[oyobass]

Ahha did you buy Zs10 ?

Not yet. Probably will...
I already have a number of really decent IEMs.
I'm slowing down on the early adopter thing. Now it's more of the wait for the reliable reviews thing.

 

[riffrafff]

If you are an early adopter, it is kind of like putting money into a capsule toy vending machine. You never know what you'll get.
So far I've enjoyed the ride.

Exactly. It's "like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are gonna get."

 

[oyobass]

Exactly. It's "like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are gonna get."

KZ is as KZ does...

 

[nadezhda 6004]

Has anybody ordered ZS10? When is the expected time to get them?

 

[CYoung234]

Has anybody ordered ZS10? When is the expected time to get them?

Seems like a lot of people ordered them. If you take the time to go back a few pages in the thread, you will see. Sounds like some in HK will be receiving theirs shortly. Mine will be at least a month or more to get to me in Paraguay, via Miami....

 

[hiflofi]

I'm not 100% sure I want the ZS10 after hearing that the bass may be reduced. ZS6 seems to have a good signature despite the treble (which isn't problematic to me). Bonus is that the ZS6 build quality seems to look better than the ZS10. This is all just my opinion of course.

 

[Saoshyant]

I’ll order the ZS10, but I’m waiting this time. With ZS5 & 6 by the time they arrived GB already had a solid sale going, and in the case of the ZS6 some GB orders arrived before my preorder. As it is I have a $500 earbud on it’s way, so I doubt the zs10 would get much eartime for awhile.

 

[durwood]

For those that find the ZS3 bass shy, check the polarity, which should be for all KZ. Mine just didn't sound right even fighting with almost too much seal that the tip deformed too much and would created too much ear pressure. I decided to do the audiocheck.net polarity check and found one reversed, Luckily you can swap the cable around even if it doesn't fit 100% correct. After fixing the polarity they are heavy in the bass department compared to the majority that I own now. The problem I have is they are one of the hardest for me to just put in my ears and go, too much fiddling. I have heard to try the smaller tips than usual since they insert deeper, but I have not tried that yet.

I also received a set of ZSE wired backwards. I will probably hack the plug off and wire it correctly some day.

I do enjoy the ATR more and there are very minor differences at least to me when compared to the Uiisii CM5. I think maybe the ATR is a tiny bit more midbass, and treble is slightly less, Just rather enjoyable and comfort is a bit better. The CM5 tend to work their way out of my ears using the stock tips, and there is a bump somewhere in their contour that doesn't quite fit MY ear right.

 

[kukkurovaca]

It took me an hilariously long time to suspect that my ZSR had wrong polarity. (User error on my part; I had somehow put one of the cables on backwards.) It is indeed worth checking.

 

[Makahl]

Here's photos of the red screen so you know what to expect:



The following interior diagram will show you everything that you need to know (you don't actually open the shell for the foam mod - the interior diagram is just to illustrate where the foam is located):


UPDATE: I found a camera lens and settings that would allow me to get a good shot of the foam. It's impossible to gauge the depth in this photo, but that foam is located about 1/4" down inside the nozzle:


Here's what the piece of foam looks like after you've removed it with the needle (it gets more compressed once inside the plastic tube):



Also, while you're at it you may as well use the sewing needle to verify that the vent hole is open and not blocked. Just poke it with the sewing needle (or the tip of a thumbtack) and make sure it's not blocked with glue.

One more thing - even if you don't plan on removing the foam, I would strongly recommend that you at least peek under the red screens of your ZS3. Something that has always bothered me about 1 of my pairs of my ZS3 is that 1 side never sounded quite right. Well, low and behold I found that the foam on the 'never quite right' side was not even in the plastic tube, but just floating around freely inside the nozzle directly under the red screen. So at a minimum, looking under the red screens will allow you to make sure both of your foam pieces are inserted properly into the ends of the plastic nozzle. There have been reports of sound mismatches on 1 side. Early batches of the ZS3 had a crushed sound tube. Those were recalled a long time ago, so if you have a relatively recent ZS3 and you have something odd going on with 1 side, it could be that the foam isn't situated in the tube properly.

Let me know if you have any questions.

- Slater

P.S. - To the advanced IEM builders/modders out there, as you can see from the exploded diagram this would be an excellent host for turning into a hybrid DD + BA. The shell is easy to open, it's comfortable as heck, and there's plenty of room inside for a crossover in the shell & a BA driver inside the nozzle tube. Looking at the above photo, it almost looks as if KZ was planning that all along, and it wouldn't surprise me if a "ZS4" comes out as a dual hybrid using this same shell as they already have the shell tooling. Also, it would be easy to swap out the plastic tube for a copper one, as the plastic is extremely thin (it looks exactly like a piece of heat shrink tubing that hasn't been heated/shrunk; or it could also be a piece of drinking straw). It's that thin & flimsy.

Wow the search function within the thread is really helpful. These foams were behind the red mesh on both sides for me. I have inserted the foams into the tube but I also realized these tubes are kind of crooked. There's a sweet spot to get the bass if I fit a bit different the sound gets muffed at some frequencies.

@CoiL If I'm not mistaken you've already modded your ZS3, right? Is that hard opening the ZS3 and replacing the tube? I've got some 3x2 PVC tubes from my BA projects maybe is that enough? I think if I can replace the tube and fix the angle I'll solve this fitting problem.

