[VinceHill24]

Actually the share molds practice is good in some way. Otherwise ppl who're interested in DIY will never get a chance at all to source those shells to make their DIY IEMs. It'll kill the DIY market and subsequently leading to lesser competition and slower advancement in the audio IEM industry coz brands like LZ, KZ, Musicmaker, **** etc etc all begins with DIY.

 

[Slater]

I can just picture the KZ CEO driving his Mercedes and listening to CA Andromeda with a smile on his face while he idles past his factory workers who have been saving up for months to buy a ZS5.

hahaha, that's rich!

That reminds me of the photo of Dr. Dre producing in his studio while wearing Beats. Yeah, right - like he really used his own products legitimate production work LOL!

 

[Slater]

Actually the share molds practice is good in some way. Otherwise ppl who're interested in DIY will never get a chance at all to source those shells to make their DIY IEMs. It'll kill the DIY market and subsequently leading to lesser competition and slower advancement in the audio IEM industry coz brands like LZ, KZ, Musicmaker, **** etc etc all begins with DIY.

Agree 100% - I'm all for the DIY option, whether it's IEMs or beer.

 

[HiFiChris]

I can just picture the KZ CEO driving his Mercedes and listening to CA Andromeda with a smile on his face while he idles past his factory workers who have been saving up for months to buy a ZS5.

 

[Vidal]

Which one would he be driving real or fake merc

 

[theredhood]

Hey guys, what's the best store on Ali to get kz starline tips? Looking at FAAEAL store right now but it doesn't have much reviews.

 

[SomeGuyDude]

So I got the ZS5 in my ears now. They're not as coherent as I would have liked, but they're very enjoyable, if that makes sense. For the price? Stellar. Giant killers? No.

 

[Slater]

FYI, my KZ bluetooth cable came today.

The cable itself is identical to the stock cable that comes with the ZS3 - thin, black, a little stiff, with the identical ends/memory wire/memory wire sheathing. Since I use the silver upgrade wire on my ZS3 and ZST, I can't comment as to the longevity of the ZS3 stock wire.

But I did determine that the ZS3/ZS5 version also fits the ZST. It's only using friction of the rounded plug key plus the 0.75mm pins to hold it in, so it's not as rock solid as it would be on the ZS3 (where there's an incredible friction fit between the outer portion of the jack and the ZS3 shell). But it's definitely not so loose that it just falls apart. The force it takes to remove is somewhere in between the two, as evidenced by mowing the lawn followed by 6 miles of in-line skating, where they haven't loosened in any way. I was also worried about the fact that the ZS3 2-pin plug is straight (compared to the 90-degree 2-pin plug found on the ZST), but they fit around my ears perfectly fine.

So from my experience so far, I wouldn't worry about using any of the ZS3 cables on the ZST - stock, silver upgrade, or bluetooth.

The sound has the typical bluetooth sound - it definitely sounds a little compressed. But just fine for the typical things you'd use bluetooth for - yardwork, exercise, working around the house, etc. The ZS3 doesn't sound all that great with the bluetooth cable. I'm not sure if it's an impedance thing or the sound difference with bluetooth itself, but the ZS3 sounds noticeably "lower-fi" with the bluetooth cable vs the hard wired cable. I don't hear as much of a degradation with the ZST, so for now I plan to just use the bluetooth cable with the ZST.

One thing I don't like is that the control box is offset to one side vs being centered in the cable. It gives this weird "unbalanced" feeling when wearing it. It also makes wearing the cable behind your head almost impossible, because the control box hangs on 1 side, won't stay behind my head because of this, and the imbalance constantly tugs on the left IEM (loosening the seal). It's really annoying, so I can only wear the cable in the front.

I experienced 2 minor bluetooth skips/cutouts when mowing the lawn, despite my phone being 2 feet away in my pocket. It could have been 2.4G wifi or microwave interference or even EMI from the battery-powered mower I was using. But I have never experienced this with my other bluetooth headphones.

I'm still testing the battery life, so I don't know if it's the old one or the new one (I'll update this post with the results of the battery testing). Just like other recent HFers, mine also says Bluetooth v4.1 on the box but v4.2 in the instruction booklet. So I'll have to just use the battery life as the method to figure out which version I have.

I also haven't had a chance to see if there's any audio lag/delay, so I don't know if it's viable for games or movies yet. I'll update this post once I've tested this.

