Disclaimer: I would like to formally thank Jasia from Drop.com for providing us with a unit in exchange for an impartial and honest review. On behalf of the team at the Headphone List, we thank her for her generosity and trust in THL.
Summary:
The Dark Stars is a nostalgic throwback from the heydays of Campfire Audio’s cult line-up, borrowing from the Solaris’s bulbous-but-dense bass, and the delicate (albeit more modest) sparkle that defined the Andromeda.
As its name implies, it isn’t a detail-driven tuning, with little emphasis on the sheen on voicings on instruments. However, the Dark Stars offer users a forgiving listen, backed by solid technical performance.
Pros:
+ Lightweight and durable PVD-coated aluminium chassis.
+ Densely textured and detail-rich bass
+ Great technical fundamentals, with an expansive L-R stage and distinct layering.
– Middling package not becoming of a $699 product.
– 5kHz roll-off masks the sheen in the soprano range, masking intrinsic micro-details.
– Perceivable timbral issues on female soprano vocals
Introduction
Campfire Audio is a Portland, Oregon-based brand that bears no introduction in the audiophile space (unless you’ve been living under a rock). Ken Ball, the brains behind the brand, is an acoustic engineer with a steadfast passion for portable audio.
In 2009, he sank his teeth in the world of metallurgy and annealing, crafting quality cables that adorned the exorbitantly priced IEMs of yonder under the ALO Audio moniker. Six years and a rebrand (to Campfire Audio) later, the newly minted brand pivoted away from high-end cables to high-end IEMs.
Their first two releases, the Lyra, and the Andromeda, were their directorial debuts into an IEM marketplace in its infancy (compared to the churn-and-burn model today). Apart from their Noble Audio counterparts, there weren’t many bespoke IEMs being manufactured and assembled in the USA.
Regardless of their point-of-origin, the latter was (and still is) universally lauded; a groundbreaking IEM that scaled new heights in terms of tuning, technical performance, and durability – its attractive appearance didn’t hurt either.
Today, the brand’s subsequent releases have polarised global audiences. In 2014, the 2-driver IO was universally panned for its apparent mid-range suck-out, as was the Polaris II for having an excessively rotund bass-cliff.
The dogmatic orthodoxy of the 2017 Harman Response Curve didn’t do any favours to Campfire Audio’s ‘flavour-of-the-month’ engineering philosophy.
Commercially, the American brand is still a resolute success, releasing quirky and innovative IEMs in quick succession. Their diehard fans are effusive in their praise, whilst its diehard critics are not shy to excoriate the brand’s unconventional tunings and extortionate pricing.
Therein lies the active controversy.
Today, Drop has kindly provided me with a review sample of the Dark Star – a product borne out of a collaboration between them and Campfire Audio. Drop is a community-centric company that actively collaborates with audiophile-brands, releasing product drops at a modest price reduction. Drop has been a mainstay in our bustling hobby space for the last decade, providing us with value-driven collaborations that tickles our value bones.
The Dark Star is a re-interpretation of the Black Star, a 4-driver hybrid originally priced at $699.
However, the original dual-magnet dynamic driver in the Black Star has been replaced by Campfire’s 10mm revamped bio-cellulose dynamic driver. Saved for the novel driver and lower price point ($699), the rest of its structural components remain unchanged.
Today, it’s virtually impossible to visit an audio-centric forum without witnessing a user scorn the brand in a partial manner. With this fact made known, I’ll do my darndest to review the Darkstars in an impartial manner, free from external influences.
The Darkstar can be purchased on Drop’s official website for $699.
Technology
PVD Aluminium Chassis
Sharing the same footprint and silhouette of the Black Star and Solaris: Stellar Horizon, the Dark Stars comprise a CNC-milled, black PVD-coated aluminium shell with a rectangular/oval shape lengthwise, held firmly together by a locking screw at its base.
The shell is capped by a precision-cut, acrylic inlay faceplate for a contrasting, glossy appearance.
Phase Harmony Engineering
Campfire Audio specifies that “by using a combination of precision-engineered driver housings and shell geometry, coupled with custom damping values, we are able to physically shape the tuning and response of the drivers, and further, their interaction with one another.”
