[tuffguyblake]

alright so after hours upon hour of research, i finally bit the bullet and bought myself a pair of ck7's. they just arrived at my place this afternoon and i have been doing some critical (un amped) listening since then. upon putting them in my ears, they are definitely very comfortable and give a stable, safe feel. they are rather heavy for iems and they feel very sturdy and durable-just what i need.

Then came the listening. i first noticed the crisp cymbals and articulated mids. it sounded great, especially the mid-highs, more toward highs. however, i did seem to notice it was missing something...a solid lower end. excuse my poor use of words, but i cant describe it. im not a basshead at all, but i feel like it needs more lower end. the music just doesnt have the driving force in it i guess. keep in mind this only applies to my main kind of music: rock/alternative. i tried some electronica and it sounded all-around great, even the lower end. but something just isnt there with rock..i dont understand. it feels like the 'phones main priority are the highs. i mean they're great, but i need more lower end.

whats the deal? maybe i just need to burn them in. will the bass/ lower end improve or become more noticeable with an adequate burn in session?

call me crazy, but as of right now i prefer the lower end of my sony ex71's to these. however, the highs and mids dominate on the ck7's. but still, i was hoping for an upgrade from the sony's, not a compromise.

thanks in advance for any responses.

 

[dscans]

Hmm, that's not the impression I get from my CK7's. The bass was pretty deep, textured and more importantly, musical. No complaints about the highs, as you mentioned. The mids lacked a whee bit of extension - can't really place it, but not quite as expansive as I would have liked, but it's not a deal-breaker.

In my experience, a good fit and seal is paramount for good bass, especially canalphones. Maybe you could try the other tips to see if the situation improves.

What source are you using? I plugged it into my Sony AW808 and an Apple Touch, and they all sounded great.

 

[tuffguyblake]

I play mine with a creative zen v plus with no amp. I have been looking for canal phones that sound great with no amp preferably.

 

[thislittlepiggy]

i think it's just a matter of preference. i think that the ck7's bass is very pronounced. you may just need an earphone with more bass to suit your tastes. i wouldn't say the sound has changed much with burn-in, but hopefully, you will become accustomed to the sound sig as you continue to use your ck7s.

 

[hentai]

the ath ck7 lacks abit of lower mids. The sound doesn't feel fluid on the whole

 

[redrich2000]

If in a weeks time you still prefer your EX71s to the CK7s then you are a bass head. But before drawing conclusions give them a bit longer. I find it always takes me a week or so to adjust to a new sound sig.

FWIW... I suspect its not the bottom end you're missing but the fullness of the mids and upper bass. IMO the one weakness of the CK7s is they are a tiny little bit thin and flat through the mids and upper bass. I found that using an amp beefed them up nicely in this regard.

 

[wae5]

It's my experience that AT phones have a distinct sonic signature that's more refined and delicate than phones like Grados and Sennheisers which we're more accustomed to listening to in the West. This means AT phones produce all the notes but only do it when they're absolutely required to do so. Obviously, this is absurd but it's the only way I can think of to properly describe their unique sound. I've read that AT phones are designed specifically for Japanese pop music and this may account for why the higher end models must be imported directly from Japan. AT phones are something of an acquired taste and for many Western listeners they can be a sonic dead-end.

 

[DKaz]

You should try foam tips. This will enhance the bass.

 

[warpdriver]

Quote:

Originally Posted by redrich2000 /img/forum/go_quote.gif If in a weeks time you still prefer your EX71s to the CK7s then you are a bass head. But before drawing conclusions give them a bit longer.

Exactly. Every headphone that I've owned since the EX71 has less bass including Sony's higher end EX90 and all of their other headphones. The CK7's bass is very pronounced IMO, almost bloated. The CK7's bass is deep and solid even compared to my home loudspeaker system that has solid response down to 21Hz.

I would try to get a better seal if you aren't hearing the bass, if you get a great seal, you should find the bass quite balanced. Trying foam tips is a good idea

 

[tuffguyblake]

yeah i realize its much too early to draw conclusions; these are just my initial impressions right out of the box. i suppose i am just used to the sound sig of my ex71's, which i do really like.

i'll give em a week or so of critical listening. then i'll compare them to my ex71's. i just compared them now and i can definitely see the improvement of clarity, but i guess i'll just need to get used to the lower end.

i'll report back with my second thoughts on these in a week or so..

 

[pedxing]

I think the ck7 has too big of a hump in the lower mids. I tried using all three different tips sizes and I get very different results. The smallest doesn't fit and they sound tinny. The medium size tips give quite a bit of bass and it goes quite deep. The largest tips attenuate the bass too much. I guess the extra material is absorbing the lower frequencies. I can imagine if ones ear canals are a certain size and shape, none of the tips will yield optimal results.

edit - I forgot I used an impedance adapter with the CK7. I find the CK7 too sensitive with my ipod, so I use a volume adapter. I can tell the bass response changes dramatically as I change the volume. Without the impedance adapter, they do sound bright and the bass is lean.

 

[tuffguyblake]

yeah so far i find these to be a bit too bright for my tastes...either that or im not used to them yet.

jw, does anybody know how these compare to the mylarone x3i's? do the x3i's have more lower end than the ck7's? if thats the case i might want to try those out. the x3i's might have the sound im looking for.

 

[Bisco82]

I know what your talking about with the bass. Though the sonys are far from refined by comparison, they have a very pleasing sound sig. I feel the same way you do about my denon 700's, I use UE tips and they still lack that extra low end punch. The price you pay for ECH refinement seems to be a brighter, less meaty low end

 

[selfdivider]

I've had ATH-CK7 for about 2.5 years now. I listen mostly to classical, jazz & indie rock. Even though I love these phones, on some of the heavier rock or metal (Mastodon!) the overall balance of the sound doesn't favor such music. You can burn them in, but they'll always be clearly musical, well-soundstaging phones. You might want something with a darker tonal timbres & meatier bass response.

 

[tuffguyblake]

Quote:

Originally Posted by selfdivider /img/forum/go_quote.gif I've had ATH-CK7 for about 2.5 years now. I listen mostly to classical, jazz & indie rock. Even though I love these phones, on some of the heavier rock or metal (Mastodon!) the overall balance of the sound doesn't favor such music. You can burn them in, but they'll always be clearly musical, well-soundstaging phones. You might want something with a darker tonal timbres & meatier bass response.

thats probably what im looking for then. just a darker tone w/ a bit more bass. in this regard, are there any sub-70$ suggestions that are better than the ex71's? nothing darker than the ex71's tho... and nothing brighter than the ck7s.