[mugen3]

Glad to see more people getting and enjoying their CKN70s. Jigga you're selling your pair already? The XBA-40s must be a lot better than I imagined then. The difference between my CKN70s and XBA-30s is not like "night and day" I suppose, though I must admit that the XBA-30s are better and still #1 on my list. The CKN70s are getting fuller and smoother with burn in, but every time I compare them to the XBA-30s, the extra clarity and refinement is readily apparent. The XBA-30s are just that damn good.

 

[vlenbo]

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Definitely be careful with placement. Everyone's ears are different with depth, etc. Discomfort and/or pain is a sign that you need to change something. You can also end up pushing wax deeper which can cause blockage and discomfort.
Adjust to what you think feels/sounds right.

 
 
Quote:

 
I'm using the large Brainwavz R1 tips, which are almost identical to the stock large, but they're a lot easier to put on and take off while tip rolling.  I gently insert the IEMs to where they naturally want to stop (which is about where the top of the ring barely touches my ear) and don't force them any farther.
 
BUT WAIT!  I just put on the R1 double flanges, which to my ears have made every other IEM I've tried sound like crap.  But here they seem to be curing all the problems I had with bass and treble!  They add a slight bit of shrillness in the extreme upper mids, but nothing that really bothers me much.  Pretty much everything else sounds smoother.  No more icepick highs.  Now they sound to me like an incredibly precise set of MH1C with extra treble and maybe a bit more midbass.  Not quite as high-end as before, but this sounds *FUN*.

Thanks fellas, I did understand that the pain is a bad sign, but I disregarded it since I needed a seal. I changed tips and found out that my ears do no tmind a deep insertion, though I do not know if a shallow insertion can provide a different SQ for the ckn70s. Thanks for the tips. At the moment the sound is slightly better.
 
 
QUICK IMPRESSIONS
 
The mids were pretty tantalizing at first, sounded as though the ckn70s had futuristic mids impelemented on teh ckn70s, but with slightly silibant highs. The bass end is great and definately articulate, but I expected the ckn70s to act similar to the fxz100s. While the basds levels are similar, the power is definately not simlar. IT is a bit weaker in slam than the fxz100s, so if movies have strong explosions, the bass end won't be prevalent in the ckn70s as the fxz100s are. The mids, while sounding crisp and sharp, are sometimes overbearing for me as it does not contain the same smooth details as the fxz100s. The highs are sometimes unbearable, but with a different set of tips, the bass and mids get improved, though the highs are still the same. *Used meleec tips*

 

[kahaluu]

Try some sony hybrid tips. They work really well with the 70's.

 

[JiggaD369]

Quote:

Glad to see more people getting and enjoying their CKN70s. Jigga you're selling your pair already? The XBA-40s must be a lot better than I imagined then. The difference between my CKN70s and XBA-30s is not like "night and day" I suppose, though I must admit that the XBA-30s are better and still #1 on my list. The CKN70s are getting fuller and smoother with burn in, but every time I compare them to the XBA-30s, the extra clarity and refinement is readily apparent. The XBA-30s are just that damn good.

XBA-40's are jsut my type of sound. Maybe the 70's might get better with time but I just need one pair of phones. I'd rather spend that money on a source upgrade.

 

[Disconnekt]

Man, CKN70 + R1 double flange + Noisia: "Tryhard" = SLAM.  This is not even fair to the MH1C.  The MH1C still wins on overall smoothness and unoffensiveness, but that's the only edge it has any more.  Good for background music if I need to concentrate on something else, but it's downright boring compared to this setup.  On the other hand, if I do need to get work done, the CKN70 is distractingly awesome, so I have to put it away.

 

[mugen3]

Quote:

XBA-40's are jsut my type of sound. Maybe the 70's might get better with time but I just need one pair of phones. I'd rather spend that money on a source upgrade.

 
Ah cool, fair enough. Your 70s should sell easily, if HFers are staying on top of things. I'm looking for a new source as well, done with my IEM hunt too.
 
 
Nice impressions so far Disc. I consider the XBA-30s to be a super MH1C, and I agree, the extra treble and midbass are really the most striking differences between them and the CKN70s.
 
vlenbo, try out all the tips you have with the CKN70s. Sony Hybrids work very well in providing a good fit and sound. I think you can still get a better seal, as my ears are pretty sensitive but I don't find these sibilant or overbearing.

 

[Gee Simpson]

@mugen3 - Would you say the XBA 30's are worth double the price over the CKN70's?

