[mvvRAZ]

Awesome combo! I can't wait to get my Project 8. How are you liking the cable?

There was a small mix up with the Prudence so I only have the Fortitude for now, but honestly, it's one of the nicest cables I own, absolutely love it

 

[mvvRAZ]

Dammit Michael, quit teasing with the pictures! Give us impressionnnnnns

Soon! I'm also preparing an 11 IEM shootout that will be formatted as a 1 sentence summary, 1 sentence for biggest pro and 1 sentence for biggest con - should be quite fun writing and choosing just one thing for each

 

[Wes S]

There was a small mix up with the Prudence so I only have the Fortitude for now, but honestly, it's one of the nicest cables I own, absolutely love it

Sweet! Now, I am even more excited to get mine. Thanks

 

[Layman1]

Soon! I'm also preparing an 11 IEM shootout that will be formatted as a 1 sentence summary, 1 sentence for biggest pro and 1 sentence for biggest con - should be quite fun writing and choosing just one thing for each

Knowing the IEMs in your collection, you could probably just write "Price" as the con in most cases

 

[mvvRAZ]

Knowing the IEMs in your collection, you could probably just write "Price" as the con in most cases

This time around it’s sound only! I own everything that will be in the shootout so they’ve already passed the build quality/feel/fit test

 

[mvvRAZ]

Campfire Andromeda MW10

I've taken way longer with these impressions than I do normally, because I really cannot decide how I feel about the MW10. I love some things about it, I really don't like other things, and the trade-offs here are rather "extreme" or to say the least, very pronounced.

The MW10 is an IEM that gets carried by a very engaging tuning and very high quality of the frequency regions at the expense of what I'd consider to be at best pretty mediocre technical ability. In terms of tuning I'd put it as a mild W, giving you that "I have a sickness for thickness" sensation - in some ways bearing a slight resemblance to the Thummim.

The bass on the MW10 has to be the best single BA bass I've heard to date. I've mentioned before that I am not bass picky at all as I enjoy all kinds of bass, but the MW10's lows are nothing short of stellar. Exceptional punch with very good extension and downright phenomenal texture. The Elysium has been discussed quite a lot in the past few weeks - if they shoved one of these drivers to cover its lows I think it would resolve a lot of the complaints.

The midrange on the MW10 is quite thick and textured. Inevitably you forego some clarity when you go for that kind of tuning, but it also makes the IEM quite forgiving, engaging and pleasant to listen to. I find the midrange quite linear, with a very gentle upper midrange boost - barely noticeable IMO, and I'd say the lift is mainly in comparison to the 2020 variant, which is one of the most linear IEMs I've tried to date

The treble has a slight lift to it, with excellent zing and sparkle that the Andromeda has always been famous for. I hear a slight roll-off at the top end which isn't there on the 2020 variant and I don't remember it being there on the Andromeda S back when I owned it.

As I said earlier, the tuning is IMHO, on point. Very energetic, pleasant and engaging in a way that allows you to just "get lost in the music" (I hate that term but it really does that to you lol). The trouble with the MW10 is, it only really impresses with its tuning and kinda disappoints with its technical ability

The staging is well... terrible. It might just be the most narrow IEM I own and is also one of the most narrow IEMs I've tried. The Elysium and Jomo Trinity are wide in comparison, and they're kinda my reference for narrow staging that doesn't feel too bad. The small stage becomes an even bigger problem when you couple it with a thick and textured tuning and presentation, as you end up with a congested performance, that lacks detail and separation. I'll probably end up keeping it instead of trading it for a 2020, but if the 2020 could come in a pretty, limited blue shell, I'd take it over the MW10 any day.

I can only really recommend it if you 1) want something with collection value or 2) favor tuning over technical ability by a massive margin. Then again though, the fact that on the used market the MW10 sells at double the price of a 2020... myeah I'm not convinced

 

[gLer]

or 2) favor tuning over technical ability by a massive margin.

