Tried on Wavelet on NW A105. Appreciate the effort as always. Sorry but I didn't like this one bro. The treble is already rolled off heavily. It's a mission impossible but treble extension and quantity need to go up somehow.
CCA in ear monitors Impressions Thread
- Thread starter FastAndClean
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Same thing happens to me. I think it's due to hardware overload. Closing other apps and restarting Wavelet usually allows me to run AutoEq at 100% strength in most cases.
purplesun
1000+ Head-Fier
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Just got my CCA CST.
The Y-splitter and plug seem to be of the similar molding as KZ's previous non-removeable cables, but uses a less a grippy plastic then before, so feels smoother overall.
The sound, in first few hours, is tilted towards treble and clarity. It's a little bit too shrill (eg: snare drums, finger snaps) and sibliant for my taste. Quite open and airy sound. Mids are slightly recessed. And the mid-bass hump is also quite dominant. Will report back this post about any big changes. Might try changing ear tips to see if I can "tune" it.
EDIT:
Replaced the Starline tips with FiiO's "balanced" tips, which smoothens out peaks in the FR in previous use. Sure enough, the shrill highs dropped in volume and the mids (which is of decent quality) became more apparent. With simpler vocal arrangements, it does a fine job when there's no strong treble and bass trying to grab your attention. But with stronger mixes, it becomes more of a treblehead's and/or basshead's sound signature.
FINAL EDIT:
I think there's enough clarity and a decent mids presentation for me to recommend it to anyone who use equalization. It's a bit trebly/splashy in the highs with a prominent mid-bass in the lows. I seldom use eq, but I would imagine introducing some small eq cuts in these areas should make it a balanced lean-sounding iem.
The mid-bass hump seems to be less prominent after extended play and a bit more textured. IMO, budget-conscious trebleheads should give CCA CST a try.
The Y-splitter and plug seem to be of the similar molding as KZ's previous non-removeable cables, but uses a less a grippy plastic then before, so feels smoother overall.
The sound, in first few hours, is tilted towards treble and clarity. It's a little bit too shrill (eg: snare drums, finger snaps) and sibliant for my taste. Quite open and airy sound. Mids are slightly recessed. And the mid-bass hump is also quite dominant. Will report back this post about any big changes. Might try changing ear tips to see if I can "tune" it.
EDIT:
Replaced the Starline tips with FiiO's "balanced" tips, which smoothens out peaks in the FR in previous use. Sure enough, the shrill highs dropped in volume and the mids (which is of decent quality) became more apparent. With simpler vocal arrangements, it does a fine job when there's no strong treble and bass trying to grab your attention. But with stronger mixes, it becomes more of a treblehead's and/or basshead's sound signature.
FINAL EDIT:
I think there's enough clarity and a decent mids presentation for me to recommend it to anyone who use equalization. It's a bit trebly/splashy in the highs with a prominent mid-bass in the lows. I seldom use eq, but I would imagine introducing some small eq cuts in these areas should make it a balanced lean-sounding iem.
The mid-bass hump seems to be less prominent after extended play and a bit more textured. IMO, budget-conscious trebleheads should give CCA CST a try.
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Sam L
Headphoneus Supremus
Yeah, I tried. lol
The CA16 is pure frustration because it's a really comfortable iem for my ear but the treble is a disaster to correct. Its the 5k notch and the 6k rise that's the issue. The funny thing is that ibasso took the opposite approach and extended the pinna gain to 5k and notched the 6k-7k region, so pretty much the opposite as CCA. These are tricks to enhance soundstage and sparkle, both approaches are kind of gimicky but ibasso's results are way better. (if i had to choose between the two).
**edit**
Well, actually, there is a bunch of other stuff that is messed up with the ca16 treble. I went back and looked at my measurements, a bunch of stuff. But the 2 most glaring would be the issue I highlighted above and the second issue is what I call the "10k termination point." It should be at the same level or within -5dB of 1k. On the CA16 its +7dB.
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alamnp
500+ Head-Fier
I am 100% that's not true, you probably had wrong ear tips... try Spinfit CP100 or CP800, get it from Amazon so you can refund if it does not fit.
