[kokakolia]

KZ needs to do what 1More and Mee did and take a leap up to the $200 area with something designed in-house from the ground up.

No! That would add value to the brand, which translates to higher prices. I just love this idea of having this "top secret audiophile bargain".

 

[Wiljen]

I think the crossover in multi-driver designs almost always represents a weak point and thus my request for a single BA. The Crossovers introduce problems with coherency. It is nearly impossible to keep the full range of sound at exactly the same level when mating multiple drivers and those overlapped regions suffer as a result since there isn't a hard cut-off at say 500hz below which the dynamic works and above which the BA takes over. The fact that the dynamic rolls off up to 850Hz or so and the BA extends down to 400 Hz means that overlapped range from 400-850 is subject to some really odd effects. That is what the R&D money you pay for a TOTL IEM goes for. Making those transitions between one driver and the next smooth and inaudible is a true art form. Granted single drivers have an inherent weakness in that one end or the other tends to be rolled off or lacks extension so the real trick on a single driver design is finding a driver with extension down to the low teens and up to the mid 20s before they are subject to severe roll-off. Most now opt for a driver with good bass extension and sacrifice some treble extension as that is generally more acceptable to the masses. To me, that produces a fairly lifeless signature as they lose all sparkle and cymbals and snare hits lack realism.

 

[Fox2twenty]

I think the crossover in multi-driver designs almost always represents a weak point and thus my request for a single BA. The Crossovers introduce problems with coherency. It is nearly impossible to keep the full range of sound at exactly the same level when mating multiple drivers and those overlapped regions suffer as a result since there isn't a hard cut-off at say 500hz below which the dynamic works and above which the BA takes over. The fact that the dynamic rolls off up to 850Hz or so and the BA extends down to 400 Hz means that overlapped range from 400-850 is subject to some really odd effects. That is what the R&D money you pay for a TOTL IEM goes for. Making those transitions between one driver and the next smooth and inaudible is a true art form. Granted single drivers have an inherent weakness in that one end or the other tends to be rolled off or lacks extension so the real trick on a single driver design is finding a driver with extension down to the low teens and up to the mid 20s before they are subject to severe roll-off. Most now opt for a driver with good bass extension and sacrifice some treble extension as that is generally more acceptable to the masses. To me, that produces a fairly lifeless signature as they lose all sparkle and cymbals and snare hits lack realism.

OK, so now my opinion is that they should do 2 dynamics and 3 BAs in a 5 way crossover. Then if they keep the frequency responsibilities clean, it's worth more money.

 

[VinceHill24]

My palms were sweaty, knees weak, arms not really heavy
The lighting was set up already, no spaghetti
I wasn't really nervous but the surface looked grey and steady, I was ready
To take photos but I did not notice
That the zoom was stuck, the barrel didn't slide out
Until the last shot when I finally fixed it however
The aperture ring did work this time.
The session's over, photos taken, yeaow! (But let's save them for later today/tomorrow.)


So yeah, the green ZS6 arrived today, just as expected. Stunning build quality, especially for the price, just as with the black ones I already have on hand.
The colour is more like a dark peppermint green or shade of teal. Doesn't look as cool as I imagined it. Dunno, seems like I now need the red one as well.

Y'er all probably asking yourself "Honey Boo Boo Chris, does it sound any different from the black ZS6 of an early batch you received some time ago?", and my reply is "no".
Phase and sides of the cable are correct this time unlike with the upgrade cable of the ZS5 I revieweed some time ago where the polarity and sides were inverted. But the sides and phase were already correct with the black ZS6.


Anyway, as for the tuning: This later batch green ZS6 sounds basically identical to the early batch black ZS6. So yeah.

What I also noticed (by an ingenious accident (the LH Labs Geek Out IEM 100 that I personally love and always use for frequency response measurements because of its low output impedance has got another output with a claimed high impedance (47 Ohms). The plug I cover it with came loose and I though "hey, that's the perfect device to easily measure the effect a pretty high output impedance has on the sound of any IEM", and so I tested with the ZS6)): increasing the output impedance doesn't change a thing about the midrange or bass. But it affects the nastiness and tames it:

Finally!!! Nicely done! Now the mystery is solved. We can now confirm it's not a QC issue and i'm not hearing things ! Lol

I think it largely boils down to personal preference, source gear / cable matching, or probably brain burn-in which i strongly believe in since i've known a few who shares such experience with the ZS6.

 

[Fahim Foysal]

I think the crossover in multi-driver designs almost always represents a weak point and thus my request for a single BA.

Unless you buy the UE 18+ pro that is

 

[Fox2twenty]

Finally!!! Nicely done! Now the mystery is solved. We can now confirm it's not a QC issue and i'm not hearing things ! Lol

I think it largely boils down to personal preference, source gear / cable matching, or probably brain burn-in which i strongly believe in since i've known a few who shares such experience with the ZS6.

@hakuzen s graphs show that foamie fans are correct.

 

[Fox2twenty]

Speaking of foamies, my Gearbest order came in..

 

[Fox2twenty]

Speaking of foamies, my Gearbest order came in..

Only thing is.. My left ear is still clogged.. Should I try my gear out anyway?

