Bennyboy71
Aka: Ben Clayton
Aka: Cold Pizza
Aka: Bennyboy71
Aka: Visions66
Aka: TheloniSphere
Aka: Muzeick
Aka: Frankleemydear
Aka: Canofcant
And many more
- Joined
- Feb 16, 2010
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Ok, this extended post is going to be my first major review I’ve done for Head-fi (and probably my last, given how much it hurts to use my brain these days), so please be patient and gentle when putting your eyes over it. I’m not a scientist with a clipboard and hadron-colliding electron microscopes for ears, so you’ll likely not be happy if forensic sound analysis jargon is what turns you on. In fact, you’ll probably leave this review more limp and miserable than when you came in, but hey, you won’t be alone. As most of my ex-girlfriends will attest ;-p
No, what you’ll find here is a totally biased, subjective, impressionistic, mangy old dog of a personal viewpoint, based on nothing more than my own experiences, using words composed from 26 letters that are a fumble towards an expression of feeling in my head that has been forged under conditions about as far removed from a laboratory as I am from getting married to Audrey Tautou. One can dream of such things, for sure, but fantasy is fantasy and the truth is often stranger than fiction, etc…..
So, with that caveat, here’s the strange truth as I perceive it.
The point of all of this
Ok, so the main point of this disjointed ramble is to try and explain as best I can which is the ‘best’ (with all the inherent complicated internal logic that word contains) iem for me from the two mentioned in the title of the thread, and to share that exploration with you. Also, I want to tell you about the most excellent place where I bought both earphones from, here in the UK.
The most excellent place
Lets get that last bit out the way first.
Company: iHeadphones
Location: Nottingham, UK.
Website: Headphones SALE | ipod Headphones, Sennheiser Headphones, Wireless headphones
Delivery: UK or Europe
I’ve been using iheadphones now for almost 2 years, for earphones and accessories. At every stage of the process, from website to ordering to delivery to questions and customer service and support, they have unfailingly delivered, met and exceeded my expectations.
That’s not something you can often say about online suppliers, especially at a time when any two bit tom dick or harry can slap an html page together and put a basket icon in the corner. If you’ve ever had your fingers (or ears) burned by cowboy operators who make every promise under the sun then never follow through, you’ll not be the only one. Just ask those ex-girlfriends of mine….
So, to find a reputable and decent supplier who makes life easier for you is a real find. And in iheadphones, that’s exactly what I’ve found. They always get the kit to me on time, respond pretty much immediately to whatever inane question I fire at them, and they have a really great returns procedure that is simple and clear. Their prices are ace too.
Plus, they have a totally helpful and friendly guy working for them who is also called Ben, which is A GOOD THING, trust me. We’re pretty nice people us Bens. He even checks out head-fi and has told me that they’ve had quite a few enquires lately about the CK10 and E-Q7 from head-fiers, so I figure I’m duty bound to put in a good word for the chap and his company. It’s a biased recommendation, of course, but that bias is purely based on experience and me wanting to shine a light on excellent retail practise and people who go the extra mile for the end user.
Check them out if you get chance.
The most excellent iems, via ear-based curriculum vitae
Here comes the meat of the matter (or root vegetable, if you’re a veggie like me).
As a bit of background, let me tell you where I’m coming from with this look at the CK10 and E-Q7 and how they fit into my personal audio history.
I’m just a normal(ish) guy. I’m 38 years old and I work in a crummy office in central London, in a job that doesn’t let me listen to headphones for 10 hour stretches (if you’re lucky enough to be someone who does, give yourself a smug pat on the back and a jealous punch in the face from me).
My portable listening has gone through many evolutions throughout the years, from the old briefcase-sized cassette walkmans(walkmen?) to portable cd to minidisc, and finally I’m settled with a new 6.5gen 160 GB iPod Classic. Yes, an Apple product, so all you Sanitary:Flow 12.6 and Nonsensa Clip+ users out there should start to cross yourselves and mutter dark incantations about line-outs and UIs and SQs and god knows what else at this point.
I don’t care. I love the iPod Classic for its size (yes, I like to hold big things in my hands
) and its capacity, its interface and (shock horror) the way it sounds. Seems pretty peachy to my ears, and it makes my music library fit in my pocket and it gives me a smile when I use it. What more do I need?
I’m not even using a headphone amp at the moment, having given my Corda Headsix away to a mate the other night in exchange for some pints and a meal in the pub. Seemed like a reasonable exchange to me, especially as I have a Headstage Arrow on order and on the way (before I die, hopefully, but I’m not holding my breath). Maybe the Arrow will make the CK10 and E-Q7 sound better, maybe they won’t, but as both are driveable perfectly adequately at good volume from the Classic as it is, I’m not worrying overly.
Back to the potted history. In terms of iems and portable headphones, I’ve run the gauntlet from the old days of tin cans on string to today’s current universal iems and most points in between. I’m not weird enough to try customs just yet, although I anticipate my brain being washed by head-fi exposure at some point soon. Especially if my plan to seduce Donald Trump comes off…..