In which case just get a BLON 03 and call it a day. I can think of $1500 better uses for a technically deficient IEM

 

[mvvRAZ]

In which case just get a BLON 03 and call it a day. I can think of $1500 better uses for a technically deficient IEM

Yeah, I think the biggest issue with the MW10 is that a non-limited, cheaper Andromeda 2020 exists haha

 

[Rockwell75]

Campfire Andromeda MW10

I've taken way longer with these impressions than I do normally, because I really cannot decide how I feel about the MW10. I love some things about it, I really don't like other things, and the trade-offs here are rather "extreme" or to say the least, very pronounced.

The MW10 is an IEM that gets carried by a very engaging tuning and very high quality of the frequency regions at the expense of what I'd consider to be at best pretty mediocre technical ability. In terms of tuning I'd put it as a mild W, giving you that "I have a sickness for thickness" sensation - in some ways bearing a slight resemblance to the Thummim.

The bass on the MW10 has to be the best single BA bass I've heard to date. I've mentioned before that I am not bass picky at all as I enjoy all kinds of bass, but the MW10's lows are nothing short of stellar. Exceptional punch with very good extension and downright phenomenal texture. The Elysium has been discussed quite a lot in the past few weeks - if they shoved one of these drivers to cover its lows I think it would resolve a lot of the complaints.

The midrange on the MW10 is quite thick and textured. Inevitably you forego some clarity when you go for that kind of tuning, but it also makes the IEM quite forgiving, engaging and pleasant to listen to. I find the midrange quite linear, with a very gentle upper midrange boost - barely noticeable IMO, and I'd say the lift is mainly in comparison to the 2020 variant, which is one of the most linear IEMs I've tried to date

The treble has a slight lift to it, with excellent zing and sparkle that the Andromeda has always been famous for. I hear a slight roll-off at the top end which isn't there on the 2020 variant and I don't remember it being there on the Andromeda S back when I owned it.

As I said earlier, the tuning is IMHO, on point. Very energetic, pleasant and engaging in a way that allows you to just "get lost in the music" (I hate that term but it really does that to you lol). The trouble with the MW10 is, it only really impresses with its tuning and kinda disappoints with its technical ability

The staging is well... terrible. It might just be the most narrow IEM I own and is also one of the most narrow IEMs I've tried. The Elysium and Jomo Trinity are wide in comparison, and they're kinda my reference for narrow staging that doesn't feel too bad. The small stage becomes an even bigger problem when you couple it with a thick and textured tuning and presentation, as you end up with a congested performance, that lacks detail and separation. I'll probably end up keeping it instead of trading it for a 2020, but if the 2020 could come in a pretty, limited blue shell, I'd take it over the MW10 any day.

I can only really recommend it if you 1) want something with collection value or 2) favor tuning over technical ability by a massive margin. Then again though, the fact that on the used market the MW10 sells at double the price of a 2020... myeah I'm not convinced

Interesting thoughts.

I don't think it's a single BA for the lows-- I'm pretty sure the Andromedas have a double BA down there.

My own impressions were a bit skewered by the fact that I haven't heard the 2020 since the summer and when I got the MW10 I was fresh off 2 weeks of getting my skull rattled and hypnotized by the MEST...but I didn't notice the staging being any more different relative to my Solaris SE than the 2020 was...but I dunno.

I will say that:

engaging in a way that allows you to just "get lost in the music"

This is pretty much my first priority with IEMs and if an IEM can pull that off then I can forgive much much else. I don't think (personally) that it's a term to hate but one such monitors should aspire to. I do though, as you say, tend to rate tuning higher than technical ability, though I think you may be a lot pickier (perhaps due to your considerably more varied experience) than I am. Anyway thanks for your thoughts it's nice to get some more balanced impressions of these things.

Edit: Perhaps another takeaway of this is how good the 2020 Andro really is for what it is.

 

[mvvRAZ]

Interesting thoughts.

I don't think it's a single BA for the lows-- I'm pretty sure the Andromedas have a double BA down there.

My own impressions were a bit skewered by the fact that I haven't heard the 2020 since the summer and when I got the MW10 I was fresh off 2 weeks of getting my skull rattled and hypnotized by the MEST...but I didn't notice the staging being any more different relative to my Solaris SE than the 2020 was...but I dunno.

