Campfire Ara Review - Perfection - Nicely Done!

Discussion in 'IEMs and Portable Gear' started by purr1n, May 27, 2020.

  1. skem

    skem Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Nov 1, 2017
    Likes Received:
    1,911
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Charles River
    EDITED

    Let’s get this out of the way first: I am by no means an expert on IEMs. But that won’t stop me from sharing an opinion, and it is going to be critical-ish review, since it’s the only way I know how to write them. I’m going to review these as if they were full-size headphones, so adjust accordingly.

    Enjoyed the opportunity to try Ara using a z-out=1.7ohm iPad Pro. I had no problem with the body design / nozzle length when using big fat foam tips. Indeed, I liked these most when pushed in most the way but not /all/ the way. Too deep and they got muddy.

    Overall I found the best strength was the timbre and staging. The greatest weakness was tonal balance and cohesiveness.

    The first thing that jumps out is glare. The second thing that pops out is the texture and articulation of upper mids. The texture on violin and acoustic guitar were far better than any other IEM I’ve tried, rivaling my full size headphones for sure. Piano was decent, a little off on harmonics, but still very natural. Mostly, the timbre seemed perfectly on point when the notes being played were right in A5-G5, just below 1K. Below ~600, they would get too soft. And above the fifth octave, they seem first to dip around 2.5K, then by the time you get to 8K, they really flare up. So male tenors were harsh because I get all head tone/glare and no chest/body. Oboe really shines through the orchestra...a bit too much. Bass is there but it’s...pillow soft. Not very percussive. Pizzicato of cellos disappoint. Maybe this what is meant by BA bass? Overall, still much more detailed and natural than my other IEM experiences. I feel like you trade away some tonal balance for articulation with the Ara.

    The overall presentation was decent so long as there weren’t too many things going on so you didn’t notice the frequency imbalances. A few of my acoustic string (lute) recordings really revealed the character of the rooms; I could hear clean echos off stone walls with remarkable realism. Better than most speaker setups. A few orchestral pieces felt really distant except the soloist soprano or violins, who would barge into the foreground. I suspect a lot of the good staging is good phase coherence across many octaves. It was a bit unnerving at first, but I kind of liked it.

    Listening to more modern (1970s) rock, I felt there was a bit of muddy quality at times with that 8K glare riding on top. Here I feel tonal balance is supremely important, much more important than timbre needed for classical, and it was here that Ara shows it’s weaknesses. Daft Punk “Doing it Right” really reveals the 8K flare on the vocoder vocals at the very beginning of the song: The “-ght” of “doin’ it right” comes shouting out. Mind you, I’m being nit picky.

    I like these. I could live with the mid scoop and soft bass. The 8K thing is almost a killer for me. But the detail and stage are so special I can forgive a lot. If you believe in EQ, I think these could be made virtually perfect except for the non-percussive bass. Without EQ, and provided the particular music is compatible with the sound signature, they are still quite impressive.

    p.s., that cable.... pure sex.
     
    Last edited: Jul 19, 2020
  2. shotgunshane

    shotgunshane Floridian Falcon

    Staff Member Pyrate Flathead IEMW
    Joined:
    Sep 26, 2015
    Likes Received:
    6,304
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Clear, clear water
    I don't really understand what this means. Can you elaborate? You couldn't hear anything below 1k very well?
     
  3. skem

    skem Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Nov 1, 2017
    Likes Received:
    1,911
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Charles River
    Yeah, maybe that was overstatement. It just sounded badly scooped out in the mids and below. Or alternatively, very bright in the treble. But the highest treble didn’t seem out of proportion with with the lower treble/presence.
    EDIT: now irrelevant given new tips, see revised review.
     
    Last edited: Oct 28, 2020
  4. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

    Staff Member Pyrate BWC
    Joined:
    Sep 24, 2015
    Likes Received:
    89,778
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Padre Island CC TX
    You are getting a bad seal. The Ara is downward sloping, even with a moderate insertion, there was just a bit more upper mids in a specific spot. Certainly, easily, stronger lows and more body than ER4XR.

