CCA C10 Clear Concept Audio Review – The Name Says It All

Pros:
– Nice balanced sound
– Polite treble that’s not fatiguing
– Easy to drive from any source
– Good vocals

Cons:
– No nozzle lip for eartips
– Cable can get tangled without chin slider
– Could have better instrument separation

You find a second opinion on the CCA C10 by Loomis Johnson HERE.

INTRODUCTION

If you’ve never heard of CCA until recently, you’re not alone. CCA stands for Clear Concept Audio, but we’ll just refer to them as CCA. They came out of nowhere in 2018, and have steadily been releasing a number of budget earphones. They are generally built well, have appealing tuning, and are priced at a budget friendly price.

Well, as it turns out, CCA is a sister company of the budget earphone kings: Knowledge Zenith (KZ). This has both pros and cons. On the one hand, Knowledge Zenith (KZ) has a long history of producing solid performing earphones. They’ve perfected their manufacturing practices, providing killer bang for the buck value. And parts, technology, and engineering experience can be shared between the 2 companies. However, at the same time this creates additional saturation in an already saturated ChiFi market. And there is a risk of ‘side-grades’, caused by overlap of similar models with similar tuning between the 2 companies.

With that said, let’s take a closer look at the C10 and see what it has in store for us.

SPECIFICATIONS

Drivers: 1xDynamic (10mm), 4xBalanced Armatures (2×50060, 2×30095) per side

Crossover: Yes

Impedance: 32ohms

Weight: 29g

Sensitivity: 108dB

Frequency: 7-40,000Hz

Cable: 0.75mm 2-pin, removable, 3.5mm 90-degree plug, mic and no-mic versions available

IEM colors: Black, cyan, purple

Price: $41.99 (at the time of this review)

Purchase link: Better Audio

PACKAGING

The C10 comes in a small cardboard white box that is standard if you are familiar with Knowledge Zenith (KZ) earphones bought in the last few years. It’s nothing special, but it’s perfectly adequate and serves its purpose. You buy IEMs to listen to, not because they have a great box, right? The inner box has a clear plastic cover that shows off the C10 shells. And I know it sounds trivial, but I appreciate the small lip cut into the cover for easy removal. The IEM shells are mounted in an EVA foam layer, providing protection during shipping. The accessories (cable, spare eartips, and paperwork) are located underneath.

ACCESSORIES

The included eartips are all silicone type – 1 (pre-installed) pair of smooth silicone tips (black color, single flange, medium bore, M size), and 3 pairs of ‘Starline’ tips (black color, single flange, medium bore, SML sizes). Starline tips are one of my favorite tips, as the black ones are made of soft and flexible silicone, and they fit well enough for all day comfort.

The cable is a removable design, with 4-wires in a braided configuration. The C10 is available with and without an in-line microphone (mine being the no-microphone version). The microphone version has a single control button, providing music and phone call control (but no volume control). The plugs that attach to the IEMs are knurled aluminum with color coded indicators (blue=left side, red=right side). The termination uses a 2-pin (0.75mm) design, with the same ‘keyed’ design shared with other Knowledge Zenith (KZ) IEMs. This ‘key’ has a flat end and a curved end to help indicate what the proper orientation of the plug is. The cable itself is a good balance of being not too heavy/thick, but not too light/thin either. It’s iron grey in color, and has good strain reliefs at the Y-split and 3.5mm end. The 3.5mm end is a 90-degree L style plug. The cable also has pre-formed ear guides, which are secure yet flexible. This is a welcome departure from the annoying bendy memory wire Knowledge Zenith (KZ) has been using for years. 

It is definitely one of the nicer ‘upgrade’ cables I’ve seen on a stock Knowledge Zenith (KZ)/CCA cable, and the pre-formed ear guides alone make the cable worth it. My only gripes with the cable are the lack of a chin slider and how low the Y-split is located, both of which make the cable quite prone to tangling. I’d love to see a factory-applied chin slider at some point in the future, but for now you can add one of your own. A small rubber o-ring works well as a makeshift chin slider, and this helps prevent tangles considerably.

BUILD

The CCA C10 has an acrylic (polymer resin) shell that comes in 3 transparent colors – black, purple, and cyan. You can see the internals of the C10 through the shell. The back cover is made of a zinc-aluminum alloy, with a matte silver finish and the CCA logo with “BAx8 DDx2” printed on it.

Zinc alloy is heavier than aluminum, but the zinc alloy back cover gives the CCA C10 a premium heft, without being overly heavy to wear. The C10 body shares the same shell as the Knowledge Zenith (KZ) ZST, ZSN, and ZSN Pro. The only differences with the shell are:

• The ZST has an acrylic shell, acrylic nozzle, and acrylic back cover. It is the lightest of the 4 IEMs, partly due to the 100% acrylic construction, and partly due to only having 1xDD and 1xBA drivers.
• The ZSN has an acrylic shell, aluminum nozzle, and aluminum back cover. It is heavier than the ZST, mainly due to the aluminum nozzle and back cover.
• The ZSN Pro has an acrylic shell, aluminum nozzle, and zinc alloy back cover. It is heavier than the ZSN, mainly due to the zinc alloy back cover.
• Finally, the C10 has an acrylic shell, acrylic nozzle, and zinc alloy back cover. It is heavier than the ZSN Pro, mainly due to the 3 extra BA drivers compared to the other ZSx models.

