Campfire Audio Bonneville Review

 

Introduction:

Renowned Portland-based audiophile brand Campfire Audio specializes in high-end earphones, headphones, cables, and more, all boasting innovative designs and technologies. Their latest offering, the Bonneville, belongs to the Chromatic series, sporting a sleek black shell and an eye-catching chromatic faceplate. Available in both universal (UIEM) and custom (CIEM) fit options, the Bonneville is a hybrid IEM that combines a 10mm dynamic driver with three custom balanced armature drivers. Notably, the Chromatic series comes in two accessory sets: Essential and Deluxe editions.

 

Disclaimer:

I would like to thank Campfire Audio for providing the Bonneville Universal IEM as review sample. I am not affiliated with Campfire Audio or any third person beyond this review and all these words reflect my true, unaltered opinions about the product.

 

Price & Availability:

The Campfire Audio Bonneville comes in both custom (CIEM) and universal (UIEM) fit options, with the CIEM costing $400 more than the UIEM. The UIEM version starts at $1,399, while the CIEM version is priced at $1,799. Additionally, Campfire Audio offers two accessory packages: Essential and Deluxe. Opting for the Deluxe edition, which includes a premium leather case, three Time Stream Cables (instead of one) with varied terminations and many more, which will set you back an additional $200. Moreover, you can order the Bonneville in black or purple, while purple is the signature color of the Bonneville, which is a member of the new Chromatic series.

• UIEM: $1,399 USD
• CIEM: $1,799 USD
• Deluxe Edition: Additional $200 USD

More details can be found under the link below;

• Campfire Audio Bonneville

 

Package and Accessories:

The Campfire Audio was offers always a very unique unboxing experience and the Bonneville is no exception. The Bonneville Essential edition comes in a pretty minimalistic but fancy looking small cardboard box in purple color with decorative elements like stars, lines, and other icons enhancing its visual appeal. The design of the box evoked a sense of a vintage and retro vibe. There’s also a mention of “CHAPTER ONE” at the top left corner indicates that it is a part of a new series.

However, what are the difference in terms of accessories between the Essential and Deluxe Edition.

 

Essential Edition: 

• Breezy Bag Standard: A basic carrying case for your earphones.
• Customizable Time Stream Cable: A single earphone cable with interchangeable terminations (3.5mm SE, 2.5mm Balanced or 4.4mm Balanced)
• 3 pairs of Marshmallow and 3 pairs of silicone tips
• Precision cleaning tool
• Campfire Audio pin
• Breezy Bag Micro: A small carrying case for your earphones and accessories.

Deluxe Edition: 

• Premium Leather Case: A luxurious carrying case made from high-quality leather.
• Three Time Stream Cables: Includes three earphone cables with different terminations (3.5mm SE, 2.5mm and 4.4mm Balanced)
• Cushioned Cable Bag: A padded bag for storing your earphone cables.
• Breezy Bag Micro
• All other Essential Edition accessories (marshmallow and silicone tips, precision cleaning tool, and Campfire Audio pin)

Campfire Audio takes unboxing to a completely new level, creating a truly exciting and unique experience that sets the stage for enjoying their high-quality earphones.

 

 

Features, Design and Build Quality:

The Campfire Audio Bonneville is a testament to exquisite design and great functionality, seamlessly blending aesthetics and acoustics. The monitors that are available in black and purple with a glossy finish do have a smooth and curved semi-custom shape that fits comfortably in the ears. Purple is the signature color of the Bonneville, which is a member of the new Chromatic series.

These shells are 3D printed from a medical-grade acrylic, ensuring both durability and comfort. The new-patented Solid Body Design allows driver installation directly into a single, precisely 3D printed ‘engine block’ that routes the sound to your ears.

The heart of the Bonneville features a hybrid driver setup that consists of one 10mm Dual Magnetic Dynamic Driver and three Knowles dual-diaphragm Balanced Armature Drivers. Thanks to its unique design, the Dual-Magnet is able to reproduce sub-bass frequencies without bleeding into the midrange, ensuring a clean and balanced soundscape.

Campfire Audio’s Phase Harmony Engineering is segmenting the frequency spectrum and assigning specific drivers to each range in order to ensure that each driver operates at its optimal level, minimizing phase cancellation and maximizing sonic coherence.

