ZO2 Impression Thread - Page 3

The finish looks great! Hopefully it wears well too.

Thanks SoulSyde

Zo2 looks awesome and it is smaller than I thought. LED's are super bright also. Very nice looking. Can't wait for more impressions about the sound.

Nice, I look forward to hearing more about how they are.

Subbed for further impressions... 

Thanks for that, SoulSyde - interesting that those who have responded are more interested in how it looks than your observation re hissing. Past experience tells us which of these two 'features' will ultimately decide the fate of a new amp.

I received mine, same thoughts as above.  Smaller then expected ( which I like).  I will follow up in a few hours about my impressions, but so far so good :)  

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoulSyde 

 

The problem is that you took it upon yourself to suggest the start this thread early.  This is what you get.  I had intended to change the title of the original thread to "Impression" once they started arriving and I was going to link everyone to the page where they started in the OP.  Oh well.

Hey, we now have some impressions 3 pages into the thread - in your old thread, that would have read '30 pages' : I consider that a win. More importantly, those who come looking for actual impressions at a later date will be able to find them without trawling through post-after-post of speculation and purchase anxiety.

Perfect world, I would have preferred that you start this thread, but it didnt happen that way - lets move on. Enjoy your ZO2.

Quick impressions using an iPhone 4 with ZO and ZO2.

HE-300

When switching back and forth from ZO and ZO2 at lowest setting, I cannot really hear any difference in sound.  With the ZO, when I click the vector switch a notch or two, there's a nice bump in bass.  When using the ZO2, just a single click on the vector switch and the bass distorts.  Neither the ZO or the ZO2 is a good match for the HE-300.  Moving on to the next headphone.

I've been listening to the HE-300 and ZO2 for the past couple of hours using line-out and the distortion has gone away.  I've been messing with the volume on the ZO2 and found a sweet spot somewhere near the middle.  I can now turn the vector switch up a couple notches and it makes the HE-300's sound really nice.  When listening to the 300's straight out of the iphone, the volume is really low and even when I have it cranked up full volume, it's weak and the potential of the 300's do not shine.  Pairing it with the ZO2 and messing around with the volume level and it comes to life.  I think the new volume feature might worth its weight.  The way these headphones open up, the soundstage, tight bass, I think I'm digging the ZO2 quite a bit now.  

PRO-900

I've been listening to the Pro-900 and ZO for a couple of weeks and they pair nicely at the lowest setting.  When switching back and forth, I can tell the ZO2 just has more of an oomph.  The bass seems a tad bit tighter, but I had to keep switching back and forth to really notice.  

EX1000

The ZO and EX1000 were meant for each other.  I've been loving this combination for months.  Now to test the two.  With an iem, I notice with the ZO2 there's more of an hiss than the original, but no static interference yet.  During the testing, I would occasionally hear the ZO interfere but never with the ZO2.  With the EX1000, I can notice the difference a bit more than the headphones. Everything is a little bigger, bass is tighter, more punchy, the soundstage opens up slightly more.  I get the sense that ZO2 has more power than the original.  

I really like the new coating they use and the LED is much brighter then the original.  For owning both the ZO and ZO2, I cannot justify having both since the difference in sound really isn't a big jump.  Now when I try it out with the ipod and lod, then I'm sure the ZO2 will be more to my liking.  

Quote:

Originally Posted by estreeter 

 

...Enjoy your ZO2.

That I am.  It's a nice device.  

I also agree with DannyBai's impressions.  I feel same with regard to my Pro 750s as he does his Pro 900s.  Like DannyBai's impressions of the ZO2 paired with the EX1000 - with dynamic driver IEMs the ZO seems work better than with BA-based IEMs.  I don't get the same oomph with my SE535s as I do my other dynamic IEMs. 

My Sennheiser PX-100s seem to absolutely love the ZO2.

I really don't know what else I can say about it.  It's not going to get you laid, make you richer, or put more hair on your head - but it does one thing very well.... add more bass with little degradation in sound, even when pushed to the max.  I'll leave the lengthy reviews with all the flowery prose to someone who feels motivated.

My only complaint (again) is the amount of hiss I am experiencing with any in-ear headphone.  I think this a bit of a design flaw and should be corrected in future models.  It's an easy thing for the consumer to correct, but you do need an impedance adapter to do so.

Good luck to everyone who is still waiting for theirs and I hope you all enjoy them when they arrive.

Got my ZO today.    Tried going from my 601 line out to Z0 but too loud even with the Z0 volume all the way down and 601 all the way down.   So I used just the ear out on the 601 and much better.    Definately fills in bass and mids on my B2's, just used up to 3 clicks, all that was needed, but definately clarity missing from ear out.    Did I hook it up wrong?

Fii0 E5 - ZO2 - Cowon J3 / Earbuds BLOX M2C

Quote:

Originally Posted by soundbear 

Got my ZO today.    Tried going from my 601 line out to Z0 but too loud even with the Z0 volume all the way down and 601 all the way down.   So I used just the ear out on the 601 and much better.    Definately fills in bass and mids on my B2's, just used up to 3 clicks, all that was needed, but definately clarity missing from ear out.    Did I hook it up wrong?

Got me - impedance mismatch ? Defective ZO2 ? Defective 601 (distinct possibility..) ?

I've got a zo2 on the way and want to say thanks to all the early reviewers for the first impressions!

It seems like the common complaint is hissing when used with iems- SoulSyde mentioned an impedance adapter- where to buy?

would using the zo2 w/ a LOD reduce that hissing at all?

Does anyone else have this issue ? ... I noticed when listening to the M2Cs and Turbine Pro Copper there is a noticeable amount of hiss at any volume.  When they are directly plugged into the J3 I do not have this issue.    

Other impressions .... ZO2 has a tremendous amount of power behind such a small device, how much more ?  E11 Vs ZO2 ... IMO it's the difference between day and night.

The biggest downside to that is at higher volumes I hear distortion in either headphone.   It's not a bad thing, just I will need to tweak over time and find a nice balance. 

Also has mentioned in the instruction booklet, Neutralize your source .... start with a flat EQ.

To be fair to DigiZoid, it would be good to hear a few more reports from folk with different sources/IEMs before passing judgement on the 'hissing' claims.