KZ-ZS3 Hifi High-End 3.5mm In-Ear Earphone Headphones Earpiece Original Headset Bass Earbuds With Microphone

BACKGROUND

After having all over-ears for a while (for the good duration of 3 years or more), I kinda missed IEMs. Checking reviews online for the best budget IEMs, I came across Knowledge Zenith (KZ). Reading good reviews about their IEMs, I started researching on what their best offering is at that time (2017). Most reviews pointed me towards the KZ ZS3. I’m a sucker for good soundstage and reviews seem unanimous, it has good soundstage for an IEM so I decided to buy one online. Does it meet my expectations? Let’s find out.


ABOUT ME

I listen to almost all genres of music but my favorites are rock, blues, and jazz.

I am a music lover, not an audiophile. I need to veer away from the audiophile persona from now on. I love music more than the equipment to play music with. I recognize that decent equipment is important but decent is good enough. Expensive is not necessary. I’m not willing to go past the $100 mark for any reason. I firmly believe in the law of diminishing returns.

I believe in burn-in but it depends on the headphones. Some do not need much. Some do not need any at all.

I believe in measurements but I never relied on them. I solely rely on my ears.

I believe that blind test is the only real test, without any visual influence or biases, without placebo.

Audio nirvana for me is a state of mind, not a state of equipment.

Regardless of my beliefs, I respect all audiophiles and music lovers for their passion and dedication.


PACKAGING

Here are the pictures of the basic packaging and the IEMs themselves. I also purchased the upgrade cable but what I chose is originally intended for the ZST so I needed to carve some plastic off surrounding the two-pin plugs for them to fit perfectly. Why did I choose one for a different model that doesn’t fit on the on-set? Simply because they’re beautiful! See for yourself:




SPECS AND FEATURES

For complete specs and features, please check here - https://www.aliexpress.com/store/pr...Music-Sports-Earbuds/1358152_32720789438.html.


BUILD QUALITY, DESIGN, AND COMFORT

Build quality is impeccable for the price. It’s plastic but very high quality. I say the cable is pretty decent and the mic that also works for play or pause is more accurate and reacts faster than the ones found in the VE Monk Plus. Cable is quite rubbery too so if you do not like that type of texture, then upgrade cables abound online for KZs.

Comfort is average for an IEM. I’ve got an average size ear so it fits me well and I don’t find it unpleasantly painful for long listening sessions (past the 1 hour mark). It doesn’t “disappear” and you’ll know it’s there but the housing is shaped to the outer ear so you don’t have the feeling that it’s digging in to something. Quite comfortable overall.

Design is really beautiful, don’t you think? It almost looks like a custom IEM. I believe it is inspired by custom IEMs. Not that I own one but I think that’s where they’re going with those looks. With the upgrade cable, it looks ten times more expensive than it really is. And because of the over-ear wearing method, plus the shape of the housing conforming to the outer ear, fit is very secure. I like the fact that it doesn’t slide off often as with traditionally worn IEMs.


SOUND

Burn-in: Well it did not change that much after 100 hours or so I don’t think it benefits too much from burn-in.

SET-UP USED:

• Lenovo K4 Note Smartphone (with Wolfson WM8281)
• Dolby Atmos engaged at Music mode where EQ is flat
• Stellio music player EQ is flat with Replay Gain engaged
• Also tested with Fiio A3 in low gain and bass boost off

Let’s get one thing out of the way right away – these are bassy, too bassy for my liking. Do I hold it against them? No. Not so much. I’m not a basshead but I would say these are worthy of a basshead’s attention. Nonetheless, the quality of bass is great. It’s powerful. It’s not dreary or anemic. It’s not the fastest, but it’s not a slouch either. The overall sound signature is warm and enjoyable. That extra bass adds fun to the music, especially for pop and other bass heavy genres.

Mids and highs are not drowned out by the powerful bass but there is considerable bleeding. I believe that’s intentional. They’re going for a big, wholly sound and I believe they achieved that. One merit I would laud them for is, this sound signature is perfect for the commute. Bass can be easily drowned by outside noise and the extra bass to these IEMs compensate well for that. A big plus is that they give you great isolation because of their shape. If isolation’s your thing, these are worth considering. It’s the type of isolation though where you would hear yourself chew or swallow so there’s a fair warning. If you hate that type of isolation, go with classic earbuds instead.

A lot of reviewers are not wrong about soundstage either. It’s mostly outside your head, a few inches away. It’s not too wide as you would expect for an IEM but it’s decent, great even, for the price they’re in. Imaging is also great for the price. It’s not hard to pin-point where instruments are or where they’re coming from. I also enjoy movies with these. I believe that bass has some influence on soundstage. I find that over-ear studio monitors sound wider than bassier sets because they are tuned flat. That gives all of the instruments a breathing space. Bass can push things forward and not too spread out, affecting soundstage. This is very noticeable when engaging the bass boost in headphone amplifiers, like the Fiio A3 in this regard. These, apparently, do not need a bass boost. With that said, kudos to KZ for still giving this IEM a good soundstage relative to the bombastic bass.


CONCLUSION

The KS ZS3 is a very competitive budget IEM. Is it a giant killer? You tell me. I never owned no giants nor tried some in the IEM department. As I said, I am an over-ear person. I find them most comfortable and enjoyable. I equate comfort to sound because there’s no point enjoying music if it gives you pain.

