[TheVortex]

Has anyone tried this https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/KZ-High-...hash=item3af4a4a263:m:mkiA1W5mvKUWTE91yNvVteQ KZ high Purity Copper cable on a Zs6?
Can a Zs6 be used balanced?

That is just the newer upgrade cable, that is not a balanced cable

 

[Wiljen]

No reason to believe you couldn't use the Zs6 on a balanced cable if you so choose. @TheVortex is correct though that the cable displayed is not a balanced cable. Look at the plug. All balanced cables with a single 2.5 or 3.5mm male connector are TRRS rather than the TRS type shown.

 

[TheVortex]

There are some balanced cables on Aliexpress if you use that site but for the cost, they are not worth it.

Sure you could use the ZS6 balanced if you wanted to.

 

[SomeGuyDude]

Balanced really isn't the holy grail some people make it out to be. That's the kind of thing you should give a crap about when you've wrung out as much as possible from high-end gear.

 

[Spelaeus]

Balanced really isn't the holy grail some people make it out to be. That's the kind of thing you should give a **** about when you've wrung out as much as possible from high-end gear.

Yeah, I was wondering when running headphones and IEMs balanced became so popular. A few years back I remember mostly just hearing about it from the dudes with the $1,000+ cryo-treated unobtanium custom cables.

 

[vector84]

I always replace those red nylon screens the second I get a KZ IEM with them. I have yet to run across a red-screened IEM where they didn't veil the sound and bloat the bass

Yeah, I had them off for a bit (those screens actually sound nice on my AWK-009s imo but anyway) but slapped them back on before I put the ZSE away for a while.


Anyhow tinkering with the ZSEs a bit more: nylon screens removed, adjusted back vent tape to about 1/2 covered:

 

[Wiljen]

I think most of the folks going to balanced are doing so as a way to push more power to the earphones, not as a way to improve sound quality. While true that balanced can sound better than single ended, every last component has to be designed for it for that to happen and it introduces a whole new set of issues if they are not perfect.

 

[jpgr]

Has anyone tried this https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/KZ-High-...hash=item3af4a4a263mkiA1W5mvKUWTE91yNvVteQ KZ high Purity Copper cable on a Zs6?
Can a Zs6 be used balanced?

Thanks for the replies, I realise I should have written the two questions more clearly.

1. has anyone tried the copper cable in the above ebay listing?
2. can the Zs6 be used with a balanced cable? (i.e. not the one in the listing)

 

[HiFiChris]

2. can the Zs6 be used with a balanced cable? (i.e. not the one in the listing)

Sure.

 

[Selenium]

Finally got my ZS6. So far I like them better than the Dunu Titan 3 I also just got which is considerably more expensive. But maybe it's more that I prefer the sig of the ZS6. And need more brain-in with the Titan.

Edit - They really aren't terribly comfortable though.

 

[tworule]

received my zs6 black... I had to turn down the volume a lot the bass is there and I cannot hear any treble canon best kz for me.. I have es3, zs5 v1 and had zs3 briefly before right ear piece stopped working

 

[Wiljen]

This thread has become a great example of what we have all known from the start. We don't all hear the same things. I find it interesting that the debate about whether more than one lot of Zs6 ended quite awhile back but yet the debate about piercing highs shows no sign of letting up. To me, I interpret that as:
1.) We have conclusive evidence that shows 8 and 10k spikes in the Zs6. These have been confirmed by 2 different testers on multiple samples so we have reason to believe that same pair of spikes exists in every Zs6.
2.) We have plenty of people who find them piercing and not to their liking
3.) We have plenty of people who find them crisp and clear but not piercing.

based on the above, I have to think that while we all hear sounds in the 8-10kHz range unless our hearing is pretty severely damaged, we don't all process them the same way. I'm reasonably certain this isnt an ear difference, it is a brain difference in that both groups of people hear the same sound, we just interpret it differently. For all the technical jargon thrown back and forth regarding how hearing works, I think we can all admit that when it comes to understanding how the brain processes the data the ear sends to it, we are woefully under educated.

