't resist... the Solaris review is going to get an update

Planning on using with solaris and wm1z? Any other iem?

 

[UNIISO]

This is the most helpful review thus far (for me...). Query whether you have auditioned the Tia Trio or Forte, and whether you are able to contrast? Thanks.

Thanks, glad that it helps. Forte once, treble too hot, also not quite agreeing with 64s pricing strategy. Never had a chance of auditioning Trio.

 

[ctaxxxx]

Anyone know which of 3 is most similar to the Focal Elegia? I would mention Clear as well, but I personally haven't heard those... Been looking into an IEM alternative, if possible.

Solaris
Andromeda
Andromeda S

I would be using the DX200 AMP4/8 as my source and no iEMatch would be ideal. It seems most people prefer the Andromeda with them though... Does the Solaris avoid this issue?

 

[FangJoker]

Has anyone here used the Solaris with a desktop amp or a Hugo 2 with connected to a pc? Just wondering how much hiss there is and how it sounds with those types of amps. It seems like 98% of the people here with the solaris owns a dap or uses it with their phones and I'm the complete opposite as far as how I would use it.

 

[FangJoker]

Anyone know which of 3 is most similar to the Focal Elegia? I would mention Clear as well, but I personally haven't heard those... Been looking into an IEM alternative, if possible.

Solaris
Andromeda
Andromeda S

I would be using the DX200 AMP4/8 as my source and no iEMatch would be ideal. It seems most people prefer the Andromeda with them though... Does the Solaris avoid this issue?

When I bought the andros I had to buy an iematch, but it took away too much of what makes the andros what it is. It hissed far too much on the original hugo connected to a pc for me. It seems like CA IEMs are really really really made for daps and phones and doesn't always play nice with transportable dac/amps.

 

[czy6412]

Just swapped between Ref8 and the stock cable. To me the stock cable has better resolution and separation than Ref8. Ref8 has better soundstage width and more engaging to me.