Dsnuts
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Jun 20, 2011
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Well much like my isurus thread where I had to hurry my thread because of reasons out of my hand. I have to do that again here.
So welcome one and all to yet another discovery and this is the reason why I love this hobby. I suppose I have a knack for finding the ones that somehow slipped under the radar. Some that people have no idea about but in this case.. What was old is now new..Let me start with a little story.
Everyone knows these by now.
The MP8320. Next time you want to order some cheap hdmi cables and the like throw one of these in your basket too as these are great for the price @ $7.11 One of the bigger Dynamic drivers and one that took me by complete surprise.. While researching what these could be copied from I had these. 
The isurus. The TT isurus is an awesome value for the bucks as these have an unexpected sound and refinement you would not guess that comes from a 'Gaming" earphone. I started to question where the drivers for these could be from and my search lead me to the only company that uses these dish like dynamic drivers on most of their earphones, Audio technica. It is no secret that everyone on the Isurus thread has seen me try out various earphones and the like and the sole purpose was to see if I can do one better than the Isurus.
Well, without a doubt in my mind there is better and it comes from of all manufacturers..Audio Technica. Recently I bought 4 new phones to try out
The criteria was. None of these could be over $30 well the UE500 was on sale for $40 and considering I have never heard a UE phone. Why not so I threw in one of those as well..So I burned all of them on for a day and what you know. This was indeed a solid batch of phones but one of them stuck out to me like no other. Yes it was the ATH-CKM50. 
So why are these special enough for me to make another thread? Hmm. Well, let me post my impressions of them..
The sound quality is crazy. They use the AT proprietary rare earth drivers. I always thought this was probably just your standard Ne magnet driver but AT called them rare earth. Well I can say without a doubt they are not your standard drivers.
Where these shine is the layering of the tunes. The highs have a clean tone and definition only found in higher end dynamics while not being too bright or too weak. About as perfect as you want your highs to sound actually. The imagery in the highs is exquisite. You can make out every little detail of high notes with clean separation and pitch. The mids are not only smooth but also has a shimmer to it. You have to hear vocals to understand, this gives one of the smoothest mid sounds I have ever heard. The only other headphone that has this liquid like mid section is my V-80s.
These hit every note with authority in the bass department and then adds to that a blending of the mids to the defined highs just effortlessly. perhaps the mids are colored a bit which adds to how they sound but man is it pleasing to the ears. Musical like you wouldn't believe. On bass heavy tunes or even ones with vocals with a strong bass lines have substantial musical weight to them giving the sound a base to the tunes that is on a level I have not heard yet in any earphone. The over all sound is thicker than the isurus while maintaining true integrity of the tune. In other words. My library sound new with these. That my friends makes these stand out.
The bass is integrated so well and so cohesive and FAT to boot it gives some serious body to your tunes. Again that thickness= Richness on a new level for me. Every single tune I listen to is integrated so smoothly while having this body. Rare earth drivers.? I thought this was hokey pokey.. Nothing hokey about it. I have no idea what material they are using for drivers but this phone separates themselves from the the rest of what I bought recently not by a little but by a lot! Including the UE500. Those are good but not great like these.
This was sent to a few friends that I chose to have try out these before this thread. Unfortunately I forgot to mention to one of them that I was going to post this for my 1500th thread but hey sometimes it just happens. Then there is this.
ericp10
Today at 1:43 pm
S**t man!! Got them in early today and damn!!! You struck gold again!! Definitely more refined than the TTs. The TTs do have more bass (but not that much more), but the CKM50's bass is more controlled, refined and of better quality (no burn-in and not really muddy at all). Treble is nicely extended but a bit smoothed out (like I like it), and mids aren't recessed at all. Not bad instrument separation at all. Again, I don't think GR07 or FXT90 level, but not too far off. Better than any $100 to $150 dynamic early I've heard other than those two (before burn-in). Only can imagine what to get after burn-in.... It blows the DDM out of the water IMO... Then again, these were originally $200 IEMs (you need to point that out before you recommend them). But I would tell your loyal following about these soon before the price goes up. Really, at $25 ($24 now) you can't beat these. I challenge the head-fi family to find a better sounding IEM at $25. Incredible!! You can use this email if you want to be my first impressions. I'm really impressed with your budget finds, my friend... Thanks for hipping me to these. Happy listening... More impressions form Eric on PAGE 14.
Well Amazon currently has a crazy price on these. $24. Hurry n get one. Even at full price these are a crazy find to the likes I have not yet found in anything that cost this much.
Now this thread will be a work in progress as these have impressed me so much so I decided to get all of their current offerings minus one CKM99. I have on order the CKM33, CKM55, Ck303 and the CKM77.
Lets just say I have a new found respect for Audio Technica..
