Campfire Audio - NEW - Atlas and Comet

Thanks for the input. Do you prefer atlas or your sennheiser Ie800s?

 

Good question. I have no problem fitting the ie800S (which is what I'll be talking about, although I also have the original ie800) over my ears and getting a good fit.

So, with that in mind, I think the ie800S is, although not perfect, the best universal fit dynamic driver iem...for me.

The ie800S has subbass tilted bass, which I like. It has great treble extension but without treble peakiness, which is great for me. And, most important, it has the best transparency of any dynamic driver iem I've heard. Clarity is often faked by boosted treble, but not here. Although a micro driver, it actually has more air-moving feel to its bass than the Atlas, with better control, although the Atlas is good as well.

The cons include the issue with the cable not being over-the-ear able for everyone. Ear-down is fine, but needs a shirt clip or it's microphonic. Also, the treble is thinner than the bass, this is better on the ie800S than the original ie800, whose treble sounded quite thin to some. The bass is boosted, in a way that I like, but some joyless people will not desire the subbass which is a delicious nectar.

The Atlas is very good, more treble energy, more midbass with the subbass, a small step back in timbre and transparency but still quite good, better cable by far. The ie800S isn't for everyone and the Altas is a sure hit, but for me, the ie800S is special and I haven't bought an iem since (and won't unless the Sony ier-zr1 or the cfa solaris change my mind. Ken's statements show he knows iems can get better. I think we have a few years to go before we hit a truly excellent place with them).

 

these

http://www.shure.com/americas/produ...arphone-headphone-sleeves/orange-foam-sleeves
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/EAORF2-10M--shure-eaorf2-orange-foam-medium-5-pair

 

Received the Atlas and Comet!



Thanks to @Vansen and @Kunlun for getting this tour restarted. Will listen, post impressions and send them on their way sometime next week.

Have a great weekend all!

 

Here are my impressions/insights/babblings/etc. on the Atlas (and a little on Comet). Will ship them off in the next few days, so @E_Schaaf please PM me your shipping info.

Let's start with the Atlas. Form factor is cool. Originally connected them to the same cable as my Solaris, but forgot that the Atlas is designed to have the cable hang down the front, so the Solaris cable memory wire was a no-go. Then used the cable from the Equinox, which looks to be the same (or very similar) as the cable that comes with the Atlas. I didn’t use the cable that came with the Atlas as I needed the 4.4mm plug for my Sony 1Z.

Bass is definitely present in quantity and quality with the Atlas. Having spent most of my IEM time recently with the Solaris this sticks out more than it would have otherwise.

Comfort is good. Wasn’t sure how the form factor would work as it’s different from what I’m used to with CFA, but they’re quite comfortable and even though they stick out a bit and the cable hangs in front it doesn’t pull down or anything distracting. I got a good seal with the large CFA foam tips.

Very similar in tone to the Equinox, which I guess should not be too much of a surprise. In fact if you look at the “Technical Specifications” pages for the Equinox and Atlas the only line that is different is where the Equinox says “Stainless Steel Driver Enclosure with Custom Fit Body” while the Atlas says “Stainless Steel Body”.

Upon further listening, the imaging is to my ears a little better on the Equinox than the Atlas, just a little more spacious (but still less than the Solaris). This could likely be due to the way the custom housing of the Equinox fits my ears and also not having to worry about tips/fit and insertion depth.

Also the higher frequencies were a little more recessed on the Equinox, but I wouldn’t have been able to easily call this out without back-to-back listening. Again I wonder if this is due to the fit of the custom housing versus tips? However, was glad to see that the lower ended didn’t change between the Equinox and Atlas, as the bass and mid-bass on these is really nice, and calls to the bass-head side of my listening preferences. I am one that when I first heard the Andros thought something was missing, but had to get used to not being hit over the head with the lower end.

Also have to admit, somewhat sheepishly, that I spent a good minute or two looking for the “L” and “R” marks on the Atlas as I was connecting them to my cable. Was getting frustrated that I either couldn’t find them or my eyes were showing their age, but then it hit me that they wouldn’t have be “handed” as they’re identical in shape. Duh. However, this does call out that it’s harder to tell which to put in what ear, as the only identifier (at least that I could find) was the little red or blue dot on the MMCX connector.

So could I be happy with the Equinox/Atlas as my go-to IEM? Sure. Are they a step up from the Vega? Yeah, quite a bit, with better all-around imaging. Would I prefer them to the Andro? Depends on the day. The Andro were my go-to reference units for a long time, but once I got the Equinox I would switch back and forth quite a bit. Now that I have the Solaris it’s not really a fair fight, although the custom housing of the Equinox do make me yearn for a CIEM version of the Solaris, or at least some way to make them more custom in terms of fit. I hear that Ken might have something cooking in the CFA labs in this direction?

