[cjdavis83]

Hi

I recently bought an iPod touch (32gb) which has the great Wolfson codec but i guess im still after a decent pair of earbuds to go with it. I understand the pacakaged Apple earphones are not of premium quality and the bass is very distorted. What i am after is something of a more audiophile nature (..but not within the full headphone region of course). I recently purchased the Sennheiser CX95 Noise cancelling earphone (from Amazon.co.uk) however, despite the rave reviews from various sources like PC Pro, i found the earbuds to be extremely bassy and thus the highs and treble within the frequency somewhat compromised. The sound is powerful but not as detailed and sparkly as you would hope. According to Technology Review Site - Product Reviews, News, Prices at CNET.co.uk they also remark on the same problem but favour the earbuds. I am tempted to now get a refund or exchange on this..i believe these are probably not for the audiophile..

Now, having done more research i have come accross the AUDIO TECHNICA earphones (ATH CM range) which are made in Japan and have a huge frequency response from 10HZ to 45khz, (audiophile frequency). The thing which confuses me is why despite the high specs attached there is little reviews of the earbuds online or anywhere really as i have only seen them for sale and not being extensively reviewed by online magazines etc. Could anyone help me out here and tell me what they are like???

Thanks!!

 

[chinesekiwi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cjdavis83 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hi I recently bought an iPod touch (32gb) which has the great Wolfson codec but i guess im still after a decent pair of earbuds to go with it. I understand the pacakaged Apple earphones are not of premium quality and the bass is very distorted. What i am after is something of a more audiophile nature (..but not within the full headphone region of course). I recently purchased the Sennheiser CX95 Noise cancelling earphone (from Amazon.co.uk) however, despite the rave reviews from various sources like PC Pro, i found the earbuds to be extremely bassy and thus the highs and treble within the frequency somewhat compromised. The sound is powerful but not as detailed and sparkly as you would hope. According to Technology Review Site - Product Reviews, News, Prices at CNET.co.uk they also remark on the same problem but favour the earbuds. I am tempted to now get a refund or exchange on this..i believe these are probably not for the audiophile.. Now, having done more research i have come accross the AUDIO TECHNICA earphones (ATH CM range) which are made in Japan and have a huge frequency response from 10HZ to 45khz, (audiophile frequency). The thing which confuses me is why despite the high specs attached there is little reviews of the earbuds online or anywhere really as i have only seen them for sale and not being extensively reviewed by online magazines etc. Could anyone help me out here and tell me what they are like??? Thanks!!

Hehe. Most people can't hear higher than 16kHz so there's no such thing as 'audiophile frequency'. Treble and highs are considered to be 5 kHz and up.
The higher frequency response, great for other animals such as dogs, not so useful for us

Anyway, what's your budget and what type of music do you typically listen to?

 

[cjdavis83]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chinesekiwi /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hehe. Most people can't hear higher than 16kHz so there's no such thing as 'audiophile frequency'. Treble and highs are considered to be 5 kHz and up. The higher frequency response, great for other animals such as dogs, not so useful for us Anyway, what's your budget and what type of music do you typically listen to?

Oh i see.. so why do they describe audiophile frequency in the specs of the Audio Technica earphones??? I actually am quite ashamed to admit but the iPod earphones have slightly better clarity than the Sennheiser's. The sound is slightly cleaner, i guess due to the lack of bass. (Maybe i am wrong) My music collection is pretty eclectic. I have mainly urban (rnb/hip-hop), dance/electronica, reggae, rock/pop, live music and some classical recordings. So i need an all rounder! Are the Audio Technica's no good then?

 

[chinesekiwi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cjdavis83 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Oh i see.. so why do they describe audiophile frequency in the specs of the Audio Technica earphones??? I actually am quite ashamed to admit but the iPod earphones have slightly better clarity than the Sennheiser's. The sound is slightly cleaner, i guess due to the lack of bass. (Maybe i am wrong) My music collection is pretty eclectic. I have mainly urban (rnb/hip-hop), dance/electronica, reggae, rock/pop, live music and some classical recordings. So i need an all rounder! Are the Audio Technica's no good then?

The AD's are good but we definitely need a budget as the better you can get, the better and of course suggest the best deal for your needs

Also frequency response stats are for recording and marketing purposes

 

[cjdavis83]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chinesekiwi /img/forum/go_quote.gif The AD's are good but we definitely need a budget as the better you can get, the better and of course suggest the best deal for your needs Also frequency response stats are for recording and marketing purposes

Oh well, i would say nothing more than £150-200 i mean the Sennheiser was over £50 but i believe the AD's were selling on Amazon for over a $100..to be fair, if its worth the price in gold im happy to pay a premium price tag. I dont want sound thats unbalanced put it that way. Just pure, clean, detailed sound stage with powerful bass too. Are you also tellin me that the AD freq. response is not really that useful then?

 

[yklee118]

I purchased the Audio Technica ATH-CM7 SV from Audio Cubes a while back.  After owning them for about four years now I can say that these are one of the best earphones I have ever owned.  The ATH-EC7 is another great hybrid earphone that provides all of the features of an adjustable earclip coupled to an excellent earphone design.  Comfort and excellent sound are typical characteristics of the Audio Technica Import Line. 
 
I wrote a review on the differences between the Older ATH-CM7 SV and the CM700-SV.  Both are excellent in their own way.  To give a brief description in terms of the audio fidelity of the ATH-CM7-SV, think part AKG, part Beyerdynamic, and part Ultrasone.  Smooth mid-range response, excellent sonic instrument separation, and a very open airy soundstage.  Something not expected with earphones.  Most earphones have an intimate sound character with not much else unless digital signal processing is used to create the effects listed above.
 
From an audio testing point of view, the frequency response (tested by an audio engineer friend of mine) is 10-hz to 45-KHz +/-10db and 18-Hz to 38.1-KHz +/-3db.  These figures were tested by a very good friend who handles mixing of audio for movie and orchestral works and was able to test the earphones true frequency response.  And last I checked my hearing, my range is 12-hz to 28-KHz (young-man).  These figures are not really that important in a general sense except that with more frequency range allows for slightly more detail and airy expression of the instruments in background. 
 
The Audio Technica ATH-CM7 is an excellent choice for those who are looking for the most natural expression of audio content. 
 
Hope this helps.
 
Audio Technica ATH-CM7-SV coupled to C&C F1 portable headphone amplifier.  Interconnects provided by Moon Audio (Blue Dragon Version-1 - 26-AWG silver conductors).  Source material 24-bit/96-KHz FLAC from HD-Tracks.