[sateric]

Headphonebar is actually where I demo'ed the andromedas. Travis is a cool dude.

 

[Rockwell75]

Headphonebar is actually where I demo'ed the andromedas. Travis is a cool dude.

One of the best. I yearn for the days I could head to his shop in person and demo everything to my heart's content. I just purchased an Andomeda 2020 off him which I should have in my hands in a few hours

 

[Rockwell75]

I love it when the mailman comes.

 

[mashuto]

I love it when the mailman comes.

You are on a roll here. Enjoy!

 

[Rockwell75]

My Andromeda 2020 is really enjoying the total lack of hiss brought about by the stygian blackness of the M8 background. A blissful pairing indeed.



Also I want to tip my hat to the stylish, simple and minimalistic packaging of Campfire Audio IEMs. I always feel compelled to put my Campfire boxes on display because I love their look and overall ambiance.



Again, gotta say, the Andromeda 2020 is still the preeminent "love at first listen" IEM out there right now...I've really missed its sound.

 

[Rockwell75]

Blessing 2 Dusk Impressions

First off thanks to "that other place" for the opportunity to hear these. Tours like this very helpful to people like me who otherwise would have a very difficult time getting ahold of new gear to demo.

Most of my experience in my 2+ years has been in the $1-2K realm so there's a chance my frame of reference is out of line with what I should reasonably expect a $300 IEM to sound like. With that in mind I'll confine these impressions to tonal preferences.

My personal reference for "neutrality" fall more along the lines of IEMs like the Andromeda 2020 or VE Elysium. I know both of these IEMs could be described as colored-- but they are no more colored than the Dusk, just in a different direction. To understand where I'm coming from with what follows take a look at the following:



I was mainly interested in hearing them as I had someone non-ironically suggest them to me as a better alternative to the CFA Dorado 2020 for an IEM with a bass emphasis...a suggestion that seems patently absurd now that I've heard the Dusk.

Put succinctly-- these are not for me. I would describe them ultimately as "Chifi Neutral". IE., there is a slight sub-bass lift, but mid-bass and lower mids lack presence and body and upper mids/lower treble sound slightly overloaded to my ears. Comparing the graphs of the Dusk and Andro 2020 make this emphasis apparent as the Andro is basically the inverse of the Dusk in this respect (more of a mid-bass/lower mid emphasis, less of a lower treble upper mid emphasis) For a lot of my music (for which something like the Andromeda 2020 is better suited as a reference) the Dusk comes off lifeless and flat-- and often (like with something like CCR's Bad Moon Rising or Zappa's Peaches En Regalia) the upper mid/lower treble emphasis can sound shouty, harsh and fatiguing to my ears-- often borderline wince inducing. Perhaps one could fix a lot of what I'm complaining about here with some EQ my personal feeling is that I don't really hear the potential. Ultimately a hard pass from me.

For an IEM at about the same price tier that I feel excels the Dusk pretty much across the board I would heartily rec the UM 3DT. It stll has what I would call a slight Chifi emphasis but the timbre, clarity and (especially) overall tonal balance is much superior. YMMV etc.

 

[Mehran]

Blessing 2 Dusk Impressions

First off thanks to "that other place" for the opportunity to hear these. Tours like this very helpful to people like me who otherwise would have a very difficult time getting ahold of new gear to demo.

Most of my experience in my 2+ years has been in the $1-2K realm so there's a chance my frame of reference is out of line with what I should reasonably expect a $300 IEM to sound like. With that in mind I'll confine these impressions to tonal preferences.

My personal reference for "neutrality" fall more along the lines of IEMs like the Andromeda 2020 or VE Elysium. I know both of these IEMs could be described as colored-- but they are no more colored than the Dusk, just in a different direction. To understand where I'm coming from with what follows take a look at the following:



I was mainly interested in hearing them as I had someone non-ironically suggest them to me as a better alternative to the CFA Dorado 2020 for an IEM with a bass emphasis...a suggestion that seems patently absurd now that I've heard the Dusk.