As we’re talking iems here, I guess my recent journey began in earnest with the Klipsch Image X5s a couple of years ago. They sounded great and a big improvement on the pieces of crap I was using before (a lowly Sennheiser model, as far as I recall) – good fit, comfortable, clear sound, albeit not all that much bass. But lets face it, if you want heavy bass you either go to the fishmongers or listen to rubbish music by people with silly made up names….
But, as the X5s cable split about six months into usage (hardly surprising - Klipsch Images are more wobbly than Amy Winehouse after a night out in Camden), the search continued and I upgraded to the Etymotic ER4P, with a P to S convertor that I ran firstly through a Fiio E5, then through my Headsix. I’m a huge fan of the Ety sound, with all its micro-attention to detail and ability to present the musicians as if you’re there in the studio with them. Plus they are a massive improvement from a build-quality perspective over the Klipschs – a truly reliable, solid cable and earpiece.
But ultimately, there was dryness to the sound from the ER4s, an arid lack of ‘musicality’, or coherence, that left me feeling a bit underwhelmed and distanced from the emotional impact of what I was hearing. It was like being at your best friend’s wedding and only being able to appreciate the quality of the champagne and the flowers. It’s all there in front of you, but the heart and soul is missing.
So, the Etys fairly quickly lost my love and I grew sullen and unable to appreciate their strengths, only able to see the negatives. Where was the bass? Why did my ears itch so much? And therefore, slowly but surely, my attention turned towards the flirtations of the next cute little thing on the block, the Audio Technica ATH-CK10.
You don’t need me to tell you the CK10 is highly regarded in these hallowed circles. Certainly, it’s been one of the more feted iems over the last year or so, and highly respected head-fiers such as Joker, with his 10/10 sound score, have done much to fuel the ongoing interest. His superb magnum opus -looking at over 86 million iems in minute detail - is well recommended by me, and it was after reading his review of the CK10 that I decided my wallet and my heartstrings were being well and truly plucked in the direction of iheadphones yet again, with their £219 (now £249 I believe) price on the ATs. Small price for what promised to be a new partner-for-life, right?
Enter The Supermodel CK10
Wow, how tiny are these things? Like little buttons of love, they’re all shiny and round and practically beg to be shoved in your ears. And that cable! Man, I have to say that cable is the dog’s danglies when it comes to pieces of rubber-encased wire. So soft and touchable, so flexible and perfectly formed. Cold shower time.
Can’t say I’m as enamoured of the packaging, to be honest. What’s the deal with such basic furnishings? Next to the Ortofons and their chic sexy sleekness, it’s like a fortnights caravan holiday in Wolverhampton.
Still, packaging is packaging and it’s what you carry around with you that counts. From the simple hard case to the cable to the earpieces, the CK10s tick all the boxes and then some. I might take issue with the lack of a full range of tips and the complete absence of spare filters - especially given the earpiece isn’t all that compatible with other brand tips – but I’m willing to forgive and forget.
So, all that being said, how do they fit, how comfortable are they and, more importantly, what do they sound like?
Fit
The CK10 really has to be worn over the ear, as their design is far less accommodating of downward wearing than other iems. I personally had no issues fitting them, using the stock small or medium tips, but I understand others have had to resort to more drastic measures like trimming strange triple flanges. Sounds painful to me, but I guess we have some amateur plastic surgeons in the house…..
Comfort
Once inserted, my CK10s were pretty damn comfortable, it has to be said, and aside from a little bit of rubbing near the entrance to the ear canal (where the round rubber earpiece sits) I’d say they were virtually invisible, both to see and feel.
Top points from me then. Your mileage may vary though, especially if your ears are minis or articulated tankers.
Sound
Preamble
It’s interesting to me that both Audio Technica and Ortofon are companies with a long standing pedigree in the world of vinyl turntable cartridges. Indeed, I’ve used MM cartridges from AT and Orto on my own deck in the past (current cart is a Denon 110 MC, vinyl geeks).
There is definitely a different sound signature associated with the vinyl products these two companies produce – the Audio Technica carts, for example, have a speedy, bright and accurate quality to them, and the Ortos (the home range, not the DJ end) tend to have richer, heavier and warmer reproduction. You might perhaps characterise that as the difference between ‘modern’ and ‘traditional’, in the sense that AT carts produce a vinyl sound leaning towards today’s diet of digital music and the somewhat coldish, spiky & clinical, (dare I say it?) ‘soulless’ sound that entails. On the other hand, the Orto cartridges have always struck me as presenting vinyl music as one might imagine it should sound – i.e. with that pre-digital, analogue warmth and emotional crackle of one’s childhood, all knitted polo-neck jumpers, mugs of Bovril and winter nights in front of a roaring fire.
Both approaches are equally valid, of course, from an objective viewpoint, but the issue here is that music is the least objective thing in the universe. It’s primal, subconscious stuff that physically hits your brain so you can hear it, but to feel it, it has to touch your soul, your spirit, your heart, your gonads (or the female equivalent – I’m guessing we don’t get many of those in here, so I’ll spare you the latin vulgarity). And for that to happen, you have to react instinctively, on an atomic level where logical analysis has no sway.
Effectively, a piece of music that stirs one person and floats them transcendentally to Jupiter on a magic carpet of sensation and otherworldliness, might well leave another stone-faced with their arms folded and a horrible bit of dribble on their lips.
