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

Discussion in 'IEMs and Portable Gear' started by purr1n, May 13, 2016.

  1. Kunlun

    Kunlun cat-alyzes cat-aclysmic cat-erwauling - Friend

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    Thanks to @thegunner100, I'm trying the andro again with complys out of my ipod5.5 and apex glacier (waiting 2 years for the geek wave as a replacement, will probably buy something else the moment I finally hear it!).
    I've had a little while with it and I am reminded that I like the andro's bass!

    A girlfriend tried the andros with complys out of her 6th gen iPod and that is apparently a poor match. She liked the bass, but found the treble artificial and very harsh, "nails on a blackboard". The Katana was a much better match, although she liked the andros bass more, the treble won it for the Katana easily.

    She has a jh16fp, so she's not one for bright treble.
     
  2. gixxerwimp

    gixxerwimp Professional tricycle rider

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    You have more than one girlfriend? Jealous!

    Er ... or maybe not.
     
  3. Kunlun

    Kunlun cat-alyzes cat-aclysmic cat-erwauling - Friend

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    What? Just a turn of phrase! Personally, googlei-ism is not recommended, just out of avoiding suffering and drama for all involved. Really trusting someone and being trusted is amazing, it's hard to do that with googlei's pissed-off prostitutes , uh, I imagine...

    Anyhoo, here's the jh16fp I got for her a while back, pictured on a plane over New Year's vacation. She chose the colors and such, naturally:

    [​IMG]


    And she compared the ie800 with Katana and chose the Katana, hands down, again finding the treble to be much better for her on the Katana.
     
    Last edited: Jan 7, 2017
  4. gixxerwimp

    gixxerwimp Professional tricycle rider

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    Not to belabour the matter, but did you have a chance to try the Jot with the iEMatch set to High, which I believe results in a similar effective Z-out as the ZX2? Did the Andros sound too bright with the UE Buffer?

    I'll stop asking about this pairing now and just go down and listen to it for myself.
     
  5. Decomo

    Decomo Almost "Made"

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    Love to hear your take when you actually listen... :)

    I was thinking to get Jot for pairing with HD650 as well as Andro and may need to re-think and get Micro iDSD instead. If I understood spec correctly, iDSD has just under 1 ohm output impedance for amp section which might be ideal for Andro and also has enough power to drive HD650 with ease.
     
  6. JK47

    JK47 Guest

    Tried the Jot with UE buffer jack, and it didn't do anything for me, actually tried the Andros with and without UE buffer jack on every thing I own/owned. I kept on going back to the iphone SE, However YMMV...

    While the Z out maybe a large factor, I don't think it's the only one.
     
  7. Warrior

    Warrior RIP 2021

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    @Kunlun Love those pink JH with the bling!! If I saw a girl rocking those... She'd be an instant 10!!
     
  8. Grahad

    Grahad Guest

    Ah, the same waiting-for-Geek-Wave gang. Just that I was silly enough to believe they could deliver in 2016 and sold off my prior set up.

    I can see how the Andromeda treble can be harsh for people who like darker treble, although I'm surprised she's ok with the JH16FP.

    Perhaps some chrome or flakes for you sire?
     
  9. zerodeefex

    zerodeefex SBAF's Imelda Marcos

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    LG V20 is not the best SABRE implementation. Hard pass.

    I'd probably tip roll in your shoes. I haven't had an IEM this tip picky in a while. I definitely find the V2+ SE a big upgrade over the iphone SE headphone output but it took a while to find the right tips for me for the pairing.
     
  10. JK47

    JK47 Guest

    Yeah, tips are another crucial aspect that affect the Andromeda's sound. Really happy right now with ZX2 as the source and M/L spiral dots. I'm in a really good place setup wise with most of my gear right now.
     
  11. gixxerwimp

    gixxerwimp Professional tricycle rider

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    The micro iDSD has built n iEMatch and on High is supposed to be about 2-3 ohms Z-out. However, for louder recordings, this isn't enough attenuation to get past the channel imbalance in the volume pot unless you like to listen VERY loudly. So either you have some software volume control upstream or you need to add more attenuation between the iDSD and the Andro. On Ultra, it's almost enough for reasonable volume control. Classical music should be fine. But the Z-out goes back down to <1 ohm.

