[pfloyd]

Quote:

After further use with these I can now relate to your previous post about the L adaptor. While using the earphones and the adaptor on my Nexus 7, the sound is muffled and horrible. However just as you had said, sliding the adaptor lead out a little bit results in everything sounding as it should. BUT, this is what I find really confusing. When using the adaptor plugged into my desktop computer, the adaptor needs to be plugged in fully along with the original earphone lead. If it sits out a bit like listening to music on my Nexus, the sound becomes muffled. 
 
Very, very weird.

Be sure that the headphone jack is not full of lint or other obstruction.  This can prevent plug from fully seating.  Try using a wooden toothpick to clean out jack.

 

[UryuQuincy]

Could someone compare the CKM500 with UE600? I never heard a balanced armature earphone, and both of these are in a accessible price so the UE600 piqued my curiosity.
I am using a Sony xb21ex, so any of these would be a great upgrade, right?

 

[Dsnuts]

Well I can say if you enjoy bass with your music I would go for the CKM500s..The UE600s are gonna have more detail to the sounds but not in the bass region. So that is something to consider. I think you would enjoy the CKM500s. Going from the XB21.

 

[UryuQuincy]

Quote:

Well I can say if you enjoy bass with your music I would go for the CKM500s..The UE600s are gonna have more detail to the sounds but not in the bass region. So that is something to consider. I think you would enjoy the CKM500s. Going from the XB21.

Thanks! You made my mind.

 

[FYLegend]

Quote:

After further use with these I can now relate to your previous post about the L adaptor. While using the earphones and the adaptor on my Nexus 7, the sound is muffled and horrible. However just as you had said, sliding the adaptor lead out a little bit results in everything sounding as it should. BUT, this is what I find really confusing. When using the adaptor plugged into my desktop computer, the adaptor needs to be plugged in fully along with the original earphone lead. If it sits out a bit like listening to music on my Nexus, the sound becomes muffled. 
 
Very, very weird.

interesting how yours sounds muffled even without the L-shaped adaptor. I find the sound to be great without it. It's likely a manufacturing error as the headphone plug does not fit completely into the adaptor.

 

[audioKyle]

Trying to decide between these or the jvc fxd80-z. I want something to compliment my a900x. Reading some of the stuff about muffled sound/a lot of bass is putting me off from buying these.

 

[Dsnuts]

Ya people say stuff.. Basically if you think your A900X is muffly then you will also think the CKM500s are muffly..These CKM500s are very similar in they way they are tuned to your A900X. So basically if you want a portable version of your A900X. Try out a CKM500. They do need a big burn in but you will be surprised at just how good the CKM500s are. Very similar to your A900X. Yes I own a A900X. FXD80s are a nice sounding in ears as well. Either way you really can't go wrong.

 

[kahaluu]

The FXD80's sounded very good to me when I owned them. Bass is about the same or slightly less than the 500's from what I remember. Both are not bass head levels phones though. The mids on the 80's are slightly recessed IMO, but they're very good phones. I liked the 80's more than the 500's.  

 

[CMN16]

Quote:

interesting how yours sounds muffled even without the L-shaped adaptor. I find the sound to be great without it. It's likely a manufacturing error as the headphone plug does not fit completely into the adaptor.

Yea I'm not really sure what the problem is. It's a bit annoying having to adjust the adaptor for a specific device. The sound is great but in my opinion there isn't much difference in these and the RHA MA350's. Maybe I'm just a sucker for some bass!

 

[smage85]

Greetings,
 
As a new member I jumped on the bandwagon too. I got the 500is version.  Without the L tip the sound is optimal.  With the L tip it's muffled.  Not that it matters.
 
Up to sound quality,  Although I use iems mostly, the only thing I can compare this to as a benchmark is Sennheiser HD-380. Anything better, or in between I don't have experience with.
 
I drive these straight from a Note II with voodoo sound, everything as neutral as possible, and use neutron player with flat EQ (which got a UI update yesterday, making it the best android player imho).
 
What I have been listening to these days, to give an idea: mostly acoustic, some live, some studio,  soma jazz, some folk rock, some hard rock, some progressive, and even some minimalistic piano.
 
These destroy any low price IEM that I have ever owned.  I did not own a GR07 although the thread made me curios once I save enough cash but then I might jump to some dual armatures in that case.
 
Out of the box, the bass was maybe a bit strong.  Even now after around 20 hours music burn in, the bass is powerful.  Initially it was a lot more bloating on songs where the strong mid bass presence mixed with vocals or other instruments.  It was fine for most songs, but before the small burn in, some songs would be disturbing to listen to.  An example I'd give here to this phenomenon is  Iron& Wine - Free Until They Cut Me Down.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rogop4J9KhU  .   Now with 20 hours in, the vocals are better.
 
These earphones have a strong bass, warm sounding presence with the right amount of treble.  On some songs, you may feel the bass is over the top, but it's settling with the burn in.  I feel that hopefully these iems will reach a point where the bass is still strong but doesn't bloat as much on some songs.
 
Now I have access to a parametric EQ and could probably tame that mid bass if I wanted to, but I'd rather enjoy the experience and see how the sound changes day by day.
 
