Zephyron
02-22-2006, 11:32
After an entire week of using these things, with their burn-in process completed, I haven't felt more fulfilled in using any earphones at all... And up till this day, they still don't fail to WOW me...
Yeah, I know, I said I was aiming for the ER6i at first, but several other things that I considered was comfort and elimination of microphonics...
And not forgetting I had a pair of Ultimate Ear's Super.Fi series Biflange eartip with me... All perfect for these new earphones of mine...
--------------------------------
AUDIO TECHNICA ATH-CK7
--------------------------------
Let's get down to business and give a shakedown on these canal-earphones:
The Audio Technica ATH-CK7 is a canal phone, not a true IEM, but it does its job in a very similar way to true IEMs - to block out external noise up to a certain degree.
However, difference is (as compared to the Shure e2c/e3c, Westone UM1/UM2 and Etymotic's ER6/ER6i) its more comfortable as compared to true IEMs IMO, and requires less of a struggle to put into your ears.
With that description over, let's get down to what REALLY counts from an earphone: Sound Quality.
SOUND CATEGORY-
--------------------------------
-Bass Impact: 9/10
The mix of the best of both worlds. As I previously said, its very punchy, but not in a bad way. I love the bass impact of the CK7. It is at the same time strong, yet, ironically, accurate. But bass impact can be said to be something like the Etymotic ER6i in terms of sound signature, except much much stronger. I dare say it leaves the Sony MDR-EX71 that I own in the dust by a long shot as well.
EDIT: Perhaps a proper way to describe the bass impact of these phones is that it attacks and retracts very quickly, much like a swift punch to the ear-drum with no follow-through if not necessary (In short, its bass decay is fast, just nice if not perfect for me).
--------------------------------
-Bass Quality: 9/10
The proper way to describe the bass quality for this thing is that its -in a word- smooth flowing. VERY much similar to the bass quality one would get out of the Etymotic ER6i. The bass frequencies are accurately, faithfully reproduced. You're not gonna find any bloated bass or boomyness here. The bass is clean, just the way I like them!
--------------------------------
-Bass Extension: 8/10
The bass extension of these things extended as deep as I would've liked them to. My ears tell me that it starts to roll-off somewhere in the middle of the 20-30Hz region (average 25Hz) based of Gran Turismo 4's arcade selection music, where there's a deep yet soft quadruple bass beat. I could hear this on my Sony MDR-EX71, but not my old ATH-CK5, Cresyn LMX-E630DL and Koss KSC75, but the ATH-CK7 brought that particular part of the music back. You can bet I was very surprised o.O
--------------------------------
-Mids: 8/10
Not sure of where to begin with the mids quality.
Right out of the box, the mids are just there, but cold sounding. After a night's worth of burning-in though, the mids start to somehow 'fill-in', not as cold sounding as before and starts to get more 'engaging' with the music, though still cold to many I believe (mainly musical bassheads). The sounds of both the male and female singers I have in my album were very accurately portrayed. Musical instruments that generate sounds within the mid-range were clearly portrayed and well separated as well. Nothing about the mids standout I guess, its as flat on the sound frequency as any good earphone must be. The difference however, its the mids detail. Its there and its obvious :)
A good comparison I can make on other earphones and headphones with regards to the CK7's mids is somewhre in-between the Etymotic ER6i and Grado SR60 (leaning more towards the ER6i)!
--------------------------------
-Treble: 10/10!!! OMFG!!! *jawdrop*
Right out of its box, Its low-trebles and mid-trebles are enhanced off the limits, making the earphone sound VERY bright, too bright for my tastes. There was also a tiny bit of sibilance as well. Fortunately, my UE Super.Fi BiFlange tip fixes a huge part of this problem, although the highs still sound rather harsh. After the initial test with them, I left them on overnight for their burn-in process on my PCDP on Bass Boost level 1, moderate listening volumes. The next morning, the harsh and bright sounds generated by the CK7 has been reduced by quite a margin, but not completely gotten rid of yet (They are now though, after a near-continuous 72-hour burn-in with multiple volumes).
Today, the high frequency sounds on my CK7 sparkles much like a clean diamond crystal. Smooth, clean with no sibilance, portraying a great sense of clarity. Even after long hours of listening (4 hours straight, animating my schoolwork) I didn't feel any fatigue on my ears at all!