I will say that:


This is pretty much my first priority with IEMs and if an IEM can pull that off then I can forgive much much else. I don't think (personally) that it's a term to hate but one such monitors should aspire to. I do though, as you say, tend to rate tuning higher than technical ability, though I think you may be a lot pickier (perhaps due to your considerably more varied experience) than I am. Anyway thanks for your thoughts it's nice to get some more balanced impressions of these things.

Edit: Perhaps another takeaway of this is how good the 2020 Andro really is for what it is.

I think the MW10 had a 3 driver setup? Regular Andro's are 2-1-2 but I think this one just had 3 BAs in total. I might be wrong though

I don't mind natural IEMs, but there's something about it that makes me cringe really hard then again though, I'm more of a audio/gear-o-phile than I am a melophile

 

[mashuto]

I think the MW10 had a 3 driver setup? Regular Andro's are 2-1-2 but I think this one just had 3 BAs in total. I might be wrong though

I don't mind natural IEMs, but there's something about it that makes me cringe really hard then again though, I'm more of a audio/gear-o-phile than I am a melophile

The mw10 had a "normal" andromeda driver setup. Campfire did have another japan only special edition release that had 3 drivers, called the c/2019 q4 or something weird like that. But it was a totally separate model.

 

[Rockwell75]

I think the MW10 had a 3 driver setup? Regular Andro's are 2-1-2 but I think this one just had 3 BAs in total. I might be wrong though

No there was another 3 driver model released alongside the Andromeda...but the MW10 has the usual 5. It was blue but without the gold screws.

I don't mind natural IEMs, but there's something about it that makes me cringe really hard then again though, I'm more of a audio/gear-o-phile than I am a melophile

Cringe in the hippy-dippy sense or just that it's not your style? Either way I get you and appreciate that you're very forward with your own preferences so those of us who may have different preferences can assess what you say accordingly. Cheers, esteemed sir.

 

[Rockwell75]

The 3-driver model is on the right above. The instruction booklet in the MW10 box has its driver config spelled out and it's the same as any other Andro...and the main reason I consider the MW10 to be a bona fide Andromeda, unlike the Andromeda Gold (which I should have in my hands soon), which has a totally different shell and driver config.

 

[mvvRAZ]

No there was another 3 driver model released alongside the Andromeda...but the MW10 has the usual 5. It was blue but without the gold screws.



Cringe in the hippy-dippy sense or just that it's not your style? Either way I get you and appreciate that you're very forward with your own preferences so those of us who may have different preferences can assess what you say accordingly. Cheers, esteemed sir.

More in the hippy sense the expression itself is a little overly poetic for me

 

[Wyville]

I will say that:

engaging in a way that allows you to just "get lost in the music"

This is pretty much my first priority with IEMs and if an IEM can pull that off then I can forgive much much else. I don't think (personally) that it's a term to hate but one such monitors should aspire to. I do though, as you say, tend to rate tuning higher than technical ability, though I think you may be a lot pickier (perhaps due to your considerably more varied experience) than I am.

I'm pretty much the same in this and I guess it's why my reviews never get too technical. The music comes first for me and IEMs are a means to an end, so I will always look at how IEMs present the music and if they engage me with it. I had an interesting discussion yesterday with a fellow reviewer on how some reviews focus heavily on whether or not IEMs meet the ideal FR of the reviewer and I explained that for me that is not as interesting because it doesn't explore the IEMs' signature. A wonky graph doesn't mean the IEMs can't be thoroughly engaging. In fact, if IEMs have a wonky graph I am more inclined to ask why the manufacturer chose that tuning. What does it offer? Does it work especially well with certain types of music? Because of that exploration I have had a few surprises, where initially the IEMs would do little for me and yet after a few days I fell in love with them. That's how I ended up with the Fealty. Too bright at first yet I ended up writing the fastest review I have ever written because I was compelled to write and I bought them soon after. Very satisfying when I get that.

Everyone of course enjoys this hobby in their own way and I'm just jealous of @mvvRAZ because he has a money tree to help him fund a continuous rotation of gear.