Sam L
Headphoneus Supremus
umm what part of what I said wasn't true? I will readily admit that the ca16 treble sounds great to some people and others find it disappointing. I will also concede that for many people the treble does not need correcting, but for those that find it lacking, it's a disaster to correct. As far as my FR observations, I don't have the graphs anymore (they were on my laptop that was stolen) but I recall clearly what the graph looks like and how it coincides with what I am hearing. And I have tried cp100's along with numerous other tips. fit is not the issue because I have a good seal established.
Sam L
Headphoneus Supremus
One more thing, I personally enjoy the ca16 but it's not an iem I recommend to others. For that price range, I much prefer the it00. But this is my opinion and I'm not going to push this as a fact.
alamnp
500+ Head-Fier
ohh... yeah... if you already tried CP100 the treble does not satisfy you... I agreed it's probably not for you, it is a disaster for treble head.
I have ZAX also, I enjoyed listening, but I am very treble sensitive, the treble is fatiguing to me...
clarity improve for the cost of increasing listening fatigue...
unifutomaki
1000+ Head-Fier
The single-DD, wooden CCA CST showed up tonight. They're still settling in at the moment but I can already tell that these won't be anything to write home about in the technicalities department. It's tuned like a KZ - a tad bright, boosted mid-bass, generally dry tonality, honestly somewhat metallic in the higher frequencies, somewhat lacking in air. Funnily enough you wouldn't be able to tell that these are CCAs by looking at them - there's no CCA branding or indeed any writing whatsoever, nothing on the shells, nor the y-split, nor the plug. I'm hoping that running them for a bit will get the driver to open up a little, but then again I only paid SGD 12 for these so it would seem churlish to expect the world.
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alamnp
500+ Head-Fier
The single-DD, wooden CCA CST showed up tonight. They're still settling in at the moment but I can already tell that these won't be anything to write home about in the technicalities department. It's tuned like a KZ - a tad bright, boosted mid-bass, generally dry tonality, somewhat lacking in air. Funnily enough you wouldn't be able to tell that these are CCAs by looking at them - there's no CCA branding or indeed any writing whatsoever, nothing on the shells, nor the y-split, nor the plug. I'm hoping that running them for a bit will get the driver to open up a little, but then again I only paid SGD 12 for these so it would seem churlish to expect the world.
looks nice, I think they are copying 1more casing. Hope the sounds not like 1more triple driver... really bad
unifutomaki
1000+ Head-Fier
Interestingly enough, I believe CCA probably contracted someone to build these for them as they look like a fixed cable version of these Openhearts:
The Openhearts apparently sound pretty terrible though, at least according to the AE reviews. The CSTs on the other hand, are by no means a disaster. They are certainly more resolving than the Koss PortaPros I had and aren't bloated and muddy like my EDR1 so... they're okay.
Unolord
100+ Head-Fier
Interestingly enough, I believe CCA probably contracted someone to build these for them as they look like a fixed cable version of these Openhearts:
The Openhearts apparently sound pretty terrible though, at least according to the AE reviews. The CSTs on the other hand, are by no means a disaster. They are certainly more resolving than the Koss PortaPros I had and aren't bloated and muddy like my EDR1 so... they're okay.
I stumbled across that Openhearts brand recently. Figured they might have poor SQ but really liked the look of some of their cables. I might have tried out a cable but they only have MMCX.
unifutomaki
1000+ Head-Fier
I'd ordered their Grado clone over 11/11 as it had received rather complimentary reviews from other AE users, even the English speaking ones
it still hasn't shipped out though, and it's showing as out of stock on their store at the moment, so I'm not sure what's going on 
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unifutomaki
1000+ Head-Fier
The CCA CST comes with the usual trio of black Starline tips. While those tips are perfectly serviceable, switching them out for narrower bores like Sony Hybrids has the effect of taming the brightness and increasing the note weight by just a tad. That confers quite an improvement already.
Unolord
100+ Head-Fier
I'd ordered their Grado clone over 11/11 as it had received rather complimentary reviews from other AE users, even the English speaking ones
When I looked for reviews of their IEMs those cans were the ones that came up most often. My first thought was "grado ripoff"?
Just checked their store and it says " Sorry, this item is no longer available!" Guess they sold out during 11/11.
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