[vector84]

I am definitely gonna need some sort of a way to keep them in, some glue or at least some way to provide more friction on the male connectors' plastic, maybe put a blob of glue there and spread it out.
Funny thing is that silver cables don't even go in properly, the plastic housing stands in the way, and I don't want to plug the pins (as much as I can) and then wiggle it around too much, I am afraid that I will damage the female connectors and this would be a real problem. They want to use plastic casing that goes around the female connector as a friction provider, but if you are going to use that, you need to have a very precise manufacturing there. This is probably the main reason why I'd prefer mmcx at this price, because it's the connector itself that holds it all together. Pins alone obviously aren't enough.

Assuming (dangerous) that the upgrade cables match the pictures (I don't have them) a too large connector should be an easier fix, I would think?

The shoulder on the back side away from the L/R markings should press right up against the housing when fully inserted. Mine all took a fair amount of force to seat completely the first time.

If you definitely can't get it to go in that far, you could gently "adjust" the plug to fit. If you only need a very small amount of clearance, you might be able to gently polish the plug into shape with a hard object or a hard edge. If you need more clearance you might have to consider something more aggressive, but often all it takes is a gentle pass with a fingernail along the edge of a plastic connector to get it to mate properly.

 

[groucho69]

I liken burn in to a baseball glove. Many amateurs simply do not take the time like the pros to make the glove work right by breaking them in.
Although dynamic drivers only have the cone, suspension, surrounds, and glue, they are part of a moving parts that come together to make music right.
Just saying.

Balance armatures prolly don't seem like it would need burn in, but maybe only to a lesser degree. Electrostatic and planar magnetic might be a whole new ballgame.

Spell checkers acting up again.

I hat tham slep chacters

 

[I2ecreate]

The ZS6 is available on AliExpress, well at least for pre-order. I was expecting this to be sold at $40-45.

Damn, I just got my ZS5's in the mail. Oh well, can't wait to hear the reviews!

 

[groucho69]

Damn, I just got my ZS5's in the mail. Oh well, can't wait to hear the reviews!

Celebrate your ZS5

 

[Keller2]

Already ordered a magaosi k3 today... Ill skip this one until it drops to like $30 on gearbest.

 

[esfrost]

Can't wait to see it on Gearbest and read the first reviews. Defintely gonna get one. Just got my ZS5, really enjoying it, such a fun IEM. For some reason, at least for me, Michael Jackson - Thriller album sound so well on it.

 

[I2ecreate]

Celebrate your ZS5

I just got my Benjie x1 in the mail so I'm definitely celebrating them.

 

[mixolyd]

After a few days I'm still blown away by how good the ZS5 is but I'm a bit more aware of its quirks.

It is extremely revealing of room ambience in recordings, to the detriment of some records. The wall of sound on the stereo version of Pet Sounds (where whole groups of instruments were recorded with a single mic) sounds horrible - there's way too much room sound audible, making it a clangy mess. On the other hand some multitracked recordings (e.g. "Together Alone" by Crowded House) sound a little fake, because the differing room ambience and mic response of each instrument can be heard - making it sound like a collection of audio tracks in a DAW rather than a cohesive performance. Whether that record was multitracked in real time or digitally assembled from separate performances I don't know, but the ZS5 makes it sound like the latter.

I wonder if this ambience sensitivity is down to the very lively treble response of the ZS5, could be a BA thing?

The other thing going on at the same time is the combination of excellent separation with a slightly narrow soundstage. I've heard IEMs with much narrower sound stages but the immense separation of the ZS5 makes things feel pretty crammed in at times. Maybe the widening effect on some DAPS could finally find a good use here.

I guess the last little grumble would be the slightly recessed mids that can make vocals sound like they've been mixed a little low. It's a shame because the rendering of the male voice in the ZS5 is really lovely when you hear it up front.

Just to be clear: these are incredible 'phones. When the lad on YouTube said that they may be the GOAT value for money deal in audio, I knew I had to give 'em a go and sure enough they are about that good.

Can't wait to see it on Gearbest and read the first reviews. Defintely gonna get one. Just got my ZS5, really enjoying it, such a fun IEM. For some reason, at least for me, Michael Jackson - Thriller album sound so well on it.

Yes I just put it on now, what a superb production this record has. Vincent Price sounds awesome!

 

[BunchOfAtoms]

So, after a month and a half this morning I finally got the grey ZS5 from Gearbest in my mailbox.
First impression was: wow, they're small. I was expecting them to be huge from the photos I see here and I was a bit concerned.
After having carefully connected the cable, I checked for phase issues on audiocheck.net, but they sound just fine.
Then I listened to one of my favorite albums (Ensiferum - Ensiferum, FLAC with Neutron) with stock medium tips through my Nexus 6P. Woah, I really liked what I heard. Fun and engaging.
The cable and the memory wire are not as bad as I thought. I never wear IEMs over-ear, and that's not the quickest thing to be put on, but it's comfortable and it holds the earpieces tight in place. Microphonics is average.
The only quality issue I noticed is while I was putting the right earpiece on, I accidentally hit it with my fingernail with moderate strength, not too hard at all. Well, one of the drivers just turned off, I think, because the volume went down significantly on that side. Another hard hit with my fingernail fixed it, but I assume the build quality is pretty low.
After a quick comparison with the Urbanfun HiFi Hybrid, my favorite IEM, the ZS5 seemed more airy and to be having better separation. The sound signatures are not too different but the treble seems recessed on the Urbanfun. ZS5's highs might be piercing for someone, but I like sizzling highs, so it's not a concern to me. Foam tips help taming them, but so far I like the Starlines better. Isolation is good enough.
My phone drives them pretty well, but the volume is not very loud on high dynamic range tracks (pre-loudness war era).
So far I'm really impressed. The only bad thing is now my Urbanfun sounds kind of muddy and unnatural.

