By Tim Gideon We once expected any and all earphones below $100 to be majorly flawed purveyors of weak bass and distortion. Now, while it's still rare, a $79.95 (direct) earphone pair like the Audio-Technica ATH-CKX7iS SonicFuel can produce rich, deep bass and clear, crisp high-mids and highs while remaining distortion-free at top volumes. These are very secure-fitting earphones that, despite their relative bulk, deliver comfort and quality beyond their price and earn our Editors' Choice award.
Design
The ATH-CKX7iS is a rather chunky pair of in-canal earphones available in black, blue, purple, red, and white versions. Audio-Technica outfitted the earpieces with a unique 360-degree rotating eartip that allows for a more secure in-ear fit. They don't hurt, but the ear tips didn't needed much help in this first place thanks to their highly effective "C-tips," fin-like silicone attachments that help stabilize the earphones.
Three different sizes of C-tip pairs, four different sizes pairs of silicone ear tip pairs, and a fifth pair of Comply foam ear tips. The Comply eartips are probably the most effective, if not the most attractive, eartips on the market in terms of fit stability. The ATH-CKX7iS also ships with a drawstring protective pouch, presumably for holding just the earphones oncec you've found your ideal C-tip/eartip combination.
The audio cable descending from either eartip is a flat, linguini-style cable with an inline remote control and microphone for mobile devices. The remote has a volume slider and a single button that can play/pause/skip tracks and answer/end calls depending on the number of button presses. The volume slider isn't particularly precise, but it allows for adjustments when your phone or tablet is out of reach. Like most volume controls on wired headphones, the slider works independently of your mobile device.
Performance
On tracks with intense sub-bass content, like the Knife's "Silent Shout," the ATH-CKX7iS delivers a very healthy dose of deep low-end. At top, unsafe listening levels on both the earphones and the sound source (in this case, an iPhone 5s), the earphones impressively do not distort, despite not shying away from the deep lows this track produces. Several earphone pairs that cost twice as much have failed this test.
Beyond a bass stress test, however, Bill Callahan's "Drover" gives us a better idea of the ATH-CKX7iS's overall sound signature. His baritone vocals get a nice treble edge presence that allows them to stay in the forefront of the mix, along with the guitar strums. The low-mids aren't boosted too much here, so his vocals don't get the added richness that some earphones often coat them with—a coating they hardly need. The drums, however, do receive some added sub-bass presence, but a pleasant amount of it, so that the kit still sounds borderline natural and not like an electronic facsimile of drums.
On Jay-Z and Kanye West's "No Church in the Wild," the kick drum loop gets just enough high-mid presence so that its sharp attack slices through the dense mix. The sub-bass synth hits that punctuate the drum loop pack plenty of bass punch, but they're helped in their sense of ferocity by the high-mid raspy edge that the ATH-CKX7iS delivers. The vocals on this track float cleanly over the entire aural assault.
Classical tracks, like the opening scene in John Adams' "The Gospel According to the Other Mary," give an even better idea of just how much bass boosting we're dealing with—a substantial amount, it turns out, but primarily in the very low to sub-bass ranges. The low-mids aren't obscenely boosted, and so the lower range strings sound fairly natural, but get a little bit more deep resonance at certain moments. The mix, however, is commanded by the high-mid presence of higher register brass, strings, and vocals. This is not a sound signature for purists, but for those who want a crisp, balanced sound with an added dollop of deep lows, artfully mixed in.
Artful is not for everyone, however, and if it's truly insane, booming bass levels you seek, it's definitely out there—try the SOL Republic Amps HD In-Ear Headphones for deep bass that is nowhere near natural, but certainly provides excitement. If you like the idea of the ATH-CKX7iS's crisp sound with deep low richness, and have a bit more money to spend, consider the Klipsch R6i or the Audio-Technica AH-CKX9iS Sonic Fuel, which is a slight step up in audio performance, but less so in value. The JLab Fit is far less expensive option that also provides a decent sense of bass depth and articulation in the highs for its bargain price. The Audio-Technica ATH-CKX7iS SonicFuel, however, feels like a bargain—I'd have no problem with this graceful sound signature and secure fit costing $30 more, and for the this reason, it wins our Editors' Choice Award.
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