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

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

  1. songmic

    songmic Gear cycler East Asia edition

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    Speaking of which, what exactly is that pin for? Does it serve a practical purpose or is it just a badge?
     
  2. gixxerwimp

    gixxerwimp Professional tricycle rider

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    I think they had them made for staff to wear and to give away at shows. And the MOQ was so big they decided to put them in with the IEMs.
     
  3. gixxerwimp

    gixxerwimp Professional tricycle rider

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    After my recent Schiit comparo, my conclusion after advice on the Modi Multibit thread (starting here) was that I need the Modi Multibit and Jotunheim to use with my HD650s and Andromedas. But there seems to be rather mixed opinion on the Jot/Andro pairing. Examples:
    I'm thinking perhaps @Huxleigh was put off by his noise issue and otherwise most think it's at least OK. I'll go back and listen to the Andro out of the Jot before buying, but I'd like to hear more from people who've spent time with both.
     
    Last edited: Jan 6, 2017
  4. Huxleigh

    Huxleigh Almost "Made"

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    The noise was annoying, but the my main issue was with the shift in tonal balance. The Jot thickened up the Andro's presentation too much. There's certainly a few more (positive) opinions on the matter to consider, but I neither like or recommend the Andro if your available amps all have OI significantly below 1 ohm. It loses its virtues, which are considerable.

    I experienced the same unpleasant tonal shift with the HeadAmp pico Power as I had with the Jodie, for instance. So it's not a one-off thing. And there was virtually zero hiss to contend with in that case. Same problem with Chord Mojo and AQ DragonFly Red, too.

    I heartily endorse the Sony ZX-2 with the Andro over the iPhone. Although there is some modest background hiss, the pairing is otherwise essentially perfect. More HD 600 than HD 800. But without sacrificing the lively technicalities that make the Andro such a standout IEM.
     
    Last edited: Jan 6, 2017
  5. blackships

    blackships Friend

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    I have mine pinned to my briefcase.
     
  6. thegunner100

    thegunner100 Hentai Master Chief

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    The ZX2 + Andro is an amazing pairing. Supposedly the WM1A/1Z has no hiss with with the Andros and has an OI of .94 and.95 respectively. It also has a direct source mode, which bypasses all the DSP on the new units. If it's true that the new daps kills the hiss while retaining or improving on the zx2 sound, then they can be real winners.
     
  7. cskippy

    cskippy Creamy warmpoo

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    When I tried the Andromeda witb Jot, the low OI did make it quite bassy. However, I was also able to use the UE Line Buffer and iFi IEMatch and both of these improved the sound of both the Andro and U8. They killed any remaining noise and balanced out the frequency response. The IEMatch offered a little more versatility with the selector switch making a balanced sound or more mid focused one. The UE Line Buffer is also a great option since it's so cheap.
     
  8. gixxerwimp

    gixxerwimp Professional tricycle rider

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    I'll definitely bring my iEMatch proto-pigtails when I go check out the Jot with the Andros.

    The UE Pro Line Drive is $149, so 3x as much as the iEMatch. Is that cheap? Also, it seems to be a magical gray box that can both "amp" and "de-amp". This guy used it to boost the output from his iPhone 6 to drive his ATH-M70X. Any idea what it's actually doing? I'd personally prefer to use a passive device.
     
  9. jexby

    jexby Posole Prince

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    Hiss Update:

    indeed, tried Andromeda with GO2A Special Edition (femtos) single ended today off the laptop, and the hiss was noticeable for sure, perhaps 2or3X the hiss compared to the GOV2+SpecEdition.

    will be using the -12dB IEMatch proto-pigtail at all times with Andro+GO2A.
    but likely only half the time with GOV2+ during critical listening in silent rooms.
     
  10. Huxleigh

    Huxleigh Almost "Made"

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    Perhaps this is what's being referred to.
     
  11. cskippy

    cskippy Creamy warmpoo

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    @gixxerwimp Huxleigh is correct. $10 is cheap not $150!
     
  12. JK47

    JK47 Guest

    After living with the Andromedas for a few months and having tried the following with and without the UE buffer jack, these are my thoughts...

    Chord Mojo: NO THANKS, too dark, straight up Gotham City gross

    GOV2 SE: nope SE= single ended

    GOV2A SE: BIG nope, hissssy fit SE= single ended

    Schiit Jotenheim: Nahhh, too dark and weird

    iPhone SE: very good

    Sony ZX2: Victory !!! show stopper and destroyer of big headphone rigs !!! are you kidding me, the ZX2 doesn't even have a DAC !!! the Sony S-master-HX "amps everything from the digital domain" if that even makes sense. Sony's words not mine

    JOT, Modi Multibit, and HD650 going up for sale tomorrow as a single package
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 7, 2017
  13. Grahad

    Grahad Guest

    I'm quite surprised no one has torn apart a UE buffer yet. Would be interesting to see the internals, as well as their resistor values.
     
  14. gixxerwimp

    gixxerwimp Professional tricycle rider

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    Google failed me.
    I searched for UE line buffer and even put quotes around "line buffer". Nothing came up. That's certainly cheap.
    Wonder what it is that makes people dislike the Jot pairing.
    I wonder if it's a voltage divider or just resistors in series. $10 price of admission.
     
  15. Grahad

    Grahad Guest

    If I ordered it the shipping alone is probably going to cost more than the UE buffer itself.
     
  16. Panohm

    Panohm Friend

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    Any impressions of the Andromeda + LG V20 synergy?
     
  17. Decomo

    Decomo Almost "Made"

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    +1.. I am ordering Andro and keen to get either ifi iematch or UE buffer jack. My preference is UE buffer jack since I am spending so much money on Andro so saving a few dollars on adapter would be better if there is not much difference between the two other than build quality.
     
  18. gixxerwimp

    gixxerwimp Professional tricycle rider

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    @Decomo The iEMatch ("For US$3,000 and below headphones." - Jesus H Christ, give me a break) has much more functionality (balanced or TRRS with mic) and 2 different attenuation settings (with different effects on Z-out) so they're really quite different devices.

    I tried measuring the "impedance increase effect" of my iEMatch proto-pigtails by measuring the resistance through each channel and ground. I don't know if this is the correct method, but maybe someone who has a UE Buffer Jack can measure it to see if it has the desired effect of adding 2-3 ohms to Z-out for close to 0 ohm amps.
     
  19. Grahad

    Grahad Guest

    If using with SE sources, the UE is much smaller though.
     
  20. gixxerwimp

    gixxerwimp Professional tricycle rider

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    I should have done more searching in this thread before my last post.
    Others have said it makes the Andros a bit bright, which makes sense since 4 ohms is a bit more than the High setting on the iEMatch.

    Just for laughs, I tried my ER4P-to-S 75 ohm adapter. Turns them into an ear-canal tweeter.
     

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