Campfire Audio Andromeda Review: Holy Cow, This is a Dream, Awesomesauce!

looks promising. could be a good Campfire cable "upgrade" from the default Jupiter cable (Tinsel cable) that tangled itself just by looking at it.

can we get custom Campfire Audio t-shirts to wear around RMAF next Fall?
"I bought my CA Andromeda based on Marv's hype train!
not driven by the tiny emperor of HF!"

 

It is as you described. I actually increase the 2.5k and 6.3k graphic EQ settings by one notch on my portable player with the Jupiter. The Jupiter is more laid back than neutral.

The Andromeda has the same clarity as Jupiter but does seem more resolving. Maybe it is the combination of several other aspects. I also don't remember the Jupiter having this level of responsiveness. Does the Andromeda have more drivers paralleled up for more output per V? I noted it's nominal impedance is half of the Jupiter.

There is certainly something to be said with high efficiency. Those who have driven light cars, the old old Porsches, the old CRX, Miatas, Lotus Exige, etc. would understand. There is a reason why the Grados and AD2000 have their fans despite these headphones' strange frequency response. The liveliness, the responsiveness, to small inputs, are unmatched. Planars absorb the small inputs to the diaphgrams. Stats compress stuff when things get going. Dynamics take a while to get up to speed.

But yeah, what I am hearing, the combination of a reference-like FR, resolution, clarity, the macro and micro dynamics. This combination is cosmic indeed.

 

Jupiter is 4 armatures and Andromeda 5. Not sure if/how any are doubled up.

So I take it andromeda will be very sensitive to output impedances? Hopefully it will play well with the 3+ OI on the iPhone 6S+.

 

They are probably "microphonic" by your standards. I am one of those people that don't notice these kinds of things. Never had a problem with IEM cable microphonics.

 

I'll check this out tonight or over the weekend. If the Andromeda impedance curve is fairly flat, even highest Zout amps would be fine because it's so sensitive. I've been using Andromeda with portables (Sony X, Android, etc.) with very good results, which cannot be said for other IEMs.

 

I would say that subjectively they are much less warm than what the frequency response would indicate. The bass distortion is probably quite a bit lower than that of dynamics, so much less "warmth" contributed to from distortion.

 

LOL, no teardown. Well maybe. I heard they were using drivers different the from the usual suspects: Sonion, Knowles, etc. Anyone with reliable knowledge of this, please chime in.

 

Meant traditional dynamic headphones. BAs tend to do well in the distortion in the treble though. They suffer more in the mids and bass.

To put it another way, despite the measured FR, the overall tonal signature is more similar to the HD600 than the HD650. As I've said, HD600 with a sprinkle of lush and body and much more lower end heft. The Jupiter sounds more like an HD650. Pick your poison.

 

These are older V1 IEM measurements. I used a newer V3 compensation for IEMs measurements posted on this site. They don't differ much though. A few db in the lower end and a few db from 1-4kHz. So in essence, they are largely comparable. But please note differences in vertical scale. This old measurement stretched out frequency response in the Y axis a bit more.

Etymotic ER4S Frequency Response (for Comparison)


The ER4S definitely has more of that diffuse field thing going on. A bit too much IMO, but still tolerable to me. Also the 9kHz peak seems legit. Not only a measurement artifact, but I actually subjectively hear a peak there, although not to the extent as shown in the above plot.

 

The newer JH Audio universals remind of big testicles. Which then makes me think of weiners, Jude, suckage, bodily fluids, etc. Ugh, please don't bring up JH Audio again.

Dammit, I can't find any coins in my pocket, but this should be a good comparison to get an idea of the size of the Andromeda. The Andromeda does stick out just a tiny but more than the UERM, but the UERM is a custom after all. BTW, I use the medium Comply tips (S, M, L Comply and many others come in the box.)

 

I never totally bought into the Etymotic target curve. Those were the horrible days when diffuse field, HRTF, etc. were all the rage on HF, and nobody knew WTF they were talking about. The horror. The horror.

 

Buy a bunch of foam tips? You are right, they are expensive. In CA's defense, the Andromeda does sound damn good and easily qualifies as an IEM with reference sound. We could always talk about how expensive JH Audio stuff is, how badly off they sound, and the bodily fluids being splatted around with Jude in the middle.