[mbwilson111]

I don’t know how they sound, but they sure look better than the previous ones IMO.

They certainly look less homemade, yet they have that cool DIY garage workshop look. Which I of all people can appreciate (case in point lol).

Except I really love the comfort of the ZX1 headband and I think the pattern looks cool. I don't find that other headband comfortable at all ... it looks similar to or the same as the one on the M1 and the M2 that my husband has.

I do like the look of the cups on the ZX2... as I do with the ZX1. It looks like they designed this one after reading some of the comments that some users made.

 

[Pharmaboy]

I don’t know how they sound, but they sure look better (and more comfortable) than the previous ones IMO.

They certainly look less homemade, yet they have that cool DIY garage workshop look. Which I of all people can appreciate (case in point lol).

OK, now I have to ask: what is a Knowles damper?

 

[Roderick]

I have not ordered anything chi-fi for a while so I ordered ZX2.

I hope it's decent. I could use a pleasent surprise. In past two years I've gone through close to a hundred headphones in the $100-$2000 price range and only handfull of those have managed to put a smile on my face.

 

[Slater]

OK, now I have to ask: what is a Knowles damper?

It’s a small filter assembly made by Knowles to carefully tune the treble region of their BAs.

Other manufacturers, such as Shure, also use them to tune their entire earphones.

Think of it like the foam, felt, teabags, micropore, and all the other DIY stuff we tune headphones with. Except it’s very precisely manufactured plastic mesh made to various micron sizes.

They then put the fragile mesh in a ~2.0mm OD stainless steel tube, which is designed to give it strength and a predictable size, allowing it to be inserted into BA tubing and earphone nozzles.

The filters are rated in “ohms” of resistance, which in reality is nothing more than a measurement of air resistance caused by the micron size of the filter. The higher the 'ohms', the higher the air pressure resistance the driver has to overcome, and the more treble is 'dampened down'. Hence why Knowles refers to them as "dampers".


Each damper is color coded for easy identification.


Here’s an example of how it’s used by Shure in their earphone nozzles:



Now you can see why the nozzles on Shures (and others) are so small. Shure actually designed their whole earphone around the Knowles dampers! They had that much of an influence on the industry!

You can see how the tool is used to extract and insert the dampers here:


See the damper on the end of the tool in the above photo?

And here’s how Knowles actually intends them to be used, during the construction of multi-BA earphones and hearing aids.



The way Shure uses them, the entire earphone's output is filtered through 1 damper. However, when used in the above photo's way, the advantage is that individual BA drivers can have individual dampers, therefore independently shaping the tuning output of each individual driver.

Do they really make a difference? Yes absolutely (even more so than crossovers), and here’s a few graph to show you how each filter impacts FR:



Finally, here’s an excellent white paper from Knowles that does a way better job of explaining them and their application than I ever could:
https://www.knowles.com/subdepartment/technical-bulletins/dpt-accessories/subdpt-dampers

 

[Pharmaboy]

It’s a small filter assembly made by Knowles to carefully tune the treble region of their BAs.

Other manufacturers, such as Shure, also use them to tune their entire earphones.

Think of it like the foam, felt, teabags, micropore, and all the other DIY stuff we tune headphones with. Except it’s very precisely manufactured plastic mesh made to various micron sizes.

They then put the fragile mesh in a ~2.0mm OD stainless steel tube, which is designed to give it strength and a predictable size, allowing it to be inserted into BA tubing and earphone nozzles.

The filters are rated in “ohms” of resistance, which in reality is nothing more than a measurement of air resistance caused by the micron size of the filter. The higher the 'ohms', the higher the air pressure resistance the driver has to overcome, and the more treble is 'dampened down'. Hence why Knowles refers to them as "dampers".


Each damper is color coded for easy identification.


Here’s an example of how it’s used by Shure in their earphone nozzles:



Now you can see why the nozzles on Shures (and others) are so small. Shure actually designed their whole earphone around the Knowles dampers! They had that much of an influence on the industry!

You can see how the tool is used to extract and insert the dampers here:


See the damper on the end of the tool in the above photo?

And here’s how Knowles actually intends them to be used, during the construction of multi-BA earphones and hearing aids.



The way Shure uses them, the entire earphone's output is filtered through 1 damper. However, when used in the above photo's way, the advantage is that individual BA drivers can have individual dampers, therefore independently shaping the tuning output of each individual driver.

Do they really make a difference? Yes absolutely (even more so than crossovers), and here’s a few graph to show you how each filter impacts FR:



Finally, here’s an excellent white paper from Knowles that does a way better job of explaining them and their application than I ever could:
https://www.knowles.com/subdepartment/technical-bulletins/dpt-accessories/subdpt-dampers

I can't make sense of the white paper, but everything you say makes sense.

Thanks for this comprehensive & understandable reply.

 

[Slater]

I can't make sense of the white paper, but everything you say makes sense.

Glad I could help.

As far as not making any sense of the white paper, don't worry too much about it. Most white papers are written by these types lol:

Spoiler: Engineers

 

[MKAJ]

Does anybody have a sound comparison between the zx1 and n650?

 

[Hisoundfi]

Odoyle rules

 

[HungryPanda]

ZX2 in the house: (built for big heads, I'm at the shortest they go and the pads are angled in at the bottom)

 

[peter123]

Odoyle rules

Great to see that you're still alive and kicking in the land of cheese and beer my friend

 

[Roderick]

ZX2 in the house: (built for big heads, I'm at the shortest they go and the pads are angled in at the bottom)

I got mine too. It has the weirdest cable. After the splitters the cables are still seperate.

Small drivers. 40mm if not smaller.

 

[MKAJ]

How´s the sound of the zx2 compared to zx1?

 

[HungryPanda]

The cable is the same upgrade one I got for my OurArt Ti7

 

[buzzbuzz]

Oops. I was wrong to assume ZX2 would have 57mm drivers like the ZX1.

 

[Hisoundfi]

Great to see that you're still alive and kicking in the land of cheese and beer my friend

Hello, my friend! I've been on a life adventure that has taken me away from this hobby for quite some time. You and the rest of the old gang are not forgotten. I miss you all.