Campfire Audio Orbit True Wireless Earbuds

I have some CAMPFIRE wired earphones that I love very much and it’s because of those that I decided to try the Orbit. I think these earbuds are great, clarity, nice bass without being overbearing. It gives you the ability to customize settings or select from presets. But I constantly, constantly, constantly have issues with Bluetooth connectivity. It’s really annoying. For that reason, I probably wouldn’t buy these again.

It took me a couple of days to get used to some slight disadvantages like random, couple a times per day bluetooth disconnects,otherwise:• a solid debut to TWS headphones by Campfire Audio• amazing build quality• unmatched sweet stylish packing• variety of earplug to fit your ear• AMAZING sound quality• adjustable EQ• tap controls• I don’t care about Noise Cancellation• powerful battery lifeI’ll be definitely looking forward for future generations of Campfire Products, especially affordable price segment.For me I finally forgot about Apple Airpods, which are OK, nice, etc, but were NEVER ever decent audio quality, they always played very moderate sound quality.My 5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is definitely far from the acceptable Campfire has to offer..especially for the $249 price.The dynamic driver is not well tuned the mid-bass is the most dominant and has a muffled midrange. This is judged on the off setting in the EQ.Even using the preset EQ settings do not make a difference. You have to manipulate the EQ for an acceptable output.I had to create a custom EQ setting near maxing out the 2k to 2.0db and slightly roll off 8k to 1.0db and treble -1.0db and plateau 14k to -1.0db. To solve the mid-bass bloat I had to drop the 500k to the bottom middle -7.0db and lower the 125 to -9.0db the sub-bass to -5.0dbNow this doesn’t do much for lack of detail or soundstage which are all muffled. The best I’ve achieved is a V-Curve and I’m mostly a Warm-Neutral guy. It would be preferred to manipulate the 1k, 5k and 10k range. Using an EQ should be for adjusting to a preference, not correcting mistakes in tuning.The connection is also not great even in direct unobstructed line of sight. The App is very slow to respond as well.This is the first wireless product from Campfire Audio and it shows.Now the good’ish, I guess. The seal with the included tips is great and the fit is comfortable. The design is perfect, but look like hearing aids. This is all is meaningless when it sounds in a blunt opinion….Bad.I wouldn’t recommend purchasing this

