[waynes world]

Quote:

So guys, if you had to put a price on them, how much would you say the CKN70's are worth?
 
I received a letter today notifying me that I was able to go and pay customs to release them and the amount they hit me with was £24 ($36). So £45 ($67) plus shipping and customs ended up being around £85 ($128).
 
Worth it or not?

 
You don't have a choice, do you? I mean, even if you refuse to pick them up, you can't get back the initial purchase amount, can you?
 
Either way... sorry to hear about that. Bummer.

 

[Dsnuts]

I payed for my FXD80s which cost me around $135. These was worth that cash. Sucks about customs regardless. You should have had them declare a cheaper price.

 

[Gee Simpson]

Quote:

 
You don't have a choice, do you? I mean, even if you refuse to pick them up, you can't get back the initial purchase amount, can you?
 
Either way... sorry to hear about that. Bummer.

I'm going to give them a shot of course, I was just wondering if their sound justifies that price for anyone who owns them. I'll be picking them up tomorrow and reluctantly hand over the money for the customs charge

 
EDIT - Ah that's good to hear, Ds. Unfortunately I can't dispute the price with this company (they state that in the letter).

 

[gibosi]

Quote:

A little update. The MX2 has been used since I plugged it into my laptop. It now has over 100 hours.. Using my AD900X. The sound is amazing.
 
Very smooth clean open sound.. I have to say this is quite the surprise. I was sounding good before but not quite like I am hearing it now..
 
Burn in of the MX2 is definitely required. Amazing deal. Now it moves past the Fire Phoenix.  There are things I love about my FP but this definitely has a higher end sound..

 
I believe you are comparing the FP and the MX2 as DAC/amps. As I use the FP solely as a DAC connected to a Little Dot amp. I wonder if you are able to compare only the DAC performance of these two units?

 

[waynes world]

Quote:

I payed for my FXD80s which cost me around $135. These was worth that cash. Sucks about customs regardless. You should have had them declare a cheaper price.

 
But getting charged that much customs for a $70 item is crazy! I got charge 0$ Canadian customs for my $180 ad900x's. I really don't know why Gee got hit with that fee. Gee, is that typical for Scotland?

 

[Gee Simpson]

Quote:

 
But getting charged that much customs for a $70 item is crazy! I got charge 0$ Canadian customs for my $180 ad900x's. I really don't know why Gee got hit with that fee. Gee, is that typical for Scotland?

I couldn't tell you tbh as that is the first time I have been charged customs. It makes me question whether it is worth it to purchase from Japan again unless it is marked as a gift because I didn't pay any customs for the S500's. It was jp-ken who sold me those, he must mark items down as a gift.

 

[waynes world]

Quote:

I couldn't tell you tbh as that is the first time I have been charged customs. It makes me question whether it is worth it to purchase from Japan again unless it is marked as a gift because I didn't pay any customs for the S500's. It was jp-ken who sold me those, he must mark items down as a gift.

 
Yeah, you would have to get the original seller to help out with that. Still, being charged $36 customs fees on a $70 item is pretty harsh in my books. You've got good scotch to help out though..

 

[Carlsan]

Quote:

My hobby just kicked into another gear with tube rolling....

That is why I stopped listening to my Lyr and bought my Buson Soloist. The Soloist cost more than the Lyr, but actually saved me money, if that makes any sense.

Spoiler: Warning%3A%20Spoiler!

I stopped buying all those expensive and rare tubes that made the Lyr sound so good!

 
And yes, I am completely satisfied with the Soloist as my main home headphone amp.

 

[Dsnuts]

Quote:

 
I believe you are comparing the FP and the MX2 as DAC/amps. As I use the FP solely as a DAC connected to a Little Dot amp. I wonder if you are able to compare only the DAC performance of these two units?

The FP and the MX2 in the dac section I don't feel are too different in sound. It is both of their amp section that makes a big difference. I threw in a dual opa LT1028 in the fire phoenix that gives a real nice dimensionality to it. It expands the sound of the CS498.
 
Seems to me the dac end of the MX2 using the PCM1796 is a newer version of the PCM1794 which is a nice standard DAC chip. . It has a very nice clean sound to it much like the CS4398 chips  I can confirm the DAC in my ME is superior out of all my units. But it is more the OPA2227 and OPA2134 used in the amp portion that acts kinda like the LT1028 does for my FP.. The sound combo is very nicely done.. These guys clearly know their sound using this combo..
 
If your looking for a nice high end portable DAC. to use with your amp. Look into the HRT microstreamer. Seems to be just as good or better than the ME but cost $100 less.

 

[cute]

Quote:

The FP and the MX2 in the dac section I don't feel are too different in sound. It is both of their amp section that makes a big difference. I threw in a dual opa LT1028 in the fire phoenix that gives a real nice dimensionality to it. It expands the sound of the CS498.
 
