[thamesside]

Hi everyone, thanks for allowing me to join.

I have just bought these ear monitors and I'm not 100% happy with them they seem very treble heavy and there isn't much bass.
I am not bass hungry in my listening but they seem to be lacking although I've only used them for around 30 minutes so don't know if they require burning in.

I have a budget of around 150 to 200ish and would like a half decent pair of a monitors for genuine listening to music through my phone my iPod and through my Fiio DAC etc. It's just general pop music no heavy metal etc.

Can anyone recommend a decent pair of monitors in that price bracket or around that area that are better than my current monitors.

Many thanks Simon.

 

[HWB3]

I have a pair of the KZ-ZS10 Pros as well as 1 More Quad Drivers and Linsoul Tinhifi T2's. Of the three, I like the T2's the best. Less bright, a bit more bass, a bit warmer than the others. I put on some Dekoni eartips and upgraded to Tripowin cables for the ZS10's and T2's. I use them along with my iPod Classics and Fiio A3 amp and Fiio Q1 DAC and amp. My set up suits me well when I head out for a three or four mile walk. Good luck in your hunt.

 

[podnosimyszafe]

I've only used them for around 30 minutes so don't know if they require burning in.

Burn-in is likely placebo. Rtings.com conducted experiment veryfying this claim and 120 hours of burn-in resulted in no change in sound. However, there is a thing called "mental burn-in" which greatly influences how an earphone is perceived by an individual. In general, at first listen new earphones sounds weird to our ears, but with time they accomodate to a given earphone. And that is why many people perceive sound as if their earphones went through burn-in process, even though in reality it did not change their sound in a perceptible way.

Speaking of ZS10's sound, the treble heaviness you experienced was probably coused by these spikes at 2,5k and 4,5k Hz. The one at 8k Hz is caused by the measuring microphone. Spikes likes these are called "peaks" and very often are strongly correlated with perception of harshness in treble.

Also try to be sure if you get a good seal in your ears, because imeprfect in will result in significantly weaker bass. Additionally, in my experience amount of bass measured (like on the graph above) and its perception are not always the same. In case of bass it is particularly good idea to read some reviews and not only rely on graphs.

IMO a good starting point are ranking list of iems. List1 List2 List3 List1 has separate grade for bass and treble, so it might be the most suitable for you to pick iems that will not show unsatysfying performance in these regions like ZS10. Keep in mind to treat lists like these as an advice not like some objective truth.

Speking of recommendations, I have no idea how are taxes and import fees where you live, so keep in mind the prices I wrote down are net prices without vat/sales tax/import fees/etc. I assume you meant 150-200 dollars.
Here are some models (moreless around your bugdet) that are highly rated by reviewers and community with mentioned potential weaknesses and dealbreakers: (IEMs are written in random order without any particular criteria)

Brand and model	Price (in USD)	Weaknesses
Tripowin Olina	99	might have a little bit of harhness in treble, some people had condensation issues
Shuoer S12	150	Probably too much treble without EQ
Tanchjim Hana 2021	180	Shallow fit (might be difficult to get good seal), might have too much treble
7Hz Timeless	220	some people had problems with loose mmcx connectors
Moondrop Kato	190
Moondrop Aria	90	chipping paint
SeeAudio Midnight	200	weaker price to performance ratio than competing models

Good luck with choosing!

 

[WorksUnit]

Hi Simon.
I think you have a defective pair.
Mine just failed yesterday in the way you describe. (Tested cables/Sources etc, nothing like it should actually sound.)
Try for a refund/ replacement from vendor.

 

[WorksUnit]

Hi Simon.
I think you have a defective pair.
Mine just failed yesterday in the way you describe. (Tested cables/Sources etc, nothing like it should actually sound.)
Try for a refund/ replacement from vendor.

 

[baskingshark]

Hi everyone, thanks for allowing me to join.

I have just bought these ear monitors and I'm not 100% happy with them they seem very treble heavy and there isn't much bass.
I am not bass hungry in my listening but they seem to be lacking although I've only used them for around 30 minutes so don't know if they require burning in.

I have a budget of around 150 to 200ish and would like a half decent pair of a monitors for genuine listening to music through my phone my iPod and through my Fiio DAC etc. It's just general pop music no heavy metal etc.

Can anyone recommend a decent pair of monitors in that price bracket or around that area that are better than my current monitors.

Many thanks Simon.

The KZ ZS10 Pro actually has quite a lot of mid-bass. It is probably due to a poor eartip seal that you lose the bass frequencies.

Try using the other eartips in the packaging (with other sizing), once you can hear the bass well, it means the seal of the eartip is adequate.

 

[thamesside]

Thanks so much for the really comprehensive replies. There's a lot to read there so I will try new buds first although I normally wear the smallest ones as my ear canal is very small and the medium is even a struggle. I tried my Fiio DAC earlier and they sound significantly better than they did directly from the phone. I will stick with them for a while to see if it's me, or not. Now, I've been using my ipod classic for years, I tried a new pair of monitors today and my ipod died. Absolutely typical. Thanks again, for super helpful responses. Now I am off to look for a MP3 player.

 

[zamorin]

Hi Simon.
I think you have a defective pair.
Mine just failed yesterday in the way you describe. (Tested cables/Sources etc, nothing like it should actually sound.)
Try for a refund/ replacement from vendor.

I think I agree with him. I have the ZSX (it's not treble heavy or does it lack bass...for me). Maybe one or few of your drivers failed/not wired properly etc because I have the same issue with the Kz DQ6. Check if only one or both the iems are having the same issue.

 

[thamesside]

I will do. When they came the case was sticky, like grease on them. I've cleaned them and with a very fine wire I have cleaned the holes in the earpiece. The wire is super fine used in a specialist piece of equipment I have and it seems to have done the trick. On my phone they don't sound good, but that's my Huawei phone I think because when I use them with the Mont Blanc they sound OK now. I have a few weeks to return them should I not be happy with them. Thanks a million for the reply.

 

[chengsta]

call me crazy, but I own JH audio JH13's and the very expensive noble audio Kaiser10 custom fit iems. and wow, I am impressed by the zs10 pro. i initially only bought it for something to fly with because I didn't want to risk damaging my much more expensive iems. the clarity and openness is just insane. Sure, the bass seems thin at first, but once you install viper bass, it balances everything out and it becomes perfect. I actually prefer these over my jh13's and kaiser10's now. and those were on balanced cables too. Now I got a silver cable coming in a week for the zs10's.

 

[dickiefunk]

I recently bought a pair of the newer KZ ZS10 Pro-X and these definitely don’t lack bass. It’s quite the opposite and they feel like I have subs in my ears. I’ve been using Shure SE215’s with custom mould sleeves for years and they were ok but not that great. They always sounded very mid focused with weak bass and treble extension. Also, the sound stage is poor. I gave the KZ ZS10 Pro-X a go as I know a lot of pro musician colleagues use them and a few very highly acclaimed live sound engineers recommended these as well. Well, the KZ ZS10 Pro-X are a very big improvement over the SE215’s in every area!