[BGRoberts]

Quote:

eke, I'm glad I'm not the only one who can hear all of that sub-bass (great! I'm not going crazy)...ijs...

Now isn't that a bit of a "leap of logic"?

Just kidding!

 

[ericp10]

Quote:

Now isn't that a bit of a "leap of logic"?

Just kidding!

Don't take away my hopes man!! lol

 

[ericp10]

Quote:

Well, to consider, each impression is relative. Jarrett's benchmark was the GR07, I presume you have a different one, different ways in which statements are coming from and things to consider. 
 
He mentions a lack subbass in comparison and the CKM500's bigger midbass boost. Now a response that gradually boost as it goes lower is going to be give you better perception of subbass regions, this is the GR07, similar to this [not a GR07 graph, just an example]. 

 
 
Now it's likely that CKM500s isn't lacking in subbass but there is a masking effect by the midbass. So even though the response may not be significantly lower in the subbass regions, it is harder to perceive due to the midbass/subbass balance and interaction. Similar to below [not a CKM500 graph, just an example]. 

 
Thus the impressions. 
 
Jarrett's statement can be taken out of hand. Nowadays, it's harder to find an IEM that's lacking subbass than one that isn't, don't think these are lacking in subbass (as in significantly dipping below 100hz), I presume this because that in itself is a rare case (significant dipping below 100hz) IME, specially with dynamics. It's that midbass/subbass balance that changes the perceptions. 

 
 
All of that on this page ^^^^^^ by someone who hasn't heard the CKM500 at all? Really? Come on Inks, even you know that is a violation of unwritten "head.fi.org" law. YOU NEVER COMMENT WITH ASSUMPTIONS on something you haven't heard yourself. Why come to make trouble on this page? I just don't understand it. Are you bored, my friend? 

Let me not comment any further regarding Inks. Can't wait to read the first impressions of those who just received their CKM500s (good or bad). Thanks.

 

[Inks]

You miss the point of the post, it was teach about factors to consider when things are very broad in what subbass levels are typically and how they perceived. It coudlve been any two IEMs with that difference in bass levels [FXT90 vs EPH100 is another good example].
 
Why do you want to turn it into something silly. My posts are going to be continually seen in a very bad light by you, perhaps the ignore function is proper here. 

 

[FieldingMellish]

Inks, you mean well and are obviously well-versed, but maybe is seen as though it were Stephen Hawking rolling up and commenting about nebulae to a couple stargazers in lover's lane.

 

[compoopers]

Stupid cdjapan . "Payment finalized" for the past two days, still no shipping. waaah I'm gonna cry.

 

[mugen3]

Whoaa. I've been using the FX101 ever since I got them, but I remembered that I bought Hybrids for these so I revisited my old friend. The sound signature and it's refinement is just stunning. The CKM500 sub bass isn't quite as magical sounding as the JVC's but everything else is just easily superior. I am definitely getting those FXD80 though.

 

[jant71]

I don't know what kinda irks Inks off about this phone. AT making something pretty good outside of their serious CK models isn't a bad thing. I think 100% of the people would bet the GR07 is going to measure better than the CKM500 plus it is a $60 phone over there (although we pay more to import for now) and measuring out something so cheap doesn't appeal that much to me because it is just a $60 mainstream type earphone that doesn't claim to be anything other than the usual stabilizer ring and unwanted resonance lines that AT has used for the last 4 years. Hey, if the CKM500 can compete with GR07 that is good and what we all want or else we don't progress. The GR07 is getting older and hopefully will be surpassed by cheaper things quite soon.
 
I'll happily admit that I was sarcastic and gave Inks some ribbing. Not serious and in good nature. Hopefully Inks will admit that he was a bit condescending(even if not realizing it) and probably shouldn't have gave the idea that Eric or whoever was pushing stuff off when he was doing as much. Or telling me how I think or coming down on how people approach to evaluating their gear. The point is not that Inks doesn't have something to contribute or about the knowledge/measurements just the rubbing people the wrong way wasn't cool.
 
We should just let the impressions roll in and see where it goes. Maybe Inks will grab a CKM500. As I said, no doubt it will lose as it should. Plenty will learn something from Inks getting one and measuring it up. Some might not be interested and that's cool too. It has to be since we need to respect each others opinions.
 
Hopefully it was just some good spirited banter back and forth to pass the time till we get some more info/impressions/comparisons. Let's just get back on track, keep it fun, and agree to respect each others ways of doing things. That is the last I have to say on the little detour we had. It wasn't that big a deal anyway. 
 