    There are three sets of tips in the package. Silicone, Final, and foam, and all come in various sizes from XS to XL. Can't you find something that fits you? The fit is a bit different than ER4XR.

    The Ara body is similar to the Andromeda with a slightly longer nozzle. However, it could still prove to be too shallow for some.
     
    Last edited: Jun 13, 2020
  5. imackler

    imackler Key Lime Pie Infected Aberdeen Wings Spy

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Oct 1, 2015
    Likes Received:
    2,019
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Anaheim, CA
    @skem Do you have any noble tips around? I really like them with CA...
     
  6. skem

    skem Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Nov 1, 2017
    Likes Received:
    1,911
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Charles River
    Nope
     
    Last edited: Jun 13, 2020
  7. Stuff Jones

    Stuff Jones Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Feb 3, 2016
    Likes Received:
    1,790
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Future loaner people - if the Ara are anything like the Solaris and if your ears are anything like mine, then the Azla SendaEarfit tips are fantastic.
     
  8. Cakecake

    Cakecake Guest

    Loaner review:

    Gear: Fulla 2 with and without attenuator cable thing (I don't know where this is from, thegunner gave it to me long time ago)
    Out of Fulla 2, there is baseline hiss which happened with my Andro before so I had to use cable which eliminates the noise but decreases some sparkle. I tried both.

    Musings: Overall, it was ok. I really liked the Andro, but some of the sparkle of the Andro was traded for more real feeling to the sound. I always wished Andro had more palpable bass which this one brings a quite a bit more but still BA sound. One major complaint was that mid and up sound seemed carved out, like hollow in presentation compared to the bass. It almost sounded congested. I guess reading from above, it's a fit issue but I liked Andros just fine the way I wore it.

    Conclusion: Sounds a bit more full and real than Andro but loses some sparkle, also major complaint with mid/high sound being carved out and congested.

    Random: Probably just an IEM thing but sounded like speakers for ants and I couldn't get used to how the sound was presented. I will stick to DAC loaner or something, sry for taking up a space.
     
  9. shotgunshane

    shotgunshane Floridian Falcon

    Staff Member Pyrate Flathead IEMW
    Joined:
    Sep 26, 2015
    Likes Received:
    6,304
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Clear, clear water
    Reposting from my thread:

     
  10. theveterans

    theveterans Facebook Friend

    Joined:
    Jun 6, 2018
    Likes Received:
    134
    Trophy Points:
    33
    Location:
    90745
    Are you listening to the headphone out of the iPad Pro? Just from my experience that the Cirrus Logic DACs made for Apple has that offensive metallic timbre characteristic to it that is easily heard through BA IEMs
     
  11. skem

    skem Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Nov 1, 2017
    Likes Received:
    1,911
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Charles River
    I was. I figure I’m only interested in IEM’s for portable use out of what I own, so don’t have dedicated amps for them. I did compare it to ER4XR and did not have the same impression.
     
  12. theveterans

    theveterans Facebook Friend

    Joined:
    Jun 6, 2018
    Likes Received:
    134
    Trophy Points:
    33
    Location:
    90745
    Thanks for your impressions. Hope you can hear them out of different portable sources too since I suspect the Ara just like the Andromeda and Solaris are pretty sensitive to different sources and you might be surprised how much they differ. I've been thinking of getting the Ara too to complement my Andromeda for some specific genres
     
  13. NewEve

    NewEve aka: Empeiros Audio

    Joined:
    May 28, 2020
    Likes Received:
    9
    Trophy Points:
    3
    Location:
    Here and there
    Home Page:
    Thanks a lot!

