Here is a recording of the artifact that Listener was pertaining to from the Headphones.com Discord, and happy to say I don't hear it in my Dusk DSP cable from several USB-C sources including an Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max, a Poco F3 Android Phone, and a Dell dock connected to a Dell Latitude...

My set has arrived, its the best in my collection so far!

Equalizer APO works on my Win 11 pc. Have you tried installing the alternative drivers? https://bradshacks.com/fix-equalizer-apo-windows-10/

My foam filters seem to be a little worn, anyone know where to purchase original replacements?

Ahh, then it should be fine :) output power should be the same as fully balanced, you might just get more crosstalk due to unbalanced input

Read this guide for the danger of that: https://www.moon-audio.com/balanced-adapters-caution

Dont. Balanced to unbalanced can potentially damage equipment. Unbalanced to balanced is okay. I recommend just getting a splitter for the unbalanced out.

Sad to hear your experience. I advise updating the firmware immediately to V2.4 to mitigate the popping/restarting issue just to be sure: https://www.topping.audio/newsinfo/686950.html

Edited to stay out of it :)

Heres the link to V2.4: https://www.topping.audio/newsinfo/686950.html

Yes, it was successful for me. The unbalanced unplugging and plugging issue is still fixed, meaning instead of restarting, it temporarily shows -5, then continues working.

And it is out!

Having listened to Crin's recent livestream, I am almost absolutely sure he helped tune the Zero. Proof here

I installed foam tips on my Zero. They are an improvement in almost every way from the Chu. This will be my new recommendation for a beginner IEM. Kudos 7hz Salnotes!