KZ ZSN (Knowledge Zenith)

These pair of IEMs are great for this price point. Bass and mids are nice sounding and detailed. Highs are a bit piercing but you can fix it with an EQ to some extend. They are a bit sensitive so if you have a noisy setup they'll be quite loud. They fit good in your ear and they are quite comfortable after you put on the correct tips and get used to them. The included cable feels cheap, tangles quite a lot and has a very peculiar colour but it has a L shaped jack and a microphone so it's accepteble. It's good for listening to music and also for movies/games. Mid accuracy makes it very nice.

Bass: 8/10
Mids: 8.5/10
Highs: 7/10

I must say that traditionally I was not a big fan of KZ. Before this I tried ZS3 (strongly V shaped and muddy) and ZS5 (terribly thin, sharp and sibilant). But now I tried these ZSN (2nd Generation) model as a part of KZ group test including ES4, ZSA, ZSN, ZS10 and ZS6.



SOUND QUALITY

First of all, ZSNs have fuller mid-range than most of KZs and that's the reason why am I singling them out of this group. Most KZ models are traditionally very bad at creating a natural, full vocals and I could never support that kind of artificial balance... But ZSNs are finally good enough with mid-range so I can give the rest of their qualities a serious thought.

Frequency Balance - let's start from the bottom - bass on these is quite nice, it's deep and punchy but decently controlled and textured. I've heard more precise ones, more textured ones... but not for this price. Mid-range is clean but still not the most fluid, full or warm you can find (but neither is any mid-range in this price range and for those fuller ones you would have to spit out much more substantial amount of money). The more important thing is that it's not horribly thin and grainy either. The overall mids balance is still on the thinner and analytical side but within acceptable limits - it's actually decently present this time around. Highs are again being emphasized and that makes the sound overly bright and artificially lit. Fortunately, a simple EQ of -7 to -10 dB at 10 kHz will bring this effect down to a very reasonable level making mids and highs sound much more natural - this is something I just couldn't achieve on other KZ models I tried so far (they would just start to sound completely lifeless and flat).

Sound-stage and separation - are quite decent on this model, in line with what you get with more expensive ZS10 and ZS6, and clearly better than you get on ES4 or ZSA which can get cluttered and confused, especially with busier tracks. Not the ZSN, they can keep even busier tracks sound organized. To put this into perspective - SoundMAGIC E10 and Sennheiser CX300-II both sound much muddier and more cluttered than ZSNs.

Dynamics - ZSNs are analytical but not anemic or flat, they actually have a decent byte and overall energy. When you combine these with clean and clear edges - we get a very lively sound with plenty of zest and excitement.

BUILD QUALITY ETC.

Metal plate and nicely machined grills are a nice touch making this model look and feel much more premium than the price would suggest. There is a new cable connector that sits more securely and cables are new too. No more wire inside the cables that you're suppose to shape yourself, they're soft now and pre-shaped to fit around your ears immediately. Personally I really liked this change.

CONCLUSION

All in all, I was really positively surprised by KZ ZSN 2nd Generation. After applying some simple EQ to tame the highs they become a very decent sounding headphones. And when you actually count in the price which is ridiculously low and build quality which is more than decent... I couldn't resist to give 5 stars to a KZ product for the first time. I never heard anything this good for this kind of money.

. . .

If you're interested I also made a video about this whole KZ group test:

Hi all, I'm rather new to audio tech. Just gonna share about how I feel after using the KZ ZSN(upgrade with the silver plated cable). I use it as my permanent earpiece going with my DAP (Hidizs AP80) and sometimes I use it along my PC with an an external usb DAC(Breeze audio ESS9028Q2M) and a cheap chifi tube amp(FXaudio- FX-03) I uses FLAC files.

I dont really remember the details of my first impression of using zsn... But I do remember being amazed by what it does at this low price. I also have the habit of burning-in (a cruel and unbearing wait to try cool stuff) my earpiece(it does wonders to the DD) In fact I think the purpose of burn in is to loosen the DD making it less congested and capable of reproducing the extreme frequencies correctly. To my observation, there is no audible change to BA drivers

BASS (9/10)
Many people have feedback that the bass is rather strong and to a certain extent pounding the head and ear drums. But I actually think that it is actually at a sweetspot(to my taste). I'm one who love bass and hates it at the same time due to often poor tuning making it sound muffled. The only reason I give it 9 is that it overpower the mids making mids sound rather boring and flat.

MIDS(8/10)
I really enjoy the mids especially when I'm one who enjoys listening to vocals. But like I said above, it kinda overpower the lower mids making male vocals sound rather bland(dry). For some reason, the female vocals at the high mids (I think is somewhere around 11-12k) experiences sibilance making it really harsh for the ears. It does not happen all the time but to some specific songs.

Highs(8/10)
The sharp V shaped drop at around 13K causes it to feel somewhat "empty"... But I won't say that it is a bad thing as it set room to clearly differentiate the vocals with instruments making it sound pleasing that being overwhelmed by "fighting for territory"

Soundstage
Really impressive, tested it out with a few surround sound test on youtube. Very accurate reproduction of the source and depth, allowing differentiation of near and far

Upgrades to consider
Like what I have mentioned, I upgraded the cable to the silver plated ones. There are some minor improvement at the bass making less "pounding" for the ears and slightly less muffled. I couldnt hear any difference in the general mids region but it does help smoothen the female vocal sibilance and the highs. I will say the effect sounded like a electronic RC rectifier filter. It makes the highs of the instruments more bearable and less like dolphin screaming.

Another upgrade to consider is the foam tips! It increase the isolation a fair bit, allowing you to enjoy the same amount of details of the music at lower volume(healthier listening). The down side is that it absorbs 1dB off the sub bass and treble. If you like the treble and bass then you might want to reconsider. But I say there is something call EQ, you can boost it back using the EQ.

Comfort (9/10)
This is really comfortable, I can wear it for hours. The nozzle is slightly deeper, some people might not like it. Another issue with deeper nozzle is depriving air into your ears causing fatigue(Not to say I uses foam tips, I typically have to remove them off my ears around 2 hour mark). If it were the silicone tips I could probably wear it for upto 5 hours straight?

Isolation (8/10)
Not the best but definitely one the best for its' price range. Comparable to many more expensives ones in the market and falling slightly short compared to customs (Kinda like duhhhhh right? Say no crappy custom isolation)

Price (10/10)
EXTREMELY WORTH THE PRICE.