 

[peskypesky]

Can't wait to see it on Gearbest and read the first reviews. Defintely gonna get one. Just got my ZS5, really enjoying it, such a fun IEM. For some reason, at least for me, Michael Jackson - Thriller album sound so well on it.

Yep. Almost everything I listen to on the ZS5's sounds so alive and present. Very fun listening.

 

[Podster]

How does the ZSE compare to the ED9? I have the ED9 and really like them.

Jesus Pesky, your just going to have to give me a little time as my ZSE just got here along with a few other toys

 

[peskypesky]

Jesus Pesky, your just going to have to give me a little time as my ZSE just got here along with a few other toys

what the hell?

P.S. Love the Roger Dean avatar.

 

[peskypesky]

My phone drives them pretty well, but the volume is not very loud on high dynamic range tracks (pre-loudness war era).

Yeah, so far the only music that isn't sounding great with my Benjie S5/KZ ZS5 rig is classical music and some 70s-era prog.

Even when I boost the volume all the way, the sound is anemic.

Hoping that a FiiO A3 helps with that.

 

[CYoung234]

So, after a month and a half this morning I finally got the grey ZS5 from Gearbest in my mailbox.
First impression was: wow, they're small. I was expecting them to be huge from the photos I see here and I was a bit concerned.
After having carefully connected the cable, I checked for phase issues on audiocheck.net, but they sound just fine.
Then I listened to one of my favorite albums (Ensiferum - Ensiferum, FLAC with Neutron) with stock medium tips through my Nexus 6P. Woah, I really liked what I heard. Fun and engaging.
The cable and the memory wire are not as bad as I thought. I never wear IEMs over-ear, and that's not the quickest thing to be put on, but it's comfortable and it holds the earpieces tight in place. Microphonics is average.
The only quality issue I noticed is while I was putting the right earpiece on, I accidentally hit it with my fingernail with moderate strength, not too hard at all. Well, one of the drivers just turned off, I think, because the volume went down significantly on that side. Another hard hit with my fingernail fixed it, but I assume the build quality is pretty low.
After a quick comparison with the Urbanfun HiFi Hybrid, my favorite IEM, the ZS5 seemed more airy and to be having better separation. The sound signatures are not too different but the treble seems recessed on the Urbanfun. ZS5's highs might be piercing for someone, but I like sizzling highs, so it's not a concern to me. Foam tips help taming them, but so far I like the Starlines better. Isolation is good enough.
My phone drives them pretty well, but the volume is not very loud on high dynamic range tracks (pre-loudness war era).
So far I'm really impressed. The only bad thing is now my Urbanfun sounds kind of muddy and unnatural.

I am going through the opposite. I got my ZS5's first, followed by the EMI CI880 and the Urbanfun last. I keep going back and forth between these three, but so far, I think the Urbanfun is underrrated, at least on my setup, which is also a Nexus 6p. I am running Flash kernel with EX Kernel Manager on mine, so I am boosting the volume by 8dB. I also use the Ainur Audio stuff to basically just feed everything through the DAC without messing with it. I also use Neutron music player, without the EQ so far, and I am very happy with the output. It plays all of these iems as loud as I would ever care to listen to them.

But, of the three iems, the ZS5s and the Urbanfuns are close. The Urbanfuns have better soundstaging than some here give them credit for. So far, the basic difference is that their low end is a touch better, and female vocals are not quite as recessed as the ZS5. These are both good qualities for me. Today, I listened to Prisoner, by the Jezabels, an Aussie Indy group. For me, the Urbanfun was my favorite on this. For classical, I think the ZS5 is edging it out a bit still...

Keep in mind, this is my source, my ears, and my sound preference, so as always, YMMV!

 

[Podster]

what the hell?

P.S. Love the Roger Dean avatar.

THX Pesky, love Roger's work. I was kind of all over the place with my last order/s but they all came in at once! My Well-Tempered Amadeus needed a new cartridge and this Audio Technica Micro Line is all the rage with the guys at Needle Doctor so thought I'd give it a try and of course all you dirty dogs out here made me order the ZSE's LOL As soon as I saw the new BGVP I had to try this hybrid out and could not pass up another pair of the Techne's before the ship fully submerges Looks like these DN1's have the same cable as the FBUANG F910's except these are MMCX

Initial listen on the ZSE's with my iPhone 6 EQ Flat is like all double DD, Bass in da Face but if one ramps back on the VU they pan out rather nicely as the mids hold up just enough to keep some highs on point. Now I need to slap an amp to them with some Prog Rock and see how they fair