[Wiljen]

ED3? Do you mean ES3? Because my ED3 has less bass than both the ZS3 and ZST.

Although speaking of the ZST I have yet to try out the bass port mod on the ZST. I wouldn't mind having the ZST be a little harder hitting ZST. I use them while bicycling, and the wind noise causes me to have to bump up the volume. I would rather have lower volume and more bass (similar to the 'loudness' feature found on some [older] audio equipment).

There's also the port mod on the ZS5. Perhaps that is the holy grail for KZ bassheads? I think I need to try those mods out this weekend and do a little head-to-head comparison with the trusty ZS1 v1.

Good Catch, Yes I meant E S 3.

 

[Slater]

It would be cool to put together what people think is the best rig they can build for $100. Would have to include DAP and a KZ headphone to stay with forum topic, but you could do a low end dap and an amp etc. as long as one could realistically expect to be able to duplicate it for $100.
(No my buddy sold me his AK380 for $30 bs) My starting point:

Benjie K9 $20
Fiio E07k $40 (sales thread here)
KZ Zs6 $29 Gearbest
Foam tips $2 AliExpress
8gb Micro SD card - $8 biglots


Tell me your best $100 KZ rig.

This is a great idea for a dedicated thread.

• Best total package for $100 total
• Best total package for $200 total
• Best total package for $300 total

 

[Slater]

Good Catch, Yes I meant E S 3.

Figures. One of the few KZs I don't have lol.

Maybe I'll pick one up during 11.11 sale. Or I think I saw them stupid cheap on flash sale at gearbest.

 

[williamclarkonet]

There's no way to know from a listing or listing photos.

Even when photos show the v1 model, it's still possible the seller just didn't update the photos and/or are just using generic stock KZ photos.

The ONLY way to know 100% is to ask an individual seller to open it up and physically inspect the IEM. You need to pop off 1 of the silicone tips, and if you see a brass/gold ring with NO mesh screen in the nozzle, you have the v1 model. If it's a stainless steel mesh screen, it's the ZS1 v2 (which is junk in comparison).

We're currently experiencing a similar issue with the ZS5 v1 vs v2. The ONLY way to reliably tell is to shine a light through the mesh and look for 1 vs 2 BA drivers. And everyone is looking for the ZS5 v1, which is like searching for gold.

Here's a photo of the difference in the ZS1. It's the same photo I sent to 50 or so Aliexpress sellers, until I got ONE to reply and verify if they indeed had the correct brass ring version. Others may have had it, but either there was some sort of language barrier problem with what I was asking (ie non-English sellers) or some sellers were just too lazy to physically check the IEM and didn't care. The photo shown below (which I sent to sellers) had simplified language, to try and eliminate confusion (using words like golden instead of brass, etc).



I'm sure there are a quite a number of ZS1 v1s still out there on a few seller's shelves. But you'd probably have an easier time finding the lost city of El Dorado or Atlantis haha

If you do go looking, I would recommend trying the smaller more obscure sellers on Aliexpress and also ebay. Any larger seller would have moved more inventory and would have received the v2 upon KZ reorders. But if you had a little mom and pop Chinese shop that is ultra low volume, they might still have 1 still sitting in inventory out of the original 5 they originally ordered.

Heck, it's possible that the Fasttech link you found are the v1 model.

They are worth the time spent searching though. It's like a basshead's dream IEM.

I got lucky and found a seller with 1 - perhaps you will too. It doesn't hurt anything to send out the messages and ask (I just copied and pasted the same message over and over).

I wish KZ would make another batch of the original ZS1 v1 - call it ZS Special Edition or something. They used the same shell ZN1, ZN1 Mini, and the ZS2 (the ZS2 also sucked in comparison). But the ZS1 v1 had a crossover and a brass bass ring in the nozzle. So even if you got a ZS1 v2 or ZS2, removed the stainless mesh screen and somehow rigged up an identical brass ring, you'd still be missing the crossover.

Yeah its too bad Im just getting into KZs now because apparently im missed alot of good IEMs they made through the years lol.

