[Nirvana1000]

So far this thread is pretty confusing on which IEM is has the best overall sound and value.But i'll chime back when i get my FX500s.I just hope they are better then my Atrios.Not to say they sound bad and far from it.They are my go to IEMs!But nobody wants a purchase to be lesser, but better then what they already have.From reading this thread the CKS70s look like the "bass king" and ith IE8s might be overpriced.But looks can be deceiving!

 

[cn11]

I know... reading this thread makes me curious to try a pair of the CKS70's.

 

[dweaver]

I will be posting my thoughts about the CKS70 and my MTB's as well as Klipsch S4i and I will even compare them to my big cans just for fun

.

 

[ductrung3993]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dweaver /img/forum/go_quote.gif I will be posting my thoughts about the CKS70 and my MTB's as well as Klipsch S4i and I will even compare them to my big cans just for fun .

That would be great!

 

[dweaver]

OK, I recieved my CKS70's today. So this is an initial impression not a full review and aside from specific characteristics I will not post a full comparison to other headphones or IEM's until these burn in this week.

Out of the box, the bass on these are HUGE and I mean HUGE and not just boomy look at me I'm a fart canon huge either. I generally love phones that can handle the midrange properly so I get all the nuances of the instruments and such, my ATH AD900 are an example of this. This is the first headphones or IEM I have owned that I have the sense of this kind of nuance in the bass. It's a bit out of control as times but these phones have not been broken in yet, and still I have heard more nuances like drum decay and bass guitar tremor than anything I currently own.

The midrange while not as detailed as my AD900, is very present and clean with no sense of recession. I hope this area will increase in detail with breakin.

The treble is definitely more recessed than my AD900 but still present. Again I hope this area brightens a bit with breakin and gains a bit more detail.

The overall sound signature is warm and lush.

FINALLY, finally I have an IEM with sound stage and a bit of the feel of being at a concert. These phones are not my AD900 or 700 for that matter but they are better than the 3 closed HP's I have tried or owned for soundstage including my current ATH ES7 and JVC DX1 and have beaten every IEM I have owned by MILES!

The build of these is very nice as well, the cable is nice and does not tangle easily like my Monster Turrbines and Klipsch S4i, it also has a nice elbow plug with good strain relief and the stems of the phone are very solid feeling.

Microphonics - the noise of the cable is a bit louder than both of the aformentioned IEM's but not terribly so. The sound of feet walking is less than the S4i and about the same as the MTB.

 

[arctechnika]

Sounds exactly like what I was looking for in a portable headphone solution that's fun to use. Good luck with the burn in, I would love to know if the mids and highs brighten up a bit with time. Do you think they are able to be recabled to cure the microphonics?


Thanks!

 

[dweaver]

They are better for microphonics than alot of phones and with a clothes clip they may lose most of the cable rubbing issue. The stem is pretty long but I was able to successfully loop them up over my ears which again with reduce microphones substantially, if a person added a pair of silicone ear guides to these they would probably look a bit silly but lose almost all microphonics. I tried flipping left to right and wearing them upside down but was unable to get the same seal.

Their stems may make recabling very difficult though... So I would try the other ways to reduce microphonics first.

 

[average_joe]

How do they compare specifically with the S4? Seems the CKS70 has a wider stage and better bass nuances than the S4, but I wonder how they compare overall. The true test will be after burn in, and I am eagerly awaiting your thoughts.

 

[dweaver]

OK I am listening to some Eagles and I have to say they have not felt this real with any of my headphones. My AD900 makes the Eagles sound thin and most of my IEM's make them feel lifeless. With these phones they have a soundstage with emotion and they sound full bodied. I have been despairing I would never hear them sound right.

I have been listening for several hours now with ZERO sense of fatigue and dang they are very comfortable, I love how the bass chambers nestles in my ear. If this keeps up my wife is gonna have to jab me to hear her because I won't want to listen to my open phones anymore LOL.

