Audio Technica CKS-70 vs. Fischer Eterna: Who wins for bass and overall SQ?

Jan 17, 2010 at 3:36 AM Post #16 of 33
Now this is a good headfier! Really nice dweaver, although... we also need input from at least one person who has heard both IE8 and eterna!... So far i can think only of clieos, but i'm not even sure since he hasn't reviewed IE8 formally as he has done with his other IEMs (or has he?). Maybe i should also pm him.
 
Jan 17, 2010 at 5:02 AM Post #17 of 33
Can say for sure the CKS70 has HUGE bass. I have been listening to Trentemoller - The Last Resort all day. This as much bass as any bass head could ever want. I definitely would not want more bass this, and that is something that I have never thought or said before. Mine have not been burnt in yet, and I am still listening and comparing. But as for bass, (through an iphone) you will not be disappointed.

I am still listening to these before I make to many comments, but I can say that I expected my SE530 to be a real disappointment in the bass dept after getting used to the CKS70. That was not the case. The bass in the SE530 is not a disappointment at all, it's still there, very tight and clean, but it does not have the HUGE impact of the CKS70. The CKS70 has massive bass impact, and I don't feel it is distorted, loose or colored. They are Great for bass heavy electronic music, but not quite as sweet in the mid range and highs as the SE530 for SRV blues and or stuff like that. These will blow you away if you are all about the bass. Heavy artillery.

Still listening...

I can say for sure though - at this price point, the CKS70 are a MUST have if you are looking for an IEM with serious bass. I think these are a bargain at around $90 USD.

(I have not put any EQ on these, this is all through an Iphone 3GS)
 
Jan 17, 2010 at 6:24 AM Post #18 of 33
macshooter, how long have you had your CKS70? If they are new the bass will actually subside a bit after about 10 hrs of use and midrange and to a degree the treble will improve over the next 80hrs. But the bass is always massive and if anything becomes even more controlled and detailed.
 
Jan 17, 2010 at 6:44 AM Post #19 of 33
Summoned by dweaver, and here I am! Unfortunately I have not heard the Eterna, so half of the initial discussion is out the window. But, I would have to say the CKS70 is the poor man's IE8 due to sound signature of the mids and bass. Of course, the IE8 outclasses the CKS70 in every way, but they sound similar except the treble.

Best bass in an under $100 IEM (and the IE8)? Depends on what you want out of your bass. Fast, warm, big boom, punch, etc.

Denon C710: Might have the most deep punch, and is fast. I often found it had too much punch for non-electronic music for my liking. I didn't like getting punched in the head while listening to a mellow Sarah McLachlan song!

Cyclone PR2: Turns out mine were broken, as the right side would lose it's sound after a short period of time. When they worked, these probably had the most overall bass, but it didn't seem well controlled with the sources I paired it with.

Mingo WM2: Huge bass that seems to be there when I wanted, and not when I didn't want it. Very warm like the IE8, but more deep bass and a little less mid-bass. Overall has a similar balance as the IE8 from bass to treble, but the mids are more forward. The bass isn't quite as fast as the C710, but it has more reverb. These are better controlled than the PR2.

CKS70: I didn't feel it held an advantage over any the WM2 or C710 in any way. The WM2 bass seems more detailed, and I remember the C710 bass being very detailed as well. Where the CKS70 shines is perceived presentation width. The bass is good, but not the be-all-end-all I thought it may be. It is tighter than the PR2, but also has less bass. I would have kept it (well, I still actually have it sitting in a box waiting around), but I like a good amount of smooth, detailed treble, which this didn't have.

IE8: The IE8 with the bass knob at max can pump out tremendous amounts of bass, but there is so much mid-bass it lowers the impact of the deep bass, which is the major difference of the IE8 and the rest. To me, this is an issue based on my preference. But the IE8 surpasses all the other IEMs I mentioned in every technical category, space, width, detail, treble extension, transparency, etc.

Thunder: The Thunder doesn't have the most bass, nor the fastest, nor the best controlled of these IEMs. What it has is what I think is a fantastic balance across the spectrum that makes all genres sound great. But it does have plenty of bass when the song calls for it.

M5: The M5 had a lot of bass, close to C710 and WM2 levels, but not quite. And the rest of the spectrum left something to be desired in comparison as well as the overall space.

