LZ A4
A clinic in Performance and Versatility
Disclaimer
The A4 was a review unit provided in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion. I have tried my best to record my thoughts and impressions on how I found the A4 to sound. These thoughts and opinions are mine and mine alone and I reserve the right to change my opinion as time goes on. These are my personal findings and should be taken as such.
Introduction
This is my review of the LZ A4 (a triple driver hybrid consisting of 2 Balanced armature drivers and 1 Dynamic driver), a direct successor to the A3 which itself attempted to build on the magic of the A2 which had appeared out of nowhere and captured the hearts of many a head-fier (Including yours truly!). I want to take this opportunity to thank LZ and AK Audio for giving me this opportunity, graciously providing me a sample in exchange for my honest opinion. There is something to be said for presentation, packaging and how you secure the package before shipping. It’s clear that AK Audio put a lot of effort into packing properly, going the extra mile to make sure it will survive the journey. Their listing can be found here.
Since I last took a look at the A2 and A3, the market has been moving at a breakneck pace, with a new multi driver iem coming out what seems like every other day. Now consumers have more choices than ever, with fantastic and wonderful iems with untold number of drivers. But therein lies the issue: a lot of the companies in the Chinese market seems to be chasing higher and higher numbers of drivers, placing an emphasis on the number of drivers, rather than the implementation. That is why I have always closely followed LZ releases, they have always sought to prioritize the end sound and tuning rather than cramming more drivers than you can shake a stick at!
Got room for one more, driver?
In my eyes they were the first outfit to REALLY nail the triple hybrid sound with the A2 and at a price that really surprised everyone. The A3 was a step in the right direction, improving the build quality and providing a more premium experience than the A2; But in hindsight, they lacked a certain je ne sais qous.
Enter the LZ A4 - no it doesn't have a billion drivers, no it doesn't have a funky or sexy design, nor it doesn't come with a cable composed of unobtinium. It is once again a triple driver, but this time with a new trick up its sleeve - a cleverly implemented filter system allowing for 18 different filter combinations. I will be upfront and honest when I say that before I heard the retail LZ A4, I was not a believer in the whole tuning filter shenanigans. I was part of the beta LZ A4 tour, and even then the filter system kind of left me underwhelmed.
The retail version of the LZ A4 has completely changed my views on them, not only have they upped the ante from their beta offerings but they have provided a tuning platform that actually provides a very technically impressive stock sound, with sensible tuning options.
About me
Before I get into the nitty gritty of things, I want to provide a little background information in the hopes that it can help put my views in perspective and provide some context for the content of this review.Music has always been a huge part of my life, whether it was performing music on stage with my band or more recently, involving myself in this masochistic wonderful hobby of ours. I have always enjoyed listening to music but I haven’t always paid attention to the quality of headphones because I was perfectly content with included cellphone earphones or cheap earbuds from department stores. Ignorance is bliss right? This however all changed when I came across head-fi one day, and that’s when things started to go downhill (for my wallet that is ). It is all too easy to underestimate how large an impact a good pair of headphones can have in the enjoyment of your favorite songs.
After getting my first pair of good headphones, I had felt as if an entirely new world has opened up to me musically and I found myself rediscovering music that I have listened to for many years.
When it comes to musical taste, I can’t say that I have any specific genre that is my absolute favorite, as I like a little bit of everything. But if I had to be specify, I would say that I love mainstream and Pop music and I consider myself to be an average joe in that regard.
That is the approach I take in reviewing gear, for people like me who aren’t all that technical and are not audiophiles in the classical sense. To be honest, I am just someone who really loves their music and someone who enjoys getting the the most out of their gear. And I feel that this is representative of many young modern music lovers (such as myself); people who just want to hear our favourite modern music tracks at their best. Sure, we may not be classical music buffs, or Jazz aficionados, but all the same we appreciate having in our arsenal some of the best products out there, to hear our favourite pop, electronic dance music or metal artists at their best!
I mostly stream music from the Internet using services such as Spotify and Youtube and like millions of other people, my laptop and cellphone serves as my main media players.
