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

Thanks, I'm going to have to try ordering some spiral dots. The tips I've been using are Sensorcoms, which are amazing with the Andromeda but unfortunately are not available in the states (unless I pay $40 for shipping). Mine are pretty much warn out though so hopefully the dots will be a good replacement. Otherwise, the Spin fits are uncomfortable for me, and the Complys feel great but suck too much life from the high end.

 

Never heard of Sensorcoms. I'll have to check them out.

I really wish Westone star tips would fit my IEMS. The were by far the best tips I've used. Anyone know any tips that are similar but have a larger opening for the larger bore iems?

 

The sensorcom double flange are soft silicone tips, they seal perfectly and are extremely comfortable (especially with the Andromeda since they have a relatively long barrel that lets you insert further without the metal housing gouging your ear). Lots of us used them a few years back with the Earsonics SM3, and there are quite a bit of posts on head-fi about them. You used to be able to buy them from eBay UK, now all of the eBay listings say explicitly no shipping to the US. And sensorcom said they would sell me some but they want 28£ for shipping (!) so that would make them absurdly expensive.

 

I did try the Spiral Dots when I first got the Andros and, though in my case the sonics were pretty similar to the stock silicone tips, I found the latter provided a more secure fit (I found myself fiddling a bit much with the Spirals)

Ahhh, the wonderful 'good' old days of the SM3 (oh, yes, I even get those Sensorcom tips!). The SM3 was an earphone the sparrow absolutely loved when he got himself a pair (in the early days of the SM3 craze in 2010), and was the first to mercilessly trash it while sooo many were being duped and raving over it (the sparrow didn't make many friends on HF then). The SM3 was, in fact, the instrument used (I know this for a fact, no mere speculation here) for one of HF's main "Contributors" and 'certified' shills to become not just a shill (in the full sense of the term), but, in the eyes of maaaany, an actual 'audio authority'. His ties to Earsonics started right there and then — he, in fact, unlike our very own super masculine and very sexy Hello Kitty friend (with very cosy ties to a couple of manufacturers), became tremendously influential, partly due to the fact that he was a very close friend (and remains so) of HF's most influential IEM guru, the latter also a contributor to perhaps the most respectable audio site (IF).

 

Nice segue, but this is about Andromeda. You already have your own shitposting thread...

http://www.superbestaudiofriends.or...anboy-losers-who-cant-afford-real-hi-fi.2394/

 

I take it Mr jowls is not a big fan of music_4321.

But hey, Mr jowls, I did mention the Spiral Dots and stock (Andromeda) tips in my post! — that might save some people some money after considering getting the Spirals from Japan/eBay. Perhaps you should also give me a like for that one irrelevant bit, and not just a dislike for my "nice segue"?

 

Nothing personal against 'The Sparrow', just against pointless noise.

A few Andromeda's seem to have been listed FS already. It would be interesting to know what objections people are having to them...

 

"Nothing personal against 'The Sparrow', just against pointless noise." —— Ok, if you say so, but allow me to have my doubts.

As for "a few" Andromedas for sale (how many exactly, I wonder?). Virtually any new piece of gear will have "a few" early adopters selling their newly-acquired piece of gear soon for a number of reasons, even the venerable HD800s, Stax, LCDs, etc. FWIW, I know 2 very good friends of mine are selling their Andromedas because they've actually found an under $100 (modded) IEM they prefer sonically. Now, is that titbit worth an honourable like from you, Mr jowls?

 

OK enough is enough. There are people who jump onto the hype FOTM train of Andromeda and probably they find Andromeda to be good but not actually hyping-good, so they sell it, makes perfect sense for me. It's the daily routine in the audio world. Who f'ing cares.

 

It's a valid question. People with ears I trust have been frothing over Andromeda. As someone who has almost no opportunity to demo gear, criticism is often more important than praise. There is less risk involved in universals, but it's risk nonetheless. I presume the issue is ergonomics but would be interested to know otherwise...

 

Seeing the sparrow’s popularity is sadly decreasing by the minute, time for him to take a (longer) break from SBAF. With that said, I’ll leave you all with a link to a great song and a great performance — this sounds brilliant through the Andromedas (won’t be removing this YT link this time round):

 

Yes it's valid, but presumption and speculation really doesn't help. PM those trusted ears and probably the answers will make more sense? Bottomline, a FOTM product popping up for sale a few months after mass availability is nothing really special.

Also SBAF will help one lower the chance of wasting money: what commonly recommended here are 99% chance good, the last 1% being personal preference variations, and we can't really help. Another bottomline, if one has no chance to demo a product, one has to accept the risk of buying blind and pay the bills, no matter how ugly it is.

 

I agree on all points but isn't criticism more valuable in the thread than in PMs? Isn't that what differentiates SBAF from HF?

(apart from bigger and more resplendent schlongs of course...)

 

Unfortunately, criticism is hard to come by when people generally like or, more so, love a particular IEM. For some reason people don't want to mention, let alone discuss shortcomings. Especially HF. Here, I find it to be a lot better, you can get the good and the bad. Head-fi, lots of "reviewers" that "receive review samples..." or something along those lines and they rarely touch on shortcomings and focus on the good.

I'd prefer to know the shortcomings.

 

And the birdie flies into another closed glass door. Like clockwork from when he shows up again on a board.

I've only seen a small number on HF, if that's what you mean. It's probably for the reasons mentioned earlier (too expensive for what they hear, not their preference, etc.)

 

Fit issue being one of the biggest factors I assume!

 

Got the Andromeda yesterday. Fit is perfect for me. Using it out of the iPhone 6s and this, as they say, is it for me with IEMs. Sensei Marv, muchas gracias.

 

Got mine yesterday too. I prefer silicone over foam but can't get a good seal...so I have spiral dots, Xcessor triple flange and Spinfits on the way. My guess is the Spinfits will be the fix, but we'll see.

Using some pressure to get a seal they sound excellent, so I'm really hoping I can find the right tips.

 

I really enjoyed the Andro's clarity and overall sound. I wonder if it's sensitivity isn't part of the reason people sell it, as it will hiss with some sources, even as it is easy to power with others.

 

I am more concerned about variability of the low end response depending on output impedance. The more linear response from ~3 ohm sources like iphones sounds more palatable to me, but then I would be tied to the iphone DAC. Does anyone know the OI of Line Drive or what it does to the low end of Andromeda? I'm assuming it aims for 0 ohms too but it isn't really documented anywhere...