[CoiL]

Review of the BA10: http://www.antdroid.net/2018/09/kz-ba10-putting-square-peg-in-round-hole.html

I haven't touched my much more expensive LZ A5 since getting the AS10. Something to think about.
The A5 needs far too many tweaks, filter changes, eq and tip rolls compared to just throwing on the AS10's with starlines and very slight eq.

Interesting. I find AS10 mixed bag reading different reviews.
Some find it U-shaped but with well balanced signature and no annoying peaks.
Some find it V-shaped with recessed mids and some sibilance in highs.
Some find it intimate soundstage while some think it is average.
Gear matching problem? Tips used? idk. While I`m starting to belive AS10 is best KZ has done... I just don`t find it appealing reading reviews.

It is not as soft and luxurious as the cable that came with my iBasso IT01. That is the best stock cable that I have.

Same here. Best cable I`ve ever used, BQ & SQ wise. After changing jack it measures 0.2 Ohm.

Just got em from the post office. Initial impression is they're good but not that great. Definitely better than zs3 but the midbass and details of the zst (with foam mod by slater) is still best for me. But the fit is perfect. Just my opinion though.. Will give more hours of playing and tip rolling(probably wide bore) then see if sound will change..

Waiting for my ZS4 too. They look gorgeous and shape is best I`ve ever tried.

 

[randomnin]

for @crinacle, the $350 Sennheiser IE80S is just 1 tier above the $15 KZ ZS3, let that sink in. Not sure what point you're trying to make here, but fact is, just let the sound do the talking. Sometimes people care too much about prestige or branding.

My point is that there are people here who have tried >500$ IEMs and say that these are barely better at technicalities, if at all, than <50$ Chi-Fi. Whilst that ranking (based exclusively on sound performance) reserves the top spots solely to hundred, mostly thousand, dollar stuff, and leaves everyone's favorite ZST one sub-ranking above "Bad". That's what I call a contradiction. Someone here is creating either a false sense of equality or a false unbridgeable gap between Chi-Fi and TOTL.

 

[CoiL]

Sorry guys, but for me, ZS3 SQ was pretty much crap - heavy V-shape, boomy muddy bass, harsh highs, scooped out mids.
I have had 4 pairs of ZS3 - all basically same SQ, except 1 which had BQ problem - crushed sound shrink tube between nozzle and driver.

 

[crinacle]

My point is that there are people here who have tried >500$ IEMs and say that these are barely better at technicalities, if at all, than <50$ Chi-Fi. Whilst that ranking (based exclusively on sound performance) reserves the top spots solely to hundred, mostly thousand, dollar stuff, and leaves everyone's favorite ZST one sub-ranking above "Bad". That's what I call a contradiction. Someone here is creating either a false sense of equality or a false unbridgeable gap between Chi-Fi and TOTL.

I'd like to have a dialogue with the "people here who have tried >500$ IEMs and say that these are barely better at technicalities, if at all, than <50$ Chi-Fi" and try to hash it out with a proper back-and-forth.

I think that's a better solution than shoehorning me into two camps and trying to paint me as a bad guy instead of considering a very obvious third option: neither of the two.

 

[Mellowship]

Sorry guys, but for me, ZS3 SQ was pretty much crap - heavy V-shape, boomy muddy bass, harsh highs, scooped out mids.
I have had 4 pairs of ZS3 - all basically same SQ, except 1 which had BQ problem - crushed sound shrink tube between nozzle and driver.

Did you try the @Slater mod? [https://www.aproear.co.uk/kz-zs3-slater-mod/]
I have two ZS3. The oldest pair is a matte black, no foams in the nozzles. Sounded just right from the box. All I did was change the red cloth grills for steel ones, verify if the venting holes were unobstructed and use wide bore tips. The sound improved drastically! I still use them on a regular basis. The newer ones are gloss black. They had foams in the nozzle. I removed them, along with the red mesh. They improved a little bit, but not as much as the older ones. Hence I have the impression the oldest ZS3 were the real deal, and to stay away from new iterations.

 

[echineko]

Spoiler

My point is that there are people here who have tried >500$ IEMs and say that these are barely better at technicalities, if at all, than <50$ Chi-Fi. Whilst that ranking (based exclusively on sound performance) reserves the top spots solely to hundred, mostly thousand, dollar stuff, and leaves everyone's favorite ZST one sub-ranking above "Bad". That's what I call a contradiction. Someone here is creating either a false sense of equality or a false unbridgeable gap between Chi-Fi and TOTL.

"Someone here" has also heard all of these IEMs before measuring and rating them according to his preferences. Not that I agree with all of it, but there is that...

 

[CoiL]

Did you try the @Slater mod? [https://www.aproear.co.uk/kz-zs3-slater-mod/]
I have two ZS3. The oldest pair is a matte black, no foams in the nozzles. Sounded just right from the box. All I did was change the red cloth grills for steel ones, verify if the venting holes were unobstructed and use wide bore tips. The sound improved drastically! I still use them on a regular basis. The newer ones are gloss black. They had foams in the nozzle. I removed them, along with the red mesh. They improved a little bit, but not as much as the older ones. Hence I have the impression the oldest ZS3 were the real deal, and to stay away from new iterations.

