[seamon]

Campfire Audio fans remind me of those folk that love apple. They think the products are the best to arrive since sliced bread, but fortunately there are better, low cost options available today.
I haven’t yet heard the Solaris, but by going from previous owner examples from this brand I certainly do not believe all the hype either.
Most of the range have fitment issues, and don’t bring balance to the table ( apart from andro) are built well but mark just by looking at them.
Hey, even their Reference 8 cable is advertised as having “ low microphonics” or words to that effect. But it is one of the worlds worst cables as far as microphonics is concerned.

I’ve been burnt money wise from Campfire offerings, never again. I’ll let you lot furnish campfire’s nest egg and possibly some of your egos.

oof
Andromeda is definitely not balanced. Andro is catered more towards people who love Treble. Andro just doesn't stand do much justice to bass and mids.

 

[SilverEars]

What people are saying about upper-mids shows in the graph. If you prefer subjective hype trains for accuracy, um I guess is a preference (but why?)? Choo choo.

So, how long burn in required? 5000 hrs or 10min?

 

[candlejack]

Personally I don't care what Crinacle has to say. I don't agree with his observations about some other IEM's that he has graded so I know that his views will not line up with mine.
Perhaps we should all stop giving his words more weight than anyone else on these forum's, including the many people here who love the Solaris, and are more than satisfied with it.

There's a reason for the Solaris hype.

Not everyone has to think like me, but I find highly critical opinions/reviews a lot more useful than the "everything is fantastic guys, really!" ones. Someone not liking something will not stop me from buying it and I don't need to think something is perfect in order to like it or buy it.

Regarding your last sentence, there is also a reason for the "Wonder Woman 2018" and "Black Panther 2018" hype, but it's not because they are good movies. It's a shame, but I've grown to be very skeptical of online opinion. Perhaps it's also the reason why I find highly critical/no-excuses-made and openly subjective reviews more trustworthy... at least until we get measurement driven reviews.

 

[miko64]

oof
Andromeda is definitely not balanced. Andro is catered more towards people who love Treble. Andro just doesn't stand do much justice to bass and mids.

Interesting thought. I agree that vega is not balanced, neither is kse1500, Solaris nor lcdi4. I however think Solaris tuning wise does a better job than say kse1500.

If I were to complain about Solaris it would not be turning, but possibly resolution where the likes of kse1500 or Stax sr007/9 are better.

Hence I have ksr1500 usually with me (equalised), but on the street Solaris is better - you do not need an addl box. What I like also on the steet is obravo eamt1c but this one needs more power.

Hence at the end everyone needs to decide the poison which harms least

 

[Jackpot77]

Interesting people are picking up on the host midrange tuning. There is a noticeable dip at the top end of the vocal frequencies (I don't listen to a lot of female singers in that range, so I typically find it kicks in where the instrumentation tends to live for the music I listen to). It helps spotlight the vocals against the other instruments for me - I don't hear it as sucked out or recessed.

That being said, I didn't have a problem with the "dip" that is there in the Focal Elear mids either, so maybe my particular combination of seal / ear geometry / personal hearing isn't particularly susceptible in that range. I do notice that a particular sound I use from one of my go to demo tracks to get an idea of detail and resolution is muted on the Solaris (if anyone is interested, it's a small clicking noise about 4 ir 5 bars in to "Palladio" by Escala in the left hand side of the soundstage, most likely a instrument stand out orchestra seat). It's a side effect of the tuning chosen by CA for this IEM, which I personally think is superb. I have plenty of other gear that expresses this clearly when I listen, but miss the incredible texture and layering of the bass on the Solaris, or the organic tone of the vocals and instruments, so I don't enjoy nearly as much.

This IEM isn't a detail monster, but it does have bags of clarity. It isn't a bass monster, but it does give you that subwoofer effect with a good fit and seal. Personally I think it is the most enjoyable thing I have currently heard or own, and it gets the lions share of my listening. I still rank the Zeus-XR above it on a technical level, and there are other IEMs I go to (like the Zeus, Atlas or Flares Pro 2) for specific sound profiles I'm craving at a given point in time.

Long story short - the Solaris is a natural sounding IEM (for my tastes), but it isn't neutral, and it just won't be "the one" for everyone. That's as it should be - I love the 64 Audio U8, but the U18 has left me seriously underwhelmed the three times I've heard it, and the Fourte has never really clicked with me either. There are enough people on here whose opinions I trust who think those are the best IEMs currently available, so it really is a question of personal preference and knowing your own biases when you get to this sort of performance bracket.

 

[guitardave]

I have been lurking on thread for a while, this recessed vocals thing would have been brought up, if it existed, more than a few times in the 120 plus pages of impressions.
I don't believe it. I don't have the Solaris, so no horse in this race.
Edit: get your hands on one for an audition.
Reviews and lists are not the end all be all.

Yes, I have a pair and the mids are not recessed at all. In fact, compared to Utopias, which I also own, the mids seem more prominent on the Solaris. They are fine on both. I am not saying the Solaris is TOO heavy in mids, to me the response seems "just right". Not hollow on any vocals, male or female. Correctly proportioned to the rest of the music.

