kungfool Posted December 25, 2005 Report Share Posted December 25, 2005 I got my girlfriend a NW-A608SI for Christmas, and I think she sort of knew what she was getting, because it was a pair set, and for Christmas she gave me these exquisite ATH-CM7Ti earphones for my present.These babies sound better than any other earphones I have listened to before, and even better than some headphones. Some would say that the frequency response of 10 – 45,000Hz is overkill, but I can really hear the difference from those other phones. (I know it’s supposed to be beyond the range of normal human hearing (20 - 20,000Hz), but last time I was at the ear doctor’s they checked me with that ‘beep -> raise your hand’ machine and I could hear very clearly all that the machine could offer (up to 25,000Hz I think) The extension of the base is great too, it makes bass instruments sound more like the real thing and less like just “BASS” An analogy for how the added frequency range makes the music “feel” might be like the lighting in the environment you view a painting. The painting may remain the same, but in perfect white lighting, all the frequency ranges of colors are balanced perfectly and the painting can be viewed in its full detail. Some may complain that there isn’t enough bass in these earphones, but that’s because of its nice and smooth neutral response to all the frequency ranges. In actuality, these things can stand up to almost anything you can throw at them. Turning the volume up very high doesn’t cause any distortion at all. So this means that if you want to set up your equalizer to exaggerate certain frequency ranges, like bass for example, these phones can handle it with grace becoming super bassy little beasts with great definition and without any distortion. (Right now I’m listening to Utada Hikaru’s “Shiawase ni Narou” which features big punchy and heavy bass and soft and delicate piano. Focusing on the piano sound as I listen, it doesn’t receive any distortion from the bass, even though it’s quiet it comes through clearly.)As far as comfort goes, the earphones are a lot more comfortable than I thought they would be when I saw them in the picture. They don’t appear to be very ergonomic when you look at them, but the fit very well, snug without being too tight. If I have any complaint about the ergonomics, it’s that the wire it comes with is too short, but the included extension makes it too long. (It’s like 10cm too short to go from ear to pants pocket, then the extension adds like another meter, so it’s 90cm too long)Aesthetically I’m extremely pleased, rarely do I run into a product where I wouldn’t change anything in the design appearance, and to me these are perfect. You can judge for yourself from the pictures though.Summary:+Sound Quality is AMAZING (I prefer these to my old headphones)+Design is perfect+Comfortable-Cord lengths are not quite rightIf you are looking to buy these, I recommend you go someplace that lets you audition and listen to phones before you pick them. I listened to more than 20 pairs of earphones that were open for audition at Yodobashi Camera in Akihabara, Tokyo before I told my girlfriend that I thought these were the best. These are pretty expensive, so listen before you buy. For me it was obvious that these were the best, but everyone’s ears are unique…Here are the pictures I took: As always, I'm open to requests for more pictures of anything else you want to see Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Stuge Posted December 25, 2005 Report Share Posted December 25, 2005 Hi,AgainThanks for sharing your snaps with us.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katakonik Posted December 31, 2005 Report Share Posted December 31, 2005 awesome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard_p Posted January 1, 2006 Report Share Posted January 1, 2006 They really do look breathtaking,it's nice to see a pair of high end buds without an in-ear canal flange on them, does the bass suffer from this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kungfool Posted January 3, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2006 The bass is not as powerfull as canal buds, nor is it as powerfull as some other ear buds (non-canal), so I guess you could say that the bass suffers from the fact that they are not canal buds, but since the quality is top notch, they can easily handle anything you want to set up in your equilizer / bass<->treble levels without being washy in the bass or too piercing in the treble. Everything is always tight and very clear. I know there's no way to define this, but they always just sound "correct" no matter what you throw at them. At least thats my impression... