[B9Scrambler]

Just got my KZ ES4 and ESR. Must say that I love the ESRs sound out of the box with my phone, it's crystal Clean, vocal is like Audiophile, Bass is good(sometimes bit too heavy)

But ES4 I don't know what's wrong? I tried it with my phone but compare to ESR it sound bloated not clean like ESR and bit muddy.

I read good reviews about ES4 but now thinking is it faulty or not?

I tride it with my Headphone amp Walnut F1 and its just constant white noise,I think my headphone amp is also faulty.

Any suggestions on picking up the right portable Amp for IEMS?

By ESR do you mean ZSR?

Edit: Walnut F1 isn't great with sensitive iems. It's meant for use with higher impedance devices.

 

[Onik]

By ESR do you mean ZSR?

SORRY YES

*ZSR

 

[B9Scrambler]

SORRY YES

*ZSR

Cool, thought so. KZs naming conventions can be quite convoluted, haha

 

[BadReligionPunk]

I got my Auvio tips, on recommendation from @Slater and like them a lot. In fact, I switched to using them on my T2. While I agree that their shape is very much the same as the Starline tips, there is one major difference between them. On the Starline the end of the stem is roughly level with the bottom, while the Auvio it ends about 1/4 of the way up. As a result the Auvio tip sits deeper and doesn't protrude as much. This means it places the drivers closer to the eardrum, which may be good or bad, but also that it sits better on shorter nozzles.

Looks like I might need some of these now. Thanks for the observation and consequent write up. Some iems sound really good up close and personal.

 

[monitoringsound70]

Just got my KZ ES4 and ESR. Must say that I love the ESRs sound out of the box with my phone, it's crystal Clean, vocal is like Audiophile, Bass is good(sometimes bit too heavy)

But ES4 I don't know what's wrong? I tried it with my phone but compare to ESR it sound bloated not clean like ESR and bit muddy.

I read good reviews about ES4 but now thinking is it faulty or not?

I tride it with my Headphone amp Walnut F1 and its just constant white noise,I think my headphone amp is also faulty.

Any suggestions on picking up the right portable Amp for IEMS?

Yeah I've got the ES4 too and yes they are very muddy and congested. Definitely not faulty, although others may like the sound sig.
I really can't stand them to be honest.
The ED16 which i got the day after are much better, Actually I prefer the ED12 to the ES4, now there's a thing.....

 

[Onik]

Yeah I've got the ES4 too and yes they are very muddy and congested. Definitely not faulty, although others may like the sound sig.
I really can't stand them to be honest.
The ED16 which i got the day after are much better, Actually I prefer the ED12 to the ES4, now there's a thing.....

Good to know, if you compare ZSR with ES4 it's like night and day difference.

This is my first time I'm trying IEMS and just for £20 ZSR is surprisingly beautiful sounding iems ever made imo.

I think the ES4 needs proper burnin then it might open up the sound, for now I think I just wasted my £10 lol.

I'm now waiting for my XDUOO XD05 then ill find out how they really perform with good headphone amps, I will post my impression soon.

 

[B9Scrambler]

Ran through a few songs with a fellow Head-fi'ers ES4 this evening. Not bad, but I'm glad I passed. I agree with Coil in that they sound veiled. Not muddy and congested, just lacking the unimpeded resolution of other KZ hybrids. I could live with that but the mid-bass was overblown as well. For me it falls into the same middle-of-the-road category as the ZSE. Decent but not particularly memorable. Comfortable though!

 

[monitoringsound70]

Good to know, if you compare ZSR with ES4 it's like night and day difference.

This is my first time I'm trying IEMS and just for £20 ZSR is surprisingly beautiful sounding iems ever made imo.

Yes they are nice.
If you think the ZSR is good you should try the ED16, It's even better and more refined.

