One month and 1000 posts...only on Head-fi.
I'm glad you're liking the CK10. To me, they are one of the most technically "correct" earphones on the market, well as long as you cut out the massive treble peak at 10kHz, it's narrow but a solid 9dB which is ridiculous and very noticeable. It makes the treble a bit hot and spitty at times. The drivers used in the CK10 are very good and some of the fastest, most detailed, and well textured BA drivers on the market. I do feel the CK10 falls short in a couple areas though. For one, sound stage. It isn't great, at least when compared to a number of other products that actually do it better. Second, they are a bit "passive." What I mean by this is that they aren't really engaging, and you don't really get into the music like you do with some other earphones. I feel it has some to do with the lack of shear power, authority, presence, the kind of stuff that can really pull you into the music. Outside of those, the earphone is very "correct" in what it does. Realism is outstanding. Transparency is very good. Texture and level of detail is extremely good. Dynamic range is very good. There's just a lot of things it actually does really, really well. The funny part is at the end of the day I'd still rather listen to another earphone. At the time, I had the CK10, RE252, Custom 3, MTPG, and UM3X. Out of the bunch, the one I'd listen to most was the RE252. It didn't have the EQing need on the top end, and it was more engaging, although the dynamic, texture, and level of detail weren't quite as good. The RE252 was more balanced, offered a little more bass punch, was more forward and engaging, and had good enough sound quality to step back to the CK10 although I see the CK10 as a better product from a functional standpoint.
Today I have a pile of earphones sitting around: UM3X, Triple.Fi 10, RE252, RE262, e-Q7, CK100, and Custom 3. I still see the RE252 is a true reference level product. At the same time I haven't used another earphone as technically "correct" as the CK10. If you want to hear an absolutely amazing dynamic driver, try the RE262. It is godly, however the earphone itself isn't as balanced as the RE252 and at the end of the day the RE252 is 90% the RE262 at a little lower cost better balanced and simply works better over a wider range of music. The RE262 driver is godly though and is more effortless, transparent, and realistic than the RE252 which does make up for its bit of coloration. I do often prefer my CK100 over everything else for general listening. The RE252 and e-Q7 are my runners up. It's incredibly well balanced, and has good heft and visceral sense to the notes. Level of detail is high, but it doesn't have the texture and micro detail of the CK10. In a sense, it is more laid back than the CK10. It lacks the level of texture and dynamic breadth of the CK10. The lack of texture is one significant shortfall of the CK100 actually but common among BA earphones. The note isn't really too short or clean as it does carry good presence and heft, but notes simply aren't articulated much. The CK100 does carry better presence and better sound stage than the CK10. At $400 it's a pricey product. As well, the new Westone 4 is out and is proving to be a well balanced product from the reviews. I question if the CK100 is worth buying versus the new Westone 4 if you really have $400 to blow.
For your piece of mind, I will say the CK10 offers a presentation of sound that no other IEM on the market offers. NOTHING has the level of micro detail and fine texturing that the CK10 has, nothing. The level of realism is also extremely good on the CK10. Realism of sound is something I find most earphones have trouble with. Many simply lack some parts of the presentation or skew it in some significant to really flesh out the sound and make it believable. The CK10 is extremely good. In these ways, the CK10 is better than the CK100.
If you're curious about the e-Q7, it too is nothing like the CK10. The e-Q7 is good about a few things. It has great overall frequency response balance, only very slightly mid-centric and slightly towards the lower mids and with a slightly smoothed off top end. The e-Q7 offers excellent texturing, a thing I really like to see in an earphone. It just helps flesh out the sound and helps provide the finer details and information about the audible space. The e-Q7 is slightly warm but natural and life-like. The level of detail is ok, slightly laid back, slightly smooth, not muddy or anything but also not crisp and articulate. It's a middle of the road presentation of detail. Dynamic range is good, loud is loud but quiet is too quiet, often requiring you to turn up the earphone extra loud to actually make the subtle ques noticeable. The earphone stops being as clean at very high outputs too, so its an unusual trade-off. the e-Q7 is in some ways like the CK10 but as a smoothed down version without the hot top end and more bass presence. In the end, the e-Q7 is more fun and engaging to listen to but less accurate and correct in presentation. The good texture does often make it more revealing than the CK100 although the CK100 is a little more refined and detailed although the lack of texture bugs me.
Where do the RE series sit? The RE262 is a cleaner, leaner sound than the e-Q7 with more limitless breath. the RE252 can sound more constrained and at times small or weak in comparison due to a relatively constrained dynamic range (don't think the driver likes the tiny enclosure). Details and texturing on the RE262 are more subtle than the CK10. The CK10 sort of tries to show you everything. The RE262 simply has everything. The coloration can be a moderate shortcoming though, and the RE252 comes across more balanced and with more breadth and presence at both ends. The dynamics of the RE252 are opposite that of the e-Q7. The e-Q7 shows loud fine but is super quiet with subtle information. The RE252 shows the subtle information very well but is moderately constrained on the loud stuff. The CK10 is much better balanced doing well with both, although it isn't as visceral as the e-Q7 or RE252. The RE262 has no weakness in these areas. Dynamics for the RE262 are effortless and very correct but also visceral too unlike the CK10. Sound stage is better too. It's hard not to get good things from an amazing driver though. From a technical standpoint, if there was one that I would pit against the CK10, it would be the RE262, but they are significantly different in overall presentation.
My top 5 pretty much include all of these: CK10, RE252, RE262, e-Q7, and CK100. They're all really good, excellently balanced for the most part, but offer different things in terms of sound signature and presentation of note. Out of the bunch, the e-Q7 is probably the closest to the CK10 but a much smoothed down version and warm instead of with that hot treble.
