Campfire Audio Vega, Dorada, Lyra 2 Discussion/Impressions

Discussion in 'IEMs and Portable Gear' started by purr1n, Oct 29, 2016.

  1. nostatic

    nostatic Acquaintance

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    Thanks - mostly just interested in longer-term perspectives.

    Regarding crows, you also have to look out for them while riding motorcycles. We had a bird strike some months back when a crow was dining on some road kill then decided to fly off just as we passed. Missed me but hit my wife in the helmet. Crow was a goner, my wife ended up in the ER the next day to get checked for a concussion (thankfully minor). That kinda pales relative to my coyote interaction but that's even further OT.

    I'm looking for a single IEM to rule them all so I won't be doing a lot of swapping other than out of curiosity out of the gate. In going back and forth with the CA support guy I'm thinking the Andromeda may be a bit too large for my somewhat dainty (!) ear, though I do use M or L tips on my Westones. I just recall having Shure 215s be a bit too big for comfort. Hence my interested in Dorado/Vega.
     
  2. Dr. Higgs

    Dr. Higgs Boson - Member

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    You should ask for some opinions on custom IEMs if comfort is a big concern.

    If I could only pick one IEM out of the CA lineup, I would easily pick the Andromeda. You would need to be conscious of your source if you go that route though, they're very picky.

    Technicalities on the Vega are good, but there are cheaper IEMs that can give you a similar bass tilt. Unless you audition the Vega and absolutely love them, I think they're a bit too far from neutral to be a true reference IEM and would look elsewhere if I could only have one.
     
  3. nostatic

    nostatic Acquaintance

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    Thanks - all good stuff. I considered going custom but swung back around to universal as some of the more highly regarded examples (e.g. Andromeda) are of that ilk. Not clear I really need a huge bass tilt, but I do appreciate booty done right. In reading many of the impressions I think the Vega may be a bit thick in the upper bass which I'm fairly sensitive to (120hz plus or minus). The CA support guy said from my sonic description Andromeda, and that does seem to be a safer bet. They do have a reasonable return policy and I'd know pretty quickly about fit. Sonics I figure are a longer term process to work through.

    My source will be Tidal hifi, and I've got a Modi Multibit/Vali2 for home and Mojo for portable. I just tried the HA2-SE and didn't really care for that - also wasn't thrilled with the Explorer2. For whatever reason the Mojo won that tripartite battle (with an iFi DSD BL as an earlier contender but I didn't like the form factor/cabling options).

    Life is an experiment...
     
  4. LSW

    LSW Facebook Friend

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    I've still only had my Vega for a few months but I'm enjoying it quite a bit. My only other IEM's are the Etymotic ER-4P, ER-4XR, and Periodic Beryllium. The Vegas sound about 3-4x better than the etymotics to my ears, the etymotic suffers from dynamic compression and sounds like an old time telephone compared to the Vega. The bass on the vega is infinitely more satisfying and it sounds more natural in the midrange. The upper treble can be a bit harsh with the wrong tips, but with Comply foam tips the treble is smooth and pleasing, with just a tiny bit of sparkle. Silicon can make them harsh. When I A/B the vegas with the etymotic it's clear I could never go back there.

    The Periodic Be comes really close to the Vega, but only with Silicon tips, therefore, it isn't quite capable of great sound combined with the isolation you get from foam tips; however if isolation didn't matter or I preferred silicon, I'd be tempted to save $1000 and just use the Be, however the build quality on the Vega is really good. Be with silicon sounds really similar to the vega with comply foam to me. Unfortunately, the Be with foam gets really dark, the treble roll off is just too much.

    My recent DD IEM purchases have turned me off of Balanced Armatures, although I'd still like to try the Andromeda; I don't know if it'd have any of the bad Balanced Armature traits from the etymotic.
     
    Last edited: Oct 31, 2017
  5. nostatic

    nostatic Acquaintance

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    I have a very old pair of Etymotics around somewhere (bought new around 2003 iirc). I always hated the sound of them - they reminded me of Yamaha NS-10M near fields which were the standard in recording studios back in the day. The Etymotics were lauded at the time, but I found them uncomfortable and just...yuck.
     
  6. LSW

    LSW Facebook Friend

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    I prefer the sound signature of my vegas to any of my full sized headphones, but obviously prefer the staging and comfort of something like the HD800. I've been keeping an eye out for that full sized HP Ken/campfire have been working on, but in the meantime should probably pick up a Fostex TH-6 variant. I can't bring myself to buy anything with so much new stuff being introduced right now though, need to wait for the dust to settle.
     