 

[HiFiChris]

Photos are developed, review is uploaded. Save the date, it will go online this following Saturday at 00:06 am CET and will be accessible through the following link, as always with the usual translation options: https://kopfhoerer-lounge.blogspot.com/2017/10/knowledge-zenith-kz-zs6-review-german-deutsch.html

Just a teaser:

(Due to that the black instead of green ZS6 arrived some time ago, the photos were not taken at the location I initially had in mind (with everything already set up...), and this time I forgot one accessory that I had already prepared, but oh well, at least now all of the photos are legal which they wouldn't be in every part of the world if I had used an Idea that I had already used rather recently.)

 

[Wiljen]

OK, so now my opinion is that they should do 2 dynamics and 3 BAs in a 5 way crossover. Then if they keep the frequency responsibilities clean, it's worth more money.

You still believe in the tooth fairy too don't you?

 

[Fox2twenty]

You still believe in the tooth fairy too don't you?

Lol, touché

 

[hakuzen]

My palms were sweaty, knees weak, arms not really heavy
The lighting was set up already, no spaghetti
I wasn't really nervous but the surface looked grey and steady, I was ready
To take photos but I did not notice
That the zoom was stuck, the barrel didn't slide out
Until the last shot when I finally fixed it however
The aperture ring did work this time.
The session's over, photos taken, yeaow! (But let's save them for later today/tomorrow.)


So yeah, the green ZS6 arrived today, just as expected. Stunning build quality, especially for the price, just as with the black ones I already have on hand.
The colour is more like a dark peppermint green or shade of teal. Doesn't look as cool as I imagined it. Dunno, seems like I now need the red one as well.

Y'er all probably asking yourself "Honey Boo Boo Chris, does it sound any different from the black ZS6 of an early batch you received some time ago?", and my reply is "no".
Phase and sides of the cable are correct this time unlike with the upgrade cable of the ZS5 I revieweed some time ago where the polarity and sides were inverted. But the sides and phase were already correct with the black ZS6.


Anyway, as for the tuning: This later batch green ZS6 sounds basically identical to the early batch black ZS6. So yeah.

What I also noticed (by an ingenious accident (the LH Labs Geek Out IEM 100 that I personally love and always use for frequency response measurements because of its low output impedance has got another output with a claimed high impedance (47 Ohms). The plug I cover it with came loose and I though "hey, that's the perfect device to easily measure the effect a pretty high output impedance has on the sound of any IEM", and so I tested with the ZS6)): increasing the output impedance doesn't change a thing about the midrange or bass. But it affects the nastiness and tames it:

great! one of the few samples where high source output impedance effects over low impedance BAs, usually nasty effects, helps a lot.

i'm trying to get impedance curve of zs5 v1 and zs6. zs5 v1 seems to be lower impedance.
shall try to find the maximum sound level you can get with zs5 without clipping nor significant distortion while using a current limited source, besides of getting the effects of a high impedance source.

 

[vector84]

great! one of the few samples where high source output impedance effects over low impedance BAs, usually nasty effects, helps a lot.

i'm trying to get impedance curve of zs5 v1 and zs6. zs5 v1 seems to be lower impedance.
shall try to find the maximum sound level you can get with zs5 without clipping nor significant distortion while using a current limited source, besides of getting the effects of a high impedance source.

I thought current limited mode depended a lot on specific hardware implementations. I was under the impression that some setups are designed to perform just fine in current limited mode and just have limited volume in such conditions, while others distort, clip or compress when driven into current limited mode?

But I don't know enough about amplifier design to speak to such things with any authority.

 

[hakuzen]

Photos are developed, review is uploaded. Save the date, it will go online this following Saturday at 00:06 am CET and will be accessible through the following link, as always with the usual translation options: https://kopfhoerer-lounge.blogspot.com/2017/10/knowledge-zenith-kz-zs6-review-german-deutsch.html

Just a teaser:



(Due to that the black instead of green ZS6 arrived some time ago, the photos were not taken at the location I initially had in mind (with everything already set up...), and this time I forgot one accessory that I had already prepared, but oh well, at least now all of the photos are legal which they wouldn't be in every part of the world if I had used an Idea that I had already used rather recently.)

awesome photos, you really make art. green power..

 

[hakuzen]

I thought current limited mode depended a lot on specific hardware implementations. I was under the impression that some setups are designed to perform just fine in current limited mode and just have limited volume in such conditions, while others distort, clip or compress when driven into current limited mode?

But I don't know enough about amplifier design to speak to such things with any authority.

i guess current limitations depend of hardware implementation; specifically, of the opamps driving the phones output. i know little (as usual), so no authority either. each opamp have a working voltage range specifications, and maximum current before they clip and/or distort. when driving low impedance phones, current delivered is higher (at same voltage, same power). if the phones are not much sensitive besides (like planars) and some amount of power is needed to achieve enough sound level, current limit of the opamp can be reached, and clipping/distortion occurs.
zs5 have very low impedance, but they are quite sensitive, so i don't think there will be issues. but some people talks about zs5 distortion and source dependency; some researching on sources-zs5 interactions may be worth it.