Put succinctly-- these are not for me. I would describe them ultimately as "Chifi Neutral". IE., there is a slight sub-bass lift, but mid-bass and lower mids lack presence and body and lower mids/upper treble sound slightly overloaded to my ears. Comparing the graphs of the Dusk and Andro 2020 make this emphasis apparent as the Andro is basically the inverse of the Dusk in this respect (more of a mid-bass/lower mid emphasis, less of a lower treble upper mid emphasis) For a lot of my music (for which something like the Andromeda 2020 is better suited as a reference) the Dusk comes off lifeless and flat-- and often (like with something like CCR's Bad Moon Rising or Zappa's Peaches En Regalia) the upper mid/lower treble emphasis can sound shouty, harsh and fatiguing to my ears-- often borderline wince inducing. Perhaps one could fix a lot of what I'm complaining about here with some EQ my personal feeling is that I don't really hear the potential. Ultimately a hard pass from me.

For an IEM at about the same price tier that I feel excels the Dusk pretty much across the board I would heartily rec the UM 3DT. It stll has what I would call a slight Chifi emphasis but the timbre, clarity and (especially) overall tonal balance is much superior. YMMV etc.

What baffles me is that a lot reviewers from western countries also like the Dusk quite a bit. Maybe it does well with jazz music and classical because of good imaging , but even then the timbre is unnatural and overall the sound is unengaging to me, but what do I know, lol.

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

Blessing 2 Dusk Impressions

First off thanks to "that other place" for the opportunity to hear these. Tours like this very helpful to people like me who otherwise would have a very difficult time getting ahold of new gear to demo.

Most of my experience in my 2+ years has been in the $1-2K realm so there's a chance my frame of reference is out of line with what I should reasonably expect a $300 IEM to sound like. With that in mind I'll confine these impressions to tonal preferences.

My personal reference for "neutrality" fall more along the lines of IEMs like the Andromeda 2020 or VE Elysium. I know both of these IEMs could be described as colored-- but they are no more colored than the Dusk, just in a different direction. To understand where I'm coming from with what follows take a look at the following:



I was mainly interested in hearing them as I had someone non-ironically suggest them to me as a better alternative to the CFA Dorado 2020 for an IEM with a bass emphasis...a suggestion that seems patently absurd now that I've heard the Dusk.

Put succinctly-- these are not for me. I would describe them ultimately as "Chifi Neutral". IE., there is a slight sub-bass lift, but mid-bass and lower mids lack presence and body and upper mids/lower treble sound slightly overloaded to my ears. Comparing the graphs of the Dusk and Andro 2020 make this emphasis apparent as the Andro is basically the inverse of the Dusk in this respect (more of a mid-bass/lower mid emphasis, less of a lower treble upper mid emphasis) For a lot of my music (for which something like the Andromeda 2020 is better suited as a reference) the Dusk comes off lifeless and flat-- and often (like with something like CCR's Bad Moon Rising or Zappa's Peaches En Regalia) the upper mid/lower treble emphasis can sound shouty, harsh and fatiguing to my ears-- often borderline wince inducing. Perhaps one could fix a lot of what I'm complaining about here with some EQ my personal feeling is that I don't really hear the potential. Ultimately a hard pass from me.

For an IEM at about the same price tier that I feel excels the Dusk pretty much across the board I would heartily rec the UM 3DT. It stll has what I would call a slight Chifi emphasis but the timbre, clarity and (especially) overall tonal balance is much superior. YMMV etc.

That Dusk frequency response curve is sublime. Perfect. Thanks for posting it. It's looks glorious. That bass shelf prevents it from bleeding into the mids and gives it a fantastic transparency and stage. That Andromeda looks veiled and muddy in comparison just by looking at the graph. People definitely hear things differently.

I own both the Dusk and the 3DT and I much prefer the 3DT. It has much more natural timbre and is its key differentiator. I think I just prefer dynamic drivers.

