Knowledge Zenith (KZ) impressions thread
Jun 29, 2018 at 4:56 PM Post #34,231 of 63,672
Been using the KZ ED16 all week and it is my favourite KZ so far. It has a balanced sound signature.

IMG_20180629_125806.jpg

That cable is supposed to be silver :)

The player is the Shanling M0 and I am really happy with it.
 
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Jun 29, 2018 at 5:42 PM Post #34,232 of 63,672
:thinking:
Been using the KZ ED16 all week and it is my favourite KZ so far. It has a balanced sound signature.



That cable is supposed to be silver :)

The player is the Shanling M0 and I am really happy with it.

Your cable crossed the ugliness threshold way beyond into the cool territory. It's pretty good looking.

Mine has scattered greenish spots like it's sick and about to die of something nasty. Quit buying kz cables all together after two attempts.

What do you know, perhaps patience it's a virtue after all :thinking:.

KZ is teaching us all kind of stuff not just audio.
 
Jun 29, 2018 at 5:42 PM Post #34,233 of 63,672
Been using the KZ ED16 all week and it is my favourite KZ so far. It has a balanced sound signature.


That cable is supposed to be silver
Typical cheapo "silver" tin-coated copper. No silver for sure.

Btw, any in-depth comparison between ES4 & ED16/ZS7 ?
I believe ES4 is "replacing" my modded ZS5v1 because of more coherency and balanced sound and becoming quietly my favourite KZ (without nozzle grills + wide-bore tips).
 
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Jun 29, 2018 at 6:33 PM Post #34,234 of 63,672
Typical cheapo "silver" tin-coated copper. No silver for sure.

Btw, any in-depth comparison between ES4 & ED16/ZS7 ?
I believe ES4 is "replacing" my modded ZS5v1 because of more coherency and balanced sound and becoming quietly my favourite KZ (without nozzle grills + wide-bore tips).

Wow! That really speaks volumes about the ES4 (w/o nozzle filters) when I consider how much you enjoy the ZS5(v1).

Am I reaching too far if I conclude that "thus far" you probably appreciate the well-integrated presentation of a properly tuned single DD (iBasso IT01, ES4) as opposed to the separation and "divying up" of different frequencies that occurs in hybrid designs?
 
Jun 29, 2018 at 7:06 PM Post #34,235 of 63,672
:thinking:

Your cable crossed the ugliness threshold way beyond into the cool territory. It's pretty good looking.

Mine has scattered greenish spots like it's sick and about to die of something nasty. Quit buying kz cables all together after two attempts.

What do you know, perhaps patience it's a virtue after all :thinking:.

KZ is teaching us all kind of stuff not just audio.

Typical cheapo "silver" tin-coated copper. No silver for sure.

Btw, any in-depth comparison between ES4 & ED16/ZS7 ?
I believe ES4 is "replacing" my modded ZS5v1 because of more coherency and balanced sound and becoming quietly my favourite KZ (without nozzle grills + wide-bore tips).

I have a few KZ cables but I just use these at my workplace. If they get snagged on something or damaged I will just use another cable. I am quite pleased withe the ED16, it has a great sound signature and is currently my favourite and I have a few KZ's haha.
 
Jun 29, 2018 at 8:16 PM Post #34,236 of 63,672
Typical cheapo "silver" tin-coated copper. No silver for sure.

Btw, any in-depth comparison between ES4 & ED16/ZS7 ?
I believe ES4 is "replacing" my modded ZS5v1 because of more coherency and balanced sound and becoming quietly my favourite KZ (without nozzle grills + wide-bore tips).

Just curious, any particular reason you prefer ES4 without the grills?
 
Jun 29, 2018 at 9:32 PM Post #34,237 of 63,672
Just curious, any particular reason you prefer ES4 without the grills?

Nozzle filters are great as a barrier for earwax but they can also effect frequencies below 500hz in a negative way. I usually remove the nozzle filters on warmer-leaning IEMs to clean up the low end and lower midrange. For me, a simple rule-of-thumb is that the cleaner the lower half of the spectrum is the more breathing room there is for the upper half of the spectrum. My ZS3 and ES3 have "no" nozzle filters and they both sound cleaner and richer than they do in stock form.
 
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Jun 30, 2018 at 12:14 AM Post #34,238 of 63,672
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Jun 30, 2018 at 3:35 AM Post #34,239 of 63,672
I just wish the IT01 had slightly more soundstage.
Mod Your IT01 :wink:
Just curious, any particular reason you prefer ES4 without the grills?
I can not agree about "clearing up things" only below 500Hz... it affects whole spectrum depending on IEM signature and build.
I just wished more clarity&resolution from ES4, that`s why I removed it but effect is questionable as I don`t hear much improvement (grill is quite "open" anyway).
 
