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

Good question

 

I absolutely adore my Andromedas!
I have been glued to these for the past few days and the crystal clear tonality from bass to treble is impressive.
Strong bass presence with mids to die for!
The cherry on the cake is the gorgeous treble, it is such a beauty!

I enjoyed so many recordings on my Samsung Galaxy S5... yeah need to save up for a proper DAP.
Bach, Beethoven, Wagner, Palestrina, Mozart, Sibelius, Bartok, Bruckner, Mahler, Prokofiev, Stravinsky, and oh Debussy... haven't heard a better rendered Prelude de l'apres midi d'un faune. Gorgeous harps, flute, violins, staging, layering.
I keep getting goosebumps even when working at the office.
At times I need to close my eyes and savour the music whatever I am doing.
It is a thing to behold.

But then as soon as I plug it into my laptop jack, it sounds subdued, anaemic with barely any bass.
As I listened to Debussy's Danse Profane today I could barely hear the double bass.
Absolutely night and day difference. Jeeze...
It comes down to the output impedance of my Vaio being probably >3ohm.
I could not find the S5 impedance but the S4's OI aparently is 1.2ohm at 1Khz so probably the S5 is similar.
I still need to attach it to my Rag but the single ended connection has 3 ohm impedance.
I'll stick to my phone for now and enjoy the bliss.

The Andros feel like listening to my speaker rig on the go.
However music is rendered in an exquisite polished smooth manner with no grain.
It doesn't feel gritty, edgy or forceful like my speakers or even the HD800S.
It may well be the BA timbre sounding different to dynamics but still so addictive.
I wonder whether there is a dynamic headphone equivalent to the Andromeda - that headphone would be my endgame.

The fit is a bit of a pain too and for now the Complys will do.
And those screws ... ouch, managed to scratch my thumb with their sharp edge.
I am in horror of cutting my ear at some point due to the deep insertion I need to have a good listen.

It's like being with a super sexy mistress ... giving you pleasure and pain at the same freakin' time!!
Yeah, give me moar.

 

I have decided to take a plunge and order myself Andros from my local dealer. I am assuming this will be part of the new batch with "slightly improved fit"... was torn between K10U and this.......I guess reading from some of the comments on Katana and K10U can we 'safely' say that the Andros sound signature sits in-between these mentioned IEMS?

 

I can safely say I don't know! I was thinking from my time with the andros and the description of the katana (I'm going to eventually get a pair) sound like they are a bit similar and should be a good match up.

 

Not exactly. The Andro and the Katana have a similar tuning while the K10 has a warmer, more pseudo-organic (which I mean in a good sense) tuning.

 

I wish I knew too. I am the other way around. I have heard the K10 and Katana, but not the Andromeda...
I am probably getting a Katana at some point, but the Andro sounds like it might be similar.

@The Life do you own the Andromeda too? (Nevermind, I saw on Head-Fi that you own a LOT! K10, Katana, Dulce Bass, Andro...)

When you have a chance to compare the Katana with the Andro, more impressions would be great!

 

I owned a pre-release pair for a couple of months. I liked the FR and clarity of the Andro but for whatever reason I didn't really enjoy listening to music with them in the same way that I did with the K10 and Sony 7550, so I ultimately sold them. I bought the Katanas hoping they would have the clarity and neutrality of the Andro but with the musical enjoyment of my other IEMs and so far that bet is paying off beautifully.

 

it will be exciting to read once the Katana vs Andro impressions starts coming through

 

Yeah but considering price they shouldn't even be compared unless price is function of number of drivers.

 

Don't understand this. Most people in the market for a TOTL IEM who can afford an Andro can probably afford a Katana too. Andro has been compared to K10 already and held it's own, I don't see why it can't be compared to the Katana just because it costs a few hundred more.

 

andromeda costs 1099 and katana costs 1850, that's a 68.33% increase in terms of full retail price which is pretty significant, not just merely a few hundred.
With that said, they should absolutely be compared, not comparing products that serve the same purpose or share similar traits due to price differences is stupidity at its worst. It's up to individuals that read the comparisons to decide whether or not the premium is worth it.

 

Agreed with the post above. Comparing is great as it helps to establish things like value. But the andromeda was a stretch for me, so I certainly wasn't in the position to stretch even further for the katana or other n-driver per side iem. I'm not an iem guy, so I may not be characteristic of others, but I wanted an iem that wouldn't fall far behind my headphones and have the sound signature that I was after and was well built. The Andro delivers on all of those fronts, and exceeded my expectations. The money "saved" by not getting some other totl iem will go towards other components of my audio chain since IEMs aren't the only thing I listen with.

 

Comparing things that cost more or less than something else is the way of the world.
In our industry look at Schiit or the HD650 or anything that claims it's better than something costing many times more.
Then look at Hyundai or any "value" oriented brand.

The Andro should be compared to anything costing more or less. If it's good, it's good. If you can get something that sounds as good as another $2K IEM, then cool!

 

I always take price out of the equation when comparing IEMS. Once I'm done, then I can evaluate whether or not one is worth it or not. It works both ways, for cheaper and more expensive.

Prime example, I love my Sony Xb90ex. It cost me $90. I absolutely love this iem. Best bang for the buck I've ever had. If I discounted it in the fact of price, I would have never heard this little gem. I compare it to much more expensive IEMS as well and it holds its own.

OTOH, I own some pricey IEMS as well. Tralucent Plus 5, which I also love. I will compare my Sony's against it (ex1000 seems to be a good piece), at a fraction of the price. I haven't done a direct comparison, but I will definitely compare them because the Sonys sound that good. Then I will see if the Plus 5 was ultimately worth it.

 

Could you put up a review of the plus 5, please?

 

Yeah I wasn't clear in my post. Obviously anything can be compared to anything and the HD 650s seem to serve as a baseline for SQ comparison for many far more expensive headphones. I just take issue with the idea that everything over say 1k is a single comparable hifi category and if you can afford 1k on IEMs/HPs or a DAP you can afford 2k etc. I think companies like A&K and to a lesser extent Noble exploit this perception to overcharge consumers. Obviously people can pay what they want but the effect is upward pressure on prices for the rest of us.

/Rant

 

I guess it has always been the case where one brands TOTL IEM has been compared to another for its features and sound impressions and there is no stopping as we always have this curious mind to explore and find something better no matter the cost.

I believe at this stage who haven't pulled the trigger on Andros might be looking at comparing K10U, Katana and even Fidue Sirius removing price out of the equation! In the end it comes down to price vs performance, ergonomics(any fit issues) and sound preference.

 

I'll do my best, I'm not very good at reviewing things.

 

Spinfits arrived and give me a decent seal . I'll report on the spiral dots etc. When they come in later today.

Update:
Medium dots don't seal well. I couldn't get my hands on larger ones.
Xcessor Triple flange do seal well but are not comfortable in my case.

 

anyone know the difference between comply 400 and 500?

It says the andromeda are compatible with the 400 , but I am looking at a 400 and 500 side by side right now and they look identical size wise and they both fit on the tip fine.