[Dsnuts]

These require lots of burn in time..It tames the treble (Which become very addicting sparkle) mids become much clearer( With unbelievable imagery I might add) and the bass gets tighter more textured (better controlled with deep rumble).. It is unfortunate AT does not do any type of burn in on these earphones at all. Out of box you guys get absolute raw drivers with a messy sound which kinda sucks for paying so much for earphones. I was not too happy with them on open box myself. I was seriously tempted to return them but I am glad I burned them in for a long time before making a final assessment on them. In this case the more effort into burn in will only help these come out in true form. Once they get the time, what you guys hear out of box will be gone.
 
I recently got the new Ibasso DX50 and if you guys heard what these earphones sound like on the dap it will be all worth it believe me. So ya they do take some time to ship up in the sound a lot longer than most in ears actually. Even when you think your done you are probably half way there lol. But it is kinda fun to hear them change. Burn them over night with the bassiest music in your collection( I use Drum an Bass) on a loop fairly loud, ( This is the crutial part loud but not distorting but should be audible when put down, cover with a jacket or something so it wont bother you) repeat this every night all day and night. Take a listen once in a while to hear how they start to clear up in the mids and such. If you keep at it, you guys will understand why these was given gold status in a prestigious Japanese audio mag..
 
Also I kinda mentioned this before but added coloration from your source does not do these earphones any good so do not add any bass enhancement or eq to your sources. The more neutral the source the better these will sound. These sound terrible on the Fiio X3 but sound heavenly on the Ibasso DX50.

 

[daveyostrow]

   
LOL, what a waste to leave such great phones unlistened-to for several weeks! They can be burned in on the job, as it were.

I was kind of thinking the same thing, but I think it was meant more as "give them a few weeks before passing judgment" and that's my intention.
 
I'm going to give them a well-rounded burn and listen to only bass-oriented music with them in the meantime. Hopefully I'm not locked into that use permanently with them... I really want them to have a more balanced and even sound on rock music.

 
 
im going to keep letting my burn in because it can be too bright for me sometimes. they are very balanced for bassy phones so the highs are more forward/sharp than i can handle atm. so far it helped, but hopefully a real good burn in will lock me in. The source and quality of music helps but my 100-ish hours is not enough.  

 

[nick n]

  im going to keep letting my burn in because it can be too bright for me sometimes. they are very balanced for bassy phones so the highs are more forward/sharp than i can handle atm. so far it helped, but hopefully a real good burn in will lock me in. The source and quality of music helps but my 100-ish hours is not enough.  

FWIW
I did not detect any of this in the pair I had on loan , and they were well broken-in from what I know. That would have been the first thing to stand out for me if they were bright/peaky.
So most likely this will fade down in due time. 
Don't give up!

 

[waynes world]

  FWIW
I did not detect any of this in the pair I had on loan , and they were well broken-in from what I know. That would have been the first thing to stand out for me if they were bright/peaky.
So most likely this will fade down in due time. 
Don't give up!

 
Correct! The ones you tried were burnt-in-beaten into beautiful submission 

 

 

[icomrade]

Got my pair today, it definitely needs some burn in and this aren't the best ear tips I've ever used. Definitely stopping at radioshack to pick those auvio ones up.
 
They sound okay out of the box but I can really hear the hiss from my laptops source, there's much less coming from my SGS4.

 

[acompli]

I've logged around 60 hours of burn-in now, and I am already much happier and have a lot to say. For $200, I'd better have something to talk about, right?
 
The first and most drastic change I noticed came rather early, at the ~15 hour mark, after a long session without listening. The biggest flaw was much improved. The mids had opened up and were sounding pretty good, especially compared to the muddled and suppressed sound they had in their factory fresh state.
 
