Mysterious Focalprice IEM's = AMAZING! Impressions and comparisons inside - Page 20

I got my ck700. The sound is incredible.... Except... The left driver has significantly more bass than the right, and it is really irritating me .

I hope this isn't a common thing. I plan on probably ordering another pair sometime.. These are insane other than that.

I got my CK-700 a while ago, two versions - white and black. All I can say, definitely the white one is better.

Anyone tested CK-900 how they perform compared to CK-700 ?

Both of my pairs finally died after heavy daily use. They sound great, but they aren't exactly the most durable IEMs I've tried. The plug goes out within weeks, which is easy to fix with a screw-on replacement plug from Radio Shack, but the metal strain relief on the housing eventually kills the wire at that end too.

 

Does anyone know what happened to the black pair? The link is dead and I don't seem to see it on the focalprice website.

I bought both white and black ones some time ago. The black pair seems to be the same as the white one, I mean durability. Driver on black is written to be 10mm. Black sounded worse, but now I put them for some 100 hours of burn in with pink noise, will tell if there is a difference between them.

I actually think the black ones sound great too if you don't mind that the bass bleeds into the rest of the frequencies.

 

I do love how the bass goes extremely deep on the white ones without too much midbass. But they have a slightly colder thinner sound than the black pair. I'm pretty sure that both IEMs use the same driver though.

 

I've found that different insertion depths are key to getting the most out of the two colors. Black sound best to me placed shallowly in my ear, which gives the treble more presence. Put them in too far and they sound like a terrible muffled mess. The opposite goes for the whites - inserting them slightly deeper makes them sound fuller and less cold.

I just went to order the white pair from Focalprice, and after a few days I received a refund with a message saying that they've been discontinued.

What a shame - as far as I was concerned, these were the budget IEM kings.

 

I guess it's a moot point anyway, since I'm going to learn soldering soon to fix all my shorted-out IEMs.

 

I definitely wouldn't call them the budget IEM kings. I prefer the Awei ES800m to a great extent over the CK700. I even preferred the CK820 over the CK700.

Sure, it was a good IEM for the cost, but the best? Not to my ears.

I totally agree with that. The Awei ES800M is way better and am suprised not seeinga lenghtly thead dedicated to them and that more ppl don't use.

I have both CK700, white and black and the Awei ES800M and find that both the CK700 are muddy in the bass. The Awei are the clear winner here, clearer and more balanced sound overall with better quality.

I'm gonna hijack this thread for a moment to say that (in case it is not known) you can apply the code AFFAC10 for a 10% discount on focalprice's IEMs (among other stuff). That leaves the AWEi at $6.65.

Edited by yoKenny - 4/8/13 at 2:05am

I recently ordered AWEI at dx.com for $5.99 

I'm not finding it on DX.com though. Do you have a link?

 

http://dx.com/p/fashion-in-ear-earphone-with-pouch-ear-buds-black-3-5mm-jack-120cm-cable-108684

So I am a little bit disappointed with the sound of black CK-700 compared to white ones I have. They sound even worse than my long time favorites EP-630 :)

May be they need a lot of burn in..? ;)

Anyone ever try these ones?
 

http://dx.com/p/gorsun-gs-c260r-in-ear-earphones-w-mic-volume-control-red-black-3-5mm-plug-130cm-cable-197957

 

or

http://dx.com/p/cogoo-t02-sports-in-ear-stereo-earphone-w-earbuds-black-199775

I agree that the black ones are overly bassy, but the white ones aren't "muddy" at all. I loved how the sub-bass went deep when it was needed but it stayed unobtrusive on non-bassy music. That was a fairly unique signature among the IEMs I've tried.

 

I prefer an IEM with strong bass capabilities, since I enjoy having a "fun" high-impact headphone when I'm out exercising. It's also nice as a change of pace from the semi-bland Sennheiser 555s I use at home. I don't listen to any disposable bass-heavy mainstream music at all - I'm just a huge fan of underground hip hop and experimental electronic stuff that benefits greatly from heavy bass. Besides that, I'm a big fan of DIY punk rock/hardcore that tends to be on the low-fi and thin side, so boosted bass can add a richer sound to the recordings.

 

Now I'm wondering what the bass is like on the Awei ES800M. Sometimes on head-fi, "balanced" seems to be code for "no bass accentuation whatsoever". I'm definitely intrigued by those though.