[Disconnekt]

Quote:

Anyone give me a link to where I can order some MH1C tips to the UK?

EDIT: Woop! Got home from uni and my CKN70s are here! Not too sure about fit though; Are those rubber rings meant to go IN your ear or what?

That's how it goes.
 
Well, not sure whether it was burn-in, brain burn-in, or tip rolling, but using the medium R1 tips with a 1.5 octave midbass cut (-4.5 dB) and a few small cuts around 5 kHz, 6.5 kHz, and 7 kHz to take the edge off the sibiliance, and the CKN70 are my favorite again over the MH1C.  The sub-bass goes allllll the way down in comparable quantity to the MH1C, with much more speed and impact.  I had absolutely nothing to worry about bass-wise.  However, the midbass bloat and sibilance makes some music just about unlistenable on my iPod when I can't do precision EQ to fix it.
 
So although I do love these, I might be in the market for another pair for portable listening.  Can anyone suggest an IEM that would combine the efficiency, detail, speed, precision, impact, and treble level of the CKN70 with the more even bass response (by which I mean no overwhelming midbass, but strong sub bass) and lack of sibilance of the MH1C (but without its massive hole in the treble around 10 kHz)?  I'm intrigued mainly by the XB90EX, XBA-3, and XBA-30.  How do those compare to the MH1C and CKN70 in treble extension/smoothness/completeness, detail/speed, and bass extension/shape?  Are there any others I should be looking at?

 

[7S Cameron]

Quote:

That's how it goes.
 
Well, not sure whether it was burn-in, brain burn-in, or tip rolling, but using the medium R1 tips with a 1.5 octave midbass cut (-4.5 dB) and a few small cuts around 5 kHz, 6.5 kHz, and 7 kHz to take the edge off the sibiliance, and the CKN70 are my favorite again over the MH1C.  The sub-bass goes allllll the way down in comparable quantity to the MH1C, with much more speed and impact.  I had absolutely nothing to worry about bass-wise.  However, the midbass bloat and sibilance makes some music just about unlistenable on my iPod when I can't do precision EQ to fix it.
 
So although I do love these, I might be in the market for another pair for portable listening.  Can anyone suggest an IEM that would combine the efficiency, detail, speed, precision, impact, and treble level of the CKN70 with the more even bass response (by which I mean no overwhelming midbass, but strong sub bass) and lack of sibilance of the MH1C (but without its massive hole in the treble around 10 kHz)?  I'm intrigued mainly by the XB90EX, XBA-3, and XBA-30.  How do those compare to the MH1C and CKN70 in treble extension/smoothness/completeness, detail/speed, and bass extension/shape?  Are there any others I should be looking at?

If you find that in an IEM let me know. I was looking at the FXZ200s, but I have no idea how close their sound is to your description.

 

[Dsnuts]

To my surprise when I got the Audinst MX2 today. I thought for some reason it was gonna be a lot bigger but it is a compact design all in one inclusive dac amp the size of my HA-Info. In comparison my Fire Phoenix is bigger in size to this unit. So it was pleasant surprise that it was such a nice little compact unit. Not big or bulky but to give you a good idea of it's size is roughly 1 inch X 3 inch face plate up front. The case looks about 4 inches long.
 
What is nice about the unit is it's usability..It has USB and Optical in and out, rca out. Which is good for hooking up all sorts of devices and such.. I immediately hooked up my Pangea USB cable to the device to be engulfed in a very nice smooth sound. I almost want to say too smooth. I know this is a new unit and there has to be some use for these to truly show what it is about so I left music running for several hours before I took a real good listen.
 
Right away I noticed a softer tonality that instantly let me know I was dealing with some finely matched dac chips and op amps.. My immediate thought was my iems are gonna match perfectly with these...So the first iem I tried on this unit was none other than the CKN70.. A match it was..To put it simply. This Audinst MX2 was made for the CKN70..The crystaline like detail of the CKN70 with the smooth sound of the MX2 just instantly bonded.. The MX2 gives a fullness and stage through the CKN70 that brings it up to a level I have yet to hear out of any other source I have heard yet.  The great news about this unit is that it has a very low 2 ohm impedance out so that just mean any sensitive headphone or iem will play ball with this unit.. The synergy I am hearing with the CKN70 and the MX2 is clearly evident in the pairing.
 
