[hentai]

make the wrong choice? they cost the same. Ath ck7 is now unburned and the high is abit unbearable.

 

[Zephyron]

CK7 is a better overall performer than the CX300 for the same price.

Give the treble some time to mellow down. About 5 hours, you should notice a difference, next at about 50 hours and next at about 70 hours.

I've mine used for over 500 hours and will pick them over that over priced EP630 clone (with shrill treble to boot) any day.

 

[theory_87]

CK7 is much better den cx300 imo... treble is much more tame...

 

[hentai]

ho ho only fellow singaporeans replied

well i eq abit using the samsung mp3 player and it sounds great. For those who know eqing , i lower the mid treble , increase the rest.

 

[theory_87]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hentai ho ho only fellow singaporeans replied well i eq abit using the samsung mp3 player and it sounds great. For those who know eqing , i lower the mid treble , increase the rest.

so how u find ur ck7 now?

 

[hentai]

Quote:

Originally Posted by theory_87 so how u find ur ck7 now?

They are excellent!!! They are better than akg 14p which is better than cx300 and shure e2c. The treble was abit harsh but mellows over time. Punchy bass which doesn't give a bloated , excessive and muddy feeling compared to cx300 but not as deep as ety er6i. CX300 and the creative give overbearing bass for almost every song but the ck7 only produce bass when the music is really playing bass!!!. If you listen to a song which has little bass playing in it , you may feel ck7 has little bass but when BEP's Don't Phunk With My Heart starts playing , WOW

Its great for folks who don't want to spend much on iem yet want reasonably great sound.

So imo ck7>14p>cx300>ep630>ck5

 

[Asr]

What's the isolation like with the CK7? I've been thinking about an IEM and this seems like a good option, especially if it's better than the EP630/CX300. And it wouldn't hurt to add another AT to my collection...Team AT indeed.

 

[themanster]

The isolation is decent, but certainly not the best. This is not a "true" IEM, more of a canalphone. My experience is that if I put them in my ears without playing any music, I can still hear ambient noise pretty clearly, i.e. I can still chat with my buddy. But once I start playing the music at medium loudness, it drowns most noises out.

 

[epithetless]

While I've enjoyed my CX300s for some time now, their occasional sibilance has started to grate on me. (Curse these evolving ears!)

I've been eyeing the ATH-CK7 as a replacement, given their reputation for better highs, but I'm curious about the rest of the frequency spectrum. As for the CX300s, I am completely fine with their mids and bass (despite the degree of smearing and boom); it's a fun, grooving sound on the go. How much of that would I sacrifice transitioning to the CK7? It's clear from the comments I've read that the CK7 does not boom in any way, shape, or form, and that its bass does not extend as far as the er6i. But how is bass extension and presence compared to the Senns? (As a possible point of reference, I once tried the Panasonic RP-HJE50s and found their bass practically non-existent. Anemic and shrill. Blech.)

As for sources, I will be running these things unamped out of my Rio Carbon and iriver H120. I like to use a flat EQ whenever possible, so artificially boosting the bass is something I'd rather not do. That said, I'm still hoping the ATH-CK7 will be magically right for me. If not, any other recommendations in that general price range/form factor? I prefer canalphones to true IEMs for reasons of comfort and easy insertion/removal. The RP-HJE70 is another consideration, I suppose, but reports of scooped-out mids have pretty much turned me off of them. In all honesty, I've researched myself dizzy looking for options. What I've compiled so far:

Audio Technica ATH-CK7
Panasonic RP-HJE70
Future Sonics FS-1
Westone UM1
Altec Lansing im616
Altec Lansing im716
Etymotic er6i
Ultimate Ears Super.fi 3 studio

Um, thoughts?

 

[Zephyron]

epithetless:
If you find that the RP-HJE50 is virtually bassless after you got a good fit, then the CK7 is definitely not for you (think the Etymotic sound signature, more specifically, the ER6i, which is what the CK7 sounds closest to).

Basically, in your list and from what I have used, I attest that all these have bass levels below that of the RP-HJE50:

Audio Technica ATH-CK7
Altec Lansing im616 <- 6i clone
Etymotic er6i

To have bass levels above the RP-HJE50, you'd want to consider the UM1 as a cheap and yet decent alternative. They have decent bass, decent mids but a somewhat rolled off treble (supposedly fixed by adding a 75 Ohm adapter in between). However, it'll be best if you could test them out first.

 

[epithetless]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zephyron epithetless: If you find that the RP-HJE50 is virtually bassless after you got a good fit, then the CK7 is definitely not for you (think the Etymotic sound signature, more specifically, the ER6i, which is what the CK7 sounds closest to).

Drat. I gotta say, I honestly wonder if my pair of RP-HJE50s are defective. It's been quite awhile since I even looked at them, but I remember thinking I got the fit right at the time. Even so, the bass was whisper-quiet and had no impact whatsoever -- nothing like the descriptions I've read on head-fi. That it could be so consistently noted for "better bass" over the Sony EX71 was something I never quite understood. Sure, the EX71s are notoriously bloated boom-monsters, but it seemed like a complete apples-to-orangutans comparison to me.

I'm wondering if it's time to refine my tastes and give some neutral-bass earphones a try. So here's another question: Taking the ATH-CK7s on their own, will my unamped Rio Carbon and iriver H120 provide enough power to reveal the bass they do have?

Also, how does the treble quality and extension of the UM1 compare with the CX300?

 

[Zephyron]

CK7 has bass stored in reserve IMO. They sound bass light at times but when songs do require them (eg rock, rap and such) they do deliver in quite a big fashion, I don't know why. They're very punchy I might add.

IMO, the UM1 has less bass extension as compared to the UM1 (UM1 rolls off pretty early, but quite gently) but the CX300's bass is nowhere as refined.

In one of my video game tracks where the bass is purposely distorted and over quantised (acts as a bass killer test track), the CX300 was farting all over the place (like the EP630 and that new Razer semi-canal) whereas on the UM1, the quantity was just fine and quite tight. The extension was fine and dandy as well, but it maybe because everything in the bass region of the track was over quantised.

FYI, the track was Rockman/Megaman X6's introductory stage track.

 

[epithetless]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zephyron IMO, the UM1 has less bass extension as compared to the UM1

Wow, talk about poor quality control!

(I assume you meant the UM1 has less bass extension as compared to the CX300, no?)

Zephyron, thanks for the feedback. I take it from your other posts/reviews that you're quite treble-conscious. How much of an issue for you is the treble roll-off of the UM1?

I'm seriously considering the CK7 at this point. If I really dislike it, I suppose I can either resell it here or eat the audiocubes restocking fee...and then give UM1 a whirl.

 

[~Kaotic~]

Quote:

Originally Posted by epithetless I'm seriously considering the CK7 at this point. If I really dislike it, I suppose I can either resell it here or eat the audiocubes restocking fee...and then give UM1 a whirl.

just go ahead and order it. if you didn't like it, it can resell it, but I hardly doubt that.

 

[Zephyron]

Quote:

Originally Posted by epithetless Wow, talk about poor quality control! (I assume you meant the UM1 has less bass extension as compared to the CX300, no?)

Whoops O_O

Yes, that's right, I felt that the UM1 has less bass extension as compared to the CX300, but its extension is exaggerated by the high bass levels that the CX300 churns out IMO.

The CK7 can take some time to get used to. Out of the box, be warned that they hav e extreely unforgiving and harsh treble. Given them a 5 hour run time and you'll most likely hear a difference, next noticeable differences IMO are at the 20th, 50th and 50th hour, after that, little to no change