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

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

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  1. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Valhalla 2 is cap coupled and probably designed for headphones with a minimum of 30 ohms. Very likely there will be some bass rolloff. The impedance curve on these IEMs is nuts going as low as 4 ohms in the bass and mids. This is speaker impedance.

    I suspect there might be noise from the Rag. I got hiss from the Sony X. With Magni 2U on low again, the volume was super touchy and just a few hairs from fully off.
     
    purr1n, May 15, 2016
    #81
  2. The Alchemist

    The Alchemist MOT: Schiit - Here to help!

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    The Alchemist, May 15, 2016
    #82
  3. Smitty

    Smitty Too good for bad vodka - Friend

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    Lol, these might sound good out of one of the crazy little fleawatt DHT amps I've seen around the internet. Get a transformer for a type 26 single gain stage to give a 4 ohm output impedance, and you should be good to go.
     
    Smitty, May 15, 2016
    #83
  4. shotgunshane

    shotgunshane Floridian Falcon

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    Interesting. So it's opposite of the UERM and UERR, which sound darker with added impedance due to its drop in impedance in middle treble, whereas Andromeda seems like it may get a little more neutral in bass with small amounts of impedance.
     
    shotgunshane, May 15, 2016
    #84
  5. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Yes. It would be neat to make various simple resistor ladders to tune / provide a more stable load for different amps.
     
    purr1n, May 15, 2016
    #85
  6. Ash1412

    Ash1412 Friend

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    Have you tried them out of the Leckerton?
     
    Ash1412, May 15, 2016
    #86
  7. Griffon

    Griffon 2nd biggest asshole on SBAF

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    This makes a lot of sense. AK players all have an output z around 2~4; Pono is probably also around 5; Sony stuff are all around 3. More importantly, iPhones have output z at around 3. One of the bitchy part of UERM is that there seems to be no ceiling of amp requirement. Jupiter has been far more efficient and amp-friendly than UERM, and Andromeda seems to be even more efficient and amp/DAP-friendly. I like it when I plug my Jupiters into whatever DAP I have/had and know that I'm getting not really far away from optimal performance. This point is probably the biggest reason for which Jupiter has really replaced UERM as my daily driver, and I hope in the near future Andromeda will do the same. Instead of making users worry about an external amp/DAC combo, ALO/CA seems to have made a very correct decision to make their offerings perform best at a few ohms output. Brilliant.
     
    Griffon, May 15, 2016
    #87
  8. The Life

    The Life Facebook Friend

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    Andromeda vs. K10. It has been a fun weekend. I agree that the iPhone drives the andromeda exceptionally well. I have enjoyed listening the same tracks back to back with the two IEMs to marvel at how two excellent but different approaches to the same material sound.
     
    The Life, May 15, 2016
    #88
  9. obsidyen

    obsidyen New

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    This or K10UA? Source/amp will be iPhone 6s. Music preferences mostly EDM and pop.
     
    Last edited: May 16, 2016
    obsidyen, May 16, 2016
    #89
  10. No_One411

    No_One411 Fired by Jude

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    You mean if @Hands doesn't feel the nagging urge to comment about NOS DAC -> TOTL tube amp -> HD650 instead right? :rolleyes:
     
    No_One411, May 16, 2016
    #90
  11. Bill-P

    Bill-P Level 42 Mad Wizard

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    Why doesn't anyone say anything about my urge to comment about HD580 being the best of the HD6xx series? :punk:
     
    Bill-P, May 16, 2016
    #91
  12. Serious

    Serious Inquisitive Frequency Response Plot

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    Probably because most people lack experience with them nowadays (including myself).
     
    Serious, May 16, 2016
    #92
  13. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

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    You know the 650 is going to come up regardless. ;)
     
    Hands, May 16, 2016
    #93
  14. obsidyen

    obsidyen New

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    So HD650 or Andromeda? Which one do you recommend?
     
    obsidyen, May 16, 2016
    #94
  15. The Alchemist

    The Alchemist MOT: Schiit - Here to help!

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    img-john-c-reilly_135629425045.jpg
     
    The Alchemist, May 16, 2016
    #95
  16. Artasia

    Artasia Friend

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    You forgot the importance of a good USB bridge. (Just kidding with you Hands; I love the Mutec).
     
    Artasia, May 16, 2016
    #96
  17. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

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    Blegh, I ditched USB a while ago. Now I just sit in my office and touch myself over my D100.
     
    Hands, May 16, 2016
    #97
  18. M3NTAL

    M3NTAL Friend

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    Both. Apples and Oranges. If I could only have 1 - I'd take the one that didn't require a full system to be designed around it.
     
    M3NTAL, May 16, 2016
    #98
  19. obsidyen

    obsidyen New

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    I was only joking... HD650 in an IEM thread, absurd.
     
    obsidyen, May 16, 2016
    #99
  20. Lightbulb Sun

    Lightbulb Sun Friend

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    Andromeda definitely sound more mids-forward than Jupiter. (To maintain the HD650 references, they're a nice complement to the modded HD650.) I've really enjoyed them for the past several hours out of a GoV2 balanced: delicious, sparkling highs (oh, clarity!); wonderfully present vocals; tight, extended bass with heft.
     
    Lightbulb Sun, May 16, 2016
    #100
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