Pros
- Strong bass that doesn't affect the midrange too much (probably because midrange also has a strong presence).
-  Adequate response on the higher frequencies (after some burn in)
- Strong vocals
- OK instrument seperation
- Live recordings and acoustic stuff sound killer
- Good fit
- Coming from cheapo iems, and a closed HD380, the soundstage feels similar to HD380 more than the other iems.
- Price/performance ratio
 
Cons
-  Mid bass can be a bit too much, but getting better with burn in.
- Adequate isolation, but not as much as deeper canal iems I guess.  No expert here.
- Some microphonics.  Not too much.
 
Conclusion
I was stuck in between these, soundmagic E30, and Meelectronics A161P.  I leaned towards A161P but their build quality deterred me.  I wanted GR07 as well but they were out of my budget, and twice the price of what I paid for CKM500is.  So far I'm very happy with my decision.
 
Tip
Keep burning em!

 

[pfloyd]

Excellent first post and spot on description of sound signature.  I have the i version for over a year and they are my go to cans, despite winning a pair of momentums and dj200s and having tf10s in my arsenal, these ckm500s always put a smile on my face, are comfy and easy to insert, and built like a tank, I take mine bike riding daily.

Quote:

Greetings,
 
As a new member I jumped on the bandwagon too. I got the 500is version.  Without the L tip the sound is optimal.  With the L tip it's muffled.  Not that it matters.
 
Up to sound quality,  Although I use iems mostly, the only thing I can compare this to as a benchmark is Sennheiser HD-380. Anything better, or in between I don't have experience with.
 
I drive these straight from a Note II with voodoo sound, everything as neutral as possible, and use neutron player with flat EQ (which got a UI update yesterday, making it the best android player imho).
 
What I have been listening to these days, to give an idea: mostly acoustic, some live, some studio,  soma jazz, some folk rock, some hard rock, some progressive, and even some minimalistic piano.
 
These destroy any low price IEM that I have ever owned.  I did not own a GR07 although the thread made me curios once I save enough cash but then I might jump to some dual armatures in that case.
 
Out of the box, the bass was maybe a bit strong.  Even now after around 20 hours music burn in, the bass is powerful.  Initially it was a lot more bloating on songs where the strong mid bass presence mixed with vocals or other instruments.  It was fine for most songs, but before the small burn in, some songs would be disturbing to listen to.  An example I'd give here to this phenomenon is  Iron& Wine - Free Until They Cut Me Down.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rogop4J9KhU  .   Now with 20 hours in, the vocals are better.
 
These earphones have a strong bass, warm sounding presence with the right amount of treble.  On some songs, you may feel the bass is over the top, but it's settling with the burn in.  I feel that hopefully these iems will reach a point where the bass is still strong but doesn't bloat as much on some songs.
 
Now I have access to a parametric EQ and could probably tame that mid bass if I wanted to, but I'd rather enjoy the experience and see how the sound changes day by day.
 
Pros
- Strong bass that doesn't affect the midrange too much (probably because midrange also has a strong presence).
-  Adequate response on the higher frequencies (after some burn in)
- Strong vocals
- OK instrument seperation
- Live recordings and acoustic stuff sound killer
- Good fit
- Coming from cheapo iems, and a closed HD380, the soundstage feels similar to HD380 more than the other iems.
- Price/performance ratio
 
Cons
-  Mid bass can be a bit too much, but getting better with burn in.
- Adequate isolation, but not as much as deeper canal iems I guess.  No expert here.
- Some microphonics.  Not too much.
 
Conclusion
I was stuck in between these, soundmagic E30, and Meelectronics A161P.  I leaned towards A161P but their build quality deterred me.  I wanted GR07 as well but they were out of my budget, and twice the price of what I paid for CKM500is.  So far I'm very happy with my decision.
 
Tip
Keep burning em!

 

[smage85]

I wouldn't go running with them yet as they are brand new and I always fear for cables bending in weird places and sweat getting in the iems.  Thus I'll keep using my braided cable cheapo philips o'neill iems for running. I always thought they sounded ok for an IEM, well not anymore but they are the toughest ones I have used so far.
 
Meanwhile the burn in process continues, and I feel that the upper is not getting any different but the bass region is still evolving.
 
I'm trying to set the parameters on a parametric EQ to have control over the sub-bass region, and the mid bass,but not sure on what frequencies and bandwidth to choose for the sub-bass and mid-bass region.  I guess I have to start experimenting with it, but don't want to do it yet before 100 hours of burn in.  Anyone has some experience with that they would like to share?  I only have access to a 4 band parametric EQ so cannot do anything too fancy (and don't need to anyway).

 

[Dsnuts]

You should try some big bore tips. Wider nozzle tips will balance out the sound a bit more. It takes a long burn in for the bass to settle.

 

[smage85]

I want to try the Meelec tips, but the Meelec tips cost a lot to ship them to EU.  Is there an alternative to them, or any known vendors that will ship to EU with reasonable prices? I was unable to find any seller in EU so sort of gave up.
 
I'm either listening or burning them 15 hours a day and it's getting better (my ears are burning as well maybe).  There's surely more bass definition

 

[Dsnuts]

Actually no real need for Meelec tips. I ended up using something else..If you have an audio store close by. Look for tips with wider bore or nozzle than what is on the stock tips of the CKM500. Anything with wider nozzle. Cheapo JVC earphones all come with wider tips for example. I am certain the stock tips actually restricts the sounds on the CKM500 adding to the mid bass that is on there. Once you get a wider bore tips the bass actually levels out even more so and sounds much better. Burn in helps too.