I really like the highs on my CK7. Found it to be better than the already incredible highs quality on the Etymotics ER6i. Not only is the treble stronger than the ER6i, but I heard more details on the extreme-upper-end of the sound spectrum (10000Hz and above, my ears 'rolloff' at 16100Hz or so, can't really hear anything above that) on the CK7 than on the ER6i. How good does that stand?
--------------------------------
-Detail: 8/10
The CK7 handles detail very well. One shock after I upgraded from the Cresyn LMX-E630DL was the CK7's instrumental separation capabilities when paired with my UE Super.Fi BiFlange tip. It's simple - in a word - BREATHTAKING. I could swear I was almost hyper-ventilating at the time. This thing cranks out instrumental in the entire sound spectrum really easily with much detail WITHOUT being revealing, almost similar to that of the ER6i o.O
Why almost? Well, the ER6i can deliver better bass detail as compared to the CK7. The CK7 reaches around 80% of the bass detail performance of the ER6i. Not bad really :)
--------------------------------
-Soundstaging: 7/10
The CK7 has far from having the best soundstage although you can more or less tell where each acoustical instrument is directed to you from (To my ears, mainly from directly at 12 O'clock, then from 2 O'clock swept to 10 O'clock, ranges from the 12 to 2 O'clock and 10 to 12 O'clock seems mssing, it maybe just me or my ears though). In fact, to my ears, its very much similar to the ER6i, which has already pretty decent soundstage IMO, except it feels more open and airy.
I guess that the CK7's titanium construct does have something to do with it. Its soundstaging is EXTREMELY impressive for something its size AND pricing. To put it in a word, its simply unbelievable! o.O;
Hmm, to compare it to headphones though... Would you believe me if I actually said that I feel that the soundstaging for the ATH-CK7 is actually BETTER than the GRADO SR60 (note: Different sound signature on the SR60. I've tested the SR60's thoroughly, and am still planning on getting them sometime in the future)? I sure think it is!
--------------------------------
--------------------------------
NON-SOUND-CATEGORY:
--------------------------------
-Isolation: 7/10 with default CK7 flanges all 3 sizes, 8/10 with the Super.Fi BiFlange
EDIT: No longer using the BiFlange, sacrificed a bit of isolation for better detail with my normal flange. A bit of low bass cut, but its all the better for me =)
--------------------------------
-Durability: 8/10
Titanium housed earphones with a high quality cord to boot. Being the rough and careless person that I am, I've yanked them a few times before (OUCH! Heart pains...). That being said, the cord does feel a bit rubbery (in-between solid plastic and rubber). It is quite thick too.
The Y-cord adjuster does grip very tightly unto the cords though, and I suspect it may cause wearing out if its used one too often.
--------------------------------
-Portability: 10/10!!!
This is no headphone, NO HEADPHONE! Like all earbuds, its extremely portable, and is easily stored away in a pouch bundled in in its package (Just a pouch? No casing? Come on Audio Technica, you can do better than that o.O) if not in use.
--------------------------------
-Ergonomics & Comfort: 8/10
Sony MDR-EX71... very comfortable but bad sounds, Audio Technica ATH-CK5... Stupid earloop caused great discomfort (Only realized after a friend told me to cut the loop off), Cresyn LMX-E630 great sound for price... but comfort has issues, Creative EP630(Sharp MD33 and Sennheiser CX300 has the same construct)... very comfortable too.
Finally, my Audio Technica ATH-CK7. Musician earphone wearing style ergonomics make the rather heavy Titanium chassis feel even lighter than a feather and it feels... very comfortable too... I fell asleep with these on before (much like another audiophile friend of mine). They're that comfortable IMO! :)
EDIT: One more thing... Microphonics? What microphonics? *listens to his music undisturbed*
--------------------------------
--------------------------------
FINALLY!
Weighted average score out of 11 categories:
With default earbuds: 83.6% -> Better SQ
With the Super.Fi BiFlange: 84.5% -> Better isolation
Zeph's grading: A
Bonus: Here's a pic of my ATH-CK7 + my DAP
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b111/RandomDrifter/Random%20photoes/U3_CK701.jpg
EDIT on March 10 2006:
No longer using the UE SuperFi Bi-Flange on my CK7, but rather using the large sized tips instead, since I think its now fully burnt in. A more even and balanced response have been recieved, and wow the treble details stand out even further, showing the detail prowess of the CK7
Sacrificed perhaps a teeny bit of isolation, but the CK7 sounds more aggressive and detailed now, with an ever so marginally improved soundstaging and a more impressive level of imaging and instrumental separation to boot.
