Campfire Audio - Clara

The price is too high and not competitive, the sound is mediocre for the price, design is not great, accessories are mediocre. It just doesn't compete with other iems above. But I'm not saying they suck, it's just a list of iems I've tried recently. It's definitely better than their past iems.

I have these as well and they’re my current favorites

To me the Clara are the best sounding and most comfortable IEMs I've tried but unfortunately they cost more than my 7900XTX gaming PC

Funny I come across this post as I'm on my way home from an audiophile store after trying their entire price range of IEMs, as well as their expensive DACs and DAPs. Like from $20 IEMs all the way to a $4000 Forte Ears Macbeth they had. Here's what I concluded as a non-audiophile just gaining interest in this hobby. Diminishing returns for IEMs kicks in hard after $300. Sweet spot seems to be around $200-$250. I really liked the Moondrop Kato and a lot of the Ziigaat IEMs they had. Fit and sound quality felt much better than the Zero Reds I currently have. I feel like once you go above into the upper hundreds into thousands USD range it's more personal preference tbh. Favourite one I tried today was a Campfire Audio Clara. With DACs I felt that as long as it could sufficiently power the IEM, it really didn't make a noticeable difference. Couldn't notice a real difference between my JM6 Pro dongle and their $200 ifi DACs, even on the expensive IEMs. And the Apple dongle is pretty bad. It couldn't drive most of the IEMs I tried. Even the ones it could drive they didn't sound good. Just use a JM6 Pro it's even cheaper than the Apple dongle (at least it is in my country). I did notice a quality difference with DAPs though only with the expensive IEMs. It sounded kind of cleaner but honestly not too big from my perspective. For most people you could probably just go up to around the $200-$300 range with an IEM that fits you comfortably with a preferable sound signature, and get an entry level DAC-AMP dongle and just leave and save the rest of your wallet.

I had Clara for a bit and sold it because I wasn’t fond of it for the price. Curious what makes you have it in D tier though?

I actually did too. I picked them up before I went to Japan and I've been listening to them the whole trip. I've rediscovered some Canadian alternative and basically listened to Carlos Santana the rest of the trip. Shinkansen + Clara + Cayin N6iii + Supernatural= transportation bliss.

The Campfire Audio Clara! (Oops, I think I missed a zero in the post) :)

Get the Campfire Audio Clara or the Unique Melody Maven II. You can't go wrong with either one. PS: For context, I own 4 IEMs ranging from 1 to 2K and 3 IEMs ranging from 30 to 150€.

At the recommendation of my last post, I pulled the trigger on these! Wish I knew enough about IEMs to give a helpful review, they do sound great though - bass hits hard.

I did exactly that haha! They sound wonderful.

Keep in mind - I’m a beginner when it comes to IEMs. The fit is a little smaller than the Monarch MK3, I have big ears and they fit nicely. I don’t think vocals shine with these, it’s more about the lows and mids. They do sound clear, not sure about recessed. The MK3 were a bit brighter, the Clara more detailed. I bought these in hopes to find a more “fun” IEM than the Monarch MK3. They’re great IEMs and I’ll keep them, can’t say they’re really worth the extra $1,000 over the MK3 and weren’t as “fun” as I was hoping. I only have the monarch MK3 as a point of reference. The build quality is nicer, the clear shell is gorgeous. Accessories are much nicer (cables, cases, ear tips).

MK3s were brighter, these more lows and mid focused. More detailed. The build quality is far better, the clear shells are gorgeous. Way better accessories, stock cables are awesome and the cases. Only worth the extra $1,000 if you have a lot of disposable income, they certainly aren’t “twice as good”. They seem to sound better with genres like rock, jazz, rap. I also don’t know much about IEMs, so your mileage may vary. These words sound correct to me lol.

To my amateur ears they sound more detailed and clear, less warm/bright. The build quality is leagues better, accessories and stock cables are great. If you have a lot of expendable income, go for it. I’ve got no regrets.

Love them! Haven’t noticed any hissing, only using them on my Fiio M17.