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

Yeah I remember he said he got it to go away by disabling all the sound adjustments in software. I'm pretty sure I gave it all disabled, but I will play around with it again soon

 

Alright no worries, thanks for your replies. I've got a used unit on the way and I'll chime in when it gets here.

 

Alas, the Andromeda hisses more with the iPhone 7 lightning-to-3.5mm adapter than the iPhone 6 headphone out.

 

Any portable lightning enabled DACs that work well with the Andromedas (1-3ohm, no hiss)? Something that I can leave dangling out of my pocket without weighing a ton.

Are the dragonflies good candidates?

 

I'm listening to the red with Andromeda and think it is a great portable combo.

 

Is anyone tried pairing Andromeda with Sony PHA3? I got PHA3 but do not have Andro yet. Not sure if it is good pairing... If anyone tried, can you share impression?

 

@LunaC @shotgunshane what's the hiss level like?

 

Haven't really noticed any unless part of the recording. I still need to spend time with it but have no complaints at the moment.

 

Can I trouble you to hear if there's any hiss when no music is playing (usually detected immediately after music is paused, and NOT when headphones are first plugged in as there is no signal pass through at that stage).

 

Also, I'm interested in Fiio's latest offerings: the i1 and BTC-MMCX cables

 

For a test case..in Amazon music. pause track then turn volume up..no hiss was noticeable. Same thing with headphone jack of the same phone (6s+), you can hear a little hiss but even it wasn't bad. I changed to silicone from Comply just incase there was a filtering effect, no difference.

 

Thank you so much!

 

Doing a little tip rolling and stole these from my RHA t20

https://www.rha-audio.com/us/accessories/dual-density-ear-tips-large-3pairs.html

Seal better and isolate better than the spin fits and shallow fit. Still like the comply when listening in bed and wifey had the anti snore white noise cranked.

 

I had a chance to briefly listen to these at the AZ meet. They are quite good, very speaker-like. Out of the Jotunheim, they were pretty bassy, but still offered a smooth non-forward midrange and nice detail and air. Very punchy! I think they beat my U8 in bass impact. They remind me a lot of a well driven HE-500. I would like to hear them out of a higher impedance source like my phone. Also, Orion seems like a great cheap alternative based on impressions/measurements.

 

I've been playing with the loaners today. I've tried them on my Jotunheim fed by Modi Multibit, my GO2a, and my Pono (single ended for all). The technicalities on these are unassailable. Excellent speed, detail retrieval, all the things you'd want out of a TOTL IEM.

I can also see why people prefer these with some OI on the source. On the Jotunheim the bass is boomy and less controlled. The Pono and GO2a tighten that bass right up, boom is gone. Out of the three, I'd actually say I prefer it most with the Pono, which is great because the higher OI of the Pono has caused problems with other IEMs before.

Still, these are a little too pricey for me. I'm not a big IEM person. I keep wanting to be, and if anything would get me to listen to an IEM more it would be the Andromedas, but I can get a pair of speakers for the price of these, and seeing as how I am more focused on a speaker rig at the moment, I think that is what I will do.

That being said, I'm going to enjoy every moment I have with these before I have to return them. They are truly spectacular IEMs with the right sources. I could see myself getting a used pair once these are no longer the new hotness.

 

Also I'm not sure the casing is comfortable for long term listening sessions. Unfortunately that would wipe out the whole CA line for me if so.