I’m going to come right out and say it: the ATH-CK2000Ti from Audio Technica is my
favourite Audio Technica earphones since the ATH-IM02.
Now recently we looked at the AP2000Ti, which is part of the same Ti series of products
from Audio Technica.
However, these earphones could not sound more different from these headphones.
Whereas the AP2000Ti sounds thin and bright, the CK2000Ti sounds thick and dark.
It's really quite a bassy earphone, and it's that good kind of bass, with terrific depth
and slam, with just enough of that classic Audio Technica midrange vocal texture.
Now this is not a perfect earphone - the design is a little awkward and not everyone is going
to like the kind of bass that is on offer here.
However, if you want to party, the CK2000Ti will shake the block.
We're Minidisc, Australia’s favourite headphone store, and this is Audio Technica’s new
flagship dynamic driver earphone, the ATH-CK2000Ti.
The CK2000Ti is a dynamic driver earphone with two drivers in a push-pull configuration,
all packed into these beautiful titanium earpieces.
Like all of Audio Technica’s new Ti series products, the CK2000Ti has detachable cables
using Audio Technica’s own A2DC connector.
Here at the store' we've found this connector to be more reliable than MMCX, but it is proprietary
which makes it harder to find third party replacements.
The CK2000Ti comes with both a standard 3.5mm cable as well as a 4.4mm balanced cable for
connection to higher end digital audio players like the Sony NW-ZX300.
This earphone is not particularly hard to drive, and you’ll get perfectly good results
out of, say, an iPhone dongle.
Worth mentioning is the handsome leather carrying case included with the CK2000Ti, which has
individual pockets to protect each earpiece from scratches.
So honestly speaking, the CK2000Ti has a beautiful design but it is slightly awkward.
Even though titanium is a light weight material, the earpieces themselves are quite large and
they're quite long.
So whether you wear them with the cable going around the ear or the cable going down, they
will stick out quite a bit.
The other thing is that the stock cable is somewhat heavyweight and it tends to bounce
around and create a lot of noise, and the lack of chin slider makes that slightly worse.
So even though noise isolation is very good on this earphone, it's an earphone that tends
to work best when you are sitting down, perhaps in a commute or at a desk.
Now I know that's going to be a deal breaker for a lot of people, but if you're okay with
that, then you're in for a treat.
The CK2000Ti still has Audio Technica’s signature forwardness in the female vocal
range, but it’s a little more subtle compared to the company’s other earphones.
Compared to the Audio Technica CKR100, which shares a similar push pull driver configuration,
the CK2000Ti has a deeper response and sounds less honky in the vocals, making it overall
a darker earphone.
To me the CK2000Ti is a step up over the Final Audio E5000.
It has a punchier bass response and subtle detail in the highs which rarely gets harsh.
Anyone looking for a natural upgrade path from the E5000 should probably look into the
CK2000Ti.
Compared to other flagship single dynamic driver earphones like the Sennheiser IE800S
and the Dita Dream, the CK2000Ti is darker, and while the highs don’t feel severely
blunted, the overall tone is definitely rich and intimate.
The stock silicone ear tips that come with the CK2000Ti have quite a narrow bore, so
if you want a little less warmth you can really open up the sound of this earphone by switching
to wider bore tips like the Sedna tips from AZLA.
Now to me, the CK2000Ti sounds like what every warm earphone should aspire to sound like.
It's got that effortless bass slam, combined with just enough midrange texture and detail,
without sounding harsh.
Now I’ve mentioned in an earlier video that I really like the Astell & Kern JH Diana as
an earphone that's really good for pop and electronic music because it has rolled off
highs, so it's a bit more forgiving.
The CK2000Ti is a bit like that - not quite as much high frequency roll off as the Diana,
so I think it's a little bit of a better balance.
But overall this is a really carefully tuned forgiving earphone.
Though if you're really, really sensitive to sibilance, I would still go with the Diana.
Personally I appreciate a bit of bass, and I don’t mind some mid-bass warmth to go
along with that, so I really think the CK2000Ti is a beautiful sounding earphone.
It's got plenty of dynamic driver oomph for pop, electronic and hip hop music, but it
has enough natural detail to pull off jazz and acoustic.
Again this is not a perfect earphone.
The design is a little bit ungainly and, this isn’t exatly what I would call a neutral
sounding earphone.
But for a dynamic driver flagship this earphone actually comes in at a price below a lot of
its competitors.
So at 1299 Australian Dollars, I think this is one of the best Audio Technica earphones
that I've heard in a long time.
Come in, have a listen, let us know what you think - this is Lachlan for MindiscTV.
We’ll see you next time.