Horses for courses, in other words. None of which is rocket science to the educated likes of you and me, but it is the conundrum that sits at the base of all hi-fi reviewing and discussion. How do you square a circle that isn’t even quantifiable as a circle to begin with? You try and tell me you enjoy the sound of that tree falling in the forest and I’ll ask you what tree? And what forest? And who are you anyway?
Anyway, back to the torturous vinyl analogy. Yes, in my view at least, AT and Orto have easily distinguishable vinyl cartridge sounds, a signature that I, whoever I am, can tell apart when they topple in that non-existent forest. One is Schrödinger’s cat when it’s alive and purring, and the other is a dead moggy in a box.
Thing is, I’ve nothing against cats per se, but as I’m allergic to them, I naturally steer away from them. I like rabbits instead, always have done.
So it is with vinyl, and for that warmth and connection to the music, I prefer my Ortofon carts over the ATs any day of the week. Just the way it is with me.
“Jesus, what the hell’s that got to do with these iems?” I hear you impatiently ask.
Bear with me, because as it happens, it’s actually got quite a lot to do with these iems.
For just as the two companies have their individual vinyl signature, so it appears those very same traits are carried over into their high-end iem products. Like I said, I find it interesting, and while it’s just something I’d noticed, it might help me to describe how they both sound when I listen. And it might explain why I favour one much more than the other.
Amble
So, the CK10 in lots of ways strikes me exactly like an AT cart (at least certain models). It reproduces the music in a very precise way, with an overall sheen of what I might term ‘technicolour sharpness’. It’s a bit like the difference between high-def TV and an old analogue colour set. With the AT, you’re getting a high definition aural message that shows you exactly what’s happening across the frequencies, at the exact moment it happens. It’s almost lifelike to that extent. Except it’s not lifelike at all, because what you imagine as lifelike and what actually happens in life are two completely different things.
That doesn’t make any sense, I know, but the point I’m trying to make is that the CK10 gives you a very digital sounding impression of the musical world. There’s heaps and heaps of sparkle and shine, for example, mostly at the top end, or the ‘sky’ of the picture, to use the TV analogy. And it’s a lovely sky too – very blue and clear and bold. But it’s very easy when listening to the CK10 to miss all the other details in the scene, so strong is that sky shouting “look at me! Look at me! Aren’t I just the best sky you’ve ever seen?” Yes, it’s a nice sky, but its only when you stand back that you realise you’re missing the bigger picture. And in the case of the CK10, the more you objectify that picture, the less impressive it gets.
Take the mids, for example. They’re great and all, and pretty in-your-face and lively, but it’s a very constant, almost overbearing liveliness at times. That’s fine for fast paced electronica, and some strains of rock, but when you want a nice mellow, relaxed vibe, that shine and sparkle and perkiness can be draining and a little off-key. And, while sibilance is not an issue on a lot of tracks, it does poke its ugly head out of the window and point to itself when it’s least desired. That might be a fit and tip issue, of course, but I’m telling you what its like with my fit and with the stock tips. If you’ve got a magic bullet to shoot that sibilance in the kneecaps, good for you.
An example of this is plain as day with the title track of Nick Cave’s last Bad Seeds album ‘Dig Lazarus Dig’. Good Old Nick, he’s got the kind of growl and band you really have to hear live to experience, but on record his best albums at least let you feel that curled gothic sneer up close. Except, with the CK10s, this track is ruined by sibilance that scrawls all over the song like a small child with a scratchy pen. Every S is a hard metallic SSS and instead of a velvet fist stroking and threatening you into joyful submission, the vocal ssssswiftly becomessss a real pain in the arssssssse, like a ssssharpened nail on a blackboard. Grrr.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s just an example, and it doesn’t happen all the time, or even that often, but in the rare cases it does, it can ruin what might have been a very lovely listening experience up till then. And there’s nothing like being awoken rudely from a musical reverie for dampening the spirits.
In its favour, the CK10 gets lots of things right, and I’d definitely recommend it for those who like their treble and are willing to experiment maybe with tips. For me though - and this is where personal preference comes in - I like a warmer sound, a more encompassing, soulful reproduction of instruments and voices, and I’m not overly fussed if the blazing blues stop short of the heavens, as long as the mids run like chocolate rivers and the lows are peaty and earthy. Film wise, the CK10 reminds me a lot of ‘Blade Runner’. It just has that feel to it, especially that opening scene. Flying across a fantastic and sharply rendered world, full of explosions and neon attractions, you feel like a kid in a sweetshop, but then you begin to dive down below the rooftops and that heightened reality starts cracking and the hidden dangers in its dirty streets start hunting you down. It doesn’t mean you won’t revisit and enjoy your holiday there, but you quickly realise you might have to invest in some kung-fu lessons and be a bit more streetwise than you’d like.
That’s probably coming across like a whole truckload of bollocks, I know, but its true for me, from an impressionistic angle anyway. And that’s how I experience things like music.
Now, how about the Ortofon E-Q7s? Do I like them? Let’s see what rubbish I can make up about those, shall we?
Hey everyone, it’s the Ortofon E-Q7! Woo! What a time to be alive!