Turbines: While I thought the Turbines were overall good, and I did like the bass and mids, I didn't feel the treble was all that great. And as far as impact, I would say it was a little less than the M5, maybe on par or a little more than the Thunder. For the price at the time ($150), there really wasn't much else that could compete, but now, even at $100, they have some stiff competition.

And throw in the source factor. Are you using a DAP, and if so, which one? Maybe an amp, and again, which one? Each source can and will change the sound of the IEM. For example, I think the IE8 does much better with an amp, but the WM2 does quite well without an amp.

Not sure I cleared anything up, and maybe muddied the waters even more, but it comes down to personal preference and knowing what you prefer! And I prefer to have many IEMs I can choose from!
 
Jan 17, 2010 at 7:09 AM Post #20 of 33
Quote:

Originally Posted by average_joe /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Cyclone PR2: Turns out mine were broken, as the right side would lose it's sound after a short period of time. When they worked, these probably had the most overall bass, but it didn't seem well controlled with the sources I paired it with.


Sorry to hear about your bad experience with the PR2, I knew from your PM that something was wrong. I re-checked with the Fuze and mine have slighty less bass than the M5, IE8 and FX500, but if I crank up the volume it's the PR2 which stay the most controlled. Anyway, this info is pretty much useless as they obviously differ from batch to batch due to bad QC.
 
Jan 17, 2010 at 7:13 AM Post #21 of 33
Quote:

Originally Posted by james444 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Sorry to hear about your bad experience with the PR2, I knew from your PM that something was wrong. I re-checked with the Fuze and mine have slighty less bass than the M5, IE8 and FX500, but if I crank up the volume it's the PR2 which stay the most controlled. Anyway, this info is pretty much useless as they obviously differ from batch to batch due to bad QC.


Yea, thanks for your condolences. The biggest bummer is that I didn't get a chance to really test them out. They are being sent in for repair/replacement, though, but I am no longer the rightful owner!

And I forgot to mention tips and insertion angle play a huge part in how much bass you get. Foam (or foam under silicon) is generally going to give you much more bass than an average light silicon tip.
 
Jan 17, 2010 at 10:35 PM Post #22 of 33
The Eternas probably have as much mid-bass as the IE8 from my guess, I doubt it would be more, though it could be less. If there was any reason people would think it was muddy, that might be it.
I'm not sure if it's just me or something is happening, but the bass seems to be settling down a bit more yet after probably 150hrs of use.
I think it's also worth noting that I listen to metal, and some of that is some very fast thrash metal. IMO, if there's any time the Eterna's bass would break down, that would be it.
I'd love to offer comparisons with other IEMs, but I simply don't have any other bassy IEMs anymore. I've got the RE0 in the mail, but that doesn't help me here.
Maybe I should pick up a pair of the CKS-70 for comparison.
 
Jan 18, 2010 at 12:49 AM Post #23 of 33
I like the CKS-70 (EQ'ed) as a nice companion IEM to my RE0's. If they are EQ'ed nicely, they actually sound fantastic - incredibly full sound, still slightly unbalanced (if you up the treble/mids too much you start getting some sibilance), and with some kind of instruments they are incredible. Cellos for instance, stomp all over the RE0's, which simply can't match the AT's even EQ'ed in that department. I've always wondered why Zoe Keating didn't sound as good on her album as she did live, and I realised after listening on the CKS70 was that the RE0 couldn't provide that low frequency energy.

I also changed the filter on my CKS-70 to a mesh filter from that crappy fibre filter to one of the spare filters from the RE252, which seemed to have helped mids along. I can definitely recommend them.

(To anyone with a pair of CKS-70's, have a listen to this track: YouTube - A Collective Haunting Forgive the Star Trek fan video and the lack of HQ/HD option, it was the only result I could find!
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This is all one person playing on her cello, and she is amazing!
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)
 
Jan 18, 2010 at 6:16 PM Post #24 of 33
It has been quit a while since I last heard IE8, so my memory could be a bit off - however, I think ethan961 described Eterna quite well in that thread. In comparison, IE8 and Eterna share the idea that music doesn't has to be analytical and 'correct' to be enjoyable. But Eterna is much more fun sounding than IE8: more bass (especially on the mid) and fuller mid. IE8 has better soundstage and probably can be said as 'more controlled / balanced'. As I said in my Eterna review, if you are not looking for an accurate sounding IEM and willing to experiment with a fairly unconventional sound signature, Eterna can be very rewarding - if not, I would suggest you stick to the more popular choice such as IE8, or any of the poor man's IE8 alternative.