Yeah, I know, I said I was aiming for the ER6i at first, but several other things that I considered was comfort and elimination of microphonics...
And not forgetting I had a pair of Ultimate Ear's Super.Fi series Biflange eartip with me... All perfect for these new earphones of mine...
--------------------------------
AUDIO TECHNICA ATH-CK7
--------------------------------
Let's get down to business and give a shakedown on these canal-earphones:
The Audio Technica ATH-CK7 is a canal phone, not a true IEM, but it does its job in a very similar way to true IEMs - to block out external noise up to a certain degree.
However, difference is (as compared to the Shure e2c/e3c, Westone UM1/UM2 and Etymotic's ER6/ER6i) its more comfortable as compared to true IEMs IMO, and requires less of a struggle to put into your ears.
With that description over, let's get down to what REALLY counts from an earphone: Sound Quality.
SOUND CATEGORY-
--------------------------------
-Bass Impact: 9/10
The mix of the best of both worlds. As I previously said, its very punchy, but not in a bad way. I love the bass impact of the CK7. It is at the same time strong, yet, ironically, accurate. But bass impact can be said to be something like the Etymotic ER6i in terms of sound signature, except much much stronger. I dare say it leaves the Sony MDR-EX71 that I own in the dust by a long shot as well.
EDIT: Perhaps a proper way to describe the bass impact of these phones is that it attacks and retracts very quickly, much like a swift punch to the ear-drum with no follow-through if not necessary (In short, its bass decay is fast, just nice if not perfect for me).
--------------------------------
-Bass Quality: 9/10
The proper way to describe the bass quality for this thing is that its -in a word- smooth flowing. VERY much similar to the bass quality one would get out of the Etymotic ER6i. The bass frequencies are accurately, faithfully reproduced. You're not gonna find any bloated bass or boomyness here. The bass is clean, just the way I like them!
--------------------------------
-Bass Extension: 8/10
The bass extension of these things extended as deep as I would've liked them to. My ears tell me that it starts to roll-off somewhere in the middle of the 20-30Hz region (average 25Hz) based of Gran Turismo 4's arcade selection music, where there's a deep yet soft quadruple bass beat. I could hear this on my Sony MDR-EX71, but not my old ATH-CK5, Cresyn LMX-E630DL and Koss KSC75, but the ATH-CK7 brought that particular part of the music back. You can bet I was very surprised o.O
--------------------------------
-Mids: 8/10
Not sure of where to begin with the mids quality.
Right out of the box, the mids are just there, but cold sounding. After a night's worth of burning-in though, the mids start to somehow 'fill-in', not as cold sounding as before and starts to get more 'engaging' with the music, though still cold to many I believe (mainly musical bassheads). The sounds of both the male and female singers I have in my album were very accurately portrayed. Musical instruments that generate sounds within the mid-range were clearly portrayed and well separated as well. Nothing about the mids standout I guess, its as flat on the sound frequency as any good earphone must be. The difference however, its the mids detail. Its there and its obvious :)
A good comparison I can make on other earphones and headphones with regards to the CK7's mids is somewhre in-between the Etymotic ER6i and Grado SR60 (leaning more towards the ER6i)!
--------------------------------
-Treble: 10/10!!! OMFG!!! *jawdrop*
Right out of its box, Its low-trebles and mid-trebles are enhanced off the limits, making the earphone sound VERY bright, too bright for my tastes. There was also a tiny bit of sibilance as well. Fortunately, my UE Super.Fi BiFlange tip fixes a huge part of this problem, although the highs still sound rather harsh. After the initial test with them, I left them on overnight for their burn-in process on my PCDP on Bass Boost level 1, moderate listening volumes. The next morning, the harsh and bright sounds generated by the CK7 has been reduced by quite a margin, but not completely gotten rid of yet (They are now though, after a near-continuous 72-hour burn-in with multiple volumes).
Today, the high frequency sounds on my CK7 sparkles much like a clean diamond crystal. Smooth, clean with no sibilance, portraying a great sense of clarity. Even after long hours of listening (4 hours straight, animating my schoolwork) I didn't feel any fatigue on my ears at all!
I really like the highs on my CK7. Found it to be better than the already incredible highs quality on the Etymotics ER6i. Not only is the treble stronger than the ER6i, but I heard more details on the extreme-upper-end of the sound spectrum (10000Hz and above, my ears 'rolloff' at 16100Hz or so, can't really hear anything above that) on the CK7 than on the ER6i. How good does that stand?
