Nankai loaned me a pair of PK2 earbuds a few weeks ago. In that time I have been commuting with them, and listening to them pretty regularly. I ended up taking them on a long road trip with the family / kids to Disneyland, using my LG cell phone as my ultra-portable MP3 source. So there I was…. Chasing my kids around Tom Sawyer’s island with the PK2 jamming the non-isolating tunes. For the heck of it, I rode Space Mountain with them blasting away some Rockin’ Joe Satriani guitar-centric tunes. Truly a memorable product evaluation. You guys want to make roller coaters really fun… bring your cans along with some Van Halen, Aerosmith or Dick Dale
Several times throughout the days they would fall out or become dislodged and yanked by the cord. I can certainly say this about the PK2, THEY ARE DURABLE. They certainly pass the Disneyland thrash test.
Physically they are very comfortable. I wore them to sleep several times and I found that I could lie ON them at night without hurting my ears. Normally I don’t like earbuds, because they always fall out. I never had this problem with the PK2. It comes with 2 pairs of foam earpad cushions that are grippy-type foam and keep the PK2 planted. One pair of foams are the standard earbud sleeve type, while the second pair is identical except it has a hole cut out of the middle to increase mids and treble. Using the foams also creates a tight seal to the ear, to further increase bass response. I couldn’t use them without the foam ear pads though because they would fall out too easily. For the record, I used the non-hole cutout ear pads for all my sonic evaluations. They were more comfortable and seemed to enhance the bass response further. So, in that regard pad swaps can be done to increase or decrease bass response.
The cable is a “J” type, with the shorter end being on the left side. As you browse through the pictures you’ll notice the absence of “L” and “R”. The TRS connector is a small straight plug, and a gold ¼” adapter is included.
They come with a nice wood / foam padded box as well as a little cylindrical carry-case. Nice touches overall.
Sonic Impressions:
I demo’d the PK2 with a variety of sources and amps. My fore-mentioned LG cell phone was my main ultra-portable source while chasing my kids all over the magic kingdom, followed by my D335 PCDP+GoVibe2 as a trans-portable CD source, and my main home setup which has a Panasonic DVD/CD deck, Entech DAC and a Millet Hybrid.
Bass is smooth and detailed, tight and never flabby or un-controlled. For the record, these aren’t bass-monsters. So if you’re a member of the
crowd and accustomed to a certain level of bass-bloat, these may leave you wanting more. Periodically, I found myself using the bass-boost function on my D335 with excellent results. So, I can say the PK2 handles EQ tweeks with ease, never flabbing out or showing signs of distress. Usually however I left the bass boost EQ off.
Amping with an OPA2107 loaded pimeta or my Millet also helps to further color the sound. So, while I wouldn’t go so far as to say the PK2 is amp-finicky, or really needs outboard amplification, it IMHO benefits from a warm amp circuit. (those of you who are familiar with my rantings, know that I use amps more to color the sound than amplify it) If memory serves me right about the MDR-e888... PK2 also seems to be warmer, with more bass kick than the sony earbud.
That being said, the PK2 does not skimp on warmth adding its own kind of grooviness. They possess a little coloration and flair around ~315Hz. Not quite an echo, but a little resonance. It adds warmth to snare/tom-tom drum tones and deeper male vocals. A very unique kind of signature, it’s not severe enough for me to consider it a flaw… more like a “signature coloration”.
Midrange clarity is its strength. Dianna Krall vocals and Jay Beckenstein Jazz Carinet (Spyro Gyra) sounded smooth, detailed and articulate. Mids are forward and aggressive enough to fill center stage, yet not harsh and fatigue-ing. Stevie Ray Vaughan guitarwork is executed clean, sharp, and snappy. Stevie’s delicate touch as well as his chunky/heavy, string-spanking dynamics are accurate and convincing. Switching to the hole modded pads opened up another layer of detail and resolution.... very nice.
The midrange / treble transition is another strong point. Treble extends cleanly, with a gentile roll-off above 12kHz. There is a smooth uniform sound to the upper mids and treble. I never got the impression “HERE is where the treble ends, or HERE is where the midrange begins”, just a smooth range of frequencies and clean replication throughout. Never did I detect harshness or fatigue from the PK2 mids/highs.
As an earbud, they are much more open sounding than an IEM, yet the forward nature of PK2 mids fills center stage nicely. If you find IEMs too closed in sounding and too “head-filling”, the PK2 might be your ticket. Changing earpad foams to the open-doughnuts creates a stronger center image compared to the solid earpads.
