Cascade by Campfire Audio

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

  1. spoony

    spoony Spooky

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    Aside from the phat bass, the mids and highs look relatively well-behaved, this seems like a solid modding candidate.
     
  2. Merrick

    Merrick A lidless ear

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    Did we accidentally lifehack the Andromedas?
     
  3. LSW

    LSW Facebook Friend

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    The bass on these works pretty well on some recordings, not so much on others. For instance, Faith No More's "The Real Thing" benefits from the extra thump really well, but on something like Nine Inch Nails' "The Fragile" where there are already a ton of things going on in the lower octaves between the drums, synths, and bass guitar, it gets to be a bit much because of how high into the midbass the bass boost goes, same for things like A Perfect Circle's "Judith", Soundgarden's "Spoonman", etc. On purely electronic beat music without guitars, it works OK (Chemical Brothers' "Surrender", VNV Nation's "Praise the Fallen").
     
    Last edited: Feb 8, 2018
  4. Merrick

    Merrick A lidless ear

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    Have you tried the tuning pads at all?
     
  5. LSW

    LSW Facebook Friend

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    Measurements with pads 4 (least bass and mids) and pads 1 (most bass and mids) compared to no pad.

    [​IMG]

    It comes with 4 pairs of tuning pads labled 1T, 2T, 3T, and 4T. The higher the number, the thicker the membrane. Lower numbers are said to increase bass and mids more than higher numbers.

    The difference is subtle I'd say, and it's hard to A/B because it takes a second to change them out. My positional variations might be having as much of an effect on these measurements as the pads. Mostly I've just listened to pad 4 vs no pad so far, and I might have a slight preference for pad 4, still deciding. I feel like pad 4 is de-congesting he midrange a little bit? I think all the pads are supposed to increase the bass response over stock, but I'm not positive.
     
    Last edited: Feb 8, 2018
  6. Merrick

    Merrick A lidless ear

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    They’re supposed to increase the bass? Never mind then. Damn.
     
  7. Lyander

    Lyander Official SBAF Equitable Empathizer

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    Not quite in the market for a new closed back, but these do look sexy as all hell. Kinda unfortunate about the bass response, if it's as massive as LSW's measurements suggest (Fostex X00 is about my limit, took a while to get used to the relative "tubbiness" compared to my previous cans), but I'll wait for measurements from the local standards before making any hard calls, or actually demoing them if they make it to a local retailer.

    How does the 5kHz to 9kHz scoop sound in listening? Kinda scared of the spike at ~11k cuz I've issues with that area in particular, but the peak looks fairly broad and isn't that much greater compared to 1k....

    How do these perform across different OI sources? Hopefully someone will be able to figure out how to "lifehack" these the same way the Andromedas were hacked— and I DO love the Andromedas I've tried out of higher-OI players. Freaking cried listening to Hallelujah during a mini-meet, but then again, I'm an emotional bastard.
     
  8. LSW

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    The treble on them seems really nice to me.....I feel that it's relatively neutral with a hint of sparkle and air to it - like the vega IEM with a comply foam tip (vega with silicon tips on the other hand can be really bright). The peaks are not too noticeable because the level of the bass is so much higher in comparison, and not even much above the level of the headphone at 1khz really. Keep in mind I am very treble tolerant though and don't mind a little bit of energy above 10k at all. It doesn't sound funky or harsh to me, timbre and balance seems natural.
     
    Last edited: Feb 8, 2018
  9. Kattefjaes

    Kattefjaes Mostly Harmless

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    A shame. Given the choice, I'd prefer slightly clinical bass to brain damage bloat, if I can't have "sensible". Oh well, it will save me shelling out for new commuting cans, maybe the money is better spent elsewhere.
     
  10. Soups

    Soups Sadomasochistic cat

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    My hunch is that this is the first of more CA headphones, so something like that will eventually come our way? Pure speculation on my part, but this seems like the mere beginning of their foray into this segment. I've never heard the Andros, but I'm sure if they achieve a similar headphone, it's sadly going to be much pricier.
     
  11. mscott58

    mscott58 Friend

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    Well given that the Cascade is a single DD, the Vega is a single DD and the Andro is multi-BA, it doesn't surprise me that the tuning of the Cascade is more like the Vega. That is likely grossly oversimplifying things, but I wonder if you can get the Andro sound in a single DD headphone?
     