I probably should have just posted those words as my review and had done with it. Because, from top to bottom, these new hybrid balanced whatsitsname things from Orto make me smile like Heath Ledger and want to grab people on the tube on the way to and from work and demand “why so seeeeerious?” while laughing maniacally.
They’re that good. Oh yes.
Packaging
Let’s start with the packaging. Ah, the packaging. If that doesn’t give you an erection, or the female equivalent, you’re medically dead. Have you seen the box they come in? It looks like something Silvio Berlusconi would keep his best gold-plated condom in. Trying to stop the urge to fondle and caress its glorious splendour is like Cheryl Cole’s very existence – pointless and futile. Just give in and do it, it’s a lovely thing, all jewellery box lines and silver lettering on it’s ridiculously over the top cushioned interior. I’d like to go and visit Ortofon one day just to see what their senior management toilets are like.
Then there’s the carrying case, in all its real black leather and red stitching glory. Its smells so seductive! And its big enough for me to fit my iPod Classic in there with the ‘phones as well. Brilliant. And even with the cable poking out when I’m using them, the zip comes exactly to the point where the stress relief forms around the jack, so no danger of accidentally zipping and cutting the cable. That’s the kind of attention to detail I like. The cord itself isn’t as good as the CK10s, but what is? As is, its perfectly acceptable and functional. Maybe a shirt clip would have been a wise addition, but hey.
The accessories are pretty good too – nice set of tips, replacement filters and a little white stick for changing them. It might look like plastic, but knowing Ortofon it’s probably made out of unicorn horn.
The earphones themselves are in keeping with the box and the case – chic and elegant and beautiful. While the CK-10s are much smaller and cuter, I find the straight ahead bulleted simplicity of the E-Q7s to be more attractive and manly. Japanese cool done two ways? It’s the Iron Chef of iems!
Fit
I was a bit worried before ordering the E-Q7s, as I’ve seen it mentioned a few times that they are an acquired fit and therefore not for everyone. Something to do with people with small canals not being able to insert them, due to the diameter of the stock being a pretty fat 9mm. One reviewer in head-fi even suggested sticking a pen in your ear to see if they’d fit. Ha, you must think we were born yesterday mate.
But once they arrived, I soon realised I’d been worrying in vain. What’s the problem? I simply had to change the tip to the large size, as the medium doesn’t quite seal enough, and away I went, a real plug’n’plaything for my ears. You can wear them up, down, probably even sideways for all I know. I tend to go for the up, but not with the cable behind the ears – I don’t like having the cable behind my ears for some reason. Probably due to childhood trauma or something equally Freudian. A twist of the barrel into the upwards position helps with the seal too, so it’s all good.
Comfort
Yep, they’re comfy alright. Less ‘invisible’ than the CK10s, they nevertheless feel lightweight and unobtrusive and crucially I don’t get any rubbing of skin like with the CK10s. God, this all sounds a bit wrong and sordid, doesn’t it? Let’s move on….
Sound
If sound quality is king, the Orto E-Q7s are the galactic rulers of the megaverse. Going back to the vinyl comparison, it’s immediately clear to me, from minute one, that the Ortofon sound signature is present and fantastically correct. Whether the same people worked on it, or its an internal mandate to preserve that beautiful liquid warmth and musicality, I don’t know, but I do know what I like, and I like these very very much.
You know when something fits you like a glove, right? Doesn’t matter what it is – could be a glove, actually, or a car, or a woman, or a drink, or a sandwich. If you know yourself and your tastes, you can usually get a very quick gut feel for whether something is suitable for you.
For me, my journey into the world of high end iems may be longer than yours. Chances are, its way shorter and you’ll laugh at this next sentence. But I really do think I’m done looking for something better to listen through. I don’t care a fig what technology goes on inside these things, as that gut feel they give me when I hit play is what it’s all about. Its like someone’s organised a focus group with just me in it, to discuss making a product that’s going to really please me, then gone away and made it and given it to me. It makes me happy.
I can talk negatives if you like. But about as negative as it gets is to say the treble isn’t as sharp or extended or whatever as the CK10. Big deal. I’m not a massive treble-head anyway, so it doesn’t bother me. I don’t even know what a treble-head looks like. Do they have eyebrows? And how do you actually go about measuring the difference really? With a jam jar and a ruler? All I can say is the top end doesn’t feel compressed in the slightest to me, it feels accurate and right and a good fit.
And that’s it for bad words which are not even bad. Everything else is totally positive. The bass is there, rumbling when needed, doing other things when not. But then I’m not a bass head either – and I do know what one of those looks like and I’m glad I’m not one of them.
The mids though, that’s where its at for me. The mids. Ah, the mids. They are just the most deliciously smooth and rich river of dark chocolate I’ve heard, with all the instruments floating along in their own boats, me laid back on a golden gondola in the middle, sipping real ale while Rachel McAdams – dressed as a nurse, naturally - punts me to paradise and beyond.
The mids are good. Oh yes, the mids are good.
Just play that Nick Cave track and you’ll immediately see what I mean. Where’s that stupid metal sssssnake gone? Good riddance to you and your pointy nerve-shredding hissing. Welcome the purr and the crunch and the snarl and the visceral embrace.
