[Saoshyant]

You can please some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time.

 

[groucho69]

Have to chuckle at the widely varied ZS5 impressions. The housings suck. The housings are great. They're uncomfortable as #$^%. They're the most comfortable KZ yet. Huge step up from the ZST. Not much of a step up from the ZST.

The common factor is people

 

[crabdog]

what tips good for zs5 or urbanfun and memt x5
please give me link.
this tips good for those and what size is good t400 or t100?
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4Pa...64287.html?spm=2114.10010108.1000023.4.6F842L

This probably isn't the correct thread for this but I just want to say that the Large Spinfit tips worked best for me with the X5.

 

[Keller2]

Have to chuckle at the widely varied ZS5 impressions. The housings suck. The housings are great. They're uncomfortable as #$^%. They're the most comfortable KZ yet. Huge step up from the ZST. Not much of a step up from the ZST.

The housings are horribly built and the finish is quite bad. ATE/ZST/ZS3 all have better build. The seam between the 2 plates is rough. But that doesnt make them not comfy. What makes them not comfy is that if you dont have enough space on your ear lobe the sharp edge lodges into your ear and makes it sore. I can rotate them and avoid that.
The gripe here is mostly with the material and not with the shape.

I think i dont like the sound because they increased the mids response, they sound boring compared to the ZS3 and even ZST.
To put it simply the V shaped frequency is less exaggarated - flatter. I personally find that a negative. Others might like it.

I like the increased midbass and the tamed down sibilance, but the more prominent mids are killing any improvement those brought.


It also might be that i'm listening to these unamped through my motherboard.

 

[vladstef]

Have to chuckle at the widely varied ZS5 impressions. The housings suck. The housings are great. They're uncomfortable as #$^%. They're the most comfortable KZ yet. Huge step up from the ZST. Not much of a step up from the ZST.

The problem is that people expect them to be built as well as they sound. It is obvious that KZ is about mass production rather than refinement, but that is why we get them at this price. So, there are units with wrong phase, inverted L-R channels, probably units with some of the 8 drivers not even working or not properly soldered - I suspect that this may be the reason why many praise its sound, while some don't see it as much better than ZST, and same goes about how the build feels, how they fit, how the memory wire isn't good etc. It is a small risk-high reward, and given that you can get them for around 20$ at this point, all of these issues are not worth stressing about until you receive a pair. I just don't see why they didn't make them 50% more expensive (30$ total) with better (original design!!) shells and at least some quality control. That would've been a game changer. There are <5$ earphones with better looking plastic seams, just saying.

 

[Keller2]

The problem is that people expect them to be built as well as they sound. It is obvious that KZ is about mass production rather than refinement, but that is why we get them at this price. So, there are units with wrong phase, inverted L-R channels, probably units with some of the 8 drivers not even working or not properly soldered - I suspect that this may be the reason why many praise its sound, while some don't see it as much better than ZST, and same goes about how the build feels, how they fit, how the memory wire isn't good etc. It is a small risk-high reward, and given that you can get them for around 20$ at this point, all of these issues are not worth stressing about until you receive a pair. I just don't see why they didn't make them 50% more expensive (30$ total) with better (original design!!) shells and at least some quality control. That would've been a game changer. There are <5$ earphones with better looking plastic seams, just saying.

Also remember, KZ makes the ED9, a fully metal set for just $10. There's no reason to be using plastic this bad.

 

[Francisk]

My new discovery...FitEar's double flange tips pair very well with the ZS5. High frequency peaks are tamed to a more balanced level and mids are more forward now. Seriously, the high frequency peaks of the ZS5 need to be tamed down a little but without losing the high frequency extension.

PS: The best combination for me finally is the large Comply T400 tips

 

[vladstef]

Also remember, KZ makes the ED9, a fully metal set for just $10. There's no reason to be using plastic this bad.

Yeah, despite the fact that ED9 also had its fair share of build related issues with many units, it is in a different league compared to ZS5. I have nothing against plastic though, if properly treated, it is durable and lightweight. My se215 went through years of abuse and torture without a single mark on them.
On a different note, why so much glue inside ZS5? I just don't see any logical reason for it...

 

[Francisk]

I'm sure KZ can make metal housing for ZS5 but then it will cost $100 then we'll have everybody complaining that it's too expensive....lol. Boy...it's hard to please everybody all of the time :-D

To be honest I'm fine with good plastic housing just as long as it sounds GOOD )

 

[aleksanderp]

The measurements posted a few pages ago show not much difference from ZST, and there is also a placebo effect measurement hidden in there too

 

[toddy0191]

Have to chuckle at the widely varied ZS5 impressions. The housings suck. The housings are great. They're uncomfortable as #$^%. They're the most comfortable KZ yet. Huge step up from the ZST. Not much of a step up from the ZST.

Just the many versions of reality that we all experience. Who's right though?

 

[Keller2]

I'm sure KZ can make metal housing for ZS5 but then it will cost $100 then we'll have everybody complaining that it's too expensive....lol. Boy...it's hard to please everybody all of the time :-D

To be honest I'm fine with good plastic housing just as long as it sounds GOOD )

I gaurantee you, even if they CNC Machined the shells out of solid titanium and them applied enamel paint it'd at most jack up the price to 2x what it is now.

 

[vladstef]

The measurements posted a few pages ago show not much difference from ZST, and there is also a placebo effect measurement hidden in there too

But there are reviewers who say that there is monumental difference in soundstage that is immediately noticeable, and then more things become apparent when directly comparing them. KZ is not a company that needs false advertising, they are already settled in budget IEM space. Also, don't blindly trust fr. response graphs because they are proven to be inconsistent (scientifically, they can be way off mark, look at what happened to Sony MDR-Z1R) and so many things shape the sound waves before they reach their destination. They just show the general balance of the sound and point towards peaks, which will be shifted/changed from person to person - equipment to equipment.

 

[aleksanderp]

Having been on Headfi for a few years I would actually trust FR measurement on the same rig much more than different people's impression, especially when impressions are so widely diverging. The Z1R measurements are pretty consistently showing a peak at 10k, if you look outside of HF, but don't want to go off topic.

 

[B9Scrambler]

Wow....that statement seems to have ruffled some feathers. I just thought it was interesting how varied opinions were. Generally they're pretty consistent with a few outliers here and there, but with the ZS5 things are swinging around like a pendulum with lots of momentum. If I didn't already own them I'd personally be holding off for a while to await some consistency in impressions.