The shell is very smooth, and there are no sharp edges. It’s very comfortable to wear, even for extended periods. The overall fit and finish is excellent, with no mismatched seams or excess glue gooped everywhere. Each shell has its own channel indicators, written on the side as “C10-Right” and “C10-Left”, along with “10 Hybrid technology”.

CCA really wants to make sure you didn’t forget that the C10 has 10 drivers, as they wrote it not once but twice. As much as I can joke about it though, just 4 or 5 years ago this would have only been a pipe dream when speaking about budget earphones. It really shows how far things have progressed, and we are very fortunate to have access to this level of earphones nowadays.

The nozzle is 6mm wide, and is what I would consider an average/medium length. This allows either a shallow or deep insertion, depending on the eartip used. Speaking of eartips, there is no eartip lip on the nozzle. This is a peeve of mine, because the eartips can slide around on the nozzle (making the eartip crooked and affecting fit). Or even worse, the tip can pop off and stay behind in your ears when you remove the earphone. I don’t know why manufacturers don’t just put a lip on every single earphone without fail. There is absolutely no logical reason notto have a lip on every IEM nozzle.

SOUND

So how does the sub-$50 CCA C10 sound? In 1 word, impressive. But let’s see what that means exactly.

First I’ll mention the gear used for testing: xduoo X3 (with stock and Rockbox firmware), iPhone SE (with both headphone jack and Apple lightning adapter), iPod Classic 5G with Rockbox (with both headphone jack and line out dock adapter), FiiO E12A Mont Blanc and FiiO A5 headphone amplifiers.

Despite being 32ohms, the CCA C10 is easy to drive without using an amplifier. In fact, I really didn’t notice any improvement when amped. It sounded fine on all sources, including right from my iPod and iPhone SE.

As far as the sound profile, the C10 are definitely not as v-shaped as most Knowledge Zeniths (KZs). 

Bass

The sub bass hits hard when called upon, and has deep extension. But at no time is it overwhelming. The dynamic driver’s bass is smooth and linear, but I wish it had the kind of instant speed possible from balanced armature bass drivers (required for genres like Heavy Metal and Industrial). Luckily there’s no mid-bass bleed, which is a common issue with a lot of budget ChiFi (not so with the C10). Overall, the bass has a warm presentation, which is meaty and satisfying.

Midrange

I was relieved when I first heard the C10, as I was expecting the deeply recessed midrange that’s all-too-familiar. Not so with the C10. We get a nice thick midrange with forward vocals. Brass instruments and acoustic guitars sound great, and are perfect for jazz, folk, and country genres. Just like the bass, we get nice warm mids without the tinniness that can often ruin otherwise good midrange.

Treble

Although the treble of IEMs like the ZS6 never bothered me, I get the feeling the folks at CCA/Knowledge Zenith (KZ) learned their lesson with regards to aggressive treble. There is plenty of sparkle and air, without treble being harsh or fatiguing. There’s also no ssssibilance, thanks to a dip between 6-7kHz. Upper treble does roll off, which is apparent in crash cymbals for example. Treble that’s good without being bad can be a fine line to walk, and the C10 pulls it off nicely.

Isolation

The isolation is excellent, with minimal sound leakage. There are vents on the C10, but they are both facing inwards against the ear. The isolation isn’t as extreme as the Knowledge Zenith (KZ) ZS3, ZS3E, or ZS4, but you have to really crank the volume on the CCA C10 for external users to hear your music leaking out.

Soundstage

The soundstage is average in both width and depth. It reminds me of a larger-than-average night club venue vs a cavernous cathedral. Sorry, no 3D holographic ‘in your head’ feeling many people look for. However, imaging is good. I would have liked to have slightly better instrument separation.

CONCLUSION

If you’re sick of the typical deeply v-shaped budget ChiFi, and are looking for something a bit more balanced with vocals that shine, the C10 is a great option. With a warm and smooth presentation, it’s relaxing and easy to listen to (especially with low-fi sources like music streaming apps on a phone). Amping is not necessary to get the best out of the C10, which makes it an easy choice for on-the-go mobility. Midrange is forward without being dominating. The low end digs deep, with an authoritative rumble. And treble has sparkle without being harsh or too aggressive. It’s excellent for genres such as EDM, pop, jazz, and country.

DISCLAIMER
I would like to thank Sunny at Better Audio for providing the CCA C10 for my independent review.

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