 
@mugen3; interested in your impressions vs. the CKM99. That thing was $249 when it
first came over here. Wonder how much the CKM500 will be when it comes stateside? I am quite happy with my Sony HPM78 and how it performs even against my ASG-1 so I doubt I'll get either a CKM500 or FXD80. I think I need to save money as Dale from Aurisonics told me the ASG-2 is an EPIC improvement over the 1 so now I'm thinking the upgrade charge may end up being pricier than I first thought.

 

[cute]

Quote:

 
 
All of that on this page ^^^^^^ by someone who hasn't heard the CKM500 at all? Really? Come on Inks, even you know that is a violation of unwritten "head.fi.org" law. YOU NEVER COMMENT WITH ASSUMPTIONS on something you haven't heard yourself. Why come to make trouble on this page? I just don't understand it. Are you bored, my friend? 

Let me not comment any further regarding Inks. Can't wait to read the first impressions of those who just received their CKM500s (good or bad). Thanks.

 
ericp10,  How do you find the sub-bass, bass and mid-bass on the CKM-500?  How does the bass compare to the ASG-1?  I like these very much, because I also own three pairs of AT headphones, see my sig.  I love the vocals on all Audio Technica's that I own.  I think the CKM-500 is overdone, drowning out a lot of the purity in the mids and highs, and the mid-bass hump is affecting the quality of sound in the vocals.  Using my parametric EQ in jRiver, I reduced 30hz -4db, 60hz -4db, and 125hz by -4db.  Initially I like this a lot better than the stock CKM-500 sound.  The mids are very good, and the sparkle in the highs lovely.  I just can't take the bass on these with songs that already have enough bass.  I am getting very good instrament separation, but crossfeed settings in jRiver Media Center 16 contributes to that.  For me the soundstage is big but lacks 3D depth, good height, instraments can be outside my shoulders for width on a lot of tracks....again crossfeed really helps here.  Loreena Mckinnet has a lot of different string instraments, lowland pipes, and exotic drums, very good tone on all, IMO!.  Carolina Chocolate Drops are fun.  Really like the clarity with the reduced bass above.  I am using the custom Aurisonics slicone tips from Dale, for the best sound, with the deep insertion I could'nt take the basshead sound before the adjustments!  So, for the price, and after three days of listening, they are in the mix with my favorite IEM's and AT headphones.  The reason I purchased them is to see if the Audio Technica sound was there, compared to my headphones, and......I can say the lush vocals are there in all their glory!
 
EQ settings are trial and error, but so far I like the CKM-500 with the reduced settings......I would like to see a FR graph for them, to see if my ears are telling me what I hear in the low end!  When I use parametric EQ, I try to get the same amount of bass that I hear in my main system that has two subwoofers....those are set using my Antimode 8033, and the Audyssey in my reciever, so I know what proper bass levels sound!

 

[ericp10]

Quote:

I don't know what kinda irks Inks off about this phone. AT making something pretty good outside of their serious CK models isn't a bad thing. I think 100% of the people would bet the GR07 is going to measure better than the CKM500 plus it is a $60 phone over there (although we pay more to import for now) and measuring out something so cheap doesn't appeal that much to me because it is just a $60 mainstream type earphone that doesn't claim to be anything other than the usual stabilizer ring and unwanted resonance lines that AT has used for the last 4 years. Hey, if the CKM500 can compete with GR07 that is good and what we all want or else we don't progress. The GR07 is getting older and hopefully will be surpassed by cheaper things quite soon.
 
I'll happily admit that I was sarcastic and gave Inks some ribbing. Not serious and in good nature. Hopefully Inks will admit that he was a bit condescending(even if not realizing it) and probably shouldn't have gave the idea that Eric or whoever was pushing stuff off when he was doing as much. Or telling me how I think or coming down on how people approach to evaluating their gear. The point is not that Inks doesn't have something to contribute or about the knowledge/measurements just the rubbing people the wrong way wasn't cool.
 
We should just let the impressions roll in and see where it goes. Maybe Inks will grab a CKM500. As I said, no doubt it will lose as it should. Plenty will learn something from Inks getting one and measuring it up. Some might not be interested and that's cool too. It has to be since we need to respect each others opinions.
 
Hopefully it was just some good spirited banter back and forth to pass the time till we get some more info/impressions/comparisons. Let's just get back on track, keep it fun, and agree to respect each others ways of doing things. That is the last I have to say on the little detour we had. It wasn't that big a deal anyway. 
 
