[purplesun]

I have not yet found the C12 to be sibilant or shouty. It has a forward, detailed treble and good fit and isolation for me, but I wonder if I would prefer the C10....

To my ears, the C10 sounds like a less energetic Blon BL-03(with good silicone-tip seal) & less affected by source changes. And you already have the BL-03.

 

[MrMajony]

That was my impression of the C12 as well. I am fearing, with all this positive talk about the C10 and @crinacle's rating of the two, that I bought the wrong one. Although Crinacle is only one person with an option, although with highly regarded opinions. I had read that the C12 was in improvement over the C10 and KZ Z10 pro. What are the differences, good or bad, between the C10 and C12?

I have not yet found the C12 to be sibilant or shouty. It has a forward, detailed treble and good fit and isolation for me, but I wonder if I would prefer the C10....

I would not trust that list, C12 is not my cup of tea but it is still quite good in separation-details and I recommend them if you are only going to listen to music like EDM, Trap, etc. or produce music.
C10 is more analogic than c12, but it has less details and more primitive timbre.

 

[MonoJon]

Just get C10, it is under $25 after all for 10 drivers in a similar to C12 shape factor. May the hype be with you

I think I may go back and have another listen to the C10, it didn't do anything for me when I got and put it away in its box.
Also, wasn't helped by getting the ZS10 Pro soon afterwards. And then the C12, which I like alot.

Will stick it on the end of a balanced cable and give it another go. Also I don't think I've used them with my Fiio M11.

I would not trust that list, C12 is not my cup of tea but it is still quite good in separation-details and I recommend them if you are only going to listen to music like EDM, Trap, etc. or produce music.
C10 is more analogic than c12, but it has less details and more primitive timbre.

Thank you all for your thoughts! I would like to see Crinacle review the BL-03 for comparison. I'll wait on the C10 for now as I may pull the trigger on the LZ A6 mini.

 

[DynamicEars]

C10 is the safe iem, the are quite smooth compared to many KZs / CCAs, not bad timbre, but they dont excell in any departments. Soundstage and imaging also average good. seems like Crinacle like the smooth signature, a bit roll off trebles rather than energetic sets. Seems like tuning > technicalities for him, looking at MH755 too, and BLON too.
C10 is great smooth all rounder, the flaws to me are there is mid bass bleed and sub bass roll off, and technicalities are just average good for 5 drivers a side, compared to newer ZSX or TRN V90 which almost same driver numbers, they have much better technicalities.
For me though ZSX any day over C10, I just heard my C10 because this sudden hype predicts, but before that I knew that i still prefer ZSX and just now i can confirmed.

 

[1clearhead]

I would suggest not to hype that list...

It sounds more to me like all those IEM's were given a quick impression right out-the-box, nothing more.

 

[Mybutthurts]

back to my previous post.

Well, I fitted a balanced cable to the C10 and gave them a whirl alongside the C12.

And I still prefer the C12.it has more depth, breadth and warmth compared to the C10, which just sounds thin, lightweight to me. Which probably is the reason why it was put away in a box.

It's all a matter of taste & we all have different hearing and how/ what we hear.

 

[Mybutthurts]

Sorry. Double post. Doh

 

[Zerohour88]

Thank you all for your thoughts! I would like to see Crinacle review the BL-03 for comparison. I'll wait on the C10 for now as I may pull the trigger on the LZ A6 mini.

he had the BL-03 for review, its ranked quite favorably iirc, not sure if he released the ranking yet.

as for the list, it depends. I can definitely recommend it as a starting point, at least its much more transparent than some reviewers who hype everything to high hell and it turns out crap.

 

[Solar1971]

I think I may go back and have another listen to the C10, it didn't do anything for me when I got and put it away in its box.
Also, wasn't helped by getting the ZS10 Pro soon afterwards. And then the C12, which I like alot.

Will stick it on the end of a balanced cable and give it another go. Also I don't think I've used them with my Fiio M11.

If you like the sound of the ZS10 Pro Then you are probably correct in your original assessment of the CCA C10's
They sound very different. Personally i feel the opposite. I really like the C10's and i like the ZS10 Pros Less.
If you like stronger and brighter highs, then you may not like the C10's as much.
But I personally like to EQ my iems. Some people do not. So i can force my iems to sound "Mostly" however i like then to. To a point that is.

 

[MonoJon]

he had the BL-03 for review, its ranked quite favorably iirc, not sure if he released the ranking yet.

as for the list, it depends. I can definitely recommend it as a starting point, at least its much more transparent than some reviewers who hype everything to high hell and it turns out crap.

Yes, indeed. It seems that Crinacle weights musicality over technicality in his rankings, if I am to compare his list to the many, many comments I have read in these forums. That's just fine, he is just one reviewer with one set of opinions. I agree that he is very transparent in his reviews - even publishing his own personal preferred response curve, and I agree that it is a good starting place. It's where I started myself. After his dump of Chi-Fi ratings to the outside of his pay-wall the other day, I have read many more comments on the C10, and I have decided not to buy it - at least not now.

