[B9Scrambler]

Sounds to me like @vladstef likes the ZS5 ("So, after about a month with ZS5, I can say that they are indeed very very good."). It just seems he/she is used to the competency of higher quality gear (see the prior IE800 mention). Nothing wrong with pointing out flaws or areas of improvement, of which the ZS5 has many. Doesn't mean it's a bad product. Just being realistic. Saying they have a dud, which doesn't sound correct to me as I agree with much of what was said (just read my review), simply negates conversation and doesn't help those who want to know about those potentially less than ideal aspects.

 

[maxxevv]

I would suggest comparing apples to apples first.

I find the ZSE to be heavily influenced by the source. It was very, very evident to me when I switched between my LG G6 and the laptop headphone jack.
It was awesome on the G6, pretty mucky on the laptop. Comparatively, on the Xiaomi Piston 3, Urbanfun Hifi and XE800, the difference wasn't anywhere near that evident, mild at most.

I suspect the ZS5 to behave very similarly as others have pointed out it scales very well with the source / amplifier used.

Before we can definitively say which is which and what is what in the difference of opinions, could everyone also state their playback source for comparison?

I think its only a valid direct comparison if there is a listing of the possible variables.

 

[ricemanhk]

Sounds to me like @vladstef likes the ZS5 ("So, after about a month with ZS5, I can say that they are indeed very very good."). It just seems he/she is used to the competency of higher quality gear (see the prior IE800 mention). Nothing wrong with pointing out flaws or areas of improvement, of which the ZS5 has many. Doesn't mean it's a bad product. Just being realistic. Saying they have a dud, which doesn't sound correct to me as I agree with much of what was said (just read my review), simply negates conversation and doesn't help those who want to know about those potentially less than ideal aspects.

In your review you compare it to other earphones, you list out your sources etc. so there's a point of reference. It's not clear, to me at least, that he is saying the ZS5 flaws are relative to IE800. His initial post just reads a bit schizophrenic to me I guess - it's difficult to reconcile "very very good" with "highs have very apparent flaws and imperfections, mids are not prominent the way they should be (even if something is V or U shaped) and there is a lack of slam and impact to everything, it just sounds a bit lazy"

I read the latter part and immediately think perhaps a QC issue. And given the number of QC issues there have been...that's not an unreasonable assumption! LOL

 

[B9Scrambler]

In your review you compare it to other earphones, you list out your sources etc. so there's a point of reference. It's not clear, to me at least, that he is saying the ZS5 flaws are relative to IE800. His initial post just reads a bit schizophrenic to me I guess - it's difficult to reconcile "very very good" with "highs have very apparent flaws and imperfections, mids are not prominent the way they should be (even if something is V or U shaped) and there is a lack of slam and impact to everything, it just sounds a bit lazy"

I read the latter part and immediately think perhaps a QC issue. And given the number of QC issues there have been...that's not an unreasonable assumption! LOL

I get that but he wasn't writing a review, just some impressions. While undoubtedly helpful, someone shouldn't have to list everything in the chain that led to those thoughts, unless they're going into greater depth; i.e. writing a review. Not everyone is capable of putting the finer details into words either, and vladstef noted the vocab isn't there. Fair enough. Describing audio is a hugely subjective experience and we all hear things differently. I was just surprised at the amount of criticism his comments were getting, especially given the overall end result was a positive one.

 

[ricemanhk]

I get that but he wasn't writing a review, just some impressions. While undoubtedly helpful, someone shouldn't have to list everything in the chain that led to those thoughts, unless they're going into greater depth; i.e. writing a review. Not everyone is capable of putting the finer details into words either, and vladstef noted the vocab isn't there. Fair enough. Describing audio is a hugely subjective experience and we all hear things differently. I was just surprised at the amount of criticism his comments were getting, especially given the overall end result was a positive one.

You read it as positive, I read it as negative hah! So not only is describing audio highly subjective, even reading posts is quite subjective lol
It was a fairly typical "sandwich criticism" structure: saying something nice, then give the real criticism, and end it on something nice again. This is so often used in corporate environments that I automatically tuned out the nice "crust" parts without even thinking about it...

Anyway no worries, I think we all agree any earphone will always have areas that can improve on. It would just be more helpful to provide a bit more specifics when discussing these, rather than use vague/blanket statement terms.

 

[khighly]

$19 on gearbest, best IEM's you're ever going to buy for that price. Isolation is poor at best, which is my only real complaint.

Still my daily IEM. Beats out all of KZ's range that I own, beats out Tennmak's line as well. Everything is well controlled. Soundstage is large. It's fairly balanced. Everything I play even with a wide variety of genre's sounds really good. These definitely will make you aware of poor mastering though. Totally song dependent and will put things how they were supposed to sound. They really require 1+ week in your ears for your brain to adjust (proper 'burn-in'). What more could I ask for, for $19?