 

[seamon]

Yes, I have a pair and the mids are not recessed at all. In fact, compared to Utopias, which I also own, the mids seem more prominent on the Solaris. They are fine on both. I am not saying the Solaris is TOO heavy in mids, to me the response seems "just right". Not hollow on any vocals, male or female. Correctly proportioned to the rest of the music.

This is in line with pretty much every Solaris owner is hearing

 

[AxelCloris]

We've removed some discussion that didn't meet the Posting Guidelines. Let's please keep this thread focused on the Campfire Audio Solaris. Thanks everyone.

 

[Fatsosixsixsix]

For anyone else burning in their Solaris have you noticed any improvements in that upper mids? I'm starting to think that the Solaris is much more critical of recording quality than the Andromeda was the more I listen

 

[Kitechaser]

What people are saying about upper-mids shows in the graph. If you prefer subjective hype trains for accuracy, um I guess is a preference (but why?)? Choo choo.

So, how long burn in required? 5000 hrs or 10min?

Or maybe somebody cough cough "graphed it" and then started talking about the dip, without really giving it much of a listen. .
I see talks about graphs, especially when they contradict user impressions, and my eyes start glazing over. Start feeling this strong need to take a nap.

 

[Dsnuts]

Upon reading initial Crin impressions. It isn't all that negative actually. To be fair I did hear a bit of mid hollowness on first listen. Which went away of course. Toward the end of it he mentions some positives that I will agree with. I know burn in is always a topic of heated debate but Ken tells us to burn them in. I am gonna believe Ken. I am just saying.

Now that I have had my Solaris for a while and been enjoying the heck out of my pair. It is not without its faults but for me it does a lot of things right. Bass does get tighter from initial listen to after being used for over a month. There for the mids and treble comes out more in the mix.

Solaris can change sound profiles pending on source and actually scales very well to more power. Thus far I have heard the same earphone sound very neutral in tone to very musical full bodied and everything in between. All dependent on tips, cables and sources.

 

[davidmolliere]

For anyone else burning in their Solaris have you noticed any improvements in that upper mids? I'm starting to think that the Solaris is much more critical of recording quality than the Andromeda was the more I listen

I haven't heard the Andromeda so I couldn't say but I wouldn't say there is any issue in the upper mids with he Solaris, like I had with the CL2 for example.
Quite the contrary to me the Solaris is pretty forgiving. Do you have example of offending tracks?

Burn-in, for me was mostly getting a bit tighter bass the rest of the signature didn't move that I could tell.

 

[Nobrain]

Been lurking this thread the past few days.
The graph that was posted doesn't look promising to me.
I've done quite a bit of live sound engineering and the one thing I will almost certainly never do is scoop out 4kHz. A slight 2kHz boost is fine for me, but the 4kHz is truly needed for the presence of the vocalist, particularly female vocals.
Of course, graphs aren't everything. But it gives a good starting point to go off from regarding sound signature. Based off the graph, I can understand these impressions of weird upper mids that people are giving.
For what it's worth, I demo'd the Andros before and I didn't really like them. They had big soundstage, good resolution, but the tuning felt really off to me in the mids.

 

[BananaOoyoo]

Upon reading initial Crin impressions. It isn't all that negative actually. Toward the end of it he mentions some positives that I will agree with. I know burn in is always a topic of heated debate but Ken tells us to burn them in. I am gonna believe Ken. I am just saying.

It really wasn't. Maybe people will take offense that he has it tentatively at an "A" and not "S+", but that still places it as an IEM "that would still be considered as some of the best by many."

On a different note, has anyone been able to compare Solaris with the upcoming Noble Audio Khan? I know that one's not released yet, but apparently some people got a chance to try it locally, so figured it wouldn't hurt to ask.

 

[Kitechaser]

Measurements are a tool. Nothing more, nothing less. Subjective impressions, and how you relate to the tuning that was made matters more than some squiggly lines over a ruled grid of pixels.

The thing is, it is a thing and while it is not exactly mature yet, it is an excellent tool to be used to educate people. Some stuff like a lot of Ocharaku I feel doesn't sound like what it measures. Furthermore, the nulls doesn't seem to be present too, at least to me.

Measurements are gonna stay with us, and until it is finalised and the topics in the field of psychoacoustics is fully exhausted, I feel that the best option here is to accept that things are as it is right now and keep on educating on the benefits of trying the stuff out, and that preference and synergy with the genre matters more than FR. I am in full faith that most Head-Fiers are sensible human being with their own opinions and tastes. Now in the forum where opinions are to be shared, who are you to actively challenge someone who says he didn't like it? If I say Solaris is good, but I won't buy it because it's not my sound, are you gonna disrespect my decision as well?

I do not think you have been completely fair to the assessment thus far and is just launching attacks against the method, which is industry standard btw.

Obviously I respect your opinion. The only thing I am saying is if you rely strictly on graphs over your ears, you will miss out on gems of iems. (I know this from personal experience)
If you listen to the Solaris (or other iems) and do not like it, fair enough, but if you dismiss it out of hand because of a graph, and use the graph as evidence to contradict 130 pages of user impressions, you'd better be expecting some pushback.
I would be willing to bet money Crinacle graphed it first, and then listened to it.
Describing more of what he saw, and less of what he heard.
Then again, I might be wrong.
Anyways, back to the Solaris.
Dont wanna upset the mods and other people please