Cascade by Campfire Audio

Discussion in 'Headphones' started by KenBall, Feb 1, 2018.

  1. FallingObjects

    FallingObjects Pay It Forward

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Oct 15, 2016
    Likes Received:
    2,235
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Damn, these seem right up my alley as a basshead who still likes his mids loud and clear. Gonna have to see if there's anywhere I can try them and give impressions.
     
  2. blackships

    blackships Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Oct 2, 2015
    Likes Received:
    130
    Trophy Points:
    43
    @KenBall Any word on the extended sliders? I'm well outside my return window and these are useless to me without longer sliders.
     
  3. TheIceman93

    TheIceman93 El pato-zorro

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Dec 17, 2016
    Likes Received:
    1,300
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    SoCal
    @KenBall, any plans to build an open back version?
     
  4. KenBall

    KenBall Owner - Campfire Audio

    Joined:
    Oct 18, 2016
    Likes Received:
    1,078
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Home Page:
    Still in the works, hold tight! No eta just yet.

    Ken
     
  5. KenBall

    KenBall Owner - Campfire Audio

    Joined:
    Oct 18, 2016
    Likes Received:
    1,078
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Home Page:
    HI The Iceman,

    No plans for open back.

    Ken
     
  6. Dr. Higgs

    Dr. Higgs Boson - Member

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Oct 4, 2015
    Likes Received:
    781
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Roswell, GA
    I've only tried T4, but the difference seems pretty slight to me and I'm not sure if I could tell if it was in there without looking or training my ears more.

    I've had a lot more success with playing around with EQ so far, the bass bump seems pretty localized so it's not too hard to tame:

    [​IMG]

    The bass can be a bit jarring coming from my speakers or other headphones, but it's easy for me to adapt to it if I'm coming in fresh (or walking around outside). The bass quality is great, definitely boosted tonally but very well controlled. Despite the bass hump, it really doesn't seem to bleed into the mids as much as I would expect from just looking at the measurements. Ken wasn't joking when he mentioned how open they sound, pretty surprising considering the small cups. The soundstage depth and width seems comparable to some of the fostex biocellulose headphones, good balance between intimate and distant IMO.

    The build quality on these headphones is insanely good. They're heavy for a portable, but I don't have any issues with weight/shifting/hotspots. The interior dimensions of the pads seem on the smaller side, my ears rub a bit but the leather is super soft so it doesn't bother me at all. I had to oil up the gimbals a bit to loosen them up at first, but they're starting to break in now to the point that they self-adjust to my head without too much manual fiddling.

    These aren't really my normal cup of tea tonally (at least without EQ or some brain burn in), but I find them to be super engaging and they've kept me listening regularly since I got them. Really happy with them overall, I think they'll be traveling with me pretty frequently.
     
  7. ricky64

    ricky64 New

    Joined:
    Aug 8, 2017
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    1
    Location:
    Boulder, CO
    Dr. Higgs, thanks for the above. Question, on the Vega, I struggled with some sibilance, especially in stringed instruments and female vocals. Do you note any of this in the Cascade?
     
  8. microCuts

    microCuts Acquaintance

    Joined:
    Feb 23, 2016
    Likes Received:
    74
    Trophy Points:
    18
    Yeah I know my post is not going to contribute much but with Cascade & Vega side by side out of my lowly Nexus 6 I prefer the Cascade more. Better layering and less muddy.
     
  9. thekorsen

    thekorsen Acquaintance

    Joined:
    Aug 14, 2016
    Likes Received:
    32
    Trophy Points:
    18
    Can anyone comment on how the Cascades compare to the ZMF Eikons in the area of headstage/imaging and bass? The staging of the Eikons was their selling point for me given that they were sealed, but their lack of subtly in design prevents me from bringing them to public places like the library.
     
  10. LSW

    LSW Facebook Friend

    Contributor
    Joined:
    Jun 17, 2017
    Likes Received:
    109
    Trophy Points:
    43
    Location:
    USA
    I only briefly heard the Eikon and it was before the Cascade was released, but I'll say what I remember without a direct A/B.

