[Dobrescu George]

My take on KZ AS10!

I think they are rather sweet, inexpensive IEMs with a nice texture, good detail, and overall great value I invite you to read more in the full review

https://audiophile-heaven.blogspot.com/2018/09/kz-as10-improved-budget-performance.html

 

[wind016]

That's why I got the TFZ Queen. Supposedly, more dark than the rest and has more mids. I guess we'll see. I imagine they are all dark compared to KZ's being single graphene drivers. Too bad there isn't much info on them here or on their own site. They're more of a mystery than KZ for sure. I'd really wish these manufacturers would have better descriptions. All we can do now is buy them, read a review, or attempt to guess the sound by counting drivers. By Monday, I should have the BQEYZBQ3, TFZ Queen, BA10, and the AS10 I got this week. I'll try and give a comparison between all 4. You seem to like similar sound as myself so I'm sure you and some others might be interested. The BQEYZBQ3 and TFZ Queen are supposed to be bassy/mid centric. Not really sure about the BA10. I imagine it's similar to the AS10 but with all the conflicting reviews it's hard to say for sure. I'm really curious about how it will fit.

Yeah I heard people saying the BA10 sounds like the ZS6 in tuning. I can't wait to hear your impressions of the Queen and BA10!

Has anybody with sibilance sensitivity compared these Chinese IEMs to the Sony EX1000? Tyll made a YouTube review 7 years ago saying they are grainy sounding. I wonder how they are compared to the new Chi-fi stuff. The price now for them is comparable to Tonekings with 8 BA

 

[sino8r]

Yeah I heard people saying the BA10 sounds like the ZS6 in tuning. I can't wait to hear your impressions of the Queen and BA10!

Has anybody with sibilance sensitivity compared these Chinese IEMs to the Sony EX1000? Tyll made a YouTube review 7 years ago saying they are grainy sounding. I wonder how they are compared to the new Chi-fi stuff. The price now for them is comparable to Tonekings with 8 BA

The TFZ Queen arrived today. Sounds really tight and controlled. The soundstage is a bit smaller than we're used with the multidriver iems from KZ but they sound larger than the ZSAs. I brought a comparison to the ibasso and the folks in the TFZ thought they sounded similar. Probably the single graphene driver. The build quality is really amazing. They fit so nicely for metal iems. I'm not used to that. I'd say for a KZ comparison they sound similar to the ZS10 but with more forward vocals and slightly more treble. Very full sounding mids and bass. Not pounding bass but full. The BQEYZBQ3 arrived as well and sound similar to the ZS6 but with more bass. Very full sounding, alot of treble, mids, and bass but large shells. They are a great deal for someone who likes the ZS6 and fit them well. I'm always having to reseat my larger iems except the Queens, KS10, ZSA, and AS10s. The BA10s arrive Monday and excited to compare those to AS10. Hope they fit okay lol!

 

[aspire5550]

Just double confirming, is this the best bluetooth cable i can have for kz?
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/New...-Earphone-2PIN-Cable-Use-For/32851070584.html

 

[B9Scrambler]

My final thoughts on the BA10: https://thecontraptionist.blog/2018/09/30/kz-ba10-just-like-that/

 

[TheVortex]

My final thoughts on the BA10: https://thecontraptionist.blog/2018/09/30/kz-ba10-just-like-that/

Nice write up but I noticed a typo in the source and amping paragraph. It says AS10 but it should be BA10.

 

[Cinder]

I would bet it's wildly varying capacitor/resistor values using cheap low tolerance components. They work fine, but can swing +-10%. They should be hand picked and measured, but I doubt they are at the margins they're running at.

Indeed. It's one of the most expensive parts of building a truly good crossover. I was speaking with the lead developer of Lark Studios about this exact problem and they say that they will sometimes go through ten or 20 combinations of resistors before they find some that produce results in line with the spec. Of course, that is to be expected with 10-driver-per-side IEMs and whatnot.