Since them I've been burning them in with heavy regular listening and a few solo hours here and there. Logistically, that part has been surprisingly difficult. I don't have a dedicated music source, so freeing up a device for that purpose isn't always an option. I can't leave them lying around at home with 2 unsupervised cats. Can't do it at work; too distracting, and I don't want to have to explain the unlistened-to headphones to everyone that comes in my office.
 
I have to start with the mids... through 60 hours, the mids are in a different universe than out of the box. Becoming lush and vivid, they are almost as good as the bass. Incredible turnaround, particularly the lower mids. Now works with the bass to do some amazing things, especially for bass guitar. The best single sound I have ever heard come from these, or any headphones for that matter, is intervals being played on bass. Spectacular. Center mids are very well balanced and strong but are slightly muddy at times. Center through upper mids are rather clear and never tinny but could be sharper. These problems only exist for percussion, piano and electronic sound. String instruments are great and vocals are excellent. Probably the strong suit after bass.
 
There are some clarity and separation problems with the uppermost mids and much of the treble. If that range gets really crowded, it can sound a lot like the emptying of trash cans. Passages heavy with cymbals turn into a flood of disagreeable noise. Rather annoying, but could be a lot worse and I can't imagine it stays this way. Things take a sharp turn for the better as you go up. The slight harshness is all but gone, and there are hints of a nice little extension profile developing way up. Not something I expected. 
 
Bass was great before and is better now. Frequency profile seems unchanged. Overall presence is being fine tuned. Harmonic response is very noticeable, almost live sounding. Has become really fluid. Close to perfect in terms of versatility and accuracy. This may have to do with the lower mids shaping up. I could be wrong, but I think the CKS1000's intent is to accentuate bass with the focus on fidelity, not effect. You hear the sound as it was recorded, with a high degree of percision. You won't exactly get distorted, rumbling or ground shaking type of bass, because that's typically not a true, recorded sound. But these are more than capable of deep, heavy bass. I haven't come across a bass note or passage these can't handle.
 
Overall, separation continues to develop throughout and the soundstage is just beginning to form and expand. I can't say enough about the lower half. Still plenty of room for improvement, mostly in the neighborhood of 5khz, which can sound dreadful once in a while. Crowded mixes strain the separation and soundstage. The most layered of songs come through with an effect similar to loudness distortion, even to the point of dampening the bass a bit. The biggest weakness is percussion, which goes both ways. Usually has a great sound but suffers with busy drumming, unless it's all kicks and toms. (Edit: was only guessing, but just tested this with "Hot for Teacher" and it absolutely passed.)
 
I should note that I am still using the stock tips and am just now looking into getting some others. This all could change with that in addition to burn in. I get good isolation-enough to tune most common sounds out but not being so walled off as to get hit by a train. I probably have the intended sound, or close to it, but these are fairly uncomfortable. After a lot of listening my ears are actually sore. I think this is a combination of the size/shape of the earpieces and the large stock tips being a little too big for me. The earpiece size doesn't seem like a problem with the right tips.
 
Less importantly, the build kinda sucks, I guess. Microphonics can be horrible when walking, but mostly goes away if you fix the cable to something. I guess a shirt cilp would work, I usually just rig it with shirt buttons or find another way. I also hate the dual cable. The control/mic connector causes some kind of cracking/cackling sound at random so I use the regular connector. So there's no function, but I have a stiff, weighted object in the middle of what would otherwise be one continuous cable. Very annoying. That, along with the shape and size of the earpieces cause these to constantly be tangled, even if I'm just putting them down for a moment.
 
Yeah, I could probably write about these things all day, but to the point... As of now, I'd say they sound pretty damn good and are worth what I paid. And apparently they still have a long way to go, which is awesome. My advice is, while it may take several hundred hours for CKS1000 to fully mature, you'll still get good returns much earlier in the process. Just stick with it and enjoy.

 

[Dsnuts]

Nice impressions. These will take another 2 weeks or so before they start sounding like they should so definitely keep at it. It is kinda fun listening in on the change. Once the highs whip into shape. The mids smooth and warm, the bass tight and deep.