 

[Wiljen]

This is a great idea for a dedicated thread.

• Best total package for $100 total
• Best total package for $200 total
• Best total package for $300 total

Feel free to steal the idea, I have no copyright on any of it

 

[vector84]

Figures. One of the few KZs I don't have lol.

Maybe I'll pick one up during 11.11 sale. Or I think I saw them stupid cheap on flash sale at gearbest.

Personally I perceived a taped ES3 as having quite a bit more bass than a similarly taped ZS5. A taped ZS5 v1 sounds a bit muddy to me, but the overall amount of bass is around the upper edge of my comfort zone. A taped ES3 gave me a very different impression - very well defined bass comparatively, but far too much of it for me to handle for very long.

My crude measurement tools tell me I'm likely deluded though as they measure very very similarly.
I'm also definitely not a basshead and have nothing else in that arena to compare them with so... y'know grain of salt

 

[jaydm99]

anyone know where I can purchase the silicone tips that come stock with the kz5s? thanks!!

You can get 20 pairs of them on ebay for less than $1

 

[Slater]

Yeah its too bad Im just getting into KZs now because apparently im missed alot of good IEMs they made through the years lol.

Don't sweat it. Like any company, they keep making improvements. The KZs of 2 years ago are much better (on average) than the ones from 4 years ago. The ones you can get now are much better (on average) than the ones from 2 years ago. I can't imagine what they'll be like 2 years from now.

 

[stryed]

I just received a few zs5 and Zse for friends and fam and myself , and I'm surprisingly pretty fond of the zse. QC is ok, all around.


Coming from cheapos lke brainwaz M1,M2, M4, Pistons 3 and HD, Vivo xe800 (I like jazz sometimes), I started to try out Kz.
Fun was zs3 like anything I had ever listened to, and the slater mod made it even better, but still not the level of detail I was hoping for. Xe800 was analytic and enjoyable but definitely lacked bass and I decided to pass on the UrbanHifis.

Kze, although lacking in detail after listening closely, is confortable and simply a tiny slatered-zs3 without the hussle of having to put them over-ear.
kz5 is painfully sitting in my ears and I'm not too sure if it's due to the hard tips. Will see if they get softer. They should be v2s and the treble does not botther me ( i slighty EQed) but I'm not sure the clarity and soundstage is worth the pain.

Since both the kze and kz5 use the same tips, I'm wondering if its positioning and maybe spinfits or something similar would be better.
I've ordered foams, but the best I've ever had were soft triple flange from a brainwazs...can't seem to find any triple flanges that I got with my M4s on the market....

Oh well...Pretty happy, slightly disapointed as Kz could have kept a more confortable design. Anyway recommendations to make these wearable?

Awaiting for swing IE800, another blatant design copy but probably comfy and with a wide soundstage.

 

[maxxevv]

Total waste of time that hasn't been proven to have any effect. Snake oil. The most important part will be listening to them and letting your brain/ears adjust.

I used to think that way a long time ago but have since given it a fair chance and have been proven otherwise.

In the old days before digital files and players, burn-in might be somewhat a chore and also it took a toll on the moving components such as the vinyl or tape or CD player or even the media in the case of tapes and vinyl records. One of course could use radio too but the quality of using that was highly subjective.

But its more or less moot now with digital formats. You can play a pink noise file on infinite loop for as many hours as you please while being completely free to do your other stuff.

As for why 'burn-in' is a phenomena ( for certain aspects only that is), is that your dynamic diaphragm or your planar/ electrostatic film are moving parts. And they need to stretch and anneal into their optimum state. Similarly for the voice coils.

Its kind of hard to imagine for tiny stuff like that but its easier if you ever had the chance to play with quality, ground gears. No matter how well made these gears are, when assembled, they need a little run-in so that their operational mating surfaces exactly match each other. Then can they run at their optimum. Its why cars used to require a run-in of a few hundred kilometers before the owner is advised to push it to its limits.

