Campfire Audio IO - New Dual BA IEM

I have been out of the IEM game for a while but got a newsletter from Campfire today about a new offering in their lineup, the IO @ $299. It seems to be a refresh of the now long-forgotten Nova, using two BAs per side and the TAEC chamber from the Andromeda.

I don't know if anyone has had advanced ears on this yet but I've ordered one and will share impressions once it arrives early next week. I'll also keep this original topic updated with links to impressions and reviews as more members get them, because it's probably going to be a popular pick in this price range.

https://campfireaudio.com/shop/io/



Should also mention it comes with a new carrying case, that looks more like a Louis Vuitton coin purse than IEM accessory, but there ya go. I dig it.

 

Not a fan of the new cases either. They look lovely but more like something my wife would have her sunglasses in than something that goes with my kit. The old cases were more my style.

At any rate, I got into leatherwork as a hobby so can always make stuff for myself.

 

I can't help but think "Iron Man" every time I look at these things haha.

Curious to hear people's opinions on how how they perform against Orions, or whether they occupy the same niche at all.

 

I'm more curious about the new Polaris, specifically how it sounds relative to Solaris. Beyond that I'm resisting the urge to collect these things simply based on how beautiful they look.

 

I got my pair today. I normally spend weeks or at least days with equipment these days before writing any thoughts but these are earphones so I don't really care that much. I will be brief because while I have had experience with the Andromeda, Orion, and Jupiter in the past I have not had any interest in IEMs in a long time and I'm not really up to speed with what's on the market today. I listened through an iPhone XR and used wide-bore silicone tips as they seem to mess with the sound the least.

If the Io is any indication, armature-based IEMs have not changed in their overall presentation one bit. It suffers from washed out timbres and lack of bass weight. The best analogy I have for armature reproduction of bass is that kick drums and snares sound like they are 'ghosting' similar to a TN panel being over-driven to achieve 1ms response time. It wears on me in less than the time it takes to finish an album unless I am not listening critically.

The overall sound of the Io is rather on the mellow side, and I think an emphasis was put in during tuning to avoid listener fatigue from frequency response anomalies. I'm sure many have seen the FR measurements for the Andromeda, how it has downwards sloping bass which dips into 1kHz and then follows back up throughout the upper mids and presence region. I think the balance of the Io is quite similar but the rebound seems to come further up in the midrange, meaning the overall sound is more mellow than the Andromeda, which can be V-shaped and comes across as livelier out of some sources.

The TAEC chamber present in both monitors seems to add a smoothing affect to the high frequencies; sharpness and clarity exchanged for a more diffuse presentation (can help create the illusion of image width and spaciousness) with less fatigue from having high frequency energy blasted directly into your eardrum. I think this feature, plus the premium accessories and experience accompanying a Campfire Audio product will distinguish the Io from the other competition in a similar price range. I don't think it's a giant killer or anything special, however I would be curious to hear from other members that have more recent IEM experience than myself. Personally, I prefer the Orion to the Io. I'm disappointed to see that it no longer appears to be for sale on Campfire Audio's website.

 

No matter how good they sound, I could not live repping the Ronald McDonald colors... end of disgust-ion.

 

Has anybody compared the IO with the Comet? Any SBAFers have experience with both?

 

Jude has his measurements up, for the curious: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/campfire-audio-io.905408/page-27#post-14972084

 

Should take a look at the acoustune hs1551s or the newer models.
Fit the iron man look a lot better and are single DDs which get timbre and a few other things pretty right. But are quite heavy.
Similar used price to these, neither are trying to be neutral

 

lower treble bump, with a bump in the upper mids for more energy.
Alright sounding
Don't see much of the the strength of the Polaris over this aside from bass rumble and texture.
The resolve is quite similar.
Looks nice, matches with most outfits (nice +)
Kind of uneven in lower mids, doesn't sound ridiculously incoherent though.
Can quite easily become very boring over a long period of time due to the tone and how it creates this lack of engagement with the weak dynamics.
Maybe eq helps.
Just Polaris isn't worth it over these, and these look cuter.
My show impressions