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Campfire Audio Vega, Dorada, Lyra 2 Discussion/Impressions

Discussion in 'IEMs and Portable Gear' started by purr1n, Oct 29, 2016.

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  1. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    FYI: I've lifted @music_4321's ban so he can apologize to us about his premature assumptions about us treating Ken Ball as a level 98 celebrity sorcerer who can never fail, like any of the Marvel movies.

    On the the Dorado.
     
    Last edited: Oct 29, 2016
    purr1n, Oct 29, 2016
    #41
  2. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Campfire Audio Dorado Frequency Response (experimental measurement rig).
    The grey line is the Andromeda, also measured the same way.
    Dorado FR.png
     
    purr1n, Oct 29, 2016
    #42
  3. Merrick

    Merrick A lidless ear

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    Interesting that you're hearing the Vega as sibilant, that hasn't been the case for me. I'm very curious to hear more impressions on the Dorado though.
     
    Merrick, Oct 29, 2016
    #43
  4. mscott58

    mscott58 Friend

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    A personal observation about the sibilance question. I've been listening to the Vega's for a day or so now and I have noticed a few HF sections of a handful of songs that were a bit sibilant to my ears. Two thoughts - 1) I haven't fully burned them in yet (and yes, I do believe in burn-in and have seen what I consider to be proof of it in DD FR charts), but mainly - 2) I'm used to what I consider "darker" HP's, especially my (former?) references the K10 and LCD-3F. The sections that have come off a bit "rougher" in the HF appear to have always had the formula for sibiliant response, it seems like the darker HP's have just filtered that out. I'm still getting used to HP's that give more of the "full" frequency spectrum (the Vega's for IEM's here).

    Not focusing on HF for a bit, the bass impact on these things is incredible to me. I've not heard an IEM that has such visceral impact in the LF area. The impact is really there, and I can "feel" the bass line and kick drum in many tracks. Jukebox Hero is one track where it nearly knocked me off my chair. There's a lot of LF energy with real texture, but then the vocals and guitar come in and I see that the Vega's can keep all the parts balanced and with great clarity and resolution of the high-hats, texture of the strings of the guitar and the realistic vocals in the mid-range that makes me feel like I'm there. The speed and detail retrieval of the Vega is world-class to me as well.

    Next stop is to do direct A/B with the Dorado's and also hook up the Reference 8 balanced cable and see how that impacts things. Cheers
     
    mscott58, Oct 29, 2016
    #44
  5. Merrick

    Merrick A lidless ear

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    Are those same treble sections sibilant to you with the Dorado?
     
    Merrick, Oct 29, 2016
    #45
  6. AdvanTech

    AdvanTech Friend

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    Now that I've had a week with the Vegas, I've realized that I'm definitely in the DD camp. I'm still a little new to this so please take my words with a grain of salt.

    I've really enjoyed my last 3 months with Andromedas, and they have been constantly impressing me in different ways. They seem to whisper their many strengths to you, doing almost everything just right without trying to draw attention to themselves. But since firing up the Vegas it's been hard for me to go back to the Andromedas because I realized that I really value what Marvey is calling the muscularity/fullness of the dynamic driver. This extra bit of punchiness reminds me of what made me lose full days listening to my music library with my SuperDupont/SBAF modded HD800, Valhalla 2, and light Sonarworks EQing.

    I'm currently listening through the balanced GO V2+ output w/IEMatch. EQ'ing out a bit of that low-end to bring the FR a little closer to the Andromedas.

    Anyone here looking for a pair of Andros in great condition? :)
     
    Last edited: Nov 1, 2016
    AdvanTech, Oct 29, 2016
    #46
  7. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    I hear a lot of stuff as sibilant. The only person who hears more stuff as sibilant is @Hands.

    Campfire Audio IEM Frequency Responses (Relative Comparison)
    White = Vega
    Purple = Lyra
    Orange = Dorada
    Green - Andromeda
    CA IEMs FR.png
     
    purr1n, Oct 29, 2016
    #47
  8. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    The Dorado is really nice. As I've said before, possibly the best DD/BA integration I've ever heard. It sounds like a Lyra on the low end and Andromeda on the high end. Sort of measures like that too. If I listen carefully, I can tell the difference between the top and the bottom, but the fact is, the blending is wonderful. The Lyra is actually pretty fast for a DD. No doubt this helps. I guess this means we don't have to ban @mscott58!

