chanman96
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2007
- Posts
- 32
- Likes
- 30
I'm not an audiophile so for those looking for a super nuanced detailed review for a buying decision, this ain't it, sorry. But if you ever wondered what a total novice would think if he/she borrowed your headphones - sans any hype, I'll share a more informed impression on this thread after another week walking my dog and walking to work, switching between these 3 IEMs. I plan to continue auditioning the campfires for another week and I'll end up selling one... or possibly both.
Background: I'm new here. Joined this forum back in 2007 and convinced myself to get a set of Shure E500 PTH (modern day 535s). Served me well for 10 years, a bargain on the price per use scale. Cable snapped 10 years in and it was done (pre mmcx). At that point, I didn't care so much and got the 215's and have enjoyed them very much. Over this past Christmas, I was stumped on what to get my brother in law and bought him a Dragonfly Cobalt. He said he had no use for it so I just used it myself with my 215s... It is AMAZING. I'd never heard IEM's sound so good and that's when I fell down this rabbit hole. FOMO in full effect, if the 215's can sound this good with a proper portable DAC, what else am I missing out on??? Back to this forum and reading other's impressions. Ended up buying two campfires from forum members, clemmaster and pfurey89, both excellent honest sellers.
Gear I'm using: iPhone 8 Plus, Dragonfly cobalt, and the 3 IEMs with marshmallow tips.
Home gear if anyone cares: Schiit Freya, Vidar x2, Modi pushing KEF LS50s, Peachtree Nova pushing B&W 802, and a bunch of Sonos for convenience.
Albums this week (Tidal):
The Velvet Underground & Nico (MQA)
b'lieve i'm going down - Kurt Vile
Beware of Dogs - Stella Donnelly
Future Me Hates Me - The Beths
On The Line - Jenny Lewis (MQA)
I'll add my detailed impressions of the Campfires after another week of listening so its a bit more informed, but for now, here's a brain dump (too early) impressions:
- the dragonfly makes everything exponentially better
- both CAs are very good but I honestly can't tell much difference between the two without A/B testing the heck out of them. Andromeda gold is more comfortable so its winning week 1.
- Both CAs are noticeably better than the 215s - how much I'm willing to pay for the "better" is yet to be determined. The cobalt/215 is just so good for so little money.
- MQA is overrated for my purposes, switching back to Spotify
- Femme Fatale by the Velvet Underground is incredibly hard to sound well on the CAs, the upper mids get super sloppy. Sounds fine on the less detailed 215s. Sounds like crap on my peachtree/b&w combo. Decent on my Schiit/Kef combo. Tough recording.
- damn, the Airpod Pros sound really good, not as good as any of the 3 IEMs with the cobalt, but wow.
Background: I'm new here. Joined this forum back in 2007 and convinced myself to get a set of Shure E500 PTH (modern day 535s). Served me well for 10 years, a bargain on the price per use scale. Cable snapped 10 years in and it was done (pre mmcx). At that point, I didn't care so much and got the 215's and have enjoyed them very much. Over this past Christmas, I was stumped on what to get my brother in law and bought him a Dragonfly Cobalt. He said he had no use for it so I just used it myself with my 215s... It is AMAZING. I'd never heard IEM's sound so good and that's when I fell down this rabbit hole. FOMO in full effect, if the 215's can sound this good with a proper portable DAC, what else am I missing out on??? Back to this forum and reading other's impressions. Ended up buying two campfires from forum members, clemmaster and pfurey89, both excellent honest sellers.
Gear I'm using: iPhone 8 Plus, Dragonfly cobalt, and the 3 IEMs with marshmallow tips.
Home gear if anyone cares: Schiit Freya, Vidar x2, Modi pushing KEF LS50s, Peachtree Nova pushing B&W 802, and a bunch of Sonos for convenience.
Albums this week (Tidal):
The Velvet Underground & Nico (MQA)
b'lieve i'm going down - Kurt Vile
Beware of Dogs - Stella Donnelly
Future Me Hates Me - The Beths
On The Line - Jenny Lewis (MQA)
I'll add my detailed impressions of the Campfires after another week of listening so its a bit more informed, but for now, here's a brain dump (too early) impressions:
- the dragonfly makes everything exponentially better
- both CAs are very good but I honestly can't tell much difference between the two without A/B testing the heck out of them. Andromeda gold is more comfortable so its winning week 1.
- Both CAs are noticeably better than the 215s - how much I'm willing to pay for the "better" is yet to be determined. The cobalt/215 is just so good for so little money.
- MQA is overrated for my purposes, switching back to Spotify
- Femme Fatale by the Velvet Underground is incredibly hard to sound well on the CAs, the upper mids get super sloppy. Sounds fine on the less detailed 215s. Sounds like crap on my peachtree/b&w combo. Decent on my Schiit/Kef combo. Tough recording.
- damn, the Airpod Pros sound really good, not as good as any of the 3 IEMs with the cobalt, but wow.
