In case you missed the information, a fast recap: again in mid January, the gloriously oddball Portland Oregon IEM specialist Campfire Audio and Alessandro Cortini – oh sure, the Rock and Roll Corridor of Fame-inductee and celebrated 9 Inch Nails synth participant/guitarist/bassist – announced an in-ear monitor collaboration called Clara . And the story goes that it was truly Cortini humbly sniffing round Ken Ball’s Campfire, if you’ll, not the opposite method round.
I nonetheless do not know the way it occurred (and look, this is not the place to get into that) however I acquired maintain of a pair. And reader, I put them in my ears. I’m not about to chew the hand that feeds…
This isn’t to be thought-about a full overview – you will notice the shortage of a star-rating on the high of this missive. However you must notice that I’ve examined many, many in-ear screens over time (together with many of the best wired earbuds available on the market), and listening to 9 Inch Nails with Campfire-and-Cortini’s Clara was a uncommon pleasure certainly.
My listening session included reference Flac recordsdata saved on my trusty FiiO M23 ; downloaded Apple Music tracks on my lowly outdated iPhone 12 Pro by way of the excellent iFi hip dac 3 (this CA x AC collab arrives with a USB-C to Lightning adapter and a Pilot 3.5mm to USB-C DAC/dongle, plus Campfire’s 3.5mm and 4.4mm ‘Time Stream Duet’ cables, so virtually all transportable sources are on the menu), and the Astell & Kern HC4 to my MacBook Professional, streaming Tidal ‘s hi-res output.
All I ask is that if you happen to’re utilizing your smartphone as a supply, please, please hardwire these in-ears to a very good digital-to-analog-converter – and by that I imply one of many best portable DACs . As a result of given the best decision you (and your pockets) can muster, CA’s Clara IEMs may have at it, pull it aside, separate it, emphatically not violate or desecrate it, and produce it nearer to God.
Let me be abundantly clear: if you happen to’ve by no means heard 9 Inch Nails (or in actual fact any layered, heavier monitor) in hi-res audio or on a good high-res portable player , and you are a fan, I actually hope you get the chance to no less than strive these in-ear screens.
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We’re on this collectively…
Deep breath everybody: Campfire Audio’s Clara IEMs can be found now, as I sort, priced at $1,999 / £1,999 (round AU$3,900). So almost two grand – sure, with a capital G. And I feel they’re price each final cent. If you happen to can’t get your head round that proper now, it is okay. However I would such as you to strive…
Other than being a few of the most stunning-looking in-ear screens I’ve seen in a while – assume ice cubes permeated with a deep-blue melancholy – the pre-fitted Comply reminiscence foam suggestions slip into my ears fortunately to permit the ergonomic driver housing to hug my concha. The cable additionally snakes neatly round my auricle as if its sole want is to be there, and that is extremely uncommon for my smaller ears. Typically, becoming IEMs is a matter for me, the sort of factor I would not do in a rush however price it as soon as I get it proper. That is merely not the case right here; these earpieces are spot on.
I’ve written numerous phrases on this Portland Oregon IEM maker’s output since I grew to become a full-time audio journalist in 2018, (see my thought-about ideas on the Trifecta, Fathom , wonderful Solaris Stellar Horizon , and Moon Rover ) however the Clara have stolen the spot on heavy rotation I would beforehand assigned to the Solaris Stellar Horizon. Why? As a result of for me, Campfire Audio x Alessandro Cortini – particularly Ken Ball on design and manufacturing; Cortini on headshell and general sonic profile – is the proper drug.
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No, you’ll be able to’t take it
I cue up Head Like a Gap, as a result of if you happen to can persuade me Cortini did something aside from tune Clara utilizing tracks on which he is performed synth, guitars, keys and bass stay, I am going to hand over (and maybe head into the void). The percussion, drum kicks and samples over in my proper ear reveal themselves like sonic artifacts in cut-glass jars, every prepared for my approval – however provided that I’ve absolutely appreciated the earlier article, consumption of breath, or frequency.
Even when I did not understand it beforehand, listening to the IEMs Cortini has put his title to emphatically confirms that he’d already mastered varied axes earlier than becoming a member of NIN within the mid noughties. Cortini by no means lets something go awry. Keys are human, introduced deftly to the entrance of my cerebral cortex; guitars stay resolutely held in examine however with miles of area to develop; a hardcore industrial inky bass underpins the entire. The band’s extra ambient or purely instrumental soundscapes (A Heat Place; The Persistence of Loss ) bring to mind the silky layers one sees in French pastry lamination.
(Picture credit score: Future)
The brooding With Tooth intro slithers from my left to proper ear. A guitar arrives someplace above my left collarbone. It strikes to my proper ear and in the end again once more, in fact. It all the time does. However this time I hear how slowly it snakes over; I discover an overlap I would not detected earlier than, as if I’ve simply glanced at it anew.
I additionally listened to a treasured Cortini collaboration with Daniel Avery, (one I used to be lucky enough to hear at L-Acoustics in London), Illusion of Time , and rarely have I heard a set of in-ears so wanting to open out and have fun the delightfully darkish and pensive element in these tracks. A set of headphones hardly ever reveals contemporary components inside much-thumbed albums for me any extra. However it occurred right here.
(Picture credit score: Future)
What else ought to you realize? The cable is flat in design, noise-free, and definitely is not going to tangle. Oh, the equipment! Sure, there’s lots to get by. You get a tough case, a folding leather-based pouch with a carabiner to clip it to issues (it is marginally smaller than the one I acquired with the Solaris Stellar Horizon, however nonetheless), a mesh zipper bag, and a two-pocket IEM pouch for simply the headshells. Then, there is a microfiber cleansing material, assorted eartips (foam, silicone, Ultimate Sort-E) and a bit IEM cleansing instrument.
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Beneath all of it is the newest model of Campfire’s dual-magnet dynamic driver, a sophisticated dual-diaphragm balanced armature driver for mids, and Campfire’s signature twin super-tweeters with proprietary Tuned Acoustic Growth Chamber (TAEC) tech. And I’ve no complaints about their integration.
Actually, I’ve but to detect a big flaw within the dynamic rise and fall, wholesome low finish, glowing treble or stone-cold sonic precision that Campfire Audio and Cortini have achieved right here for the cash. You can even say that when Campfire agreed to ship me a set, I needed to strive… and I got here again haunted.
(Picture credit score: Future)
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