One of the most elite audiophile earbuds makers has a smart new USB-C Hi-Res pair for a much more realistic price

• Campfire Audio Axion wired earbuds with USB-C just unveiled
• New silicon dynamic driver and a built-in 32bit/384 kHz DAC
• Available for £249 / $249 / about AU$413

Campfire Audio make exquisite earphones that can rank among the best wired earbuds, but they're priced beyond many people's budgets: for example, their Clara earphones are fantastic but launched with a price tag of $1,999 / £1,999 (around AU$3,900). So we're intrigued by the new Campfire Audio Axion earphones, which have an official price of just £249 / $249 / about AU$413.

The price may be a fraction of what you'd pay for Campfire's best headphones. But the specification is impressive, with a high-quality DAC and a newly designed driver.

Campfire Audio Axion: key features

The new Axion earphones have an integrated USB-C cable featuring a built-in 32-bit/384kHz DAC chip, an in-line microphone and a three-button control panel. That's likely to be a big upgrade to the DAC in your phone… and being USB-C means you can actually connect them to your phone.

The star here is the new full-range silicon driver, which Campfire Audio says "blends a unique, compact form factor like that of a balanced armature alongside the rich sonic properties of a dynamic driver."

Sound-wise the Axion earbuds promise "just the right amount" of warmth, smooth highs and "impactful" lows.

You'll be able to get your hands on a pair from Amazon and other well-known retailers from later in April 2025, and given the company's history, we're very interested in these.

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