A note on the contributor by the contributor: NewEve is, owns and writes The Vagrant Audiophile as well as contributes over at Head-Fi under the same pen name. Completely nuts, s/he suffers from the financial humiliation that buying her/his own audio gear entails and has been certified loco by Head Pie's head honcho. Thanks for the opportunity, boss 😜
Introduction
Have you ever considered the number of factors at play when an audiophile shares his or her impressions?
You’ll have to excuse me here but, for sanity’s sake (that is yours and mine), I’ll stick to IEMs.
Ready? Go.
First of all, we all have different ear shapes and sizes. Then, we all have different hearing capabilities with age being a major factor. Our ear canals are also different, this includes an individual’s own left and right ear canals.
All of this translates into many different factors for the listener such as the IEM’s shell size, shape material and material’s sonic properties; its nozzle length and width; the tips size, shape, material and material’s sonic properties. And this is just on the outside. On the inside, driver types and count, circuitry and the IEM’s overall tuning are key factors and the most commonly advertised ones.
All of this, combined, is going to lead to preferences. Some are likely going to be obvious such as comfort – I’m yet to hear or read that someone is looking for an uncomfortable pair of IEMs. However, preferences in terms of sound – which I’m going to refer to as tuning from here onwards – is where things get tricky.
You’ve got lows, mids and highs; how analytical/detailed/textured or musical/natural/smooth an IEM’s tuning is, with the elusive “balanced” sitting somewhere in the middle. You also have sound stage and its depths on the X (left/right) and Z (back/front) axis. With many, way too many, more words to describe sonic variations, I’ll stick to these as I can best relate to them.
With that said, the above is by no means exhaustive…
My own preferences
Basshead, midhead or treblehead? All and none of them. The aim: quantity, quality and fatigue-free. Sue-me, I just dished out $1.5k.
Bass should be felt but boom boOM BOOM should sound like boom boOM BOOM, not BOOM BOOM BOOM or boom boom boom – quality is important.
Mids should be clearly present and vocals must convey emotions via grain and texture without getting on my nerves.
Highs should be airy and sparkly without hurting my ears as I can be treble sensitive, especially with horns.
Sound stage shouldn’t be too closed-in nor debilitatingly out-of-your-head.
Overall tuning? Musical rather than analytical, natural yet detailed with some texture, so not too smooth please. Thanks.
The Solaris 2020
Package, tip selection, cable and case
Boutique, minimalist and gorgeous. Let’s face it, Campfire Audio is the hippest IEM brand out there. The packaging isn’t grandiose in terms of quantity, it’s grandiose in terms of quality and overall attention to detail.
Tip selection is good, foam and silicone tips come in S, M and L, as well as Finale Audio E tips in SS, S, M, L and LL.
The stock cable comes in 3.5mm, single-ended, which remains my favorite termination.
I’m used to Campfire Audio’s stock Litz Cable and have a preference for the new Smoky ones. This one is the Super Smoky Litz which is a tad thicker. It isn’t more or less comfortable and tangles less compared to the standard Smoky Litz. The preformed ear hooks without memory wire work well for me and are comfortable. All in all, it’s a solid stock cable.
The case is the same half-moon shape and size as the previous ones and this time is made out of sustainable cork. It’s useful, not too small, nor too big. Together with the included mesh bags, it protects the IEMs very well. A word of warning though, if you have a girlfriend, she’ll want it. You’ve been warned.
The IEMs
They look tiny! My first thought was "why did they bother to scale them down from the original Solaris?". I got my answer after inserting them.
They’re perfect for me. For many of us, this is a numbers game and luck plays an important part. I got lucky, they fit me like a glove. The original ones would have been too big and I have larger than average ears.
In terms of tuning, you read what I like above. The Solaris 2020 are it. In a few words, they’re musical rather than analytical, natural yet detailed with some texture and not too smooth. The difficult things to get in a pair of IEM, and often the most expensive ones, are the nuances.
Quantity, yet quality. Exiting, yet fatigue-free. At this level, you pay for the “yet”.
Comparison & Conclusion
The Solaris 2020 are what I was looking for after the disappointment the 64 Audio Nio became in spite of all the time and money I’ve thrown at them: first for a decent cable, and then for another apex module sitting in-between the MX and M15 modules. In terms of comfort, the apex felt great at first but I ultimately struggled to get used to it.
Compared to the Dorado 2020, they’re more refined and versatile, less in your face, more mature. Again, you get the “yet”.
Finally, the Solaris 2020 are the ones my gut told me to get after I wanted to move on from the Andromeda Special Edition: Gold. Sure, not making a direct move to the Solaris 2020 allowed me to discover the wonderful Gaudio Clariden and Shanling’s ME700 were an interesting detour into Chi-Fi territory but I literally paid a hefty price in order to get here.
Turns out I shouldn’t only listen to my IEMs ;)
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