Another great little aspect of this unit. It has 2 headphone jacks up front a 1/4 jack and a 3.5inch.. And I tested both at the same time and you can have 2 phones hooked up at the same time which is great to have to do that A/B comparison or to have two people enjoy music at the same time. This is a small aspect of this unit that I actually appreciate..Another careful thought out touch to the unit is..It is set to drive 16-300Ohm phones right out of the box but with a simple jumper caps when removed increases gain by 1.5 letting you improve output power to your more higher impedance cans 300-600Ohms.. So it has plenty of power to spare for all types of cans and iems.
 
Now back to the sound. The sound on this unit is focused firstly on the midrange more so than the highs or even the bass. It is definitely a more mature sounding dac amp combo. If you combine AT iems and headphones that already have mids focus you get a double helping of some finely crafted mids and this is what drives the base sound of this source. Now this is just the early stage of this unit so I suspect once it gets some more time more of this signature will mature. The sound is unique on this unit over my other dacs and that is the aspect I find fascinating the most.
 
In comparison I find my Meridian Explorer to have the edge in detail and separation but this unit has the edge in the clearly defined pronounced mids and is about tied to the ME in stage. But then add to the fact that this amp section on the MX2 is much more robust and then add the versatility and all the little extras and you get one truly great deal for guys that managed to jump on this deal for $198.. To be honest even at their asking price for $248 I think is a great price..

 

[waynes world]

Quote:

So although I do love these, I might be in the market for another pair for portable listening.  Can anyone suggest an IEM that would combine the efficiency, detail, speed, precision, impact, and treble level of the CKN70 with the more even bass response (by which I mean no overwhelming midbass, but strong sub bass) and lack of sibilance of the MH1C (but without its massive hole in the treble around 10 kHz)?  I'm intrigued mainly by the XB90EX, XBA-3, and XBA-30.  How do those compare to the MH1C and CKN70 in treble extension/smoothness/completeness, detail/speed, and bass extension/shape?  Are there any others I should be looking at?

 
From what I understand, the XB90EX's treble is not the most extended (great bass though). Between the XBA's, look into the 30's. The xba3's are more source dependent, and can at times have metallic sounding treble. Those issues appear to be resolved with the 30's. You might also want to look into the GR07 bass editions (highly regarded).

 

[heatofamatch]

...meanwhile In somewhat unrelated news... 
I auditioned the CKN70 today. Was very impressed until I was ready to pull out my wallet, and saw a CKM77 demo unit nearby. There's no doubt that the CKN70 is impressive and possibly class-defying*, but the CKM77 (and of course the CKM99) is a much better fit for me, including higher tolerance of some subpar sources (i.e. youtube and internet radio). 
 
*I say possibly class-defying, because the CKM77 clearly sounds better to my ears, and hits an overall level I consider worthy of $100. Is the CKN70 worthy of $80? I don't know. The CKN50 is more than adequate for $45 though. People like to say YMMV, well, it's been a day of finding out how much my mileage varies.
 
So for now it's back to contemplating what I want, and perhaps try the discovery thread veteran(!?), the FX40 first in the interim. I came away with a great warm and fuzzy feeling cause I feel a lot closer to what I want, and you all made that possible. Thanks everyone! 

 

[Jakkal]

Quote:

To my surprise when I got the Audinst MX2 today. .................

 
I was thinking of buying it when the deal was on, but adjusting the gain via jumper is not very convenient to do and also it does't have AUX input, which means that you cannot connect anything else to it except PC and this was a deal breaker for me. Other than that I'm sure it easily worth the money for the sound qualities it provides. Enjoy it DS and keep updating us with your awesome impressions. 

 

[Mackem]

Man I really like the CKN70s but I wish they didn't have this stupid J-cord design..I keep my music player in my right pocket and when I walk there's always a 'tug' on one side due to them being uneven.

