After the annual winter-early spring dry spell, leave it do my friends at Dudios/SoundPeats to save the drought with one of their newest offerings, the Dudios Zeus Ace. If that name sounds familiar to you then it should. I reviewed their original Dudios Zeus last year and still, to this day, utilize it as my primary workout iem because how great it is. So how does the newest and coolest “true wireless” version perform? Is it a worthy upgrade or a different flavor of the same ice cream?
A little about me
I would like to say that first and foremost I am NOT an “audiophile” but rather an audio enthusiast. I listen to music to enjoy it. Do I prefer a lossless source? Yes, of course. But I can still be very happy streaming from Pandora or even my YouTube “My Mix” playlist. I also prefer equipment that sounds the best to me personally regardless of what frequency response it has or rather or not it's “sonically accurate” and I always have and shall continue to encourage others to do the same.
I'm a firefighter for both the civilian and military sector and the cliché of wanting to do this since I was born couldn't be more present with me. I've worked hard over the last several years to earn this position and now it's time for me to work even harder to keep it.
I enjoy fishing and relaxing to audio products and then reviewing them to help other decide on what products would work for them. Few things make me as an audio enthusiast/review feel more accomplished than when someone tells me that I helped them find the type of sound they've always been looking for.
Now, the sound signature I personally favor is a relaxing, warm and sensual sound that just drifts me away in the emotional experience of the music being performed. Yes, accuracy is still important but I will happily sacrifice some of that if I'm presented with a clean, warm sound that can wisp me away into an experience that makes me yearn for more.
My ideal signature are that of respectably forward mids and upper bass range with the bass being controlled but with some slight decay. I like my treble to have nice extension and detail reveal with a smooth roll off up top as to not become harsh in the least. Examples of products that have given me chills and keep giving me the yearning for more feels are the (in no particular order) Bowers & Wilkins P7, Oppo PM-1/2, Empire Ears Hermes VI & Zeus XIV, Audeze LCD-XC, Meze Headphones 99 Classics & Empyrean.
I would like to say that first and foremost I am NOT an “audiophile” but rather an audio enthusiast. I listen to music to enjoy it. Do I prefer a lossless source? Yes, of course. But I can still be very happy streaming from Pandora or even my YouTube “My Mix” playlist. I also prefer equipment that sounds the best to me personally regardless of what frequency response it has or rather or not it's “sonically accurate” and I always have and shall continue to encourage others to do the same.
I'm a firefighter for both the civilian and military sector and the cliché of wanting to do this since I was born couldn't be more present with me. I've worked hard over the last several years to earn this position and now it's time for me to work even harder to keep it.
I enjoy fishing and relaxing to audio products and then reviewing them to help other decide on what products would work for them. Few things make me as an audio enthusiast/review feel more accomplished than when someone tells me that I helped them find the type of sound they've always been looking for.
Now, the sound signature I personally favor is a relaxing, warm and sensual sound that just drifts me away in the emotional experience of the music being performed. Yes, accuracy is still important but I will happily sacrifice some of that if I'm presented with a clean, warm sound that can wisp me away into an experience that makes me yearn for more.
My ideal signature are that of respectably forward mids and upper bass range with the bass being controlled but with some slight decay. I like my treble to have nice extension and detail reveal with a smooth roll off up top as to not become harsh in the least. Examples of products that have given me chills and keep giving me the yearning for more feels are the (in no particular order) Bowers & Wilkins P7, Oppo PM-1/2, Empire Ears Hermes VI & Zeus XIV, Audeze LCD-XC, Meze Headphones 99 Classics & Empyrean.
Equipment used at least some point during the review
-Sources
-LG V20/HP Pavilion
-Playing Pandora, YouTube, and various format personal music
-Sources
-LG V20/HP Pavilion
-Playing Pandora, YouTube, and various format personal music
Disclaimer
I am by no means sponsored by this company or any of its affiliates. They were kind enough to send me a product for an arranged amount of time in exchange for my honest opinion. I am making no monetary compensation for this review.
The following is my take on the product being reviewed. It is to be taken “with a grain of salt” per say and as I always tell people, it is YOUR opinion that matters. So regardless of my take or view on said product, I highly recommend you listen to it yourself and gauge your own opinion.
I am by no means sponsored by this company or any of its affiliates. They were kind enough to send me a product for an arranged amount of time in exchange for my honest opinion. I am making no monetary compensation for this review.
The following is my take on the product being reviewed. It is to be taken “with a grain of salt” per say and as I always tell people, it is YOUR opinion that matters. So regardless of my take or view on said product, I highly recommend you listen to it yourself and gauge your own opinion.
The Opening Experience
Why I feel so strongly about the initial unboxing experience
Please allow me to explain why I feel so strongly about the initial unboxing experience with a product. Maybe it’s due to my southern roots in the hills of eastern Kentucky, but I’ve always been raised under the pretense of when you introduce yourself to someone for the first time you present yourself with confidence, class, character, pride, and competence. You greet the other person with a true warm smile, eye contact and a firm handshake. Anything less or short implies to other person that you either don’t care about them, are too full of yourself, too busy to be bothered by the likes of them, or worse, just generally disrespectful.