Even KZ and Urbanfun recommends it in their user instructions. Its in their instruction sheets.

But so far for IEMS, the typical burn-in seems pretty short compared the absurd 100s of hours for some headphones and full stereos.
I just put mine on pink noise loop, set at about 75% of my listening volume and let them burn either overnight or the whole day while I'm at work. It has so far proven to be enough to alter the sound to its final stable signature.

There really is no harm to doing it so why not try ?

Then there is the story about cables needing conditioning ..... that's on another plane of ludicrousness altogether. For the kind of power we put through cables be it headphones, earphones or even full sized speakers, it would take literally tens of thousands of hours to register a magnetic signature onto them that actually affect their signals. And even when it does happen, unless you play at ridiculous output levels, the human ears cannot perceive them. It would be in the 0.01 dB range of differences. That then would be a total waste of time for so called 'burn-in'.

 

[snip3r77]

Goodbye then. I can promise we won't miss your presence.

I’m awaiting for some good deals to purchase them for my friends that loves extreme hot treble . So update me thanks

 

[snip3r77]

I just received a few zs5 and Zse for friends and fam and myself , and I'm surprisingly pretty fond of the zse. QC is ok, all around.


Coming from cheapos lke brainwaz M1,M2, M4, Pistons 3 and HD, Vivo xe800 (I like jazz sometimes), I started to try out Kz.
Fun was zs3 like anything I had ever listened to, and the slater mod made it even better, but still not the level of detail I was hoping for. Xe800 was analytic and enjoyable but definitely lacked bass and I decided to pass on the UrbanHifis.

Kze, although lacking in detail after listening closely, is confortable and simply a tiny slatered-zs3 without the hussle of having to put them over-ear.
kz5 is painfully sitting in my ears and I'm not too sure if it's due to the hard tips. Will see if they get softer. They should be v2s and the treble does not botther me ( i slighty EQed) but I'm not sure the clarity and soundstage is worth the pain.

Since both the kze and kz5 use the same tips, I'm wondering if its positioning and maybe spinfits or something similar would be better.
I've ordered foams, but the best I've ever had were soft triple flange from a brainwazs...can't seem to find any triple flanges that I got with my M4s on the market....

Oh well...Pretty happy, slightly disapointed as Kz could have kept a more confortable design. Anyway recommendations to make these wearable?

Awaiting for swing IE800, another blatant design copy but probably comfy and with a wide soundstage.

You forgot es3

 

[stryed]

You forgot es3

From my understanding it's a better ZST mixed with a ZS3, and below the sound quality of the ZS5, but the most comfortable kz ever even though since zs3. Thought about it, but zse seemed like the better bet for the price, and it paid off. I find them under-appreciated.

Of course, playing orchestra or congested tracks like Charles mingus's will bring forth the quality of the zs5 compared to the congested zse but the pain seems unbearable on the long term !!!!!! =(

Might have to invest into spinfits to enjoy the Zs5?

 

[maxxevv]

It would be cool to put together what people think is the best rig they can build for $100. Would have to include DAP and a KZ headphone to stay with forum topic, but you could do a low end dap and an amp etc. as long as one could realistically expect to be able to duplicate it for $100.
(No my buddy sold me his AK380 for $30 bs) My starting point:

Benjie K9 $20
Fiio E07k $40 (sales thread here)
KZ Zs6 $29 Gearbest
Foam tips $2 AliExpress
8gb Micro SD card - $8 biglots


Tell me your best $100 KZ rig.

Benjie K9s / K10 or S5 ( they have dedicated volume buttons, the K9 doesn't ): all are sub-US$25/- on Gearbest or Aliexpress
KZ Zs5 : US$20/- on Gearbest
Foam Tips T400/500 : US$2 / 2 pairs on Aliexpress
64GB Micro SD Card Samsung Evo PLus UHS-3 : US$22/- on Gearbest
Zipper earphone case for earphone + DAP : US$2.50/- Aliexpress

 

[Abe Fallorina]

received my zs6, no treble cannons here.