[Review] Impressions of the Sony EX1000 versus the FX700, GR10 and e-Q5 - Page 8

Hey James,

Read your review, along with a few you linked, and was rather interested in these, until I read Mike's review stating he felt it somewhat similar to the CK100.  Then I though, "Uh oh" as I absolutely love the CK10's, but did not care much for the CK100's. 

Have you by chance had the CK100's?  And, if so, how would you compare them with the new flagship Sony's?

Thanks.

BTW, thanks for a great review.

I'd have to agree about the CK100. I did not like the CK100 as much as the CK10 and I would have to agree about the timbre..it was a bit off there

Thanks, James.

So the Sony's are not like the CK100's.  Good to know.

BTW, was it one of you two who made the comment along the lines of "The engineer who designed the CK100's needs to be shot" or something like that?  I know that's not quite the correct quote, as this one sounds rather mean, but I recall reading the original way back when and actually laughing out loud.  I pretty much felt the same way when I heard the CK100's.

Thanks again.

From those few who have heard both CK10 & CK100, there seem to be more who favour the latter. I certainly preferred the CK100, too, and at one point wasn't sure whether to keep that or my (until recently) all-time favourite universal, the UM3X. In the end I decided to keep the Westones. When I bought my CK10s they were sold the very next day, that's how unimpressed I was. I found the CK100 not only better than the CK10, but quite significantly so.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dfkt 

I got James' pair as a loaner, but I hate him very much already, since I sure have to get my own pair after what I heard so far. :D

 

(I didn't have that reaction with the FX700, since they just wouldn't fit my need for basic isolation, and their "fun" frequency response might be not up to par to the honest, linear one of the EX1000 in the long run.)

 

Also, after hearing these, the Z1000 cn11 mentioned (and loved) just became even more crave-worthy as well. I'd die to hear the "full-sized version" of the EX.

Sorry, only now just saw this... 

I actually like the EX1000s much better from how I recall the Z1000s. Believe it or not, the EX1000 shows a bigger stage. At least for an IEM, somehow it's more impressive than the smaller space the Z could only muster. Before I picked up the Pro 900s, I liked them a lot, and thought they reminded me of the SM3. But once I heard my new Ultrasone can, I heard how narrow their stage really is/was. I'm not saying to not get them, but I do like the earphone flagship quite a bit better than the headphone version. I think you should demo a pair of the headphones somehow before purchasing..... 

Have you tried the EX1000s with the Arrow yet? You must... I hear a big ol' jump in soundstage and 3D space. For the lack of scaling up that the SM3s show with the Arrow, these are totally the opposite. Holy crap.

Quote:

Originally Posted by james444 

 

No way, I would never say something as mean as this! Are you sure the word wasn't strangled or something like that?

But seriously, I don't remember hating the CK100 that much, their highs were actually among the very best I've heard...

 

I believe the CK100 actually got more ear time with me than the CK10. But I still couldn't warm up to their sound signature in the long run.

It very well may have been "strangled".  I just remember it being funny in a good-natured way.  That's why I know it wasn't "shot". 

Quote:

Originally Posted by music_4321 

From those few who have heard both CK10 & CK100, there seem to be more who favour the latter. I certainly preferred the CK100, too, and at one point wasn't sure whether to keep that or my (until recently) all-time favourite universal, the UM3X. In the end I decided to keep the Westones. When I bought my CK10s they were sold the very next day, that's how unimpressed I was. I found the CK100 not only better than the CK10, but quite significantly so.

The 10's and the 100's are, to me, at least, totally different creatures.  I found the 100's too mid-centric for my liking.  That's why I questioned whether the Sony flagship sounded similar to the 100's.

From what I've gathered so far, only one person even made that comparison so for me, that's a good thing.  I'm certainly looking forward to reading more about the Sony.

Cheers.
 

I want to share a bit on wind noise as well. Personally, I haven't noticed any wind noise even outdoors. No strong winds in Leeds so far this week but the occasional breeze didn't seem to have any effect. Isolation isn't very good though. Today I had to turn the volume quite high up to drown ambient noise, louder than I ever do with the HJE900 or IE8 but then again maybe I didn't get a good fit this time.

I had a closer look at the instructions (go figure), and noticed their diagrams for installing the tips... and what I gathered was that Sony wants the user to push the Hybrid tips on quite far. I have a feeling that, like me, most users are only pushing the tips down to the second lip, and letting the base of the core stay right there. I think from their illustrations they want you to push it on farther, twisting as you go, so that the colored core slides over past that second lip. 

I tried this, and I get a more secure fit. They stay put better in my ears, and offer a little more isolation since the earphone body is closer to the opening of my ear. Sonically I don't think it makes any real difference (I did a lot of back and forth with the tips on the original position, and then pushed down farther on). Note the photo diagram for better explanation. I'd welcome any other owners to try it and post whether it helps with fit/isolation/sound at all. 

Oh, and I'm noticing the EX1000 & Japan lettering is starting to wear off (probably from all of my fiddling with them). Not too happy about that. 

Nice post cn11, I tried doing this on the medium tips but the end of tip was uncomfortably close to the filter to the point where I can easily touch it with my fingers. I see you're using the large tips in the photo so that may be the reason why we got different results. as for the letters wearing out, mine was already worn out a bit when I got my used pair and I don't see it stopping anytime soon. Best thing to do is probably let it wear out completely so it doesn't look that bad.

They sound even better than their looks..... provided you get the fit thing down...

cn11, regarding your post about pushing the tips in further.

Does anyone remember how the EX1000s came out of the box? I'm pretty sure factory installed they were only pushed to the second lip.