Drop + Campfire Darkstar

Discussion in 'IEMs and Portable Gear' started by Merrick, Dec 12, 2024.

  1. Merrick

    Merrick A lidless ear

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    My favorite universal tips at the moment are TRI Clarion. They seem to do the best job of the ones I tried of balancing the FR and not futzing with the sound.
     
  2. YMO

    YMO John Bomber

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    You or @Merrick should post a thread about the DX340. As much as I think Android DAPs are dumb, some users might want to spend that much on a DAP for AMP card being swappable and battery replacement.
     
  3. M3NTAL

    M3NTAL Friend

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    Anyone have a Solaris Stellar Horizon to lend @Merrick ?

    Nobody talks about that model much. It kind of seems like an Andromeda Emerald Sea type of situation where there are just too many Solaris / Andromeda variants and the two new ones are way more expensive.
     
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  4. Merrick

    Merrick A lidless ear

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    I have been talking to Brian at CFA about arranging a visit to their HQ to demo some units as I am local to them. I was mainly focused on Clara and Trifecta but Solaris SH would be good to request from them as well, and Fathom now that I think about it.
     
    Last edited: Jan 2, 2025
  5. M3NTAL

    M3NTAL Friend

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    I had a 'duh' moment about not including the Clara. Yes, the full jewel pack would be rad to hear all at the same setting.

    Bug them about a full-size headphone. ;)
     
  6. Merrick

    Merrick A lidless ear

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    Full size headphone with full size dual magnet biocellulose drivers? :punk:
     
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  7. decompositions

    decompositions Facebook Friend

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    I ended up grabbing a pair of these when they went on sale again, partly because I have a job where I need to be in an office again but mostly just out of curiosity because I've never had a chance to hear iems above the 100~ dollar price range (which means I don't have any good iem reference points to compare to). I've only been using these with a dc07 pro that I grabbed during the bloom sale because I don't have any desktop amps that are good for these, they're too sensitive for the stuff I have and have too much hiss for me - I agree that you probably just want to find the cleanest source possible.

    On the sound, I pretty much agree with most of what's already been said, great sounding IEM overall and seems to get along with pretty much everything I try with it - definitely not the most sterotypically "hifi" kind of sound but an enjoyable one nonetheless, I can use these for quite a while without getting any fatigue or feeling tired of them. I agree they are pretty forgiving of bad recordings as far as harshness (as in really harsh treble jpop songs don't hurt my ears), but definitely still revealing enough to let you know something was recorded or mastered like crap (as in not as forgiving of DIY punk EPs that were being recorded in some guys garage). I think they're still more forgiving of the latter than a lot of other things I've heard, enough so that it doesn't bother me and I can still listen to material like that with them, but they're not as forgiving as my hd6xx for example. Drums and guitars sound great, female vocals sound great, I think male vocals are great most of the time, but I do hear male vocals being slightly recessed sometimes and it can sound a little weird with songs where the vocals were already a bit low in the mix especially if the song was bass heavy since there's that bit of a boost there, I think this just depends on the pitch of the person's voice and I only noticed it on some specific songs - the first verse of constant elevation by gravediggaz was an example of this for me, but again it's not really something that felt present enough to be a big deal either.

    Stock cable is "fine", it's not microphonic or anything like some other stock cables I've had but +1 that the ear hooks aren't great, so I'll probably be replacing that in the near future. I agree that the stock foam tips make the low end sound like crap, the stock silicone tips didn't really work for me and just don't stay in my ears so I had to try a couple different tips before I found something that sounded and fit right. I was using the spinfit w1 before, but I think the clarions that merrick suggested do sound a bit more even and I've since switched over to using those. Overall pretty happy with them, thanks for the recommendation on both these and the clarions.
     
  8. RestoredSparda

    RestoredSparda Friend

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    Ok, so I've fallen deeply in love with Darkstar after finding the right tips for me (amazing comfort and balanced sound) Spinfit CP145.

    I like it so much that I broke down and bought a used CFA Clara. I gotta know if it's a Darkstar +.

    I'll try and post some comparisons once it gets here. I'm not sure, is there a CFA Clara thread?

    Also, the stock cable with Darkstar seems to be a full copper cable, based on internet snooping, and sounds excellent to me. I did get a Time Stream chromatic in black but I'm disappointed to say it sounds terrible with Darkstar, IMO. Shouty highs, and everything seems to be pushed to the front into one big wall of disjointed sound.
     
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    Last edited: Jan 15, 2025
  9. Grattle

    Grattle Friend

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    What differs between the cables that you can hear such a stark difference? Is the conductor a different metal or blend of metals? Is the braid different? I'm genuinely interested to understand how a cable can make such a profound change. Perhaps one adds more impedance or is damaged in some way?
     
  10. RestoredSparda

    RestoredSparda Friend

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    Honestly it is shocking how different they sound. The stock cable is full copper (based on comparing photos of the cables CFA sells this one is full black unlike the smokey litz which are transparent), the Time Stream is silver plated copper. The Time Stream is also louder by a few DB and picks up more waterfall hissing from the source. Must be a combo of impedance and differences in conductors like you said. The Timestream was purchased new and is undamaged.

    I'll report back how the Time Stream duet cable sounds with the Clara and Darkstar.

    Edit: I just prefer copper and the higher impedance cable's effect on the drivers.

    I just measured with a Fluke multimeter.

    Darkstar stock cable is 1.1 to 1.2 ohm

    Timestream Chromatic is .4 to .5 ohm
     
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    Last edited: Jan 15, 2025
  11. decompositions

    decompositions Facebook Friend

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    I also got a timestream metal and thought it sounded terrible with them, way brighter and shoutier it immediately started giving me a headache. I'm usually more in the cables are snake oil camp since I generally don't hear a difference with my other stuff and felt like I was going crazy for a bit, so thanks for sharing your impression - I'm glad it's not just me. I was really shocked at how different it sounded. I tried switching to different spinfits instead of clarions and that helped them sound a bit more normal again but I think I'd ultimately like to find a cable that sounds more like stock but doesn't feel so annoying to fuss with when putting them in.
     
  12. RestoredSparda

    RestoredSparda Friend

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    Cool, I'm not crazy then. Lol.

    I'm close to ordering a Forza Audio copper IEM cable as I think it might check both of those boxes. I'll share any input if I end up ordering one.
     
  13. Merrick

    Merrick A lidless ear

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    I really like the Darkstar with the Litz silver cable, not silver plated copper. I want something that helps mitigate the dark highs and reduces any potential mid bass bloat into the mids. I'm also using mine with the Modulate custom tips.
     
  14. Biodegraded

    Biodegraded Friend

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    Ok, now I really want to see impedance vs frequency measurements on the earphones. With different cables (for FR).
     
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    Last edited: Jan 15, 2025
  15. Merrick

    Merrick A lidless ear

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    FWIW I don't prefer pure silver cables on most headphones, I was strategically using the silver Litz with the Darkstar specifically to help balance out some of the few areas I thought could be improved.
     
  16. Merrick

    Merrick A lidless ear

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    I'm very interested in your thoughts on the Clara. Did you order the titanium or the standard?
     
  17. RestoredSparda

    RestoredSparda Friend

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    I purchased a used standard edition from a chap on Headfi. I'll do my best to compare to Darkstar when he ships them out / they arrive.

    Honestly, the standard look more purty to me and I'm always for adding lightness.
     
  18. Merrick

    Merrick A lidless ear

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    I agree, the titanium seemed to add...nothing but extra cost. The last thing I want with an IEM is more weight and you lose the gorgeous transparent housing.
     
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