 

[Slater]

I got my Auvio tips, on recommendation from @Slater and like them a lot. In fact, I switched to using them on my T2. While I agree that their shape is very much the same as the Starline tips, there is one major difference between them. On the Starline the end of the stem is roughly level with the bottom, while the Auvio it ends about 1/4 of the way up. As a result the Auvio tip sits deeper and doesn't protrude as much. This means it places the drivers closer to the eardrum, which may be good or bad, but also that it sits better on shorter nozzles.

BTW, thanks for the tip on using the Auvios on the T2. The T2 fits much more secure this way, and sounds great! I prefer the Auvios better than the included wide bore tips.

I think I’m going to go back through my collection of KZs and tip roll with the Auvios. I have Starlines on most KZs now, but I wanna see if any of them can be further improved with Auvios, since I didn’t have Auvios at the time. I’m thinking they might work well on quite a few

 

[dhruvmeena96]

Good to know, if you compare ZSR with ES4 it's like night and day difference.

This is my first time I'm trying IEMS and just for £20 ZSR is surprisingly beautiful sounding iems ever made imo.

I think the ES4 needs proper burnin then it might open up the sound, for now I think I just wasted my £10 lol.

I'm now waiting for my XDUOO XD05 then ill find out how they really perform with good headphone amps, I will post my impression soon.

That is due to armature doing mids in ZSR, go try ED16.

ES4 is under QC issue, and some people are getting under damped Q factor Balanced armature leading to lower mids being cleaner and upper mids being loose, creating blurry nature.

ES4 is respected because of natural representation and not technicality. ES4 technically is better controlled on Bass and mids with lower treble compared to ZST and ES3 ..

It can make people hear muddyness as high treble range is lowered but using a decent source and sweetspot volume does help...

ZSR and ED16 is more vibrant and clear(agreed) but the dips in 4kHz make them cavernous(you may like it or not, but still)

 

[dhruvmeena96]

BTW, thanks for the tip on using the Auvios on the T2. The T2 fits much more secure this way, and sounds great!

I heard westone starfit with the wider stem is the best tip for isolation

 

[Danfish98]

I changed the tips on my KZ10 as I was having a problem getting deep enough insertion but I can't stand double or triple flange ... or foams. I found this pair among our millions of tips. The only one that has the sleeve part (the red part in the photo) protruding below the rest of the tip. I hope this makes sense. It helps the tip go in farther and it was comfortable and sounded really good. Only problem is, I have no idea what these tips are so that I can get more. They probably came with some other iem but I have too many. Does anyone recognize this type or have a link to something similar?

Sorry to bump such an old post but I just got what look to be the same tips off of Ali. Set of 3 pairs was 75 cents and I had the exact same experience. Made my ZS10s a lot more comfortable and greatly increased the sub bass response. I'd post a link but I think it's from a banned seller.

 

[SuperLuigi]

Sorry to bump such an old post but I just got what look to be the same tips off of Ali. Set of 3 pairs was 75 cents and I had the exact same experience. Made my ZS10s a lot more comfortable and greatly increased the sub bass response. I'd post a link but I think it's from a banned seller.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Wot...94d3-4228-b8d7-ee873554e547&priceBeautifyAB=0

Looks like those ones? That's from AK Audio store which we are allowed to post i think.

 

[mbwilson111]

Looks like those ones? That's from ... store which we are allowed to post i think.

Actually that is the same company I have been told. I looked at the photos... it is not the same as the one in my photo. If you look carefully at mine you will see that the red stem sticks out beyond the bottom of the grey silicone. In this one from ali the red stem is completely inside the grey part. I have about a million of these Mine are in the second photo. I only have the one pair and have no idea where they came from.

 

[HonorKirin]

I have ZSE, ED9(black), and a Swing IE800; I like the Swing and ED9 a lot (ZSE sounds too dark for my liking, but I still use it for sleeping due to its form factor). Im looking to purchase the ES4 or ED16 now as Im looking for something which provides better sound insulation for daily commuting use, and I wonder if these IEMs have better than average sound insulation versus those wear down type? Currently using IE800 for daily commuting use as ZSE and ED9 with their open back design seems to introduce more environment sound. Thanks if anyone can answer my question.