So there you have it, and here are the pics.
Nice foam padded box...
Aaw.. how cute! Little bowls and little TTVJ flats
Anyone care to translate?
**The reviewer did not receive payment or compensation for writing this review**
Several times throughout the days they would fall out or become dislodged and yanked by the cord. I can certainly say this about the PK2, THEY ARE DURABLE. They certainly pass the Disneyland thrash test.
Physically they are very comfortable. I wore them to sleep several times and I found that I could lie ON them at night without hurting my ears. Normally I don’t like earbuds, because they always fall out. I never had this problem with the PK2. It comes with 2 pairs of foam earpad cushions that are grippy-type foam and keep the PK2 planted. One pair of foams are the standard earbud sleeve type, while the second pair is identical except it has a hole cut out of the middle to increase mids and treble. Using the foams also creates a tight seal to the ear, to further increase bass response. I couldn’t use them without the foam ear pads though because they would fall out too easily. For the record, I used the non-hole cutout ear pads for all my sonic evaluations. They were more comfortable and seemed to enhance the bass response further. So, in that regard pad swaps can be done to increase or decrease bass response.
The cable is a “J” type, with the shorter end being on the left side. As you browse through the pictures you’ll notice the absence of “L” and “R”. The TRS connector is a small straight plug, and a gold ¼” adapter is included.
They come with a nice wood / foam padded box as well as a little cylindrical carry-case. Nice touches overall.
Sonic Impressions:
I demo’d the PK2 with a variety of sources and amps. My fore-mentioned LG cell phone was my main ultra-portable source while chasing my kids all over the magic kingdom, followed by my D335 PCDP+GoVibe2 as a trans-portable CD source, and my main home setup which has a Panasonic DVD/CD deck, Entech DAC and a Millet Hybrid.
Bass is smooth and detailed, tight and never flabby or un-controlled. For the record, these aren’t bass-monsters. So if you’re a member of the
crowd and accustomed to a certain level of bass-bloat, these may leave you wanting more. Periodically, I found myself using the bass-boost function on my D335 with excellent results. So, I can say the PK2 handles EQ tweeks with ease, never flabbing out or showing signs of distress. Usually however I left the bass boost EQ off.Amping with an OPA2107 loaded pimeta or my Millet also helps to further color the sound. So, while I wouldn’t go so far as to say the PK2 is amp-finicky, or really needs outboard amplification, it IMHO benefits from a warm amp circuit. (those of you who are familiar with my rantings, know that I use amps more to color the sound than amplify it) If memory serves me right about the MDR-e888... PK2 also seems to be warmer, with more bass kick than the sony earbud.
That being said, the PK2 does not skimp on warmth adding its own kind of grooviness. They possess a little coloration and flair around ~315Hz. Not quite an echo, but a little resonance. It adds warmth to snare/tom-tom drum tones and deeper male vocals. A very unique kind of signature, it’s not severe enough for me to consider it a flaw… more like a “signature coloration”.
Midrange clarity is its strength. Dianna Krall vocals and Jay Beckenstein Jazz Carinet (Spyro Gyra) sounded smooth, detailed and articulate. Mids are forward and aggressive enough to fill center stage, yet not harsh and fatigue-ing. Stevie Ray Vaughan guitarwork is executed clean, sharp, and snappy. Stevie’s delicate touch as well as his chunky/heavy, string-spanking dynamics are accurate and convincing. Switching to the hole modded pads opened up another layer of detail and resolution.... very nice.
The midrange / treble transition is another strong point. Treble extends cleanly, with a gentile roll-off above 12kHz. There is a smooth uniform sound to the upper mids and treble. I never got the impression “HERE is where the treble ends, or HERE is where the midrange begins”, just a smooth range of frequencies and clean replication throughout. Never did I detect harshness or fatigue from the PK2 mids/highs.
As an earbud, they are much more open sounding than an IEM, yet the forward nature of PK2 mids fills center stage nicely. If you find IEMs too closed in sounding and too “head-filling”, the PK2 might be your ticket. Changing earpad foams to the open-doughnuts creates a stronger center image compared to the solid earpads.
So there you have it, and here are the pics.
Nice foam padded box...
Aaw.. how cute! Little bowls and little TTVJ flats
Anyone care to translate?
**The reviewer did not receive payment or compensation for writing this review**
