Campfire Audio Vega, Dorada, Lyra 2 Discussion/Impressions

Discussion in 'IEMs and Portable Gear' started by purr1n, Oct 29, 2016.

  1. AdvanTech

    AdvanTech Friend

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    Yeah, that ported DD seems to push some air.

    My EQ brings the lows down a bit but it's still somewhat thick. My nearfield monitors keep me honest, while these remind me more of a live concert setup.

    Screen Shot 2017-01-08 at 10.22.37 PM.png
     
    Last edited: Jan 8, 2017
  2. Clemmaster

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    I'm sure people already thought of this, but I can attests it helps tame the damn bass to acceptable levels for me:

    [​IMG]

    RE-400 acoustic filters on the bass port.
     
  3. Iron-Buddha

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    AdvanTech, punched in your EQ settings into my AK320...will try it out for a period of time.

    I can say, even with these settings, the bass is still hitting pretty hard.
     
  4. AdvanTech

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    Yeah, you can go stronger on the EQ until you're happy. That was just my preference at the time.
     
  5. HeartOfSky

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  6. MrTurtle

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    Was in Tokyo last week and paid a visit to e-earphone. Found this:

    [​IMG]

    The highs are as powerful as his Somersault Skulldiver! His words, not mine.

    (Vega's too bassy for me, but if Campfire made a DD with 3 ohm OI-fed Andromeda tuning, I would be all over it in a heartbeat)
     
  7. LSW

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    Just got my Vega delivered and am going through my reference tracks with it. Initial impressions: pretty bright treble, slight sibilance, strong bass (of course) that is pretty boosted well into midbass/lower mids. Kind of reminds me of a sony mdr-7506 sound, which is to say fairly V shaped, but the Vega has better clarity especially in the midrange. Vocal and instrumental pretty natural though, it really sounds good overall.

    I tried 3 out of the 4 included types of tips Spinfits and foam sounded pretty similar, they both gave a good seal. With the large size standard silicon tips I wasn't getting a great seal so the bass got tamed quite a bit, which might be desireable sometimes with these.

    My only other IEM's are the Etymotic ER-4 series and Periodic Be. The Be at $300 holds up very well against the vega, it's a similar sound but I think the Be is more neutral with equal sub-bass emphasis but less mid-bass. However, I can tell the isoltion on the Vega is better than the Be, probably on par with the eytmotic. Not sure if it's because of driver size & nozzle size/shape (The Periodic Be uses a 10mm vs 8.5mm on the C.A. Vega) . Build quality and cable quality on the Vega seems outstanding, they will probably hold up to abuse pretty well if you can stomach abusing something like this.


    Looking forward to taking these on my next 2 week trip to Asia, and to see if the treble dies down over time like others have reported.

    My measurements compared to The Periodic Be & Etymotic ER-4XR. Take these with a huge grain of salt, especially above 5khz or so, but maybe slightl useful for comparison.

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Aug 23, 2017
  8. LSW

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    I feel like maybe the vega has smoothed out a little bit even after just 8 hours or so of playtime, I'm not hearing as much sibilance. I'll measure them when I get back home, at which time they should have a few hundred hours of play time, to see if the effect is more likely to be real or a pyschoacoustic effect.

    Has anyone else had problems with the stock foam tips? Mine came apart after just a few insertions in my ears.
     
  9. hifi01170

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    my experience with Vegas is that they really needed those 70 to 90 hours of burn-in advised by @KenBall !
    The treble is where the most significant change happened... less ringing has Marvey described it if I recall correctly.

    After 7 months of usage, I prefer now the stock silicon tips.
    With the foamies, I missed some sparkle and it was almost too dark sounding. Whereas with the silicon tips, the nice sparkly highs are back. For the time being i like it like this.

    I have also tried the front vent mod from @james444 to reduce bass and make it less dark sounding but couldn't find the right balance that pleased me. So back to silicon!
     
  10. AdvanTech

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    Yes, the treble does smooth out nicely once burned in. I think they're f*cking great with some EQ.
     
  11. LSW

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    Thanks, I'm using the medium-large spin-fits for now (2nd biggest ones that came with it), because I'm getting a better seal with them than the stock silicons. I think they have slightly less bass and less isolation than the foam.