    I now understand why the Solaris 2020 were available for review and order before the Ara…
     
  14. Claud

    Claud Living the ORFAS dream

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Dec 23, 2018
    Likes Received:
    699
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    North Carolina
    I would like to know that. Still waiting on my ARAs. When I ordered them, I requested a 4.4 balanced termination and they replied that they could do it. Two days ago I emailed them asking how much longer. Today they send me the Ready To Ship advertisement . I guess they had some final tuning or....
     
  15. MarkF786

    MarkF786 New

    Joined:
    Nov 3, 2016
    Likes Received:
    10
    Trophy Points:
    3
    Location:
    South Jersey
    I purchased the Ara this past weekend, but didn't open them until today (as a bday present to myself). Within a couple songs, I immediately thought "these are wired out-of-phase!" as the sound was very diffuse without a clear soundstage. Having been an audiophile for 35 years, I clearly know what out-of-phase sounds like.

    I used some simple test tracks I've used in the past (https://www.audiocheck.net/audiotests_polaritycheck.php) and indeed the in-phase version sounded out-of-phase, and the out-of-phase tracks sounded normal. Next, I checked the cable with my multimeter and it's wired properly. I then swapped to different IEMs (same cable, same DAC) and they were fine. Switching back to the Ara, they are again obviously out-of-phase!

    The last time this happened, with a cable from Null Audio, I found it was their 4.4mm cable that was wired wrong, and Null Audio and other customers in the HF forum verified it - though surprisingly, the other customers didn't realize it through hearing alone, only through checking the wiring of the cables!

    I'm going to do a little further testing, and likely email CA and the vendor, but I'm 99% sure they're wired out-of-phase. Hopefully this is a one-off and all the review models people have been raving about don't share the same issue. It's very disappointing, considering all the wait and the time it will take to get them replaced.

    Mark
     
    Last edited: Jun 18, 2020
  16. dncnexus

    dncnexus Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Mar 12, 2018
    Likes Received:
    1,171
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Virginia, USA
    I would have to assume this is a problem with your model, I trust the ears who have used them and don't believe they wouldn't notice is they were out-of-phase. Hope you have a speedy replacement.
     
  17. MarkF786

    MarkF786 New

    Joined:
    Nov 3, 2016
    Likes Received:
    10
    Trophy Points:
    3
    Location:
    South Jersey
    I did further testing with other audio test CDs I have, and online tests. Also, I swapped cables and DACs as a sanity test. The difference is night-and-day obvious: when the track is in-phase, the Ara sound diffuse without a clear center image; when the track is out-of-phase, the Ara sound normal.

    I've emailed CA. I understand accidents happen, and I've been happy with my other CA purchases (Andromeda OG, Solaris OG, Solaris 2020, and probably 10+ cables). Hopefully their customer service is good, and they don't drag this out to be a two week replacement process. I'd be happy if they needed to charge my credit card while cross shipping the new ones, then refund me after receiving the returns - but some vendors are unwilling to do anything but their slow-boat process.

    Due to these being hand-assembled, I do suspect it was an individual accident, rather then a systemic issue.

    Mark
     
  18. MarkF786

    MarkF786 New

    Joined:
    Nov 3, 2016
    Likes Received:
    10
    Trophy Points:
    3
    Location:
    South Jersey
    Ah, sadly I received a response from CA and their customer service sucks. They said I need to pay for return shipping and insurance, and "Once we receive your shipment, we'll inspect the product and get to work."

    Sadly, this Is going to become a problem for their dealer, as I'm not playing this game.
     
  19. KenBall

    KenBall Owner - Campfire Audio

    Joined:
    Oct 18, 2016
    Likes Received:
    1,078
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Home Page:
    Mark,

    I will PM you and take care of this, the return policy is standard of you bought them though a dealer. Sorry its more of a normal policy. Anyhow I will PM you and work something out to make this right.

    Ken
     
  20. Mithrandir41

    Mithrandir41 Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Feb 4, 2016
    Likes Received:
    2,151
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Valencia, CA
    The customer paying for return shipping is completely normal for most warranty returns from any company. They pay on the way back to you. Anything else is a luxury.
     

Share This Page