14NOV2023 update: as of this date, I recently upgraded to firmware. It had been in the apps que since purchase. I wish I could go back to the previous firmware, as there is a noticeable degradation in the default EQ settings that 100% makes me relate to what most of the negative reviewers are claiming. The mud is real. Campfire, the mids are way too thick on this latest version of the firmware. While the in app EQ is more responsive, it’s near impossible to find the warmth that was present in their natural form. I’ve had to adjust EQ in the source app which in my case is Spotify. Huge bummer. I won’t dig the product over software that can simply be updated if the folks at campfire monitor these reviews. It’s still a good product. Just needs more EQ tweaking.So… I’m in the process of burning these guys in (arguably unnecessary) and while at first I was completely underwhelmed… as I sit here playing with MQA playback options (it doesn’t at all matter as iPhone AAC is trash…) I find myself incredibly happy. I give them 4 stars for a multitude of reasons. To get 5 stars you’ve gotta be perfect. I’ll break this review down in several segments starting with what’s most important and ending with what is least important.SOUND QUALITY: hands down unbeatable. There are talks of muddy sound. I find that to not be the case. Perhaps those reporting on muddy sound have been used to items like the beats fit pro or the AirPods Pro 2 which use special audio tech hacks to engineer clarity. Couple those tools with ANC and you will have quite the inauthentic experience. Now, I do not care about the fancy ANC. I have a tool for that when I need isolation and ANC. I also do not care about spacial audio. Again I’ve got a tool for that. These offer a pure listening experience that is without doubt rich in the mid range. If you like a crispy and inauthentically engineered sound profile, get you some AirPods Pro 2 or any one of the other items out there that over engineer the reproduction of what is making it to your ears. Things that impact sound quality with the Orbit are the ear tips. The factory supplied tips are quite terrible. I own several Campfire in ear monitors. From the OG Polaris, to the Andromeda. And in the newer realm the Mammoth (my absolute favorite. Even over my andromeda S). Ear tips impact sound quality. More on how they impact fit a bit later… The tips I decided on are the Final audio tips that came with my andromeda S in medium. I robbed the Andro’s to find the absolute best sounding tip in my inventory as the factory comply foam tips and silicon tips were literally hot trash. Yes, the tip I’m using makes the Orbit stick out a bit. But… they stay put, they sound incredible, and they do not fall out even during workouts. So before you judge the sound quality, invest in some better tips. Again, these sound absurdly good given they are a single dynamic driver design. I think if CFA adds a Balanced armature in conjunction with the current dynamic driver… you’ll see a greater appeasement of the masses. They are asking a lot from a full range dynamic driver. Given the price point, I ain’t even mad at them. For the price, these kill the competitor.Tracks used:Kill shot by EminemGlory - A Colors Show by YunaLights Out by SonnTHE SIN OF HUMAN FRAILTY - by ENDGetting Started is my next category…Presentation was in true campfire tradition. Completely over the top. The unboxing experience was exactly what I’ve experienced in the past. Well done. They never disappoint in this department. BUT… I hated getting these things paired. The manual absolutely sucks. Not traditional campfire. It’s Chinese pamphlet. I get it… to offer this true wireless IEM at this price point, you had to make sacrifices. And much of that was going off shore. Remember who you are as a company. Born and bred in Portland Oregon. I discovered campfire audio while on a work trip. I had to walk the streets of Portland for my job. I stumbled upon your shop then. I tried things. I fell in love with the home-made aspect that was camp fire audio. Again, I’m not pïşsy you outsourced the build. You had to in order to compete. And possibly attract new customers who have a need for TW IEMs. In the end… getting these charged, paired, and moving was quite the chore. The app is terrible. It automatically paired them but my iPhone did not recognize them. Over all getting going was not fun. 2/5 stars. The manual helped none. Plus Chinese manuals are often not helpful.Next is FIT and FINISH:Fit and Finish is a huge aspect of why people buy stuff. The finishing is fantastic. Yeah the off shore aspect of these bothers me. I’m just being honest. I’d pay upwards of 1k for an authentic Campfire Audio full on TW IEM because I knew my brothers and sisters in the US created them. They took the care that the Chinese could give a rats about. Two Pennies… in our throwaway society campfire can do with them what they may. But I’ve got thousands of dollars invested into this company. Again, you achieved greatness from a finishing perspective with an off shore build. Kudos for finding the right global partner. But just know your faithful will pay the extra coin for an in house option. As for fit… the supplied Ear tips suck. Invest in a better tip. You’ll thank me later as they will enhance sound, comfort, and fit. Fit is a 3/5 stars.BATTERY LIFE:5/5. All things considered, these are killing it. Well done on outsourcing the appropriate battery power to get things done.Final thoughts:I love them with the final audio tips. They will be regularly used. If I need a tool for ANC I’ll grab one of my other several options available. I am enjoying them. I love the warmth in the mid range. I find them unaltered as superior in sound to anything in my inventory from a true wireless perspective and nothing I have can compete with how they sound. But can they be even better? I believe they can. And that is up to CFA to be true to their roots of being built in the US. Again, this is nothing more than two pennies. Take them or leave them. A multi driver setup will appease more of the folks in this market.

In terms of sound quality, mobile app, and build quality, these headphones are amazing. The only issue I have with them is that they didn’t even bother to include ANC on a premium pair of true wireless headphones. This is not just expected at this price, it’s common and easy to include. Qualcomm offers very good ANC and most premium Bluetooth headphones like these are already using Qualcomm chipsets for their wireless control chip. It would have been so easy to implement, but instead, they chose not to. So the most I can give this product is 3/5 stars. Maybe on future generations, they can have all the big features that one expects for such a high price.