Closer Examination

Campfire Audio introduced a new "Smoky Lite" cable that came with the budget-friendly (for the brand) Honeydew and Satsuma, and this time around, the Mammoth (and Holocene) get the standard Smoky Litz cable. Except it changes a few things. I teased glow-in-the-dark elements here with the Campfire Audio Mammoth, which the company aims to justify by the presence of the Northern Aurora Lights in the tundra. I think it's just a cool gimmick to have no matter the justification, so we see the use of overmolds on the connector housing beginning with the L-shaped 3.5 mm TRS connector. It's a slightly softer housing here, which then leads to the conductor itself that is a four-strand, silver-plated copper Litz cable. The wires are quite similar those on the Campfire Audio Smoky Lite cables, but slightly heavier and less prone to tangling. It's one of the thinnest profile cables I have used all said and done, without much memory retention to allow for easier cable management on the person, too. The "smoky" in the name simply refers to the color of the insulation, and the overall resistance was ~1.9 Ω measured from end to end. There is a low-profile cable splitter and cinch that may be combined cohesively as well, following which two braided strands then go to each of the channels connectors where we also see transparent plastic sheathing before the wires head in. Campfire Audio uses the same hybrid beryllium and copper MMCX connector on each end, rated for increased longevity and durability to connects/disconnects. We see blue/red dots on the end, which are somewhat easy to get removed from the new overmolds. It's a good thing then that subtle L/R markings on the body indicate which ear bud each cable end goes to.


The first set of two Campfire Audio IEMs I reviewed were the Honeydew and Satsuma, both of which used ABS 3D-printing shells, a first for the company. Those things were smooth, light, and glued together over the acoustic chamber itself. With the Mammoth, the company goes back to machined aluminium as with most of its product portfolio. The shells have a deliberate design that appears to have been hand-finished for the various beveled edges, which then gets anodized in the so-called tundra blue color that's more of a dark blue in my books. You get a lightly lustrous finish to the metal coating, which is uniformly done but still appears to be easier to scratch than I'd like. As suspected, the IEM buds come with the size M memory foam tips pre-installed.


The two pieces of the shell are screwed together using three small and triangular head screws for which I unfortunately do not have the matching bits to take a closer look inside. The design itself is based on knowledge gained from all the custom-fit IEMs the company made, which has been tuned further with the acoustic chamber 3D-printed inside the aluminium shells based on experience gained from the Satsuma/Honeydew combo. This acoustic chamber dictates the frequency response of the hardware inside, which is all the more important when trying to distinguish its offerings from the myriad of others in an increasingly competitive market. There is still a clear ergonomic design in place with even the multiple sides and edges seen on the machined aluminium shells. The truncated company logo is printed on the bottom of the outer surface for branding purposes, once again with a glow-in-the-dark coating, so it will shine when it gets darker after having been exposed to light. We see the MMCX connector poking through the housing surrounding it on the side. There is a single vent on the outer surface, which should help keep things cool, but not at the expense of isolation. L/R markings are etched into the aluminium on the contact side going into the concha itself, which helps if you are not sure which side is which. Campfire Audio's signature steel spout nozzle makes a return, and with a black PVD coating for aesthetics and durability alike. The holes cut into the nozzle are larger than I'd like, but will do the job of keeping most, if not all, contaminants out of the acoustic chamber.


Fitting the other tips is trivial since there is a notch on the spout to hold them in place. Seen above are the final Type-E silicone tip (left) and Campfire Audio silicone tip (right), and we see the Type-E tips with the smaller bore are tighter over the spout than the wider bore, softer flange Campfire Audio silicone tips. The Type-E tips also sit closer to the acoustic chamber which can certainly affect the seal as well as the sound signature depending on the fit. Regardless of which of the three types of tips you go with, the next step is to re-connect the cable by carefully pushing the MMCX connector back in place. The right-angled TRS connector then goes to your source. I know there are many who prefer to use IEMs throughout, but I like to use over-ear headphones when sitting down and IEMs/TWS earbuds on the go. I've paired the Mammoth with all the tested portable DAC/amps thus, and I personally liked the cleaner profile and handy EQ options with the Qudelix-5K as the source, in turn paired to my phone and laptop.


In hindsight, I should have photographed the Campfire Audio Mammoth while there was still some daylight, but you can at least now see how the set looks, nay glows, in the dark after being exposed to some light right before. This includes the case badge and zipper tab, all of which glow green similar to the old-school lume used for years on other products. It's fine in a pinch, but not very effective if inside a larger bag in that the lume won't really help you find these. I would have liked to see a more lasting and brighter lume, such as Super-LumiNova that is put to good effect in some watches today.