Fit and Comfort

Seen above are the three types of ear tips that come with the Campfire Audio Satsuma, installed in size M on the right ear bud and inserted into an artificial ear mold. I have averagely sized ears, and the ear mold seen above about perfectly represents my own experiences. Size M silicone tips are my go-to for testing since foam tips are not included by some, and I personally think the standard silicone tips work best with these as well. These are relatively tiny IEMs, leaving a lot of space around them when in the ear. There is no outward pressure to worry about, or any fatigue as these are just ~6 g each. The only thing to consider is the MMCX connector with its 360° rotation, so you may have to fiddle around slightly to make sure the cable is oriented to go over the back of the ear. The lighter weight and smaller footprint all contribute to making these one of the most comfortable IEMs I have ever tested.

Audio Performance

Audio Hardware

This section is easy enough to talk about because the back-to-basics approach is a nice way of saying there is not much going on inside. The Campfire Audio Satsuma uses a single full-range balanced armature driver that gets a rear port added for a wee bit of bass boost. Everything else done to meet the target frequency response is with the acoustic chamber in mind, and that is where the 3D printing again comes into play. Driving the hardware is harder than the average IEM with a rated impedance of 46.4 Ω at 1 kHz, so an aftermarket amp might well be handy here. Maybe a portable DAC/amp is called for, which might well be part of your collection if you are considering IEMs and other audio solutions in the $150+ price range. Also, the lack of a 3.5 mm audio jack for most phones these days is another reason to consider a DAC/amp that takes digital input and provides a 3.5 mm jack on the other end since you will have to use an adapter anyway, or even a dedicated DAP. If not on the go, space is less of an issue, but the relatively shorter cable might be a potential handicap if connecting to a PC as the audio source. Campfire Audio also rates the signal sensitivity at 94 dB and an interesting frequency response of 5 Hz to 18 kHz, but good luck making use of that range!

Frequency Measurement and Listening

Before we proceed, I will mention that I have a general preference for a V-shaped sound signature emphasizing elevated bass and treble with recessed mids. I also generally prefer instrumental music over vocals, which complements the V-shaped profile.


Our reproducible testing methodology begins with an IEC711 audio coupler/artificial ear that ear buds can feed into enough to where you have decent isolation similar to real ears. The audio coupler feeds into a USB sound card, which in turn goes to a laptop that has ARTA and REW running and the earphones connected to the laptop through the sound card. I begin with an impulse measurement to test for signal fidelity, calibrate the sound card and channel output, account for floor noise, and finally test the frequency response of each channel separately. Octave smoothing is at the 1/6th setting, which nets a good balance of detail and noise not being identified as useful data. Also, the default tuning was used for testing, and no app-based settings were chosen unless specifically mentioned. Each sample of interest is tested thrice with separate mounts to account for any fit issues, and an average is taken of the three individual measurements for statistical accuracy. For IEMs, I am also using the ear mold fitted to the audio coupler for a separate test to compare how the IEMs fare when installed in an ear geometry, not just the audio coupler by itself. The raw data is then exported from REW and plotted in OriginPro for easier comparison.


Now, after calibrating the sound card and accounting for the base floor noise levels, I am a touch more confident about the SPL label, but there is likely still a significant offset across the board owing to the overall resistance and impedance in the system. I should really also normalize the curves to a set frequency, but the IEC711 is such that you can't really compare these results with most other test setups anyway, just within our own library of measurements. What is really useful information is how the left and right channels work across the rated frequency response in the Campfire Audio Satsuma earphones, or at least the useful part of it. The left earbud was separately tested from the right one and colored differently for contrast. I did my best to ensure an identical fit for both inside the IEC711 orifice, so note how the two are pretty much spot on identical. This is the most consistency in two channels I have seen to date, and no doubt the use of a simpler driver system paired with a deliberate, individually 3D printed acoustic chamber contributes to this. I will also mention that there was no discernible break-in period or effect, so full marks for reproducibility and consistency since the average response for each channel is also basically the same across the three repeated tests for each.

But what about the actual frequency response? I knew going in that there would not be much of a bass elevation, however much that rear port on the single balanced armature driver tries. I did not expect a flat line, though, and had I only plotted the lows, you might have wondered what that line is even supposed to represent. Campfire Audio claims a tightly controlled bass response, which I suppose is the case if tight control basically means having no bass. There is some warmth to EDM music, but no basshead will want to get these ever.

It is once you get to the mids that the Satsuma really sings, and beautifully too. There is a clear focus here on what the company sought to achieve, with a targeted response that delivers some of the best vocal representation I have ever heard, and possibly the best with IEMs to date. But, and I expected this going in, the highs are where the 3D printed chamber and tuned BA shine even more. I spent over an hour just going through my collection of pop and jazz music before I realized I should take a break, purely because I did not want to stop. The comfort factor adds to this, so be aware of the time you spend listening to IEMs in such cases as it is never a good idea to do so non-stop. Campfire Audio claims slightly enhanced highs without any harshness, as well as favoring genres such as pop, classical, rock, and jazz. It gets at least two of those right, but I don't buy the classical bit, unfortunately. There is not enough tonal separation to distinguish between string instruments in particular, and I am again pointing towards the single full-range BA driver only being able to do so much.


With the artificial ear mold of the test setup, I used a different color to show that it's still the right channel, but not directly fitted in the audio coupler (which remains there as a control). We see a near-identical bass response, or lack thereof, and then a slight dip past 40 Hz, which continues until the BA driver hits its stride, where things switch over slightly and I noticed the more laid-back approach without any associated harshness. I will say that the soundstage is quite lacking; there's no depth in the perceived volume of the sound fed to your ears. As such, there is no mistaking these for over-ear headphones in that regard!

Comparison to other IEMs

I just covered another set of IEMs at exactly the same price point as the Campfire Audio Satsuma, but that is not the obvious comparison to make. I mentioned before how the company released two new IEMs simultaneously, and both share a lot in common, which will show once you've read both reviews. The Campfire Audio Honeydew is a twin release, but tuned quite differently and even has a different driver system. So while it may be obvious, perhaps now is the best time to say the two are so different that I am reviewing them separately rather than in a single article. The honeydew is much more energetic and has a punchier bass response at the expense of detail in the highs.

So let's get back to that other IEM priced the same. The Ikko OH1S is, fittingly enough, also tuned very similarly to the Satsuma. It has a dynamic driver that isn't so dynamic, and the Knowles BA does a good job handling the mids and highs. I would say the OH1S is warmer across the board, but the Satsuma is the better set for the four aforementioned music genres, as well as vocals. The Ikko OH10 is also at the same price, but a bass monster that is better compared to the Campfire Audio Honeydew than the Satsuma.

I do not have any other wired IEMs at the same price point, and if we go one notch higher, the Thieaudio Legacy 5 is technically superior with active crossover involving a total of five drivers, and I personally think it does a better job appealing to those who prefer the popular V-shaped profile. It costs 25% more, however, and the tuning is deliberately different to where it is not a fair comparison necessarily. There are also some TWS earphones here I tested before which are around the same price point, including the Audio-Technica ATH-ANC300TW and EVA2020 x final, but both have the massive power bottleneck in terms of pure output and compromise with Bluetooth bandwidth restrictions to where the Campfire Audio Satsuma beats the pants off them easily pretty much everywhere for the pure listening experience.