Don’t Underestimate the BA Bass Performance
It’s an easy stereotype that full BA (or BA+EST) IEMs would sound light or super-tacky. Even I, after experiencing multiple examples that begged to differ by perfectly crushing such thoughts, still get prepared to listen to such sound. However, proven by its bigger brother CP622B, that isn’t the case for CP74E either. The CP74E has a gentle w-shaped sound signature where all three frequency ranges are carefully highlighted, offering a reference-like linearity while achieving full musicality and enjoyable dynamics.
The Sonion woofers, combined with Canpur’s proprietary bass chamber and vents, don’t disappoint me when it comes to bass. The bass is moist, smooth, and lush in tone. The strikes pack punch and weight, yet it approaches very gently. What I mean by gentle here would be the opposite of being ‘bombastic.’ The bass is agile and tight, yet it doesn’t get bulky or bulged out. The CP74E shows nice bass dynamics and grooves, yet they don’t get overdone, nor does the bass try to take over the mic of CP74E – or try to take the spotlight of the overall sound. Even still, CP74E’s bass makes a prominent presence in the music and knows its playground should stay at the low ground. The intensity and quantity are definitely not enough for bssheads but indeed sufficient for all-rounders or non-bassheads.
The CP74E bass makes impressively deep dives with good scale and size, considering its ‘al dente’ bass quantity. The deep-diving bass description isn’t only limited to the sub-bass, and I’d like to emphasize that. CP74E doesn’t sound missing or hollow for the ultra-lows but continues that thick, dark dive all the way to the ultra-lows with steady quantity, positioning, and clarity. That’s one of the key points I really love about the CP74E – the consistent bass almost makes it feel linear, yet it’s fully dynamic.
Vocals Tuned with Extreme Control… but THIS Natural?
The CP74E’s vocals are a beautiful blend of gentleness and a lilting atmosphere. Vocals have that flagship-like solemnness to the timbre but without sounding all too serious as vocals have cheerful liveliness and tight, agile response. Vocals sound neutral-full, sweet, and gently airy, making it ideal for both male and female vocals but shines a tad better with female vocals. While CP74E easily handles the male vocals, the female vocals’ thinner sounds bloom better with CP74E, and most importantly, CP74E knows how to pack density and detail into the thinner-sounding female vocals.
The CP74E has superb agility and a highly refined texture, and the presence of the upper-vocal airiness makes me tune into female vocals and makes me tune into female vocal tracks more than male vocals. CP74E can fill in with texture and density without necessarily thinning or thickening the vocals, and when we’re talking about purposely-tinner mid-range (examples would mostly be female vocals), CP74E is capable of making female vocals stay thin as intended, yet unlike thinner/reference-tuned IEMs, CP74E’s vocal tone and its ‘powerful-but-not-bombastic’ nature makes the mid-range livelier and tastier to the ears.
Well, although I’ve been praising the female vocal side for CP74E’s midrange, that doesn’t mean CP74E falls behind for male vocals – the ‘powerful-but-not-bombastic’ nature indeed applies for them too. Alongside, the CP74E well brings out the male vocal ‘growl’ with good clarity, making a clean transition from the sub-bass without making low-mid smudges. The vocals are an all-rounder but with a slightly upper hand for the female vocals.
Vocals are neutral-forward in position, keeping the phasing accurate and keeping an extremely stable flow throughout the mid-range without any audible dips or sibilance. For those who want accurate vocals that are full-bodied but want to steer away from bulky, bulged-out vocals or want a linear, reference-based sound but also want great fun out of it, then CP74E is here for you.
Trebles with Prominent EST Vibe, though Perfect Harmony too
Besides the simple naming rule that Canpur is pursuing, the CP74E’s “E” really stands out as we analyze the trebles. Electostatics’ most important advantage: the small tingles, the micro details, the clean, extremely silky strands of velvety instrumental splashes. These elements are perfectly presented in the CP74E. However, the difference from other IEMs using EST drivers is that those IEMs’ EST drivers commonly try to take the spotlight or aggressively highlighted – as if the electrostatics are trying to steal away the concert mic to say “Hey guys, I’m HERE!”.
Well, that isn’t quite the case with CP74E. Canpur tuned the EST drivers to show a prominent presence but to blend in extremely naturally with the lower frequencies, in both quantity balance and timbre – as if the full spectrum is being played by a single driver – a single driver that doesn’t have any noticeable fluctuation, emptiness, or weak spots. The CP74E’s prominent-yet-comfortable tuning philosophy is evident for the trebles too, hence allowing comfortable listening while not losing the details – including the ultra highs as well as the tiny bits of details.
Next Page: Compared to Canpur CP622B / Nostalgia Audio Durandal