[maxxevv]

That reviewer probably has extremely treble sensitive ears.

The ZSE has good treble but definitely not 'hot' or 'bright'. Far from it. Its in fact 'warm' sounding rather than 'bright' overall.

Either that or he has a defective set.

 

[LUCILLE667]

Dammn. I lost my old zs5, which is almost perfect except for a little harsh highs, which i EQed down to normal anyways. And now theyve changed the drivers for no damn reason with that disastrous treble. No thanks kz. If only they have moved the same configuration from the old zs5 into a metal shell, i would be happy.
Let's hope my zs5 return to me somehow.

 

[Fox2twenty]

Treble knives, eh? Maybe I'll finally hear treble hot enough I can't stand it. Should be interesting

I like your determination!

 

[snip3r77]

Dammn. I lost my old zs5, which is almost perfect except for a little harsh highs, which i EQed down to normal anyways. And now theyve changed the drivers for no damn reason with that disastrous treble. No thanks kz. If only they have moved the same configuration from the old zs5 into a metal shell, i would be happy.
Let's hope my zs5 return to me somehow.

Will ZS5v1 go up in price?

 

[Fox2twenty]

Will ZS5v1 go up in price?

I think not. I think kz will just ship whatever is in stock.

 

[kokakolia]

But what if v shaped is good?

Not my preference.

 

[VinceHill24]

I got my ZS6 from one of Taobao authorised store and they're good enough to give the new silver cable for free too.

Actually besides the treble, i can't really find any fault with the ZS6. For instance, the fit and comfort seems to be much better as i've been wearing it for few hours now and it still feels comfortable in my ears (am using a small sized foam in this regard)

OOTB bass may be a little boomy but that's definitely not the 1st thing that'll come to mind (treble treble treble !!!) Switching to the smaller size foam tips and i have one of the bass i've ever experienced. Bass is tight with pretty good speed and texture and the quantity is just right for me. I believe this is attributed to one of the notable design improvement in ZS6 over ZS5 whereby the segregation of both DD with a soundtube guiding one of the DD down to nozzle part.

Overall presentation is U or V shape with more pronounced bass and definitely treble. However midrange doesn't felt to be too recessed or overall distant. From the bass till the midrange is still pretty linear and kinda perfectly in tuned.
The midrange has good body that especially favouring the lower midrange whereby male vocals sounded full and lush. Upper midrange onwards to lower treble region may suffer from quite notable sibilance and it's definitely a nemesis to those treble sensitive users.

And the real nemesis would still be none other than the treble especially the upper treble region. It makes cymbals sounded splashy and artificial, it makes the overall presentation metallic and harsh to listen to. Fatigue kicks in very early i can't even last 30 minutes with them.

But, but and but ....... KZ probably made all the changes in design in order to facilitate easy modding i guess. 1st, back plate is now removable with screws (now you can do something to the bass with it and even openness of sound or even simply changing

2nd, if you notice the nozzle part, the metal screen is unlike the previous ZS5 where it'll be PITA to remove and likely causing irreversible damage that requires you to replace the screen. The ZS6 metal screen is very easy to remove and you won't risk damaging the screen too coz it looks more solid. With a tweezer or a needle, you can easily take out the screen and do all your modding needs.

And that's how i ended up enjoying them for hours, tho still not as satisfying in the treble region but the peak and harshness is gone. All i did was cut a small piece of sponge (like the ones you get from the KZ hardshell case) according to the size of the nozzle and place it just beneath the metal screen. On top of that i uses a piece of fabric material screen to cover on top of the nozzle.

With the mods i can enjoy it much longer although it somewhat veiled the sound slightly sacrificing a bit of details. Not a satisfactory modding but thank god it is all reversible coz removing all of that is easy so i'm gonna see myself do lots of trial and error till i find the best ones.

I'll definitely be looking forward to Slater's modding of the ZS6 too when he gets it. Gonna look for some acoustic dampeners for BA driver in the meantime.

JMHO & YMMV. Source: Samsung galaxy note 3, file: 16bit FLAC. May do more extensive listening later on with my other DAP.

 

[Vidal]

@VinceHill24 thanks for your impressions

Sounds like the ZS6 could suit me, I like treble and as long as the bass isn't too much these could be a win.

 

[HiFiChris]

So the ZS6 sucks major butt!?.

No.

Treble nukes!?

Yes.


For a more detailed explanation, please read the spoiler.

Spoiler

So the ZS6 sucks major butt!?.

No.

It has great quality metal housings that feel very premium. And its midrange tuning has improved for a more realistic timbre (while the ZS5 was more hollow sounding than the popular 1More E1001, the ZS6's mids appear more even, a little less hollow and a little less distant than the 1More's). Midrange detail retrieval and bass definition have slightly improved as well (ZS6's soundstage is a bit smaller (narrower) though).

Treble nukes!?

Yes. Cymbals are a sharp, metallic, splashy, undefined mess. They clearly went overboard with the upper highs.
If they could take the lows and mids from the ZS6 and fusion them with the ZS5's highs, a great budget IEM would be born. But well, instead they decided to go overboard with the upper highs.

 

[HiFiChris]

Just for reference - where did the pair Chris measured come from?

GearBest as well (but they sent the wrong colour!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11111111111111!1!!!111 ).

 

[HiFiChris]

Treble knives, eh? Maybe I'll finally hear treble hot enough I can't stand it. Should be interesting

Try the Ivery IS-1 Liberty...



You're a brave man if you use the Ivery unmodded.

 

[snip3r77]

Try the Ivery IS-1 Liberty...



You're a brave man if you use the Ivery unmodded.

What HW/SW do you use to measure IEM/earbud?

 

[HiFiChris]

What HW/SW do you use to measure IEM/earbud?

http://frequency-response.blogspot.com/p/about-measurement-graphs.html

https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/vibro-labs-veritas.21034/reviews#review-14387

http://kopfhoerer-lounge.blogspot.com/2015/10/Vibro-Veritas.html

 

[manukmanohar]

Dammn. I lost my old zs5, which is almost perfect except for a little harsh highs, which i EQed down to normal anyways. And now theyve changed the drivers for no damn reason with that disastrous treble. No thanks kz. If only they have moved the same configuration from the old zs5 into a metal shell, i would be happy.
Let's hope my zs5 return to me somehow.

Can't the newest version of zs5 also be eqed for fixing the treble? How do you identify the version. When I try to put a flashlight on the nozzle, i'm not able to make out whether there are 2 ba driver or 1.

 

[manukmanohar]

No.



Yes.


For a more detailed explanation, please read the spoiler.

Spoiler

No.

It has great quality metal housings that feel very premium. And its midrange tuning has improved for a more realistic timbre (while the ZS5 was more hollow sounding than the popular 1More E1001, the ZS6's mids appear more even, a little less hollow and a little less distant than the 1More's). Midrange detail retrieval and bass definition have slightly improved as well (ZS6's soundstage is a bit smaller (narrower) though).



Yes. Cymbals are a sharp, metallic, splashy, undefined mess. They clearly went overboard with the upper highs.
If they could take the lows and mids from the ZS6 and fusion them with the ZS5's highs, a great budget IEM would be born. But well, instead they decided to go overboard with the upper highs.

Is the issue with the treble, something that can be fixed with eq? Any suggestions on that front. I have got zs5 ( not sure which version) , which is already sibilant and harsh on some tracks with ear tips that I find to give me great mids plus bass combo. With other ear tips, it truly becomes a basshead earphones and lacks details, mids, but no sibilance as well.

Was honestly thinking of getting a zs6, especially if eq can fix the treble issues