After getting my first pair of good headphones, I had felt as if an entirely new world has opened up to me musically and I found myself rediscovering music that I have listened to for many years.
When it comes to musical taste, I can’t say that I have any specific genre that is my absolute favorite, as I like a little bit of everything. But if I had to be specify, I would say that I love mainstream and Pop music and I consider myself to be an average joe in that regard.
That is the approach I take in reviewing gear, for people like me who aren’t all that technical and are not audiophiles in the classical sense. To be honest, I am just someone who really loves their music and someone who enjoys getting the the most out of their gear. And I feel that this is representative of many young modern music lovers (such as myself); people who just want to hear our favourite modern music tracks at their best. Sure, we may not be classical music buffs, or Jazz aficionados, but all the same we appreciate having in our arsenal some of the best products out there, to hear our favourite pop, electronic dance music or metal artists at their best!
I mostly stream music from the Internet using services such as Spotify and Youtube and like millions of other people, my laptop and cellphone serves as my main media players.
So with that out of the way, lets get on with the review!
Build quality, Design and Accessories
Once again, LZ has provided quality packaging, giving you the feeling that you really are getting your money's worth. The package is big and sturdy, enclosing a padded interior which places the A4 front and center. The accessories are enclosed in the included orange case, which is large and spacious but not as sturdy as I would like, I prefer stiffer cases; A rather small sticking point but one I should mention nonetheless. The filters are housed in a padded tin box, which is again a nice touch as it will be very easy to store when not in use. I do however wish it came with a second set of filters, as losing any one of the filters would surely be a PITA. The rubber rings on the filters can fall off so keep an eye on those, to remedy this I store the filters upside down in the foam box which stops the rubber rings from falling off. Pics found online
Pictures taken with my own
I usually don't talk about enclosed paperwork, but be sure to retain the manual as it helps explain the tuning system, outlining the frequency ranges for all the available tuning options. I will enclose my own take on this chart later in the review.
I am not a fan of the stock tips but to be fair, 99% of the time I chuck the stock tips and use my own anyway, so that’s not an issue. I found myself using tips with medium sized bores, as the ones with wider sized openings made it sound weird (reverse horn effect?) but as always YMMV.
The LZ A4 design is a completely step up from the A3, for one thing it can be worn cable up OR down. The shell isn't too heavy and it sits light enough to disappear in your ears after awhile, with nary a sharp corner to be found. The LZ A4's ergonomic nature easily lends itself to marathon listening sessions, be it music or netflix binge watching. The vent placement ensures that driver flexing won't be an issue for most, if not all.
The A4 sports removable cables of the MMCX variety, and the connection appears to be fortified and reinforced, ensuring longevity. But as with ANY iem utilizing removable cables, care must be taken not to stress the connection by constantly changing cables.The stock cable is supple, not microphonic, doesn’t have memory, and is rather easy to deal with on a daily basis. The built in cable management band is nice touch. The cable has a nice weave like pattern and texture, feels nice to the touch, and is also part of the reason why the A4 is so comfortable to wear in both cable up and down configurations.
The stock cable is of great quality so I didn't feel the urge to replace it. I did however try some spare cables I had lying around, and to my ears there were no definitive changes or differences (I am talking about single ended cables here). My balanced cable is out of commission at the moment so I wasn't able to test the A4 in balanced mode unfortunately.
How does it sound?
Now lets talk about how they sound! For many people the sound quality is very important, if not the most important quality they look for in a headphone, whether the cost is $30 or $300.
Specs:
- Driver: 1 dynamic + 2 Armature
- Sensitivty: 118dB
- Impendence: 16ohm
- Frequency response: 20-28000 Hz
- Cable Length: 1.2m
- Plug Type: 3.5mm MMCX
Sources used:
- xDuoo X10
- Aune X1S
- FiiO X7
- FiiO E17K
- iFi Audio iDSD Micro
- LH Geek Out V2+ Infinity
- Samsung Galaxy Note 4
- Macbook Pro
Songs used during review
- Stone Sour - Bother
- Joe Bonamassa - Driving towards daylight
- Girls Generation - Catch me if you can (that's right, come at me bros)
- Celldweller - End of an Empire
- Daniela Andrade - Shore
- Indila - Ego
After testing the A4 with a myriad of sources I found the LZ A4 to scale quite well with gear, so the better your source, the better A4 will sound. If you can pony up the cash to buy the A4, you owe it to yourself to feed it good quality sound; As the old adage goes, garbage in, garbage out! However, having said that, the LZ A4 still sounds fantastic straight out of my laptop and cellphone. So even if you don't have a dedicated source or player, the LZ A4 will still impress, and it will continue to grow with your collection, making the A4 a keeper in my eyes.
