Individuals are not fans of in-ear headphones, and they always feel that the sound tube that goes deep into the ear can hurt hearing more or less. But frankly speaking, thanks to the compact size and excellent sound insulation of in-ear headphones, life can not be separated from it, especially in aerobic exercise. The ATH-CKS550iS was purchased this time because following the strike of the Sony MDR-AS40EX, the Sennheiser CX200, which had been with us for many years, went on strike a few days ago. There was no plug available for fitness.
I would like to briefly mention the Sony MDR-AS40EX headset, which is the main force I used from 2009 to 2011. Thanks to its ear-hanging cable design, the stethoscope effect is very weak, plus a short-term line design, it is very convenient to connect iPad shuffle, You will not be disturbed by the headphone cable while exercising. Personally it has a good impression on it. It may be that the use is not very noticeable and the earphone connection is in poor contact and is not competent for work.
The process of updating the headset was actually quite torturous, and for a long time no attention was paid to the earplugs. Looking at the various products on the screen would be at a loss. Fortunately, the goal of buying is very clear: buy a pair of affordable headphones, mainly for sports, so the higher high-end flagship products are not considered. Did not choose professional sports headphones is that the design of color is not suitable for their own, and not selected Bluetooth headset is because of laziness, do not want to often charge the headset. . . There were a lot of products that touched Sony and Sennheiser these years, so I wanted to try another brand for my headphones. So eyes locked in the Iron Triangle, originally intended to buy the IM50, unfortunately, Jingdong and Amazon are unable to immediately delivery, you only have to temporarily change the target.
At the beginning, it was planned to purchase the CKS55Xi because it did not see the model details and purchased the CKS550iS. The following is a link between the two products, the price is similar, the design is similar, the details of the difference lies in the plug's shape and wire control function, CKS550iS wire control only has to pause / play and answer / hang up function, unlike the CKS55Xi also supports volume adjustment and Switch songs, the latter two sets of extra features are more convenient when exercising.
One, out of the box
The CKS550iS is packaged in a traditional clear plastic case and comes with a headset.
Headphone bag is considered exquisite, zipper work well, the placement of the logo is accurate, but the label on the back is not very good, and there is adhesive residue when it is peeled off. It would be better to blow it with a hair dryer and then tear it.
Both sides of the box are marked with product features and accessories information. The dual magnetic field drive technology provides support for bass in the solid bass series. The vent hole below the headphone logo helps to increase the comfort of the ear and is not compressed by the bass airflow. In addition, the CKS500iS earplug has two mounting positions. Compared to the standard position, there is also a so-called in-depth position, so that the sound tube is deeper into the ear canal. Try a little bit of the two installation positions, deeper bass bass effect is more obvious, but there will be discomfort after listening to a period of time, it is recommended to use as little as possible the installation position.
In addition to the host in the package, comes with a nylon storage bag and three pairs of silicone earplugs (L, S, XS three sizes), plus the host M on the ear plug, CKS550iS earbud size covers a more comprehensive, of course, you can also Buy extra memory foam earbuds on Taobao.
Second, brief comment
design
According to official instructions, the CKS550iS uses a 9.8mm diameter driver with a frequency response range of 5-24000 Hz and an impedance of 40 ohms. The appearance of the product has a certain sense of design, but it is not as blatant as some products. The logo on the back of the metal etched on the back looks very texture, the product has a total of blue / red black / gold black / white / black with four colors I chose red and black. I didn't replace the earplug after the box was out. I found it comfortable to wear the headphones when I was wearing it. The soundproofing effect was good, and most of the external noise can be filtered out. This is not a small advantage in sports. The headphone cable uses noodle strings, so don't worry about winding. Although the headset supports call and multimedia control functions, but the remote control only has one button. When using it, it can only be considered better than nothing, but also hopes to have the volume and playback control buttons like the CKS55Xi. This will not bring out the mobile phone adjustment during the sports process.
The left and right logos of the earphones are printed on the dynamic-driven casing. They are not used to getting used to, and are not easy to identify. Fortunately, there is a blind spot on the left earphone to help identify. This design is not good or bad, but it would be better if there were traditional R/L differentiation markers.
sound
The sound quality of the headphones is still good. I personally like the low-frequency effect, but the sense of quantity is obvious but not excessive. I wouldn't squeeze the bass into my ear as much as a brand's product. I personally don't like very heavy low frequencies and it's easy to feel tired. When the CKS550iS listens to strong rhythmical songs, the low-frequency performance is more flexible. This kind of performance is more liked by individuals. In the high-frequency part, the individual feels good, with the characteristics of the iron triangle product, the sound is crisp and not harsh. However, the feel of midsense is not particularly sufficient, so it sounds like the overall sound is not particularly fulfilling. This performance is not bad for popular music and sports scenes.
to sum up
In general, at the same price point, the CKS550iS has a good overall quality, from the design to the passive sound insulation effect, as well as the main aspects of wearing comfort and sound performance, I have a good impression on the CKS550iS. Unless you are on the subwoofer by special needs and expectations, within 500 rounds, the CKS550iS is a product worth considering.
Music selection
I mainly tested the high frequencies and intermediate frequencies of the CKS550iS through Cold War Kids' “Hospital Beds†in the Lungs album released by Florence and the Machine in 2011. The voice of the Florence and the Machine female singer showed off in this song. Metal color. If the headphone products are not handled well, it is easy to hear an unpleasant burr. The performance of the CKS550iS is still satisfying to me. This should be the strength accumulated by the Iron Triangle for so many years.
In addition, "Don't Let Me Be Understood" in the soundtrack of Kill Bill I was also used to test the CKS550iS. Flamingos rich style material, there is a certain requirement for the overall performance of headphones. Objectively speaking, the performance of the CKS550iS is acceptable, high frequency and low frequency performance is good, but the lack of intermediate frequency makes the whole song sound a bit scattered. I hope there will be improvement after listening for some time.
