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

I've had mine for a day. I'll write more after more time but some early impressions:

- I was expecting to be blown away by soundstage, but already have the 64 Audio U10 which has one of the best soundstage I've heard in an IEM. Soundstage about as wide as the U10. Layering is about the same, perhaps the U10 a touch better despite the U10 also being less detailed overall. To pull this soundstage off without the fancy Adel tech that also lessens isolation is a huge win though.
- Reference tuning as everyone has said. Does not have the mid bass bump as in the K10u I had, or the 64 Audio U10 & U12. I prefer this, more of a flat planar low end FR.
- Much more detailed than the U10, the transients and decay are very fast. The U10 is supposed to be 64 Audio's 'reference tuning' but is hardly that. It's a warm organic pleasant sound which is accomplished by a large bass/mid-bass bump, slow decay and polite treble. The faster and brighter sound lend to more details on the Andromeda.
- The U10 bass doesn't sound like BA bass, thick and with a long decay. Very pleasing in the context of a warm organic sound. The Andromeda bass is much quicker and more 'BA like'.
- Treble is as good as everyone says. I always had issues with the quantity as well as timbre of treble in my U10. Not with these. Not as forward as the K10u I had, but that was almost too much.
- Sounds about perfect on my iPhone 6S. On another amp with 0 impedance out bass sounds a bit much, even a bit bloated and the tuning gets closer to the U10. I think the high sensitivity and wild impedance swing is the primary negative to this IEM.

I bought this from all the impressions of a more reference tuning, something I originally wanted when I bought the U10 and I got exactly that this time. A huge thanks to this forum for this. So far this IEM is a definite keeper.

 

I'm travelling for work....ducked out of dinner tonight and have some time to myself. I'm listening to Andromeda via Mojo and I'm repeatedly amazed by what I can hear. I was doing a bit of comparison between my phone (UAPP)-->Mojo and PC(JRiver)-->Mojo and thought I could hear better 'body' (for lack of a bettter term) on the PC. I went back and forth and sure enough, it was consistent. I thought maybe because I had the phone in inflight mode and on battery...tried the same on the PC and no change.

Then I realized I'm listening to LAME MP3 Extreme on the phone and I can clearly hear the difference between that and lossless WITHOUT EVEN TRYING. f**k me sideways, these earphones are amazing.

I'm stone cold sober and it feels like I have the fingers of God in my ears playing music right through me.

 

Try to to see what your phone sounds like as a transport with the same files. I think my phone might be better than my laptop.

 

I will do that, though I don't hear any difference in the noise floor either way FWIW, as long as I'm in Flight Mode on the phone. I get some radio interference with the phone radios on but nothing obvious from the laptop with wifi on (prior gen Lenovo Yoga 3 11). I'm expecting no discernible difference, but I'll post back if I notice anything. Bring on the 1tb microsd cards, though...it's convenient to have all my tunes on the phone .

 

man, just had some pretty awesome goose-bumpy emotional experiences with the Andromeda straight outta my iPhone on my commute home today with some Jeff Buckley, Neil Young, Peter Gabriel and some other stuff... i've had em for a while now but they never really cease to amaze me. who knew that IEMs out of a phone could be so satisfying and allow for such spontaneity on the go. Or maybe i'm just a menstrual or post-post-menstrual mid 30s guy.

 

Enjoy it man! That's the dragon we're all chasing.

 

Brench, I had my andros on with the iphone 6s and got some long stares from three guys with what looked like apple earbuds. I wish I had taken a selfie to capture my smug look alternating with contempt for them! Amazing reference sound no doubt but what also continues to amaze me is their sensitivity to the impedance of the player. When I use my Fiio X5, I'm like "where did the extra bass come from". Its all good. and I'm definitely post-menstrual (past the old US speed limit)

 

My girlfriend told me the green looked like the color of motherboards and that it looked like I was wearing a hearing aid. She hasn't said that of any of the other IEMs I own.

 

Finally heard these yesterday. I have to get a pair. These will be my next (and possibly last) IEMs. Even with my iPhone the sound was terrific.

 

Interesting, @Merrick. I'm keen to hear how the loaner stacks up against my UM Martian. I have a feeling that's gonna be quite a slugfest. Though I expect you only had a rather brief listen, how'd you find the Andromeda relative to your Spartan IV?

Incidentally, green is my favorite color. So Andromeda has that going for it.

 

The Spartan is very sensitive to OI. The best I've heard it sound is with the Jotunheim, very linear and neutral. I would never ever run it out from my phone, as I get too much low level noise, which is a shame. I'm also on the Andromeda loaner so I can do a more comprehensive comparison once I have the Andromedas in hand.

 

For my part, I can't speak to how the Martian reacts to OI. Frankly, I don't really know what to listen for in order to discern such a variance. But it does sound plenty good out of an iPhone. A bit better from the Mojo and pico Power, albeit different. Curiously, I don't much care for the sound from my M3 on the desktop, but I have no interest in using IEMs in that context anyway. It's not especially sensitive, although I can detect a good deal more background noise than from the ASG-1PLUS.

Anyway, none of that's really related to the Andromeda. Just some notes, I guess. But the Martian's a thoroughly enjoyable, well-implemented hybrid IEM. If the Andromeda can contend with it, I'll be seriously impressed. Don't care much for BAs, usually.

Looking forward to sending the loaner off to you for impressions. After I'm through with it, of course.

Edit: Just to clarify, when you say the Spartan is "very sensitive to OI," do you mean that you find to it play better with lower OI? Cuz it seems that the Andromeda is also quite sensitive to OI, albeit in the other direction. Of course, I'd expect that some might prefer the darker sound of an Andromeda driven from a low OI amp that several users have noted.

 

I should have been more clear. I was talking about two different problems with the Spartans. The first is the sensitivity to OI, which changes the sound sig. the second is the general noise sensitivity, which makes many sources unsuitable even if the OI is good.

Yes, the Spartans like the lowest OI they can get. Higher OI can suck out the mods and make it seemed V-shaped, low OI brings the FR into balance. The Andromeda seems to like a bit higher OI, which is a good thing becaude it pairs well with a lot of DAPs and sources that have an OI over 1 or 2.

 

I'm back to report my findings with new impedance adapters. Over the past few weeks I have been using the 75ohm adapter, and while it really brings out the energy and details that I thought were lacking with the original sound signature out of the iPhone 6 HO, it thinned the bass out a little too much for my liking and the treble was a little too peaky, sometimes reaching screechiness and sibilance.

I just received a 22ohm adapter from the same vendor on eBay and am happy to say that this is a great compromise between the iP6HO and the 75ohm adapter.

Compared to the 75ohm, I would say the main benefits have been preserved:

• Brings to the table great PRaT, imaging, details, sparkle and energy of the mid-highs
• Maintains original great qualities such as timbre
• 0 hiss compared to right out of the Mojo

Additionally, while the 75ohm might have rendered ~10% of my recordings sibilant, the 22ohm is slightly less aggressive in the treble, sounding sibilant only with the occasional 1%. Also, like the 75ohm, the bass becomes thinner, but not to the same extent.

I simply can't go back to listening to the Andromedas right out of the iP6. It sounds veiled and even muddy in comparison. Give it a go, it's only US$18.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/301984920451?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

 

Putting this under my radar as a commuting/office time IEM as my good old ck100 is broken.

 

That could only explain your listing of the Valhalla/HD650 minutes prior.

 

MOAR PIXELS!! MOAR WATTS!! MOAR BITS!! MOARRRRRR BASSSSSSSS!!!