This is my first time reviewing an iem with filters so initially I was a bit stumped on how to go about it. I will begin by talking briefly about the tuning system. Yes the LZ A4 has 18 possible tuning options, but don't that that number put you off. The system has been designed in such a way that almost anyone can play around with the options and find something that suits them, as long as you keep a few factors in mind.
Using the information in the manual I put together a colour coded chart to help guide your tuning adventures.
I will try to keep it as simple as possible. The left most column refers to the circular back filter and the middle column refers to the front nozzle filter. From what I understand and hear for the most part, the back filters mainly modifies the bass amount and extension, while the front nozzle modifies the treble amount and extension. However if you look at the third column, which refers to the frequency range for each combination you will find that this pattern doesn't fit to a T but it holds true for the most part. Back filter in order of DECREASING Bass extension and amount | Front nozzles in order of DECREASING Treble extension and amount |
Red > Black > Blue | Blue > Black > Green > Gray > Red > Pink |
So Red Back + Black front nozzle will give you the most sub bass with full treble extension (not as full as blue nozzle theoretically). After trying the combo with the song End of an Empire by Celldweller, I can confirm that is the case.
Say you find yourself in the mood for less treble just go down the nozzle filter sequence till you are happy with the amount of treble (Blue > Black > Green > Gray > Red > Pink) and vice versa. The same goes for bass, if you want less bass (Red > Black > Blue) go down the list of filters till you are happy, and go backwards to increase the amount and bass extension.
As you can see it is a rather well thought out system and you can very easily tune the A4 to fit whatever music you may be listening to at the moment. While it may appear intimidating at first, it doesn't take a long time to try them all, and inevitably everyone will find a couple they love most and stick with that, that was the case for me anyway
I would characterize the LZ A4 as having a balanced sound signature, with all parts of the spectrum sounding in proportion to each other. I, for one, am glad that LZ has not elected to go for a bass emphasized sound but rather a very clean and musical sound. The LZ A4 strikes a very fine balance between sounding musical and analytical, as it manages to sound enjoyable AND surprisingly detailed at the same time. It sounds transparent and clear top to bottom, allowing the technical prowess to shine through, unhindered by out of control bass or treble.
I find the treble to one of the best aspects of A4, It is well extended (again depending on the filters) and has just the right amount of energy to make things lively but not enough to make things sound sound harsh or splashy. The A4 effortlessly renders micro-detail, background elements and true to life timbre of live instruments. For all the detail the A4 is capable of pushing out, it never once felt shouty or analytical. It blends all the elements in a way where everything is there and if you want you can focus on one aspect of the song and follow it beginning to end, never losing track. Or you can kick back and take it all in and not feel overwhelmed, as the details are not pushed front and center. It is a strange amalgamation that still gives me goosebumps with my favourite songs.
All in all the LZ A4 treble sounds incredibly natural and true to life, with cymbal crashes sounding defined, controlled and not splashy at all. Just enough treble to tickle my ears without making my ears ring after. This is treble done right, it is all there but not strident or forward, complimenting the rest of the sound range. Those of you who are allergic to treble emphasized headphones you can rejoice
All of this makes for a fatigue free listening experience. In fact, the A4 has become my go to iems for extended listening sessions and even daily use, which is very easy to listen to for hours on end, very much like its younger siblings the A2 and A3. I can turn up the volume with the A4 without experiencing distortion at higher volumes and really enjoy my music. The A4 has an amazing sense of space in its sonic presentation. The instruments seem to just float there in the air, immaculately layered on top of each other in a really natural manner. Honestly at times it feels as if you are listening to speakers in a room. Thats what I mean when I say it has a sense of space. The A4 soundstage is impressive especially how it presents EDM and Pop music, ballooning out the different elements of a song so it floats around in your head; For this kind of music A4 reigns supreme. The different elements of a song aren’t overly forward or in your face, nonetheless the details are all still there. Its nice not to have a million things in a song all vying for your attention.
