[audio123]

My take on the Campfire Io with comparison against the Comet. Enjoy & Happy Listening, as always!

 

[CANiSLAYu]

Selling my CA Atlas if anyone’s looking for a deal!

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/fs-new-open-box-campfire-atlas.908899/

 

[KevP]

Give the Atlas time to season....then let us know which one you would select if you could only have one. Spiral Dots do a great job with them. I also really enjoy my CA customs with the Atlas.

The Symbios may well be good with the Atlas, but they are so useless sending them from Hungary, that I've given up trying. How hard can it be? You stick them in an envelope and put the address on it, don't you?

 

[abirdie4me]

B-Stock Atlas just arrived. Initial impressions after an hour:

• No issues with driver flex so far, although first thing I did is put spiral dots on
• Sound great already, not sure if there is burn-in with these that will make it even better. Running from a Fiio M11.
• B-stock didn't include anything other than Atlas, cable, and 1 pair of tips. Not an issue for me, I've got a lots of tips laying around and have a 4.4 balanced all-silver cable on the way
• Included cable is tiny! I was expecting something similar to what came with my Polaris, but this one is super thin and light-weight. Sounds good though, so I'm not complaining.
• Compared to my Fiio FH7 (also new), these clearly have much more bass. The FH7 are much smoother sounding overall and the vocals are a bit more forward, while still providing excellent details. The Atlas has more punch and sounds more 'fun'. I think they are a great compliment to each other, the FH7 for relaxing and the Atlas for rocking out or more critical listening
• Value - I paid about $350 more for the Atlas than I did for the FH7. I think they are both worth the price of admission. If I could only have one of them, I'd probably go with the FH7 since I have a nice desktop setup for when I want to listen critically. My main portable use is around bedtime when I'm trying to wind down for the day, and the FH7 are perfect for that.
• I have custom eartips ordered from ADV for the Atlas, hopefully that will help some with comfort. I can't imagine any improvements in sound, but I guess I'll find out soon.

I've had a few more hours to listen to the Atlas, and I find the bass too strong and overpowering the lower mids somewhat. I've been able to eq it down for local files and that makes it sound really nice, but Tidal and Qobuz streaming is a tough listen right now. I'm hoping the new silver 4.4 balanced cable combined with custom eartips and some burn-in will help tame the bass naturally.

From an ergonomics standpoint, the straight down cable has advantages and disadvantages. I like that I can remove them quickly if needed to talk to someone, but they don't seem as stable and as easy to get a good seal as my earphones that loop over my ears. I've tried looping these as Ken showed in the first few posts, but that's not comfortable for me.These are showing a lot of promise and I'm hopeful they will improve a lot with time and custom eartips.

 

[Luisonic]

I've had a few more hours to listen to the Atlas, and I find the bass too strong and overpowering the lower mids somewhat. I've been able to eq it down for local files and that makes it sound really nice, but Tidal and Qobuz streaming is a tough listen right now. I'm hoping the new silver 4.4 balanced cable combined with custom eartips and some burn-in will help tame the bass naturally.

From an ergonomics standpoint, the straight down cable has advantages and disadvantages. I like that I can remove them quickly if needed to talk to someone, but they don't seem as stable and as easy to get a good seal as my earphones that loop over my ears. I've tried looping these as Ken showed in the first few posts, but that's not comfortable for me.These are showing a lot of promise and I'm hopeful they will improve a lot with time and custom eartips.

I would say that this is why these forums are fun but also useful...
Anything you think you know about the sound of the Atlas will invariably change well past the 200-300 hr mark... both cable and drivers mature with burning, and that overwhelming bass you hear now will give way to amazing balance and splendid highs.
Plus, my experience, I stopped experiencing driver flex first modifying the tips, but then just when my ears got used to the CA roundness...
Point is, give it time, burn them really well, and don’t commit too much to any ideas that, as has been amply discussed here, will change in due time.

 

[JaZZ]

To my ears the bass excess hasn't disappeared after break-in. Actually it's a pity that the Atlas is primarily considered by bassheads, since it's known to have a phenomenal bass reproduction, in both quantity and quality. But it is capable of more than satisfying bassheads. It's just that – like all head- and earphones – its amplitude response needs some modification. After a lot of trials and fine-tuning I ended up with this equalizer curve on my FiiO X3 II, my primary source for it on the go:

dB....... –2 ... –4.2 .,.. –6 .. –4.4 .. –2.6 .. –1.6 ... –– .... –3 ..... –5 ... –0.8

Yesterday evening, on the way home from a concert with large orchestral works from Matthias Pintscher, Maurice Ravel and Charles Ives, I had my Fiio/Atlas setup with me and was curious how I would rate the difference between live and reproduced music. I was stunned about how close the Atlas came when it comes to instrument timbres and even detail resolution. Of course the spatial cues, the threedimensionality from a live concert were lacking, but it was a perfectly satisfying presentation.

I'm saying this because in my book the Atlas is a serious instrument for reproducing even demanding music – with a carefully equalized amplitude response. What stands out – in comparison to other IEMs – is the cleanness and the dynamics of the bass, which has its impact on the whole frequency spectrum. The treble is one of the best (= most honest) I've heard from any IEM when brought to an adequate level.

So feel free to copy my EQ curve if you feel like it!

