Campfire Audio Astrolith Review

Release Date
January 27, 2025
Price
$2199
Excellent technique! But the timbre?
Specs
14.2mm Planar Magnetic Driver (Low-Mid)
6mm Planar Driver (High)
Partially Transparent AAOI Shell
Stainless Steel ‘Terraced’ Lid
3.5mm & 4.4mm Cables
Frequency Response: 5 Hz – 25kHz
Impedance: 8.2Ω
Sensitivity: 94 dB
Technique
9.5
Bass
8
Mid
8.9
Treble
9.2
Timbre
7.2
Synergy
7.5
Fit & Isolation
8.6
Design & Build
8.7
Value For Price
7.5
Pors
Excellent technique, high resolution
Upper Treble
Amazing Imaging
Soundstage
Cable
COns
Timbre
Midbass
Price
Synergy
8.3

Introduction

I am here with the review of Astrolith, a fantastic dual-planar iem from Campfire’s flagship group. Campfire has proven itself with the great iems they made in 2020 and won our hearts with iems such as Andromeda 2020, Solaris 2020, Holocene. Astrolith was released in 2024. For detailed information, you can visit Campfire Audio’s website. Let’s see if Astrolith, a dual-planar technical monster, will have the same impact today.

I bought the product myself with the intention of writing an independent review. I have listened to it for about 200 hours excluding burn-in.

Design & Build

Campfire Astrolith comes in a very colorful and futuristic designed box. The inside of the box contains writings and information that we usually see on papers. Here is exactly what comes out of the box:

  • Black leather folding wallet – handmade in Portugal,
  • TimeStream cables in 3.5mm & 4.4mm,
  • ‘Breezy Bag Micro’ two-pocket mesh pouch,
  • Selection of Eartips – Silicone (S, M, L) & Foam (S, M, L),
  • IEM Cleaning Tool, & CA Lapel Pin

Shells, Cable, Tips…

Black resin, metal plate and metal nozzle. These shells have a monolithic feel and are very well for fit and isolation. I also like the design of the nozzle design. The two included 3.5mm and 4.4mm cables are flat and tangle-free. I don’t use the foam tips, only 3 pairs of silicone tips are included, but they are good and sufficient.

The leather wallet is great! Both stylish and useful. The sling bag is ideal for carrying more than one iem. I think Campfire is quite talented in creating box contents.

Synergy

It is not suitable for every source and every piece. Difficult iem. The planar timbre is inevitably evident and does not match the open-bright sources. But it also has a tight midbass body. Therefore, it doesn’t match with very hot sources either. It sounds calm and warm with slightly warm and analog-like sources. When I listened to it with the Hiby Fc6 I found it calm but boring, while the SE300 struck a nice balance with Astrolith. I got a very reasonable tone. There is something important to mention at this point: I think Astrolith’s sound design was made for the 4.4mm output, because the timbre was weaker in 3.5mm, it’s usually the other way around.

Some Tracks..

Campfire Audio Astrolith plays very well on some tracks and fails to meet expectations on some other tracks. It’s great when listening to live recording, blues, jazz, rock. But when I listen to metal, hip-hop and R&B, I feel like I’m listening to a cheap iem. I think there are a couple of reasons for this. The first is the planar sound and the second is that I think these headphones are specially tuned for specific genres. This makes sense because some recordings bring tears to my eyes.

I would like to give some examples of recordings that Campfire Astrolith plays well: Angela Brown’s St. James Infirmary (Live Edition), Sting – Shape Of My Heart (My Songs Version), Dire Straits – Sultans Of Swing (Alchemy Live Version), Gary Moore – Midnight Blues, Diana Krall – Besame Mucho. Astrolith has an impressive performance on these tracks. However, on tracks like Ne Obliviscaris – Equus, Nirvana – Rape Me, The Weekend – After Hours, the sound is not good. Of course, this is not true for every metal track or every rap. For example, Astrolith plays quite fine on Sepultra – Territory. But in total Astrolith is not an all rounder iem. I leave it to your discretion whether this is good or bad.

Sound

A technical beast. The Campfire Audio Astrolit has very high resolution and very fast transient response. It also has a V-shape sound profile that can be very variable to the source sound. In terms of basic principles, it has a tonality that is analytical enough not to disturb the naturalness of the sound and warm enough not to disturb its analyticality. Actually, it is tonally balanced and stable. But there is a problem: timbre. Astrolith has a solid planar timbre. This configuration of two planar drivers means that on prog metal and orchestral tracks with lots of instruments, the brilliance points of the instruments and vocals get too close to the surface. (Not only that, this planar sound makes you listen to a low-resolution, textureless and distorted bass guitar on Linkin Park – A Place for My Head. In other words, the planar timbre affects the performance of this iem badly on some tracks.

