[khighly]

new kz 1dd+da booring

https://twitter.com/KEarphones/status/1045643741069889536

Definitely getting the pink one

 

[Podster]

AS10 prices will drop soon... I`m psychic, ya know!

Say Coil, are those your modded IT01's in your avatar? I know your quality of craft,amship and by what I can see they look schweeeeet

Tough call on the Senn's @Tunaa , if they are pristine I would probably pick them up, see what you think and then decide if you want to pick up a pair of AS-10's but that's just me! Good luck

 

[wdoerr]

The right side is now significantly louder than the left side.

Sounds like they have been damaged. Did you drop them or bounce them off a table.

It sounds like one BA went bad.

This is the reason I will never buy an expensive multi-BA IEM, too fragile.

 

[hakuzen]

Heya! I'm a new ChiFier. Well..not really, I got some DX90s and Cayins.

But, I got a question on KZ upgrade cables. I bought a medium range multibraided SPC cable for $8 and so far I think it can't be beat for it's price. Everything is great. I only wished the soundstage was deeper and the bass reached lower. There is a mid and upper bass (40-100hz) hump and a sharp subbass roll off. I am using it with my AK T8ie MK II. I know some will say I'm mad for pairing it with a premium IEM but I just want to try it, given that that the cable was so cheap! In fact, the reason I'm looking at a new cable is because this $8 cable so damn good (or perhaps cable effect is snakeoil ) !

So now I'm looking at 16 core (8 SPC + 8OCC), Ag x Cu (4N OCC copper cable mixed with 4 cores of 4N silver plated OCC ) and Gold Plated OCC (8 core gold plated OCC) and Ag16 (16 core SPC). I need them with MMCX and single-ended connection. Sorry I only have links to our local supplier. I can't find them elsewhere.

https://shopee.com.my/16Cores-Multibraided-IEM-Upgrade-Cable-i.6548893.1181296421
https://shopee.com.my/HillAudio-Premium-Gold-plated-IEM-Upgrade-Cable-i.6548893.749691020
https://shopee.com.my/HillAudio-Ag-x-Cu-Premium-Hifi-Audio-Cable-i.6548893.1440197965
https://shopee.com.my/HillAudio-AG16-IEM-Upgrade-Cable-i.6548893.1477929057

I'm looking for a more rounded sound, v-shaped, open back soundstage with air between instruments. I love the 3D soundstage where the singer and the background music is distinctly separate. I know I'm basically trying to emulate a car speaker experience, which is nigh impossible in a closed-back IEM.. I know... but what the heck?

I listen to a lot of Electronic pop, Korean pop and prefer sweet mellow female vocals. Currently I'm ignoring the Ag16 as I think it will be too bright. AK T8ie MK II can be a bit bright and claustrophobic if paired with silver cable as bass is recessed and mids dominate. It is also a bit sibilance prone even with the stock SPC cable. Out of the 3, I've heard a lot of good things from Ag X Cu pairings and the 16core

Any other recommendations? Do you have these cables and can you comment on their tonality, SQ, etc?

i'm afraid you are not going to alter the sound that way (tonality, soundstage, separation) by the mere use of one cable or another. about tonality, measured same iem with quite different cables, and frequency response was exactly the same (only difference was the overall volume level, due to different electrical resistance). but after hearing, there is an slight different perception; it's not about tonality (as stated by FR measurements), don't know if it's pure brain bias, or related to other sound parameters (i plan to measure other parameters, like distortion and impulse response, once volume level is matched 100%). maybe Ag makes the sound minimally thinner, colder (hence the lighter perception of bass).
so my criteria about cables is conductivity (it's a symptom of quality of materials -wire, plugs, and solders-), together with other build details (strain reliefs and easy repairable plugs -durability-), comfort (flexibility -microphonics-, softness, weight, length, ear guides), and looking (audio porn is important for the soul).

haven't tried any of these cables, although they are in my lunashops and aliexpress baskets. the plugs and thickness look good enough.

my first experience with 16 cores vs 8 cores (same kind of wire, total section is about +20% -very roughly- thicker in 16 core version, not 100%, because each core contains fewer strands and/or thinner strands) says that quality of plugs and solders play a more important role than 16 vs 8 wire (in this price segment, same wire material). my best cable has got only 4 cores (but many strands in each).

about material of the wire, i'll receive a high quality (supposedly) 7N pure silver cable on monday, and will A/B with my best copper cable. other pure Ag cables in my stock are meh. silver (or tin, in most cases, although not advertised) plated copper cables.. can't find the difference with copper.
got one of these copper + silver/tin plated copper mixed: it seems that copper was used for ground, and spc for signal. dunno if this is usual for mixed cables, but guess it wouldn't be so.
terms like "high purity", "ofc", even "occ" look less important than grade (4-7N). anyway, who knows if manufacturer/seller info can be trusted?

this is my particular experience with chi-cables.. trying to learn and get conclusions by my own, helped by some measurements. i might be totally mistaken.. but hope my opinion be useful some way in order to decide your cable.

EDIT:
however, at double the price of these cables, at 11.11, you could get premium cables for your AK T8ie MK II. fewer cores, but wider total section. for example:
Cu: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Hot...ded-Balanced-Cable-With-MMCX/32915015689.html (<60mΩ average)
Ag: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/***...-4mm-Balanced-Earphone-Cable/32922963030.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/MMC...hone-Cable-Extremely-Soft-7N/32890074065.html

 

[pbui44]

Definitely getting the pink one

Looks purple, like this TFZ:

https://penonaudio.com/tfz-exclusive-1.html

or this TFZ:

https://penonaudio.com/tfz-series-1s-my-love-special-ver..html

or the pricey TFZ Secret Garden:

https://penonaudio.com/tfz-secret-garden-3.html?sort=p.price&order=ASC&limit=100

 

[s8grave]

Tunaa, get AS10. Dont buy momentum ie - they sound much simpler, more V-shape, and mainly have issues with wire quality. Wire isolation quickly degrades and breaks, same trouble with cx 3.00, cx 5.00.