    Edit: Ahhh, finally found the correct eartip. The small foamie. Being a 6'0" 190 pound man, I don't expect small sizes to usually fit, but these give a great seal, good isolation, good bass, and are the most comfortable.
     
    Last edited: Aug 24, 2017
  12. HeartOfSky

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    Yeah, the foams are great. It's a shame that the rubber in the irritates my ear canals. Just ordered a set of MandarinEs SYBMIOS. They're silicone + memory foam hybrids. People have said great things about them with the Vega.

    As I'm sure you're hearing for yourself, the Vega definitely benefits from burn in. It's definitely not in your head. If you think they sound great now... you just wait. :D
     
  13. deafdoorknob

    deafdoorknob Almost "Made"

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    now that the hypetrain has died down somewhat, how many vega owners circa 2016 here are still vega owners? Any pro tips, additional pluses or minuses for potential owners?

    the local second hand market is flooded with vega(s) lately (for around 7k hkd) and i'm curious as to whether it's hong kong's FOTM culture at its finest or the vega is just less awesome sauce than many of us thought it was. thx
     
  14. AdvanTech

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    I still own mine. It resolves like a motherfucker and has that dynamic slam. If you're a bass-head it's perfect. If you want something more neutral (like I do) it responds well to EQ. If you want something neutral but don't want to deal with EQ you'll have to look elsewhere.
     
  15. Dr. Higgs

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    Still have mine and listen to them regularly. The impedance isn't as screwy as the Andromeda, so I use them on the go with my phone for commuting. The bass is a bit much if I'm listening at home, but it helps drown the world out walking down the street or on the subway.

    Using Dekoni small foam tips now, I could never get a good fit with any of the silicon tips I've tried.
     
  16. roscoeiii

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    @AdvanTech Can you share the EQ settings you are using with your Vegas?


    Also, I am loving the Symbio tips (sold on eBay). Great middle ground between foam and silicon.
     
  17. LSW

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    I've only been using medium comply t400's with my Vegas for the past month. It's by far the most comfortable. It reduces the midbass pretty significantly compared to stock foam and also tames the treble slightly, I think. The main difference is that the stock foam feels like ants biting my ear canal after an hour whereas the comply can be worn indefinitely.

    I've done some more a/b'ing with them recently with my etymotic and the periodic Be, which is annoying to do with IEM's it's, but necessary.

    First off, both the Be and the Vega just slaughter the etymotic er4 (all variants). When I swap to the er4 on a rock track it's like going to an alarm clock radio from 1981 with a 2" whizzer cone speaker. Just tinny and bad. Can't believe I liked them ever.

    Next, when comparing the Be to the Vega while both wear comply foams, the Be is just a bit too rolled off in the treble, almost to the point of being veiled. Be really needs silicon, whereas the Vega gets too bright in the treble with silicon. Of course, you lose a lot of isolation with silicon. The Be is definitely a \ shaped response with comply, Vega is much more preferable, even if its v shaping represses mid-range a little bit. Vega with comply strikes a satisfying compromise between bass thumping excitement, engaging treble, adequately present mid-range, and good isolation, even for those 6 hour transcon flights in seat 84E economy class. Perhaps if I hadn't purchased all these iems I could've upgraded to first class.
     
  18. HeartOfSky

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    True. But... what's one first-class flight compared to near limitless hours of a superlative audio experience? :p
     
  19. nostatic

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    Curious if any others have longer-term thoughts on Vega and/or Dorado.
     
  20. Dr. Higgs

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    What about them?

    Started trying out the comply t400 comfort tips with filters on the Vega & Andromeda and I like the comfort and it seems to smooth out the treble a tiny bit (never had an issue with Vega treble to begin with though).

    I personally find the fit a bit awkward with the Vega (probably carries over to Lyra and Dorado as well). I have to fiddle with them to get a seal, and most silicone tips don't work at all for me due to the angle of the nozzles. Nowhere near as weird as the fit on Noble universal IEMs for me though.

    Still don't like them as much as my Andromedas but they're more friendly to bad sources so I still use them on the go a lot.

    Dat bass. I get acclimated to it if I'm listening to them exclusively for a while but it can get jarring if you switch headphones a lot.

    Watch out for crows while you're wearing them since they're pretty shiny. Little known fact that in addition to shiny things, crows also love dat bass.
     

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