This is my impression after only about 24 hours of warm-up… Old guys’ ears typically lose the higher frequencies to certain extents, and I can attest to that in my right ear especially. Any phones/cable combos that attenuate the higher frequencies exacerbate this for me and seriously darken the music. These wonderful iems, when matched to a good balanced cable, open the mid and upper registers crisply. The dynamic driver provides exceptional bass with precision. The soundstage is wide and deep, and is sweetly airy. You can pay a lot more for iems that don’t sound as good as these sound. If they sound this good after only ~24 hours of break-in, they will be even better after 75-100 hours. If you think they initially sound sibilant, just play them for a day or two on a computer without listening, then review. At their current price, they’re a steal…

I’ve been listening to my Fh7 earphones for 10 months and decided to change things up. I had planned to do a “Bang for the Buck” review of earphones/cables early last year, but I got ill, had two major surgeries and have only recently gotten back to about 90% of well. Anyway, these CCA12 iems hadn’t even gotten warmed up before I became ill, but after ~48 hours of random music at varying volumes, they are extremely crisp without annoying sibilance. The bass is strong but not rumbling. Three things you must realize is I have old man ears (higher frequencies are attenuated), my current DAP is an iBasso DX160, and my tips are Kbear 07. I tried a number of AliExpress available budget/midrange cables and my results are fairly consistent across cables, given that cables can favor different frequency ranges. If you’re a basshead, these might not be your choice. The bass is strong but it won’t blow you away. The strength of these iems is in the clarity of each sonic component. That being said, vocals are somewhat diminished, but the signature seems more of a “w” than a V. For their current price, you could make much worse decisions for buying cheap iems… YMMV, but I don’t think you’ll regret buying them.

The folks at **** Audio graciously provided the ZSN PRO IEMs for this objective review.

First, the IEMs are plastic with a metal plate, producing a solid feeling, comfortable weight earphone. The stock cables have angled pin connectors that slide over the protruding jacks on the phones. While the mating of these components seems secure, I can’t help but wonder about the durability of the plastic protrusions.

Sound wise, the hybrid phones, consisting of a double-magnetic, dynamic driver and a balanced armature, produce a mid-bass/upper-mid focused stage with decent layering and detail. The published specs state the frequency range is 20 - 40k. The highs are somewhat sibilant and depending on the genre of music, listener fatigue could be an issue for some folks. While EQ can remedy any perceived issues to a certain extent, I would rather not need to do so.

With this in mind, I swapped out the stock cable with a 2.5mm balanced one and accessed the balanced jack on my Hiby R3. WOW! Totally different soundstage! Sibilance basically disappeared, details and separation got cleaner, and bass tightened up. This speaks more to the source’s sound quality than the cable, but it does show that the IEMs are capable of better than the stock sound.

These are inexpensive phones. Really cheap, actually, and they sound much better than their price. The plastic pin jack protrusions are the only concern I have about daily usage. They could be a great subway/bus/train set of IEMs if durability proves to be a nonissue.

I received a complimentary pair of KZ ZS7 earphones from the folks at **** Audio and was asked to evaluate them objectively. I am happy to do that.


It appears that KZ has successfully reengineered the overly sibilant ZS6 into a set of full spectrum phones. The stock, non-mic cables I received produce a veiled, bass boomy sound signature that hides how excellent these earphones can sound. Ditch them quickly and opt for more balanced cables. Just make sure the 2-pin cables are compatible with the phones. Some of the earlier KZ compatible cables have pins that protrude too much, as the plastic holder the pins are in stick out too far for the ZS7s. They can be used, but they won’t be flush with the earphones’ sockets.


Earphones are only the end component of your audio system. If you have low resolution sound files or poorly recorded sound files being played by a low quality source, don’t expect any sonic miracles from the ZS7s. If you are listening to lossless format music on a quality DAP, these could very easily become your daily travel IEMs. I like the tips that KZ ships, as they seal well for me. If you don’t have a good seal, you are missing much of your music, bass especially.