Onto the Comet. The reason I’m on this tour is to listen to the Atlas, so honestly haven’t really given much time to the Comet. The Comet has a nice build quality and is quite a bit smaller than the Atlas, although you can’t tell any difference when they’re in your ear (well, other than the sound). The Comet comes with what looks like a much more basic cable (although it does have a 3-button control and mic – pointing at its targeting for more mass-market listeners), but I used the Equinox cable as it has the necessary 4.4mm Penitcon. The stainless steel looks nice and this time I remembered that they don’t have a L and R differentiation. Comet sound impressions? Hey, it’s not in the same league as the other CFA IEMs discussed here, but then again the price-point is radically different. $199 MSRP for the Comet versus $1499 for the Equinox and Solaris and $1299 for the Atlas. It’s a decent single full-range BA IEM that seems a bit focused on the lower end. It’s not my cup of tea, but then again I’m incredibly spoiled in having both the Equinox and Solaris. Also it’s clear the Comet is not as efficient as the Atlas, as I had to up the volume quite a bit to get to the same SPLs as the Atlas. Checking the tech specs shows this to be true, with the Comet at 97 dB SPL/mW versus the Atlas 105.

Thanks all for including me on this tour!

 

There was a loaner program in the works. Did that happen? If yes, could participants share a few impressions please (especially regarding whether they can be a complement to Andros)?

I was eyeing the Solaris for this purpose but they seem more like an upgrade to Andros, not a complement. Atlas B-stock is very tempting right now...

 

@Returnity - Yes, the loaner tour is well underway. You can find more information about it, as well as my impressions and others here: https://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/loaner-ca-atlas-and-comet.6692/

PS - If you had gone and searched for "Campfire Atlas Comet" you would have been able to find the loaner tour thread.

 

Sorry, I thought people were gonna give their impressions in the IEM's main thread. Will be more careful next time!

 

Just as a heads up, if you are prone to irritation inside your ear canal caused by tips, I found these Shure tips to be particularly "scratchy" causing my ear canals to become irritated and to itch in pretty short order. Great seal and very good for holding the iems in place, but for me only tolerable for about 30 minutes or so, then I would have to pull them out to scratch the itch with a qtip or something. Ymmv of course.

 

Loaner Impressions:

I wanted the opportunity to hear the Atlas as a comparative to my Orions. First off, the tonality of the Atlas is way different. As others have mentioned, the Atlas has a distinctive V-shape, with a strong/powerful bass presence. Bass pressure is impressive, and upon my initially listening, a tad excessive and distracting. I've come to appreciate a relatively neutral sound signature, or in it's absence, a sound that is balanced and cohesive as a whole. While I almost immediately dismissed the Atlas due to it's overly strong low end, the more I listened to it, the more I came to appreciate it's sound signature for what it was; that it's character was exactly as it was intended and it wasn't shying away from it in the slightest.

Most of my impressions are using my new-to-me ZX2 and while I did try the Atlas off my iPhone7, I felt the staging and imaging greatly improved with the DAP. They seemed sufficiently powered from both sources.

General thoughts:

- The stainless steel body is excellently constructed and it's little heft-in-hand and super-shiny housing is high class.
- No issues with fit, even with the little weight of the housings.
- The new silver cable is nice, BUT the twist seems a little under tension. Unraveling the cable from the case, I noticed that the twist would loosen or open up slightly. Not much of an issue as it returns to normal once everything is straightened out; just different than my typical understanding and handling of a litz weave.
- Strong bass performance, in abundant quantity. Heavy subbass rumble, pushes a ton of air and slams like an early 90s pog battle.
- Mids are recessed but still maintain a decent amount of clarity, even with the strong low end.
- Good amount of energy and brilliance up top. Not bright by any means, but upper-mids and up sound emphasized.
- Overall sound comes off a little forward, at least with vocal rich music; the subbass dominates. Instrument separation and imaging is pretty decent, but not a substantial improvement over my Orions.
- Dynamics throughout sound improved over my Orions, with what I'm finding to be that characteristic physicality of the DD over BA based monitors. It's a detail that I had missed using the Orions up until I tried the FD01 loaner.

All in I'd to say the Atlas sounded like the IEM to satisfy most consumers. It's sexy to look at, fits easily, seems easy to drive, and has a sound signature that most bass heads will appreciate. More importantly, it sounds very good to uninitiated audio consumers who likely equate strong bass to overall performance. It's not what I would personally choose, but it sounds fun and balanced it's own way.