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard_p Posted January 6, 2006 Report Share Posted January 6, 2006 Thanks for the infos, i like my bass present but not overpowering, these seem to do that.Check out this auction Haha guess who System_F is Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kungfool Posted January 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2006 If that's you that won that, All I can say is WOW ... Nice deal you got yourself there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishiyoshi Posted January 7, 2006 Report Share Posted January 7, 2006 Wow... that's a deal indeed; with shipping that would still only bring you up to about 11 quid including shipping. Please let us know if the buds are really authentic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sh33p Posted January 8, 2006 Report Share Posted January 8, 2006 dang! those things are pretty, AND the ebay seller lives just north of me. i wonder if my parents will let me go for it, i've already been scammed once on the bay.=SRichard please let us know how it goes, incase it's "too good to be true" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imagine_ Posted January 8, 2006 Report Share Posted January 8, 2006 That's weird... if you search the Ti version on ebay they cost $150+, but if you search the non-Ti version, they cost ~$1... Huge price difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sh33p Posted January 8, 2006 Report Share Posted January 8, 2006 Woah.. Does the titanium only refer to the body of the earphones? =\eBay stores always charge a lot more than auctions though... No one's auctioning the titanium ones Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard_p Posted January 8, 2006 Report Share Posted January 8, 2006 (edited) After checking audiocubes i think the only difference is that the body is made from titanium, the aluminium version should sound the same.The shipping is said to take up to 10 days, i will let guys know when they arrive.I must admit it does all seem too good to be true. It can only think that it may be because few people have heard of the Audio Technica brand, as they are not sold in the U.K as far as i can tell, therefore there are less people who realise the actual value, or even see the auction. Although it puzzling as to how the seller can carry on selling them at such a low price. Edited January 8, 2006 by Richard_p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sh33p Posted January 9, 2006 Report Share Posted January 9, 2006 my thoughts are either stolen or "pirated"/fake, since they're coming out of china.or what the chinese call "water stock", that is perhaps items that have failed QC or maybe display items.or maybe just stolen, yeah. check the box, it'll probably say Made in China=Dlove this country Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard_p Posted January 11, 2006 Report Share Posted January 11, 2006 Got my pir today.Basically the sound quality matches kungfool's description so i do not believe that they are a 'pirate' copy. Also they clearly say JAPAN on them. They look every bit as stunning in aluminium as the titanium ones. However they were supplied with no accessories, just the phones in a sealed plastic bag. They seemed well packaged despite having no box, coming in a jiffy bag and being wrapped in a chinese newspaper. However i do suspect that thewya re 'water stock' as Sh33p described, as upon opening them i realised that the rubber sealing from the top had came off and the insides of the left one were hanging out thisthough was easy to reattach. Overall for a total of $10.99 i'm pretty pleased with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishiyoshi Posted January 11, 2006 Report Share Posted January 11, 2006 Thanks for the report. So, at least it's authentic but not sold in its original package.*thread moved to 'phones section of the forum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry600 Posted January 12, 2006 Report Share Posted January 12, 2006 Can anybody who has the ath-cm7ti phones tell me why the cord coming from the left earbud is so short? The right side cord coming from the earbud seems to be the correct and normal lenght. Is this just the pair I have or is this the way that all of them are made? Please let me know. Also, could someone explain why they are made like this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sh33p Posted January 12, 2006 Report Share Posted January 12, 2006 (edited) This is the way most "neck-chain"-styled earphones are made. What you do is plug the left bud into your ear and then wrap the right cord around behind your neck and plug it in, so that when you take them out they hang off your neck.Richard_p whats the diameter on the earbuds? I think i'm going to try and nab the last pair before it goes but they have to fit wellStrange... eBay is suddenly flooded with these...http://search.ebay.com/?fcid=92&satitle=AT...fkr=1&save=SaveAll coming out from China. If they are made in JAPAN then I don't think they would have access to Water-stock in China. It could be a stock shipment that was hijacked/stolen. Maybe the phones got damaged on the trip. Edited January 12, 2006 by sh33p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard_p Posted January 14, 2006 Report Share Posted January 14, 2006 The diameter of the earpiece is roughly 17mm, personally i think this is slightly too large for my ears, they are a tad uncomfortable. Be aware that if you do buy some from ebay, mine did not come with the extension cord, luckily