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Jun 30, 2018 at 4:23 AM Post #34,240 of 63,672
Last night I dug out my ZSA, not used it for a while, so connected to my Fiio X7 while stripping down an old Thorens TD126 for refurb. Just let the music play and forgot about what I was listening to, the first album was IO Earth, their latest album and I thought something had gone wrong initially as I had a constant hum on one track but it turns out that it was on the track itself and man was it low, I had to stop a few times and concentrate just to be sure, the next track started the same, then the note changed and the whole track began to drive into this really low bass sound, it was fantastic, never heard it before. The next album that came on was Jean Michel Jarre, Essentials, a lot of different tracks, a lot of older tracks that I thought I knew well, the answer there is no I didn't! Nuances, extra instruments, things I thought were a single instrument turns out to be several and the layering is amazing, this little ZSA is a gem when connected to something that can dig deep into the music, I am amazed!
 
Jun 30, 2018 at 5:52 AM Post #34,242 of 63,672
I'm concerned that, are the eartips on ED16 gonna come off easily, as they dont have the lip around the nozzles. This makes me feel like avoiding the ED16 and get the ES4 instead, or I shall continue to wait for newer KZs below 20$.

There is no lip but they are on there very securely. They won't come off very easily at all.
 
Jun 30, 2018 at 6:28 AM Post #34,243 of 63,672
The black KZ ES4 w/o mic are now available for 12.53 USD on Gearbest. The price can be further reduced with GB points to 10.74 USD, with the cheapest registered shipping method. It's even less with unregistered shipping (0.44 USD). Sounds like a good deal to me.
 
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Jun 30, 2018 at 6:41 AM Post #34,244 of 63,672
Yo guys,
i'm still really confused. I would really love the zsr, people are saying they have a huge soundstage, very very deep bass, much warm response overall.. i listen to trap/dubstep/future bass/edm and even melodical stuff with vocals.. so i think that could be a perfect headphone for me but i'm really confused.. i found my zs3 too big for me and i've read everywhere the zsr is enormous..

I've seen the ZSA has heavy bass and it's small so maybe it would fit well to me but i even see es4 has many positive reviews and it's more accurate that zsa.
What do u think?
I've read many disappointing comments about the zsa, people on reddit says it's not comparable to the es4 in terms of detail and spaciousness.
What do u think about it?

I have a memt x5 at the moment so i wanna buy one iem that could be a step up from these.
 
Jun 30, 2018 at 7:31 AM Post #34,245 of 63,672
Yo guys,
i'm still really confused. I would really love the zsr, people are saying they have a huge soundstage, very very deep bass, much warm response overall.. i listen to trap/dubstep/future bass/edm and even melodical stuff with vocals.. so i think that could be a perfect headphone for me but i'm really confused.. i found my zs3 too big for me and i've read everywhere the zsr is enormous..

I've seen the ZSA has heavy bass and it's small so maybe it would fit well to me but i even see es4 has many positive reviews and it's more accurate that zsa.
What do u think?
I've read many disappointing comments about the zsa, people on reddit says it's not comparable to the es4 in terms of detail and spaciousness.
What do u think about it?

I have a memt x5 at the moment so i wanna buy one iem that could be a step up from these.
OK...

First of all ZSR is huge in sound, but the stage is like cave(not actual cave, but you can hear some echo on some songs and will always feel the wall of the room)

Bass is a mixed bag, if your ears touch the vent, then it would turn humongous in bass, otherwise normally a little bit more extended than ED16.

Gaming is fun, as the perception of sound and overall imaging is fabalous till the mid side as BA is acting.

ES4 is not a technical monstor like ZSR(though it have the graphene driver). It is more like old school, everyone pleasing tone, with technicality like hybridness doing justice and making it overall a winner. It does everything way better than a old single driver, and doesn't loose so much of the coherency which has plagued the hybrid community. It sounds something like AAW nebula 2, just a little rough on treble and a little but noticeable boost on mid bass. These are very negligible comparison to begin with.

I didn't like ZSA that much, its a cold iem with boosted bass. It can be good for some, and weird for some. It is following the footstep of ZS6, but they uplifted all treble instead of 10kHz so called peak. This makes them good but I think a little mid uplift was needed.

First do the @Slater mod to your ZS3
 

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