Seems to me the dac end of the MX2 using the PCM1796 is a newer version of the PCM1794 which is a nice standard DAC chip. . It has a very nice clean sound to it much like the CS4398 chips  I can confirm the DAC in my ME is superior out of all my units. But it is more the OPA2227 and OPA2134 used in the amp portion that acts kinda like the LT1028 does for my FP.. The sound combo is very nicely done.. These guys clearly know their sound using this combo..
 
If your looking for a nice high end portable DAC. to use with your amp. Look into the HRT microstreamer. Seems to be just as good or better than the ME but cost $100 less.

 
The Burr Brown PCM1796 is used in Denon's top of the line Receiver, and also in my Denon 4010 BDP Blue Ray player, so I can attest to the quality of that in the MX2.  My Denon 4010 BDP has another caveat that really ups the sound, and that is AL24 proccessing.  I have done many A/B tests between a CD playing in the 4010, and my gears from my computer using jRiver Media Center 18, with audiophile settings through my Audio-GD NFB2 DAC, and to my tube headphone amp, and it very very close in the sound of both.  So that MX2 is quite a package, because with the USB input data is Asychronous, same as what my Musical Fidelity V-link in the audio path does.
 
And all that for under $300.....would like to audition the MX2 and compare to my gears, that would be interesting considering how small and portable it is!

 

[eaglears]

Just pulled the trigger on the S500's & CKN70's. Next will be the AD900X. It turned out to be a pain in the ass cuz my card got blocked. I should have called Visa first and let them know. Then I started getting these translated emails from Amazon Japan that read like a dyslexic drunk wrote them and I was trying to figure out what the f%#$ had happened if my order went through or not. Anyways I think it went through.
 
I can't believe I spent that much on micro drivers which I wasn't even remotely interested in until less than a week ago. After doing a lot of reading here it sounds like there have been major advancements so I'm keen to check it out. I'm sure they'll turn out to be quite handy as they are so portable. Bottom line though I've got my eye on the prize the AD900X. 
 
Anyways theyre all gonna be the shnizzleslick on me tube dac~
 
Thanks to those that answered my PM's and helped out~

 

[Gee Simpson]

Quote:

 
Yeah, you would have to get the original seller to help out with that. Still, being charged $36 customs fees on a $70 item is pretty harsh in my books. You've got good scotch to help out though..

Yeah, I guess so

 

[kahaluu]

$36 customs fee is just ridiculous. I really feel for you man. 

 

[sfwalcer]

^ I know man, damn that sucks. Sorry to hear you have to pay custom fees for these CKN70s Gee. Maybe you can try to argue with them that a $36 fee for an $70 iem is just too outrages and see if they will let you off with paying less or might give you one time exception. It doesn't hurt to ask, and try to argue your case, but just be nice and firm about it.
 
What happens if you refuse pick up/ delivery and tell them to send it back to the seller, will there be fees involved??? If this is the case it's good to inform the seller of the situation as well. But it's up to you Gee and i have not idea how they do things in Scotland so................... take my advice with a grain of salt.

 

[Ghostfit]

Quote:

 
Cool! You should also get the ad900x's to compare, and then sell them to sfwalcer if you don't like 'em lol.
 
I consider myself almost to be a bass-head, simply because I really love the bass in my s500's, and also I love the bass of my bassier iem's (ie mh1c's (boomy at times), mt300's (troll on sf!) and my gr07be's (beautiful bass)). Having said that, I really don't find the bass to be lacking at all with the ad900x's - especially when paired up with the E12 v1 and it's subtle sub-bass boost. I think the main reason is because the sound is so beautiful and balanced across the entire spectrum that I am not sure that I would want it changed at all. Also, I can crank it up loud if I want without any area sounding abusive or fatiguing. Just lovely.
 
Having said that, occasionally I want to get my bass-on, and I am being persuaded that the WS99's are just a bit awesome. It is hard for me not to imagine that the ad900x and ws99 wouldn't be the perfect pair.
 
But enough about me and back to your ad900s... I hope you like them, and I am really looking forward to your impressions

 
For me, they are.
 
I got the AD900X after an exchange of pm with the nutman and subsequently after reading his impressions of the ES700 and WS99, decided on the WS99 for portable use.
I'll hold out on the ES700 until maybe when they release an ES900 

 
Quote:

Just pulled the trigger on the S500's & CKN70's. Next will be the AD900X. It turned out to be a pain in the ass cuz my card got blocked. I should have called Visa first and let them know. Then I started getting these translated emails from Amazon Japan that read like a dyslexic drunk wrote them and I was trying to figure out what the f%#$ had happened if my order went through or not. Anyways I think it went through.
 
I can't believe I spent that much on micro drivers which I wasn't even remotely interested in until less than a week ago. After doing a lot of reading here it sounds like there have been major advancements so I'm keen to check it out. I'm sure they'll turn out to be quite handy as they are so portable. Bottom line though I've got my eye on the prize the AD900X. 
 
Anyways theyre all gonna be the shnizzleslick on me tube dac~
 
Thanks to those that answered my PM's and helped out~

 
Looking forward to your impression on them both out of box and with 300hrs of burn (i.e: 2 weeks later)