Any impressions of the Audio-Technica CKM99? (AT's new flagship dynamic driver IEM)

They didn't come out too long ago, so there shouldn't be too many people with them outside of Japan. The CKM77 looks promising as well, and if they follow the sound signature of the CKM55 with added resolution, texture, and better neutrality, they should be pretty nice.

I happened across the CKM77 yesterday and while they were nice, they didn't absolutely wow me. It definitely felt like a product that was de-tuned for price point, from the build to the sound. It was handsome and light, with real aluminum parts, but the mix with the ballistic plastic felt a little off. By comparison, the CKM99 should have more use of titanium. The bass is very nice and measured with good enough impact. but in typical Audio-Technica fashion the treble was a little too shrill for my tastes. Definitely better in terms of SQ compared to the CKS90 though. By comparison, the CKS90 sounds recessed, although it does have that massive bass in line with the Solid Bass series. Oh, and the isolation isn't too good. IEMs of this type of design tend not to have to best isolation, but I suspect that it's actually vented from the looks of the casing.

It's hard to describe, since they weren't really like any of the IEMs I've owned or auditioned at length. They're very bright, just like the Audio Technica house sound. I wish I'd heard the CK10 before to be able to give a comparison. Overall, I'd say that the character is balanced, but I don't feel a lot of weight to the sound, even with the well-textured bass. I don't really want to give too definitive impressions on the midrange and treble, because the pair I tried didn't feel very broken in, and thus everything seemed a tad bid grainy on the high end. Resolution was decent, but I wouldn't say they were top tier. The mids were actually not all that forward, although they weren't recessed in any way.

Like most Audio-Technica products (discounting their flagships), the CKM77 fits within the designated price bracket, but doesn't really rise to the absolute top. Take that with a grain of salt, however, since I tend to find their headphones fatiguing because of the colored treble, and you may like it better. Also, the jump to the CKM99 may be quite large, since it is nearly twice the price, so the CKM77 may not be the best indicator. It's not like the CKS70/90, where the price bump is only incremental, and expectedly the bump in SQ was also only minor.

I hope you'll be able to find a CKM99 to listen to; I'd be very curious myself. :-)

The L/R channels show channel imbalance, if any. No driver is perfectly mated to its other half, but they can be very close. Caution about graphs: every manufacturer has different ways of measuring their own earphone responses. Look at ETY's graphs for the ER4P, they are different to that of the graphs posted above. Slight movements of the earphones in the acoustic coupler, or the acoustic head will yield pretty significant differences. So too will mics and mic amps. 

Graphs are good only for reference by the same equipment, and even then, should really be taken as an overall general impression rather than a proper telling example. 

Can anyone compare this to the ck10 yet?

Lol!! The CKM77s aren't your ordinary earphones guys. They blew my mind on the first try. I almost just want to try a CKM99 now.