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Technical Performance
The Campfire Clara has a good soundstage, depth, and layering performance. Despite its full, textured, and warm sound, it never feels congested; everything’s delivered nicely in a spacious environment. We have a spacious and deep presentation here despite exhibiting dark and warm IEM characteristics, and that’s an impressive feat in IEM standards.
Regarding timbre, the Clara delivers natural and realistic sound reproduction, contributing to its remarkable realism. The dynamism in the mid-range adds further depth to the audio, enriching the overall musicality. However, while the Clara shines in many aspects, its transient response and PRaT (Pace, Rhythm, and Timing) are not its strongest points.
The mellow and musical sound profile excels in organic sound reproduction and listening comfort, but it’s not technically a TOTL IEM regarding sheer resolution, transparency, and speed.
Returning to the positives, the Clara’s imaging quality is quite strong. The detail retrieval is good, and thanks to its staging performance, everything is nicely separated with good focus and sharpness without any complexion. The soundstage, however, is still not incredibly wide, so don’t expect a vast and immensely spacious experience.
Comparisons
The Bonneville is a highly capable IEM from Campfire Audio, and it’s natural to wonder how it compares to this special offering. Both IEMs provide a similar unboxing experience, featuring an eye-catching design and a comfortable fit. The Clara, of course, has a more complete and impressive package content, though. In terms of design and ergonomics, it’s hard to beat.
Regarding sound quality, the Campfire Audio Bonneville delivers a comparable amount of bass, particularly in the sub-bass, which is powerful and profound. However, there’s some mid-bass congestion, which hampers clarity and can obscure the mid-range.
Additionally, the Bonneville’s bass response is somewhat slower. In contrast, the Clara provides strong and textured lows but manages everything more effectively, leading to a more accurate response.
The Clara also excels in the midrange, with better timbre, detail, and clarity. Overall, its performance makes it the more polished choice, featuring cleaner mids and a faster, more controlled sound compared to the Bonneville.
The Clara’s differences are immediately noticeable compared to its co-flagship counterpart, the Astrolith. The Astrolith features a more futuristic, sci-fi design, a good fit, and similar packaging. The Clara, however, has a more authentic design and flashier looks, and that storage case is a bonus.
Performance-wise, planar technology takes a different approach with the Astrolith. The realism is more immersive, the bass texture and definition feel more organic, and the mid-range becomes even more engaging. Furthermore, the Astrolith also gives a better overall treble performance.
If you prioritize technically sound and faster IEMs, Astrolith is the clear choice, delivering superb performance across the board. On the other hand, the Clara has a classic studio approach, with narrower staging and more focused reproduction, but it does that with a very high level of smoothness and creaminess.
So it sounds more musical and highly comfortable to listen to. The Astrolith sounds cleaner, and its clarity is noticeably better, but it may not be your cup of tea since the planar IEM drivers take some time getting used to.
Conclusion
The Campfire Audio Clara is a special design and project requiring special attention. Ken Ball and Alessandro Cortini combined their passions to create an impressive IEM. Everything from packaging to design, fit, and performance brings luxury.
This luxury also continues in terms of tuning approach. The unit is straightforward to like, has an excellent mid-range that shines, and its treble is exceptionally smooth. This is one of those IEMs that doesn’t require a microscope to analyse; instead, it requires special periods at home to enjoy its flowing, musical, and dark sound character, to relax and enjoy.
It combines the best of both worlds -musicality and still enough technicalities- into one package, and that’s why it earns serious praise for it.
Summary
Pros:
- Great packaging
- Impeccable build
- Arty design
- Latest Campfire IEM technology
- Mid-range timbre
- Musical performance
Cons:
- The treble is not very strong in technicalities
- The sound stage is not very wide
- The overall presentation is somewhat too dark at times
- Technically not the most impressive IEM
