[ricemanhk]

It's like Christmas here!

Just received Comply tips and upgrade cable for my ZS5.

And also received the Yin JW P8s.

Should be a fun evening of music listening, chi-fi style.

That looks to be an upgrade cable for ZST though...?

 

[Slater]

That looks to be an upgrade cable for ZST though...?

 

[young59]

Guys do you know the kz brand of amp,dac. I am not an audiophile in any way I just have the ZS3 and thinking if there are any cheap great value for the money ways to upgrade my audio experience like an amp or dac. I am also looking to buy the ZS5 their review here has been really great so gathering some money to order those maybe its a good thing I don't earn then I would have probably bought every pair of kz there are.

 

[vector84]

That looks to be an upgrade cable for ZST though...?

It sure does look like a ZST cable - and assuming it's 2nd gen (.75mm) not 1st gen (.78mm) that would probably explain the fit issues with it that he reported over in the Chinese brand thread.


On a vaguely related note, the new metal housings ZST cables showed up on Amazon recently from **** (ie Amazon fulfillment, not a random seller)...
Does anyone happen to know if there's a similar updated ZS3/ZS5 upgrade cable? I could've sworn I saw one but I can't seem to find it.

 

[SomeTechNoob]

Got my KZ ZS3/ZS5 BT cable today. 2 weeks from AliExpress. Says both BT 4.2 on the box and in the manual.

Since my ZS5 isn't here yet, I put my ZS3 on them

Some unboxing pics. More to come. Apparently I forgot to take a picture of the cable installed oops.

Comes with a neat little micro USB cable that's magnetic and sticks together. So far it sounds pretty good with my ZS3. Noise floor is a bit on the higher side but it only kicks in when audio starts streaming so it doesn't bug me that much.

Cable is a bit thin for my liking. I prefer heavier, flat cables for wireless buds. Also agreed that the module needs to be about 1" higher up on the right side. It half-sits on my shoulder and eventually drags most of the cable around to my right side.

 

[ricemanhk]

It sure does look like a ZST cable - and assuming it's 2nd gen (.75mm) not 1st gen (.78mm) that would probably explain the fit issues with it that he reported over in the Chinese brand thread.


On a vaguely related note, the new metal housings ZST cables showed up on Amazon recently from **** (ie Amazon fulfillment, not a random seller)...
Does anyone happen to know if there's a similar updated ZS3/ZS5 upgrade cable? I could've sworn I saw one but I can't seem to find it.

Silver cable with metal housings is still only available for ZST from what I can find on taobao. Haven't seen them yet for ZS3/ZS5.

 

[VinceHill24]

A brief chat with KZ just now reveals to me that they will be having ZS5 in metallic shell soon. They said it'll be sometime end of August and no picture nor price was disclosed to me. Let's see how it'll turn out .. i wonder if the metallic housing's gonna affect the sound overall.

 

[ricemanhk]

A brief chat with KZ just now reveals to me that they will be having ZS5 in metallic shell soon. They said it'll be sometime end of August and no picture nor price was disclosed to me. Let's see how it'll turn out .. i wonder if the metallic housing's gonna affect the sound overall.

Hmm I think those who have the CAs say ZS5 more comfy (well less uncomfy) coz plastic shell is lighter...?

 

[VinceHill24]

Hmm I think those who have the CAs say ZS5 more comfy (well less uncomfy) coz plastic shell is lighter...?

Hmm, i think each to their own. There's always 2 sides of things. Remembered how the ZS5 was touted a cheap plastic rip off of CA when it was launched. Now it's one of the best budget earphone that's pretty well received in the audiophile community. Actually i don't find there's a need at all to put out a metallic version but well ppl may be interested. Don't think i'll be getting it tho since my next target is the Kinera H3.

 

[ricemanhk]

Hmm, i think each to their own. There's always 2 sides of things. Remembered how the ZS5 was touted a cheap plastic rip off of CA when it was launched. Now it's one of the best budget earphone that's pretty well received in the audiophile community. Actually i don't find there's a need at all to put out a metallic version but well ppl may be interested. Don't think i'll be getting it tho since my next target is the Kinera H3.

The design is STILL a cheap plastic rip off of CA, that hasn't changed LOL
I agree though, unless the metallic version is sonically different or maybe is the rumored ZSR pro with 5 drivers on each side, I'm not gonna get it. Then again, I didn't think I would get ZSE and now I have 2 pairs arriving this week

 

[maxxevv]

Just had my ZSE's delivered a few hours ago.

First impressions : Really awesome for pop music ! As in really, really awesome ...!!!

There's plenty of bass in these, but not the booming, lumpy/ thumpy kind you often get out of many earphones. These have an effortless smooth ease in the bass delivery.
I could probably call it 'clean' but really full-bodied bass, if that's the correct way to describe the bass delivery.

Instrument separation is there but not quite the level of detail you would get from hybrids with a good BA driver on top of the Dynamic driver. In that aspect, the Urbanfun Hi-fi is better. But it sure loses out in the bass part of the delivery. I was comparing them back to back.
If individual instrument separation and detail are not critical, these are simply awesome. Not that they are bad,they are pretty good already and for most pop music that has a heavy beat, its already very good.

In short, I just had the best delivery of U2's classic "Where the Streets Have No Name" in years.

I'm not sure how another 12~24 hours burn in may help as there was that murkiness when it came to some vocals delivered at certain wavelengths/frequencies. Shall have to wait that out to know.

Edit:
Play source: LG G6,

As a follow-up on my original impressions, I realised that the sound of the ZSE is heavily affected by the source player too.

My initial impression was from playing it on my LG G6. Which is considered to be pretty clean and neutral in output by those who have compared it with other DAP/DAC/ phone sources.

Today played more or less the same tracks using the headphone jack on my Lenovo Thinkpad. It was a real night and day difference. It sounded as some people would describe it as "dark". The bright clean effortlessly smooth sound I got yesterday was completely changed. Tweaking of the equalizers available didn't help much at all to improve the overall signature of the sound.

So, I think for overall best results from the ZSE, its best to pair it with something that's a little on the bright side of neutral. It probably explains (to some extent) the differing opinions on it.

Hope this helps in the overall assessment and analysis of the earphone.

 

[KainHighwind]

Just received the Rock Zircon (I want to try different brand and the review on some pages are so positive) and disappointed, I should buy ZSE or save some more for ZS5.

 

[129207]

I received the "upgraded" silver cable for my ZS5. Not sure if it's an upgrade; I prefer the sound with the stock cables!

No phase issues and everything fits well, but there is, to me, a noticeable drop in resolution. Now, I'm firmly in the "cables don't make a difference" camp, and I've never heard a cable change the sound of an ear- or headphone before, but the new cable sounds like poop. There's nothing wrong with the soundstage or image, it just sounds like I lost some resolution. A bit like the difference between FLAC and 160kbps files. I have no explanation for this. Anyone notice anything similar or prefered the stock cable over the upgraded cable?

 

[Viber]

Just received the Rock Zircon (I want to try different brand and the review on some pages are so positive) and disappointed, I should buy ZSE or save some more for ZS5.

It's too bad you missed my post on this a few pages back. The ZS3 is a better product than the Zircons.
Haven't tried the ZSE/ZS5 yet.

 

[1clearhead]

How much did you buy it for? They're around US $6.49 right now for the mic version on eBay, but don't know if the price is still going to drop.

I saw your latest post that you actually bought them....Cheers!

....By the way, at the time I bought them, the lowest price was 44 RMB ($6.60). But, the lowest price now is 40 RMB ($6 dollars).