 

[SilverEars]

Yes, its a very engaging listen for energetic pieces!

As I mentioned, it gave me the best rendition of U2's 'Where the Streets Have No Name" in years! The last time it sounded so good was on a friend's $5k hi-fi setup.

That being said, it was really sweet sounding with Cyndi Lauper and Sarah Mclachlan's duet "Time after Time" too.

Seems to me that they have tuned it very appropriately for general pop and pop vocal tracks.

These were based on it being played on the LG G6 (Asian version with Quad DAC). The above tracks didn't sound anywhere near as crisp when it was played back my Lenovo Thinkpad phone jack.

Josua Tree! One of the best!

I think the ZS5 does well with dance tracks because the quality of the bass fit really well the electronic music in providing high energy.

You can feel it on these tracks.




I think the non-youtube tracks sound better. Youtube tracks don't sound as energetic as the music files on foobar.

 

[maxxevv]

Can you provide an example of a violin recording that demonstrates this? I do not hear quite the same thing on my pair. For example, the Chicago Symphony recording of Shostakovich Sym. 15 has quite a bit of solo violin, and it has decent body and weight. Not as good as good regular headphones, but not bad. Another recording, more pop, is Lucia Micarelli, which also sounds decent. I will listen more for violin and vocal recordings.

If you like to try Violin with a lot of tonality and "body", try any of the DDD recordings by David Ostrakh. (his early ones were mostly mono but still very good !)

Or if you want something from more contemporary violinists, try Julia Fischer, Hilary Hahn and Itzhak Perlman.

These are the few whom I generally enjoy their violin concertos.

 

[SilverEars]

I like the Paganini pieces by Hilary Hahn(I think a lot of people are familiar with her, probably like Yo yo Ma).

I thought this piece was really skillful(at least in appearance, I lack any classical knowledge).



As for bass, man is this guy's bass amazing(sounds very good)!

 

[maxxevv]

I like Hahn's Mendelssohn rendition. Her Paganini(s) .. haven't heard the disc recordings, so cannot really judge.

As for the guy, ehh... its all about what you hear, not what you see.

Assuming like for like audio reproduction quality, close your eyes and listen to Hilary Hahn play. ( its starts only at about 4:00) And compare.




They are being played at different tempos at different segments.
Hilary Hahn plays her violin looking like an emotionless robot doll but listen for the nuance, tonality and emotive tension she brings out with the same piece.

And she plays in my opinion some of my favourite interpretations of Tchaikovsky and Mendelssohn. Compare that to Joshua Bell which is plenty of drama, but I don't quite enjoy the music though.

If you enjoy the cello, you owe it to yourself to have a good listen of Jacqueline du Pre. Especially her Dvorak.

 

[Griffith]

Has anyone here tried the KZ Bluetooth upgrade cable for the ZST/ZS3/ZS5? If so, can you give your opinions on it? Any connectivity or latency issues? And what about battery life?

I have mine on order. As soon as they arrive I'll try to remember to make a post here. Although the MMCX bluetooth module I got for my Tennmak Pro does the job and they sound great with it, I was quite disappointed with the connectivity and just general design of it. The cord is far too long and I think a grain of hair is enough to break connection in some circumstances but man the sound quality is unmatched by any other bluetooth earphone I've ever used and I've used some of the best regarded bluetooth earphones (like the Sony SBH800 and the BLU-100)

 

[Mellowship]

Is there anyone here who keeps returning to the ATE after listening to several other IEMs and still think they're special?
I think it has something to do with the timbre, the way human voices sound so natural. I wouldn't talk about the amount, quantity, quality of mids, highs or lows or the bass... Every time I put the ATEs on, I always get surprised with its musicality. Of course others like the ZST or ZS5 are superior in the way the different technical aspects of music are presented, but the ATEs just keep sounding more "natural"...

 

[vladstef]