So far, it seems worth the $10 I spent on it.

Update: Over (2) full battery charges I get an average of 3.5hrs per charge (at 50% volume). Based on this, I'm assuming I received the latest version. I also removed the memory wire, which improved fitment and comfort considerably. Finally, I tested with some YouTube videos, and there's a very minor audio lag. It's not as bad as an English-dubbed kung fu movie, but you can tell there's a fraction of a second's worth of lag between a person's mouth moving and the audio. Based on that, I don't plan on using this particular bluetooth cable for movies. Finally, the cable does seem to be susceptible to some EMI sources. For example, when I leave my car and lock the doors using my keychain remote, there is a quick skip (interruption) in the audio. I haven't used it around the microwave oven, but that significantly degrades every bluetooth device I own. So I don't expect the KZ cable to be any different.

Since it appears that I received the latest version (based on the battery life and fairly stable connection), I'll share the seller where I purchased my cable from:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/KZ-...grade-Module-for-ZST-ZS3-ZS5/32815821305.html

 

[TwinACStacks]

You guys are dreaming if you think by using a copy mold that they are Reinvesting the money saved by using drivers anywhere near the quality of those in the real campfires ( or any other quality earphone manufacturer for that matter)

TWIN

 

[Slater]

You guys are dreaming if you think by using a copy mold that they are Reinvesting the money saved by using drivers anywhere near the quality of those in the real campfires ( or any other quality earphone manufacturer for that matter)

TWIN

I don't think anyone is gullible enough to believe that Twin. The copy mold discussion was only pertaining to comments people made about companies stealing the designs (visual at least) from one another. But that's nothing new - Coke vs Pepsi, most vehicles on the road, designer clothing, jewelry, cell phones, etc.

 

[Francisk]

FYI, my KZ bluetooth cable came today.

The cable itself is identical to the stock cable that comes with the ZS3 - thin, black, a little stiff, with the identical ends/memory wire/memory wire sheathing. Since I use the silver upgrade wire on my ZS3 and ZST, I can't comment as to the longevity of the ZS3 stock wire.

But I did determine that the ZS3/ZS5 version also fits the ZST. It's only using friction of the rounded plug key plus the 0.75mm pins to hold it in, so it's not as rock solid as it would be on the ZS3 (where there's an incredible friction fit between the outer portion of the jack and the ZS3 shell). But it's definitely not so loose that it just falls apart. The force it takes to remove is somewhere in between the two, as evidenced by mowing the lawn followed by 6 miles of in-line skating, where they haven't loosened in any way. I was also worried about the fact that the ZS3 2-pin plug is straight (compared to the 90-degree 2-pin plug found on the ZST), but they fit around my ears perfectly fine.

So from my experience so far, I wouldn't worry about using any of the ZS3 cables on the ZST - stock, silver upgrade, or bluetooth.

The sound has the typical bluetooth sound - it definitely sounds a little compressed. But just fine for the typical things you'd use bluetooth for - yardwork, exercise, working around the house, etc. The ZS3 doesn't sound all that great with the bluetooth cable. I'm not sure if it's an impedance thing or the sound difference with bluetooth itself, but the ZS3 sounds noticeably "lower-fi" with the bluetooth cable vs the hard wired cable. I don't hear as much of a degradation with the ZST, so for now I plan to just use the bluetooth cable with the ZST.

One thing I don't like is that the control box is offset to one side vs being centered in the cable. It gives this weird "unbalanced" feeling when wearing it. It also makes wearing the cable behind your head almost impossible, because the control box hangs on 1 side, won't stay behind my head because of this, and the imbalance constantly tugs on the left IEM (loosening the seal). It's really annoying, so I can only wear the cable in the front.

I experienced 2 minor bluetooth skips/cutouts when mowing the lawn, despite my phone being 2 feet away in my pocket. It could have been 2.4G wifi or microwave interference or even EMI from the battery-powered mower I was using. But I have never experienced this with my other bluetooth headphones.

I'm still testing the battery life, so I don't know if it's the old one or the new one (I'll update this post with the results of the battery testing). Just like other recent HFers, mine also says Bluetooth v4.1 on the box but v4.2 in the instruction booklet. So I'll have to just use the battery life as the method to figure out which version I have.

I also haven't had a chance to see if there's any audio lag/delay, so I don't know if it's viable for games or movies yet. I'll update this post once I've tested this.