As a consumer, I take this same belief to when I open a new product. Why? Because think about it this way. How else can a company introduce themselves to their customers? How do they present their products? Are they packaged with pride and presented in such a way that makes the listener eager to listen to them? Or maybe they’re just wrapped up and placed in an available space. How about the box itself? Is it bogged down with jargon that says look at this, look what I can do. I’m better than anything on the market and here’s why read this and check out that. Or, is the package clean, simplistic and classy? As if saying to the customer ‘Good day, pleasure to meet your acquaintance. Please give me a listen and allow me to show you what I can do and allow my actions to speak louder than my words.’
This is why I feel so strongly about the initial presentation of a product, and I feel it’s truly a shame more people don’t. But with all that aside, let’s discuss how this products introduced itself shall we?
Please allow me to explain why I feel so strongly about the initial unboxing experience with a product. Maybe it’s due to my southern roots in the hills of eastern Kentucky, but I’ve always been raised under the pretense of when you introduce yourself to someone for the first time you present yourself with confidence, class, character, pride, and competence. You greet the other person with a true warm smile, eye contact and a firm handshake. Anything less or short implies to other person that you either don’t care about them, are too full of yourself, too busy to be bothered by the likes of them, or worse, just generally disrespectful.
As a consumer, I take this same belief to when I open a new product. Why? Because think about it this way. How else can a company introduce themselves to their customers? How do they present their products? Are they packaged with pride and presented in such a way that makes the listener eager to listen to them? Or maybe they’re just wrapped up and placed in an available space. How about the box itself? Is it bogged down with jargon that says look at this, look what I can do. I’m better than anything on the market and here’s why read this and check out that. Or, is the package clean, simplistic and classy? As if saying to the customer ‘Good day, pleasure to meet your acquaintance. Please give me a listen and allow me to show you what I can do and allow my actions to speak louder than my words.’
This is why I feel so strongly about the initial presentation of a product, and I feel it’s truly a shame more people don’t. But with all that aside, let’s discuss how this products introduced itself shall we?
The unboxing’s of Dudios products, from my experience, has always been very respectful especially for the MSRP of their products. Starting from the front of the package you’ve a beautifully simplistic presentation. The only thing you see is a picture of an opened case of the product, the company name, and the product name. Rotating to the back is where the Zeus Ace returns to what I expect to see in a product of this price point, a cluttered back of “look at me’s.” I’m a big proponent of a product “speaking” for itself, and a box full of catchy phrases and whatnots takes the voice away from the actual VIP.
But moving on, as you open up the cardboard box, you’ve the Dudios Zeus Ace charging case centered in a cutout greeting you and all but asking you to open it up and try it out. Setting the case aside for a moment, for under that you’ve the warranty paperwork and instruction manual, micro USB charging cable (was really hoping for a type C), and a few extra tips (NOTHING compared to the wonderful supply the original came with).
Construction
Starting with the charging case, it’s made of basic plastic and opens on a rear facing hinge. Inside you’ve the 2 independent Zeus Ace pods placed inside a form cut out of their frame with the charging pins towards the middle of the case. Lastly, on the rear of the case you’ve the micro USB charging port.
Moving onto the actual pods themselves, each pod in roughly the width of a thumbnail and shares the height of the tip of that very thumb. The horn is that of the most common size I see on the majority of iem’s (I do not know the actual measurements) so those with a favorite third party tip brand will likely be able to use them with the Zeus Ace (I was able to utilize my beloved Comply). Each pod can operate and be connected either individually or as a pair and sync’d to the other by simply holding down the single button on the face. On the note of the single button, it is responsible for the off/on/sync, play/pause, answer/hang up commands to the pods. This means that if you’re wanting to control tracks or volume that must be done from the connected device.
All and all the Dudios Zeus Ace keeps everything as simplistic and straight forward as possible. Something I didn’t touch on earlier is that these immediately turn on and go into pairing mode as soon as they’re removed from their charging slit (and reversed when placed back) which is AMAZINGLY convenient and a feature that I personally cannot speak highly enough about loving. Though they’re built using basic materials, expected of a product in this price point, I can unfortunately personally attest that they can not only survive a drop but being thrown across a room when trying to catch them from said drop and accidentally smacking them instead. Dudios has made a very budget friendly workhorse of an iem in relation to its construction.
Comfort
The Zeus Ace is a pretty small pod but I do feel that those with very small ears may have difficulty getting them completely inside their concha thus causing it to protrude outwards somewhat, this doesn’t affect much but a something to note nonetheless. They’re also incredibly light weight and do a fine job at staying in place in your ears, especially if using Comply memory foam, thus wearing these for long durations shouldn’t cause any discomfort. On the note of that actually, these have really good sound isolation properties that I learned first hand when using them to mow my lawn comfortably while listening to a youtube video at my normal listening levels.