Bass

It’s fast and produces as much sub-bass as you’d expect from a dynamic driver. But in terms of texture and rumble, the sub bass is lacking. Unsurprisingly, it makes up for this lack of rumble with a midbass hum. However, this adds a rather thick and amplitude-hostile texture to the bass, extending from the midbass to the lower mids. This results in a holistic and hard to distinguish lower frequency response. Since the resolution and speed are great, this is not too annoying, but it is sometimes glaring. The only thing I can say about the bass guitar sound is mehh. Contrabass, on the other hand, sounds better because it has a slightly wider range. What I really like are the drums. Campfire Audio Astrolith drums sound fast, textured and realistic. I wouldn’t mind a little more extension, but it’s in the natural range and that’s fine.

Mid

I think this is my favorite part of Astrolith. Campfire Astrolith has very resolved, detailed, natural and decomposed mids in the middle, even if it gets a bit too intimate in the glowing points. If you get a good source match and listen to an acoustic track that you like (for me that would be Tamacun by Rodrigo y Gabriela) you can hear it. On the other hand, the Astrolith sounds surprisingly incredible in the live recording of Dire Straits – Sultans Of Swing from the Alchemy album, which I mentioned in the opening paragraphs. I don’t know if it’s because it’s a Japanese recording (slightly less midbass) but the separation of the instruments and the microdetail reproduction performance on this track is outstanding. I wish I could say the same for Amy Winehouse – You Know I’m No Good. But I feel like I’m listening to a different iem, at this point the planar timbre ruins the track. I think the reason why Astrolith sounds good and bad on different tracks is timbre rather than tonal character.

Treble

The Campfire Astrolith has a capable treble range that captures every nuance, covering up any trace of reductive factors in the lower frequencies. These are the most impressive and high resolution parts of the sound. I’ve seen in other high-end iems that the mid-to-treble stairwell is too high, but I didn’t find this to be a problem because the vocals are well back. The extension and the lower treble – upper treble balance is very nice. It doesn’t have perfect control but it has smooth and refined cymbals. I find the trebles successful in pushing the warm character sound structure to the analytical side. They extend a lot in a wide and free space.

Technique

Very high resolution, not exactly homogeneous, but well distributed. It’s very fast, there are places where it’s weak in terms of texture, but overall it’s successful. Extremely detailed and well separated, for layering I would say average given the price tag. Imaging is great. The soundstage is extremely wide but not too deep. Overall, Campfire Audio Astrolith is technically a great iem.

Campfire Audio Astrolith ($2199) vs Oriolus Monachaa ($2000)

The giants are clashing.

They are quite different iems in terms of tonality, both are challenging in terms of synergy, but finding the right source device for Campfire Audio Astrolith will be more difficult. Monachaa requires significantly more power. Both have excellent technical performance and high detail retrieval. In this sense, it is safe to say that the resolution levels are close to the same. Astrolith is slightly faster. Monachaa has better control over the overall sound. While both have similar soundstage width, Monachaa stands out in 3D staging with its deeper soundstage. Overall, Monachaa is more laid back while Astolith is more intimate. In terms of timbre, Monachaa dominates Astrolith by far.

Bass

In the lower frequencies these two beasts are of opposite character. The Monachaa has a much better lower bass response and much less midbass slam than the Astrolith. The Monachaa has more extension and clarity, but the bass guitar is a bit further back. In this area the Monachaa is superior in terms of texture and accuracy.

Mid

Both are realistic in the midrange, but the Monachaa offers a calmer sound in this area, while the Astrolith is more enjoyable but more distorted. At this point you can listen to more genres with the Monachaa than with the Astrolith because the Astrolith fails on some tracks. In general Campfire Astrolith’s sound is more contrasting. While both are reserved on the vocals, Astrolith’s upper midrange tends to come closer to the surface, extending into the treble. Monachaa stands out in terms of separation when more than one instrument is involved in this range. The Astolith has more detailed mids on some tracks but is also comparatively more chaotic. In this area, control and detail management is better on the Monachaa.

Treble

In the treble, both are quite successful and close technical performers. The Monachaa shows more extension in the air frequencies and is more unstable in this area. Astolith, better reflects the body of the cymbals and offers a more balanced and controlled air frequency, keeping the upper treble a bit more in the background. Honestly, I find Monachaa’s upper treble a bit too much in this area, while Monachaa has a better timbre in the lower treble and is a bit more natural. Astrolith is more consistent in the cymbals.

Last Words

The Campfire Audio Astrolith is a technically top-notch iem with suspect timbre. The sound performance you hear varies a lot depending on the genre you listen to and your source. All that aside, the staging, imaging and microdetail reproduction are great. But the midbass is too thick and too much. When I put everything in front of me, what catches my eye is the price tag. I think it would be much better if this iem was $1700-1800 instead of $2200. If it had a better sound and easier synergy then it would be worth $2200.

Interstellar technical performance
8.3
Final Score