 

[Luisonic]

To my ears the bass excess hasn't disappeared after break-in. Actually it's a pity that the Atlas is primarily considered by bassheads, since it's known to have a phenomenal bass reproduction, in both quantity and quality. But it is capable of more than satisfying bassheads. It's just that – like all head- and earphones – its amplitude response needs some modification. After a lot of trials and fine-tuning I ended up with this equalizer curve on my FiiO X3 II, my primary source for it on the go:


dB....... –2 ... –4.2 .,.. –6 .. –4.4 .. –2.6 .. –1.6 ... –– .... –3 ..... –5 ... –0.8

Yesterday evening, on the way home from a concert with large orchestral works from Matthias Pintscher, Maurice Ravel and Charles Ives, I had my Fiio/Atlas setup with me and was curious how I would rate the difference between live and reproduced music. I was stunned about how close the Atlas came when it comes to instrument timbres and even detail resolution. Of course the spatial cues, the threedimensionality from a live concert were lacking, but it was a perfectly satisfying presentation.

I'm saying this because in my book the Atlas is a serious instrument for reproducing even demanding music – with a carefully equalized amplitude response. What stands out – in comparison to other IEMs – is the cleanness and the dynamics of the bass, which has its impact on the whole frequency spectrum. The treble is one of the best (= most honest) I've heard from any IEM when brought to an adequate level.

So feel free to copy my EQ curve if you feel like it!

Then yes of course, sound also depends on the source!...
In my experience however, I’ve never EQd the Atlas, and don’t feel any improvement when I do, with my ak spkm.

I do agree that the Atlas are marvelous at all kinds of music except for Classical, where they sound just too musical... who knows, may have Mozart’s idea all along!

 

[JaZZ]

Then yes of course, sound also depends on the source!...
In my experience however, I’ve never EQd the Atlas, and don’t feel any improvement when I do, with my ak spkm.

I do agree that the Atlas are marvelous at all kinds of music except for Classical, where they sound just too musical... who knows, may have Mozart’s idea all along!

In my case I don't perceive much impact from the source in terms of EQ settings, which show just marginal deviations.

Now that summer's about to establish here in Zurich, some pics of my balcony setups:

The default system.

The Luxury System.

The DAVE/M Scaler system really provides one of the most immersive and intense musical experiences apart from live concerts. The M Scaler expands the soundstage from the middle of my head to infinity, despite lacking frontal localization (which I even don't get with headphones and binaural recordings). Without M Scaler the soundstage is considerably flatter. This also applies to the Hugo₂ system, which doesn't fall far short at all, although it doesn't offer the same transparency and threedimensionality.

BTW, the DAP in the pictures is a FiiO X5 II. It has the unfortunate habit to lose the EQ function as soon as the sample rate changes from 44.1 to 48 kHz and vice-versa (bravo, FiiO!). During those moments I really value what the elaborated EQ curve does, since the sound without is very obtrusive, boomy and unnatural to my ears. Maybe the reason why Luisonic judges the Atlas as less suitable for classical music.

 

[davidcotton]

The Symbios may well be good with the Atlas, but they are so useless sending them from Hungary, that I've given up trying. How hard can it be? You stick them in an envelope and put the address on it, don't you?

Depending on where you are in the world, audiosanctuary.co.uk had them in stock if that helps?

 

[KevP]

That's great. Thanks for the tip.

 

[davidcotton]

Always had seal issues with the comets until I tried a set of cheapy triflange tips that I turned into biflange actually seem to work! Getting a good seal without the usual vacuum effects making it difficult to take them out.

 

[mattiav]

Post some snaps of the tips on the Andros please when you get them

Here you go:


The fit is perfect, isolation is excellent. And the nozzle size on the Atlas is the same, and the atlas has a shallower ‘neck’ so I can actually use them for both IEMs. Don’t think the Andro would fit a tip made for the Atlas due to nozzle shape. Good fit and finish as well.

In terms of sound they add an extra bit of solidity to the bass, which is not unwelcome with the Andro S from time to time, but unfortunately I do lose a little bit of top-end sparkle compared to the stock Marshmallow tips I use on both the Atlas and Andro S. Only really noticeable when doing an immediate side by side, and had to double-check to make sure it wasn’t just in my head. They also make the Andro stick out at a rather jaunty angle - kind of Solaris-like. Stability is perfectly fine. May be just the ticket for folks with small ears that find the Andro uncomfortable.

I do wonder if a smaller tip like the one Custom Art seems to make would be a better fit in terms of sound. Not sure if it’s the extended tube or the bend in said tube or the silicone that’s rolling off the highs slightly.

I am considering getting another set from ADV with the hearing protection filters for concerts though...these things are pretty comfy!

 

[Patzig]

Would someone with the ADV custom tips + Atlas mind posting a picture while wearing them? Just curious how far they stick out, and at what angle.

 

[journeyman63]

I emailed a couple times and hadn't heard back, so I gave them a call yesterday. I told them what was going on and they sent me a return label, saying they'd take a look and either fix or replace the earpiece. They also followed up on the emails soon after.

So the Atlas is in the mail as of this morning. I'll report back what the outcome is. I'm suffering a bit of withdrawal after having enjoyed listening to them for a few weeks. Looking forward to having them back and in full working condition.

CA confirmed the problem with my previous set of Atlas--the sound volume had become seriously reduced in one earpiece--and I just received a replacement set. So far, they sound great and I'm very happy with how CA has handled the situation.

 

[mattiav]

Would someone with the ADV custom tips + Atlas mind posting a picture while wearing them? Just curious how far they stick out, and at what angle.

Here you go, with my apologies for the terrible image quality. Keep in mind this set is technically for the Andromeda, but I wouldn’t think the fit would be very much different..