Reviews by Vibhor Mudgil

Vibhor Mudgil

New Head-Fier
Kz zex pro (CRN) review
Pros: +Build quality
+Clean bass
+Best sounding kz till date
Cons: +Treble lacks air
+Need for EQ
Disclaimer:
This unit has been provided to me by Concept Kart in exchange for my honest opinion. I am really thankful to Conceptkart.com for including me in this tour.
KZ ZEX PRO:
ZEX pro is a new offering by Kz. tuned by Crinacle. It is a triple hybrid IEM which consists of one magnatostatic driver, one BA driver and lastly a dynamic driver. With impedance of 24 ohms, it's sensitivity level is rated at 104 db, soo it can be easily driven by a phone, but really benefits with a good dac/dap.
Design and comfort:
The design of zexpro looks really appealing. It has aluminium faceplate with smooth matt finish and translucent resin shell that looks premium. It also seems quite durable. The IEM fits snugly, yet comfortably in my ears. Isolation is very good as well. The shape of its shell reminds me of BGVP DM7/DM6 design.
SOURCE:
I used M11 pro for testing this IEM. So my impressions are based on it.
SOUND: ZEX PRO is tuned by Crinacle. Measurements of 'Moondrop Blessing 2 Dusk' and 'Zex pro' are identical. Zex Pro has a U shaped sound signature with elevated sub-bass, neutral midrange and uplifted treble. There's a peak at 8k region and a sharp roll off from 8k to 13k region
BASS:
Bass is nicely done on this set. It is a maturely tuned bass, which is clean, fast, punchy and doesn't bleed into the mids. Overall it is very good for its price.
MIDS:
Mids are totally priceworthy. They are slightly recessed and a little lean for my taste. Though female vocal sounds good on this set, I would've loved slight more note weight in the mids.
TREBLE:
Treble is decent, but sometimes it gets fatiguing because of 8k peak. At times, it feels artificial which is not very appealing to me but this can be fixed easily with slight EQ.
SOUNDSTAGE:
Soundstage is nice and wide with average depth.
IMAGING:
Imaging and instrument separation is really good.
FINAL VERDICT:
ZEXPRO is a very capable IEM. Yes, there are some issues that can be fixed with slight EQ. By sliding down 8k to -5db and 12k to +10 you'll easily be able to fix tonality of this IEM. With this Eq settings, Zex Pro is a perfect all rounder and can easily compete with IEMs of double its price.

Vibhor Mudgil

New Head-Fier
Campfire Audio Andromeda pre2020
Pros: + good treble extension
+ Solid build
+Comfort
+Non fatiguing mids
+Soundstage and imaging
Cons: - bass could be a little better
- highly sensitive to source, cable and tips
Introduction:
Campfire Audio Andromeda have always been my dream IEMs, so I finally decided to get a pre-owned unit for myself from a friend of mine and luckily I got a good deal on them. All the thoughts that I am going to share are based on my personal preferences and experience.


Design and comfort:
Build quality is fantastic as you would expect from an IEM at this price. Shells are made of aluminium, and built like a tank yet very light in weight. They fit so perfectly in my ears that I can wear them all day long without any discomfort.

Sound:
From the moment I got my dream IEMs in my hands, I was exhilarated to put them on.
So I plugged them in Shanling m5s but all my expectations were shattered. Though it is a really capable dap and I was using 'bgvp dm7' and 'audio-technica ATH im03' as my primary IEMs but Andros were muddy and blurry. Furthermore, mid rage was overly smooth for my taste. Overall it was a bad experience with m5s.

Poco f3 gt:
I gave it a try with poco, and the sound was nice, wide and clear but nothing like a grand buck IEM. Also I was hearing a clear "hiss" all along, which was bothering me too much.

Shanling m0:
Again, this pairing is a lot better than m5s but still nothing special to brag about.

Iphone 7 plus : It sounded exactly similar to poco but without that "hiss".

Till this point, both 'bgvp dm7' and 'im03' were sounding far superior than Andromeda to me but then.....

From a long time, I was planning to purchase 'tfiio m11 pro' and thank heavens! I bought it on the right time.

Fiio m11pro:
Now that was the turning point!!
I was totally stunned by the performance!! Stage was out of my head and imaging was outstanding as well. Mids had some energy, bass was good but it had a BA timbre.
According to me, bass wasn't bad at all, but it lacks DD timbre. Talking about Treble, It was terrific and well extended. It didn't sound sibilant and yet was very detailed and resolving.

Conclusion:
Andromeda is a remarkable pair. It is quite versatile and as one of my good friend told me that it's just like water, for how it changes its characteristics with different sources, tips and cables. It is a highly source dependent IEM which makes it a hit or miss.
AlekhyaD666
AlekhyaD666
Nice review bradah. Me and all of our common friends do know how much you love the Andros. Wishing you years and years of happy listening with them.
V
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