@CYoung234 , @ricemanhk
First of all, my pair is fine, my silver cable has polarity issue, but regular doesn't - this wasn't hard to detect and everyone with some knowledge of the matter can do it 100% of the time. I knew, just from spending time on this forum, that my comments would have a strong reaction, that is the main reason why I went back and forth with pros on cons of ZS5, otherwise, just saying the bad stuff would probably get me killed here. I didn't directly compare them to IE800 as one just cant do that, just said that they were closer in terms of sound quality to it than a 5 year old 100$ benchmark IEM. This is where the progress happened. Given how the market of Chi-fi is extremely competitive in the budget segment, you need to look at ZS5 from a perspective, not just say that it's the best there is and put a full stop. Imho, this means that people need to be judgmental and point out the flaws, this is how things moved forward in the first place. I haven't heard a better IEM for 20$ and I don't think it exists currently, but it doesn't even come close to what good earbuds do at this price in terms of overall sound they put out. If earbuds can have a coherent proper reproduction of the music, and if we are talking about RX-1, amazing build quality as well, I see no reason why IEMs can't do at least similar for the same price. To repeat myself, KZ is not focused on the substance but the added sprinkles, and this is probably why I end up saying that it isn't perfect.
I heard the biggest difference when listening to Austin Wintory - Delphinus Delphis (from ABZU soundtrack). On its own, ZS5 doesn't do terrible, but if you begin to compare them, everything kinda becomes meh. Borislav Slavov - Times Sqaure - Evacuation (Crysis 2 soundstrac) also comes to mind.

 

[CYoung234]

@CYoung234 , @ricemanhk
First of all, my pair is fine, my silver cable has polarity issue, but regular doesn't - this wasn't hard to detect and everyone with some knowledge of the matter can do it 100% of the time. I knew, just from spending time on this forum, that my comments would have a strong reaction, that is the main reason why I went back and forth with pros on cons of ZS5, otherwise, just saying the bad stuff would probably get me killed here. I didn't directly compare them to IE800 as one just cant do that, just said that they were closer in terms of sound quality to it than a 5 year old 100$ benchmark IEM. This is where the progress happened. Given how the market of Chi-fi is extremely competitive in the budget segment, you need to look at ZS5 from a perspective, not just say that it's the best there is and put a full stop. Imho, this means that people need to be judgmental and point out the flaws, this is how things moved forward in the first place. I haven't heard a better IEM for 20$ and I don't think it exists currently, but it doesn't even come close to what good earbuds do at this price in terms of overall sound they put out. If earbuds can have a coherent proper reproduction of the music, and if we are talking about RX-1, amazing build quality as well, I see no reason why IEMs can't do at least similar for the same price. To repeat myself, KZ is not focused on the substance but the added sprinkles, and this is probably why I end up saying that it isn't perfect.
I heard the biggest difference when listening to Austin Wintory - Delphinus Delphis (from ABZU soundtrack). On its own, ZS5 doesn't do terrible, but if you begin to compare them, everything kinda becomes meh. Borislav Slavov - Times Sqaure - Evacuation (Crysis 2 soundstrac) also comes to mind.

First, @vladstef, I was not trying to provide a strong reaction to your post, as I am not trying to be a KZ fanboy or anything like that. I was just curious as to your comments, as I am not hearing quite the same thing. I was merely suggesting that your choice of foam tips may be affecting the midrange and high end on your ZS5's. I purposely use foams on my **** 6in1 XBA's to tame the high end,which is very strong on my pair at least.

You got me curious to try the RX-1 because of your taste in music and your comments about it. One of my favorite things about my AKG K501's is their ability to reproduce midrange well. I tuned my Fostexes when I was modding them to sound as much like the AKGs in the midrange as I could get them, and I think it worked, as I tend to grab them more often.

 

[SilverEars]

@CYoung234 , @ricemanhk
First of all, my pair is fine, my silver cable has polarity issue, but regular doesn't - this wasn't hard to detect and everyone with some knowledge of the matter can do it 100% of the time. I knew, just from spending time on this forum, that my comments would have a strong reaction, that is the main reason why I went back and forth with pros on cons of ZS5, otherwise, just saying the bad stuff would probably get me killed here. I didn't directly compare them to IE800 as one just cant do that, just said that they were closer in terms of sound quality to it than a 5 year old 100$ benchmark IEM. This is where the progress happened. Given how the market of Chi-fi is extremely competitive in the budget segment, you need to look at ZS5 from a perspective, not just say that it's the best there is and put a full stop. Imho, this means that people need to be judgmental and point out the flaws, this is how things moved forward in the first place. I haven't heard a better IEM for 20$ and I don't think it exists currently, but it doesn't even come close to what good earbuds do at this price in terms of overall sound they put out. If earbuds can have a coherent proper reproduction of the music, and if we are talking about RX-1, amazing build quality as well, I see no reason why IEMs can't do at least similar for the same price. To repeat myself, KZ is not focused on the substance but the added sprinkles, and this is probably why I end up saying that it isn't perfect.
I heard the biggest difference when listening to Austin Wintory - Delphinus Delphis (from ABZU soundtrack). On its own, ZS5 doesn't do terrible, but if you begin to compare them, everything kinda becomes meh. Borislav Slavov - Times Sqaure - Evacuation (Crysis 2 soundstrac) also comes to mind.

recommend me the earbuds that do better in the price range, i'll look into it. thanks