--------------------------------
-Detail: 8/10
The CK7 handles detail very well. One shock after I upgraded from the Cresyn LMX-E630DL was the CK7's instrumental separation capabilities when paired with my UE Super.Fi BiFlange tip. It's simple - in a word - BREATHTAKING. I could swear I was almost hyper-ventilating at the time. This thing cranks out instrumental in the entire sound spectrum really easily with much detail WITHOUT being revealing, almost similar to that of the ER6i o.O
Why almost? Well, the ER6i can deliver better bass detail as compared to the CK7. The CK7 reaches around 80% of the bass detail performance of the ER6i. Not bad really :)
--------------------------------
-Soundstaging: 7/10
The CK7 has far from having the best soundstage although you can more or less tell where each acoustical instrument is directed to you from (To my ears, mainly from directly at 12 O'clock, then from 2 O'clock swept to 10 O'clock, ranges from the 12 to 2 O'clock and 10 to 12 O'clock seems mssing, it maybe just me or my ears though). In fact, to my ears, its very much similar to the ER6i, which has already pretty decent soundstage IMO, except it feels more open and airy.
I guess that the CK7's titanium construct does have something to do with it. Its soundstaging is EXTREMELY impressive for something its size AND pricing. To put it in a word, its simply unbelievable! o.O;
Hmm, to compare it to headphones though... Would you believe me if I actually said that I feel that the soundstaging for the ATH-CK7 is actually BETTER than the GRADO SR60 (note: Different sound signature on the SR60. I've tested the SR60's thoroughly, and am still planning on getting them sometime in the future)? I sure think it is!
--------------------------------
--------------------------------
NON-SOUND-CATEGORY:
--------------------------------
-Isolation: 7/10 with default CK7 flanges all 3 sizes, 8/10 with the Super.Fi BiFlange
EDIT: No longer using the BiFlange, sacrificed a bit of isolation for better detail with my normal flange. A bit of low bass cut, but its all the better for me =)
--------------------------------
-Durability: 8/10
Titanium housed earphones with a high quality cord to boot. Being the rough and careless person that I am, I've yanked them a few times before (OUCH! Heart pains...). That being said, the cord does feel a bit rubbery (in-between solid plastic and rubber). It is quite thick too.
The Y-cord adjuster does grip very tightly unto the cords though, and I suspect it may cause wearing out if its used one too often.
--------------------------------
-Portability: 10/10!!!
This is no headphone, NO HEADPHONE! Like all earbuds, its extremely portable, and is easily stored away in a pouch bundled in in its package (Just a pouch? No casing? Come on Audio Technica, you can do better than that o.O) if not in use.
--------------------------------
-Ergonomics & Comfort: 8/10
Sony MDR-EX71... very comfortable but bad sounds, Audio Technica ATH-CK5... Stupid earloop caused great discomfort (Only realized after a friend told me to cut the loop off), Cresyn LMX-E630 great sound for price... but comfort has issues, Creative EP630(Sharp MD33 and Sennheiser CX300 has the same construct)... very comfortable too.
Finally, my Audio Technica ATH-CK7. Musician earphone wearing style ergonomics make the rather heavy Titanium chassis feel even lighter than a feather and it feels... very comfortable too... I fell asleep with these on before (much like another audiophile friend of mine). They're that comfortable IMO! :)
EDIT: One more thing... Microphonics? What microphonics? *listens to his music undisturbed*
--------------------------------
--------------------------------
FINALLY!
Weighted average score out of 11 categories:
With default earbuds: 83.6% -> Better SQ
With the Super.Fi BiFlange: 84.5% -> Better isolation
Zeph's grading: A
Bonus: Here's a pic of my ATH-CK7 + my DAP
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b111/RandomDrifter/Random%20photoes/U3_CK701.jpg
EDIT on March 10 2006:
No longer using the UE SuperFi Bi-Flange on my CK7, but rather using the large sized tips instead, since I think its now fully burnt in. A more even and balanced response have been recieved, and wow the treble details stand out even further, showing the detail prowess of the CK7
Sacrificed perhaps a teeny bit of isolation, but the CK7 sounds more aggressive and detailed now, with an ever so marginally improved soundstaging and a more impressive level of imaging and instrumental separation to boot.