Campfire Ara Review - Perfection - Nicely Done!

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

  1. jexby

    jexby Posole Prince

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  2. DrForBin

    DrForBin Friend

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    hello,

    i'm thinkin' i will do this as bullet points ("...we'll whisper them in your ear.") in an attempt to stay more focused.

    pre-paration: purchased Comply TX-400 (with Waxguard) in size M. the left over (unused) ones went out in my shipment to the next guy. :)

    here goes:
    - i'm old, and have the Senior Discount Transit Pass to prove it.
    - my high frequency hearing is gone (silence happens at about 8500 Hz.)
    - i do not own (nor can afford) end-game hardware.
    - i used a modest source for listening i.e. 7th gen iPod Classic, iFlash modded to 800 G, JDS labs C5.

    following my initial four hour block, i just listened to stuff to enjoy, and shared these with MrsForBin (who was singing along about 10 minutes in, dancing came later.)

    my final session came at the end of their stay (sorry for being a day late @Clemmaster) and i limited myself to about an hour.

    - listened to: Blues, Bebop, Classic Pop, Country, File under Folk, Folk, Folk/Rock, Industrial, Jazz, Pop, Pop/Rock, Steel String Acoustic Guitar, R&B, Rap and Rock.
    - recordings from 1937 to 2010.
    - average DR (from http://dr.loudness-war.info) of 05 to 14+.
    - these are not bright to me at all (hearing loss.)
    - if the recording has low frequency information, it sounds correct.
    - other than over-compressed Pop, i made no changes to volume, the over compressed Pop made me turn "that damned thing down."
    - at no point did i want to short change a track and go find something else.
    - at no point did i want to stop listening and only did so to pack these things up.

    there are times, for me, when the gear vanishes and i am lost in the music. the Ara does that for me.

    most of my higher end experience comes from meets, which are NOT the best time to evaluate anything. i am quite happy with the gear i have and am focused on acquiring more media.

    however, Ara are the best iem's i have heard to date, even with my modest sources. they are also beyond my pay-grade.

    tl/dnr: my use case for Ara would be on Public Transit, i'm afraid i would miss my stop because i was lost in the music.
     
  3. Claud

    Claud Living the ORFAS dream

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    DrForBin, Getting old is a Bitch. There are great inexpensive DD (dynamic driver ) IEMs you can enjoy on the cheap if you want to do so. Ara is a bit dear if you are living on retirement, but Fiio has recently released a good inexpensive DD IEM.
    How does $59.99 on Amazon grab you. its the FD-1 IEM. and its got a very nice driver with great bass and midrange to make us old duffers happy. If you ever need a replacement for your iPod, PM me and I will help you find something better on the inexpensive side.
     
  4. Bill-P

    Bill-P Level 42 Mad Wizard

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    So... I have had the loaner unit for a few days now. Thanks, @ChaChaRealSmooth for managing and @purr1n for bringing us the opportunity to try this one out.

    My overall impression of Ara is that... it's good but it doesn't quite impress.

    Here's what I wrote down for myself:

    Bass: it's like... just enough. Sub bass extension is good and easily audible, and I can "hear" mid bass but there is no impact or weight or physicality to be felt. It's just... there. Some may call this "soft". I'd describe this as being a bit "whippy". Perhaps if I was pugging Ara into say... ZX2 with more syrupy bass, I think it'd give Ara bass the "body" it needs. With my current gears, Ara sounds a bit "thin" when the bass hits. This is there regardless of Z-out.

    Midrange: from this region and up, I hear a pretty pronounced effect of Z-out. I tried Ara with 0.5 ohm OI (GOV2+), 1.5 ohm OI (A&Ultima SP1000) and 3.2 ohm (A&K AK120), and all of them sound markedly different here. The lower the OI, the more lower midrange I hear. It's a pretty consistent trend with all of my music. Out of near 0 Z-out, I think I can hear why @purr1n says Ara sounds more like an HD650. It's warm and pretty syrupy. At 1.5 ohm, Ara is just... okay. At 3.2 ohm, well... I can't stand it. It's just way too thin sounding.

    Treble: this is where I have my love-hate relationship with Ara. With near 0-ohm OI, it sounds a bit too... sedated. It's a bit overly smooth, and perhaps lacks the usual sparkle that I could hear with Solaris and Andro. Out of 1.5 ohm OI, I think this is where Ara gains enough sparkles and "bite" to the sound for me. Out of 3.2 ohm OI, well, it's again "death" to my ears. Certain songs like Eric Clapton's Tears in Heaven in the Unplugged album is just... unbearable. Sibilance and glare galore.

    Imaging: sharp, clean, very well-separated. I think this is Ara's strong suit.

    Soundstage: while Ara does throw a pretty decent stage, I think Solaris is still the best when it comes to soundstage. Certain songs are just way too forward-sounding with Ara, or more like... Ara just sounds more closed-in than what I remember of Solaris.

