Crossroads Mylar X3 vs. ATH-CK7 (or KSC75)

[odmanca]

Fellow head-fiers,

I also posted the question on the headphones forum but the thread got buried so quickly; and since these headphones are for portable gears mostly, I thought I would post it here as well. Thanks in advance.

Does anyone own/have experience with both the X3 and the ATH-CK7? I own the CK7 and I'm just wondering if the X3 is different from/better than the CK7 with enough margin to be worth a try? Since both of these phones are popular in Singapore (from what I read), someone must have had (still has?) them both. Can someone give me a few pointers? Thanks in advance.

p.s. Or a comparison to KSC75 would be helpful too. IMHO, compared to the CK7, the KSC75 seems to have better sound stage and cleaner bass but the CK7 has a sweeter mid-range and slightly clearer treble. Amping improves the SQ of KSC75 more than the CK7 paired with an amp. Overall I like the sound of the KSC75 better but the canal phones are a lot more portable and a lot less conspicuous.

 

[odmanca]

Anyone?

 

[tman1]

I've found it difficult to get comparisons with the CK7 in the past. Good luck though! I'm still curious even though I ended up with JBL Ref 220's (which, like probably any other <$100 IEM/canal phone, are not as good as the KSC-75's in a quient environment.)

 

[odmanca]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tman1 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I've found it difficult to get comparisons with the CK7 in the past. Good luck though! I'm still curious even though I ended up with JBL Ref 220's (which, like probably any other <$100 IEM/canal phone, are not as good as the KSC-75's in a quient environment.)

Thanks. Yeah, the CK7 is a sleeper. I bought mine last year when it's getting a lot of praises from head-fiers in Singapore. I don't regret the purchase, it's definitely worth the money; the bass is a bit bloated to my taste and the sound stage is not as good as the full-sized open cans but that's inherent to canal phones. Other than that I'm very happy with the CK7 with its details, nice imaging and sweet mid-range and highs.

Since I didn't get enough responses, I just ordered the X3 last night. I suspect as Max F speculated in the other thread, the X3 and CK7 probably share more similarities than differences. We will see.

 

[rxc]

Wow, first time I've heard of bloated bass on the CK7. And as far as I'm concerned, the CK7 are my portable choice for the foreseeable future.

 

[tman1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by odmanca /img/forum/go_quote.gif Thanks. Yeah, the CK7 is a sleeper. I bought mine last year when it's getting a lot of praises from head-fiers in Singapore. I don't regret the purchase, it's definitely worth the money; the bass is a bit bloated to my taste and the sound stage is not as good as the full-sized open cans but that's inherent to canal phones. Other than that I'm very happy with the CK7 with its details, nice imaging and sweet mid-range and highs. Since I didn't get enough responses, I just ordered the X3 last night. I suspect as Max F speculated in the other thread, the X3 and CK7 probably share more similarities than differences. We will see.

Nice. Please post your comparison between the X3 and the CK7! I'm very curious about how they compare.


About post right above this one - yeah I was surprised seeing the 'bloated bass' comment too. Everything else I've read states that they have very tight, non-bloated bass (some even complain that there is not enough bass on those). Looks like you may need etymonics!

 

[Bisco82]

The x3 are exteremely bass lean in my opinion, I found my er6i to have better bass. Take that for what its worth. The AT model must have more bass by default

 

[odmanca]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tman1 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Nice. Please post your comparison between the X3 and the CK7! I'm very curious about how they compare. About post right above this one - yeah I was surprised seeing the 'bloated bass' comment too. Everything else I've read states that they have very tight, non-bloated bass (some even complain that there is not enough bass on those). Looks like you may need etymonics!

Sorry about the confusion, perhaps "bloated" is too strong a term to describe it. I will try to explain what I meant about CK7's bass.

First of all, I have to confess that I'm no basshead; heavy metal and the likes is not my cup of tea

. If bass is your thing then obviously YMWV.

What I meant by "bloated bass" in the CK7 is relative to that of KSC75 using my Axim (see below for further explanation). I have limited experience with portable gear. My first MP3 was a Creative Nomad several years back when they first came out. And the latest was a Creative Muvo, with a couple more in between. I mostly listen to CDs with full-sized cans such as the SA5k or DT880 through my desktop setup.

When I do listen to music on my portable setup, most of the time I don't use an amp because I want portability (in the case of CK7 the difference is negligible with or without the Go-Vibe in the path anyway). Interestingly enough, so far my favorite portable DAP is my Dell Axim x50v, which has a Wolfson WM9705 as its DAC. It hisses but the sound is very musical, and details and clarity is pretty good. In contrary, the Creatives offer cleaner, clearer but colder sound and the texture is not as rich as the Axim, to my ears, that is. But of course the Axim has its shortcomings as a PDAP - it's not as compact, the battery life is poor when compared to other MP3 players, and the hissing with sensitive phones, etc.

Now back to the CK7's bass, using Axim as the source, I find the CK7 offers ample but relatively tight bass, that is, it has the bass impact and extension but not necessarily the largest quantity. The KSC75 seems to extract less but more accurate bass from the Axim. So sometimes when I try to use the EQ to get the "right" amount of bass on the CK7 it doesn't sound as natural and slightly bloated. That's why the word 'bloated' came to mind, my apologies if you find the usage offensive or incorrect.

 

[Max F]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bisco82 /img/forum/go_quote.gif The x3 are exteremely bass lean in my opinion, I found my er6i to have better bass. Take that for what its worth. The AT model must have more bass by default

I don't agree. Make sure you have a good seal and the bass will be good and strong. Maybe not like my RP-21s but stronger than my HD-580 or KSC-75s.

 

[epithetless]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Max F /img/forum/go_quote.gif I don't agree. Make sure you have a good seal and the bass will be good and strong. Maybe not like my RP-21s but stronger than...KSC-75s.

Well, more disagreement here. My X3s are not nearly as bassy with a proper seal as my KSC-75s...and, critically, not bassy enough for my personal tastes. The Atrios m5s (and, for that matter, the ATH-CK7s) have been just fine in that regard.

 

[odmanca]

Quote:

Originally Posted by epithetless /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well, more disagreement here. My X3s are not nearly as bassy with a proper seal as my KSC-75s...and, critically, not bassy enough for my personal tastes. The Atrios m5s (and, for that matter, the ATH-CK7s) have been just fine in that regard.

Interesting, it seems we all hear different things

which is to be expected, I suppose.

Perhaps it also has to do with the driving capability of the amp or player? In other words, they behave differently in different setups.

 

[rxc]

I think it has more to do with the EQ'ing that you mentioned.

 

[cyanbomb]

X3s > CK7's. I've auditioned both.
Just my humble opinion. But really, the X3s are great sound for the money.

 

[odmanca]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cyanbomb /img/forum/go_quote.gif X3s > CK7's. I've auditioned both. Just my humble opinion. But really, the X3s are great sound for the money.

Great! I will be looking forward to receiving mine. Thanks for sharing.