    The Cascade has more bass for sure. I don't recall great staging from the eikons in the brief time I head them, but then again I was A/Bing with a utopia, lcd-4, ether flow, etc. Not really fair for a closed headphone. I feel like the cascade has good staging with its angled earpads, it's still a closed headphone though. To me, the cascade has more of an HD650 type soundstage than HD800, if I had to compare them known quantities. I don't think differences in soundstage would cause me to go one way or the other between Eikon and Cascade, cascade has a lot more bass and a lot more treble sparkle, better air and a better sense of detail as a result.

    Eikon Freq. Response sounded like \ with dark, very polite treble and cascade sounds at least \__ if not a bit V. Mids don't seem that recessed on the cascade though.

    I tried the cascade on an airline flight and sadly I was reaching for my vegas in short order. Isolation can't compare to an IEM with foam tips. I could clearly hear people talking next to me and a lot wind noise even on a relatively modern Airbus 320. It's not really the cascade's fault, most any headphone suffers in that environment unless it has active noise cancelling. However, I do feel like the cascade doesn't leak much sound to the outside, I can wear them in bed without bothering my wife.
     
    Last edited: Mar 11, 2018
  11. LSW

    LSW Facebook Friend

    Contributor
    Joined:
    Jun 17, 2017
    Likes Received:
    109
    Trophy Points:
    43
    Location:
    USA
    I probably have 500 hours of playtime on my cascades now. Here are some more measurements (no tuning pads) against my 1 month old unmodded HD650, in case anyone wanted to compare them to a known quantity given the amatetur and crappy nature of my measurement rig. A fun closed headphone for sure, caused me to sell my Aeon closed.

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
  12. donunus

    donunus Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Oct 18, 2015
    Likes Received:
    138
    Trophy Points:
    43
    Location:
    Philippines
    can’t see the pics
     
  13. GoodEnoughGear

    GoodEnoughGear Evil Dr. Shultz‎

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Oct 25, 2015
    Likes Received:
    3,070
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Cape Town, South Africa
    Visible here. Chrome on W10.
     
  14. donunus

    donunus Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Oct 18, 2015
    Likes Received:
    138
    Trophy Points:
    43
    Location:
    Philippines
    ok see it now
     
  15. Ankian

    Ankian New

    Joined:
    Mar 20, 2018
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    3
    Location:
    Melbourne, Australia
    Dang. These sound like a great complement to a pair of aeons for travelling. Tax time so far away ...
     
  16. KenBall

    KenBall Owner - Campfire Audio

    Joined:
    Oct 18, 2016
    Likes Received:
    1,078
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Home Page:
    Hey All,
    I got the test sliders in, seems to do the trick. However since they are long they do not retract all the way up into the headband. I am going to proceed and have them made but only use them when requested.

    Stand by...

    Ken
     
  17. blackships

    blackships Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Oct 2, 2015
    Likes Received:
    130
    Trophy Points:
    43
    Do they still fit in the case even though they don't retract all the way?
     
  18. KenBall

    KenBall Owner - Campfire Audio

    Joined:
    Oct 18, 2016
    Likes Received:
    1,078
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Home Page:
    Yes, still fits in the case.

    Ken
     
  19. GanGreinke

    GanGreinke Friend

    Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    Mar 29, 2016
    Likes Received:
    512
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    New York, NY
    @KenBall I'm not sure how feasible this is, but since the Cascade is pretty efficient would you consider creating a lightning termination option for the Cascade cables for portable use?
     
  20. blackships

    blackships Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Oct 2, 2015
    Likes Received:
    130
    Trophy Points:
    43
    @KenBall sent me a demo with the extended sliders and they fit perfectly. I haven't listened to the Cascade enough to form an opinion (waiting to get extended sliders in my personal pair), but it is awesome that he went out of his way to fabricate a new part because some freak with a huge head complained. I doubt there's any other headphone company that would do that.
     

Share This Page