    I was hoping Ara would be an improved Solaris, and... in some respects like imaging and overall FR balance, I think Ara is closer than Solaris. But Solaris is still the easier IEM for me to like. It doesn't have the tendency to "flare up" like Ara does. Sometimes Ara's lower treble emphasis is just a bit too much for me.
     
  5. wormcycle

    wormcycle Friend

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    It is a long shot but can anyone compare Final B3 to Ara? I had a chance to listen briefly to B3 and like it, the FR graph of both, particularly in the bass section, is similar. The price is like 2.5 times, I do not mind paying more as I can get used Ara for a reasonable price but I found the mids and the details of B3 very good, maybe good enough.
    I want to have something between Vega nd ER4SR, with focus on midrange and details.
     
  6. wormcycle

    wormcycle Friend

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    I had very high expectations for Ara: I wanted Ara to be as neutral and as resolving as ER4SR and as engaging and musical as Campfire Vega, without Vega occasional excesses at the low end of the spectrum. I expected excellent details, with focus on mids at the same time well extended and articulated bass.

    @rhythmdevils review of Aras in his quest for neutral IEMs was particularly helpful as well as some of the impressions in this thread. On the other hand IEMs reviews focused on FR ups and downs after 1h listening with whatever source, whatever tips I find entirely irrelevant.

    I found CA IEMs difficult to get it right, both Vegas and Aras.CA Vega with the right source, good recording, enough power, and right tips is IMO fascinating to listen to, but is very sensitive to all those factors.
    Ara is where I wanted it to be but only after few days of “hard” work and buying a lot of eartips.

    Source: Kann Cube, OI on balanced out is 1.5 Ohm, DX220 0.3-0.6 Ohm. And there is some good synergy between Kann Cube and CA IEMs. First: no hiss whatsoever on KC or iBasso.

    Some good things are in the box:
    Ara stock cables are ne CA smoky litz cables. At first I did not even try the stock cable , instead I used a balanced litz cable I bought for Vegas. But when I finally tried the stock cables they are a major upgrade over the older litz cables. First, the MMCX connectors are smaller and shorter, and a different above ear cable guide makes Ara fit more comfortable. But, and I really did not want to believe that, the SE smoky litz makes Ara sound noticeably cleaner, comparing to “old” balanced litz cables. Against my better judgement I immediately ordered a balanced super litz, twice the price, will receive it early next week. Eartips in the box: no.
    After a lot of experimentation what works for me are Comply comfort large, and cheap triple flange. Either superb isolation (Comply), or deep insert and with my ear canal deep means really deep.

    I cannot add anything to the detailed FR discussion therefore I focus on the criteria that are relevant to my kind of music: resolution, instrument separation, neutral FR. And how natural is the presentation of string instruments, piano, voice, and large orchestral and choral pieces.

    Let's start with resolution and instrument separation. This is no doubt the best resolving IEM I ever listened to.
    Notes played by different instruments are clearly identifiable in the music texture, can be heard separately no matter how complex the music becomes. Very good spatial separation of instruments, in spite of the fact that the sound stage is not that wide, and it adds to the overall impression of effortless hearing of every detail and variation in the frequency and dynamic of the sound. That’s what I love about HEKv2 presentation, and Ara is obviously not at the same level but it gives me the same warm feeling.
    What I also noticed that turning on and off Jan Meier crossfeed did not make much of adifference if any, unlike ER4SR and Vegas.Sound stage is average but there is good perception of depth.

    Now presentation of instruments I care about:
    • Violin – very detailed highs, and they reach the level of sparkle when I was just about to grind my teeth but it never got to this point, violin lower registers sound deep and exact
    • Cello – very important instrument for me and this is the only time I noticed that bass around 125-150Hz may get a bit wobbly on some recordings. 2dB down at 130Hz with steep Q would fix it. But that’s not different than Vegas with a single DD. I only mention it because those are older DG recordings of string quartets that are dear to me but the cello sound was fucked up by sound engineers.
    • Double bass –not approaching this bottomless black hole of low end like Vegas, but well-articulated, without the Vegas excesses.
    • Piano – amazing, I can hear what kind of instrument is being used, new thundering Steinway or instrument form the period. I mean anyone can hear difference between a modern grand piano and a replica or restored instrument from the Brahms era, it is only the question how clear and pronounced it is.
    • Very quick attack and decay makes piano sound almost like harpsichord in baroque pieces. But in romantic and modern music the piano sound is lush and accurate with the pedal.
    • Voice, female vocals in particular – very forward, sometime just a little bit too much but that is compensated by how natural soprano ant and voices sound. The separation is outstanding, there is a recording of Pergolesi Salve Ragina where Bernarda Fink and Anna Prohaska sound like standing very close to each other but their voices are clearly positioned and separated.
    Now what I did not like about Aras, there are few things but nothing rises to the level of a serious irritant or deal breaker:
    • At this price point I do not like paying extra for high quality balanced cable but… I will
    • Their size, I would love Aras to be a bit smaller, had a hard time finding the right position in my ear. That maybe because this is my first “full size” CA., Vega is tiny comparing to Ara.
    • There are a few irritants in the upper mids, lower treble, as I said sometimes female vocals are a bit too much in your face, dominating the rest of the sound stage.
    • Isolation: those are not to be used instead of ANC on flights, no eartips, IMO, will provide good enough isolation.
    • High sensitivity BA has its tradeoffs. They are very quiet from Kann Cube and DX220, but with BHA-1, which is death quiet with Vegas, I hear some slight hiss on balanced out, SE is fine. That means it will be difficult to find a desktop balanced amp for Aras.
    The conclusion: With some help from SBAF, I got lucky again.
     
