Campfire Chimera First Impressions

Product: Campfire Audio Chimera

Driver Config: 9-driver quadbrid with 10mm BCD, 10mm true Glass DD, 3xBAs, and 4x ESTs.

Sound Signature: Close to V-shaped tuning with greater emphasis on bass weight and treble clarity.

Tonality: Energetic, clear, transparent, detailed.

Highlights: Premium magnesium shell design with a carbon fiber/brass Damascus lid; the shell is on the larger side, so a careful selection of eartips is needed for a comfortable fit for those with smaller or average-sized ears.  Very unique implementation of the BCD driver, where you can hear and feel the sub-bass rumble, making the bass performance a true highlight of the tuning.  Clear, transparent, natural mids, and clean, detailed, energetic treble.  Holographic level of imaging with a reverberated effect on the mids, and more extended depth and height of the soundstage in comparison to a slightly narrower width spacing.  Also, Campfire Audio’s switch to 2pin connector plugs makes them compatible with more upgrade cables.

Suited Genres: The tuning of these IEMs makes them well-suited with EDM, Metal, Rock, Rap, D’n’B, OSTs, and any other genre where you want deeper bass impact, less colored mids, and clean, clear treble.

Impressions:

Following its mysterious introduction ahead of the recent CanJam SG, CFA Chimera became one of the most talked-about new releases at the show.  It was truly a surprise for many Campfire Audio fans and other audiophiles to hear a new direction in their sound tuning, which caught the attention even of some who were impartial toward their more colored, traditional house tuning of previous releases.  But it also generated a few disagreements about how people perceive its sound, because Chimera IEMs are very sensitive to cable and source selection, which can affect sound impressions. Also, Chimera employed a unique and bold tuning philosophy that differs from the typical reference sound. But one thing everybody agrees on is the unique implementation of its BCD driver bass, a very physical, deep, visceral performance you can feel in different ways, including the actual vibration of the driver coupled with the shell.  The resonating, textured, deep sub-bass rumble with a softer impact is truly the star of the tuning.  Mids are neutral and learner-tuned, with an interesting reverb-like effect that pulls the presentation back while taking some focus away, creating a greater contrast with the bass.  Treble is clean, detailed, energetic (depending on the pair-up), and moderately extended, with a reserved airiness.  The fit, which is always an objective matter, might be a little too big for some with smaller ears, but with the right selection of eartips, you can adjust the comfort.  Among today’s new flagship releases, Campfire decided to follow its own path with something different and unique to help them stand out, depending on your sound preference.  One thing is for sure: you will never refer to Chimera as another typical Campfire Audio release.

FR measurement:

Due to the unique nature of the BCD driver implementation in the Chimera design, typical FR measurements may be somewhat misleading and inaccurate, as they can’t capture the BCD driver's performance.  Thus, to eliminate the confusion, we decided that it makes no sense to share its FR graph.