[vherub]

I've had a pair of shure e3 for several years now as my portable headphones, and recently the left bud started shorting out. I'm looking for a replacement and narrowed it down to the re2 or the ath-ck7. Both come in around the same price $55 shipped. And both seem highly thought of.
Any recommendations of one over the other? in terms of isolation, durability, and whatever the word for the sound cords make being audible as you walk or brush against it?

 

[necropimp]

haven't heard either but the word you're looking for is microphonics

 

[starnerd67]

I haven't heard the re2

But the ATH-CK7's are great after burn in
everyday i listen to them the sound gets better and better

Really clear all around flat sound, has bass but isn't muddy
i think the term is analytical.

I love them for classical music with some pop and rock. I don't think hip-hop is right for these.

Sorry ill stop rambling ^__^

Isolation is pretty good once you find the right tips for a good seal.

The CK7's are made of steel so they're pretty durable, The wires also seem pretty durable (as durable as IEM wires could be)

If you use the CK7's in the around the ear fashion (which is how they were made to be worn) you cant hear any of the clothes rustling and foot step sounds.

Hope you enjoy what ever you end up buying
(but id go with CK7's ^__^)

 

[coolperl]

CK7 has titanium alloy enclosure, not steel. They indeed sound very good, especially if you have warm and bassy source. On the other hand, the soundstage of CK7 is not so big, FWIR RE2 have far bigger soundstage.

 

[fromthelane]

Where can you get the CK-7 for $55 shipped?

 

[starnerd67]

sorry my bad, I said steel cause it was the first "metal" themed word that came to my head, I couldn't recall the material at night O__o

Titanium is Stronger than steel So ++ for durability

 

[kmhaynes]

I had the CK7 for about 2 weeks, and I was not a big fan. They are clean and detailed, but even after about 100 hours burn-in, I could not coax any nice, warm mids from them, and there's a pretty serious spike somewhere around 10K or so -- they fatigued me so that I couldn't listen to them longer than about 1 hour at a time.

The NE-7M, while not outstanding in the mids, compared to the CK7, is toned down a bit in the highs, warmer in the mids and bass, with good bass extension. Microphonics is a little problem with the NE-7M, but a clip to the shirt solves 90% of that.

I haven't heard the RE2, but have been tempted to try them to compare against the NE-7M.

 

[LeonWho]

Go for the Head-Direct RE2.

 

[Calexico]

What music do you listen to?

 

[thomasshi]

RE2 is very very musical

 

[Pianist]

Personally, I didn't really like Head-Direct RE2 when I had them. I mostly hated the ergonomics - the cord microphonics are pretty damn bad with these IMO, and don't even think about wearing them in the summer or in the gym for jogging or other activity where you move fast, because the creaking and rubbing sounds that the cable makes will drive you nuts (well, unless you turn up the volume real high, which I don't recommend doing). You may try wearing them with the cable going over the ears, but that negatively impacts soundstage in my case, because the holes at the back of the IEM become blocked by pressing against the ears when I do that.

I never heard ATH-CK7, but it apparently has softer rubber cords and shouldn't make as much microphonic noise. CK7 also doesn't have holes at the back, so you can wear them over the ears, without experiencing sound degradation and that will pretty much get rid of most microphonic noise.

Now, it terms of pure sound quality alone, Head-Direct RE2 are good for the price - they lack deep bass and upper treble extension, but what they do reproduce, they reproduce well, with good amount of detail and accuracy. As I said, I never heard CK7, but I did read that it has a similar analytical type of sound as RE2 with maybe somewhat better treble extension, but still lacking in deep bass.

Hope this helps a bit.