[DynamicEars]

Do you mean zs10 standard or pro?

I assume with talks about honky midrange and big shell, must be regular ZS10 he is talking about

 

[mbwilson111]

I assume with talks about honky midrange and big shell, must be regular ZS10 he is talking about

Except that I never heard a honky mid-range (whatever that means... sound nasty) with my regular ZS10. In fact, I never would have ordered it if I had not first spent a few hours with the one belonging to my husband @HungryPanda .

It bothers me that just because someone heard an iem a certain way... with their ears, tip choice, and gear, more people start describing it that way as though it were fact.

Surely my husband and I are not the only ones who like the ZS10. You are making me want to use mine today.

 

[nraymond]

It bothers me that just because someone heard an iem a certain way... with their ears, tip choice, and gear, more people start describing it that way as though it were fact.

Well, the propagation of perceptions is for many the lingua franca of these forums, no? (I am reminded of the works of Jean Baudrillard, Jorge Luis Borges, Neil Postman, etc.)

 

[DynamicEars]

Except that I never heard a honky mid-range (whatever that means... sound nasty) with my regular ZS10. In fact, I never would have ordered it if I had not first spent a few hours with the one belonging to my husband @HungryPanda .

It bothers me that just because someone heard an iem a certain way... with their ears, tip choice, and gear, more people start describing it that way as though it were fact.

Surely my husband and I are not the only ones who like the ZS10. You are making me want to use mine today.

To be frank, a lot of people complaint about honky weird mid range tone with regular ZS10 but for me they were okay, not natural enough but not strange enough also to disturb me. I had good time with regular ZS10 when they are arrived as the first budget 5 drivers last time. less than $50 for 5 drivers, mind blown!

 

[BadReligionPunk]

My zs10s were honkeys lol. Had to eq them to be listenable, but only after realizing that they were. Before that I was happy with them.

Its no big deal if someone doesn't hear it and they like them. We all perceive crap differently and we all have different ways to express things that are all completely arbitrary and have no bearing on the next persons feeling on the matter.

Its all subjective.

 

[nraymond]

Its all subjective.

Unhide the following if you don't mind someone being somewhat pedantic.

Spoiler

I'd argue that while there are subjective components, it's actually a complex topic with a lot of important objective things going on. I get it that most people don't want to deal with the complexity, or try to fully express it, so it's easier to just say it's all subjective. There are absolutely differences in people's hearing caused by a wide variety of things, and there are differences in perception (i.e. what happens in the brain) that are also caused by a wide variety of things, but there is a baseline objective reality of how a headphone/earphone performs in the physical world, and it is that objective reality that has the greatest practical impact for most people (because that is the largest functional overlap in the collective experience - the objective performance of the headphones). There are also overlaps in the subjective experience for groups of people because there are people here of common age ranges, of similar genetic makeup, with similar ear and head shapes, and with some of the same life experiences that inform their perceptions and those form some common sub-groupings of people who reach their own consensuses. While those experiences are individually subjective, there are large components which are shared and objective (which is why there are overlaps in experience and why consensus is found among ranges of people). I think discussing these objective aspects and sharing our backgrounds can be really enlightening and help avoid the whole "everything is subjective, we're all on our islands and nothing but what we individually think matters anyway". We can all come to understand sound, ourselves, and each other better!

 

[rayliam80]

ZS10 is not in the same league as the C12. Completely different beasts. If you are happy with the sound of the ZS10 you will be floored by the C12. I could never get past the honky midrange if the ZS10 and the housings were much too large for my ears. So if you can fit the ZS10 in your ears you won’t have a fit use with anything on the market. For the $34 they sell for I don’t see the risk being very high considering how many positive reviews there are. Take the plunge.....you can thank us later.

Oops, I meant the ZS10 Pro, in this particular case!! However, I do own both the ZS10 and the ZS10 Pro. I still like the ZS10 with my Liquid Spark amp but that's about it. But the ZS10 Pro gets much more play now since it's less picky with source and the better timbre/tonality throughout.
I went ahead and ordered the C12 now since I don't have any CCA IEMs. Besides that, I really just liked the funky look of that CCA cable and C12 blue shell combination....

And okay, this is it, no more IEMs until at least until next year. I gotta keep telling myself this to save my wallet. No 11.11 this year for me either, thankfully.

 

[planetpowers]

Now I'm kind of intrigued with the CCA C12. The ZS10pros are remarkable for the money. I have had many expensive IEMs, and the ZS10pro holds up to any that I've owned. IMHO, they are not fatiguing at all (I have about 170 hrs on them so far). The cable is just okay (I had to make a slider), and they are a little big. I use foam tips on everything I own (mostly for isolation - I'm a professional woodworker running loud machines all day). Soon, I think I will try the CCA C12 s and the rwb cable (I like the Captain America look as well ). These chi-fi IEMs are almost unbelievably good for the money.

 

[Seazer]

Now I'm kind of intrigued with the CCA C12. The ZS10pros are remarkable for the money. I have had many expensive IEMs, and the ZS10pro holds up to any that I've owned. IMHO, they are not fatiguing at all (I have about 170 hrs on them so far). The cable is just okay (I had to make a slider), and they are a little big. I use foam tips on everything I own (mostly for isolation - I'm a professional woodworker running loud machines all day). Soon, I think I will try the CCA C12 s and the rwb cable (I like the Captain America look as well ). These chi-fi IEMs are almost unbelievably good for the money.

They sound like a refined Zs10 pro imo. Their sound signature is very similar. The ZSX is more laid back in certain areas than either of them, but so I would say they have their own sound. The C12 sound like a straight Zs10 pro upgrade to me though

 

[bedlamite]

Brought my C12s out for the daily commute today. I've been rocking the ZS10 Pros on the TRN BT20 BT adaptors previously and the ZS10s got swapped out for the C12s. The C12s have a markedly heavier bass punch (but not flabby bass) but vocals sound a touch more sibilant. I think they're an upgrade to the ZS10s, but it's a little soon to tell.

Hell, at the prices both IEMs are going for, might as well pick both up lol.

 

[voicemaster]

Just got mine today. Initial impression is this C12 is damn smooth. This reminds me of my C10 but without the lack of bass body. No sibilant whatsoever. For those who said C10 is boring, C12 is the answer imho.

 

[DynamicEars]

Just got mine today. Initial impression is this C12 is damn smooth. This reminds me of my C10 but without the lack of bass body. No sibilant whatsoever. For those who said C10 is boring, C12 is the answer imho.

comparison with ZSX?

 

[Mybutthurts]

Captain America

Very nice...where did you get that cable from ?

 

[SoraNeko]

comparison with ZSX?

Yeah i'd like to hear about it too, before pressing the trigger and buy an inferior product

 

[voicemaster]

Yeah i'd like to hear about it too, before pressing the trigger and buy an inferior product

There is no inferior product here tbh. From what I am hearing so far, the bass for both are about the same, mid is tad more forward in the C12 (like 0.5db higher) and treble is the main different imho. With the ZSX, you get this splashy type of treble which makes it sounds "airy", but for people with treble sensitif, they can be ear piercing. With the C12, the treble is smoother, but doesn't mean it is not well extended. And then there is the fit, for the ZSX is hit or miss, for the C12 is a much safer bet. Now, if you compare them with their older IEMs (zs10pro and c10), they are a definite upgrade. They sound more "mature" with tighter and better tuning over their frequencies response (bass, mid and high are not fighting for dominance) just like a well calibrated sound system. IMHO