 

I have two pairs of Campfire Audio Comets. The first pair I use at work while I roast coffee, its a bit sweaty and there is a lot of movement so I use a Fiio Bluetooth MMCX (RC-BT) connection which works really well.

The second pair is just for at home listening, and I use my Astell & Kern AK300 as well as my Chord Mojo.

I have to say that I am really impressed by the sound quality and build quality. I never really knew earphones could sound as good as these do. I don't really have much to say further other than I was completely blown away by the customer service I recieved from the team at Campfire Audio and wanted to give them a shout out.

I had a small issue with one of the Comet cables and they communicated effectively, clearly, kindly and I was blown away with how they resolved this small issue for me. Now I am starting to think about moving up the line of earphones, this is certainly a company that you can trust to support their products and customers! ! !

 

So this is my feedback on the loaner

First the CA Comet. I didn't give these as much time as they deserve, but I did think they sounded nice. Compared to the MD Plus, the MD has a bit more low end, but that's not a surprise since the Comet is single BA. Build is nice and feel like they can take serious abuse.

The CA Atlas I didn't like initially with some silicone tips in the loaner package. The tips were the kind that reduced the opening diameter by a couple millimeters. Do not do this! It makes everything sound smeared. Switched to some foam tips and it was a completely different experience. I always considered IEMs compromised in terms of SQ, but these are the first IEMs that I preferred to my HD 6xx. Sound signature is on the warm side, which I didn't mind since the treble sounded really nice and didn't feel like the bass was masking anything. Had to try these on the Dynalo mk2 + Gungnir A2 setup I have and they definitely scale up. As @David De Lucena mentions, these are excellent with classical music and strings.

In this price range you could also get a Focal Clear and I prefer the Atlas over the Clear. My brother-inlaw used to own some 64 Audio CIEM with 12 drivers a side before they got stolen. When I let him try the Atlas he said it was the best he tried ever out of his phone, at least as good as the 64 Audio.

In terms of build, the stainless steel makes these the heaviest IEMs I have tried. Although it shouldn't be an issue, since they are still IEMs. They do look much smaller then the pictures make them seem.

Excellent job and high praise to Ken Ball for making these and allowing us to put these on tour. After trying these I'm very curious how his collaboration with Shinola sounds like.

 

Leaving my impressions after participating in the Comet/Atlas loaner tour. Was busy with work while I had these, so didn't get in as much listening time as I would have liked. As usual, forgive my stream-of-consciousness style of reviewing.

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With the Comet, I have the Massdrop Plus IEMs to compare with. Both are at a similar price-point.

Comet:
My initial concerns are that vocals seem a little recessed, guitars a little tinny, and snares/cymbals a bit tizzy up top; all while being less detailed than the flagship CA offerings. That said, everything generally sits well in the mix, kick drums and bass have a fantastic thump (extending low), and overall I find these good IEMs for the budget minded.

Massdrop Plus:
A drier, leaner sound overall, and in turn less fun and engaging. Kick drums don't have as much impact. On the plus side, bass is clear and tracks well, guitars sound more realistic, and it's more efficient (if that matters with an IEM) than the Comet.

Comet vs Massdrop result:
I'll give the edge to the Comet on this one. It was fuller bodied, more musical, and better balanced overall.

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With the Atlas, I have JH13 FreqPhase customs to compare with. Again, both are at a roughly similar price-point.

Atlas:
What jumps out at you straight away, the bass is a little too much. I found myself fiddling with low end EQ in an attempt to render some genres (electronic and hip-hop) listenable; it has a tendency to bloat and muddy the sound otherwise. I noticed the same problem when I auditioned the Vegas, which are the little brother to the Atlas. Snares and cymbals are decent, but a little snappy and could be fatiguing during longer listening periods. A high level of detail and definitely v-shaped! Vocals too are good but a little odd, sounding somewhat distant and lacking body. On the plus side, kick drums and bass are of course back with a vengeance (if that's what you're into) and guitars/keys/horns sound great!

JH13:
Far more balanced and neutral, to the point where they're less engaging, which is forgivable for an CIEM designed foremost to be an on-stage monitor. Better seal at the price of comfort. Similar level of detail retrieval. Kick drum lacks thump, bass is clear and articulate but sometimes lacks impact, guitar and vocals sound present and realistic, while snares and cymbals are non fatiguing and sit great in the mix.

Atlas vs JH13 result:
This one is a tougher call as the sonic signature is very different between the two. The Atlas is what you would call more of a fun IEM, while the JH13 is more for flat reference. If I owned both, I would pick depending on the application at hand, or my mood. I have more problems with the JH13 though (they're a pain in the ass to get in and out of the ear, and less comfortable) so would likely grab the Atlas more and put up with constant EQing.