I will throw impressions of all of them but for now.. Go! hurry n get one before they raise the price on them to $35-$40 what they usually go for. Even at that price. Astounding phones.
Page 15. Impressions of the CKM55.
Page 21. CKM33 and the CK303.
Page 24 CKM33 vs SoundMagic PL30
Page 26 CKM77 vs EX600
Page 28 CKM77 vs GR07
Page 51 CKM33 after complete burn.
Page 56 CKS77 Solid bass. Wholy COW!
Page 63 CKM55 and CKM99 impressions by applehead
Page 74 CKM99
Page 79 CKM77 vs TF10
So welcome one and all to yet another discovery and this is the reason why I love this hobby. I suppose I have a knack for finding the ones that somehow slipped under the radar. Some that people have no idea about but in this case.. What was old is now new..Let me start with a little story.
Everyone knows these by now.
Well, without a doubt in my mind there is better and it comes from of all manufacturers..Audio Technica. Recently I bought 4 new phones to try out
The sound quality is crazy. They use the AT proprietary rare earth drivers. I always thought this was probably just your standard Ne magnet driver but AT called them rare earth. Well I can say without a doubt they are not your standard drivers.
Where these shine is the layering of the tunes. The highs have a clean tone and definition only found in higher end dynamics while not being too bright or too weak. About as perfect as you want your highs to sound actually. The imagery in the highs is exquisite. You can make out every little detail of high notes with clean separation and pitch. The mids are not only smooth but also has a shimmer to it. You have to hear vocals to understand, this gives one of the smoothest mid sounds I have ever heard. The only other headphone that has this liquid like mid section is my V-80s.
These hit every note with authority in the bass department and then adds to that a blending of the mids to the defined highs just effortlessly. perhaps the mids are colored a bit which adds to how they sound but man is it pleasing to the ears. Musical like you wouldn't believe. On bass heavy tunes or even ones with vocals with a strong bass lines have substantial musical weight to them giving the sound a base to the tunes that is on a level I have not heard yet in any earphone. The over all sound is thicker than the isurus while maintaining true integrity of the tune. In other words. My library sound new with these. That my friends makes these stand out.
The bass is integrated so well and so cohesive and FAT to boot it gives some serious body to your tunes. Again that thickness= Richness on a new level for me. Every single tune I listen to is integrated so smoothly while having this body. Rare earth drivers.? I thought this was hokey pokey.. Nothing hokey about it. I have no idea what material they are using for drivers but this phone separates themselves from the the rest of what I bought recently not by a little but by a lot! Including the UE500. Those are good but not great like these.
This was sent to a few friends that I chose to have try out these before this thread. Unfortunately I forgot to mention to one of them that I was going to post this for my 1500th thread but hey sometimes it just happens. Then there is this.
ericp10
Today at 1:43 pm
S**t man!! Got them in early today and damn!!! You struck gold again!! Definitely more refined than the TTs. The TTs do have more bass (but not that much more), but the CKM50's bass is more controlled, refined and of better quality (no burn-in and not really muddy at all). Treble is nicely extended but a bit smoothed out (like I like it), and mids aren't recessed at all. Not bad instrument separation at all. Again, I don't think GR07 or FXT90 level, but not too far off. Better than any $100 to $150 dynamic early I've heard other than those two (before burn-in). Only can imagine what to get after burn-in.... It blows the DDM out of the water IMO... Then again, these were originally $200 IEMs (you need to point that out before you recommend them). But I would tell your loyal following about these soon before the price goes up. Really, at $25 ($24 now) you can't beat these. I challenge the head-fi family to find a better sounding IEM at $25. Incredible!! You can use this email if you want to be my first impressions. I'm really impressed with your budget finds, my friend... Thanks for hipping me to these. Happy listening... More impressions form Eric on PAGE 14.
Well Amazon currently has a crazy price on these. $24. Hurry n get one. Even at full price these are a crazy find to the likes I have not yet found in anything that cost this much.
Now this thread will be a work in progress as these have impressed me so much so I decided to get all of their current offerings minus one CKM99. I have on order the CKM33, CKM55, Ck303 and the CKM77.
Lets just say I have a new found respect for Audio Technica..
I will throw impressions of all of them but for now.. Go! hurry n get one before they raise the price on them to $35-$40 what they usually go for. Even at that price. Astounding phones.
Page 15. Impressions of the CKM55.
Page 21. CKM33 and the CK303.
Page 24 CKM33 vs SoundMagic PL30
Page 26 CKM77 vs EX600
Page 28 CKM77 vs GR07
Page 51 CKM33 after complete burn.
Page 56 CKS77 Solid bass. Wholy COW!
Page 63 CKM55 and CKM99 impressions by applehead
Page 74 CKM99
Page 79 CKM77 vs TF10
