Campfire Audio Astrolith S+ Tier IEM Review

Oh for sure. IEMs are more for laying in bed or around the house for me.

Astrolith doesn't need this chain and it definitely wasn't assembled with them in mind. Mainly for ZMFs and senns.

That being said, Astrolith is the most resolving thing I own, headphones or not.

 

I should probably search, but have you spent any time with the Moon Rovers?

 

Only have experience with the 250R version of the DT880 but that one's probably my fave Beyer headphone, pretty not bad overall other than the really weird superwide but zero depth staging that bisects my head. I know HRTF shenanigans are going to make it so that things might not necessarily translate between people but if the Astrolith is (kind of) similar to how the DT880 comes off as super warm with a boosted air region then... yeah that's a flavour thing, but can be very fun.

Treble on the Beyers has more of a metallic tzing than how I hear e.g. the vintage Yamahas/MCTH (double stack if you have them both) have a more delicate, finer "glassy" treble, but price aside this actually has me slightly more curious about the Astroliths haha.

 

Tried bunch of Campfire models over past two CanJams and can say that Fanthoms are my favorites, would pick them over Astrolith. (this coming from somebody who never had issue with BA Timbre)

 

PSSSST! Where are the rest of the loaner reviews, folks?

 

I have them right now and so won't be posting a formal review, but I've come up with a simple mod that makes the Astroitih prettty much dead neutral so all the technical prowess of the drivers can shine. I'll be posting that in a separate thread soon. so far 2 people who have tried it have been very happy with it. i went from "gah! bass!" to loving them.

 

Thanks to @julie and Ken at Campfire Audio for making this loaner happen.

To set the context for my impressions, you should know that I almost never use IEMs. I really hate sticking things in my ears for extended periods of time. If I need to listen on the go, I use Samsung Galaxy Buds Live because of their ergonomic shape. So take my impressions with a grain of salt. Other users will give you better comparisons with other products.

I connected the Astrolith to my IPhone with the little Apple 3.5mm dongle. I streamed hi-res files from Qobuz for all my listening. This is the best setup I could manage for these impressions. Years ago, I had the Sony NW-ZX2 and Shure SE846. It was a nice setup, although I always thought that the Shure earbuds were a little flat and boring.

Even from my iPhone, the Astrolith is easily the best IEM I’ve ever heard. They have excellent clarity and extension on both ends of the frequency spectrum, as I would expect from a planar design. Damn, that bass hits hard. The bass has a percussive, propulsive quality, but I wouldn’t describe the overall sound signature as bassy, if that makes sense. Overall, this makes for a very dynamic earbud, maybe slightly tipped up in the extremes but very tasteful and fun.

I found the stock foam tips way too bassy. The stock silicone tips did not provide a deep enough seal. The Clarion tips were just right. The design goes a little deeper in the ear, whereas the stock silicone tip is shallower.

I listened to some RHCP, Van Halen, and Opeth while trying these out. The Astrolith allowed Flea’s bass to shine as the rhythmic backbone in “Eddie” by RHCP. Meanwhile, the Astrolith showcased the guitar fireworks of the real Eddie (you see what I did there?) on “Judgement Day” by Van Halen. I was really impressed with the Astrolith's wide soundstage on "§1" by Opeth; the drums had a pretty good wraparound effect.

I’m glad that I was able to try this out. If I was in the market for an IEM, this would definitely be at the top of my list.

 

hello,
i have the loaner pair in house (with all kinds of Schitt accompanying them.)
very torn up about these.
film at 11:00.
cheers!

 

hello,

tl/dr: if you have the dosh, go for it! i'm a bit ambivalent.

i have alluded to the notion that, for me at least, i am most happy when the emotional experience of music is freed from the constraints imposed on it by the machines that reproduce it.

i have been moved to tears listening to something even if the machines were sub-optimal.

there have also been occasions where high end reproduction has left me cold, as i have felt that what i was hearing was, in some way, artificial, "sounds like a stereo," mayhaps, TOO muchly, much.

i have never had the ability to discern particular frequencies. i have no way to identify a 6K bump, or a recession in the vocal range. i can grasp when a transducer is missing something (e.g. the bass roll off on the HEDD's that i heard on loan,) but i cannot tell you where it is, and where it isn't.