The end?
For now. I’m off to do some more e-q7 stroking. Thanks for stopping by. Before I go, just a quick reminder: if you live in the UK, put a couple of ton in the direction of iheadphones and ask them to send you some Naughty Ortys. You won’t regret it. Or maybe you will, what do I know?
Take it easy.
Ben
No, what you’ll find here is a totally biased, subjective, impressionistic, mangy old dog of a personal viewpoint, based on nothing more than my own experiences, using words composed from 26 letters that are a fumble towards an expression of feeling in my head that has been forged under conditions about as far removed from a laboratory as I am from getting married to Audrey Tautou. One can dream of such things, for sure, but fantasy is fantasy and the truth is often stranger than fiction, etc…..
So, with that caveat, here’s the strange truth as I perceive it.
The point of all of this
Ok, so the main point of this disjointed ramble is to try and explain as best I can which is the ‘best’ (with all the inherent complicated internal logic that word contains) iem for me from the two mentioned in the title of the thread, and to share that exploration with you. Also, I want to tell you about the most excellent place where I bought both earphones from, here in the UK.
The most excellent place
Lets get that last bit out the way first.
Company: iHeadphones
Location: Nottingham, UK.
Website: Headphones SALE | ipod Headphones, Sennheiser Headphones, Wireless headphones
Delivery: UK or Europe
I’ve been using iheadphones now for almost 2 years, for earphones and accessories. At every stage of the process, from website to ordering to delivery to questions and customer service and support, they have unfailingly delivered, met and exceeded my expectations.
That’s not something you can often say about online suppliers, especially at a time when any two bit tom dick or harry can slap an html page together and put a basket icon in the corner. If you’ve ever had your fingers (or ears) burned by cowboy operators who make every promise under the sun then never follow through, you’ll not be the only one. Just ask those ex-girlfriends of mine….
So, to find a reputable and decent supplier who makes life easier for you is a real find. And in iheadphones, that’s exactly what I’ve found. They always get the kit to me on time, respond pretty much immediately to whatever inane question I fire at them, and they have a really great returns procedure that is simple and clear. Their prices are ace too.
Plus, they have a totally helpful and friendly guy working for them who is also called Ben, which is A GOOD THING, trust me. We’re pretty nice people us Bens. He even checks out head-fi and has told me that they’ve had quite a few enquires lately about the CK10 and E-Q7 from head-fiers, so I figure I’m duty bound to put in a good word for the chap and his company. It’s a biased recommendation, of course, but that bias is purely based on experience and me wanting to shine a light on excellent retail practise and people who go the extra mile for the end user.
Check them out if you get chance.
The most excellent iems, via ear-based curriculum vitae
Here comes the meat of the matter (or root vegetable, if you’re a veggie like me).
As a bit of background, let me tell you where I’m coming from with this look at the CK10 and E-Q7 and how they fit into my personal audio history.
I’m just a normal(ish) guy. I’m 38 years old and I work in a crummy office in central London, in a job that doesn’t let me listen to headphones for 10 hour stretches (if you’re lucky enough to be someone who does, give yourself a smug pat on the back and a jealous punch in the face from me).
My portable listening has gone through many evolutions throughout the years, from the old briefcase-sized cassette walkmans(walkmen?) to portable cd to minidisc, and finally I’m settled with a new 6.5gen 160 GB iPod Classic. Yes, an Apple product, so all you Sanitary:Flow 12.6 and Nonsensa Clip+ users out there should start to cross yourselves and mutter dark incantations about line-outs and UIs and SQs and god knows what else at this point.
I don’t care. I love the iPod Classic for its size (yes, I like to hold big things in my hands
) and its capacity, its interface and (shock horror) the way it sounds. Seems pretty peachy to my ears, and it makes my music library fit in my pocket and it gives me a smile when I use it. What more do I need?I’m not even using a headphone amp at the moment, having given my Corda Headsix away to a mate the other night in exchange for some pints and a meal in the pub. Seemed like a reasonable exchange to me, especially as I have a Headstage Arrow on order and on the way (before I die, hopefully, but I’m not holding my breath). Maybe the Arrow will make the CK10 and E-Q7 sound better, maybe they won’t, but as both are driveable perfectly adequately at good volume from the Classic as it is, I’m not worrying overly.
Back to the potted history. In terms of iems and portable headphones, I’ve run the gauntlet from the old days of tin cans on string to today’s current universal iems and most points in between. I’m not weird enough to try customs just yet, although I anticipate my brain being washed by head-fi exposure at some point soon. Especially if my plan to seduce Donald Trump comes off…..
As we’re talking iems here, I guess my recent journey began in earnest with the Klipsch Image X5s a couple of years ago. They sounded great and a big improvement on the pieces of crap I was using before (a lowly Sennheiser model, as far as I recall) – good fit, comfortable, clear sound, albeit not all that much bass. But lets face it, if you want heavy bass you either go to the fishmongers or listen to rubbish music by people with silly made up names….