The Dudios Zeus Ace can also be utilized as workout iems due to them being IPX4 sweat resistant. I can only speak for myself when using them to workout in so YMMV, but when I used them with weight training and basic cardio I had no issues with them moving or falling out, admittedly to my surprise considering I am a sweater to put it lightly. Now, from my personal experience, when going for a run they did often start slipping loose causing me to have to push them back in every few seconds and often hitting the button pausing my music thus causing me to have to reach up again to rehit the button. As I said, YMMV especially if you don’t sweat as much as I do but so long as you are doing weight training or basic cardio you shouldn’t have any issues with the Zeus Ace causing you any discomfort.
To finish this section, though I personally prefer the corded version (just a personal preference) these are very comfortable to wear, even more so than the corded version. Though these can be worn to sleep as well, from personal experience, the blanket/pillow will often push in on the button causing your music to pause; something to keep in mind.
Sound
Before I start this section. It should go without saying but though I link YouTube videos when I’m giving examples, this is for convenience only. If applicable, I HIGHLY encourage you to listen to the music I’m referencing on as high a quality as possible to experience the fullest sound possible.
So thus far, like the younger sibling, I’ve been incredibly impressed by the Dudios Zeus Ace but how does it sound? Is it an upgrade from my beloved Dudios Zeus or is it just a difference in flavor?
From the first track I played through the Zeus Ace I immediately felt at home with a familiar, fun, sound. The Zeus Ace is certainly no audiophile iem that’s for sure, but it is one that is very fun to listen to when wanting to workout or just get your groove on. Though not as over the top bassy as the original Zeus, it is still the focal point. As for soundstage, it’s certainly an in your face variety which is fine for music but for those wanting to watch tv etc… things may sound claustrophobic and cluttered together. But let me talk more about the individual aspects so that hopefully you can get a better understanding of the overall sound that the Dudios Zeus Ace provides.
Treble
Though, as stated above, the Zeus Ace focuses more on the bass, the treble is still fairly enjoyable as well. From the piano to my oh so enjoyed Violin, the Zeus Ace does a respectable job at reproducing the magical peaks that those instruments create. A piece I’m sure many of you are used to seeing in my reviews is “A Moon Filled Sky” by Tenmon. It’s such an enjoyable piece and though the Zeus Ace doesn’t completely reproduce the magic of that piece it does still make it enjoyable to experience.
Mids
The mids are the are of music that I pay the most attention to because, to me, this is where the soul and emotion of the music is. When listening to just about anything through the Zeus Ace, you can easily tell that the mids are very recessed to highlight the more “fun” aspects of the music, “Into The Coals” by Buffalo Jones or “S.O.B.” by Nathaniel Rateliff showcase this quite quickly. When you’re listening to music or movies or the like though you can most certainly hear the vocals and people talking, instrumentals and background sound effects are what’s going to draw your attention. If I had to put my finger on the main thing about the mids that turn me off, it’s that there’s no body to them, it’s just words without that fleshy sound to make them alive.
Bass
The heartbeat of the music that keeps everything else in time and rhythm, and the Dudios Zeus Ace has a very strong heartbeat. The bass hits surprisingly hard, especially considering the price point, and even has an impressive sub bass quantity. A few songs to highlight my points, and I think you’ll discover why yourself once you hear them, is “I Need You” by Sebastian Ekstrand, this song, though has a disappointing upper bass range, likely to do the recessed mids, showcases a very strong mid bass to sub bass punch “Guitarmass” by Infected Mushroom also does a fine show at showing this. “Oracle” by Timmy Trumpet shows how well the Zeus Ace performs when you’re wanting the sub bass feels.
Though I give kudos to Dudios for giving a very fun headphone that hits surprisingly hard, the downfalls become apparent when pairing them against products that would be considered direct competitors (that also cost almost 3x the price). The bass, though IMO harder on the Zeus Ace, there’s certainly a notable amount of decay present and a lack of control that muddy’s the sound of drums when really listening. Though technically that is a negative for sure, for an iem that costs just over $30 (depending on where you shop), the features and overwhelming positives you get for that price tag MORE than make up the shortcomings.
Conclusion
To sum up my thoughts on the Dudios Zeus Ace, I find that Dudios did an outstanding job. The took everything that made their original Zeus model great and turned it into the ever popular true model version without losing much of anything. If you’ve neither and are looking for a great, budget, iem to workout in or just listen to something fun on your commute then either would do you great so go with whichever model you would like more. If you’ve already the original Zeus and are wondering if it’s an upgrade, then I say no, you’re just getting a different flavor of the same ice cream brand. Myself, I like the corded version, just a personal preference.
Also, make sure to check out my unboxing and review videos. They’re pretty awesome AND you getta put a face to the Army-Firedawg name. If this review helped you out at all please hit that thumbs up button for it really helps me out a lot. Till next time my friends, stay safe.