 

[Rockwell75]

What baffles me is that a lot reviewers from western countries also like the Dusk quite a bit. Maybe it does well with jazz music and classical because of good imaging , but even then the timbre is unnatural and overall the sound is unengaging to me, but what do I know, lol.

When you disregard the army of memers and muppets out there hyping this thing there are no doubt people (like Mr. @HiFiHawaii808 below) who seem to genuinely love it. My thoughts fall along similar lines as yours.

That Dusk frequency response curve is sublime. Perfect. Thanks for posting it. It's looks glorious. That bass shelf prevents it from bleeding into the mids and gives it a fantastic transparency and stage. That Andromeda looks veiled and muddy in comparison just by looking at the graph. People definitely hear things differently.

Tonal preferences are mostly subjective-- the fact that the Dusk curve gets touted as some sort of "neutral" is to me a testament of how differently people can hear things. To you what sounds "sublime" is to me a shouty, lifeless fatiguing mess...again, YMMV. Conversely to me the Andromeda 2020 is about as muddy as I am Chinese.

At least we can agree on the 3DT

 

[sateric]

Out of curiousity I tried purchasing the Dusk version in China and they refused to sell me one. I just said oh well guess i'll hard pass on all your companies products and bid them farewell.

 

[1TrickPony]

Just received @Rockwell75 's beloved Elysium. Oh they are indeed a sight to behold!

 

[Rockwell75]

Just received @Rockwell75 's beloved Elysium. Oh they are indeed a sight to behold!

Sweet! Can't wait to hear your thoughts! Your VE8 is currently waiting for me at the PO.

 

[Rockwell75]

I've been thinking lately about the problems with judging something based off an FR graph alone. The (present) limitations of fixating only on FR imho can be understood by analogy. Imagine two buildings-- one made of steel and concrete, and another made of popsicle sticks and newspaper-- whose shadows are reflected on the ground. Looking at the shadows can give you a lot of information about the buildings-- relative size, dimension, etc. -- but there's a lot more information that's missing as the shadow is ultimately only giving you a 2-d projection of a 3-d object. I think something similar is happening with FR graphs of headphones/IEMs-- the graphs can give us lots of useful comparitive information, but there is lots it doesn't tell us and the true nature of the thing in question (the building or the headphone) can only be had by experiencing it directly.

 

[Mehran]

I've been thinking lately about the problems with judging something based off an FR graph alone. The (present) limitations of fixating only on FR imho can be understood by analogy. Imagine two buildings-- one made of steel and concrete, and another made of popsicle sticks and newspaper-- whose shadows are reflected on the ground. Looking at the shadows can give you a lot of information about the buildings-- relative size, dimension, etc. -- but there's a lot more information that's missing as the shadow is ultimately only giving you a 2-d projection of a 3-d object. I think something similar is happening with FR graphs of headphones/IEMs-- the graphs can give us lots of useful comparitive information, but there is lots it doesn't tell us and the true nature of the thing in question (the building or the headphone) can only be had by experiencing it directly.

I have a theory about ear gain. Could be total nonsense though .
People with wider ear canals (I use the large tips most of the times) tend to need less of it, and are more sensitive to the upper mids as a result. So people with smaller ear canals tend to hear differently and need more ear gain. That's why the impressions differ so much. It's really the brain that hears, all happens in the brain and it compensates for the ear shape and the effects that it has on frequencies so we hear sounds in a natural way.

 

[Rockwell75]

I have a theory about ear gain. Could be total nonsense though .
People with wider ear canals (I use the large tips most of the times) tend to need less of it, and are more sensitive to the upper mids as a result. So people with smaller ear canals tend to hear differently and need more ear gain. That's why the impressions differ so much. It's really the brain that hears, all happens in the brain and it compensates for the ear shape and the effects that it has on frequencies so we hear sounds in a natural way.

Interesting thought-- I'm sure there's lots we don't know.
I'm also starting to wonder if people can be more or less sensitive to different areas of FR due to how deep their voices are, or if they speak a language that is more/less prevalent in certain FR regions.