Now for the last few pages I've seen a bit of disappointment or say, lack of hope. So far, there hasn't been any real advancement to those topics
1: I am not a slave to KZ, and nor do they owe me anything. I just want to make that clear before I start
Now I've seen a few post implying the KZs are the usual run of the mill chifi iems with a common V-shaped signature. To that I say: "what ?"
Merely being V-shaped doesn't mean something will sound similar to other products. It's has much more to do with drivers, housing and the shape of ears. To me the KZ sounds very distinct after the ZST line up. The Zs5 and ZST and even Zs6 are very different. They sound nothing like the older ones I have like zs3 or ATE. Also they themselves don't sound completely similar. (only talking about Zs5 v1 Vs ZST Vs Zs6, no clue about Zs5v2 since don't own them).
On top of that, I own Zircons, Remax D610, had a pair of Dzats and cheap ATE. They all have a distinct sound and can not be said they sound anything like the Zs5 merely due to a V-shaped graph.
Secondly, this really baffles me. The Zs5 is an iem that costs $14 at this point. I myself paid $40 Aud. Now here is a quick story :
I didn't initially like KZ. I had a defective ATE which I threw away (hence ordering again). I mainly got the Zs5 due to its myriad of drivers. I came from Zircons and Dzat which are very very bass heavy and warm sounding. I hated the Zs5 initially as it sounded "Colder"
Psychologically I also had that stigma of hate due to my prior ATE experience. And this is how my cognition changed, one day I forgot my pair of Zircons during a vacation. I was forced to use the Zs5 during the entire trip, and that was initially annoying to me. However, it turned out, I needed a bit of time to get used to the new signature of my new iem to judge it fairly.
Soon after, everytime I got back to my Zircons, I felt like the bass was overemphasized. Jazz didn't sound right at all, and on some tracks the bass was muddy. 3 months in, I found out about foam tips and how they enhance bass. And that made the Zs5 almost perfect for me, with tighter bass and a bit of trimmed treble.
Now I know this all comes down to preference, but my point is, any new item you use needs time, so you can adjust to them to judge them fairly.
Another point I wanted to bring up was: "KZ does not providing enough bang for the buck" or they all sound the same. This seems like a bad argument. I honestly don't know what tops the Zs5/6 that's under the sub 20 category. In fact, I don't know any that rivals it, except the Tin T2 at the 50$ mark. Now I'm not trying to be biased, but I tried making a 11.11 list and an upgrade to my Zs5 for under $50. I failed to find any clear upgrade, and overall these provide amazing value even with stock cable. I am also very open to any iem suggestions or picks that are equally good or surpass these under $50, so anyone can let me know
However, I do admit: To get the most out of them, I needed silver plated cable and foam tips. So there is that $8 of extra spend. However, that is still under $30 and gives a lot of iems at a much higher range a run for their money. In fact, I believe they totally outclass my Sennheiser momentums and these are the best iems I own.
Now this is not an absolute example, and only my experience with what I own. The momentums also have bright treble, but lack the sub bass and overall satisfying overall bass. There is also less detail and more recessed mids in the senns. The Zs5 does sound colder in comparison and some find it treble heavy, but with foams they are perfect for me. Also they provide more detail and better instrumental separation with a larger sound stage.
Now my view is: If you spend $13 on these and say, "Hey this isn't something that suits me taste" after a period to adjust, then that's totally fine. By all means there are other options. But I can't see how someone would then later buy even more items from KZ (which are still even cheaper) and complain. At the very worse, you're only $20 off compared to before. And I don't see you spending money on more kz after you hate their top+medium picks, so you shouldn't be losing any substantial money at all.
By no means am i bashing anyone in particular, I don't even have anyone in my mind when I say this, but these are some of the ideas or concerns I read back a couple of pages.. Which aren't real issue in my opinion.
It's a great time to be alive and like audio, so unless you're super stingy and absolutely can't afford to experiment or waste even 6$, just go to physical retail stores and try out you're headphone before you buy them....