On the front of the monitor is the polished stainless steel faceplate with an artistic “J Shaped” design that sports the Campfire Audio brand logo and a pressure relief opening.

The rear surface features the slightly angled sound nozzle made of stainless-steel material with 7x small and 1x large opening on the top.

Each monitor has an elevated that features a robust MMCX Beryllium / Copper connector with a golden finish on the top.

The Campfire Audio Bonneville boasts excellent build quality, evident in its Solid Body Design and polished stainless steel faceplate. Hand-assembled in their Portland, Oregon workshop, these earphones are a testament to the company’s craftsmanship.”

 

Campfire Audio Time Stream Cables:

The Campfire Audio Bonneville comes with the company’s new Time Stream Cables, offering flexibility in both cable choice and connection termination. Each Time Stream Cable is made from 8-core Silver Plated Cooper copper conductors in ribbon configuration, which has a soft, flexible and durable transparent insulation with a flat profile.

The MMCX male connectors boast soft purple plastic housing adorned with L (Blue) / R (Red) color indicators for easy identification. Transparent heat shrink ear guides near the connectors enhance comfort during over-ear wear.

The Y splitter is made from the same plastic material in purple color, while the chin slider is made from transparent plastic material.

The cable has a straight-profiled headphone housing with a retro-inspired design, crafted from the same purple plastic as the rest of the cable.

  

 

Fit, Comfort and Isolation:

The Campfire Audio Bonneville boasts a unique monitor shell with a semi-custom shape inspired by professional Custom In-Ear Monitors (CIEMs). This design hugs the concha (outer ear shell) snugly, providing a secure and comfortable fit, especially for those with medium-sized concha’s like me. Thanks to the semi-custom shape, the Bonneville delivers above-average passive noise isolation, effectively blocking out surrounding noises. This makes them ideal for immersive listening on-the-go or in noisy environments.

For those seeking the absolute best in passive noise cancellation, Campfire Audio offers the Custom Audiophile and Custom Artist Fit options.

 

Technical Specifications:

• Model                          : Bonneville
• Driver Configuration  : Hybrid Driver Technology
• Driver Setup               : 3x Custom Balanced Armature + 1x 10mm Dynamic Driver
• Frequency Response : 5 Hz – 20 kHz
• Sensitivity                   : 94 dB SPL @ 14.59 mVrms
• Impedance                  : 29 Ω @ 1 kHz Impedance
• Connector                   : MMMC (Micro Miniature Coaxial Connector)
• Headphone Plug        : 3.5mm Single Ended, 2.5mm Balanced & 4.4mm Balanced (Deluxe)

 

Drivability & Pairing:

Thanks to their low impedance of 29 Ohms and a relative high sensitivity of 94 dB SPL @ 1kHz (14.59 mVrms), the Bonneville requires minimal power to deliver their full sonic potential. This makes them perfect for on-the-go listening, especially with devices that don’t offer high-powered audio outputs.

 

Equipment’s used for this review:

• In Ear Monitors         : Campfire Audio Bonneville, Meze Audio RAI Penta
• Sources (DAP/DAC) : HiBy R6 PRO II, FiiO Q15, iBasso DC-Elite

 

Albums & Tracks used for this review:

