Audio Technica CKS-70 vs. Fischer Eterna: Who wins for bass and overall SQ?

I actually do not think you will get decent mids and trebles out of the CKS70 unless you EQ. Meanwhile, ClieOS has rated the eternas very highly - I would trust his opinion on it.

That said, you might even consider the Turbine Pros..

I would avoid the eterna at all cost. Total uncontrollable bloated bass that leaves a bitter taste. Yucks!!!

The CKS70s are a good choice for a non-fatiguing sound. They have decent bass both in quantity and in quality, and they clean up with break in. They have a slight hump in the mid-bass (think IE8 sound sig and you've got the idea; they are pretty close). Treble and mids improve a lot with break in, and it's actually alright once you get used to it (that said, it still might not be enough for some). I listen to hip-hop mostly, and for me it's fine, though it could do with a tad more. EQ will help if you can. The soundstage is large; even with the music I listen to, which mostly has rather narrow synth sounds, I can tell the difference.

Better than the Turbines? I can't comment, however: http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f103/b...-cks70-434841/

do you have the eterna?

I have owned the turbines and currently own the CKS70. The CJS70 is better in all respects over the Turbines except for treble for me. They have better bass, nice midrange and a soundstage and warmth to them that is very good. The treble is their achilles heel and even with that weakness they were more engaging than the Turbines for me. In fact I sold my turbines about 2 weeks after I got the CKS70 as I just couldn't go back to them (I paid $170 for the MTB btw and they were my first dip into higher end IEM's so I was relcuctant to let them go).

I ended up wanting the whole works and consequently have a pair of IE8 on the way. But at a fraction of the cost of the IE8 they are an excelent IEM. But do burn them in as they significantly improve in the first 10hrs of burnin and then continue to improve until about 100hrs (the MTB were like that too in my opinion).

Sorry I can not comment on the Eterna as I have not heard them.

I've had the Atrio and have the Eterna. Since the Turbine is said to be an Atrio with better mids and highs with not quite all the bass, I'd say that the Eterna has more bass than many IEMs, and better highs and mids than the Atrio. I'm not sure how much better the Turbine is over the Atrio exactly, so that's all I can say.
The Eterna responds greatly to your source, so if you have a warm source, you may get a bit of bloat. I haven't experienced that personally. I would not say the Eterna's bass is uncontrolled (or uncontrollable), there is just a lot of it.
It's been said many times that the Eterna is an IEM meant for enjoying your music. It is not meant for perfect sound quality, it is meant to be coloured. If you're looking for detail and accuracy, stay with what you know will please you (RE0 etc). If you want a fun, bassy IEM that will really make you tap your toes, the Eterna is a good choice. I found it to have better positioning and soundstage than the Atrio. The Eterna is more detailed than the Atrio as well. The Eterna would certainly deliver that thumping bass you want, with a bit of a mid-bass hump. The Eterna and CKS70 sound somewhat similar in description.
If it matters, build quality is something to think of as well.
What is it exactly that you find your Turbines lacking?

Yeap, I had it but found it wasn't what I like at all. The eterna is source dependent but as a iphone user, i already found it too muddy and colored. The bass was too overwhelming that it gave me headaches. To my ears, it has too much bass extension/decay(not sure if its the correct term). Sold it off immediately after I managed to grab a set of triplefi from the amazon deal.

I prefer the um3x or triplefi kind of bass. Tight, punchy and controlled. U know what i mean.

I was thinking about creating a similar thread titled something like "Battle of the poor men's IE8 : CKS70 vs Eterna vs xxx???". It would seem pointless to do it now that this one is alive, so without hijacking it i would like to add a few questions that are, i think, still relevant to this thread :

-Has anybody compared IE8 and eterna and do they share a similar sound sig as i suspect they do? (good soundstage, bassy and warm with midbass hump, nice colored musical not recessed mids and smooth treble)

-Is the midbass hump on the eterna really that strong (much worse than IE8??) that it makes it muddy? (some say it is, but the same kind of reproach has been made to IE8) Is there such a midbass hump on the CKS70? How does the bass as a whole compare on eterna vs cks70 (vs IE8)

-Are the mids recessed on the CKS70 (i suspect they are) and on the Eterna (i think not as much if at all) compared to the mids on the IE8? How to they compare qualitatively?

-Treble : said to be rolled off and recessed on CKS70, how are them on the eterna vs IE8 (in terms of extension, smoothness, energy, detail)?

Unfortunately I have read many reviews of all 3 of those IEMs but i dont think have read of anybody that owns them 3... dweaver, you now own cks70, soon will receive IE8 and also had the monster turbines. You know what is left for you to do for the community.... You will be a headfi hero for having helped resolve this essential question (best poor man's IE8) and if you find the eterna redundant in your collection, you can sell them to me for cheap...

If you are a basshead and like dark sound, eterna is for you. Otherwise, stay clear from it.

LOL as I reading the thread I was thinking I should weigh in with my thoughts after I get the IE8 and then I saw your post daouda and you said it out loud . Yes I will post my thoughst after I get the IE8. BTW Average_Joe owns many bass heavy phones including IE8, CKS70, Mingo W2, Cyclone PR2, etc and has posted his thought on them, so searching for posts by him might be helpfull to anyone in this thread. Also look at the CKS70 appreciation thread I started. It has alot more information than just hyping the CKS70 and might prove to be a valuable read.

It would be great if we had one thread that did the poor mans IEM for each sound signature. Sort of an, if you would love the IE8 but can't afford it here are the best choices, if you would love the Westone UM3X but can't afford it here are your best choices etc. The problem would be getting a good concensus on the contenders.

LOL just reread your post daouda, I will think about whether I can justify buying another IEM just to satsify the mob . But never say never...

I have sent a PM to average_joe asking him to give his input on the best poor man IE8. So hopefully he will weigh in here and help the thread out a bit.

The one thing I was absolutely stunned by with the CKS70 was the bass detail. Once the bass settled down it was like the detail I was used to seeing in the midrange or treble of most IEM's. I am hoping that the IE8 will be the same or better but more imprtantly will still have the detail in the mids and highs.

BTW I also do not mind the mids on the CKS70 they are slightly recessed but not alot (for example I find them to be less recessed than the mids of my TF10). I also like the mids of the CKS70 because they have some warmth to them but they are not dark (they actually start out dark but become lighter until about 100hrs of use).

Their only real achilles heel is treble which is recessed and lacks the detail of other similarly priced headphones. The one good thing about the lack of treble is if you have issues with ear fatigue caused by treble these phones will NEVER bother you. I have listened to them for hours and had zero fatigue issues aftewards unlike other headphones I own or have owned.

One final note, I listen to most of my music at lower volumes mostly, only cranking up the occassional song or two when I want to really rock out. The CKS70 are great in this capacity because they have present bass at lower volumes. I do have to say though that the bass needs to be EQ'd down if you want to crank them up alot as the bass truly does become too much at higher volumes.