for all of this, i can fall in love with a machine that is beyond my pay grade and moves me emotionally. (the JAR HD800s did this for me.)

for all of the reference to comparison to live music, i would postulate that much of a performance is mitigated by the house, the sound person, the performer, and the music being presented. (also, more than likely, through JBL's for sound re-enforcement.)

the Astrolith is a brilliant transducer. detailed, easy to drive, exquisitely made, packed with lovely accessories, and worth the price of admission.

somewhere along the line, a comparison was made of transducers that make you want to lean forward to get it all, or to lean back and bask in what is coming at you.

for me, Astrolith is the former, which is not really my cup of meat.

with unlimited funds, i would have these in my quiver. but i would more than likely enjoy them as a summit rather than as an easy chair by a fireplace.

YMMV

cheers!

 

Campfire Astrolith Loaner Impressions

I’m long overdue in posting these impressions (the poetic shitpost above notwithstanding). I’d like to thank Ken and Campfire Audio as well as sbaf for making the loaner possible. And I'd like to thank Julie for organizing it and for keeping us on track. I very much appreciate being able to hear these IEMs. They're really fun, smile-inducing IEMs.

I couldn’t make my mind up about them, though. I’ve always thought I might be a closet basshead but I’ve never gotten along with those basshead IEMs I’ve heard previously. The Vega 2020 was all bass and nothing else, sounding comically off. The Dorado 2020 was v-shaped to the point where everything sounded wonky, especially the missing midrange. The Astrolith aren’t as bad as those other two Campfire IEMs, for me, but they’re still not quite my cup of tea.

With that said, I did have some glorious, fun moments with them and may have found myself checking the classifieds to see how much used ones go for… I won’t be getting a pair, though, I don’t think, as they’re too expensive for a pair of specialist, fun IEMs just for electronic music and the occasional rock song.


Chain
I don’t have a DAP and used my MacBook Air M1 with an iFi Gryphon instead.


Tip rolling
I had a hard time figuring out which tips to use. Usually, with IEMs, the sound snaps into place for me with the right tips. With the Astrolith, this didn’t quite happen.

I hear two presentations with the Astrolith – a warm, fun, bassy presentation which, I guess, is how these IEMs are supposed to sound, and a more neutral but still v-shaped one, which isn’t quite right as it comes across as a bit too thin. For the warmer, bassier sound, the midrange suckout doesn’t seem as wrong since the fun of the bass and the treble rebound distract me from it. For the more neutral, shallower v-shaped presentation, the lack of mids is more unsettling and unpleasant, leading to a hollow sound, as though there’s music missing.

Thicker silicone tips tend to provide more basshead fun; thinner silicone the less sharply v-shaped, more neutral alternative. Foam tips are less predictable.


Basshead tips:
Azla Sedna Light Short; generic silicone Penon tips; Spiral Dots ++; Azla Sedna Crystal; Symbio hybrid foam and silicone

More neutral, v-shaped tips:
Azla Sedna Xelastec; Spinfit CP145; Spinfit CP155; CFA Marshmallow; Comply

The best compromise tuning I found came with either the Final E or the Tanchjim T-APB tips: for both, the sound is nice and warm and with good strong bass that’s not as bloomy as the other basshead presentations, but also with good air and treble extension. The Tanchjim place vocals more forward.

One of the problems with some of the tips producing a bassier presentation is a loss of precision and clarity in the lower notes. The Astrolith can all too easily slip into an poorly defined mess of bass boominess, even to the point of becoming muddy. Interestingly, these IEMs can have a great deal of clarity. (I wonder if the driver has little distortion?) But when something like the wrong tips throws that clarity off, I really notice it.