1: I am not a slave to KZ, and nor do they owe me anything. I just want to make that clear before I start
Now I've seen a few post implying the KZs are the usual run of the mill chifi iems with a common V-shaped signature. To that I say: "what ?"
Merely being V-shaped doesn't mean something will sound similar to other products. It's has much more to do with drivers, housing and the shape of ears. To me the KZ sounds very distinct after the ZST line up. The Zs5 and ZST and even Zs6 are very different. They sound nothing like the older ones I have like zs3 or ATE. Also they themselves don't sound completely similar. (only talking about Zs5 v1 Vs ZST Vs Zs6, no clue about Zs5v2 since don't own them).
On top of that, I own Zircons, Remax D610, had a pair of Dzats and cheap ATE. They all have a distinct sound and can not be said they sound anything like the Zs5 merely due to a V-shaped graph.
Secondly, this really baffles me. The Zs5 is an iem that costs $14 at this point. I myself paid $40 Aud. Now here is a quick story :
I didn't initially like KZ. I had a defective ATE which I threw away (hence ordering again). I mainly got the Zs5 due to its myriad of drivers. I came from Zircons and Dzat which are very very bass heavy and warm sounding. I hated the Zs5 initially as it sounded "Colder"
Psychologically I also had that stigma of hate due to my prior ATE experience. And this is how my cognition changed, one day I forgot my pair of Zircons during a vacation. I was forced to use the Zs5 during the entire trip, and that was initially annoying to me. However, it turned out, I needed a bit of time to get used to the new signature of my new iem to judge it fairly.
Soon after, everytime I got back to my Zircons, I felt like the bass was overemphasized. Jazz didn't sound right at all, and on some tracks the bass was muddy. 3 months in, I found out about foam tips and how they enhance bass. And that made the Zs5 almost perfect for me, with tighter bass and a bit of trimmed treble.
Now I know this all comes down to preference, but my point is, any new item you use needs time, so you can adjust to them to judge them fairly.
Another point I wanted to bring up was: "KZ does not providing enough bang for the buck" or they all sound the same. This seems like a bad argument. I honestly don't know what tops the Zs5/6 that's under the sub 20 category. In fact, I don't know any that rivals it, except the Tin T2 at the 50$ mark. Now I'm not trying to be biased, but I tried making a 11.11 list and an upgrade to my Zs5 for under $50. I failed to find any clear upgrade, and overall these provide amazing value even with stock cable. I am also very open to any iem suggestions or picks that are equally good or surpass these under $50, so anyone can let me know
However, I do admit: To get the most out of them, I needed silver plated cable and foam tips. So there is that $8 of extra spend. However, that is still under $30 and gives a lot of iems at a much higher range a run for their money. In fact, I believe they totally outclass my Sennheiser momentums and these are the best iems I own.
Now this is not an absolute example, and only my experience with what I own. The momentums also have bright treble, but lack the sub bass and overall satisfying overall bass. There is also less detail and more recessed mids in the senns. The Zs5 does sound colder in comparison and some find it treble heavy, but with foams they are perfect for me. Also they provide more detail and better instrumental separation with a larger sound stage.
Now my view is: If you spend $13 on these and say, "Hey this isn't something that suits me taste" after a period to adjust, then that's totally fine. By all means there are other options. But I can't see how someone would then later buy even more items from KZ (which are still even cheaper) and complain. At the very worse, you're only $20 off compared to before. And I don't see you spending money on more kz after you hate their top+medium picks, so you shouldn't be losing any substantial money at all.
By no means am i bashing anyone in particular, I don't even have anyone in my mind when I say this, but these are some of the ideas or concerns I read back a couple of pages.. Which aren't real issue in my opinion.
It's a great time to be alive and like audio, so unless you're super stingy and absolutely can't afford to experiment or waste even 6$, just go to physical retail stores and try out you're headphone before you buy them....
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At least 4 or 5 lifetimes