 
@mugen3; interested in your impressions vs. the CKM99. That thing was $249 when it
first came over here. Wonder how much the CKM500 will be when it comes stateside? I am quite happy with my Sony HPM78 and how it performs even against my ASG-1 so I doubt I'll get either a CKM500 or FXD80. I think I need to save money as Dale from Aurisonics told me the ASG-2 is an EPIC improvement over the 1 so now I'm thinking the upgrade charge may end up being pricier than I first thought.

Once again, jant71, great comments. For the record, I have nothing against Inks and his "measurements." They are actually welcomed on this this thread as far as I'm concerned (and I'm sure as far as the thread starter, Dsnuts, is concerned. I'm not assuming this about Dsnuts, we discussed it). But as jant71 so eloquently stated, one doesn't have to be condescending to others to show a different and more technical way of comparing earphones. Inks, the ignore button will not be necessary, but if you feel you must be "condescending" and criticize the way others do things (differently from you), then you can expect contrary comments from me. I rather we respect each other's contributions to this forum. Now find a CKM500 to listen to so that you can really give us some insights on this thread comparing it to the GR07, FXT90 and others, please? 

 

[Currawong]

I just want to suggest to you guys, before you start beating each other up over listening impressions, that you include what you are plugging them into, what music you listen to and what volume you listen at, as all these things affect the impressions you'll have. Since you are talking about deep bass, some devices simply wont deliver deep bass to IEMs even if they are capable of re-producing it. Graphs are no help here, as, for all we know, the IEMs were plugged into a desktop amp. 

 

[ericp10]

Quote:

 
ericp10,  How do you find the sub-bass, bass and mid-bass on the CKM-500?  How does the bass compare to the ASG-1?  I like these very much, because I also own three pairs of AT headphones, see my sig.  I love the vocals on all Audio Technica's that I own.  I think the CKM-500 is overdone, drowning out a lot of the purity in the mids and highs, and the mid-bass hump is affecting the quality of sound in the vocals.  Using my parametric EQ in jRiver, I reduced 30hz -4db, 60hz -4db, and 125hz by -4db.  Initially I like this a lot better than the stock CKM-500 sound.  The mids are very good, and the sparkle in the highs lovely.  I just can't take the bass on these with songs that already have enough bass.  I am getting very good instrament separation, but crossfeed settings in jRiver Media Center 16 contributes to that.  For me the soundstage is big but lacks 3D depth, good height, instraments can be outside my shoulders for width on a lot of tracks....again crossfeed really helps here.  Loreena Mckinnet has a lot of different string instraments, lowland pipes, and exotic drums, very good tone on all, IMO!.  Carolina Chocolate Drops are fun.  Really like the clarity with the reduced bass above.  I am using the custom Aurisonics slicone tips from Dale, for the best sound, with the deep insertion I could'nt take the basshead sound before the adjustments!  So, for the price, and after three days of listening, they are in the mix with my favorite IEM's and AT headphones.  The reason I purchased them is to see if the Audio Technica sound was there, compared to my headphones, and......I can say the lush vocals are there in all their glory!
 
EQ settings are trial and error, but so far I like the CKM-500 with the reduced settings......I would like to see a FR graph for them, to see if my ears are telling me what I hear in the low end!  When I use parametric EQ, I try to get the same amount of bass that I hear in my main system that has two subwoofers....those are set using my Antimode 8033, and the Audyssey in my reciever, so I know what proper bass levels sound!

Hello cute. Actually I'm finding some of the criticisms you listed abou the CKM500 here to be true (so much for fanboyism, uhn?)... You are absolutely right that on some songs that already have quite a bit of bass (especially sub-bass) the CKM500 can be a bit too much. I'll go a step further and say the the bass even becomes muddy somewhat. I find that when the CKM50 is handling music with less instrumentation and space (like a jazz quartet) it sounds marvelous, but if there are lot of instruments and it's very busy in the mids, something in the recording gets masked if you will (especially with strings). This can be an irritating flaw with the CKM500. 

Still, for it's price, I think the CKM500 is a wonderful sounding IEM. And I still think it does some things better than the GR07 (like its richness and refinement in the entire sound signature). Is it technically superior to the GR07 (upon further listening and A/Bing)? The answer would be no.

The bass in the ASG-1, however, runs circles around the CKM500 in clarity, sub-bass and detail. I hear this is especially true with the revision 1.2 (which I haven't heard yet, but should be on its way back to me soon). I think the 1.2 was vented to increase the sub-bass even more. Is the CKM500 flawed? Yes it is, without a doubt, and I never suggested it wasn't. But I still think it is a great sounding IEM, and overall - right now - I prefer it's sound signature over the GR07. Enough to sell my GR07? No. Of course not.

