[r31ya]

Personally i think its tuned to have certain sound in disregard on what driver they use.
The did it with AST when they feel the need to compensate the BA bass with that big bass shelf.

Its in contrast with Dioko which tuned to show off the driver while not bothering to cover what it lack.

 

[1clearhead]

Do you have any ref of your gold/silver cable ?

Glad to help...!

You can get it at Aliexpress.com -Just click the Link below...

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3256802079880154.html



PS. I tried a bunch of detachable cables, but there's just something about the mixed Gold and Silver plated detachable cables that brings out the best of the PLA13 planar. No joke!

-Clear

 

[schom]

Hi
First of all, thank you for your reviews for the CCA PL13.
Unfortunately there aren't that many reviews. How do the headphones compare to higher-priced Planar headphones?
I am not an audiophile person, so my question is whether these headphones are sufficient for the average listener? I mean as an entry-level model to get to know what a planar headphone sounds like
sorry for my english

 

[r31ya]

Hi
First of all, thank you for your reviews for the CCA PL13.
Unfortunately there aren't that many reviews. How do the headphones compare to higher-priced Planar headphones?
I am not an audiophile person, so my question is whether these headphones are sufficient for the average listener? I mean as an entry-level model to get to know what a planar headphone sounds like
sorry for my english

for Headphone, get Hifiman HE400SE, tough you might need amp for that to run well.
its older brother HE400i (2020) require less power to run well.

If you want IEMs, depend on your budget,
the most recommended now is 7hz Timeless or Tangzu Wu Zetian ($150 ish)
there are several at $100 ish, Dioko is one of them (fair bit bass-lite tough), there are others but the name kinda eludes me now.
then we have Pla13, its planar but its not tuned to maximize/show off planar capability. Its tuned to carries KZ signature sound which ended blunting the Planar capability.

 

[schom]

for Headphone, get Hifiman HE400SE, tough you might need amp for that to run well.
its older brother HE400i (2020) require less power to run well.

If you want IEMs, depend on your budget,
the most recommended now is 7hz Timeless or Tangzu Wu Zetian ($150 ish)
there are several at $100 ish, Dioko is one of them (fair bit bass-lite tough), there are others but the name kinda eludes me now.
then we have Pla13, its planar but its not tuned to maximize/show off planar capability. Its tuned to carries KZ signature sound which ended blunting the Planar capability.

Thank you very much

 

[r31ya]

Thank you very much

this is the (relatively) older Planar Line up review (Month-May line up, since then several newer planar comes out)

 

[SpaceOperaVillain]

Hello CCA fans - touching base with a long term reliability update:
CRA - the C pin housing disintegrated on one side, exposing the copper on the right side IEM. My cables don't slip off thankfully, but it's annoying to finally suffer the dreaded cracked pin housing that so many others have reported. It's the only KZ/CCA product to have done so in my collection and I have never, ever mixed cable types on it. The sound sig remains my least favorite. Still quite decent, but a bit vee shaped and missing detail for my preferences. They're seldom used and probably destined for the retired box soon, taking up space alongside my old SR80 Grados which are in need of a 2nd refurb. (had these since '99!)

NRA - still heavy rotation and they're going strong on balanced cable, often plugged in to the E1DA PowerDAC2.1 at my desk. These are my go-to for movies, youtube, and conference calling. jazz, metal, pop, edm, electro ... still a great pair and a like the bass response on these. they haven't really changed sonically with use, but I do think the ZEX Pro is a hair better and the bass response on those are quite good, too.

C12 - I rarely use them anymore due to tinnitus, and the much more mellow GK10 fully replaced these on my night stand. I love them for classic rock and jazz, but they're "hot". Heart Mirrors have as much detail and are easier on the tinnitus. Mostly they hang from my little storage bracket at my desk.

My sig hasn't really changed. I see a lot of wonky, unattractive things in KZ/CCAs catalog over the past few months. I stopped throwing money at IEM because they all started seeming quite the same in terms of sound quality. Fun catching up on the threads!
cheers

 

[Aparker2005]

Got my ES3 in today. They are absolutely every bit as good as I remember them being. On a more comparable level, these also blow my custom Ultimate Ears UE5 pros away. They fit perfectly as well. I'd say with these and my CCA CA16s, I'm completely set on iems now.