 

[B9Scrambler]

Nice write up but I noticed a typo in the source and amping paragraph. It says AS10 but it should be BA10.

Thanks. Fixed.

 

[wind016]

The TFZ Queen arrived today. Sounds really tight and controlled. The soundstage is a bit smaller than we're used with the multidriver iems from KZ but they sound larger than the ZSAs. I brought a comparison to the ibasso and the folks in the TFZ thought they sounded similar. Probably the single graphene driver. The build quality is really amazing. They fit so nicely for metal iems. I'm not used to that. I'd say for a KZ comparison they sound similar to the ZS10 but with more forward vocals and slightly more treble. Very full sounding mids and bass. Not pounding bass but full. The BQEYZBQ3 arrived as well and sound similar to the ZS6 but with more bass. Very full sounding, alot of treble, mids, and bass but large shells. They are a great deal for someone who likes the ZS6 and fit them well. I'm always having to reseat my larger iems except the Queens, KS10, ZSA, and AS10s. The BA10s arrive Monday and excited to compare those to AS10. Hope they fit okay lol!

Nice comparison bro! I have almost the same comparison with the Exclusive Kings. In particular, the Exclusive Kings have a rather large 4k hz treble bump compared to the ZS10. About 5 db. Female vocals and cymbals are shouty without an EQ drop. I'll eventually have the itch to buy another pair, but enjoying these very much for now.

 

[SSandDigital]

Well seems KZ did everything I hoped they would do with BA10. Use an uncomfortable shell. V shaped nonsense again. C'mon KZ, at least try for something with a balanced sound that is anatomically comfortable.

 

[DocHoliday]

Well seems KZ did everything I hoped they would do with BA10. Use an uncomfortable shell. V shaped nonsense again. C'mon KZ, at least try for something with a balanced sound that is anatomically comfortable.

Looking forward to the IEMs you've fashioned and released.

 

[crinacle]

Looking forward to the IEMs you've fashioned and released.

You don't need to be a chef to critique food. You don't need to be a musician to think a piece of music sounds bad. You don't need to know how to fly an airplane to know that a flaming plane wreck on the ground isn't normal. And best of all, you don't need to know how to build a bloody IEM from scratch to know that an IEM is bad.

 

[rayliam80]

My final thoughts on the BA10: https://thecontraptionist.blog/2018/09/30/kz-ba10-just-like-that/

Thanks again for spending more time with the BA10. It'll probably sound crazy to most of you but just maybe the BA10 will work with triple flange tips? At least that's what I'm wondering every time they're mentioned. I'm leaning towards picking these up during the 11.11 sale. I just wish there were more color options.

As far as the mids on the ZS10, in my case, here it goes: ZS10 -> triple flange tips -> 8 core silver plated cable -> iEmatch port on my iFi Nano BL (measure filter).

Bass is slightly reduced putting them more into the background. Mids are brought to the front. But tone/timbre, especially in the vocals, isn't quite as definitive as something like the Ibasso IT01. Depth, soundstage and instrument separation is really good though. It's currently my favorite KZ setup.

 

[Cinder]

You don't need to be a chef to critique food. You don't need to be a musician to think a piece of music sounds bad. You don't need to know how to fly an airplane to know that a flaming plane wreck on the ground isn't normal. And best of all, you don't need to know how to build a bloody IEM from scratch to know that an IEM is bad.

I know, right? If that was the case then no one could hardly ever review any product.

And for the record, once you know how to use resin and make molds, it isn't that hard to make a single DD IEM. Will it sound good? Probably not. But the construction itself isn't too involved past that. Now, as for building truly durable IEMs, that's a different story.

 

[Cinder]

Well seems KZ did everything I hoped they would do with BA10. Use an uncomfortable shell. V shaped nonsense again. C'mon KZ, at least try for something with a balanced sound that is anatomically comfortable.

I don't know how well "balanced sound" sells to their largest target audience at this price range. So that's probably a big reason why they went the way they did.

That and the fact that making a more subtle IEM is more expensive and requires better components as it reveals more nuance in the music.