But, as the X5s cable split about six months into usage (hardly surprising - Klipsch Images are more wobbly than Amy Winehouse after a night out in Camden), the search continued and I upgraded to the Etymotic ER4P, with a P to S convertor that I ran firstly through a Fiio E5, then through my Headsix. I’m a huge fan of the Ety sound, with all its micro-attention to detail and ability to present the musicians as if you’re there in the studio with them. Plus they are a massive improvement from a build-quality perspective over the Klipschs – a truly reliable, solid cable and earpiece.
But ultimately, there was dryness to the sound from the ER4s, an arid lack of ‘musicality’, or coherence, that left me feeling a bit underwhelmed and distanced from the emotional impact of what I was hearing. It was like being at your best friend’s wedding and only being able to appreciate the quality of the champagne and the flowers. It’s all there in front of you, but the heart and soul is missing.
So, the Etys fairly quickly lost my love and I grew sullen and unable to appreciate their strengths, only able to see the negatives. Where was the bass? Why did my ears itch so much? And therefore, slowly but surely, my attention turned towards the flirtations of the next cute little thing on the block, the Audio Technica ATH-CK10.
You don’t need me to tell you the CK10 is highly regarded in these hallowed circles. Certainly, it’s been one of the more feted iems over the last year or so, and highly respected head-fiers such as Joker, with his 10/10 sound score, have done much to fuel the ongoing interest. His superb magnum opus -looking at over 86 million iems in minute detail - is well recommended by me, and it was after reading his review of the CK10 that I decided my wallet and my heartstrings were being well and truly plucked in the direction of iheadphones yet again, with their £219 (now £249 I believe) price on the ATs. Small price for what promised to be a new partner-for-life, right?
Enter The Supermodel CK10
Wow, how tiny are these things? Like little buttons of love, they’re all shiny and round and practically beg to be shoved in your ears. And that cable! Man, I have to say that cable is the dog’s danglies when it comes to pieces of rubber-encased wire. So soft and touchable, so flexible and perfectly formed. Cold shower time.
Can’t say I’m as enamoured of the packaging, to be honest. What’s the deal with such basic furnishings? Next to the Ortofons and their chic sexy sleekness, it’s like a fortnights caravan holiday in Wolverhampton.
Still, packaging is packaging and it’s what you carry around with you that counts. From the simple hard case to the cable to the earpieces, the CK10s tick all the boxes and then some. I might take issue with the lack of a full range of tips and the complete absence of spare filters - especially given the earpiece isn’t all that compatible with other brand tips – but I’m willing to forgive and forget.
So, all that being said, how do they fit, how comfortable are they and, more importantly, what do they sound like?
Fit
The CK10 really has to be worn over the ear, as their design is far less accommodating of downward wearing than other iems. I personally had no issues fitting them, using the stock small or medium tips, but I understand others have had to resort to more drastic measures like trimming strange triple flanges. Sounds painful to me, but I guess we have some amateur plastic surgeons in the house…..
Comfort
Once inserted, my CK10s were pretty damn comfortable, it has to be said, and aside from a little bit of rubbing near the entrance to the ear canal (where the round rubber earpiece sits) I’d say they were virtually invisible, both to see and feel.
Top points from me then. Your mileage may vary though, especially if your ears are minis or articulated tankers.
Sound
Preamble
It’s interesting to me that both Audio Technica and Ortofon are companies with a long standing pedigree in the world of vinyl turntable cartridges. Indeed, I’ve used MM cartridges from AT and Orto on my own deck in the past (current cart is a Denon 110 MC, vinyl geeks).
There is definitely a different sound signature associated with the vinyl products these two companies produce – the Audio Technica carts, for example, have a speedy, bright and accurate quality to them, and the Ortos (the home range, not the DJ end) tend to have richer, heavier and warmer reproduction. You might perhaps characterise that as the difference between ‘modern’ and ‘traditional’, in the sense that AT carts produce a vinyl sound leaning towards today’s diet of digital music and the somewhat coldish, spiky & clinical, (dare I say it?) ‘soulless’ sound that entails. On the other hand, the Orto cartridges have always struck me as presenting vinyl music as one might imagine it should sound – i.e. with that pre-digital, analogue warmth and emotional crackle of one’s childhood, all knitted polo-neck jumpers, mugs of Bovril and winter nights in front of a roaring fire.
Both approaches are equally valid, of course, from an objective viewpoint, but the issue here is that music is the least objective thing in the universe. It’s primal, subconscious stuff that physically hits your brain so you can hear it, but to feel it, it has to touch your soul, your spirit, your heart, your gonads (or the female equivalent – I’m guessing we don’t get many of those in here, so I’ll spare you the latin vulgarity). And for that to happen, you have to react instinctively, on an atomic level where logical analysis has no sway.
Effectively, a piece of music that stirs one person and floats them transcendentally to Jupiter on a magic carpet of sensation and otherworldliness, might well leave another stone-faced with their arms folded and a horrible bit of dribble on their lips.
Horses for courses, in other words. None of which is rocket science to the educated likes of you and me, but it is the conundrum that sits at the base of all hi-fi reviewing and discussion. How do you square a circle that isn’t even quantifiable as a circle to begin with? You try and tell me you enjoy the sound of that tree falling in the forest and I’ll ask you what tree? And what forest? And who are you anyway?
