1clearhead
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Apr 5, 2013
- Posts
- 3,978
- Likes
- 4,854
Up for review: CCA C16 
INTRO:
So, finally I'm here with the CCA C16 with more than 200 hours of burn-in time in order to share a fair and honest review. I was sent the C16 at 50% off its original price to write and express my personal listening experience with them. Coming from a larger company known as Knowledge Zenith (KZ) Clear Concept Audio (CCA), the sister company, is moving up as being one of the fastest and newest companies to debut as a serious competiter to branded name in-ear monitors at a budget price! In as little as a year (give or take) The CCA C16 is the third and latest IEM to make a lasting impression to an already conjested market featuring 8 balanced armatures per side, with a total of 16 overall!
FIRST LISTEN:
When listening for the first few hours, I decided to go with the medium size Auvio silicone aftermarket ear tips instead of the default star line ear tips for a better fit. Since then, the Auvio tips provided me with overall better hi-end details, better bass, and better soundstage and resolution. The C16 plays music with more details than your average IEM and leans towards a brighter, but exciting listening experience! So, if clarity and details are your main concern for buying the C16, then you're on the right track! But, if you're looking for a warmer and bass-head type sound signature? Then, you might just want to quit while you're at it, since this might not be your cup-of-tea!
MY IMPRESSIONS:
BASS:
Incredibly, I was taken by surprise! These are driven by "two" bass balanced armatures on each side (BA 22955)! I was never expecting such quick, textured, and sonic bass response as I did with these. From my experience, dynamic drivers are my better choice for bass. But, that all changed after finding out that their are BA's that can finally match such deep and sonic depth and perception, especially when listening to the C16, which I can hear excellent texture and details from sub-bass, bass, and mid-bass! With that said, on a final bass note, besides sounding accurate and loud in volume and quantity, they can unexpectedly take plenty of power as well! ...So, eat your heart out dynamic drivers!
MIDRANGE:
In this area, midrange takes a lively approach! Whether it's male or female, you're definitely going to hear your favorite artist come alive; even some of your midway (midrange) instruments will sound as if it's being played next to you! So, really...and I mean, REALLY! Prepare to be surprised! If you have any songs with some "breathing" expressions, you might just think someone is in the room with you! So, don't say I didn't warn you so! The double midrange-based BA armatures 29689 per side is what keeps the C16 very lively and happy.
TREBLE:
If you're a treble head, make no doubt about it, you're going to love these! The double BA armature set-up 30095 work hand-in-hand with the midrange to give you such an openness and lively approach to details, and plenty of it! It is actually possible to even roll ear tips to give you even a better experience with cymbals, hi-hats, and crash combinations. Micro-details come through effortlessly and pleasing with nothing to miss.
SOUNDSTAGE & RESOLUTION:
The C16 can truly present an excellent and resolving resolution and holographic-like soundstage. It lends itself to good quality recorded music and can do many genre's quite good! Resolution is "spot on" giving you an effortless feeling of being in your own musical zone with nobody but you and your own senses of indulgement to listen to. Soundstage, in the other hand, can get eerily real at times with its impactful and lively presentation and does benefit best from hi-res DAC/AMPS and high definition recordings from FLAC and other HD sources giving them a higher grade of sound reproduction!
C10 -VS- C16
When the C10 was introduced to the Chi-Fi market, it made a huge impact with a great, well balanced IEM that can basically play well with most genre's for such a low price bracket. But, it seems like the C16 tends to to take over where the C10 left off at a higher-end scale. It's like jumping out of a luxury car and jumping into a more expensive hi-end sports car! You basically hear more details coming from instruments, chimes, male and female vocals, and other hi-grade recordings to satisfy the price tag you bought them for. So, while the C10 does everything fun on a premium level, the C16 gives you a more superb hi-end definition field of extreme clarity that's just hard to beat!
**** -VS- C16
The **** came to me as a surprise one day when I read from one reviewer on head-fi how good and neutral they sounded for their price tag using a three part unit; a dynamic driver, BA armature, and piezo ceramic tweeter. Since owning a pair, they offer a great transparent and organic sound that's hard to beat. But, when I finally received the C16 to compare, it was too good to be true and harder to resist! The lively presence just overcame the transparency that I was so used to and invited me to a live concert to listen in for free! For example, with the ****, it's like listening to Hotel California at my home theater by way of a good hi-end audio speaker system set-up. But with the C16, it's like listening to their actual "live concert" by way of purchased tickets. ...They are just that good!
FINAL THOUGHTS:
The C10 and even the **** are excellent buys! But, if you want to hear the rest of your music collection like you never had before with extra hi-end notes and details, don't hesitate to pick-up the C16 as your main unit for a higher grade of listening experience!
Here are some PIC's with both the C16 and C10 side-to-side...Enjoy!
Where to purchase the C16...
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/CCA...Monitoring-Earphone-Headset/32967096207.html?
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/CCA...hable-Detach-2-PIN-Cable-In/32975345773.html?
Where to purchase Auvio Silicone aftermarket ear tips for the C16...
https://www.radioshack.com/products/radioshack-rbasic-silicone-replace-tips-s-m-l
Rating information with the Highest Rating Possible being a "10"
PSR = PRO SOUND RATING
SS = SOUND SIGNATURE
BQ = BUILD QUALITY
OP = OVERALL PACKAGE
OV = OVERALL VALUE
HYBRIDS DD + BA Armature(s):
CCA C16
8 fine-tuned BA armatures per side (16 total) with CCA exclusive crossover network circuitry
PSR: 10
SS: Superior sound quality! Lively interpretation of vocals, instruments, and musicality with excellent details! Holographic soundstage and outstanding resolution!...Simply irresistible!
BQ: 10
OP: 7
OV: 10
COMMENTS: The C16 can reveal most all details from any given genre's played through them and can clearly hang tough and compete with top-tier brands! Note: It is possible they can expose bad recordings, so take this into consideration before buying them.
To see more, checkout my list of favorites at my profile page...
https://www.head-fi.org/members/1clearhead.363120/
-Clear
Last edited:
