[dhc0329]

I am seriously considering to get this canal phone at seyo which currently sells for $354 but people tells me it has almost no bass, so I am worried.

I am not expecting tremandous bass quantity but I would very much like to have low, well-defined quality bass even at low quantity. Can CK100 go down to very low with a clear definition or am I looking at the wrong earphone?

How about the sound stage?

If this is just a thin sounding phone with abundant clarity I would have to pass the offer.

 

[ysyung]

Soundstage is OK, but for sure ZERO BASS at all.

 

[ZARIM]

ATH CK100 has more bass than E4G and for most users it's more than enough after tight seal. I think only few had problem due to less tight seal BTW bass quality is really good and some reviewer mentioned already ck100 bass quantity and quality is more than UM3x.

 

[HONEYBOY]

I can live with the CK100 bass it's the mids that rubs me the wrong way. They might just be perfect for someone else though.

 

[MadDog]

I was also looking into this phone....@honeyboy, how is this phone compare to IE8?
what's wrong with mids? can you be more specific?

 

[james444]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ysyung /img/forum/go_quote.gif Soundstage is OK, but for sure ZERO BASS at all.

You sure you're having a good seal?

Quote:

Originally Posted by HONEYBOY /img/forum/go_quote.gif I can live with the CK100 bass it's the mids that rubs me the wrong way. They might just be perfect for someone else though.

x2, I find the bass plenty and quite tight, but the mids are eerily dependent on tip choice and a perfect seal - I have not experienced anything like this with my other IEMs.

 

[james444]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadDog /img/forum/go_quote.gif I was also looking into this phone....@honeyboy, how is this phone compare to IE8? what's wrong with mids? can you be more specific?

With stock tips the mids can be quite cold and if you have less than perfect seal they can virtually disintegrate. It's really strange, with all other IEMs I know bad seal mainly affects the bass but here's mostly the mids that suffer.

Compared to the IE8 they are like night and day IMO. The CK100 has extremely detailed and sweet highs and a fast and tight bass that doesn't reach very low (about 30Hz) but peaks lower than the IE8. My short decription for the CK100 would be "Etys with a subwoofer"

 

[MadDog]

would ck100 be acceptable with trance, techno and hip-hop or anything with beat? what could be more annoying than listening to a phone with tiny bass with these type of genre..

how would ck100 compare to um3x?

 

[james444]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadDog /img/forum/go_quote.gif would ck100 be acceptable with trance, techno and hip-hop or anything with beat? what could be more annoying than listening to a phone with tiny bass with these type of genre..

Well, for that price you wouldn't want a phone that's only acceptable, would you? Speaking of which I find the fast and tight bass quite good with trance and hip-hop, though I have only limited experience with this genres. But I really wouldn't worry about the bass with the CK100, it's the mids that make it a somewhat risky purchase.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadDog /img/forum/go_quote.gif how would ck100 compare to um3x?

Sorry, I haven't heard the UM3X.

 

[HONEYBOY]

Quote:

Originally Posted by james444 /img/forum/go_quote.gif With stock tips the mids can be quite cold and if you have less than perfect seal they can virtually disintegrate. It's really strange, with all other IEMs I know bad seal mainly affects the bass but here's mostly the mids that suffer. Compared to the IE8 they are like night and day IMO. The CK100 has extremely detailed and sweet highs and a fast and tight bass that doesn't reach very low (about 30Hz) but peaks lower than the IE8. My short decription for the CK100 would be "Etys with a subwoofer"

Ahh that explains it. Considering the way the IE8s improve with tip configuration to my ears I'd be open to try those CK100 again with different tips mind you haha. What tips might you recommend?

@MadDog The mids to me were exactly as jamess444 described cold an uninspiring to me. All my music sounded strange and awful. The mids were clearer than the IE8 no doubt but they were too colored to be as transparent as I'd have liked. As we just found out this might be tip dependent! They had really good sound stage depth and sweet treble though, those were the two things that stood out to me.

 

[james444]

I posted about my quest for the best CK100 tips in the impressions thread here. Lately I've been going back again from Shure Olives to Olive-stuffed silicon tips (UE if I remember correctly). They are easier to insert, but YMMV. Bottom line: anything involving Olives results in noticably warmer mids.

 

[HONEYBOY]

Quote:

Originally Posted by james444 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I posted about my quest for the best CK100 tips in the impressions thread here. Lately I've been going back again from Shure Olives to Olive-stuffed silicon tips (UE if I remember correctly). They are easier to insert, but YMMV. Bottom line: anything involving Olives results in noticably warmer mids.

Thanks, for some strange reason I've missed that thread entirely LOL

 

[toughnut]

Try to look for soozieq's UM3X and CK100 impressions. She had both for a while.

 

[jyle_t]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZARIM /img/forum/go_quote.gif .... some reviewer mentioned already ck100 bass quantity and quality is more than UM3x.

erm... what??? i heard the CK100 twice, and for both times male vocals never sounded so thin because the total lack of bass; never heard etymotics so won't comment on that, but UM3X? no way. Even SE530 has more bass quantity than CK100.

 

[shigzeo]

i cannot believe i read, 'even the se530' - three years ago, that was one of the mid and bass earphones which people who wanted high quality came to. it is obvious that the market in headfi is turned to more and more bassy phones.