 

[dweaver]

After leaving these burnin over night a decent volume level playing a good variety of rock the bass hass settled down loosing the little bit of over the top boominess that came throw on some songs, the bass no longer colors the rest of the sound in those songs. The midrange is a bit clearer as well and starting to come out more. The only area that has not changed much at this point is the treble which is ever so slightly rolled off.

BTW I should mention this is all being played throw my Auzentech Forte 7.1 sound card at the moment (stronger than normal amp in this card). I haven't used this much at all with my Ipod Touch, the IEM is going with me to work today though so I will have a good idea of how it sounds straight out of that source by tonight.

I have also tried these with my RW Audio Amp1 a bit (this amp is bit sharp and bright) and they sound excellent with my amp as it helps balance out the phones a bit bringing out the highs a bit more. I have a feeling that I will be using my amp with these phones at home from now on versus directly from my soundcard (the oposite of my AD900 which suffers under my amp due to it's own brightness).

 

[lilkoolaidman]

so the CKS70s bass is actually accurate? Not just boomy and bloated?

Hopefully I'll like them but USPS is the worst service EVAR!!! I still haven't received them!

should be today or tomorrow.

 

[dweaver]

OK I can attest to the fact these do make alot of noise in the wind, so for anyone wanting them for outside walking around use, if you have lots of wind these might not be so great. BUT I have also only used the stock tips so far.

Right now I wish I had a pair of Senn HD650's, I can't help but think these phones have a similar sound signature in many ways but I am going from memory from very brief usage of those phones from a couple of months back. I may see if a friend of mine still has his HD650 so I can go and make an actual AB comparison. These have a very laid back warm sound but I do not detect any "veil" in the midrange, something I have disliked the majority of Senn's I have tried.

 

[dweaver]

OK some further observations. I was starting to lament the loss of some of the highs I am used to with my AD900 so I started to fiddle with EQ settings and noticed I could hear no change in the sound when I adjusted the 16K setting no matter where I set that EQ setting at. Out of curiosity I tried this same setting with my AD900 and could barely here a difference on them either but there was a very small change in sound. So these phones may peak out at that level (and or my music does not really go that high).

I also used these with my Ipod touch today and ended up turning on the treble boost EQ setting which brightened these up considerably. I like the bass but coming from brighter headphones I did start to miss my AD900's.

Also now that I have used these with a good Amp and a basic sound sound source amp like my Ipod Touch I will say that these IEM's definitely benefit from an amp for clarity and better mids and highs.

But the burnin testing is far from over so I'll keep posting my findings.

 

[lilkoolaidman]

I finally received my CKS70s and out of the box, the first thing I noticed is they sit pretty shallow in your ear canal, but I don't feel they are going to fall out. They are also VERY comfortable. The microphonics aren't any more extreme than my other IEMs, so no complaint there.
Now, on to the sound. The first thing I noticed is that the sound stage is HUGE for an IEM. They are a very warm and laid-back set that reminds me of most Sennheisers. Of course, there is a lot of bass, but it's actually accurate except for it does have a bit of a mid-bass hump (remember, these are straight out of the box though). The lower mids may be a bit recessed but that's almost to be expected with a bass monster such as these. However, the upper mids stand out very well with a surprising amount of detail. The highs don't seem to lack "sparkle" at all for me, in fact I love the highs. They are not too sibilant (which I hate), yet not too recessed, they are somewhere in between. So, basically the only problem I have with them is the mid-bass hump (which should change after burn-in), but other than that these are perfect

Oh, and my source was an iPod touch 1st gen. in case anyone cares.

 

[javajive]

Major kudos to Tadad1 for his shore foam tip mod. Before, Radiohead`s Paranoid Android was pretty much unlistenable on my NW-A845. Not only does his mod do exactly as he describes but it has greatly reduced the microphonics issue which was so pronounced before.