 

[Olivier61]

Oh i really like the pla13s.

Indeed it is necessary to tame the extreme bass, for example to lower the 32 hertz by 5 db, because yes its emphasis is in the very low frq .. and not in the "normal" bass.

Then it's a great IEM, with a superb stage, subtle reverberations, a soft and fair high frequency. I can compare with my planar, S12, Tri I3, Senf mt100pro, helmets also Arya, HEKv2. Or tribrides, simple hp, expensive or not expensive.

This CCA PLA13 if it is well adjusted to your taste, is a delight. Honestly, having a little too much extreme bass isn't a problem, on the contrary, it's the assurance that the bass can breathe. Here is my assessment, with many comparisons, I prefer it to my too restrained S12 (nevertheless also excellent), it most resembles the Tri I3 with this ample breathing.

So really recommended, such as for bass lovers, then set for others at will. So far my favorite along with my Oracle.

 

[Carpet]

Paul Wasabii has a short review of CCA PLA13 up.​

 

[linecur]

Paul Wasabii has a short review of CCA PLA13 up.​

Are the other planars also sensitive to the power of the music source? S12, for example?

 

[Carpet]

Are the other planars also sensitive to the power of the music source? S12, for example?

Yes, being power hungry is a feature of planar IEMs.

 

[Olivier61]

Yes and No, they are powerful enough to be driven by smartphones. What misleads many analyzes is that they are extremely sensitive to ... the quality of the amplification.

This is why differences are observed. The S12 may seem a little flat on an ordinary source (but in power no worries). As for the PLA13, it has a lot of power ! .. it is already quite good with an ordinary source. With the iFi nano Black, these two IEMs are perfect, with a Samsung A52 the headphone output is very good too, surprisingly strong and subtle. With other smartphones it's commonplace, the J3, the redmi 5, etc. So the S12 benefits better from a good DAC.

 

[DynamicEars]

Lot people seems misunderstanding about
"Can play it with decent volume and still have plenty of space"
And
"Drive properly"

Planars need good amplification. All sources can play planar, with decent volume, but planars are hard to drive properly. When planars aren't driven properly they sounded different, flatter, not as dynamic.

IEMs usually scale better with better sources, but from experience, planars have quite big differences if not properly driven.
I have popular apple dongle, the timeless when connected to it, i still have plenty of volume space, but when connected to DX160, they are on another league, quite a jump and when connected to M11 plus ESS they are better (though the differences not as big as from apple dongle to DX160)
Same with TWS hook. Connected to TRN BT30 timeless sounded very bad, no dynamics. They become lifeless instead of timeless. But when connected to Fiio UTWS5 they can be driven quite decent even not on DX160 level, let alone M11 plus ESS.

My Z1R on other side is easier to drive even with only apple dongle or KA3 (dongle) though they scale better with better sources.

 

[Carpet]

Lot people seems misunderstanding about
"Can play it with decent volume and still have plenty of space"
And
"Drive properly"

Planars need good amplification. All sources can play planar, with decent volume, but planars are hard to drive properly. When planars aren't driven properly they sounded different, flatter, not as dynamic.

IEMs usually scale better with better sources, but from experience, planars have quite big differences if not properly driven.
I have popular apple dongle, the timeless when connected to it, i still have plenty of volume space, but when connected to DX160, they are on another league, quite a jump and when connected to M11 plus ESS they are better (though the differences not as big as from apple dongle to DX160)
Same with TWS hook. Connected to TRN BT30 timeless sounded very bad, no dynamics. They become lifeless instead of timeless. But when connected to Fiio UTWS5 they can be driven quite decent even not on DX160 level, let alone M11 plus ESS.

My Z1R on other side is easier to drive even with only apple dongle or KA3 (dongle) though they scale better with better sources.

I suspect that the ability to respond to faster transients, may also mean that planars react better to having more headroom. A DD is more physically constrained in how well it can handle complex waveforms when driven hard. BAs are also more resolving, but less power hungry. It would be interesting to see how single BA IEMs respond to less power (or larger impedance adapters).