Campfire Audio Andromeda in-ear Headphones - Official Thread

I got to try the Andromeda S (polished stainless steel) a couple days ago. They sounded really nice though maybe just a tad bassier than I like. Im grasping at straws too as it sounded really good but I’m sure the regular Andromeda would fit my needs just perfectly.

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I’ll trade you my beat up green Andros for your fancy steel ones :wink: lol

I use spiral dots with mine also and find them to be my favorite tips so far

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Hah they weren’t mine. It was a HeadFier who wanted to listen to the RHA CL2 planar iems. He let me try to AndroS and the Atlas. Those Atlas IEMs will knock you out with their bass punch. Holy smokes.

My new shiny IEM is the Kanas Pro, which is much much cheaper than Andromeda heh

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Nice! in all honesty, I don’t think I could give up the Andromeda at this point, I bought them used but have added my own patina to them with use, and I really like the sound signature, they are my primary IEMs…I really like the 64Audio stuff but can’t justify the price for how little I use IEMs. Now fun under $100 IEMs those can be purchased for fun, and as gifts for friends and family later on.

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The AndroS is more bassy that I too had hoped. I came from sampling the CK White variant, whose trebles are so breathy and spacious. I’m pretty sure I’d swap for a set of white. Regardless, S is a damned good all rounder.

I can’t thank you enough for meeting up. I really dodged a bullet by getting to try the CL2 before I went and did something so brazen as sell my sparklies for them.

Still have Kanas Pro on my radar. So much smooth beauty in their sound. Perfectly pleasant.

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I didn’t understand that the different colours had different signatures. Good to know.

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Yeah, man-- I just look at patina as a beautiful record of use. It’s like selvedge in your ear.

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What model are you having issues with?:
CA Andromeda

Describe your issue with the most detail you can:
Hello,

I recently purchased an andromeda and really digging the sound (maybe a future review after I spend a good amount of time with them), but I still haven’t found “the one” that fits my ears perfectly without ruining the sound.

So out of the ones that were provided, I prefer the sound of the small marshmallow tips, but can’t seem to get proper depth inside my ears.

Some of the silicone tips fit slightly better but it either sound base anemic or makes the treble too sharp for my music.

Would love to hear which tips worked for you and gladly take recommendations to try :slight_smile:

I usually use S size in IEM tips

Thanks in advance :blush:

How long ago was it purchased?:
a week ago

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I use Spiral Dots with majority of my IEMs, I know a lot of people really enjoy the Spinfits, but I couldn’t get those to work right for me. Where the Spiral Dots just seem to work great, and have a large bore size so they don’t get in the way of the drivers.

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I’ll try the Spiral dots, thanks! :smiley:

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I am a foam man myself. With the shorter bore iem’s its sometimes good to try large foams and let them sit in the outer ear if you can get a seal. At least try before you give up anyway. Just a suggestion.

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I can use foam longer, i.e. they are more comfortable. But for some reason they don’t last long with how I use them…I always tear them or they get all nasty too fast…to be fair…I mostly used foam tips for my workout IEMs… :laughing:

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I must just be lucky I guess. Mine seem to last quite a while but then I am very, very careful at how I remove them. I don’t seem to produce ear wax either at least I’ve never had a problem it. I hardly ever clean inside my ears as there’s never anything there. I must be odd. The rest of my family, wife and kids are just earwax factories.:grin:

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the larger foam was actually a great idea! It seems to stay in my ears better than the small ones! tysm for the suggestion!

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That’s great news. I am glad that you were able to find a solution.

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Campfire Audio has updated the accessories of the Andromeda for shipping in May of 2019. It now comes with a new case and their “Smoky Litz” cable that uses a formed ear-hook in lieu of memory wire. Check out the OP for full details.

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Campfire Andromeda Mini Review

The popular Campfire Audio Andromeda has been around for a few years now and I only recently had a chance to listen to the original green model. I had previously listened the Stainless Steel “S” model for a short period of time at a coffee shop, but they have slightly different sound signatures.

The Andromeda has also seen an overhaul of accessories lately, packaged with a new, easier to use cable, new carrying case similar to the IO I recently reviewed, and new box and paper packaging. The preview unit I received from The Headphone Community, was the older version of the Andromeda, as I got it just before the release of the 2019 refresh.

This review will be kept pretty short since this is an already popular IEM with plenty of discussion and reviews on the internet. What I do want to touch on are my own personal feelings towards this model.

The Build-Up

First off, I find the shallow nozzles to be a little annoying to fit. I ended up having to use longer tips to make up for the shallow depth, and it ends up being alright. The sharp edges of the shell make this IEM stand out however it occasionally does hit up against my ear and while not terrible, some people may find it discomforting.