 

[kahaluu]

Quote:

Man I really like the CKN70s but I wish they didn't have this stupid J-cord design..I keep my music player in my right pocket and when I walk there's always a 'tug' on one side due to them being uneven.

You're right, the cable does suck. Keep your player in your left pocket, that should help. The cable is shorter on the left side.

 

[waynes world]

Quote:

Man I really like the CKN70s but I wish they didn't have this stupid J-cord design..I keep my music player in my right pocket and when I walk there's always a 'tug' on one side due to them being uneven.

 
I won't even talk about the mh1c j-cord, but I didn't mind the j-cord on the xba3 toooo much. Ultimately though, I really don't like that "tug on one side" feeling either (and yes, I know that a clip helps). I don't think I'll be seeing too many more j-cords in my future.

 

[Mackem]

Quote:

You're right, the cable does suck. Keep your player in your left pocket, that should help. The cable is shorter on the left side.

I..can't. It's just completely unnatural for me to put my phone in my left pocket. It HAS to go in my right, just one of those things. It always has.

 

[sfwalcer]

Quote:

 
I won't even talk about the mh1c j-cord, but I didn't mind the j-cord on the xba3 toooo much. Ultimately though, I really don't like that "tug on one side" feeling either (and yes, I know that a clip helps). I don't think I'll be seeing too many more j-cords in my future.

LoL, the cable on these CKN70s is snake-like but if i can deal with the MH1Cs cable these ain't a thing. I actually like the rugged texture to them, but they do seem to have a life of their own, and i can't imagine anyone using them without a good ol' clip, which is true for most if not all j-cord cables anyways.
 
The best j-cord i have used are the Philips SHE9700s, almost zero microphonics with a clip and is heavenly when used for running cuz it's so easy to use and is so comfy. Oh and they sound freaken awesome as well, can't thank Ds enough for giving them the limelight they deserve. Oh and the stock tips that comes with them seems to get the best sound outta my FXZ200s as well. LMAO

Ds you should try those tips out with your FXZs, cuz it brings more sparkle out of them along with more cohesive sound, unlike the radio-shack auvio tips which are too wide bored, hence making the sound a bit scattered.

 

[Dsnuts]

She9700 cord is kinda spaghetti stylio no? Mines are. They sound great but I have a hard time with the three finger cord wrap method to put them in the case and they are all over the place..

 

[sfwalcer]

Quote:

She9700 cord is kinda spaghetti stylio no? Mines are. They sound great but I have a hard time with the three finger cord wrap method to put them in the case and they are all over the place..

Yeah they are but the material used for the cord is a lot better than these CKN70s and it carries a lot less noise. It's hard to 3 finger wrap all j-cords PERIOD LoL, well for me at least.  That's why i don't even bother putting them in a pleather case thing. 
 
edit: spaghetti-like is better than snake-like, at least it's dead and don't have a mind of their own.

 

[waynes world]

Quote:

Yeah they are but the material used for the cord is a lot better than these CKN70s and it carries a lot less noise. It's hard to 3 finger wrap all j-cords PERIOD LoL, well for me at least.  That's why i don't even bother putting them in a pleather case thing. 
 
edit: spaghetti-like is better than snake-like, at least it's dead and don't have a mind of their own.

 
The best cable I have fondled so far is the gr07be cable. Thick, robust, a joy to 3 finger wrap (lol), never gets friggin' tangled up with itself (I'm looking at you, you crazy 8320's!), and when it's pulled out of it's case, it magically uncoils. Just sayin'

 

[sfwalcer]

Quote:

 
The best cable I have fondled so far is the gr07be cable. Thick, robust, a joy to 3 finger wrap (lol), never gets friggin' tangled up with itself (I'm looking at you, you crazy 8320's!), and when it's pulled out of it's case, it magically uncoils. Just sayin'

Stop trying to sell those GR07 BEs to me WAYNE.

Yeah i noticed from pics that the cable on those GR07 seem godly as well. How you liking that candy cane flavor??? LoL It's like its Christmas everyday. haha