If you’re looking for a set perfect for the daily commute, this one’s for you. If you are looking for a daily driver just for sheer music enjoyment, this one’s for you. If you enjoy movies using IEMs, this one’s for you too. For professional monitoring, I wouldn’t say so. I have the Shure SRH440. That is tuned for monitoring purposes. Not this one. If you love powerful bass, go get one! It’s definitely a great budget find in that department! Enjoy! And…

Happy listening, everyone!

Knowledge Zenith (KZ) is a well known Chinese manufacturer of high quality earphones for a low price. KZ have released a wide variety of earphones, that always have a good price quality ratio. In this KZ ZS3 review I will discuss the KZ3 into more detail. Overall KZ delivered another great pair of earphones, which positively surprised me on many aspects, like comfort, isolation and its soundstage.

Sound
The KZ ZS3 are delivering a great sound, marked by a wide soundstage containing a deep bass and clear mid’s. The most remarkable aspect of the KZ ZS3 is the soundstage it’s able to deliver. The earbuds of the KZ ZS3 are positioned deep into your ears, which enables to deliver a deeper soundstage then other earphones. When you listening to music with these earphones, your really get surrounded with the sound, like it’s all around you. This aspect is something the KZ ZS3 is really setting itself apart from other earphones. The bass of the earphones are also really nice, they deliver a deep bass, that is punchy, and being well presented in the music. Usually I don’t prefer a overemphasized bass, but I have the feeling that the combination of the wide sound stage, with the well presented bass, provides a great listening experience. On higher volume’s the bass, can be sometimes a bit overwhelming and pushing the mid’s away. However, I only experience this with ‘bassy’ songs. The mid’s are also of great detail, vocals are really clear, and being pushed a bit into the front. Finally, the high’s are good but not excellent, I feel they could be a bit more presented, however for me this is always a trade-off. In the case the high’s are more presented, they earphones usually get unpleasant listening to them for longer hours, which is with the KZ ZS3 definitely not the case. Overall, they provide a really great sound that is pleasant listening to for long listening sessions.

Build Quality & Design
The KZ ZS3 build quality is great, as most of the earphones KZ released on the market. The earbuds are created of plastic, but the black shining paint is making them feel and looking great. The cable feels strong and has a L-shaped headphone jack, which is for me always a must, since they won’t break that fast. Besides the materials of which the KZ ZS3 is created, the earbuds are detachable. You can unplug the earbuds of the earphone cable. I detached them a few times, but it’s hard to get them back on the cable. I suggest to not detach them a lot, because I have the feeling you can easily break the pins on the cable. Something I really love about the these earphones, is that the end of the cables, the part where the cables are getting connected to the earbuds, is made of stiff material. You can bend the cable around your ears, so they will fit stay on place, and makes it almost impossible for the earbuds to fall out.

Comfort
As I mentioned in the introduction, the comfort is the part where the KZ ZS3 really surprised me. I never thought I would put so much value on comfort since I own the KZ ZS3. First of all, the shape of the earbuds makes them fit really comfortable in your ears. They sit deep and comfortable in your ears. In combination with the stiff cable ends, as I mentioned before, you can bend the cable around your ears. This combination makes the earphones perfect for using them being active, like working out. I like to go to them gym or to go running, and these earphones are my new favorites for this. They stay perfect in place, and besides the comfort they offer great isolation. You don’t hear any outside sounds, when you wearing the KZ ZS3.

Conclusion
Overall I am really surprised by the value the KZ ZS3 delivered to me. They exceeded my expectations by far. They sound they deliver is great, defined by it’s great sound stage, a deep bass and great mid’s. The build quality and comfort is also of a great level, which you can hardly find at this price level. Finally, the comfort is the part the KZ ZS3 distinguish them from it’s competition. The shape of the earbuds, he stiff part of the cables, and the great isolation makes them perfect for using them while working out and running. All in all, these are currently the best earphones you can get for everyone with an active lifestyle.

GearBest link: https://www.gearbest.com/on-ear-over-ear-headphones/pp_436717.html?lkid=11945712

This review was originally posted on EarphoneKing.com.

this is my first iem that i bought because i just recently destroyed my free earbuds on my phone. i dont usually like iems because of the way that its too close to your ears, it may be irritating for me, and yet it did. the kz zs3 for me is very uncomfortable at first, but after a few days of pain and torture my ears started to adapt and i can now listen for it for a significant amount of time.

the sound quality of this headphones is close to neutral, but with the added bass boost it sounds dark on some certain songs. i also did the slater mod which is to remove the tuning foam inside, the only minor thing i notice is the high mids or the low treble (whatever you called it) is a bit recessed or laid back to my hearing. its sometimes being overwhelmed by the lower frequencies, which can be a good or bad thing depending on what you like, personally its a downside for me since it removes the microdetails of the song, but it causes less fatigue on longer sessions. the treble is not harsh, its quite good actually, theres no sibilance here which is great. Imaging and soundstage is just average.

for the build quality, its acceptable but not that great, but it will guarantee you to last a long time, but the thing i hate about this design is that its not for everyone. since i have smaller ears compared to everyone im having difficulty of using it at first, it really is painful on the top and back of my ears and the soreness may last for hours. so what i did is train my ears to endure the pain and after a few days it adapted. so for everyone who has larger ears than me its not a problem.