 

[Zerohour88]

Yes, indeed. It seems that Crinacle weights musicality over technicality in his rankings, if I am to compare his list to the many, many comments I have read in these forums. That's just fine, he is just one reviewer with one set of opinions. I agree that he is very transparent in his reviews - even publishing his own personal preferred response curve, and I agree that it is a good starting place. It's where I started myself. After his dump of Chi-Fi ratings to the outside of his pay-wall the other day, I have read many more comments on the C10, and I have decided not to buy it - at least not now.

uh, his chart is purely based on technical ability (of which he explains in his thread, which you can read if you'd like more understanding on how he rates them). As you can see from the list, there are various kind of sound-sigs ranging from neutral to warm, v-shaped sigs at all ranks.

of course, saying this, you also need to keep in mind that the way you measure "technical ability" (and indeed other reviewers) might be different. I always recommend the list simply because it coincides mostly with how I would rate things too. For example, I've always maintained that the EX1000, Andromeda and Sony M9 belongs on the same tier of technical ability, which he finally relented to by dropping the EXK and Andro one tier below, which I admit was a surprise since I thought the M9 was S- tier, at least.

 

[MonoJon]

uh, his chart is purely based on technical ability (of which he explains in his thread, which you can read if you'd like more understanding on how he rates them). As you can see from the list, there are various kind of sound-sigs ranging from neutral to warm, v-shaped sigs at all ranks.

of course, saying this, you also need to keep in mind that the way you measure "technical ability" (and indeed other reviewers) might be different. I always recommend the list simply because it coincides mostly with how I would rate things too. For example, I've always maintained that the EX1000, Andromeda and Sony M9 belongs on the same tier of technical ability, which he finally relented to by dropping the EXK and Andro one tier below, which I admit was a surprise since I thought the M9 was S- tier, at least.

Perhaps I misunderstand his rating system, and I admit, I have only been a casual reader of his blog. My apologies to @crinacle if I have misrepresented him.

It sounds from the first statement in your post, @Zerohour88, that you are equating frequency response or sound signature with technical ability. I am not sure that is what you indend, but if so, I would say that this is only one of many aspects of technical ability.

I am just a bit confused then, because I have seen folks use words like, "detail", separation", "imaging", "extension", etc. to describe the C12, which I would describe as aspects of technical ability.... and words like "smoothness", "relaxing", "easy", to describe the C10, which don't sound like technical ability, and may even contradict the notion of technical ability.

Additionally, if Crinacle rates the BL-03 highly, then I have got to say, I have read a lot of comments about those here in the forums along the lines of "they don't have much in the way of technical ability, but, man, do they sure sound good!"

Not trying to argue with you, I assure you, just communicating my impression of what I have read and trying to better understand.

 

[Zerohour88]

Perhaps I misunderstand his rating system, and I admit, I have only been a casual reader of his blog. My apologies to @crinacle if I have misrepresented him.

It sounds from the first statement in your post, @Zerohour88, that you are equating frequency response or sound signature with technical ability.

can you clarify where did I say this? I'm not so sure I ever said something of that sort.

 

[MonoJon]

can you clarify where did I say this? I'm not so sure I ever said something of that sort.

Well, to deconstruct your first paragraph of two sentences, you first said: "uh, his chart is purely based on technical ability (of which he explains in his thread, which you can read if you'd like more understanding on how he rates them)." You then start your second sentence with the phrase "As you can see from the list", which makes it sound if you are about to offer an example to illustrate the point made in your first sentence. You then finish that sentence with a statement about sound signatures. Furthermore, because you grouped these two sentences together in a paragraph, it seems to imply that they are related. Again, I said that I am not sure that this is what you meant; that's just the way it came across.

 

[kukkurovaca]

uh, his chart is purely based on technical ability (of which he explains in his thread, which you can read if you'd like more understanding on how he rates them). As you can see from the list, there are various kind of sound-sigs ranging from neutral to warm, v-shaped sigs at all ranks.

Perhaps I misunderstand his rating system, and I admit, I have only been a casual reader of his blog. My apologies to @crinacle if I have misrepresented him.

It sounds from the first statement in your post, @Zerohour88, that you are equating frequency response or sound signature with technical ability. I am not sure that is what you indend, but if so, I would say that this is only one of many aspects of technical ability.

I am just a bit confused then, because I have seen folks use words like, "detail", separation", "imaging", "extension", etc. to describe the C12, which I would describe as aspects of technical ability.... and words like "smoothness", "relaxing", "easy", to describe the C10, which don't sound like technical ability, and may even contradict the notion of technical ability.

He definitely pays attention to technicalities, but the impression I get from how he lists things is that tuning is getting top priority. If there's anything he considers off about the tuning, that seems like the biggest hit. I could be wrong, this is based on quite casual reading. (I find the measurements more informative than the rankings, personally.)