These phones fit my ears very well. It may be different for you, as comfort in IEMs is extremely subjective. I must wear a medium tip in my right ear and a large in my left to seal appropriately and this causes problems for me in some of my phones. Experiment with various tips to find ones that seal AND feel comfortable. You’ll enjoy your musical experiences more, if you do.


These are excellent phones for the money and they deserve better cables. Much better cables.

These have been on the market for over a year, now, and several companies have marketed them at widely divergent prices. Mine are **** iems and are priced for old guys like me and college students. The cash challenged...

These are perhaps the most comfortable iems I've tried in a long, long time. After inserting them in your ears, you may find that you forget about them being there. You can sleep with these babies, or at least I can. My N3 DAP played all night the first time I wore them to bed, as I normally listen to music for awhile and then shut everything off. Next night, I set the timer... Good thing, too.

These are mellow, mellow, mellow! You can listen to them with almost no fatigue issues for hours. The downside to this is the top end is not pronounced. These are tuned for the middle to low end and are very warm sounding. I was listening to Boston's "Foreplay/Long Time," and the wailing guitar solo as the piece transitions to "Long Time" didn't wail all that much. I'm used to to it being shrill enough to make you grind your teeth. The high end is adequate, but you won't be excited by it. It can be enhanced by EQ...

Urbanfun is for the morning train; the lunchtime crowd and the afternoon rush hour. The isolation is amazing. These are definitely iems that will cause you to step into traffic if you don't pay attention and you have them cranked. The mic is decent for the typical things where you would use it.

No one better call me when I wear them to bed, though...

After I bought these on Amazon, **** reimbursed me for them in return for a review. This is as objective as I can be. Actually, there's not much to dislike about the KZ ZSE earphones. They are inexpensive and they sound excellent, price notwithstanding!

These are all-day, everyday, catch the bus, bass monsters, that have a decent high end and a serviceable mid range. In short, they would be great in the school cafeteria, on the subway or in a crowd anywhere... These will do away with the outside world, so be careful crossing streets! They worked very well with my iPhone 6S+, providing clear two-way communication. I did not test the mic in a crowd or a wind tunnel, though.

The V-shaped sound signature is great for most genres of music, from EDM to Pop to Toby Keith! Unless you're a Mozart fanboy, these should serve you well. And if you happen to snag the wire on something or they are stomped into oblivion on the train, you're only out the cost of a Starbuck's latte, or so.

I'm thinking stocking stuffers for my grandkids, here! If you're looking for budget-fi IEMs to knock around with, these may be the ones you really want.

Disclaimer: Edifier graciously sent me this set of IEMs to review. As they are intended to be used for cellphones, I can be objective, since I don't use my cellphone as a music source these days and I only use a Bluetooth auto link for my phone while driving. As cellphone models are all idiosyncratic, your mileage may vary from anything I state. I also used my "gym-rat" daughter to evaluate the phones while strapped to her iPhone in exercise mode. I burned-in the IEMs for a good day or so, about 25 hours.
 
I'm not showing a bunch of unpacking photos. There's no need since the P270s come packaged like this:

 
The packaging clearly shows that they are intended for cellphones, and includes an adapter extension for different brands. If the regular cable doesn't work correctly with your phone, throw on the adapter and try. Both the regular cable and the adapter are terminated in a 3.5mm plug. The regular cable worked with my iPhone 5s just fine. The phones come with the requisite extra sizes of tips, so that you have S,M and L to choose from for an well-sealed fit.
 
The medium tips fit me well and were pretty comfortable for the three hours I wore them in the initial test. I got a great seal and a LOT of ambient noise went away... enough that I made sure to look both ways at the corner of the city street I was on. My iPhone library of music from 7-9 years ago sounded surprisingly good. Good enough that I exported some songs to my current DAPs later. Playing the same songs on my DAPs later with the P270s was a disappointment. The music was muffled, veiled and muddy as compared to being played on my iPhone. I don't know why. Impedance?
 
