Campfire Audio Andromeda

The Andromeda's signature and still its least-argued strength. Reviewer after reviewer describes a stage that is a class above most IEMs — wide, deep, layered and out-of-head — and several critics who dislike the tuning grant the stage anyway. The honest caveats are about scale and calendar rather than dissent: it is not headphone-sized, a few newer sets now match or beat it, and one owner hears the thick mid-bass crowding it.

“The width and depth afforded on the Andromeda are a class above the vast majority of other IEMs.”

Fc-Construct, Headphones.com

“the stage is startlingly open, sonic-wall free.”

Precogvision, Headphones.com

“Still probably the most spacious IEM I've heard due to its upper midrange/treble colorations.”

IEMRanking (summarising listener)

“Soundstage: I feel it's bottlenecked by the midbass.”

NickleCo, Head-Fi

Praised almost as consistently as the stage, and by the same voices — including owners who otherwise find it hazy. Sources single out precise placement, clean layering and a near-holographic sense of position; gamers cite footstep localisation. The dissent is thin: What Hi-Fi hears voices smeared into 'multiple rather than single' images, and one early owner found the circular stage awkward for professional monitoring.

“its imaging capability is up there with the best I’ve heard.”

Precogvision, Headphones.com

“Beyond spectacular soundstage, imaging and layering.”

Alberto Pittaluga, Audioreviews

“Imaging: Despite sounding hazy, it is excellent!”

NickleCo, Head-Fi

“The sound localisation of Andro is truely next level, unlike any IEM in my collection.”

o0genesis0o, r/headphones

Sources split on the same measured shape. The larger camp — including both headphones.com reviewers, most long-form editorial and the owners who bought into it — hears a natural, warm-neutral, gently U-shaped sound and prizes its relaxed upper mids as an antidote to shouty Harman-style sets. The critical camp — What Hi-Fi, two of IEMRanking's measurement-minded reviewers, Dracomies' 2026 re-review and several owners — hears the same tuning as incoherent, hazy or 'sleepy', with too little presence to sound right. It tracks what listeners are used to: the more time someone spends with Harman-leaning sets, the more likely they land in the second camp.

The most-argued sonic aspect, and a three-way split. The largest camp — the measurement-minded 2020 reviewers and many owners — hears the all-armature low end as too light: no sub-bass rumble or slam, 'stay away if you want good bass'. Nearly as many, including What Hi-Fi and the original's reviewers, hear clean, textured, well-weighted bass that is plenty for anyone but a basshead. A smaller third camp hears the opposite problem: a mid-bass hump that bleeds into the lower mids and makes the original sound muddy. The measurements support all three — the sub-bass really is missing and the 100–500 Hz region really is raised.

Sources split on the midrange, mostly along generation lines. The majority hears lush, natural, clear vocals with body — and several reviewers who knocked the original credit the 2020 with fixing its upper-mid recession. A quarter of the weight hears the same region as recessed, hazy or muted, with female vocals pushed back behind a warm lower midrange; this camp leans on the original and 2019 versions but includes the 2020 in newer ears. What Hi-Fi is the outlier the other way, hearing the midrange shouted rather than muted.

Sources split, though the larger camp is emphatic. Three-quarters of the weight calls the TAEC treble the Andromeda's best trait — extended, airy, detailed, sparkling without sibilance — and many say the 2020 kept that while taming the original's hot spot. The critical camp hears it as oddly shaped rather than too much: a dip in the lower treble that disconnects it from the mids, a peak that grows fatiguing on rock and metal, or a balance 'a bit too bright and in a weird spot'. One 2020 reviewer wanted the original's sparkle back.

Rated good to excellent — clean, transparent, fast — but not the class leader its price implied, and less so every year. Most sources credit strong clarity and separation; the measurement-minded and price-conscious voices place its raw resolution a rung below the best kilobuck sets, and a few owners hear it as hazy or merely adequate for the money.

“Resolution is excellent but not to the next level when coming from mid-fi like you would expect when crossing the thousand-dollar threshold.”

Fc-Construct, Headphones.com

“These monitors are by no means the most resolving nor the most adept at micro-detail retrieval but have a clear enough signature to keep detail fans pleased.”

AudioSolace

“Unbelievable transparency and insane detail retrieval.”

Audiophile On

“Detail retrieval is just ok I think for the price.”

descloud, Head-Fi

Sources split, narrowly toward the critics. The measurement-minded reviewers — Precog most bluntly, plus Audioreviews, Dracomies and Audiofool — hear an all-BA set that lacks slam and dynamic swing, with 'static, dry' transients. Owners and several editorial voices hear lively micro-dynamics and punch that carry the music. Both are describing the same driver type: fast and controlled, without a dynamic driver's physical push.

Sources split, and it comes down to ear shape. Most reviewers and owners find the small, light shell disappears in the ear for hours once the right tip is found. A third of the weight reports the faceted edges or one corner pressing on the ear — fatiguing after an hour, a pressure point on the cartilage, or a fit some never solved — and several stress that Campfire softened the edges over the revisions because of it.

Sources split nearly down the middle, over two different things. The shell itself earns steady praise — machined, solid, 'lovingly crafted', with notably robust beryllium-copper MMCX sockets. The other half of the weight is about the finish and upkeep: the green anodising chips or wears at the edges with ordinary use (Campfire ships pouches for exactly that), which owners at this price call unacceptable, plus scattered reports of drivers distorting at loud volume that needed a repair.

Good for a universal IEM. The shell is sealed and unvented, and reviewers describe office and library noise disappearing once music plays, with foam tips isolating very well. Isolation is tip- and fit-dependent; the one strongly negative verdict comes from a reviewer whose earlier review of the original rated it well above average.

“Isolation is also quite good. For low level noise like in a library or office, you likely won’t hear anything once music is playing.”

Fc-Construct, Headphones.com

“When worn with foam tips, Andromeda 2020 offer me very high isolation”

Alberto Pittaluga, Audioreviews

“the Andromeda design is very good in terms of stability and isolation”

Jackpot77, Head-Fi

The 'is it still worth it?' debate, now tipped slightly toward no. Supporters argue the stage and imaging are an experience nothing else replicates and that $1,099 is where the IEM hobby's diminishing returns stop. The slightly larger camp — What Hi-Fi from the start, then critics and owners from 2019 on, and Dracomies' 2026 re-review — says the field has caught up: cheaper sets match its detail, better-bassed sets cost the same, and the returns over a mid-fi IEM are small. Discontinuation reframes it: a used 2019 at around $550 is a different value question from a $1,099 new pair.