Reviews by Hammerburst
I'm a fan of old-school earbuds. Similar to the kind, that came with the early iPod releases. I love the way they sit in your ears, without causing pressure on your head, inner-ear, temples, etc. I have some great IEMs, that are very comfortable, (in the realm of IEMs), but I simply find earbuds more comfortable. With a good earbud, you can barely feel it, also you can eat with them on, and it doesn't feel strange, (like IEMs feel, when you eat with them).
After a very positive experience, with the Audio Technica ATH-A900X, closed headphone, I had great confidence in AT products. Maybe I was too confident in them, at the point, when I bought these AT earbuds. Drunk on Audio Technica, to the point I thought the company could do no wrong. Although I did some research, for a couple weeks before buying these, so it wasn't a completely blind purchase. I wanted a good earbud. These retail for about $85.00, and I found them on Ebay for $64 total, shipped from Japan. If you look at the box, you would think these were made in Japan entirely, but they are actually designed in Japan, and built in China.
I have owned these for about 9 months, and use them almost everyday. Therefore, I have spent a significant amount of time with them. They are definitely "broken in" lol, and I know how they sound. They are still in excellent shape, no flaws at all, they are very well-built.
Fit:
They are very comfortable. They fit very nicely in the ear. (Well, for my ears at least). They are lightweight, not too large, nor too small. The shape does not generate any pressure points, on my ears. Nor does the shape have any odd fitment regions. They just sit nice and snug, in my ears, so comfy. Also, they do not fall out, I have not had one mishap. (I only use them with the foam pads that they come with, which makes the fit more snug. This might have something to do with that). They come with these black foam, earbud pads, that you install over the earbud. I do not listen to these earbuds, without the pad. (Don't want my earwax getting into the driver). I bought a 20 pack, of extra foam pads, on Ebay, for about $2.50. Because these pads can get soggy, accumulate earwax, and just get pretty nasty, after about 3 weeks.
One thing that annoyed me, was AT put the "Left" and "Right" markings, on the part of the bud, that faces your ear canal! That means, when you place the foam covers over the earbuds, it blocks which one is "Left" or "Right"! However, once you know what the physical orientation of these earbuds looks like, when they are in an ear, you will know which one is "Right" or "Left", without the markings. (It is supposed to look like a lightning bolt, facing forward).
Build:
The build quality is very good. The materials for the earpieces, are a great quality. The wire is good, it has a nice soft feel, doesn't generate static, and is pretty thick. Everything connects seamlessly together, from the earpieces, to the connections from the earpieces to the main wire. There is a break-off point, halfway through the main wire. The connections are solid, and well made. The L-plug is well-made. Handling and touching this earbud, you can tell it is a quality product. I have owned these for over 9 months, and have not had any problems, from the build. Audio Technica usually has excellent build quality, so I was not really surprised, on that aspect of the earphone. That was one of the reasons, that I decided to buy from AT, in the first place.
Sound:
I use these with a Mayflower Electronics O2 headphone amp. Or plugged straight into my laptop, iPod, etc. They have an input impedance of 16Ω, hence they can perform decently, plugged straight into the device. However, an amp really brings out the best of them.
* Highs: The highs have clearly been altered by Audio Technica, in a good way, imho. They do not generate piercing highs, nor sibilance. They have been slightly "tamed", from such behavior, that occurs in the high frequency range. Nevertheless, they sound good, with good timbre for an earbud. The highs are not very fast, nor highly detailed. But I'm not a detail fanatic, and I enjoy the medium speed treble, that these drivers produce. The highs sound good to me.
* Mids: The mids sound good as well. The mids have a body and thickness, that is great for an earbud. They have good timbre in this department as well. The mids are not too forward, pretty neutral to my ears. I really like the mids on this earbud.
* Bass: The bass, unfortunately, is very weak. It is not strong enough, by a longshot. I am no basshead by any means, but the lack of bass on these, was the most disappointing aspect, of the ATH-CM707. If the bass was more powerful, with more substance, then these would be an excellent earbud. In fact, they would be awesome! If I was interested in listening to some trance, house, hip-hop, rap, etc, then these would definitely not be my first choice. If you are a basshead, DO NOT get these.
* Soundstage: They do have a soundstage, with decent separation. The listener can tell that the highs, mids, and lows, are coming from different parts of the soundstage. However, the soundstage is pretty narrow. Yes, these are earbuds, do not expect a large, engrossing soundstage, like a full-sized headphone.
Conclusion:
Overall, these are a good earbud, with one weakness, (the bass). I would describe the sound, as the Audio Technica "house sound", going from the highs, to the mids. However, the bass is weak. The bass issue, contradicts my experience with Audio Technica headphones. (Well, these aren't headphones, they are earbuds! Earbuds with good, accurate bass, are hard to create). Nevertheless, I do like these, alot. They have good sound, good timbre, and are very comfortable. I enjoy watching youtube videos, and movies with them, because they are so comfy. Yet, for more immersive experiences, I switch to my other IEMs, or full-sized headphones.
About a month into owning these, I noticed a minor rattle, develop, coming from one of the drivers. (Forgot which one). The rattle would happen, when the driver was outputting sound, and it was pretty annoying. The rattle lasted for about 2 weeks, and then it went away... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ . Haven't heard this rattle ever since. Well, my next earbud will probably be the Venture Electronics Zen 2.0. I have heard those are a great sounding earbud, that actually have bass too! Very interested to hear them.
* Review Update (One Month): After using an equalizer, I have been able to generate some better bass, out of these earbuds. It is not impressive bass. However, the bass is much better now. Clean bass, that is definitely present. There is now a more full, audio spectrum, to these earbuds. They sound really good, especially for such a limited form factor, as earbuds.