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    Last edited: Nov 28, 2020
  7. rhythmdevils

    rhythmdevils MOT: rhythmdevils audio

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    Man I want a pair. The massdrop 789 is a kind of a miracle worker for BA iem’s and it’s a balanced amp. Every part of me wants to prefer the lcx because I’m a Cavalli fanboy but I can’t deny what I hear. The 789 sounds substantially better. But only with iem’s. I haven’t even tried plugging in full size headphones into it I just intuitively know it will sound like ass. I could be wrong though.

    and drop makes a cheap XLR->2.5mm adapter
     
  8. yotacowboy

    yotacowboy McRibs Kind of Guy

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    This is the weirdest thing about the 789. It's audio saran wrap with anything other than the few BA IEMs I had hanging around when I borrowed one. Plasticky, fake and lifeless. But I've never heard my Andros sound as neutral and effortless as I did with 789 on low gain. But really, really hard to justify as a desktop BA-IEM-only amp like an Alton Brown kitchen uni-tasker.
     
  9. rhythmdevils

    rhythmdevils MOT: rhythmdevils audio

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    I guess my intuition about it is correct. And yes it is actually kind of Godly in how it works with BA iem’s. The Solaris is interesting with it. I can actually hear part of the Solaris (the BA drivers) sounding better on the 789 and another part of the Solaris sounding better on the lcx (the dynamic driver). I can’t decide which I prefer for the Solaris. The Andromeda is no contest.

    I use iem’s at home almost exclusively right now so the 789 makes sense for now.
     
  10. crenca

    crenca Friend

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    Got these in today. Another good transaction/experience with @Bloom as usual. Anyone have any tips as to how to tame the sibilance from female voices in particular? I am using the foam tips that came on them out of the box as they happen to fit good - have not tried the silicon but I assume they would not help. Various EQ's cuts, broad and narrow, in 3-6k region has not really helped much and of course come with side effects.

    edit: sources so far M6 Pro and Gung MB > Asgard 3. The latter in particular is near zero OI (The M6 is 1 if memory serves as well) so...
     
  11. YMO

    YMO Chief Fun Officer

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    IEMatch or sell the M6 Pro for regular M6 AKM edition before they are gone forever.
     
  12. crenca

    crenca Friend

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    IEMatch would just be a OI "fix", but with Asgard 3 & M6 Pro both being 1 or less that should not be it correct?
     
  13. shotgunshane

    shotgunshane Floridian Falcon

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    @crenca I believe @purr1n and I do the same thing with Ara: use the Final E tips provided and go 1 to 2 sizes smaller. This allows deeper fit which pushes the treble peak slightly higher in frequency response and lowers its amplitude as well. It’s also surprisingly comfortable as well.
     
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  14. YMO

    YMO Chief Fun Officer

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    It depends. On desk amps I prefer IEMatch on 2.5 ohm/High mode. Of course, the best setup I heard with the Ara is not too surprising: The Sony ZX2. @purr1n said get the M6 Regular if you can that can help with the BAness of CA IEMs.

    This also works as well. Final E Tip however drives me crazy with da itch.

    I know @crenca M6 Pro brining out more of the BA meh of the Ara. Damn it ESS DACs, lol.
     
  15. crenca

    crenca Friend

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    Thanks for the tip. I put a smaller Final E Tip on and so far I like it the warmer tilt. Sibilance is still there, maybe mitigated by 25%, but warmer tilt/bass balance is better overall so definite improvement.

    So far so good, but only an hour or so in...:confused:
     
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  16. Yethal

    Yethal Facebook Friend

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    What do you guys use to drive the Aras without hiss? I bought a pair two days ago and while the qa is quite fantastic the hiss out of my Fiio M11 is so loud I'm considering returning them.
     
  17. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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  18. imackler

    imackler Key Lime Pie Infected Aberdeen Wings Spy

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    From reading this thread, Ara and iphone dongle don't quite cut it. Seems like it needs to be amped or have a high-powered dap... Correct?
     
  19. zerodeefex

    zerodeefex SBAF's Imelda Marcos

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    @shotgunshane what are the new hotness choices for dongles (wired and Bluetooth) for this bad boy?
     
  20. shotgunshane

    shotgunshane Floridian Falcon

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    @zerodeefex the two on my radar (I have not tried them yet) are:
    Wired dongle - Questyle M15
    BT dongle - Fiio BTR7
     
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