[Mark Up]

Mark up, wow really? Your going to look at a freq someone made on a measuring rig thats undocumented

Sorry about that. Someone before mentioned the mid bass overshadowing sub bass and the graph illustrated that. Of course folks should try them out to see for themselves.

 

[pervysage]

Mark up,

wow really? Your going to look at a freq someone made on a measuring rig thats undocumented and straight up conclude that the headphone is "Its not good" ?! This is exactly why I do not like measurements, I had this exact conversation with Jude regarding the misperception and misunderstanding around measurements.

There have been some real bold comments from some here on Head-fi who have not seen (physically held) nor heard our headphone here, this is a open forum and I am cool with the free speech and people opinions. Many comments are critical and have some real good constructive crit and feedback which is great and we here value. However its really hard for me to read some of the comments. My company is a small independently owned, family run USA based operation. I cant for the life of me understand why people would want less choices for their hobby, because when you bash companies with out careful listening or hands on evaluation thats kind of where the direction is headed.

Sorry I want to participate in the discussion

We don not hear the Cascade as boomy, the bass is prominent but we went to extraordinary lengths to make sure the low freq was very tight, and we feel we did a good job here. Yes I like electronic music, hip hop, rock and EDM and the Cascade excells at such.

I hope people can come to the NY show and listen. Also I have a bunch of review units going out so hopefully we will see some more detailed impressions and reviews.

Ken

Ken,

Can we get an answer to whether or not there will be a non-crystalline diamond driver version of the headphone coming out in the future? There were prototypes of a supposedly more expensive version with non-crystalline diamond driver?

Quite a few Campfire Audio fans in this thread wondering about this including myself. Love my Vegas BTW

 

[RollsDownWindowsManually]

I am looking for a closed HP with good isolation, these seem to fit the bill. Can anyone who has heard these compare with closed ones from ZMF (Blackwood, atticus). Are they in the same league? (apart from amplification)

I briefly heard the Eikon and from memory found the treble way too dark for me, not my preference, I'm sure many love them but I found them too polite and dull. I obviously can't a/b them but I'd take the Cascade all day over that one from memory. Haven't heard Atticus.

 

[AlwaysForward]

Ken,

Can we get an answer to whether or not there will be a non-crystalline diamond driver version of the headphone coming out in the future? There were prototypes of a supposedly more expensive version with non-crystalline diamond driver?

Quite a few Campfire Audio fans in this thread wondering about this including myself. Love my Vegas BTW

Not to speak for Ken but unless a company makes an announcement on their own, it’s probably unlikely a product announcement will come from an enthusiast inquiry on a forum.

For every product that gets released, there are many prototypes to the wayside. Also, companies with long term plans have roadmaps around business market timing. Generally you’ll not see 2 announced closely together. It’s either concurrently at the same time or timed for another season for unannounced reasons.

For example: there may be the possibility of a diamond like Driver design in the wings but since the company is testing the headphone market, they may need to validate the new business vertical before expanding. Also, it’s possible that scaling manufacturing is another factor. New product types are expensive to scale. It’s a common strategy to reinvest profits from the initial product into the next generation. Tesla Auto is a great example of this to point to.

Based on that, I’d not hold breath for any pending release this season or two outside of this one.

If the cascade is a successful venture, there will be others.

 

[KB]

Ken,

Can we get an answer to whether or not there will be a non-crystalline diamond driver version of the headphone coming out in the future? There were prototypes of a supposedly more expensive version with non-crystalline diamond driver?

Quite a few Campfire Audio fans in this thread wondering about this including myself. Love my Vegas BTW

HI Friends,

Good question.

So its possible but at this point in time we need to evaluate a bunch of things. I need to be sure the ADLC vs BE is going to make sense, will ADLC preform significantly better than the current BE drivers? This we are doing some preliminary work, is it cost effective? Will we release a ADLC version? its possible but it would be a way off and honestly I am not sure if that makes sense. A 8.5mm speaker (Vega and Lyra II) is going to be a lot different from the much larger 42mm ones we are using in the Cascade. So if it makes sense to make a ADLC version it will be a while, also the ADLC drivers are a lot more $ than the BE so again its got to made all add up. Cost is a issue, we want it to different (better) enough to make the extra cost involved add up.

