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

Somewhat simplistic, as both Jupiter and Andromeda have much heftier sub and low bass than the Sennheisers, and that the Andromeda is technically superior to the Jupiter. However a valid comparison in the sense that Jupiter is more laid back sound to Andromeda, and Andromeda is more mid-forward to Jupiter.

 

I trust your ears. I would have to sell most of my gear to afford these though so I'm cautious. I might liquidate quite a bit for these. I do like having full sized headphones at work and I don't see these replacing the Code-X or HD800 at what they're good at. That being said, with work and baby prep, I'm 99% IEMs right now and these sound like they might replace a huge chunk of my collection.

Didn't work with my JH16s. Still sounded like shit.

I used stock tips with the Jupiter. I was disappointed with the stock FR so these might be better for me.

 

Yup. @CEE TEE and I have decided that if Marv, he and I all enjoy an headphone or piece of gear, it must be good.

 

if @Hands doesn't mod the Andromeda IEM AT ALL, it must be good!

 

HUGE CAVEAT / ALERT! ALERT!:

My impressions are largely from portables with a few ohms output Z. The Andromeda, because of its impedance curve, is SUPER sensitive to output Z. See here:

http://www.superbestaudiofriends.or...audio-andromeda-measurements.2088/#post-52702

FWIW, I felt the iPhone5 with a Zout of 3-4 ohms was perfect match! I also thought the Sony X Walkman with the Class D output (unknown Z Out) was an excellent match as well, albeit with a bit of hiss. The Magni 2U output (with almost 0 output Z) was slightly too bassy for my tastes. All subjective impressions I have given so far should assume a device with Zout of several ohms!

 

I do too. I've been going back and forth with a variety of sources tonight; and honestly, it's not that it's not as good with Magni 2U or lower low Z amps. I was able to adjust to the warmer presentation from low Z amps in very little time.

The idea of carrying around bricks layered on top of other bricks got old me on quickly. It's stupid and ghey. At the extreme, you end up with a tablet, a battery pack, a portable DAC, and then an amp. Defeats the point of IEMs. The good thing is that the Andromeda DOES NOT NEED an amp at all given its sensitivity. And the fact remains, there is no such thing as a "wire with gain" amp. Any amp will color or remove a bit of the sound from the source. IMO, this is an IEM where you do not want to run a separate amp.

 

All my measurements are now taken from a Magni 2 (< 0.2 output impedance) and Modi 2U. I used to use an ODAC and Objective 2, but the Schiit stack measured slightly better and had lower output impedance.

But yes, it should all make sense now.