Also, I want to make point that since Eterna is fun at its extreme, any more coloration from the source should be avoided. Eterna is best with a cold to balanced sounding source, you won't want to pair Eterna with a very warm source as it will turn out to be too much.

If this is of any help: To me, listening to IE8 is like listening to a pair of decent speaker in a private room, a kind of personal enjoyment at its best; Eterna is more like listening music in a small concert at a private club, you might not hear as much detail and the environment might not be ideal for music, but the atmosphere is all that is important.
 
Feb 5, 2010 at 6:11 PM Post #25 of 33
i guess i am the only with both ie8 and eterna, but i don't think i am that good at describing sound. will try my best though
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i had ie8 for about 8 months now, then my friend got a eterna about a month ago. so i borrowed his pair to try and i was totally amazed how good it was. i immediately got 1 myself after few days and now i am going to sell my ie8. i can't agree more with clieos, it is certainly more fun sounding than ie8.
in a sense, it has more mid bass and body to the music as compared to ie8. it feels more "ommphh" listening to eterna. however, for some songs, it tends to get a bit messy and this is where ie8 shines better. more balanced and composed.
having said that, on any other day, i will definitely choose eterna over ie8. it's such a fun sounding phone

one problem i foresee for new eterna users is probably the amount of bass. for people who are not used to heavy bass, jumping straight into eterna could be a pain as most people can't take the amount of bass.

my transition has been nice, crossroad x3-crossroad x3i-nuforce ne7m-ie8 and now eterna. so it's a gradual increase in terms of bass quantity.

hope this helps!
 
Feb 5, 2010 at 7:16 PM Post #26 of 33
I love Head Fi. It's a place with tons of info where you can read reviews, make purchasing decisions, read more reviews and then make different purchasing decisions. I changed my mind on this so many times (even considered Hippo VBs) that a few days ago I decided to stick with my Monster Turbines. Now, these Eterna's are a temptation again.

Is there a way to permanently block headfi from web browsers?
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Feb 5, 2010 at 7:28 PM Post #27 of 33
I was alarmed by the bloat in the CKS70s bass, like a boombox playing beneath a highway overpass. I cannot recommend them.
 
Feb 6, 2010 at 8:48 AM Post #28 of 33
Quote:

Originally Posted by slowpickr /img/forum/go_quote.gif

I already own Monster Turbines. Would I gain much with either of these IEMs over the MTs?

Thanks!



Eterna definitely has more bass quantity (around mid bass range) than Turbine. Warmer than Turbine as well. On some songs, the bass is pretty strong that sometimes I involuntarily blink my eyes with every beat. Eterna is a basshead's phone for sure. I love it.
 
Feb 6, 2010 at 3:34 PM Post #29 of 33
My sister has been borrowing my personal pair of Eternas, and it's really been killing me not having them! I've mostly been using the RE0 otherwise. Don't get me wrong, I love the RE0, but the Eternas just have that quality that makes them special, they're just so fun to listen to. The RE0s do hurt my ears a bit after an hour or so, but that's something totally personal fit.
I always find myself itching for the Eterna, since none of my other IEMs scratch that specific itch.
I also have been using the Silver Bullet, and now that I have the RE0, from my impressions the SB vs. RE0 is kind of like SE530 vs W3. The SB is warmer, bassier, and more natural/organic sounding you could say to my ears, whereas RE0 is just like plain neutrality. The SB has good detail, just the highs are rolled off sooner than the RE0. Not too soon, just too soon to have that same sparkle, that's about all that's missing.
Between the RE0, Silver Bullet, and Eterna, I'm happy. Each does something the other does not, and neither takes strong enough preference to be chosen that much more than the others. Usually if one gets left behind it's the RE0 because the first generation iPod Touch is a somewhat thin sounding player unamped, which doesn't help the RE0, so when I don't want to carry around my E5, SB or Eterna it is.
I think sometime I might have to snatch up an IE8 and see exactly how they differ so I can build my knowledge. I was previously thinking the W3, but maybe IE8 would be better at first so I can make a comparison.
 
Mar 22, 2010 at 11:45 PM Post #30 of 33
I got some additional feedback that the Eterna is very similar to the CKS-70, but edges it out as a more fun and engaging IEM. I'm curious now how Hippo VBs and HJE900s would fare in this mix? Guess I need to buy them all!
 

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