esanthosh
Skilled
Intro:
I was writing lot of impressions of late, but they looked to be going downhill all the way to jargon junk. So, for a while now, I've stayed away from it and am trying out newer music. Still, the little red devil in my brain wakes up and starts analyzing signatures sometimes, which I so hate. Where has all the innocence of listening to music gone?
I really did not want to write this, but it helps to drain my head of this excitement.
Prelude:
I was listening to Playaz N1 for a while and was looking to pick up another IEM for listening. I found a small case in the cabinet which attracted my attention. I scratched my head for 20 seconds trying to remember what the hell it is. Finally I remembered that it was one of the costliest IEMs I've got now - right between SM3 ($320) and a little above FX700 ($270, I know now) at about $280. I've got this bugger for sometime now. But since I acquired too many other IEMs around the same time, they got only about half an hour appointment with my ears and back into the case they went... until yesterday.
The Evening:
Let's begin with my tracks. I usually am an end to end album listener unless I am trying to test IEMs. I picked Opeth, my favorite band. They are classified as "Progressive Death Metal". While that genre description reminds people of frustrated, demented, downright destructive music, the only term I associate with Opeth is "beautiful" as in watching the dew on the rose in the early morning. Most of the 'death' and 'metal' bands could be termed 'monstrous', 'brutal', 'machine like', 'monotonous' by me. So that out of the way, let me get to CK10.
CK10 has probably the thickest cable among all the IEMs I own. Reviews at Head-fi made me think I was going to get an IEM with a 1" rope for cable, which was not the case here. The build quality is good, the shells are tiny, the case is so-so.
The first thing that hit me when I put on CK10 and twisted it to fit my ears was :huh:. Damn! Where has all the tone and the timbre gone? "Ghost Reveries" for my tastes, is one of the most sweet sounding albums of Opeth - an eclectic mix of complex heavy passages and acoustic guitars, cleanly sung melodies and death growls. Anyways, I felt that loss of musicality for about 15-20 mins. But, in between, I observed how the drums traveled from the back of my head to the front. Very neat! A few minutes later, I relaxed into music. Thinking about it, it's an experience which I've not encountered in a long, long time. Last I eased into music without worrying about what's missing was when I had RE0. That was also the time when I didn't know much about sound except the words bass and treble.
If I describe CK10, I cannot do without the word 'relaxed'. That relaxation comes from finding most of what one wants from an IEM. Most? But isn't CK10 not supposed to be the uber-super-duper-most-perfect-IEM in the world? It is not. No IEM is. Give me the costliest custom and I'll complain about something. Yeah! buy me both UM Miracle + FutureSonics MG6Pro customs and I'll tell you what are their 'defects'
.
CK10 has a slightly open feel to it, a feeling that I get with FX700, Playaz N1 and ECCI PR401. The sound stage feels limitless, though it may not be the biggest stage ever in an IEM. What CK10 does well is in how it uses that space. Each sound has it's own unique spot in the sound field. Drummer hit right of center, then left of center but slightly off middle and right in the middle? Three unique spots which you can point with your finger easily. Yes! any IEM would do that, but they don't feel pinpoint accurate like CK10. Did I say 'accurate'? Make it precise. Accurate would mean that somehow I tapped into the studio and knew where the recording engineer intended to position the sound in my head :ashamed:.
The bass is extended, but does not have the quantity to go with it. Bass-heads can keep off. The mids are not forward, recessed, damaged, but right where it needs to be. Midrange is by and large smooth. The treble of course is sparkling and is well balanced with the rest of the spectrum. Oh! and then there's the speed. CK10 is pretty effortless when it comes to resolving complex details. Of course, there's clarity! Are you kidding?
With the speculation that DBA-02 and CK10 use the same drivers, my first impressions are indeed different. With DBA-02, I was marveling at the technicalities more like a tool. More than once, I've used words like 'bright', 'aggressive', 'in your face', 'lean' when describing DBA-02. With CK10, I eased more into music. It too has the speed. But the minor differences (not much A/B done, so take these with a pinch of salt) add together well in favour of CK10. The bass has more body, the mids are more smoother. CK10 does have a big spike around 10Khz and it shows itself sometimes, but despite the peak, I don't attach the term 'aggressive' with CK10. May be people without my ear's natural protection of treble roll-off may feel otherwise. CK10 also stays clear of sibilance even if it's present in the recording. It does not try to smoothen and iron them out, but the 'ss' are very short lived that they hardly ever have a chance to hurt your ears. This in my case leads to fatigue free listening.
The End:
So, is CK10 the most perfectly made pair with greatest evah build quality and sound quality rolled into one? It has a few issues, which may or may not matter to you - Sound stage does lack height from what I observed and the bass quantity is unsuitable for Trance heads. Fit could be an issue for some at least. That 10Khz spike could hurt a few ears.
But other than that, CK10 is in many ways great for my listening, even perfect. But, will I keep saying this after a few months? Not sure. I have wandered from the thin, but analytical RE0 to musical IEMs like FX700 and have come a full circle to CK10. My problem is I don't hate either types, though I am veering towards musical IEMs of late. So, my ranking is always subject to change.
Tentative Ranking:
In my rankings, I have reserved the first three places for IEMs which are special i.e., If you put a gun to my head and ask me to take only three IEMs for a couple of years on a lonely island (which still has power, PC and Internet access), those are the three I'd take. Since CK10 seems to be beating DBA-02 at least based on poor, illusive, not-always-correct audio memory, I am putting CK10 at the provisional #2 jammed between the thick sounding SM3 and the voluptuous sounding FX700. Sorry DBA-02! You have to go down - at least for now!
