I have the CKM500i with mic meant for usage with iPods/iPhones, same mic-input version as CKM500iS series with the exception of a longer 1.2m cord length without the short extension cord given. I'm also not hearing them like what others have made them out to be, especially according DSnut's earlier impressions about these being out of the world, or what he had previously termed it as "
the best CKM series earphones yet". Personally to my ears the best CKM series IEM was the
ATH-CKM90 model, that has already been discontinued by Audio-technica since early 2010's, and shortly after a few months later the CKM99's were introduced by them back in November 2010. CKM90 was also probably ATH's first and last in-ear earphones to be based on balanced armature drivers, instead of the usual 12.5mm dynamic transducers used across their whole line-up of lower end range of CKM series (CKM70, CKM55, CKM500), with the exception of the CKM99/CKM1000 series models which was based on their latest iteration and newly developed 14-mm dynamic transducers instead.
Simply put, the CKM500 series is indeed quite a decent earphones for it's price tag, and has reasonable build quality/thickness of the cables. However in terms of detail resolution/clarity, things such as soundstage/sense of space and instrumental separation it simply falls short compared to the other phones I have in my current possesion, and probably some of the cheaper sub-100 dollars IEMs out there as well. I do however like how it presents mainly vocals with it's forward midrange, it's excellent "Prat" factor with many upbeat tracks and its consistent and yet non-fatiguing treble qualities.
I have previously wrote quite a
short and brief review about the CKM500i against my own pair of CK100PRO's before, Audio-technica current BA flagship in their own in-ears lineup. Not sure whether it would give you guys a better idea of where it stands against other top tier universals, but I'm too lazy to cut and paste the whole review into this discussion thread so just click the above link and take a look if you are interested.
Cheers!