For those interested, these are my settings: 21 Hz: +0.5dB, 42 Hz: +3dB, 83 Hz: +2dB, and 166 Hz: +1.5dB. That was using Equalizer APO and the Peace application, on Windows. (Great equalizer program btw).
After a very positive experience, with the Audio Technica ATH-A900X, closed headphone, I had great confidence in AT products. Maybe I was too confident in them, at the point, when I bought these AT earbuds. Drunk on Audio Technica, to the point I thought the company could do no wrong. Although I did some research, for a couple weeks before buying these, so it wasn't a completely blind purchase. I wanted a good earbud. These retail for about $85.00, and I found them on Ebay for $64 total, shipped from Japan. If you look at the box, you would think these were made in Japan entirely, but they are actually designed in Japan, and built in China.
I have owned these for about 9 months, and use them almost everyday. Therefore, I have spent a significant amount of time with them. They are definitely "broken in" lol, and I know how they sound. They are still in excellent shape, no flaws at all, they are very well-built.
Fit:
They are very comfortable. They fit very nicely in the ear. (Well, for my ears at least). They are lightweight, not too large, nor too small. The shape does not generate any pressure points, on my ears. Nor does the shape have any odd fitment regions. They just sit nice and snug, in my ears, so comfy. Also, they do not fall out, I have not had one mishap. (I only use them with the foam pads that they come with, which makes the fit more snug. This might have something to do with that). They come with these black foam, earbud pads, that you install over the earbud. I do not listen to these earbuds, without the pad. (Don't want my earwax getting into the driver). I bought a 20 pack, of extra foam pads, on Ebay, for about $2.50. Because these pads can get soggy, accumulate earwax, and just get pretty nasty, after about 3 weeks.
One thing that annoyed me, was AT put the "Left" and "Right" markings, on the part of the bud, that faces your ear canal! That means, when you place the foam covers over the earbuds, it blocks which one is "Left" or "Right"! However, once you know what the physical orientation of these earbuds looks like, when they are in an ear, you will know which one is "Right" or "Left", without the markings. (It is supposed to look like a lightning bolt, facing forward).
Build:
The build quality is very good. The materials for the earpieces, are a great quality. The wire is good, it has a nice soft feel, doesn't generate static, and is pretty thick. Everything connects seamlessly together, from the earpieces, to the connections from the earpieces to the main wire. There is a break-off point, halfway through the main wire. The connections are solid, and well made. The L-plug is well-made. Handling and touching this earbud, you can tell it is a quality product. I have owned these for over 9 months, and have not had any problems, from the build. Audio Technica usually has excellent build quality, so I was not really surprised, on that aspect of the earphone. That was one of the reasons, that I decided to buy from AT, in the first place.
Sound:
I use these with a Mayflower Electronics O2 headphone amp. Or plugged straight into my laptop, iPod, etc. They have an input impedance of 16Ω, hence they can perform decently, plugged straight into the device. However, an amp really brings out the best of them.
* Highs: The highs have clearly been altered by Audio Technica, in a good way, imho. They do not generate piercing highs, nor sibilance. They have been slightly "tamed", from such behavior, that occurs in the high frequency range. Nevertheless, they sound good, with good timbre for an earbud. The highs are not very fast, nor highly detailed. But I'm not a detail fanatic, and I enjoy the medium speed treble, that these drivers produce. The highs sound good to me.
* Mids: The mids sound good as well. The mids have a body and thickness, that is great for an earbud. They have good timbre in this department as well. The mids are not too forward, pretty neutral to my ears. I really like the mids on this earbud.
* Bass: The bass, unfortunately, is very weak. It is not strong enough, by a longshot. I am no basshead by any means, but the lack of bass on these, was the most disappointing aspect, of the ATH-CM707. If the bass was more powerful, with more substance, then these would be an excellent earbud. In fact, they would be awesome! If I was interested in listening to some trance, house, hip-hop, rap, etc, then these would definitely not be my first choice. If you are a basshead, DO NOT get these.
* Soundstage: They do have a soundstage, with decent separation. The listener can tell that the highs, mids, and lows, are coming from different parts of the soundstage. However, the soundstage is pretty narrow. Yes, these are earbuds, do not expect a large, engrossing soundstage, like a full-sized headphone.
Conclusion:
Overall, these are a good earbud, with one weakness, (the bass). I would describe the sound, as the Audio Technica "house sound", going from the highs, to the mids. However, the bass is weak. The bass issue, contradicts my experience with Audio Technica headphones. (Well, these aren't headphones, they are earbuds! Earbuds with good, accurate bass, are hard to create). Nevertheless, I do like these, alot. They have good sound, good timbre, and are very comfortable. I enjoy watching youtube videos, and movies with them, because they are so comfy. Yet, for more immersive experiences, I switch to my other IEMs, or full-sized headphones.
About a month into owning these, I noticed a minor rattle, develop, coming from one of the drivers. (Forgot which one). The rattle would happen, when the driver was outputting sound, and it was pretty annoying. The rattle lasted for about 2 weeks, and then it went away... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ . Haven't heard this rattle ever since. Well, my next earbud will probably be the Venture Electronics Zen 2.0. I have heard those are a great sounding earbud, that actually have bass too! Very interested to hear them.
* Review Update (One Month): After using an equalizer, I have been able to generate some better bass, out of these earbuds. It is not impressive bass. However, the bass is much better now. Clean bass, that is definitely present. There is now a more full, audio spectrum, to these earbuds. They sound really good, especially for such a limited form factor, as earbuds.
For those interested, these are my settings: 21 Hz: +0.5dB, 42 Hz: +3dB, 83 Hz: +2dB, and 166 Hz: +1.5dB. That was using Equalizer APO and the Peace application, on Windows. (Great equalizer program btw).