  12. Merrick

    Merrick A lidless ear

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    I recall Marv’s first impression of the Andros being “HD600 tonality with HD800 technicalities”, so I would think that yes, you probably could get that sound with a single DD. It might cost a lot more than the Cascades do though.
     
  13. Kunlun

    Kunlun cat-alyzes cat-aclysmic cat-erwauling - Friend

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    Indeed, Comrade @mscott58, that is the question.

    A question we all very much hope @KenBall will answer for us in the form of an earphone!



    P.S. Ken, if you want to name this earphone, I would like to point out that there is:

    a cat's eye nebula:
    [​IMG]


    a cat's paw nebula

    [​IMG]


    But, seriously, why haven't you named an earphone after this?

    [​IMG]

    (N.B. Even if you aren't up on the solar system, there's really only one planet this could be!)
     
    Last edited: Feb 8, 2018
  14. KenBall

    KenBall Owner - Campfire Audio

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    Hey Guys,

    I do not think you can get a Andromeda "sound" from a single DD. I think it would be hard to mimic the Andromeda signature in a headphone, apples and oranges thing yeah?

    Great pics Kunlun.

    So hey guys on another off topic note, were switching from celestial names to terrestrial themed names, camping outdoors type stuff. Samsung trade marked everything in the sky anyhow. I got free stuff if you think of a name thats clever and we end up using it. PM me or start a diff thread as not to take this one off the headphone ;-)

    Ken
     
  15. insidious meme

    insidious meme Ambivalent Kumquat

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    @KenBall : go ahead and ask the mods if you can set up a Campfire Audio area in the Industry Sub Forums, then start a thread for the name thing on there.
     
  16. GelockS

    GelockS Friend

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    Seems these were made to kind of compete in the same space as MrSpeakers Aeon?! One extra bassy vs one not bassy? :) Looks good but has anyone compared them against the Aeons by any chance?

    Thanks.
     
  17. LSW

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    Yes I owned both. I did a comparison in the head-fi thread. They're very much opposites in sound despite both being $800 closed headphones. Aeon closed is bright, with respectably extended subbass but no bass emphasis, treble-centric, and a bit hollow sounding in timbre (closed cup reverb). Cascade's sound is dominated by that 100hz 10+ db boost. It has non offensive and pretty natural sounding mids and treble, even if it is all a bit masked in detail and shelved sounding compared to the midbass. Aeon has a more neutral frequency response with a more colored timbre, while cascade has a colored frequency response with a more neutral timbre, if that makes any sense.

    With that said I no longer own the aeon closed but will hang onto the cascade for a bit, because it more fits my music preferences, even if it's not perfect to me. They said they were going to make it sound like the Vega and they succeeded, the difference being the Vega can change a lot by tip rolling. This sounds like the Vega with the campfire brand foam tips, which is a lot of midbass and a bit of treble sparkle. The filters on the cascade haven't made a drastic difference for me yet. I find the cascade comfortable and it is easily driven by most cellphones.
     
    Last edited: Feb 24, 2018
  18. Galm

    Galm Still looking for Little Red Riding Hood

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    I was under the impression that Campfire was well aware of the Andromeda and ZX2 pairing in particular... Am I wrong here? iirc I think I'd even heard they used it in the design process or something? Maybe testing?

    Out of my Hugo 2 at the time the Andros got bassier, but the Vega was still moreso from what I can remember. I'd love some clarification on that as the ZX2 pairs so well with Andro I'd be absolutely amazed if that wasn't intended at all.
     
  19. ricky64

    ricky64 New

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    I really like the form and portability of these headphones. I had Vega's, but ultimately sole them in favor of IE P8's. I really enjoy the latter, but miss the chestiness of the Vega for hard Bop, piano, etc. I didn't like the treble edge placed on violins and female vocals. I like bass, but not to the degree I see on the graph. Any chance of eq'ing some of this out?

    thx
     
  20. deafdoorknob

    deafdoorknob Almost "Made"

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    have anyone played with the filters included with the cascade? a japanese reviewer said T4 attenuated both the bass and treble effectively.
     

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