• Norah Jones – Come Away With Me (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
• Adele – My Little Love (Deezer HiFi)
• Sarah McLachlan – Angel (Flac 24bit/48kHz)
• Sertap Erener – Aşk (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
• Edith Piaf – Non Je Ne Regrette Rien (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
• Diana Krall – So Wonderful (DSF)
• Aretha Franklin – I Say A Little Payer (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
• Michael Jackson – Billie Jean (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
• George Michael – Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
• David Bowie – Heroes (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
• Elton John – Rocket Man ((Flac 24bit/96kHz)
• Barry White – Just The Way You Are (Flac 24bit/48kHz)
• Isaac Hayes – Walk On By (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
• Sting – Englishman in New York – (Flac 24bit/48kHz)
• Eric Clapton – Wonderful Tonight (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
• Dave Gahan – Kingdom (Tidal Hi-Fi)
• Radiohead – Live in Berlin “Album” (Deezer HiFi)
• Radiohead – Pyramid Song (Deezer HiFi)
• U2 – Sunday Bloody Sunday (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
• Muse – Hysteria (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
• Red Hot Chili Peppers – Nobody Weird Like Me (Flac 24bit/48kHz)
• Michael Jackson – Billie Jean (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
• Bear McCreary’s – Valkyries (Deezer HiFi)
• Bro Safari, UFO! – Drama (Deezer HiFi)
• Armin Van Buuren – Vini Vici (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
• Daft Punk – Instant Crush (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
• Daft Punk – Doin’ it Right (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
• Lorde – Royals (Flac 24bit/48kHz)
• Massive Attack – Angel (Flac 24bit/48kHz)
• Toutant – Rebirth (Deezer HiFi)
• Gogo Penguin – Raven (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
• Gogo Penguin – Murmuration (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
• Portishead – It Could Be Sweet (Spotify)
• Max Richter – On the Nature of Daylight (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
• Charly Antolini – Duwadjuwandadu (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
• Tchaikovsky – Symphony No. 5 (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
• Ferit Odman – Look, Stop & Listen (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
• Chopin – Nocturn No. 20 In C-Sharp Minor (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
• Clair de Lune – Claude Debussy (Spotify)
• Fazıl Say – Nazım Oratoryosu (Live) (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
• Vivaldi – Le QuarttroStagioni “The Four Season” (Deezer HiFi)
• Miles Davis – So What (Deezer HiFi)
• Otto Liebert& Luna Negra – The River (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
• Lunatic Soul – The Passage (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
• Deftones – My Own Summer (Shove it) (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
• Metallica – Dyers Eve (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
• Metallica – Sad but True (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
• Opeth – Windowpane (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
• Megadeth – Sweating Bullets (Tidal Hi-Fi)
• Rush’s – Tom Sawyer (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
• Slayer – Angel of Death (Spotify)
• Liquid Tension Experiment 2 – Acid Rain (Spotify)
• Yosi Horikawa – Bubbles (Spotify)

 

The Sound:

The Campfire Audio Bonneville uses a hybrid driver configuration: a 10mm dual magnetic dynamic driver for bass, a single balanced armature for midrange, and two BAs for the treble range. This setup delivers a balanced and natural sound signature with a hint of warmth and smoothness. Its wide and spacious soundstage offers excellent depth and imaging, while the drivers excel at resolving fine details across the entire frequency range, resulting in a coherent and musically engaging presentation.

The review for the Campfire Audio Bonneville has written after a burn-in process of approx. 100 hours. I have used the stock CFA Silicon Ear Tips and the new CFA Time Stream Cable that are included inside the package. The main sound sources are the HiBy R6 Pro II, FiiO Q15 and the iBasso DC-Elite.

Bass:

The bass of the Campfire Audio Bonneville is powerful and impactful, but not overwhelming or bloated. It’s a bass that’s grippy and responsive, keeping up with the most intricate bass lines with ease. The subbass extension is good, providing a satisfying rumble without being boomy or overpowering. The midbass region on the other hand is tight and controlled, and does not overshadow the midrange. It has a good level of speed and decay, and does not sound muddy or slow.

The bass of the Bonneville created with its dual magnetic dynamic driver sounds in general well textured and layered, and can handle complex and fast bass lines with ease. On tracks like Daft Punk’s “Doin’ it Right” the Bonneville reproduces the electronic bass with accuracy and precision, without losing any of the energy and groove. The bass is tight and punchy, with a good sense of rhythm and timing. The fast and complex bass lines in Gogo Penguin’s “Raven” are also well-rendered, with a smooth and natural tone.

 

Midrange:

The midrange of the Campfire Audio Bonneville is clear and smooth, with a slight warmth and richness. The dual-diaphragm balanced armature dedicated for this area produces a natural and realistic midrange that is neither too forward nor too recessed. The lower midrange has a good body and fullness while listen to vocals like Dave Gahan, George Michael or Sting, and does not sound thin or hollow.