    I always hated hybrids before for various reasons: the bass being "slower" and step behind the treble, hugely disjoint qualities in timbre or decay, poor blending where the crossover region sounds "off", etc. The Dorado manages to minimize these things to such an extent that I basically forget about them and can concentrate on the music.

    Those that feel the Lyra was too slow may still want to check out the Dorado. The fact is, bass is supposed to be slow, and treble supposed to be fast. What I am getting at is that the "speed" of bass that we perceive is also related to the treble. So the Dorado's bass isn't as slow as the Lyra, but it also isn't as fast as the Andromeda. It probably does tend to be more toward the Lyra though.

    So yeah. Lyra low end. Andromeda high end. Good blending that surprisingly works. Not much more to say.
     
    Last edited: Oct 29, 2016
    purr1n, Oct 29, 2016
    #48
  9. shotgunshane

    shotgunshane Floridian Falcon

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    How is the fit of the Dorado with its much longer nozzle?
     
    shotgunshane, Oct 29, 2016
    #49
  10. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    It fits me fine. A little bit more Lt. Uhura earpiece that would like. (I'm using large Comply with a tiny bit shallower seating even.) Not a big deal because the shells are rather compact and not massive. Nowhere as bad as some of those mega big shell IEMs with the shadow of Warren Worthington III stamped on them. For reference, I know many find the Andromeda nozzle too short, but they are perfect for me (Medium Comply shoved in). As you know, hard to say with these things as different people's holes are different.
     
    purr1n, Oct 29, 2016
    #50
  11. mscott58

    mscott58 Friend

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    So glad to hear I get a reprieve! ;)
     
    mscott58, Oct 29, 2016
    #51
  12. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Haha. You have to understand right? When it comes to hybrids... and my experiences with them.
     
    purr1n, Oct 29, 2016
    #52
  13. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    @sphinxvc: Set up loaner threads for Lyra and Dorado. Vega will have to wait. We'll try to work geographically, but I'd like to give the IEM guys priority. The question is both together or separate?
     
    purr1n, Oct 29, 2016
    #53
  14. mscott58

    mscott58 Friend

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    Totally. No worries and cheers
     
    mscott58, Oct 29, 2016
    #54
  15. Dr. Higgs

    Dr. Higgs Boson - Member

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    Hasn't been the case for me either, but otherwise my impressions are close to Marv's.
     
    Dr. Higgs, Oct 29, 2016
    #55
  16. sphinxvc

    sphinxvc Gear Master (retired)

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    sphinxvc, Oct 29, 2016
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  17. Kunlun

    Kunlun cat-alyzes cat-aclysmic cat-erwauling - Friend

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    @KenBall may we please see your Dorado measurements?
     
    Kunlun, Oct 29, 2016
    #57
  18. Kunlun

    Kunlun cat-alyzes cat-aclysmic cat-erwauling - Friend

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    @Marvey Is the Dorado really lacking the treble spike of the other CA iems?

    If so, and if the Dorado has the Andromeda's treble drivers, any speculation for this lowered treble plus less extension?

    Danke!
     
    Kunlun, Oct 29, 2016
    #58
  19. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    I EQ'd the Dorado to have about the same bass as the Andromeda subjectively (-4db, not as much as plots would suggest). The Dorado treble is a tiny bit less etched, smoother, at the same overall level, but with 2kHz less extension in the air region. That is not as much amplitude and not to the frequency extent the plots suggest. It's hard say for certain because everything is relative to each other, the DD timbre and fullness does make it hard to directly compare. Also, I'm having a harder and harder time hearing past 14kHz as I get closer to 50. Sorry, I don't have the 21.5kHz ears that the 55-60 year old HF'ers say they have.
     
    purr1n, Oct 29, 2016
    #59
  20. music_4321

    music_4321 Acquaintance

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    Señor Marvey,

    Thanks for your Vega, Dorado & Lyra II impressions. Though I’d still love to try the Vega & Dorado (very unlikely, though, unfortunately), I think the Vega may not be for me. And while the Dorado may seem closer to what I’d find more appealing sonically, I can’t help but feel they wouldn’t offer better sonics than the Andros.

    Also, FWIW, thanks for your (very unexpected) support even if you later regretted it.
     
    music_4321, Oct 31, 2016
    #60
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