Of course I have tried it but to me they went even more unbearable regarding highs. Bass lost only little boominess but not much improvement.
Still very V-shaped IEM. All my ZS3`s are glossy newer ones.
Btw, I got much better result swapping ZS3 driver with ATE (5th gen) drivers.

 

[Zerohour88]

I'd like to have a dialogue with the "people here who have tried >500$ IEMs and say that these are barely better at technicalities, if at all, than <50$ Chi-Fi" and try to hash it out with a proper back-and-forth.

I think that's a better solution than shoehorning me into two camps and trying to paint me as a bad guy instead of considering a very obvious third option: neither of the two.

I do hope no one thinks that you're a bad guy, lol. Just pointing out that sometimes pricey doesn't mean good. Also people falling to the halo effect of bigger brands.

Of course I have tried it but to me they went even more unbearable regarding highs. Bass lost only little boominess but not much improvement.
Still very V-shaped IEM. All my ZS3`s are glossy newer ones.
Btw, I got much better result swapping ZS3 driver with ATE (5th gen) drivers.

I didn't mind the ZS3 or ZST, but I much preferred the ATR too

 

[Mellowship]

Of course I have tried it but to me they went even more unbearable regarding highs. Bass lost only little boominess but not much improvement.
Still very V-shaped IEM. All my ZS3`s are glossy newer ones.
Btw, I got much better result swapping ZS3 driver with ATE (5th gen) drivers.

It seems like a good project for my glossy ZS3. What do you think of using the EDSE drivers instead? And do you recommend keeping the old shrinking tube, no tube or a better and stiffer PVC or metal tube from the driver to the nozzle?

 

[HAMS]

Of course I have tried it but to me they went even more unbearable regarding highs. Bass lost only little boominess but not much improvement.
Still very V-shaped IEM. All my ZS3`s are glossy newer ones.
Btw, I got much better result swapping ZS3 driver with ATE (5th gen) drivers.

No wonder, foam or filter function is to tame upper mid and highs it would not affect low mid and bass. Imo ZS3 only need less bass. I am thinking tin audio's reverse mod by bore small hole at the bottom of nozzles.

 

[CYoung234]

Just a heads up. I am travelling in the U.S. this week, and have 2 pairs of ZS5v1 for sale, if anyone is interested. These were purchased from Gearbest, and I would like to get what I paid for them back. Shoot me a PM. I would need to ship them before Saturday.

 

[neo_styles]

Looks like the AS10 will arrive today, so I'm pretty excited to test it out. Just keeping my fingers crossed for a better fit than the ZS10. Man, that was such a dealbreaker on an otherwise pretty solid pair of IEMs.

Then it's back to waiting on the T2 Pro, Koss KSC75X, and a cheapie pair of bone conduction headphones I found on Ali. I don't have a problem with collecting head-fi, I swear...

 

[CoiL]

It seems like a good project for my glossy ZS3. What do you think of using the EDSE drivers instead? And do you recommend keeping the old shrinking tube, no tube or a better and stiffer PVC or metal tube from the driver to the nozzle?

Don`t know about EDSE drivers. Back a long time when I had them, didn`t like them much. With ATE driver modded into ZS3 shell You need somekind of other nozzle/or tube. And You can`t just use ATE drivers without tuning nozzle breathing hole and highs "filter" ...otherwise bass will be very loose/boomy/overshadowing and highs too harsh. But ATE driver is very good donor to get perfect fit and good sounding cheap IEMs.

No wonder, foam or filter function is to tame upper mid and highs it would not affect low mid and bass. Imo ZS3 only need less bass. I am thinking tin audio's reverse mod by bore small hole at the bottom of nozzles.

Actually. foam affects bass too by making it muffled/muddy and mids more muddy too.

 

[randomnin]

I'd like to have a dialogue with the "people here who have tried >500$ IEMs and say that these are barely better at technicalities, if at all, than <50$ Chi-Fi" and try to hash it out with a proper back-and-forth.

I think that's a better solution than shoehorning me into two camps and trying to paint me as a bad guy instead of considering a very obvious third option: neither of the two.

Oh, I don't know anything and currently have no strong opinions. I do admit that I tried to make others enter one side or another of a ring. But, yeah, for starters, @loomisjohnson said something like: "KZ ZSR and TRN V80 win over SE535 in technicalities after equalizing".

"Someone here" has also heard all of these IEMs before measuring and rating them according to his preferences. Not that I agree with all of it, but there is that...

Other than your possibly perverted nickname, everything else went above my head, homerun style.

 

[nxnje]

Wait, SkullCandys aren't TOTL?

TOTL = ????
Top of the what?

Sorry but i read this so many times and i still don't know what does it mean ahahaha