Z.buds impressions - Page 2

Hey Larry, just out of curiousity, did you try the Z.Buds unamped as well?

I'm listening to mine right now through foobar2000 (ASIO out) using the clear tips, and while I agree the Z.Buds benefit from having the mid-bass/lower mids toned down, I haven't found it interferes with vocals (Granted, mine has more than 10 hours on it), nor is it so much that an excess of detail is lost. The Z.Buds handle artists like DragonForce (Storming the Burning Fields and Prepare For War are the tracks I test fast bass with) just fine, and I can hear every bass hit clearly in tandem with each instrument. Vocals come through clearly on the Z.Buds even though instruments seem to be where the Z.Buds shine (Listen to anything by Eric Johnson to see what I mean).

Listening to Beethoven's Ode to Joy (performed by Berlin's Philharmonic) and Diana Krall's East of the Sun (West of the Moon) I feel the Z.Buds give a very warm presentation (vocals feel fuller than on a more neutral IEM), but it's not "tizzy" or "cupped hands" sounding to me. I agree that they are somewhat dark because the mids are forward like a Shure might be.

Hopefully your impressions will change after some more burn in. I know I ran mine through some pink noise for at least a full 24 hours at some point.

Then again, maybe it's like the first impression I had listening to the Apple dual driver IEM. I felt like the mids were unnatural and warped at first, but after they settled in a bit, the strangeness to the mids pretty much went away.

I've also tried them right out of the iPhone 3G with the same results. And, with Mac OSX we don't have to install stuff like ASIO, in case anyone asks.

I have about 53 hours on these Z.buds and they are not much better. I am having to remove via EQ about 3-4dB at 64Hz - 250Hz for the excessive bass and lower mids, and take out another 3-4dB at 4KHz - 8KHz for the tizzyness, yet the sibilance has gotten worse in the 4-8K range despite switching to Complys T400 foam tips.



With the Nuforce NE-8 and Complys T400 foam tips I have to add via EQ about 6dB of bass from 32 to 125Hz (or use the XM5 amp with bass boost which is 6db centered at 100Hz), but the rest of the frequencies are fine. With the NE-7M I do not need any EQ at all.

I'll give the Z.buds burn-in to about 100 hours, but am not sure it will fix them.

I just tried these out at CES, and I actually was pretty impressed with them. Of course, they were playing from their own source, and I couldnt hook it up to my own, but I was pleasantly surprised with the results. The dude gave me a $25 gift card as well, so I may pick these up.

I am at 80 hours with the Z.buds and my EQ settings with Meier 3MOVE have gotten a little less aggressive, but they still don't sound right to me while the NE-7M are closer to having a natural tone for me. I still don't like vocals or rock music with the Z.buds without EQ, it just gets me like nails on a chalk board. Sorry.

But, for jazz or folk or electronic the Z.buds are getting closer to being tolerable on my iPhone 3G with no EQ, although the bass is still too much and makes my right ear drum distort (I have an ear with chronic tinnitus that is very sensitive to loud noise or excessive bass).

Interesting. I wonder if they'll change further over the next 20-70 hours or not. I feel my pair has burnt in, but I didn't think I'd gotten over 100 hours on them.

Please keep posting updates. I'm interested to see what your final impression is.

My initial two cents. I purchased a pair of Zbuds and the NE7s.
I was surprised that there was no manual or guide with the Zbuds.

I find it hard to change the tips with the Zbuds.

I only have two hours with both sets...but so far I like the Ne7 much more. Clearer sound all around, and they are more efficient.

I went with Larry's suggestion of a set of NE 7M with Shure e2c tips. I burned them in for around 60 hours and they sound fantastic. Very surprised that the price of these were so low. Well, not really, since their tips are terrible, but the e2c tips really make these earphones sound great. I was about to order the Z Buds since they do have that 50% off coupon and I like how they have a built in volume control, but after Larry's review I think I'll stick with the Nuforce.

I didn't buy the Z.buds for myself, but bought them in order to compare to the NE-7M so that others would know more about their choices - I couldn't stand saying I hadn't heard the Z.buds while recommending the other IEM.

I'll listen to the Z.buds tonight again at about 100 hours, but will likely pass them off to one of my kids...

Do your kids have to buy anything audio-related at the rate you go through things? :P

After spending a bit more time with the Zbuds vs. the ne-7M; I decided to send back the Zbuds under the 30 day return.

The Zbuds are much more inefficient. I doubt they would meet my needs on the plane or at the gym. Please understand I use MP3 Gain on my music files; so they are quieter than those for many other users.

I also liked the Nuforce sound quality more. They seem much more open to me. Actually, I have quite a few other headphones that I would chose before the Zbuds...including Shure E2C, various Sennheisers, etc.

Can you remember about how much burn in you got on the Z.Buds before you made your decision?

I found mine didn't tighten up until I ran them through a fair amount of pink noise (I've run them through at least 32 hours of it, if not more).

My Z.buds definitely improved with 110 hours of burn-in. But, they still did not make enough changes to fix the concerns I have about their sound, although it did make them more usable with my iPhone. If I use them on my Mabook with a more forward amp with less bass than my 3MOVE (like the Nuforce Icon) they are also "usable" but still not great. Z.buds do not sound good out of the Macbook or Nano 2G headphone out. The other thing is the Z.buds are somewhat less efficient vs my NE-7M, Westone 3 or Denon C700, and volumes have to go up to match them.

Regardless of the source (iPhone, laptop) the Z.buds are just a little more colored and not neutral or transparent enough to sound natural to me. I gave them a chance, but they just don't do it for me. They're not bad but not great either. At least with 110 hours of burn-in they are now better than the Bose IE and Senn CX300. The NE-7M timbre and tone is still more natural and they are more transparent and less colored. So, switching to the NE-7M is like an upgrade in sound. That leaves my NE-7M up there with or above other mid-level IEM (E4c, SE310, Super.fi 5 Pro, Denon C700, ER6i, Altec Lansing IM716) and just below the Image X10, instead of hanging with the low-end IEM like the Z.buds (CX300, Bose IE, JVC Marshmallows, FX-66 Aircushion).

Next I'll probably give the Phonak Audeo PFE iPhone IEM a try at some point because I keep getting PMs asking me how they compare to the NE-7M and Z.buds. I don't need them but I might do it just to give my opinions if I can afford them.

I am sorry to strongly disagree with you about the NE-7m. I would list the NE-7m as an upgrade over the JVC FX-66 but not much else.

It is no where in the same league as the Shure SCL4/e4c or even the Jays D-Jays. The NE-7m is more boombox than even mid-fi, the mid range is distorted and the soundstage is flat and compressed to be honest distorted. I could never listen to the NE-7M for a little while and think "Wow this sounds good and pretty high-end". I always thought "Sounds very nice but in a boom box sort of way".

Speaking of efficiency, I find the 7M too efficient. I have the volume all the way down to one notch on my iPhone 3G and it's still too loud. I ordered a Fiio E5 to control the volume and hopefully I can make the volume a bit lower.

What tips did you use with the 7M?