| Originally Posted by average_joe /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yes, MC tips are similar in size, but much softer silicon and have a larger sound tube. |
| Originally Posted by midoo1990 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ok here are my final ck10 impressions after extensive listening to them and in comparison to the ie8 and fx500: Bass and drums The ck10 has a fast tight bass with excellent texture and decay BUT with a disappointing punch and power.i just don’t feel it.it can go deep but I don’t feel the thunderous impactful bass when the music or a song recquires it.And for anyone who says that the bass is well balanced with the other frequencies,I agree BUT it doesn’t produce the bass as the singer intended,it is simply disappointing and anemic.i am not a bass head although I have the ie8 and fx500 but I thought that the k701 bass was wonderful and it is known to be bass light….well not any more,the ck10 takes the crown here.It have quality but so does fx500 bass which is the best I have ever heard to date in iems or full size cans,it is deep punchy organic and natural and doesn’t bleed into other frequencies like the ie8 bass does. Anotherthing to note and I don’t know if this is with every armature driver iems,but there is no reverbations at all.with the ie8 and fx500 I can here the driver vibrating in my ears when there is a thunderous deep bass in the song,a feeling that gives me a very pleasurable listening experience just like speakers in which you can feel the bass in your guts.with the ck10 it is lifeless I don’t hear this at all and some songs recquire a big amount of bass to enjoy it but the ck10 doesn’t deliver here.There are many songs that disappoint you when you listen to them with the ck10 because of this issue, and one example is “Better than me” by Hinder,just listen to the bass line in the beginning of the song and how the ck10 portrays it.i cant enjoy this song without a deep bass that all my other iems and full size cans deliver in spades even the k701.The ck10 is perfect with heavy bass genres like house and electronic because they have a lot of powerful bass and something like the fx500 can give you a headache in no time.lets move on to Drums.Again disappointing.A two favourite soundtracks to me that have a lot of drums are kung fu panda soundtrack “sacred pool of Tears” and BraveHeart soundtrack.again the quality and tightness are excellent with the ck10 but the quantity is bad….very bad.There is no weight to the drums,no massive punch,no deep feeling no nothing.The ck10 takes life out of me when I listen to drums on them.on the ie8 and fx500 and hd650 and k701 all are dynamic drivers,listening to these soundtracks again and the experience is entirely different.deep punch,superb weight and reverbations,I can feel the hands of the drummer hitting it with passion and power a feeling I missed with the ck10. Mids Lovely on the ck10.i don’t hear any sibilance or thin voices like I experiaance sometimes with the fx500.the ie8 mids are better for me because I like thick and full bodied sound that I can feel in the music,but the ck10 mids are lovely no problem here. Treble The worst of my iems and reminds me of the highly fatiguing metallic treble of the k701.everything sound sharp with the ck10,if you listen to music with a lot of cymbals in it like metal or country,you will beg for forgivness.the ck10 is even more sharper than fx500 which have to say something.The ie8 remains the king in this area with the smoothest most unfatiguing treble that I listened to this date including the hd650 and k701.The fx500 treble is in between the ck10 and ie8 and I can call it “sweet” but on the border ling of being harsh.The ck10 put it as you like but it is for me very harsh and energetic and can cause headaches if you listen to specific genres like metal,hiphop and country.I don’t experience the harsh treble in trance or house or electronic music…luckly because if I experienced the harsh treble with these genres which I specifically bought the ck10 for ,the ck10 would have been in another home right now. Detail and speed One word:superb.the ck10 is the fastest iem I have heard and faster than either the hd650 or my ex-k701.it never misses a beat and never get cramped with complex passages,it is lightning fast.the ie8 and fx500 are significantly slower but they don’t get cramped and confused with heavy passages….just slower.The ck10 is very detailed and quite unforgiving for low bitrate files.The details are very easy to notice and the fx500 comes close in the second place.The ie8 has excellent details but I find it harder to notice than the other two iems because I think that the huge midbass hump overshadows everything else,although the details are there but hiding. Soundstage and airness Phenomenal with the ck10.The soundstage has excellent depth with a lot of air moving between the instruments with great imaging and pinpoint positioning of instruments.The ie8 soundstage is only a bit wider than the ck10 with also excellent depth and airness.the fx500 comes in the last place with less wider soundstage but with great depth and a little bit drier than both the ck10 and ie8. Transparency Very transparent,you just feel with the ck10 that there is nothing in between you and the singer,you must hear it to believe it.The fx500 is also very transparent but not like the ck10 but close enough.The ie8 is the least transparent iem and the best two words to describe it are Dark and Veiled. Handling of strings This area took me a long time to evaluate but I finally got to the conclusion that the ck10 is “Blunt”.they handle strings well but they don’t sound 100% natural to me.With the fx500 or ie8,you can feel the guitarist fingers brushing the guitar’s strings and they sound sharp and edgy just as they should with the fx500 and ie8.Also reverbations are excellent with strings especially with the fx500,it is hard to describe but I feel that I am sitting beside someone playing guitar and feeling the vibration of the strings reaching my ears.With the ck10 there is no such sharpness and the greatest example is “The unforgiven” by Metallice.just listen to the guitar on the left channel in the first 15-20 seconds with the ck10 and fx500 and you can hear what I am talking about. Instrument seperation Excellent,just likethe ie8 but with sharper positioning of instruments and more easy to seperate between them.The fx500 is no slouch in this area too,excellent positioning and seperation,but i will give a nodge to the ie8 and ck10 because of their bigger soundstage. Final thoughts The ck10 is an excellent iem but I don’t feel they deserve all this praising and fuzz on headfi lately nor I think they are a steal at $200-250,I think they should have been priced in this range when they hit the market,$400 is absurd for the ck10 and for any iem,you can get a full size headphone that walks all over any iem for $400.I think that the fx500 is of better value and I also think they should get more praise like the ie8 because they have qualities that differentiate them from any other thing I heard. The ck10 is a solid performing iem that can compete with any other iem out there,but they are not my favourable and they have flaws just like anyother headphone out there.The ie8 remains my preferred iem because of their laid back relaxing sound that I think suits all music genres. I will not sell the ck10 because as I said before they are superb with trance and ambient,but if I have bought them for ANY other genres,I would have sold it. I will not recommend the ck10 for anyone looking for an iem that is good for metal,rock…..but I will whole heartly recommend them for anyone looking for a great iem for heavy music like trance and electronic and care about,speed,airness and atmosphere more than bass. |
| Originally Posted by kobayashi /img/forum/go_quote.gif Great CK10 review detailing their bass-light, harsh-treble nature. Great BA IEM with EQing and/or amping but no so great without them. |
