In a world cluttered with IEMs, sometimes you have to search the stars for something great. Even there, the constellations can get a bit crowded, so it’s the spaces in between that really shine Read More
Top of my list for if I had the means right now
Punching WAY above its weight, given the iconic and irrefutable AS(G)2.5 had 2 K atop the huge DD and was comfortably $1k used for a minute
If this has more pizazz than the Black Star at a lesser price its a no brainer if you have the loot and love bass
IN YO FACE
I don’t know how this drop compares to other Campfire gear, but the Campfire IEMs I have heard are pretty mind blowing. I was browsing the $2k up IEMs at a recent can jam and preferred Campfire’s $2.2 K Astrolith IEM to the competition into the $4K range.
What I heard was an extremely technically capable sound, but also very engaging, dynamic and musical. If nothing else, campfire shows that great design is more than a parts list.
Will_FI demoed their entire modern lineup at CanJam SoCal and have to agree. The Astrolith and Clara are breath-taking in different ways. I even really enjoyed the Cascara, which is on the cheaper-end of their offerings! People see the price tag and assume its a rip-off. Who knows, this might not be a great IEM, but CFA has a good track-record.
For $800 that's a major competitive area. You have IEMs like the Thieaudio Origin, Oracle and Monarch, Scarlet mini, Mega5-est and Tangzu Bajie. The fr graph seems a bit meh, especially for the price and the drivers used I don't think it'll compete. Most other meta tuned IEMs will retrieve more detail than a 2BA high setup.
GuyBlasphemyIt will be interesting to see what the reviews say. This one will come down to whether they can bring enough design skill to overcome their competitors’ super short product cycle. I’m hoping they can, but we’ll know when the reviews roll in.
Will_FAfter reviewing for nearly 10 years, it is my opinion that companies with longer product cycles produce IEMs that sound better and lost longer than those with short ones. Take, for example, Periodic Audio (same Carbon drivers since 2018) or ClearTune Monitors (same flagship IEM since 2018). These are products that stand the test of time and aren't simply "superseded" by minor iterations on frequency response or shell design.
Of course, all audio at this price-point is basically just subjective assessment (we are way past the point of diminishing returns).
Oh trust me, after years of reviewing and being a part of the general audiophile "discourse" I've seen a lot of that--particularly in the Chi-Fi communities. More drivers means more expensive (to manufacture). There's actually no correlation between quantity and technology of driver to sound quality. I've heard garbage 10-BA IEMs, 8BA + EST + BA + DD, etc--and these are very expensive products.
An IEM, first and foremost, be engineered by people who have a strong grasp on the science behind creating quality sound. Companies that shove as many generic-tuned drivers as possible in their IEMs rarely end up that way, as any chief engineer worth their salt will understand that more drivers == more problems, more harmonics to deal with, more complex shell geometry, etc.
Will_BI think that there was an Andromeda S in there somewhere; maybe that came out in 2021. It was a little smaller I think, and had a glossy steel look.
If they are going to be expensive there is no point in that, there are enough expensive competitors and more importantly nowadays there are many cheap and good IEMs.