But guess what has been in my ears the past few days, cute? The W4. I have fell in love with this IEM all over again. Can't wait for my ASG-1.2 to get to me though. For some reason I'm last on the list so it seems....lol. It's all good. Happy listening!!

 

[elvergun]

Inks, you mean well and are obviously well-versed, but maybe is seen as though it were Stephen Hawking rolling up and commenting about nebulae to a couple stargazers in lover's lane.

LMAO

 

[jasonb]

I just want to suggest to you guys, before you start beating each other up over listening impressions, that you include what you are plugging them into, what music you listen to and what volume you listen at, as all these things affect the impressions you'll have. Since you are talking about deep bass, some devices simply wont deliver deep bass to IEMs even if they are capable of re-producing it. Graphs are no help here, as, for all we know, the IEMs were plugged into a desktop amp. 

They sound superb out of my iPhone 4 at about half volume. I listen to mostly prog rock and metal, but i also enjoy dubstep, chillout and ambient too. Ive had them a week and a half and they just keep getting better. They keep getting smoother and clearer. They sound good all the way through but what i enjoy about them the most is the treble and treble extension. Ive heard bass and midrange that sound similar to this, but the brightness and extension are new traits for me and i really enjoy them.


Sent from my iPhone 4 using Tapatalk.

 

[cute]

Quote:

Hello cute. Actually I'm finding some of the criticisms you listed abou the CKM500 here to be true (so much for fanboyism, uhn?)... You are absolutely right that on some songs that already have quite a bit of bass (especially sub-bass) the CKM500 can be a bit too much. I'll go a step further and say the the bass even becomes muddy somewhat. I find that when the CKM50 is handling music with less instrumentation and space (like a jazz quartet) it sounds marvelous, but if there are lot of instruments and it's very busy in the mids, something in the recording gets masked if you will (especially with strings). This can be an irritating flaw with the CKM500. 

Still, for it's price, I think the CKM500 is a wonderful sounding IEM. And I still think it does some things better than the GR07 (like its richness and refinement in the entire sound signature). Is it technically superior to the GR07 (upon further listening and A/Bing)? The answer would be no.

The bass in the ASG-1, however, runs circles around the CKM500 in clarity, sub-bass and detail. I hear this is especially true with the revision 1.2 (which I haven't heard yet, but should be on its way back to me soon). I think the 1.2 was vented to increase the sub-bass even more. Is the CKM500 flawed? Yes it is, without a doubt, and I never suggested it wasn't. But I still think it is a great sounding IEM, and overall - right now - I prefer it's sound signature over the GR07. Enough to sell my GR07? No. Of course not.

But guess what has been in my ears the past few days, cute? The W4. I have fell in love with this IEM all over again. Can't wait for my ASG-1.2 to get to me though. For some reason I'm last on the list so it seems....lol. It's all good. Happy listening!!

 
I agree that the bass in some music can sound muddy.....Chris Isaaks "Blue Spannish Sky", for example, sound muddy and unlistenable, IMO, even with the bass EQ set lower.  There is so much music on these that is very good listen, I get to listening and get carried away with the CKM-500, my Celtic music sounds great....Clannad, Loreena Mckinnet, Dan Ar Braz to name a few.  For some reason I really like the way Audio Technica colours the sound....it makes for fun listening even though it is not neutral.  Audio Technica wooden headphones are the reason I sold my other IEM's, Aurisonics, Westone 4R.  The W4R, to me was the best universal IEM that I had, but cables make a big, big difference with them!  May try the Aurisonics again at some point, when they get to sounding better, and they get more comfortable to wear, the bump on the inside was just not a good fit in my ears, and the mids were not in my sound sig, too many shrill peaks!  The CKM-500 really outclasses the Aurisonics in mids, and far outclasses the Aurisonics in the highs, IMO!  The CKM-500 sounds more like what I expected out of the Sony XBA-4!
 
If the bass on the CKM-500 was not so flawed, they would be a very good IEM, and could compete with many at double or triple the price!  The mids, and the sparkly highs I do love, so far!  I am enjoying listening to them with most of my music.
 
I'm really enjoying Ry Cooder's guitar on "The Ry Cooder Anthology:  The UFO Has Landed", the guitars have a real sounding sting to them that is very clear, sparkly and real sounding