Campfire Andromeda vs Atlas vs Vega

....continued from the previous post

I tested Andromeda, Atlas and Vega extensively. I loaded the ZX300 with a bunch of 24-bit FLAC files and a few high-resolution 'dsd' files for the ultimate demonstration.


Albums selected for the demonstration:
There's no leaving now - The Tallest Man on Earth
The earth is not a cold dead place - The Explosions in the Sky

Mazel un Brukhe - Mazel

Unstatic - Manu Katche
Mother focus - Focus

The first of a million kisses - Fairground Attraction

DSOM - Pink Floyd
Kiss each other clean - Iron and Wine
Aja - Steely Dan

Andromeda:
The bottom end is punchy and tight, not booming. The Andros is wide, the widest of the bunch I tested. They are bright but not too bright to the point of bleeding. The highs are very well balanced. The texture of the strings can be heard quite clearly, the mids are well pronounced. Not the typical V-shaped sound as that's pure clarity and details.

My ears are very sensitive to sibilance and not found any sibilance on any of the tracks I played. The Unstatic was PERFECT! Made for the Andros!

Enter Fairground Attraction's 'The first of a million kisses', played 'Comedy Waltz' and 'Moon on the rain'. Oh my! The soundstage opened up very nicely, the entire spectrum was nicely represented. It was colourful and sparkling. Brilliant! The width, depth the tonal accuracy and the texture simply blew me away. The isolation was exceptional, there were so much air and space.

Vega and Atlas
Both Vega and Atlas weren't wide as Andro. The Vega is ideal for the bass heads. The Atlas in the other hand is quite close to the Andro but not wide or balanced in compared to the Andros. The Andros is quite big in compared to the rest of the two, some might find it difficult to fit them. Many would disagree but I must say Vega was a bit boomy and didn't like the Atlas much.

In the end, I decided to put my money on the Andromeda. I would pick them any day of the week, hands down. Mission accomplished!

Note:
These IEMs are source sensitive. You need a good source for these IEMs to shine. Please do not purchase them to listen to music on your mobile phone be that crApple, be that Android or your laptop.

How about flying to Sydney to test a few IEMs?

It is time to upgrade my In-Ear Monitors (IEM) from the old Shure SE 425. To my surprise, none of the local stores stocks the models I wanted to try and purchase; ALO Audio's Campfire Atlas, Vega or Andromeda.

I rang a few stores in Sydney to be told they have demo units for a demonstration. What am I supposed to do? A return air ticket is very cheap on Qantas (~$250) but how about the time? The air ticket is cheap but the time to do the roundtrip is a huge dealbreaker.

In the end, I changed my mind.  Scheduled a weekend to fly to Sydney to test a few IEMs. However, ahead of that, I decided to post on a forum seeking opinion on models I was intended to purchase. Thankfully, a couple of blokes stepped in near my suburb, inviting me to demo the units they own. (Thank you, Craig and Rory)  Craig got two of them Rory has purchased a Campfire Atlas. After listening to them for some time, I decided to pick the Andromeda.

To be continued......

How on earth can I go out when it rains like this?

I love when it rains but not during the weekend. Not much one can do when it rains like cats and dogs. I'm glad I didn't go out during the hailstorm the last arvo. That being said, I wish for more rains in the coming months for the drought-stricken farmers in the central and north Queensland. 

Let's hope the weather would permit me to go out and enjoy my Loxias.  I didn't have a crack at the new A7RIII and the 50mm Loxia, let alone the Batis'. 

If you still haven't subscribed to weather alerts, it's time to subscribe. 

Oh! Mitsubishi Service!

I've been servicing my vehicle from Mitsubishi ever since I bought it brand new in 2012. I have tried Nundah Mitsubishi and Zupps Mitsubishi at Aspley, regrettably, none of them delivered a good service, the latter being the worst. I never got it serviced from a third-party vendor.

I started to question 'is it truly worth taking to Mitsubishi Shitshubishi?' since my most recent experience. I took the vehicle to Nundah Mitsubishi to carry out the 90,000km service. I handed over the vehicle to Mitsubishi at 7:30am to be picked up after lunch. Then I got a call, requesting to keep the vehicle for an overnight, offering me a loaner.

I was supposed to be notified at the completion of the service, but I didn't receive an alert. Arriving at Nundah Mitsubishi, I figured they have failed to reinstall the aftermarket bashplate in place. They handed over the car without being able to install the bashplate as it was. How on earth they failed to put back the bashplate where it was before? Morons! Then came the obvious lame excuse, it wasn't lining up.

The nudge bar, which makes it harder to install aftermarket bashplates.

In the end, I was able to put the bashplate up by a mechanic, in less than 30 minutes. The morons at Nundah Mitsubishi failed to place the spacers between the nudge bar and the bashplate to line up the bashplate, nudge bar with the chassis. The customer service was horrendous for a $2000 service. I should have saved at least a grand had I gone to a third party vendor.

The aluminium spacers, they need to be placed between the bashplate and the nudge bar

Just to be fair, the folks at Mitsubishi seemed to have forgotten how to use the aluminium spacer between the nudge bar and the bashplate. It is truly a bit tricky to put things back together and align should there's a nudge bar involved. Kieron at Bushskinz, the manufacturer offered some advice to get this fixed correctly.

The aluminium spacer

I wasn't the only one as I've heard similar stories about Mitsubishi service. Next time, I will make sure to think a few times before taking my vehicle to the clowns at the Nundah Mitsubishi.