My past headphone experiences with Audio Technica have been a good one. The ATH-A900X being my first 'audiophile' headphone. I loved its thick sweet mids for vocals, sharp treble and slightly big boomy bass that surely impressed me that was still new to audio. I still use it today as a closed back solution. Then came the sweet looking ATH-EW9, and finally the CKM500 for which my dad swapped me for an ATH-CHX7.
I judged the ATH-CHX7 by its’ cover: “with a big housing like that, surely there has to be a big soundstage behind it, and with earbuds similar to the Bose IE2’s; this has to be an IEM made for home usage.”
And I was right. The CHX7 has a good fit that it never loses its’ optimal position for sound direction no matter what facial expression I make. Unfortunately the Bose IE2 has the CHX7 beat in regards to the initial seating. Except I have a problem with earbuds that rely on the tragus and antitragus for seating earbuds: they hurt. Earbuds that use foam as a cushion are much better at this and don’t make my ears sore like the Baldoor E100 or VE Monk. I’m not a finicky person when it comes to comfort, I love my ER4S, Grados, AKG Q701’s that are infamous for their comfort issues. But the Bose IE2 and CHX7 that relies on expanding the (anti)tragus for fit does cause discomfort after 30 minutes to an hour even with the smallest tips. The CHX7 beats the Bose IE2’s, E100’s and VE Monks in staying in its’ position
The isolation is little to none but leaks little, I can’t recommend to use these at a library if you want to avoid annoying anyone else. They leak less than the Bose IE2’s, even more less than the Apple Earpods. If you wanted isolation, I would suggest smaller drivers (typically balanced armature) that focus on seal.
Though the soundstage is a bit bigger than average for an earbud, I’d have to say cheaper earbuds like the VE Monk and Baldoor E100’s beat the ATH-CHX7 in terms of airiness. Both solutions are much cheaper solutions than the CHX7.
The bass carries itself from the Audio Technica A900X. It’s a bit boomy and warm, but the CHX7 doesn't have as much extension and rumble. Thankfully, the bass body is not intrusive towards the mids.
The mids here are fairly disappointing, especially upper mids for an Audio Technica product. There’s a dip in the 1-2khz area and the graphs show it. During fortissimo portions of a lyric, it feels as if the vocalists move further away from the mic the higher octave they go. I listen to anisong, japanese pop/vocal pop/pop rock so I’d say I’m a bit sad about this. Rap seems to do fine though! Male vocals are untouched.
I spend a lot of time in the studio, concerts, bars when I get the chance. So what I found in headphones is that there are a few instruments that are very hard to reproduce in the lower price range. Pianos for instance require a nice smooth bass body to an upfront midrange, Sennheiser headphones do this very well.
Except for the sake of reviewing, I will specifically explain the Tom Toms in a drum set. Tom toms require good technical features of a driver to be fast and a flat response in the midrange to treble transition for them to sound good. The CHX7 artificially boosts the tom toms but the drivers lack speed to reproduce the nice smack and cleanliness. I would also like to mention the CHX7 make tom toms sound thick, which doesn’t sound right. This thickness also makes female vocals with lower octaves sound like if they’re singing with cupped hands. I’d rather choose the E100’s that simply smooth out this part of the midrange and try and hide the imperfections of the earbud. It’s not that it’s a bad method, but it really works! This artificial boost also makes synthesizers fairly fatiguing that mixes into the treble.
So this is where the dreadful lower treble of the CKM500 comes in, the CHX7 has a less grainy version of it. I believe the CHX7 has sparkle, for some songs it’s noticeable but the lower treble washes it out. Here’s an example of the treble:
When a label on the box says “Made for iPhone/Smartphone/Android”. It’s not just a marketing technique, but the engineers know what they’re doing. V-Moda also has this label on some of their boxes. Typically it’s saying that the product was made for sources with low impedance outputs. The CHX7 sounded too sharp, fatiguing and had leaner bass from a Fiio X3/X5. The ODAC/O2 boosted the already boosted bass and lower treble, at the same time refining instrument separation. And my Asus Zenfone 2? It sounded pretty darn good compared to the other options. The lower treble wasn’t offensive, tom toms sound snappy but it’s not piercing unlike with more powerful sources. Youtube videos didn’t sound too bad either, the CHX7 matches well with softer recordings.
I’ve always believed Audio Technica does amazing headphones, look at the highly regarded WS99 and their air series. Audio Technica just fails to impress me with IEM’s. With a $20 bill, you can look at better earbuds like the already mentioned Baldoor E100’s (that comes with a good inline mic) and VE Monk if you don’t mind waiting a shipment from China.
Edit: I meant CHX7 in the diagram, my apologies.My bias? Headphones as close to neutral in regards to sounding like 18 feet by 27 feet rehearsal studios. If not then nice clean midrange with upper midrange emphasis for japanese vocals, good treble response and tight punchy bass that I don't mind being on the leaner side for less fatigue.