Thats where we are at this moment in time, of course I am evaluating this but its not conclusive at this point. At the moment we do not have a ADLC locked and loaded by any means. I do hope it works out but for now we are super happy with the Cascade as it is.

I cant stress enough that the Cascade sounds killer using a balanced source and our SXC8 cable, sorry I am not saying this just to sell cables. I hope to be able to AB SE and Balanced and demonstrate this to people at the show. I also am sending out balanced cables to some review folks so they can report out on that.

Cheers,

Ken

 

[alchemical]

Very excited by these, Ken. Been patiently waiting in the wings since I first heard news of the prototype, I'm glad you've gotten them to where you wanted them. Source (and budget)-wise right now, I'd just be driving from an iPhone. Do they require scaling to really sing? Your feedback here is, as always, appreciated. Cheers.

 

[ExpatinJapan]

Looking forwward to unboxing and listening to this beauty.

Once I get a decent amount of hours on it I will report back.

Regards
Expatinjapan

 

[MadMusicJunkie]

Looking forwward to unboxing and listening to this beauty.

Once I get a decent amount of hours on it I will report back.

Regards
Expatinjapan

Lucky guy! The box looks really chic, too!

This is definitely a front-runner for me. I'm a little torn, as I usually prefer IEM's. I've got 2 over-ears, and more than 8 in-ears. I think its because I'm on the go and want to be able to wear them at the office and all day. I've heard some awe-mazing IEM's (including an all-time favorite Dorado), but I've never really been blown away by an over-ears set. I really think this has the potential to really impress me, though. But that said:
a. I have not heard from Ken whether there will be a portable cable for this? I would love to try the balanced cables as well, so I'm sure I'd end up with 3 different cables for these bad-boys.
b. The other set I've always wanted to own (among a hundred others) is the AAW W500.

I listen to electronic (Ulrich Schnauss/Tycho/Emancipator/Saul Stokes-style) about 95% of the time.
Is the bass on the Cascades well defined and extend really deep? Good non-piercing highs?
The Cascades give me the impression that they're like the Bowers P9, but with a significantly better audiophile sound... I'd love to hear a side-by-side of those two, although I'm confident the Cascades would embarrass the P9.

I'd like to hear any thoughts from my fellow head-fi'er family on my conundrum before I blow another $1K on this selfish hobby/obsession...

 

[ExpatinJapan]

Campfire Audio unboxing pron

Enjoy








More shots on my blog, 25 photo limit per post here.

Hope you enjoyed the photos.

Regards
Expat

 

[KEV G]

Campfire Audio unboxing pron

Enjoy








More shots on my blog, 25 photo limit per post here.

Hope you enjoyed the photos.

Regards
Expat

Nice photos indeed, if these pictures are anything to go by, then CA are continuing their high standards in build quality.
Look forward to hearing your impressions.

 

[trellus]

By the looks of it, @ExpatinJapan, they are a premium portable set. Very nice! Can't wait to hear your impressions.

I know tastes are very subjective, but personally, I was very puzzled by a comment I read earlier in the thread casting them as cheap looking. They have a very premium look to me!

 

[LaCuffia]

I agree...the case looks very nice too.

 

[Niyologist]

Campfire Audio unboxing pron

Enjoy








More shots on my blog, 25 photo limit per post here.

Hope you enjoyed the photos.

Regards
Expat

Wow. This looks fantastic. If I ever get $800 for just spending on what I want. This will be my first choice.

 

[snk8699]

@ExpatinJapan

Thanks for posting these real world pics to showcase the quality of materials and craftsmanship. I never had any doubts it was going to be special since Ken and company have such high standards in regards to their products. I know Ken commented long ago about how much he enjoys a good closed back, so it's not surprising that his first foray into the headphone market was closed. I don't even have an affinity for closed backs, but I believe in CA so much that I'm on the cusp on purchasing anyway for that CA sound signature. CA has built their reputation on offering a tuning that is emotionally engaging and technically competent in a landscape where those two characteristics, for the most part, are mutually exclusive.

Well played Campfire, well played.

 

[Alanaudio]

As the owner of Andro who recommended two of my friends to start with Jupiter, I have never been skeptical about the build quality of CA. The Cascade looks great to me, I prefer the design of the headphone does not attract too much attention in the crowded but also does not look cheap.