  7. deafdoorknob

    deafdoorknob Almost "Made"

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    more new Campfire! A CFA x LH labs collab - Asteria, same combo as Dorado but with different tuning.
    [​IMG]
    https://www.phileweb.com/review/article/201711/02/2784.html

    "[T]here is also a difference in specification between [Asteria and] DORADO, the frequency response is 5 Hz to 27 kHz (-3 dB), the sensitivity is 107 dB SPL / mW, and the impedance is 15 ohms, while for Asteria A1 the frequency characteristic 5 Hz To -30 kHz (-3 dB), the sensitivity was 109 dB SPL / mW, and the impedance was 14.2 Ω."
    [...]
    Connected to Astell & Kern "SP1000", listening to the sound actually seems to be a very seamless, calm and wide range sound, a tendency to grow differently from DORADO.
    [...]
    Especially the point of harmonic overtone expression in the high range seems to be very different from DORADO, so Asteria A1 can be said to be the neutral balance." - google translated from the link above
     
    Last edited: Nov 1, 2017
  8. Merrick

    Merrick A lidless ear

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    Collaboration with LH Labs? Hopefully the customer service is handled through CA...

    Jokes aside, I’d like to hear those.
     
  9. Grahad2

    Grahad2 Red eyes from too much anime

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    Some very peculiar image processing...
     
  10. zerodeefex

    zerodeefex SBAF's Imelda Marcos

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    This was developed with the Andromeda tuning as a starting place. I know Larry, Ken and Caleb went through quite a few revisions.
     
  11. PoochZag

    PoochZag The Shadow knows - Friend

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    Do they still have the exceptionally long nozzles of Dorado? (can't tell from pic) That's probably the make or break detail for me personally
     
  12. Merrick

    Merrick A lidless ear

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    If these have Andros highs with excellent DD mids/lows I’d be really curious to hear how it stacks against the Andromeda. The Andros are amazing but sometimes when I listen to them I yearn for the tactility of a strong DD.
     
  13. nostatic

    nostatic Acquaintance

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    Pretty sure that's the new album from Emboldened to be Contrarian.
     
  14. mscott58

    mscott58 Friend

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    So I beta tested a prototype version of the Dorado upgrade a while back, although I hear that it wasn't the final version that Larry picked. So this information might be useful or useless depending on what the final voicing ended up as. Here are my notes from the version I heard, the same notes I sent to Ken:
    • Significant upgrade from prior Dorado design IMHO - more enjoyable listen.
    • Much clearer high-end, with good integration between the BA and DD. Original Dorado’s feel a little “congested” compared to the upgraded prototype.
    • Great detail retrieval in the HF’s.
    • People who don’t care for much high frequencies might not like them as well, but different strokes for different folks – more of a natural fit for the fans of the HD800 versus the LCD-3.
    • Sound stage appears a bit wider as well, and taller as well – likely due to the HF info and the better BA/DD integration?
    • Bass seems a bit less present? Harder to tell, might just be my attention being focused on the HF, but doesn’t seem quite as emphasized, but not by a lot. Just noticed I was also using slightly different density foamies across the two Dorado’s as well, so that might be the difference?
    • Still prefer the overall resolution of the Vega’s, especially in the mids and lows.
    • YOU NEED TO MAKE A HYBRID USING THE VEGA DD AND THIS NEW BA APPROACH!!! That would be a giant killer in my opinion.
    Eager to see what the production version turned out to be, although given this was a dual-designer approach, I'm less certain in how it would turn out with two chefs in the audio kitchen.

    Cheers
     
  15. zerodeefex

    zerodeefex SBAF's Imelda Marcos

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    Larry has really picky ears. I'm sure it'll be solid. Not sure it will replace my Andromeda but let's see.
     
  16. Hola

    Hola Epeen Swinger, Ph.D

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    Last edited: Nov 3, 2017
  17. insidious meme

    insidious meme Ambivalent Kumquat

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    I get the LH hate. But this was pathetic. Stick to epeening.

    But really, Larry was helping in the design of the iem. I don't think he's going to be part of the distribution. And I don't think he wants to be part of that either.

    I remember Ken mentioning some collab with Larry back at the November meet. Didn't hear anything much after that. Cool that something like this came from it. I'd be up to listen to it myself.
     
  18. Hola

    Hola Epeen Swinger, Ph.D

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    Last edited: Nov 3, 2017
  19. Its_me_Mario

    Its_me_Mario New

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    Well, I was going to pull the trigger on Vega and Dorado to decide which one fits best on my taste, but I think Im gonna wait a little..
    By the way, right now my to go IEMs are SE846, I know its difficult to compare bass from a DD from a armature, but how does it compare against Vega and Dorado?
    and in the treble area? I wish it could be a little brighter on SE846 (even with white filter). Regards!
     
  20. Stuff Jones

    Stuff Jones Friend

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    I'd love to see CA work on tuning that Vega driver more neutrally. By all accounts it's at the top of the heap technically among DDs.

    To me a well tuned TOTL single DD is the holy grail of IEMs and BAs and hybrids are just temporary comprises.
     
    Last edited: Nov 3, 2017

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