 

[Bartig]

I believe you are right.
ZS3 was my first KZ (spring 2017) and immediately blew my senn cx300ii out of the water pretty much in terms of everything besides forward mids. However, from reading the forums, later I learned I got the later batch (another KZ stealth change) of glossy ZS3 which seems to be very different from the early matte batch which were more balanced and loved by seasoned early adopters.

ZS5v1 is in an others class. Later ZS3 surpass it only in isolation.

I believe one should be carefull in buying the latest ZS3 as it doesn't seems to be the same as the one owned by those who praise it.

Edit: lately I've tried to bring ZS3 into rotation along with TNT and ZS5(I) as a bass heavy alternative. Just can't. It's a muddy mess in comparison. And to think of they topped my gear at one point... that's how one's taste and experience evolves with more listened iems. They are fs on local classifieds now. If you want clean bass centric signature I think (from reading) you might want to try your luck with CM5 or the more expensive Z5000 - mind you I tried none, it's just what I would do.

Edit 2: the impressions above are with @Slater KZ ZS3 mod. Unfortunately futile.

I agree. The ZS3, of all the KZ’s I tried, has the most messy and muddy sound. The mid bass overwhelming the bass and sacrificing some of the mids... it just doesn’t work for me.

 

[Slater]

The CM5 tend to work their way out of my ears using the stock tips, and there is a bumb somewhere in their contour that doesn't quite fit MY ear right.

I had this exact problem with the stock tips too. The KZ Starlines fixed the issue. The CM5 feels like it was made for my ears now.

Give that a try if you have some Starlines available.

 

[ricemanhk]

ZS10 is in da house!
Braided stock cable (with mic confirmed) is heappppps better than the old sticky rubber cable. It's about 3cm longer than the ZSR stock cable and 10cm longer than my ZS5v1 stock cable (w/ 3 button remote), so that's nice.

Very brief first impressions vs ZSR and ZS5v1
ZS10 highs are detailed and lively but not overboard, don't hear any sibilance yet. Mids are good, definitely less recessed than ZS5. Bass is strong and present, fairly similar to ZSR, though I feel like ZSR extends a bit deeper but this could be a difference in fit. I get a superb fit with the ZSR/ZS3 shell, the ZS10 is somewhat similar to the ZST in terms of fit. The housing itself is the biggest one yet, so it sticks out a bit more than the others, but the ear canal part is fine for me, width of the nozzle is same as ZS5. No lip on the nozzle again though...sigh I hope the tips stay on better than the ZS5. The black starlines that are firmer hopefully helps a bit.

Immediate feeling is the ZS10 sounds like a ZSR with better treble. Or you could say it's like the ZS5 without the sibilance and warmer sounding and a bit more bass/sub bass. I like the ZSR alot and this only improves on it SQ wise, only minor regression is the fit (for me).

As for power requirements, I need ~8/10 volume on my phone for ZS5v1, ~7/10 for ZS10 and ~6/10 for ZSR for the same volume, so these should work fine with phones.

Hope you all get yours soon!

Update: soundstage is one of the widest I've ever heard on IEMs. I thought ZS5 was a big improvement on ZST for soundstage already, but ZS10 is even wider...

Imaging and separation is also improved over ZSR, likely due to the crossovers. Vs ZS5 I feel like ZS5 has a tad more detail in the highs, but that could also simply be due to its treble crowding out everything else.

All in all, I'm liking the ZS10 alot, feels more balanced though still a fun sound sig, hopefully it opens up even more with some more hours of burn in.

 

[ricemanhk]

Tried the TRN Bluetooth aptx module with the ZS10 as well, works very well, I'm struggling to hear differences LOL.
And yes Apt-X works, it shows up on my phone saying apt-x is the protocol being used.

Range is better than the KZ module, though too many thick walls in between will still result in cuts. But if the usage time really is the 8hr they claimed then I'm going to be super happy!

 

[TLDRonin]

ZS10 is in da house!
Braided stock cable (with mic confirmed) is heappppps better than the old sticky rubber cable. It's about 3cm longer than the ZSR stock cable and 10cm longer than my ZS5v1 stock cable (w/ 3 button remote), so that's nice.

Very brief first impressions vs ZSR and ZS5v1
ZS10 highs are detailed and lively but not overboard, don't hear any sibilance yet. Mids are good, definitely less recessed than ZS5. Bass is strong and present, fairly similar to ZSR, though I feel like ZSR extends a bit deeper but this could be a difference in fit. I get a superb fit with the ZSR/ZS3 shell, the ZS10 is somewhat similar to the ZST in terms of fit. The housing itself is the biggest one yet, so it sticks out a bit more than the others, but the ear canal part is fine for me, width of the nozzle is same as ZS5. No lip on the nozzle again though...sigh I hope the tips stay on better than the ZS5. The black starlines that are firmer hopefully helps a bit.

Immediate feeling is the ZS10 sounds like a ZSR with better treble. Or you could say it's like the ZS5 without the sibilance and warmer sounding and a bit more bass/sub bass. I like the ZSR alot and this only improves on it SQ wise, only minor regression is the fit (for me).

As for power requirements, I need ~8/10 volume on my phone for ZS5v1, ~7/10 for ZS10 and ~6/10 for ZSR for the same volume, so these should work fine with phones.

Hope you all get yours soon!

How is the sounstage?

Sounds like a proper flagship model for KZ! Im hyped!