The upper midrange on the other hand has a good presence and clarity, and does not sound harsh or sibilant. It has a pretty natural timbre and tonality, and can reproduce vocals like Adel in “My Little Love” and Sertap Erener in the song “Aşk” in a quite accurate and emotional manner. What I also really like about the midrange presentation of the Bonneville is that it shows a decent level of separation and transparency, while listen to a wide variety of instruments including woodwinds, strings or percussions.

 

Treble:

The Campfire Audio Bonneville boasts a crisp and airy treble range, offering a touch of sparkle while maintaining a smooth character. Its dual balanced armatures deliver impressive detail and extension, adding a welcome sense of brightness and openness to the soundstage. The lower treble area is rich and clear, with excellent resolution that shines through on instruments like guitars and vocals. This balance and refinement prevent the sound from becoming dull or harsh.

The upper treble maintains its textured character, delicately balancing air and sparkle. This ensures every element remains distinct, even in complex layers. From electronic songs like Daft Punk’s “Instant Crush” to the percussive onslaught of Megadeth’s “Sweating Bullets,” each instrument shines through without becoming harsh or overly bright.

 

Soundstage & Imaging:

One of the aspects that impressed me the most about the Campfire Audio Bonneville is it’s performance in terms of soundstage and imaging. The Bonneville has a wide and spacious soundstage, with a realistic sense of depth and height. The soundstage extends beyond the earphones, creating a holographic and immersive listening experience. The Bonneville shows a good sense of separation and layering of instruments and vocals, avoiding any congestion or confusion.

 

Comparison:

Campfire Audio Bonneville versus Meze Audio Rai Penta:

The low-end rumble of the Campfire Audio Bonneville is an instant head-turner, diving deep into the sub-bass with authority and slamming with a satisfying thump. Meze Audio RAI Penta counters with a punchy mid-bass, well-controlled and impactful, but it lacks the subterranean rumble of its rival.

Moving to the midrange, both IEMs deliver an excellent sense of clarity and detail, but the Bonneville’s warmer tilt adds a touch of additional richness that vocals and instruments crave. This warmth invites you deeper into the music, while the Penta’s slightly leaner presentation offers pristine articulation that can occasionally feel clinical. In terms of overall fullness and musicality, the Bonneville takes the crown.

The Bonneville’s treble range is crisp and energetic, pushing cymbals and percussion with a touch of sparkle, wihout to sound shouty. The Penta’s treble sounds slighlty smoother, offering a more relaxed presentation that’s easier on the ears. Detail-oriented listeners might prefer the Bonneville’s bite, but for those seeking a laid-back soundscape, the Penta shines.

The Bonneville boasts an expansive soundstage that places instruments with great level of accuracy, creating a sense of immersion that’s pretty impressive. The Penta’s soundstage is slightly narrower, but still manages to deliver a sense of spaciousness that’s commendable. Ultimately, the Bonneville’s superior soundstage width gives it the edge for those who crave a truly holographic listening experience.

 

Conclusion:

The Campfire Audio Bonneville is a superb IEM that delivers exceptional audio performance across the frequency spectrum. Its powerful and impactful bass, clear and smooth midrange, and crisp and airy treble combine to create a truly immersive and enjoyable listening experience. The Bonneville’s wide and spacious soundstage, with its impressive separation and layering of instruments, further enhances its appeal. Whether you’re a fan of electronic music, rock, jazz, or classical, the Bonneville is sure to impress with its versatility and sonic accuracy.

Overall, the Campfire Audio Bonneville is a top-tier IEM that is well worth the investment for discerning audiophiles. Its combination of excellent sound quality, premium build quality, and comfortable fit makes it a truly outstanding choice.

 

Pros & Cons:

• + Superb audio performance across the frequency spectrum
• + Versatile Sound Profile that suitable for a Wide Variety Genres
• + Wide and Spacious Soundstage with Precise Imaging
• + Excellent Built Quality
• + Great fit & Passive Isolation (semi-custom shape)
• + Visual Experience
• + Unique Unboxing Experience (both Deluxe & Essential Edition)

 

• – May not be the best fit for listeners seeking an extremely analytical sound
• – While the cable is of high quality, a modular design would be a welcome addition
• – Represents a significant investment for some listeners

 

Thank you for the Read!