A comparison absolutely nobody asked for: Audio-Technica CK10 vs Sony MDR-EX1000

Having very recently acquired a CK10, and having a EX1000 around, I think it might benefit this community to do a comparison between the very obsucre CK10 and the slightly less obscure, but still unique EX1000.

Non-sound stuff
As from the photo above, these IEMs could not be any more different in design from each other, the CK10s having tiny, elegant housings and require deep fit with small tips (in my case, small size Sony Hybrids), while the EX1000s have big housings and dangle ungainly out of one's sides. Comfort wise, I find the EX1000 very comfortable even with the weird style, and I expect most will as well, the CK10s are also comfortable for me, but the deep fit required for these IEMs may be offputting to some. Surprisingly, the CK10 is just as hard to drive as the EX1000, and definitely a notch less sensitive than many modern multi-BA offerings.

Sound
In the low end, the Sony's have one of the most pleasing bass presentations in an IEM I've heard, hard-slamming, with great note weight and texture, extending deep and clean, they are very hard to find fault with and probably should suit just about anyone but ardent bassheads.

The CK10s, rather than competing with the Sony's, take a markedly different and a more polarizing approach, they are bass-light even with very deep insertion, have very little note weight and somewhat mediocre extension. The bass does one thing well: Speed. It is absolutely blazing fast, punchy, with very quick decay, making seperating individual notes a breeze.

In the mid-range, both IEMs present with high amounts of clarity. Again, the Sony has more note body, leading to a thicker, but still detailed sound, with Macro-dynamics easily better than the CK10s. Where the CK10s take the edge is in micro-dynamics and perceived detail, being very revealing of small nuances in recordings in a way that the EX-1000 can't exactly match. However, this comes at the expense of realistic texture, guitar riffs and recordings that require some "grit" will sound somewhat smoothed over on the CK10, while the EX1000 will be more faithful to the original rendition.

Both IEMs pick up emphasis in the treble, but in different ways, the Sony's have less general lean to the treble, but the combination of treble peakiness and very strong dynamics of the EX1000 can lead to more treble sharpness than the CK10s. In this regard, the somewhat unrealistic texture that bugs the CK10 in the midrange helps smooth out the treble area.

Both IEMs have big soundstages, with the Sony's being slightly larger. Imaging wise, the CK10s are absolutely fantastic in terms of separating individual notes, with everything in the recording being well defined in its space, but at the expense of general coherency, with some recordings sounding distant. In contrast, the Sony's do a much better job filling in its slightly larger soundstage, exchanging the scalpel-like imaging/separation of the CK10 for a more coherent and musical presentation.

Verdict:
It's near impossible to pick a "winner" between these two classics, each with their strengths and weaknesses. The Sony's are the better all-rounders but at the same time, don't possess the fantastic resolution and imaging properties of the CK10. All I can say is, I'm currently in a room with an HD800, and a modded TH900, and I still find myself wanting to compare the hell out of these two IEMs, that's high praise indeed.

 

Addendum: CK10 vs Campfire Audio

I also had the chance to briefly compare the CK10 against the Campfire Audio Orion and Jupiter, brief notes below:
- Immediately apparent, both Campfire IEMs have less treble emphasis/extension than CK10, especially so with the Orion
- Because of the first point, both Campfires sound more closed-in, with smaller, more intimate staging than the CK10, layering and separation suffer on the Campfires because of this
- Notes are much more full on the Campfires, more natural and conventionally musical presentation
- Bass texture/body of the Campfires is significantly better than CK10, especially the Jupiter, which gets surprisingly close to EX1000 IMO
- Macro-dynamics significantly superior on Jupiter, recordings just sound flat on CK10 compared to it
- Resolution wise, I'd say Jupiter > CK10 >>> Orion, it's pretty ridiculous how much detail those 2BAs pull up in the CK10
- Weird texture on the CK10 compared to Campfires

To sum up: The campfires are probably better all-rounders for musical enjoyment, but honestly, it's uncanny how much the CK10 has kept up to more modern competition, could definitely see a studio taking the CK10 over these two campfires just on the prowess of it's imaging and separation capabilities.

 

@mrweirdude,

Have you heard the XBA-Z5? What's your impression on these vs the EX1000.

 

I have both, Z5 and ex1000. I prefer the ex. The ex 1000 are gems. Z5 is a great iem, fun, but I don't think it'd better than its older, antiquated sibling. Ex has it beat on most fronts, especially the clarity. It's also a lot more versatile, where the Z5 is a very bassy iem that sounds good.

@mrweirdude the ck10, that's different from the ckr10, correct? Sorry, this stupid names confuse the shit out of me.

 

The ck10 was interesting because it had dual BAs , but no crossover (I believe Tomscy's chart is incorrect in that regard). That was kind of a thing at that time (there was a Klipsch iem with the same set-up, long since discontinued).

That was only a few years back but it somehow seems like ye olde days when poorly timbred TWFKs roamed the earth. There was but a single supercontinent at that age, Pan-shuria (Latin for "All-Shure"), with the isles of ckia and etyia home to terrible lizards known as fanboisaurs...

I should probably stop before I tell the lore of the Fall of Yoda, the One Ring resonator, He Who Must Not Be Named, and the creation of the First Pyrate. I'm basically a hobbit in the story.