    The HD650 is not bad straight out of the iDSD but is way better out of the Jot fed by the iDSD line out. If you're not in a huge hurry, you can wait for my feedback re Andro. Not sure when I'll get back down to hifi.com.tw, but probably within a few weeks at the latest as I'm really curious myself.

    ClieOS on HF wrote:
    http://www.head-fi.org/products/ifi-audio-micro-idsd/reviews/13009

    I tried measureing my proto-pigtails and got the below, which doesn't seem right.
    @JK47 How exactly did you measure the UE Buffer Jack "tip to tail"?
    I guess the more forward, brighter nature of the Jot is also a major factor.
     
  12. Decomo

    Decomo Almost "Made"

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    Well noted. Wait for your feedback. I am not in a hurry. I am still waiting for both HD650 and Andro to arrive in a week or two... It is not as simple as I thought to find one good source to pair with both HD650 and Andro. :confused:
     
  13. JK47

    JK47 Guest

    @gixxerwimp

    Digital multi-meter, 1 probe at the tip of the male end of the jack and the other probe in the female end (steady hand, as not to touch the sides, who remembers the 80's game "Operation" ?). I could be wrong, but I think the UE buffer jack is an inline resistor.
     
  14. zerodeefex

    zerodeefex SBAF's Imelda Marcos

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    Larry has a pair of Andromeda now and will make sure the wave sounds great with them.
     
  15. Grahad

    Grahad Guest

    Was thinking about picking up possibly a WM1A, but now I guess not.
     
  16. zerodeefex

    zerodeefex SBAF's Imelda Marcos

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    Don't wait for products that don't exist yet. Get what's right for you and available right now. This hobby has too much "waiting for the next best thing to upgrade" bullshit already.
     
  17. gixxerwimp

    gixxerwimp Professional tricycle rider

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    I did that using my T50RP's male-male 3.5mm cable so no "Operation" oops to worry about (I'm old enough to have actually played that game. Watched ads for it between cartoons in the 70s :punk:). What I meant was did you measure ground-to-ground, L-to-L, R-to-R? Or ground-to-L, ground-to-R. Hope you understand what I mean.
    @shotgunshane has a different hypothesis.
     
    Last edited: Jan 8, 2017
  18. gixxerwimp

    gixxerwimp Professional tricycle rider

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    Bringing over some discussion from the Modi Multibit thread because it's mainly about pairing the Andromeda with Jot vs. Vali 2.
    Unfortunately, there's no Vali 2 I can demo here as the store only has a Vali 1. The iFi site says "Input Impedance: > 16 Ohm", so I assume it's >16ohm for both High and Ultra. I wonder if it'll be the same with my iEMatch prototype pigtails.

    @Clemmaster In November you said with the iEMatch it's not quite there with the Vali 2. Was there a change in between or did you become more accustomed to the sound? Can you compare the Andros out of the Vali 2 vs. other amps (the Jot, perhaps)?

    The Vali 2 Schiit site says: Output Impedance: 1.2 ohms in low gain mode, 5.8 ohms in high gain mode
    @Marvey said, "The outputs are cap coupled and do not expect near 2 ohms in the bass." I don't understand the ramifications of this. Does the Vali 1 also have this design? If the Andros sound like ass out of the Vali 1, but OK with my iEMatch pigtails, can I expect the same with the Vali 2?
     
    Last edited: Jan 10, 2017
  19. deafdoorknob

    deafdoorknob Almost "Made"

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    considering the positive impressions re. Sony DAPs / Andro combo, i am wondering if Sony portable amp/dacs like PHA-3 or PHA-2A would complement the Andros better than mojo?

    i'm currently using my andro with mojo as source/portable amp (+ Teac for desktop amp duties) the hiss is louder than i would like... not annoyingly so, but present. Was originally looking for a DAP for spotify, tidal duties but as i can't afford the zx2 let alone the wm1a, i suppose that dac would serve my needs better.

    thanks in advance
     
  20. limesoft

    limesoft Friend

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    I am concerned there is no filter on the earphone opening to protect it from wax or other debris/dust - any problems with this? I dont necessarily want to use comply with wax filter, plus the Andomeda didn't come with any wax filter tips
     

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