For the past 45 minutes or so, I've been queuing up various songs of various genres and listening to them twice - once with the M5s and once with C700s. My source is my 5.5g iMod mated to the Corda Move. On the M5s I put on a fresh set of large Shure black olives to ensure optimum seal and on the 700s I have medium black silicone sleeves. I wear all my IEMs and canalphones with the cord routed over the top and behind my ears.
One other thing - I haven't kept up with this thread so I really don't know what people have been saying about the Denons. I bought the Denon's C350 as soon as they came out. They were decent. A bit better than real Senn CX300s but not by a lot. I've always been curious about the C700s and saw Honus' pair on the FS board so I snatched them up for a listen.
I find the C700s to be a very musical and enjoyable canalphone. It has a warm sound sig due to its mid-presence. Nice soundstage and - surprisingly - quite a bit of isolation (for a canalphone). I found that there was nothing to get used to with the Denons, meaning - they sounded pretty damn good without having to let my ears adjust to their signature.
As for comparing the Atrio to the Denon:
Bass - just about identical. I don't consider myself a basshead but I do prefer an elevated but clear bass presence. Both of these have exactly that. There is a subtle added depth with the Denons and I'm thinking it might be due to the ported design.
Mids - biggest difference between the two. The Denons have quite the presence of mids. Not over-powering mind you but it definitely gives a perceived warmth to the music. Jump to the M5s and you could easily tag them as "recessed mids". I've never really considered this to be with the Atrios and felt they were more balanced than anything. I can easily see most people preferring the sound of the Denons due to their mid-presence.
Highs - identical. Both have slightly rolled off highs but what is there is nicely detailed and non-sibilant inducing. I've read a couple of posts about sibilance with the M5s. Personally, I have not experienced this but I don't listen to much sibilant inducing music. I am very sensitive to treble so naturally most of the music I listen to have more bass, mids and low high presentation. I find Jack Johnson's voice can sometimes induce sibilance but I heard none with both 'phones.
Soundstage - Denons offer more. Not a huge difference mind you but with some of the songs I listened to, the 700s definitely offered more expanse and breadth in sound.
As far as canalphones go, I've owned CX300, Vibes, C350K and JBL 220. The C700Ks are definitely the best canalphones I've heard. I consider them definitely on par with the M5s.
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