I was writing lot of impressions of late, but they looked to be going downhill all the way to jargon junk. So, for a while now, I've stayed away from it and am trying out newer music. Still, the little red devil in my brain wakes up and starts analyzing signatures sometimes, which I so hate. Where has all the innocence of listening to music gone?
I really did not want to write this, but it helps to drain my head of this excitement.
Prelude:
I was listening to Playaz N1 for a while and was looking to pick up another IEM for listening. I found a small case in the cabinet which attracted my attention. I scratched my head for 20 seconds trying to remember what the hell it is. Finally I remembered that it was one of the costliest IEMs I've got now - right between SM3 ($320) and a little above FX700 ($270, I know now) at about $280. I've got this bugger for sometime now. But since I acquired too many other IEMs around the same time, they got only about half an hour appointment with my ears and back into the case they went... until yesterday.
The Evening:
Let's begin with my tracks. I usually am an end to end album listener unless I am trying to test IEMs. I picked Opeth, my favorite band. They are classified as "Progressive Death Metal". While that genre description reminds people of frustrated, demented, downright destructive music, the only term I associate with Opeth is "beautiful" as in watching the dew on the rose in the early morning. Most of the 'death' and 'metal' bands could be termed 'monstrous', 'brutal', 'machine like', 'monotonous' by me. So that out of the way, let me get to CK10.
CK10 has probably the thickest cable among all the IEMs I own. Reviews at Head-fi made me think I was going to get an IEM with a 1" rope for cable, which was not the case here. The build quality is good, the shells are tiny, the case is so-so.
The first thing that hit me when I put on CK10 and twisted it to fit my ears was :huh:. Damn! Where has all the tone and the timbre gone? "Ghost Reveries" for my tastes, is one of the most sweet sounding albums of Opeth - an eclectic mix of complex heavy passages and acoustic guitars, cleanly sung melodies and death growls. Anyways, I felt that loss of musicality for about 15-20 mins. But, in between, I observed how the drums traveled from the back of my head to the front. Very neat! A few minutes later, I relaxed into music. Thinking about it, it's an experience which I've not encountered in a long, long time. Last I eased into music without worrying about what's missing was when I had RE0. That was also the time when I didn't know much about sound except the words bass and treble.
If I describe CK10, I cannot do without the word 'relaxed'. That relaxation comes from finding most of what one wants from an IEM. Most? But isn't CK10 not supposed to be the uber-super-duper-most-perfect-IEM in the world? It is not. No IEM is. Give me the costliest custom and I'll complain about something. Yeah! buy me both UM Miracle + FutureSonics MG6Pro customs and I'll tell you what are their 'defects'
.CK10 has a slightly open feel to it, a feeling that I get with FX700, Playaz N1 and ECCI PR401. The sound stage feels limitless, though it may not be the biggest stage ever in an IEM. What CK10 does well is in how it uses that space. Each sound has it's own unique spot in the sound field. Drummer hit right of center, then left of center but slightly off middle and right in the middle? Three unique spots which you can point with your finger easily. Yes! any IEM would do that, but they don't feel pinpoint accurate like CK10. Did I say 'accurate'? Make it precise. Accurate would mean that somehow I tapped into the studio and knew where the recording engineer intended to position the sound in my head :ashamed:.
The bass is extended, but does not have the quantity to go with it. Bass-heads can keep off. The mids are not forward, recessed, damaged, but right where it needs to be. Midrange is by and large smooth. The treble of course is sparkling and is well balanced with the rest of the spectrum. Oh! and then there's the speed. CK10 is pretty effortless when it comes to resolving complex details. Of course, there's clarity! Are you kidding?
With the speculation that DBA-02 and CK10 use the same drivers, my first impressions are indeed different. With DBA-02, I was marveling at the technicalities more like a tool. More than once, I've used words like 'bright', 'aggressive', 'in your face', 'lean' when describing DBA-02. With CK10, I eased more into music. It too has the speed. But the minor differences (not much A/B done, so take these with a pinch of salt) add together well in favour of CK10. The bass has more body, the mids are more smoother. CK10 does have a big spike around 10Khz and it shows itself sometimes, but despite the peak, I don't attach the term 'aggressive' with CK10. May be people without my ear's natural protection of treble roll-off may feel otherwise. CK10 also stays clear of sibilance even if it's present in the recording. It does not try to smoothen and iron them out, but the 'ss' are very short lived that they hardly ever have a chance to hurt your ears. This in my case leads to fatigue free listening.
The End:
So, is CK10 the most perfectly made pair with greatest evah build quality and sound quality rolled into one? It has a few issues, which may or may not matter to you - Sound stage does lack height from what I observed and the bass quantity is unsuitable for Trance heads. Fit could be an issue for some at least. That 10Khz spike could hurt a few ears.
But other than that, CK10 is in many ways great for my listening, even perfect. But, will I keep saying this after a few months? Not sure. I have wandered from the thin, but analytical RE0 to musical IEMs like FX700 and have come a full circle to CK10. My problem is I don't hate either types, though I am veering towards musical IEMs of late. So, my ranking is always subject to change.
Tentative Ranking:
In my rankings, I have reserved the first three places for IEMs which are special i.e., If you put a gun to my head and ask me to take only three IEMs for a couple of years on a lonely island (which still has power, PC and Internet access), those are the three I'd take. Since CK10 seems to be beating DBA-02 at least based on poor, illusive, not-always-correct audio memory, I am putting CK10 at the provisional #2 jammed between the thick sounding SM3 and the voluptuous sounding FX700. Sorry DBA-02! You have to go down - at least for now!
