Campfire Audio Cascade (recovered thead)

Just got the cloth pads in. Haven't listened much, quick and dirty measurement, although I took 3 measurements with the cloth to make sure the 5k bump was real. The usual disclaimers apply, I'm noob who sucks, uncompensated cross spectrum calibrated UMIK-1 on a flat plate, etc.




It does kind of remind me of swapping my Vega IEM foam tips (= leather) for silicon tips (= cloth).

Also, the tuning filters seems to have a more noticeable effect when used with these cloth pads.

This is with the cloth pads + 1T filter, the one that is supposed to make the most difference. It adds about 1.5 dB to the bass.




Edit: Initially I am developing a preference for the Cloth + 1T filter as a kind of happy medium between the thick sound of the plain leather and the brightness of the plain cloth.

 

Heard the cascade and some other CA iems few days back. The only impressive thing CA has made is the Andromeda. Cascade not only has overbearing bass boost, it doesn't resolve even remotely as good as the andromeda. There are no major dips or peaks, but the resolution on offer is mediocre. I thought HFM Sundara had a more agreeable sound in comparison (although bearable , still has that typical HFM steely midrange )

There were two more IEMs, the one colored dark gray was decent (thin and uneven midrange but overall fine) while the black one was dreadful.

 

Demoed familiar music out of an unfamiliar rig in-store (PC>iFi iDSD Pro>iCan Pro, mostly in tube hybrid mode on low gain with XBass and 3D both off). Lots of fancy cables and power conditioners, including an iFi Gemini cable, an iPurifier or two, and a bunch of other stuff that made me feel like I was in an Apple Store with all the i-prefixing going on. Had my Klipsch HP-3 along for comparison since the main reason I dropped by the shop was that I wanted to see how the iCan Pro worked with my 'phones. Also had the NightHawks on hand to compare against, but I didn't spend too much time with them for... reasons (i.e. I'm not the biggest fan of them, comfort and aesthetics aside). There was an HD800S on hand as well, but they got even less headtime than the NightHawks because they wouldn't have been useful in a comparison. All of these were run out of the iCan Pro's 3.5mm SE out; the HD800S which was running balanced and I didn't bother asking if I could have a spare 3.5mm cable for it, haha.

... In hindsight I could have used the Cascade's connectors. Dammit.

As mentioned, store demo conditions, so hardly an ideal listening environment.

Brief impressions, bass is way too much, and I'm coming from the HP-3 (sure, modded, but still very much bottom-heavy). Even in quieter passages it intrudes on the rest of the spectrum, and though I wouldn't call it as muddy as the NightHawk it was just alright in terms of clarity. Bass texture wasn't as good as on the Klipsch, though the Campfires did sound more "alive" and less congested in the midrange, though to be fair midrange is hardly the Klipsch's strong suit. There was something in the upper mids or low treble that was kinda painful to my ears at higher volumes (80~85dB?), though. I'm not sure what's up with that, but I can see the Cascades sounding fatiguing after a while with the volume cranked.

It sounded like there was a midtreble dip, which was actually pleasant coming off the Klipsches. It's nowhere near as smooth or refined as the HD650, which has my ideal balance in the higher frequencies (~8kHz upwards), but hey, basically nothing is.

Resolution was... okay, really. I can only hope that toning down the bass really does improve imaging and resolution, because I can confirm earlier reports of the Cascade not particularly excelling at these in stock form with the leather pads. More closed-in than a TH-X00 and resolution that seemed to match the same Fostexes out of my mid-fi home rig. I expected a bit better given the upstream gear, but it was perfectly acceptable, and if it does improve any with the introduction of felt rings, then excellent.

The Cascades look amazing and feel remarkably solid, like, I can toss these around my bed without worrying at all solid. I'd love to have a pair for commutes and whenever I just need isolation. Retail price is a fair bit more than I can afford just now, but given how well it performs pre-modding I do think these would be f'ing amazing for me, given my preferences etc.

Surprisingly enough, the Cascades had better tonality out of my phone, a first-gen Moto Z Play. Less bassy, though at the expense of a lot of finesse in the sound. I'm thinking that'd be impedance curves at play, so I'm likely to get something to help with that if I end up getting the Cascades.

Given the rig I demoed them out of, that'll probably end up being the iFi IEMatch

Provenance (please pardon the crap HDR haloing, left my phone on Auto):

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Thanks to Ken and Chris for the loaner opportunity.

Quick Loaner Impressions:

- Build quality is quite nice and consistent with my little handling of CA products; fit/finish worthy of the price-point.

- Magnetic-mounted ear pads is killer. Made for quick changes using Chris's felt mod. Never worried about potentially damaging the mounting surfaces of either the pad or housings...nice touch. This will be a big benefit if/when CA comes out with new pads.

- Fit was okay. Ear pads are a tad small, lending for a more on-ear fit. Not my favorite. Would have preferred a larger pad for true over-ear.

- Isolation is excellent.

- As others have mentioned, the bass is quite overbearing in stock form. Mids sounded cloudy and the overall resolve seemed to suffer from the lack of clarity. The felt rings helped to bring it down to a point where I could hear the true potential of the drivers.

- Sounded a bit congested and lacking space; not claustrophobic or "closed", but still shut-in compared to the my experience with my Slants and Atticus.

- Used mostly with my phone and straight off my MacBook. Fairly easy to drive.

- CTH seemed to have way too much gain, couldn't get past "9 ish" on the pot before it got stupid loud.

- ZDS on "low" worked well. I have a SYS inline at the moment and was able to take off a bit for more volume travel.

- Did NOT scale appreciably stepping up from the phone to ZDS.

Not my favorite phone, but a solid B+ for effort and execution. Given that it's CA's first instance of a full-sized can, I am eager to see what they could do with some feedback and desire to build a true non-portable headphone.