 

[waynes world]

Excellent impressions! It is imperative for me to use a shirt clip with them. Doing so and reducing the cable weight results in great comfort for me.

 

[T.R.A.N.C.E.]

So Dsnuts, final verdict, for Trance tunes, CKS1000 or FXZ200, paired with a DX50, btw like your avatar
 
I have a feeling I will like both either way.

 

[Dsnuts]

CKS1000 is the best trance IEMs on the face of this planet. For $150 what they are selling them for that is what I would get over the FXZ200 for Trance. The only catch is they need a very long burn in process for them to become what they are. But so does the FXZ200 so either way but ya from one Trance fan to another. GO for the CKS1000. http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technica-ATH-CKS1000-Solid-Bass-Headphones/dp/B009FRPN4W/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1380466793&sr=1-1&keywords=cks1000 ,Lol. Wait till you hear some vocal trance on these badboys when they are fully broken in.
 
So you own the DX50? is it? That is the perfect player for the CKS1000 by the way.

 

[T.R.A.N.C.E.]

  CKS1000 is the best trance IEMs on the face of this planet. For $150 what they are selling them for that is what I would get over the FXZ200 for Trance. The only catch is they need a very long burn in process for them to become what they are. But so does the FXZ200 so either way but ya from one Trance fan to another. GO for the CKS1000. http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technica-ATH-CKS1000-Solid-Bass-Headphones/dp/B009FRPN4W/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1380466793&sr=1-1&keywords=cks1000 ,Lol. Wait till you hear some vocal trance on these badboys when they are fully broken in.
 
So you own the DX50? is it? That is the perfect player for the CKS1000 by the way.

 
Yea, loving the DX50 with my modded Sony  XB1000's , these things are sub bass monsters. I had been leaning towards FXZ200, but now I am indecisive, the idea of 3 dynamic drivers just gets me exited, as I've previously I had a radius twf21, a dual dynamic driver phone which I liked. I have a feeling I would really like the FXZ200, what are the reasons that you prefer the CKS1000?

 

[hilosxdd]

Been a proud owner of these little monsters since 3 months ago , when i put these into my ears , half the housing of the drivers , sticks out my ear , which I feel , is kinda heavy

 

[Dsnuts]

   
Yea, loving the DX50 with my modded Sony  XB1000's , these things are sub bass monsters. I had been leaning towards FXZ200, but now I am indecisive, the idea of 3 dynamic drivers just gets me exited, as I've previously I had a radius twf21, a dual dynamic driver phone which I liked. I have a feeling I would really like the FXZ200, what are the reasons that you prefer the CKS1000?

 
The FXZ200 will sound nice on your DX50 as well. Both need a real long burn in. I do own both by the way. The reason why I like the CKS1000 for trance. It has the roomier sound. It sounds like what you would expect from a large venue with a deep full sound. It is due to the large double chambers on them..Also the treble of the CKS1000 has more sparkle over that relatively flatter sounding highs of the FXZ200. The bass end of the FXZ200 is fuller as they do have a sub woofer. This don't necessarily equate to a better bass end here however. The CKS1000 has the faster speed in the bass over the FXZ200. While they sound exotic using 3 drivers..I have had both ever since both came out. I use my CKS1000 way more than the FX200. They are easier to drive too..
 
It is like this. If you owned a CKS1K and used them for a while and then got your hands on the FXZ200. You would be initially wowed but slowly end up listening to your CKS1K again. If you owned a FXZ200 for a while and then got a CKS1K. I am certain you would stick to the CKS1K.. I think both are excellent for EDM but the CKS1K got the edge for Trance.  Its grand sound signature and what it does best is perfect for trance..

 

[T.R.A.N.C.E.]

awesome, youve convinced me, I will get the CKS1000.

 

[Dsnuts]

Good luck with that and do the long burn in. They only get better and better with more burn in and use.