Impressions from my favorite setups – the Final E and Azla Sedna Light Short tips

The bad:

• The midrange suckout is too great
• The Astrolith only work with certain genres like hip hop, electronic, and some rock
  • I’d avoid these for music with natural, acoustic instruments.
• All too often there’s a distinct lack of depth to the staging.
  • All sounds come at you from a single plane right in front of your eyeballs; there’s not enough front-to-back differentiation.
• The sound is nice and smooth but could benefit from a bit more grit and texture

The good:

• Good strong, prominent, deep, punchy bass, which is rich and thick
• It sounds lush. It’s not sluggish, not too bloomy or loose. It’s not super tight or fast, either, like a 1266. I couldn’t quite call it goldilocks bass either, though, as it’s just too pronounced
• Great black background, which I guess could be a function of the low distortion?
  • maybe good "clarity" is another way to describe this
• Fast without being overly incisive
  • it’s still a bit rounded in the transient attacks, which makes for a nice, fatigue-free combination
• Good slam
• Macrodynamics are good without being outstanding
• Highly resolving, but not in an overt way - and not because of the bright treble (at least not to my old ears)
• Big soundstage - wide but not deep
• Bold, fun sound

Comparison with the Campfire Audio Solaris (the original gold one)
I’m using the Gryphon here still, which is less than ideal for the Solaris as its output impedance is too low, making the Solaris a bit darker and bassier than it should be.

The Solaris is less resolving

• It seems murkier, less pristine or clean, as though there’s more haze or veil
  • This is surprising as, ordinarily, I’d never describe the Solaris in these terms
• is as snappy, perhaps, but with cleaner, less rounded transients
• has more depth
• presents vocals better; they’re less inside your head
• has a lighter tonality
• has a lighter bass presentation
• is similarly percussive and impactful

The Astrolith is warmer, perhaps "darker"

• It's more lush, wetter or more liquid, more rounded.
• It has a wider staging and much more bass
• It has a a fuller, thicker sound
• It’s more vivid
• It sounds bigger (even it if isn’t) and bolder.

Conclusion
I suspect the Astrolith throws me for a loop because it is so rich and lush, so warm/dark and bassy, so clear and lacking in veil or haze, and so resolving, and yet it is a basshead IEM with a pronounced v-shape that makes for problems with recessed mids. You get all that resolution and clarity but with musical information seemingly being missing in the midrange. In some ways the Astrolith sounds so right. Glorious even. In others, it sounds flat out wrong.

 

Thanks, @purr1n and @julie (and Ken Ball / Campfire). I really wanted to try these.

My review notes are short, because it became clear pretty quickly that these weren't for me.

I have speakers and full-size headphones, so I generally only use my IEMs when I need to block out the world. Which means the only tips I use are foam. And I prioritize naturalness of vocals. I wasn't able to get that naturalness from the Astroliths with my Comply P400 tips, even with EQ -- as others have said, the combination is very bass-heavy -- so at that point I knew I wasn't going to keep the loaner pair very long.

But I tried the silicone TRI Clarion tips that @Merrick recommended, just to see, and things were a little different. Some male vocals, like Muddy Waters on most of Folk Singer -- sounded fantastic. And the Astroliths are as clear and resolving as everybody says. But I was still unable to get female vocals to sound the way I like.

I don't know. My ears are old; maybe the people who love this IEM have better hearing. Or maybe their focus is on some other element of the music -- the earlier reviews aren't wrong; there's a lot that the Astroliths do really well.

But my personal feeling about these IEMs is articulated pretty exactly by @Tchoupitoulas in the final paragraph of his review directly above.

FWIW, my music was DSD and 16/44 or 24/96 FLAC, played either straight out of a recent Macbook Pro or from a Sony NW-ZX300 running MrWalkman firmware with the NW-WM1Z sound signature. My usual IEMs are OG Andromedas, and I'm happy with the way music sounds through them from those two sources.

 

Did you ever make a thread about this? I think a lot of people who didn't love the Astros at first listen would like your mod a lot.

 

I made a studio lit with black background video of the (5 minute) mod that wound up being an hour long and I think I explained the meaning of life (I just wound up going on lots of tangents about how orthos work and what the mod was doing). So I'm either going to edit that down and take out.... most of it... or just post some pictures and a little blurb.

I agree though, I mean I haven't' bought one because I keep sharing the mod first and convincing people to keep them haha

 

I'm listening right now and it's so good!

 

I just finished my loaner period and it's time to share some thoughts.

[rigs used] - (iBasso DX180). (MMB2 -> Piety), (SFD-1-> MJ3)

The fit of the Astrolith are more shallow than most of the Campfire lineup that I've tried, but I still was able to retain a seal when moving around. I mostly used Campfire foam tips (medium) through my loaner time.