 

[oneoseven]

CKN70's came in today.. Have the XBA-30 coming in Friday.. On first listen the ckn70 is crazy good.. I love ATH's new sound.. It's so much more refined.. And the space on these things is special.. I was just hoping they would be a slight upgrade to the fxd80 but this has more bass and better mids.. I preferred the highs on the fxd80 but I had those burned in for easily 300 hours and these have 20 minutes on them.. If the highs calm down a little bit for under 100 dollars this is a must have

 

[mugen3]

Quote:

@mugen3 - Would you say the XBA 30's are worth double the price over the CKN70's?

 
Yes, definitely. There are diminishing returns since both are such high quality, but they're fairly inexpensive anyway so it doesn't matter as much. The extra $70 for the Sonys gets you a more refined sound and a superior build with a much better cable.

 

[heatofamatch]

Quote:

CKN70's came in today.. Have the XBA-30 coming in Friday.. On first listen the ckn70 is crazy good.. I love ATH's new sound.. It's so much more refined.. And the space on these things is special.. I was just hoping they would be a slight upgrade to the fxd80 but this has more bass and better mids.. I preferred the highs on the fxd80 but I had those burned in for easily 300 hours and these have 20 minutes on them.. If the highs calm down a little bit for under 100 dollars this is a must have

 
Thanks for the comment! I've been curious about this FXD versus CKN thing. For me the CKNs have better availability and lower price. The FXD 60/80 are only available officially in their FRD versions (i.e. iphone remote) which means jacked up prices. The FX40 is $35... our local JVC availability is on the meh side.
 
I've come to really appreciate what Sony brings to the electronics world, but I'm not a fan of the XBA series. This is strictly my opinion: Sony still doesn't know how to tune BA to make them crazy seductive -- to the extent that they do on every dynamic IEM, or the way any Ety & UE is attractive to listen to. I auditioned the XBA-30 extensively last month, and while I liked everything else I just couldn't understand the mids on that particular demo unit, then once hooked up to my portable amp it's like a veil descended over the mids. I auditioned the XB90EX after that and I felt like "UGH someone's still got their head screwed on the right way after all!" and it was not because of the XB90's bass rumble. Okay I know I'm rambling... 

 

[Gee Simpson]

Quote:

 
Thanks for the comment! I've been curious about this FXD versus CKN thing. For me the CKNs have better availability and lower price. The FXD 60/80 are only available officially in their FRD versions (i.e. iphone remote) which means jacked up prices. The FX40 is $35... our local JVC availability is on the meh side.
 
I've come to really appreciate what Sony brings to the electronics world, but I'm not a fan of the XBA series. This is strictly my opinion: Sony still doesn't know how to tune BA to make them crazy seductive -- to the extent that they do on every dynamic IEM, or the way any Ety & UE is attractive to listen to. I auditioned the XBA-30 extensively last month, and while I liked everything else I just couldn't understand the mids on that particular demo unit, then once hooked up to my portable amp it's like a veil descended over the mids. I auditioned the XB90EX after that and I felt like "UGH someone's still got their head screwed on the right way after all!" and it was not because of the XB90's bass rumble. Okay I know I'm rambling... 

So you preferred the XB90EX over the XBA 30?

 

[heatofamatch]

Yes I left that Sony store thinking the XB90 makes more sense as a product than both the XBA-30 and -40.
 
I realize that strictly quality-wise the XBAs probably win, but they're onto 2nd-generation now and they still sound weird to my ears, as though they're strangely held back or incomplete.

 

[Ghostfit]

Quote:

Yes I left that Sony store thinking the XB90 makes more sense as a product than both the XBA-30 and -40.
 
I realize that strictly quality-wise the XBAs probably win, but they're onto 2nd-generation now and they still sound weird to my ears, as though they're strangely held back or incomplete.

 
Yup, funny thing is that it happened to me too.
 
...went into shop, auditioned the 30 and 40 but finally left the shop with a XB90EX    ...how strange is that ?

 

[sfwalcer]

Quote:

 
Yup, funny thing is that it happened to me too.
 
...went into shop, auditioned the 30 and 40 but finally left the shop with a XB90EX    ...how strange is that ?

You're one strange creature indeed, ghost. So any updates on those godly CKN 70s of yours. I need some more hype, i mean impressions since jigga has been killing the buzz a bit with his spazzing for his lovely XBA-40s over the CKN 70s.

 

[7S Cameron]

Quote:

You're one strange creature indeed, ghost. So any updates on those godly CKN 70s of yours. I need some more hype, i mean impressions since jigga has been killing the buzz a bit with his spazzing for his lovely XBA-40s over the CKN 70s.

Buy them! How's that for hype?