i have two of them anyway, one from my ex81, and the other from my stock pair from nw-e407, without it the cord is too short for me.A strange development is that the seller which i bought mine from has 'no longer a registered user' under his name on my feedback page. Fishy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sh33p Posted January 17, 2006 Report Share Posted January 17, 2006 Yaargh... There's only one pair left on the bay. Perhaps Michaelstorepr was getting too many complaints, or maybe they are stolen goods and he unregistered himself to avoid leaving a trail...I would personally use the extension cord that came with my A3000, lovely piece of kit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leftwing Posted February 16, 2006 Report Share Posted February 16, 2006 umm...guys.... the phones are in all likelihood fake. i feel that u need to be informed and in this case u might be able to contest the charges. i got a pair of ec7's (on the page they never mention they're fake/imitations). Shipped straight out of shanghai also, same little plastic bag. Also, no extention cord and heres where the u can tell, the real ones have gold connectors, but the ones u got prolly have silver? same as mine. i had to dispute it with the seller and luckily he tried to get out of it by refunding me the money. Recently there seems to be a lot of fake audio technicas out there on ebay...and when u compare them to the real thing...they..just dont shine at all. Also, another tell-tale sign is that the seller is located in australia/england/US but ships out of china. Below is their response for ur reference.Hi Daniel,It appears that we inadvertently purchased dud inventory. we are doing full refunds for all customers that recieved this item and wearing the cost as our mistake. I cannot apologise enough for the mistake.mistake.avnetshop~sleepy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard_p Posted February 16, 2006 Report Share Posted February 16, 2006 Mine had a gold connector, for what i paid for them i really don't mind even if they are fake. They sound alright to my ears and still look stunning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishiyoshi Posted February 16, 2006 Report Share Posted February 16, 2006 Out of curiosity, I managed to acquire a pair of ATH-EC7 from the seller in question as well. My aim was to compare his merchandise with my original unit acquired a while ago. Unfortunately, the earphone is not of original item. But then, that’s expected for its listed price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard_p Posted February 16, 2006 Report Share Posted February 16, 2006 Could you tell us what the major differences are? both in terms of build/apperance and sound quality (though is suppose SQ is subjective to ones own ears). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishiyoshi Posted February 16, 2006 Report Share Posted February 16, 2006 Could you tell us what the major differences are? both in terms of build/apperance and sound quality (though is suppose SQ is subjective to ones own ears).By just a simple glance, the fake ATH-EC7 (not taking the cords into consideration) appears aesthetically authentic down to its build quality. However, upon close scrutinize review I discovered that its drivers are completely different from those of the original retail unit. The drivers employed by the fake ATH-EC7 resembles those cheap standard Sony buds you see bundled with most Sony portable audio device. In addition, the mesh grill is different as well. Along with these obvious variations from the original, the cords employed by the fake unit are a dead give away – the original cords employs a standard gold plated stereo mini- plug whereas the fake one employs a cheap silver plug.As for SQ, I definitely agree it is indeed a subjective matter. However, one can definitely discern almost immediately that the fake ones are simply not good enough - compared to the original, the fake one appears muffled at higher volume, the bass handling is extremely poor and it lacks the clearer treble and midrange of the original. If there’s any consolation, the fake ATH-EC7 is not the worst buds I have listened to but at best it’s just mediocre. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard_p Posted February 16, 2006 Report Share Posted February 16, 2006 I think i must own a pair from a diffrent run of fakes, as the gold plug is retained, howevor on closer inspection to Kungfools photos the most obvious difference is the black rubber around the ear piece on mine it is fairly thin and much closer to the edge than the originals.After longer listening i did decide that if i'd paid full price for them i would be wuite dissapointed in terms of SQ, whilst decent, it is far from exceptional which is to be expected with a $129 price tag. I have probably listened to my ED21's more than the CM7's since they arrived, although nothing i own seems to be able to top my PMX-200 (but sometimes buds are simply more practical). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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