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

I just did a Spinfit/SYMBIO b2b comparo. SYMBIOs definitely tame sibilants and have slightly more bass oomph. Treble seems smoothed overall, with a bit less air than Spinfits. To use hand-wavey descriptors, Spinfits are more "analytical" and Symbios more "musical". The increased isolation would make my Andros more usable on airplanes. Secure fit is definitely a plus.

 

Ordered! Spinfits work best for me so far, but I have to reseat the left ear every 10 mins or so, so hopefully these do the trick. I'll report back in a few months when they get here .

 

I like them a lot too. Get a more secure fit and more consistent seal than with Spinfits on my Katanas. The medium is on the edge of being too large for my right ear though. Starts getting sore after a while.

 

Me too. Left ear is perfect, right ear is a touch tight. Maybe it's possible to pull the foam out and trim it a little bit. I'm going to order more mediums as these work really well with my Noble X, so will try it when I get them.

 

Andro, W900 and PP8 shootout posted here.

 

I had the same vacuum issues with the SYMBIOS that I have with pretty much every other tip in existence. That's when I finally learned to vent my tips. I enjoyed the sound, and the stable & firm fit. They did end up being quite uncomfortable for extended wear, due to their level of firmness. It's been a week or two. I should give them another try when I go to rotate my tips and replace the venting fiber.

 

Just a note - no need to go into specifics, but I want to mention I have received excellent service from the seller garcs5522. A little shoutout is well deserved.

 

Do any of CA's other IEMs have a similar fit as the Andromeda? I'm intrigued by the Andromeda, but my ears are kind of finicky. I figured I might be able to try one of their lower end models as a test.

 

Orion, Nova, and Jupiter share the form factor with the andros, avoid the Nova.

 

As @deafdoorknob said, they all are the same. I have the Andros and my sis the Orions. The Orions feel exactly the same as my Andros, just that they're a little bit lighter.

 

The single DD models are much smaller (Vega, Lyra II), as well as the Dorado hybrid (didn't like the sound personally). But the others share roughly the same shell design as the Andromeda.

 

Not sure if this should be this thread or General Advice thread, so apologies for bad forum etiquette in advance:

I have the andromedas and only use them from my iPhone 6 plus (with the stock cable it came with, the unbalanced one), does anyone with experience with these know if it would benefit from some dedicated dap or amp? I prefer not to, I prefer just to use the phone, but would welcome any input.

 

If you are satisfied with them the way they are, then there is no need to worry. I enjoyed mine straight out of an iPhone, but like everything, there was improvements using dedicated equipment. I don't have a ZX2 like a lot of the other Andro fans, but I used a GO2Pro Infinity and it was a pretty solid pairing - more on the punchy side with the low z out, but very clean.

IMO they are the best thing I've heard straight out of an iPhone and I was pretty content with them like that.

 

I just grabbed a ZX2 a few days ago after catching up on the hype. My favorite Andromeda source prior to this was the iPhone 6S+. The dongle for the iPhone 7+ is not just shoddy, but I suspect the OI is lower as the Andromedas sound way too bassy and muddy in comparison to the i6S+ HPO.

I pulled out the iPhone 6S+ again this weekend and compared extensively against the ZX2 after running the latter in for about five days (and disabling the Sound Enhancement stuff per the general guidelines). The iPhone 6S+ sounds pretty good especially for non-critical listening but the ZX2 is certainly an improvement across the board. IMHO the difference is not subtle when you listen for it, and I fully understand the acclaim for the latter having an organic and nuanced sound.

I’m left with a similar quandary now deciding whether to keep the ZX2 handy in a portable capacity given the SQ benefit; the decision is especially challenging in cases I might value the portability of the iPhone over the incremental quality. Whether the trade-off is worthwhile is going to vary from person-to-person.* I was debating getting a DAC/amp for work but I might have the ZX2 pull off that duty given the performance of the pairing.

BTW the ZX2’s superiority extends to playback via streaming apps e.g. Tidal, Spotify and Google Play Music too (albeit WiFi or tethering required).

*Of course let me know if you want to try the ZX2 sometime.

 

Thanks @3X0, that's the sort of thorough reply I was looking for!

I use the Andros rarely, just out of convenience, I think I'll stick with what I have. Moving to a whole new portable system given the convenience of using the phone is just not worthwhile for me right now.

 

Oooooh... I can't wait for the ZX300 to get tossed into this mix. Looking forward to reading people's comparisons.

 

f**k that's smexy! 200 units only, and in japan

http://www.stereosound.co.jp/news/article/2017/10/27/62048.html

 

That's cool and all, but did you see the HK limited edition?



That's porn.

 

Ordering another pair shortly. Can't wait to have these back