Z.buds impressions - Page 4

Yeah, but of course the catch is I had to open an Amazon credit card. But since I don't and won't use it, I bit, and they were on sale at 40$. They credit your card with the 30$.

DC

I got myself the Zbuds for like 60$ shipped to India (only managed to get myself a 30% discount code )...

Also, I have ordered the NuForce NE-7M's from Amazon as well, and they should reach me next week.

A few initial impressions on the Zbuds.

Build Quality > Its pretty bad. Ive had to send my Zbuds back to Zagg after just 5 days because the Mic doesn't work anymore and neither does the control button. Also, anytime there was any movement of the wire near the 3.5mm Jack, it would pause/play, or skip to then next track.

Also, I made a mistake buying the red ones. The Nylon cables etc look downright cheap, although, they definately stand out, but for the wrong reasons... Im going to try and get Black ones as replacements.

Anyway, let me get to sound quality.

Ive had a good 50-60 hours of burn in before I made my observations (just before the damn mic/button died).

The Foam tips weren't a good fit and I couldn't get the Triple Flanged tips on the earbuds, the holes are half the side of the buds. Lol... Serious lack of Quality Assurance by Zagg there.

I used the medium silicone buds. They gave me a great seal on my right ear, but not a very good one on the left year. But I guess thats because my ears aren't completely identical. The Mediums were a bit loose. The Small sized ones were too small and the large well, too large.
So anyway, I used the mediums on both ears.

Source > iPhone 3G.

First off, the sound stage was quite decent.

The Z.buds seemed tuned towards mids and the lower end, and the highs are a bit lacking.

Bass > The quality of the bass is brilliant. Specially for 40-50$ IEM's. I dont think you can get anything better. The quantity is also very respectable. Its higher than the CX300 and CX500 can provide (yeah those are the only other IEM's ive listened to).
Theres enough Bass to let you enjoy the feeling but at the same time, its by no means overpowering.

Mids > Perfectly balanced and their crisp and clear.

Highs > Vocals, etc. are not overpowered by Bass at all. They are a bit on the lower side, but their honestly perfect for me. I dont like Treble which hurts your ears and the Z.buds pretty much have struck a great balance for me.

Im pretty annoyed now that I dont have them for a while, I really miss them. My CX300's are giving me a brilliant headache due to the higher treble and lack of bass and muddy sound-stage.

What the Z.buds can improve on?..
Build Quality and the Eartips!
The Silicon Olives are great and have a great seal.
The black foam tips are pretty much crap and always manage to come off. Also, the soundstage sounds very weird to me and I dont like the music one bit.
The Triple Flanged tip, well, they dont even fit over the earphones so cant really say, but I really wished they did.

SQ is pretty much brilliant and definitely the best in the price range, and even better than IEM's twice as expensive.

Just got these last week for $60. My initial impressions of the sound was ehhhh. The bass quantity is very noticeable on these. They have a sort of "fun" sound. It makes my music sound different and unnatural when compared to my SCL4. Its not as detailed overall as the SCL4. I then let it burn in for about 120 hours. The bass is not as overwhelming anymore, but overall, the mids and highs did not seem to change much.

The build was okay. Not sure why they have the L shaped thing on the cord. The silicon tips were the only tips I liked. The triple flanges can't even fit, and the foams made the sound seem muddy. The slideable cable management is very cool and useful. These can also be worn behind the ear with the mic just close enough to pic up sound. The mic button (pause/play/skip) works well with my iphone.

I think for $60, it was a good purchase. Not sure if paying the full $80 is worth it IMO.

Pros:

Long cable
Build quality seems solid (overall)
Adjustable beads for cable management
Low cost

Cons:

Long cable; coming from ER4P, this are just bulky. It's a pro and a con I guess. It's just a lot to manage.
None of the olives fit my ears; they are smaller than the Shure olives I have (and Zbuds provided 2 sizes).
Bass is boomy; sounded imbalanced even though I liked the bass it was way too much (they are burning in with pink noise.

Overall, these should work for me given how little I will listen on them. I'll post back after burn-in.

DC

Having used ZAGG's InvisibleShield products for several years, I pre-ordered the Z-buds back in early November (for roughly $80), thinking they would at least be a decent replacement for my iPhone headset while on tour...all I wanted was something that would seal and at least stay in my ears better.

They were supposed to be delivered the first week of December, but were not delivered until a week later, when I was already on tour. So, when I got home on Christmas Eve, I opened them, and tried them out.

The mic didn't work at all, the clicker didn't change songs on my iPhone 3G, and I thought the sound quality was actually worse than the Apple buds that come with the iPhone. I was also missing one of the rubber earbud options.

I e-mailed ZAGG on December 26th, to request an RMA so I could return them for a refund. They replied and told me that I couldn't return them, because I had *ordered* them over 30 days ago. I couldn't believe that -- they counted the 30 days since I placed the order, not since the date they shipped!!! I had to go through 3 more e-mails and 4 phone calls before I made a big enough stink to get them to agree to give me a refund. Even then, they wouldn't pay for the return shipping, so I am out $13 for having tried them. They actually punished me for being a loyal customer, taking a risk, and pre-ordering their new product.

I will never buy another product from ZAGG, after experiencing their disappointing level of quality, and then dealing with their horrible customer service. If I was given their Z-buds as a gift now, I'd give them away (but not to a good friend) without even opening the box.

Randy

I just got these yesterday... I'm not impressed with their SQ - though I've only burned them in for 23 hours so far.

The bass is a little overwhelming at times. They have plenty of it, though it's too boomy, and pretty much not tight enough and controlled well enough. The highs seem a little rolled off/lacking a little bit. Mids are OK, but are a little muddy and sometimes overpowered by the bass. They also sound a little unnatural.

My biggest problem with these is that the left driver is ~4 - 5% louder than the left driver. When I first put these in and started listening to them I instantly thought "what the h*ll???" This is the first time that I've had to change the balance in Rockbox. I have to shift the balance on them the same 4 - 5% when I use them on my laptop. It's kind of annoying, because the left driver is actually the better sounding driver. When I shift the balance to the right driver the left driver doesn't sound as good. I'll either just send them back, or RMA them. I guess it depends on how they burn in.

There are 2 things that I do like about them: they come with a good assortment of tips (though only 2 pairs fit properly), and their cable. I love the cable on these things. It's not super stiff, there's not a lot of microphonics, and has an excellent design. It's fairly convenient and very comfortable to wear them how they recommend.


Now if only I could recable my NE-7Ms with this type/design of cable and get rid of the mic and replace the straight mini connector with a right angled one I'd be completely set...