 

[maxxevv]

This thread has become a great example of what we have all known from the start. We don't all hear the same things. I find it interesting that the debate about whether more than one lot of Zs6 ended quite awhile back but yet the debate about piercing highs shows no sign of letting up. To me, I interpret that as:
1.) We have conclusive evidence that shows 8 and 10k spikes in the Zs6. These have been confirmed by 2 different testers on multiple samples so we have reason to believe that same pair of spikes exists in every Zs6.
2.) We have plenty of people who find them piercing and not to their liking
3.) We have plenty of people who find them crisp and clear but not piercing.

based on the above, I have to think that while we all hear sounds in the 8-10kHz range unless our hearing is pretty severely damaged, we don't all process them the same way. I'm reasonably certain this isnt an ear difference, it is a brain difference in that both groups of people hear the same sound, we just interpret it differently. For all the technical jargon thrown back and forth regarding how hearing works, I think we can all admit that when it comes to understanding how the brain processes the data the ear sends to it, we are woefully under educated.

You haven't considered the playback source of the different people reporting different things.

The ZSE and ZS5v2 sound different using different sources based on my own tests. Its not a stretch to say that different people report different things may also be attributed to different playback sources have different characteristics. Thus contributing to the differences in opinion on the ZS6 either.

And a lot of people seem to jump to conclusions on the sound characteristics without giving their earphones ( whichever phone and model that may be, not just KZ) sufficient time to bed-in.
I would highly recommend downloading a pink noise track and let it do the burn-in on infinite loop playback for at least overnight before making up your minds on whether the sound signature is to your liking. Its just setting it to a listening volume and let it play be it a cheap MP3 player or the laptop jack, while you sleep or do your other stuff.

There's no "brain-burn" so to speak when you do it that way.

Listen to them again after the overnight session and see if you like them or not and them decide. The bass came a little 'wooly / loose' for both the ZSE and ZS5v5 OOTB, they both tightened up after a few short hours of burn-in.

Patience is often gold in this.

 

[Wiljen]

You haven't considered the playback source of the different people reporting different things.

The ZSE and ZS5v2 sound different using different sources based on my own tests. Its not a stretch to say that different people report different things may also be attributed to different playback sources have different characteristics. Thus contributing to the differences in opinion on the ZS6 either.

And a lot of people seem to jump to conclusions on the sound characteristics without giving their earphones ( whichever phone and model that may be, not just KZ) sufficient time to bed-in.
I would highly recommend downloading a pink noise track and let it do the burn-in on infinite loop playback for at least overnight before making up your minds on whether the sound signature is to your liking. Its just setting it to a listening volume and let it play be it a cheap MP3 player or the laptop jack, while you sleep or do your other stuff.

There's no "brain-burn" so to speak when you do it that way.

Listen to them again after the overnight session and see if you like them or not and them decide. The bass came a little 'wooly / loose' for both the ZSE and ZS5v5 OOTB, they both tightened up after a few short hours of burn-in.

Patience is often gold in this.

Good Point, some of the differences may be in style of music being listened to and in source used. Not sure that accounts for 100% of it, but you are right that it certainly does account for some percentage.

 

[tvou88]

ZS5, black box, ZS5 white box. Both came with pronounced highs out of the box. Both are V.2. ZS6 green, same thing. BUT.. with 40-50 hours playing in high volume, treble satle down in a big way. Only diference between 5 and 6 is that 6 has more definition in bass. For my ears I found mids beter on 5s. Everithing other is the same.

Tested on:
Denon high end receiver, SACD Player, ProJect turntable, ortofon, stanton, shure.
SMSL SAP VI, laptop, Oppo player
Native instruments traktor dj 2, laptop
flacs (pop, rock, house, chill, jazz), blue note and chesky cds, and records

Just give them time! Treble will come down for shure.