So far, it seems worth the $10 I spent on it.

I'm still waiting for my KZ Bluetooth cables to arrive for both my ZST and ZS5. I hope I'll get the new version that has longer battery life.

 

[Ver JJ]

FYI, my KZ bluetooth cable came today.

The cable itself is identical to the stock cable that comes with the ZS3 - thin, black, a little stiff, with the identical ends/memory wire/memory wire sheathing. Since I use the silver upgrade wire on my ZS3 and ZST, I can't comment as to the longevity of the ZS3 stock wire.

But I did determine that the ZS3/ZS5 version also fits the ZST. It's only using friction of the rounded plug key plus the 0.75mm pins to hold it in, so it's not as rock solid as it would be on the ZS3 (where there's an incredible friction fit between the outer portion of the jack and the ZS3 shell). But it's definitely not so loose that it just falls apart. The force it takes to remove is somewhere in between the two, as evidenced by mowing the lawn followed by 6 miles of in-line skating, where they haven't loosened in any way. I was also worried about the fact that the ZS3 2-pin plug is straight (compared to the 90-degree 2-pin plug found on the ZST), but they fit around my ears perfectly fine.

So from my experience so far, I wouldn't worry about using any of the ZS3 cables on the ZST - stock, silver upgrade, or bluetooth.

The sound has the typical bluetooth sound - it definitely sounds a little compressed. But just fine for the typical things you'd use bluetooth for - yardwork, exercise, working around the house, etc. The ZS3 doesn't sound all that great with the bluetooth cable. I'm not sure if it's an impedance thing or the sound difference with bluetooth itself, but the ZS3 sounds noticeably "lower-fi" with the bluetooth cable vs the hard wired cable. I don't hear as much of a degradation with the ZST, so for now I plan to just use the bluetooth cable with the ZST.

One thing I don't like is that the control box is offset to one side vs being centered in the cable. It gives this weird "unbalanced" feeling when wearing it. It also makes wearing the cable behind your head almost impossible, because the control box hangs on 1 side, won't stay behind my head because of this, and the imbalance constantly tugs on the left IEM (loosening the seal). It's really annoying, so I can only wear the cable in the front.

I experienced 2 minor bluetooth skips/cutouts when mowing the lawn, despite my phone being 2 feet away in my pocket. It could have been 2.4G wifi or microwave interference or even EMI from the battery-powered mower I was using. But I have never experienced this with my other bluetooth headphones.

I'm still testing the battery life, so I don't know if it's the old one or the new one (I'll update this post with the results of the battery testing). Just like other recent HFers, mine also says Bluetooth v4.1 on the box but v4.2 in the instruction booklet. So I'll have to just use the battery life as the method to figure out which version I have.

I also haven't had a chance to see if there's any audio lag/delay, so I don't know if it's viable for games or movies yet. I'll update this post once I've tested this.

So far, it seems worth the $10 I spent on it.

Nice review, by the way I will like to ask whether you had tried out the gold plated OFC cable for ZS5?

 

[smy1]

I've bought mine there and they are genuine no doubt but it's been a while so I can't guarantee you they are genuine now. I've only had positive experiences with this shop, genuine items and fast shipping but YMMV eventually.

I asked this couple times but i don't believe i actually got a answer but are the xe800 really have the gr07 BE drivers in them? So if you get the xe800 there is no point in getting the gr07?

Also does any mmcx cable work with he pinnacle px? might order a cheap cable from aliexpress. Seems like the pinnacle px only comes with a microphone cable.

 

[Slater]

Nice review, by the way I will like to ask whether you had tried out the gold plated OFC cable for ZS5?

Thanks - I just added an update to my post, so be sure to take another look if interested.

As far as the ZS5, I have not received my ZS5 yet nor did I purchase the gold cable with it. I was just planning on using the silver ZS3 cable I already own once the ZS5 arrives. Sorry I can't be more help. The gold cable is definitely good looking, and KZ even makes a sexy orange cable now as well!

 

[crabdog]

I asked this couple times but i don't believe i actually got a answer but are the xe800 really have the gr07 BE drivers in them? So if you get the xe800 there is no point in getting the gr07?

Also does any mmcx cable work with he pinnacle px? might order a cheap cable from aliexpress. Seems like the pinnacle px only comes with a microphone cable.

Same driver can still have a vastly different sound though. Changes in housing shape, materials, tuning etc can make them sound nothing alike.