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Summing up:
Little is ever perfect, so plenty of both pros and cons with these new Campfire Audio releases. Overall I'd say they're pretty good. Build quality and comfort is top notch as expected. Within the CA range, I'd say the Andromeda is still my favorite.

 

Here are my impressions from the loaner.

So this will mostly be about the Atlas due to an unexpectedly busy week. Also, apologies in advance as I'm a novice to analytical listening, so not very good at this sort of writing. That said, I did most of my listening on my Liquid Platinum or Shanling M0 (Low Gain).

The little time I had with the Comet, I was quite impressed with its build (in a metal casing similar to the Atlas) and how its single BA driver presented such a full tonality (tilted toward the bass of course). Probably would have listened more intently too if I wasn't already so prejudiced against BA timbre.

Now back to the bad ass dynamic driver Atlas.

First - I had to do some tip rolling in order to find a tonality I could enjoy. First tried some wide bore JVC tips, which were not well suited for these. Lower treble seemed to get way too hot and vocals sound nasally at best or piercing at worst. Next I tried some narrow bore tips similar to the stock, and that just made things sound too dark or rolled-off in the highs. Finally settled on some medium bore tips and Goldilocks was ready to pound the porridge. <cough>

So, if you've been reading this thread, y'all know that Atlas brings the proverbial foam bat upside your head. Not a bad thing at all - I really enjoyed the sub/bass energy and impact, and would describe these as having the right amount of "too much bass," without too much trade-off in the rest of the freq band. I instantly gravitated toward listening mostly to hip-hop with these, and I suspect Atlas was tuned with a lot of boom-bap in play. This is by far the most enjoyable V-shaped iem/headphone I've ever heard (close second is the CA Cascade) and I'd happily make these my go to for that genre.

Ok, the downside to the sound being so freakin' yuge on the Atlas is that you forego what I consider natural or airy sounding treble. Often the reverb would decay too quickly for my liking, and although Atlas seems highly resolving and conveys a lot of detail, I felt like I was sometimes struggling to place some of that in the mix. For instance, I really didn't enjoying listening to well-recorded EDM such as "Singularity" by Jon Hopkins because of what I often felt like what I was struggling to hear. I wouldn't call it congested, nor muddy... but I'd describe it as overwhelming. Perhaps since we perceive freqs relative to one another, the dynamics inadvertently sounded compressed/flat at times because the low-end was so often calling for my attention.

My solution to this for some albums was fairly simple: EQ'd the bass down, and gave a slight boost to the mids. As you might expect, the Atlas and its more than capable driver responded beautifully. I'll occasionally use Slowdive's self-titled album (with many wall of sound tracks) to do some critical listening to see if I get that 'neutral but bassy' tonality I like so much, and after a little bit of EQ, the air, sparkle, lushness, and powerful textured low-end of the record was there in all its glory.

Overall, I really enjoyed my time with the Atlas and think it's an excellent signature product that I'd really enjoy having in my stead someday. Thanks to SBAF and the fine people at Campfire Audio for the opportunity to demo them!

 

I hate to air my dirty laundry in public... but I’m on pair #2 of b-stock comets and very confused.

Got pair #1 in about a week ago, and listened to all of two tracks before I heard a very noticible distortion spike at normal listening volume in one of the channels. Did some basic troubleshooting (swapped channels, tried iPhone dongle and zx300, swapped cable) and it was 100% repeatable with the same song (A Time to Be So Small by Interpol). It sounded like something in the intro was causing some weird tinny parasitic buzz.

Sent pair #1 in shortly afterwards, and just got pair #2 in tonight. Fired up the same track that caused the issue the first time and didn’t hear anything out of the ordinary. A few more songs later (now 5 Beer Plan by Joyce Manor) and I notice similar distortion in both channels, but it seems to be happening at a slightly different frequency.

When I don’t notice distortion I like the sound, but is it normal behavior that these seem to fall apart on certain tracks? I’ve sanity checked myself against my Andro and Noble X and know I’m not imagining it, but at this point I don’t know if I’m listening to broken headphones or have just been spoiled by better sounding stuff.

 

Those who wear the Atlas inverted with the cable over the ear... Have you used any cables that have memory-wire ends?

I found the Andro and Vega cables with memory-wire ends very comfy, but those IEMs are designed for cables like that. Clearly, how the MMCX inputs are positioned on the housing will affect things greatly...

 

Any current fans of the Atlas here? I'm thinking of picking up (another) one as a more intense complement to my Solaris.