Anyway, back to the torturous vinyl analogy. Yes, in my view at least, AT and Orto have easily distinguishable vinyl cartridge sounds, a signature that I, whoever I am, can tell apart when they topple in that non-existent forest. One is Schrödinger’s cat when it’s alive and purring, and the other is a dead moggy in a box.
Thing is, I’ve nothing against cats per se, but as I’m allergic to them, I naturally steer away from them. I like rabbits instead, always have done.
So it is with vinyl, and for that warmth and connection to the music, I prefer my Ortofon carts over the ATs any day of the week. Just the way it is with me.
“Jesus, what the hell’s that got to do with these iems?” I hear you impatiently ask.
Bear with me, because as it happens, it’s actually got quite a lot to do with these iems.
For just as the two companies have their individual vinyl signature, so it appears those very same traits are carried over into their high-end iem products. Like I said, I find it interesting, and while it’s just something I’d noticed, it might help me to describe how they both sound when I listen. And it might explain why I favour one much more than the other.
Amble
So, the CK10 in lots of ways strikes me exactly like an AT cart (at least certain models). It reproduces the music in a very precise way, with an overall sheen of what I might term ‘technicolour sharpness’. It’s a bit like the difference between high-def TV and an old analogue colour set. With the AT, you’re getting a high definition aural message that shows you exactly what’s happening across the frequencies, at the exact moment it happens. It’s almost lifelike to that extent. Except it’s not lifelike at all, because what you imagine as lifelike and what actually happens in life are two completely different things.
That doesn’t make any sense, I know, but the point I’m trying to make is that the CK10 gives you a very digital sounding impression of the musical world. There’s heaps and heaps of sparkle and shine, for example, mostly at the top end, or the ‘sky’ of the picture, to use the TV analogy. And it’s a lovely sky too – very blue and clear and bold. But it’s very easy when listening to the CK10 to miss all the other details in the scene, so strong is that sky shouting “look at me! Look at me! Aren’t I just the best sky you’ve ever seen?” Yes, it’s a nice sky, but its only when you stand back that you realise you’re missing the bigger picture. And in the case of the CK10, the more you objectify that picture, the less impressive it gets.
Take the mids, for example. They’re great and all, and pretty in-your-face and lively, but it’s a very constant, almost overbearing liveliness at times. That’s fine for fast paced electronica, and some strains of rock, but when you want a nice mellow, relaxed vibe, that shine and sparkle and perkiness can be draining and a little off-key. And, while sibilance is not an issue on a lot of tracks, it does poke its ugly head out of the window and point to itself when it’s least desired. That might be a fit and tip issue, of course, but I’m telling you what its like with my fit and with the stock tips. If you’ve got a magic bullet to shoot that sibilance in the kneecaps, good for you.
An example of this is plain as day with the title track of Nick Cave’s last Bad Seeds album ‘Dig Lazarus Dig’. Good Old Nick, he’s got the kind of growl and band you really have to hear live to experience, but on record his best albums at least let you feel that curled gothic sneer up close. Except, with the CK10s, this track is ruined by sibilance that scrawls all over the song like a small child with a scratchy pen. Every S is a hard metallic SSS and instead of a velvet fist stroking and threatening you into joyful submission, the vocal ssssswiftly becomessss a real pain in the arssssssse, like a ssssharpened nail on a blackboard. Grrr.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s just an example, and it doesn’t happen all the time, or even that often, but in the rare cases it does, it can ruin what might have been a very lovely listening experience up till then. And there’s nothing like being awoken rudely from a musical reverie for dampening the spirits.
In its favour, the CK10 gets lots of things right, and I’d definitely recommend it for those who like their treble and are willing to experiment maybe with tips. For me though - and this is where personal preference comes in - I like a warmer sound, a more encompassing, soulful reproduction of instruments and voices, and I’m not overly fussed if the blazing blues stop short of the heavens, as long as the mids run like chocolate rivers and the lows are peaty and earthy. Film wise, the CK10 reminds me a lot of ‘Blade Runner’. It just has that feel to it, especially that opening scene. Flying across a fantastic and sharply rendered world, full of explosions and neon attractions, you feel like a kid in a sweetshop, but then you begin to dive down below the rooftops and that heightened reality starts cracking and the hidden dangers in its dirty streets start hunting you down. It doesn’t mean you won’t revisit and enjoy your holiday there, but you quickly realise you might have to invest in some kung-fu lessons and be a bit more streetwise than you’d like.
That’s probably coming across like a whole truckload of bollocks, I know, but its true for me, from an impressionistic angle anyway. And that’s how I experience things like music.
Now, how about the Ortofon E-Q7s? Do I like them? Let’s see what rubbish I can make up about those, shall we?
Hey everyone, it’s the Ortofon E-Q7! Woo! What a time to be alive!
I probably should have just posted those words as my review and had done with it. Because, from top to bottom, these new hybrid balanced whatsitsname things from Orto make me smile like Heath Ledger and want to grab people on the tube on the way to and from work and demand “why so seeeeerious?” while laughing maniacally.
They’re that good. Oh yes.