On that note, the instrument separation and layering is superb, which is backed up by fantastic layering as I mentioned earlier; Very much an improvement over it’s predecessor the A3. The soundstage makes it seem like the music is coming from outside my head and that I'm listening to a full size headphone. The soundstage is dense and filled with music, fully immersing you in your songs. I found the soundstage to have incredible depth and above average height and width. The A4’s sense of depth really make it seem if the artists are in front of you performing live.
The A4 has seamless transitions between its treble, midrange and bass. The midrange, not to be outdone by the treble or bass, detailed and full of texture. Thankfully the midrange is not recessed in the slightest, with Guitar heavy music is just GLORIOUS. The growl of distortion guitar sounds so guttural and chunky, making it so damn addicting. Even for rock songs with lots of cymbal crashes, the A4 never falters. Male vocals have a very nice weight to them, while female vocals have a somewhat ethereal feeling quality to them. The transparent nature of the midrange makes the A4 sound even more spacious and open and the way the difference elements of a song are blended together, all the while maintaining immense coherency and texture, is all too enjoyable.
Now moving on to the bass: As I said before, A4 has an a balanced sound signature, with all parts of the spectrum sounding in proportion to each other. The A4 bass can be described as controlled, authoritative and clean. With the different filters it can range from clean and polite to sub bass cannon (I could have sworn I felt the shells shake from the sub bass!). The bass is quite detailed and textured with good decay and when coupled with good punch and impact, makes for a very engaging and enjoyable listening experience. When using the back red filter, the A4 bass has nice distinct reverberations that make EDM and Pop music a joy to listen to. Take the intro to Dirty Diana by Michael Jackson for example, my god that sub bass! I can literally feel it in my chest You can feel each and every reverberation in bass lines.
Comparisons
LZ A4 VS LZ A3So, is it worth upgrading to the A4 if you already own the A3? The answer is absolutely, the A4 is truly an upgrade over the A3 in every aspect!
Hardware wise its no contest, the A4 has sturdier MMCX connectors and is far more ergonomic in terms of design. Unlike the A3, the A4 can be worn both cable up and cable down. The A4 overall sounds more transparent and balanced compared to A3, the A3 had slow heavy bass that leaked into the midrange obscuring some detail.
To my ears the A4 sounds brighter than the A3, with a more "open" sounding treble. The increased A4 treble resolution is very much welcomed and it also has noticeably better cohesion between the treble, midrange and bass, along with much better resolution in those aforementioned areas.
The A4 is able to better handle complicated tracks with lots of things going on, better able to delineate different parts of a song, the A3 relatively sounds smeared and muddy in the midrange. The A4 overall sounds clearer, cleaner, thinner and more neutral than the A3
The A4 midrange sounds more dynamic, more textured and more detailed than that of A3, thanks in part to the increase in sonic resolution. When it comes to bass, LZ A4 has the A3 beat, especially in terms of quality, with more resolution, texture and better impact.
If I can't make it anymore clear: The A4 is a completely different animal than the A3, the A4 sits at the big kids table, not at the junior table.
LZ A4 VS 1more Triple Driver
To my ears the 1more triple driver is on the brighter side of neutral with excellent treble extension. I would characterize it’s sound as v-shaped vs balanced for LZ A4.
The 1more TD is quite V shaped in comparison to A4, with forward bass and treble, along with a recessed midrange. While the 1more has more treble and bass than A4, the A4 edges it out in quality and technical performance. I should also mention that the A4 is also more comfortable than the 1more, making it more mobile friendly. In terms of absolute performance, A4 is the winner in every category: Soundstage? check. Detail? Check. Soundstage? Checkeroo.
