First (TDK ECMA600 - magnetic armature)>>Okay. Hmmm? First thing is that these little buggers have bass! May have more bass than the IE800 and the BA200 in quantity (the jury is still out on quality). It's a bass and mids-forward IEM, yet with treble extension too. The IE800's and BA200's basses are more refined (actually those two earphones have a more refined sound, period, at this point). The earphones are very sturdy though with the rubber stablizer connect to it. There is a definite power to the sound. With that stated, these need some serious burn in before any conclusive thoughts can be made. Electrical guitars sound amazing in these. At the moment, I have to say the IE800 and BA200 are miles ahead, but there seems to be potential and platform to build upon in getting better.
Second (ATH-CKN50) - I'm actually more impressed with the CKN50 on first listen than I am with the MA600. Nice bass, mids and treble (although the treble is bordering on being too much for me - not over the cliff yet, but close). Nice full sound with gorgeous mids. I agree with DannyB that these have more to do with the FXD80 than FXD70, but don't get me wrong, this is definitely the AT house sound (which in my opinion tends not to be as warm as JVC). Nice spacing between instrumentation. I can't wait to hear what burn in does for these. Now, with that stated, I think AT put its money into the sound and not the cord and some other things. The cord feels very stiff and flimsy to me, although the housings are very solid. TDK wins on build quality, but AT wins on sound quality (out of the box). Both show there is plenty room to grow.
Edited by ericp10 - 1/18/13 at 2:49pm