Bass: High resolution with amazing transient response. For some of my music the mid-bass is too much, but on other albums the mid-bass is perfect. Not thick or thin - very similar to how I hear most planar headphones. Somewhat of a HiFiman HE-500 thing going on.

Mids: High resolution and also great transient response. The frequency response in the mids is my only qualm with the Astrolith. The area could be recessed and prominent on certain tracks. When there is a lot going on the in bottom and top region of frequency, you can really point it out.

Highs: Same again, excellent in presentation. I almost thought they were slightly artificial and boosted, but the more I listened, the more I appreciated how close to a real cymbal they can get. Crips, shimmery, sharp, no-overshoot.

The overall presentation and timbre is very planar - quick response, high resolution, wall of sound . I'm guessing in the future, maybe someone can eek out some more resolution, but I was satisfied with how much the Astrolith has considering its package size. They do sound "big" which is something I appreciate from small IEM's.

I'm not sure what else to say. Excellent technical ability with slightly too much mid-bass punch at times. Mostly highlighted when there is information in the mids that is recessed.

Thank you for allowing me to be apart of the loaner tour. I have actually purchased items that I've heard during loaner periods. So - it does work.

 

I enjoyed my time with the Astrolith. It's really helped me to discover that sometimes the kilobuck headphones/iems really are better (at least in this case), but with caveats. The caveat in the case of the Astrolith is the bombasity. It's really intoxicating at first, but does become a distraction. It's so resolving and clear and that bass! It distracts from LISTENING TO THE MUSIC and not the gear. They don't just disappear and leave you immersed in the music. You are constantly caught thinking about the traits of the IEM. Maybe after time and the infatuation dims, this would be less distracting.

I listened to a variety of things, from Orchestral Soundtracks (Star Trek The Motion Picture) to desert rock (Queens of the Stone Age) and Hard Rock (Tool, Royal Blood, Smashing Pumpkins, Nothing but Thieves, Van Hagar). They all sound great, but more than a bit exaggerated. I did hear some parts of a few Tool songs (Wings for Mary pt. 1, Jambi) where the bass emphasis highlighted Justin's playing that, after switching to IE600's I can still hear, but I hadn't had it pointed out like the Astrolith did. I hear that part clearly now on the IE600, but because I look for it. With the Astrolith, it was more readily apparent.

Porcelina of the Vast Oceans on Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness is so full of graceful details. The Astrolith sounded really great on this highly detailed recording.

On We March from the Social Network soundtrack is an experience with Astrolith. The bass was deeper than my 2.1 system with a 12" sub running on a 750W amp. I don't get to turn that up very often, so maybe an unfair comparison.

On Tool tracks, the music didn't get congested, which is often the case with Tool and Danny's amazing speed and impact on the drums. Tool music is tightly knit together and unlike speed metal, is like a tapestry woven with lots of color and detail. Lateralus and Disposition were fantastic.

Billie Eilish - bad guy was also pretty fantastic on the Astro.

To me, the strengths of the Astrolith are the instrument separation, and holographic presentation. The bass is a bit much for me. Treble may be over-emphasized too, but I'm 53. I liked that potential emphasis. My hearing is still really good (surprisingly) but I really liked the air and delicacy it delivers.

It's weakness is the over the top V tuning. Take that fun tuning down a notch or two and the Astrolith would be even more amazing.



My daily drivers are the IE600.

I listened to the Astrolith on: Gungnir MB w/Unison => Ragnarok 2 and a Fosi DS2, and Apple Lightning dongle. All were fed by iPad, iPhone 13, or MB Pro. I didn't even try them on a ZDT Jr. and Bifrost 2 OG.

I think the Astrolith would be a great buy at about 1/2 the asking price. In the end, it's not so much better than the IE600 that I could justify paying full retail for them. Hearing the Astrolith has me considering an IE900 or CFA Fathom now. I'd like to hear both of those.

Thank you to SBAF and CFA for the opportunity to hear the Astrolith. This community is truly amazing.

Edit: changed some wording for clarity.

 

Without looking at graphs, just from long term living with the Astrolith and the IE600, I think the IE600 has more of a V shape but the intensity of the high highs and low lows of the Astrolith makes it feel like more of a V than it actually is.

I do still want to hear the Fathoms, although the recent price drops/deals on it have me wondering if they're planning a replacement model soon.