The A4 is more open and spacious while sounding more mellow and balanced, making it great for long term listening. The 1more can get shouty at louder volumes, whereas the A4 keeps it ice cool not breaking a sweat, and A4 doesn't distort at higher volumes.
A4 and 1more triple driver are quite similar in terms of how hard they are to drive, but unlike the A4, the 1more Triple Driver doesn't scale with gear. The 1more triple driver is quite tip sensitive and with its wide long nozzle its hard for me to get a good consistent seal, which also affects isolation.
The A4 excellent detail retrieval despite not being as bright as 1more triple driver, with a good amount of micro detail. It’s not really what I would consider analytical in the traditional sense, but it has a good amount clarity, which extends through the entire range.
I find the soundstage to be a strong point for the A4 With the increased detail retrieval, positional cues are easily discernable, which helps paint a large and believable soundstage. It has fantastic instrument separation and layering. Many headphones can separate out the different parts of a sound but it can sound disjointed. Not so with the A4. Its like you are peering directly into a recording and every single element is crystal clear. In fact, you can easily pick out one instrument to follow in a song and easily do so beginning to end.
The 1more midrange can sound a bit thin and nasally. Male voices lack the weight that you will find with the A4. Female vocals however sound energetic thanks in part to the treble focus.
The A4 bass has good rumble and texture, the bass has not only good punch and weight, but also good decay. Only comes out to play when its called for, with no mid bass bloat or bloom to speak off, and certainly no leakage into the midrange. The 1more lacks the layering, power and finesse of the A4 bass.
Conclusion
The LZ A4 marks a return to form for LZ, after all it was the A2 that more or less sparked a hybrid revolution in the Chinese market. While the A3 was a step in the direction, it is the A4 that is truly a game changer, much like the A2 before it. I know it can be a bit tiring to keep up with new Chinese releases, but this is the one you should get, because I truly believe that the LZ A4 provides flagship/TOTL performance at a not so TOTL price. Truth be told, I had all but lost interest in iems before the LZ A4 had come along, it managed to draw me back into the fold. The A4 has become my go to daily driver, giving me many hours of enjoyment everyday and it is worth every penny of its cost. With its immense versatility, the LZ A4 sounds great with a wide swath of genres and it sounds great out of everything from cellphones to dedicated digital audio players. The stock cable is easy to deal with on a daily basis, and the included built in cable management band keeps the cable neat and tidy when not in use, and the A4 isolates well with the right set of tips, making it a great travel companion. The A4 does a lot of things right and does so with style and finesse, effectively decimating the competition at this price point, something I am sure other A4 owners will surely attest to.
If you are looking for an iem that you can listen to all day and have it sound great no matter what you are using it with, the A4 might be what you are looking for. The LZ A4 is bombastic, fun and easy to live with on a day to day basis. It is commute friendly and scales surprisingly well with better gear, so it will grow along with your collection. With its immense sonic performance and capability, the LZ A4 is a surprisingly good headphone that has the potential to become your daily driver and will certainly have you digging out your favourite songs and albums, because it has a way of breathing life into whatever it plays
If someone had blind folded me and asked me to listen to the LZ A4 for the first time (without telling me what it was) and had asked me to guess the price based only on SQ - I would EASILY say $600-700 CAD. I have owned a few so called TOTL iems in his hobby and I am not one prone to hyperbole but the LZ A4 is performing at such a high level, this is about as close to end game as one can get, certainly at this price point, even against giant killers in this segment.
For those of you buying numerous budget iems over time, I say save up your cash and get the A4 and be done with it. You will be rewarded with a sound that will have you tapping your feet and you dancing along to the music. With its larger than life sonic presentation, the LZ A4 is the first chinese iem to provide TOTL at a stupidly low price, IMHO.
Thank you for sticking with me thus far and not falling asleep! Ymmv as we all have different preferences and ear anatomy, but I hope I have helped get across what the LZ A4 offers and whether it would be right for you. The only way to figure out whats best for you is to ultimately hear it for yourself!
I do still have a lot to learn so I welcome any and all feedback!
Happy listening