Other than that, the build quality is excellent, despite seeing many photos of the color getting scratched and scuffed and fading away. It does add some natural beauty to it though, or at least I assume it would. The ones I borrowed are in perfect shape as they were brand new when I received it.

The Listens

Well, I must say, I came in to this with huge expectations, and at first, I was quite disappointed. The Andromeda wasn’t exactly what I was looking for. I happened to demo it the same time as Campfire’s Vega and Solaris, and I fell in love with Solaris’s balanced holographic sound with good fast and detailed bass.

The Andromeda has bass quantity and its quality isn’t bad either, but it doesn’t quite live up to the Solaris. The Andromeda is also super finicky with sources. Measuring it on a near zero output impedance source and one that is about 2.5 ohm creates two completely different soundscapes. One is quite bassy and even a tad muddy, while the other is more balanced but a little dull at the same time.

I guess my major points of contention for me are that the Andromeda has a very laid back tuning compared to what I generally prefer, with not a lot of upper mid presence and energy, but it makes up for it with a very controlled and steady sound that is both technical, decently wide, and detailed. The upper end treble is quite good, with just the right amount of glimmer and air that makes the IEM easy to listen to but addicting.

Wrap-Up

To me, I find the Andromeda to be in the same type of category as the Sennheiser HD6X0 series, where it’s steady, done well and rock solid, but it’s not quite what I was looking for at this time, but still - I can totally understand why it is enjoyable because it checks the box on so many levels. It doesn’t do a lot to truly excite me though, and that’s why I ended up choosing the Solaris over it. Nothing wrong with Andromeda though.

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For those that aren’t in the know on the Campfire news, there were rumblings about a limited edition Andromeda at CanJam London and looks like the rumours were true.

https://campfireaudio.com/shop/andromeda-special-edition-gold/

From Campfire:

  • Expanding a signature sound with dramatic flourish.
  • 7 Balanced Armatures + Crossover-less Design
  • Designed and hand assembled in Portland, Oregon USA.
  • Numbered Limited Edition of 1000 Pairs
  • Starts Shipping August 20th

It’s interesting as the Andromeda is the one headphone in their line-up that is pretty much universally loved so I wonder what the reaction will be like if the sound signature is changed in a dramatic way.

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That’s a surprising configuration given the strengths of the normal Andromeda - which, out of a 1.5-2.0 Ω source was, for me, a near unbeatable product at its price point (even if I can’t use it due to fit/comfort issues).

I’m clearly in a cynical mood this week … because my first two thoughts on reading this were not super positive. The first being that it is really a different IEM piggybacking on the very well regarded “Andromeda” name. And the second was I want to call this the: Andromeda “Raided the Left Over Parts Bin” Edition

Nozzles off the Polaris … screws from the IO … no room for a cross-over so we can squeeze in a couple of extra BA drivers for more bass …

Now, Ken is a professional at this stuff, and I’m not. I only go by what I hear (and/or measure), and I have, of course, NOT, heard these. So they could be magnificent. Though I still think they’re different enough that they warrant a distinct product name.

My concerns are several, though …

The standard Andromeda gets too bassy for me from sources with under about 2 Ω OI. Which is most DAPs, it seems. I know the trend with IEMs has been seemingly towards ever higher levels of bass (and I do like a bit more bass with an IEM than like with normal headphones). Thus I am concerned that this takes things too far in that regard.

I have only had one good experience with BA drivers that are allowed to run full-range (implied by the lack of a crossover*). That’s the Etymotic ER-4 (original and current). And I only think that gets away with it because a) the bass isn’t too potent b) the treble rolls off early, and c) it’s a single driver unit.

7 BAs with no crossover, all running full-range, at a minimum it’s a bold approach. There are obvious impacts to crossovers, from phase/coherence issues to loss of resolution etc. But there are benefits too … such as not pushing drivers into regions they don’t operate well/minimizing the range that a given driver has to cover.

The different nozzles are welcome … oddly they fit me much better than the standard Andromeda nozzles.

Time will tell, and it’ll be interesting to hear them, but it’s hard to understand why these are “Andromedas” when they differ so much in execution.


*There are other ways to mix and blend the output of multiple drivers, which CA and other manufactures have used. But, unless there are per-driver-group filters, without a crossover we’re doing that in the mechanical/acoustic domain … which means the driver is still being asked to operate at full-range and will be outputting as such.

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So in my mind there is an advantage to doing this given the substantial variation and source dependency of the Andros. The Andromeda isn’t perfect in its frequency response either, but with the right source, and the right tips, it’s really quite good - and I think this extra driver addition may allow for a bit more source flexibility, or potentially even a more practical application. I often find myself wishing my Andromeda had better bass extension, detail and control that’s identifiable in less than ideal environments. Right now if I go outside onto a noisy bus, I lose a lot of that definition down low.

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