My college senior, gym-rat, that's home for Thanksgiving, wore the P270s with her iPhone while taking her morning 2 mile run. As the recipient of lots of "sport" IEMs over the years, she has definite opinions about her workout IEMs. She currently uses M6 Sport-Fi IEMs, but said that the P270s are more comfortable and seal better. The only negative the "Beats-addled," SkullCandy baby had was that they didn't "thump enough." She did, however, ask if she could take them back to school after Thanksgiving because they "felt good"... Enough said, for me!
 
As an extension of the phone, the P270s did very well. Audio was clean and crisp and the mic was very good. No one could tell that I was using a set of ear phones with an in-line mic, but one person complained that I needed to "get out of the wind or call them back." All I did was turn around and hold the mic closer to my mouth." It worked.
 
If my gym-rat wants them because of comfort, and they sound good with an iPhone, there's a market for these inexpensive IEMs. These will be at the University of Georgia after Thanksgiving...

After many months of almost daily usage, this excellent, budget-fi DAP is with me wherever I go. The only complaint I have is that the selector wheel is imprecise. While I only have a 64GB card in it at the moment (~ 2000 files), one day the 5800 files limit may come into play.
 
It has paired well with every amp I've thrown at it, from cmoys to a G3 and Project Horizon. Most of my iems do well with the X1 without being amped, though. Sound stage complaints are not viable in my opinion, either.
 
Good sound quality has to have excellent components throughout the system. This is an excellent, entry-level, high fidelity portable amp... at this price point, especially. It's also better than many costing a lot more.
 
***FW 1.51 beta fixes all of my issues!***

I took a leap of faith with this purchase. There were only 9 reviews on Amazon, but the avg was 4.5. I don't usually expect a lot of credence in most Amazon reviews, but people are critical of bluetooth headsets in general. I am, too.
 
My initial testing, though by no means extensive, indicate that this BT stereo headset is a capable little item. I had a range of over 20' several times, which means I don't need to carry my iP5 around my office. Callers say it sounds, "good," "normal," "like a real phone" (whatever that means). And the tunes on my iP5 sound as good as entry-level earphones. I haven't tested it outside or in my car, yet. I don't expect any surprises in the car, and phone positioning in the wind is a big determinant to outdoor sound quality. I don't plan to call anyone in a wind tunnel...
 
If things change, I'll revise this. If you question the "value" at $80, price some others...

I purchased my E11 bundled with an extra, larger capacity battery and a charger off of Amazon. The additional items added a miniscule amount to the total, but greatly increased the overall value for me. It also negates the biggest gripe that folks have about the E11, which is not being able to use it while charging. Opening the slim cover without fingernails or a guitar pick (or the like) isn't all that easy and closing it makes the cover flex a little, which is a little scary. Nothing has happened with it... yet.
 
If you are using the headphone jack on your portable audio source, this amp may transform your mobile audio experience greatly. I use it with my 1st Gen Zune 30 and a host of IEMs and 3 full-size cans (JVC HARX900, Shure 440 and Superlux HD681). I only use an LOD for the cans, but both outputs are viable for IEMs. It has three bass boost settings (0,1,2) two power settings and two gain settings to adapt to your phones' impedences. It pays to experiment with the settings if you aren't impressed with your initial sound. Fits in a pocket, even strapped to the old Zune... Very clean, very powerful and very adaptable. I like it a lot.

People are dissing these for their looks?!? If you are buying any full-sized cans because of their sexy factor, you need to reexamine your priorities. If you haven't heard these, I'd bet you take them home when you do. For the tiny bit of $$ you'll pay, these are absolutely the best sounding cans you can purchase. College students, people on fixed-incomes and the thrifty audiophile will especially love these. Replace the pads with velour ones, if you want. The cans will still sound good and they may be more comfortable. As good as they sound and as cheap as they are, who cares how they look? If that's an issue, turn off the light when you listen to them. Lets face it, some Grados look like radio operator headphones from the 1920s, but they are graded on their sound first. These should be, too.

Incredible soundstage is the best thing about these full-size cans. Unmodded, they are merely good. The "Top Pop" mod makes the bass tighten up quite a bit, stopping any "boom." It really makes these come alive. Very 3D.