Packaging
Let’s start with the packaging. Ah, the packaging. If that doesn’t give you an erection, or the female equivalent, you’re medically dead. Have you seen the box they come in? It looks like something Silvio Berlusconi would keep his best gold-plated condom in. Trying to stop the urge to fondle and caress its glorious splendour is like Cheryl Cole’s very existence – pointless and futile. Just give in and do it, it’s a lovely thing, all jewellery box lines and silver lettering on it’s ridiculously over the top cushioned interior. I’d like to go and visit Ortofon one day just to see what their senior management toilets are like.
Then there’s the carrying case, in all its real black leather and red stitching glory. Its smells so seductive! And its big enough for me to fit my iPod Classic in there with the ‘phones as well. Brilliant. And even with the cable poking out when I’m using them, the zip comes exactly to the point where the stress relief forms around the jack, so no danger of accidentally zipping and cutting the cable. That’s the kind of attention to detail I like. The cord itself isn’t as good as the CK10s, but what is? As is, its perfectly acceptable and functional. Maybe a shirt clip would have been a wise addition, but hey.
The accessories are pretty good too – nice set of tips, replacement filters and a little white stick for changing them. It might look like plastic, but knowing Ortofon it’s probably made out of unicorn horn.
The earphones themselves are in keeping with the box and the case – chic and elegant and beautiful. While the CK-10s are much smaller and cuter, I find the straight ahead bulleted simplicity of the E-Q7s to be more attractive and manly. Japanese cool done two ways? It’s the Iron Chef of iems!
Fit
I was a bit worried before ordering the E-Q7s, as I’ve seen it mentioned a few times that they are an acquired fit and therefore not for everyone. Something to do with people with small canals not being able to insert them, due to the diameter of the stock being a pretty fat 9mm. One reviewer in head-fi even suggested sticking a pen in your ear to see if they’d fit. Ha, you must think we were born yesterday mate.
But once they arrived, I soon realised I’d been worrying in vain. What’s the problem? I simply had to change the tip to the large size, as the medium doesn’t quite seal enough, and away I went, a real plug’n’plaything for my ears. You can wear them up, down, probably even sideways for all I know. I tend to go for the up, but not with the cable behind the ears – I don’t like having the cable behind my ears for some reason. Probably due to childhood trauma or something equally Freudian. A twist of the barrel into the upwards position helps with the seal too, so it’s all good.
Comfort
Yep, they’re comfy alright. Less ‘invisible’ than the CK10s, they nevertheless feel lightweight and unobtrusive and crucially I don’t get any rubbing of skin like with the CK10s. God, this all sounds a bit wrong and sordid, doesn’t it? Let’s move on….
Sound
If sound quality is king, the Orto E-Q7s are the galactic rulers of the megaverse. Going back to the vinyl comparison, it’s immediately clear to me, from minute one, that the Ortofon sound signature is present and fantastically correct. Whether the same people worked on it, or its an internal mandate to preserve that beautiful liquid warmth and musicality, I don’t know, but I do know what I like, and I like these very very much.
You know when something fits you like a glove, right? Doesn’t matter what it is – could be a glove, actually, or a car, or a woman, or a drink, or a sandwich. If you know yourself and your tastes, you can usually get a very quick gut feel for whether something is suitable for you.
For me, my journey into the world of high end iems may be longer than yours. Chances are, its way shorter and you’ll laugh at this next sentence. But I really do think I’m done looking for something better to listen through. I don’t care a fig what technology goes on inside these things, as that gut feel they give me when I hit play is what it’s all about. Its like someone’s organised a focus group with just me in it, to discuss making a product that’s going to really please me, then gone away and made it and given it to me. It makes me happy.
I can talk negatives if you like. But about as negative as it gets is to say the treble isn’t as sharp or extended or whatever as the CK10. Big deal. I’m not a massive treble-head anyway, so it doesn’t bother me. I don’t even know what a treble-head looks like. Do they have eyebrows? And how do you actually go about measuring the difference really? With a jam jar and a ruler? All I can say is the top end doesn’t feel compressed in the slightest to me, it feels accurate and right and a good fit.
And that’s it for bad words which are not even bad. Everything else is totally positive. The bass is there, rumbling when needed, doing other things when not. But then I’m not a bass head either – and I do know what one of those looks like and I’m glad I’m not one of them.
The mids though, that’s where its at for me. The mids. Ah, the mids. They are just the most deliciously smooth and rich river of dark chocolate I’ve heard, with all the instruments floating along in their own boats, me laid back on a golden gondola in the middle, sipping real ale while Rachel McAdams – dressed as a nurse, naturally - punts me to paradise and beyond.
The mids are good. Oh yes, the mids are good.
Just play that Nick Cave track and you’ll immediately see what I mean. Where’s that stupid metal sssssnake gone? Good riddance to you and your pointy nerve-shredding hissing. Welcome the purr and the crunch and the snarl and the visceral embrace.
The end?
For now. I’m off to do some more e-q7 stroking. Thanks for stopping by. Before I go, just a quick reminder: if you live in the UK, put a couple of ton in the direction of iheadphones and ask them to send you some Naughty Ortys. You won’t regret it. Or maybe you will, what do I know?
Take it easy.
Ben