10mm Bio-Cellulose Membrane Dynamic Driver
Using the same dual-magnet structure inherited from the Black Star, the newly integrated 10mm bio-cellulose membrane allegedly provides a deeper and meatier bass response. The supplementary balanced armature array (One Sounion midrange balanced armature and Two Knowles tweeter balanced armatures) remains unchanged.
Unboxing
Despite being a Drop release, Campfire Audio product second, the package bears the distinct hallmarks of the CFA ‘Chromatic’ series. Firstly, the basic cardboard box is slathered in Campfire Audio’s quirky, saloon-style or spaghetti-western typography.
There’s no denying the aesthetic charm and whimsical branding, which I have to say, CFA has nailed. Unfortunately, I am not as impressed by the package’s internal offerings:
- Campfire Audio X Darkstar
- MMCX silver-plated copper cable with 3.5mm unbalanced termination
- Instruction manual
- S, M and L foam ear tips
- S, M and L brandless short-stem silicon tips
- ‘Breezy bag’ carrying case.
- Jewellery-style mesh protectors
- Cleaning brush
- Campfire Audio branded pin
There’s nothing inherently wrong with the included accessories, save for two gripes: the case and cable. Firstly, the included ‘Breezy Bag’ case, which is essentially a hollow, mesh satchel, provides barely any protection from the elements; it’s squishy, structureless and lacks adequate padding.
Understandably, the Black Stars are marked up at significant $300, so it is understandable that the ‘Made in Portugal’ leather case that they usually come shipped with has been excluded to keep prices down. However, the supplementary solution here is sub-par.
Secondly, the included stock CFA cable has a stiff, bendable memory wire that isn’t malleable enough. Because of this, the inflexible memory wire can’t rest against my outer earlobe comfortably. I don’t staunchly sit in the anti-memory wire camp, but this is a poor example of how it should be implemented.
Design
The Darkstar, as described earlier, utilises a mix of acrylic and PVD-aluminium components, the former for aesthetics and the latter for structural integrity. The result is an ultra-light IEM with a small footprint and durable metal exterior.
The polished aluminium elements capping the MMCX ends, and the polished grill/spout at the nozzle provide much-needed visual contrast. Its appearance is characteristically Drop: subtle, under-the-radar and thematically black.
While I do miss Campfire Audio’s resplendent colour palette, the Darkstar bears an office and commute-friendly design for your EDC. To the jingoistic patriots of North America, the Darkstars are assembled in Portland, Oregon, from components sourced from global sources.
My only minor gripe is the acrylic faceplate’s proneness to fingerprints and smudges (my OCD is not amused).
Comfort and Ergonomics
The Darkstar’s nozzle length is long, but my moderately-sized ears did not experience any issues with achieving a snug seal. However, the sloping contour on the nozzle-end presses against the counter helix in my ear, leaving it feeling semi-sore during prolonged listening sessions. YMMV.
Apart from that, the chassis’ feather-light shells are a boon for my ears, causing little downward strain on my ears.
At the top of each shell, sits a large visible vent. Intriguingly, extraneous disturbances from the surrounding environment did not seem apparent, even in areas defined by high foot or car traffic.
Cable Quality
The included cable is a throwback to the past, bearing the same exact design from their 2015 to 2018 releases. Featuring the same L-shaped 3.5mm termination, unbranded Y-split, and machine braiding.
The cable itself is quite supple, displaying some proneness to memory and kinking, but it isn’t enough to problematise stowage.
The included Y-split cinch is a touch too tight, making it quite difficult to adjust the length of each channel without some fan-dangling for it work.
Sonically, I have nothing to say except the fact that the metal-of-choice for the cable’s cores is a high-quality one.
While these are trivial issues, the biggest ‘ick’ I have is with the incorporation of the bendable memory wire. It doesn’t work as it should, peeling away from outer earlobes every time I attempt to bend it back to its resting position.
In an ideal world, I would prefer the heat-shrink alone, sans the metal-portion of the memory wire for a more optimal fit.
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One Response
I deeply resent your assumption that I prefer a US company because I am a “jingoistic patriot”. I prefer, when it makes sense, to buy from a company where aftermarket support is responsive – that, in itself, leaves out many, if not most, of the Chinese makes. Further, if I have to get something repaired in warranty or even after warranty, I don’t have to pay $50 and wait a month for shipping (or not be able to get after warranty repair at all). When the SE Asian brands start competing on more than sales price and technical specs, then you might be closer (though still presumably capable of expressing yourself without insult).