It is not my imagination, I worked in headphones market for 3 years.
So my advice is AS10, total nobrainer.

 

[Tunaa]

Tunaa, get AS10. Dont buy momentum ie - they sound much simpler, more V-shape, and mainly have issues with wire quality. Wire isolation quickly degrades and breaks, same trouble with cx 3.00, cx 5.00.

It is not my imagination, I worked in headphones market for 3 years.
So my advice is AS10, total nobrainer.

Thanks for that. I heard AS10's mids are the most forward mids compared to the other KZ IEMs. So I probably get AS10 Or maybe another IEMS Thanks again

 

[Cruelhand Luke]

I haven't been reading this thread as much as I used to...has anyone had issues with the 'new and improved' stock cable? I bought some ZSA a few months ago and they arrived DOA, the button wasn't working when I pushed it, no pause, no track advancement....long story short, they sent me a new one, and after a couple of months use, the replacement cable is no longer working either.
I like the way the iems sound, but part of why I bought them in the first place was I need an IEM with a button/mic. The cable that came with my ZS5 was no longer working with my phone (it kept advancing the track/pulling up google and other random bs) so, I got the ZSA.
The only decent set of wires I have gotten from KZ are the ones that came with my ES3. I have had them nearly a year and they are still going strong.
Is there even a mic'd cable you can buy for KZ iems? As far as I know you have to buy a new set to get a mic'd cable....but it seems like the 'new and improved' one is garbage.

 

[Joong]

Thanks, so what Asian IEM would you consider to beat 100+ dollar IEMs?

According the equation of one of head-fier here: sound quality equation
{material * ( looks + exotic names )/2 } * price = performance
If the sum of Labor and R&D cost is considered as price, then substitute it for the price term in above equation and you got the answer of "YES definitely"
Another factor of Chinese material of magnet is also inexpensive in China, where more than 80% of worldwide Neodymium deposit amount is found, and after all China arguably found magnet first time in history.
Please refer to the inventor of the equation: @ruhenheiM

 

[LaughMoreDaily]

Looks like TRN have released some more aftermarket cables which are definitely more premium looking. They also come in 2 pin 0.75 and 0.78 sizes.

Which iem's use the 0.78 2 pin size?

 

[Joong]

According the equation of one of head-fier here: sound quality equation
{material * ( looks + exotic names )/2 } * price = performance
If the sum of Labor and R&D cost is considered as price, then substitute it for the price term in above equation and you got the answer of "YES definitely"
Another factor of Chinese material of magnet is also inexpensive in China, where more than 80% of worldwide Neodymium deposit amount is found, and after all China arguably found magnet first time in history.
Please refer to the inventor of the equation: @ruhenheiM

The equation should be rewritten as below:
"The performace of Chifi ÷ Chinese labor cost = Hifi performance ÷ Western labor cost"
This means you can get the same performance at 1/3 cost if the ratio of labor costs is 3 which includes R&D.

 

[sanakimpro]

i'm afraid you are not going to alter the sound that way (tonality, soundstage, separation) by the mere use of one cable or another. about tonality, measured same iem with quite different cables, and frequency response was exactly the same (only difference was the overall volume level, due to different electrical resistance). but after hearing, there is an slight different perception; it's not about tonality (as stated by FR measurements), don't know if it's pure brain bias, or related to other sound parameters (i plan to measure other parameters, like distortion and impulse response, once volume level is matched 100%). maybe Ag makes the sound minimally thinner, colder (hence the lighter perception of bass).
so my criteria about cables is conductivity (it's a symptom of quality of materials -wire, plugs, and solders-), together with other build details (strain reliefs and easy repairable plugs -durability-), comfort (flexibility -microphonics-, softness, weight, length, ear guides), and looking (audio porn is important for the soul).

haven't tried any of these cables, although they are in my lunashops and aliexpress baskets. the plugs and thickness look good enough.

my first experience with 16 cores vs 8 cores (same kind of wire, total section is about +20% -very roughly- thicker in 16 core version, not 100%, because each core contains fewer strands and/or thinner strands) says that quality of plugs and solders play a more important role than 16 vs 8 wire (in this price segment, same wire material). my best cable has got only 4 cores (but many strands in each).

about material of the wire, i'll receive a high quality (supposedly) 7N pure silver cable on monday, and will A/B with my best copper cable. other pure Ag cables in my stock are meh. silver (or tin, in most cases, although not advertised) plated copper cables.. can't find the difference with copper.
got one of these copper + silver/tin plated copper mixed: it seems that copper was used for ground, and spc for signal. dunno if this is usual for mixed cables, but guess it wouldn't be so.
terms like "high purity", "ofc", even "occ" look less important than grade (4-7N). anyway, who knows if manufacturer/seller info can be trusted?

this is my particular experience with chi-cables.. trying to learn and get conclusions by my own, helped by some measurements. i might be totally mistaken.. but hope my opinion be useful some way in order to decide your cable.

EDIT:
however, at double the price of these cables, at 11.11, you could get premium cables for your AK T8ie MK II. fewer cores, but wider total section. for example:
Cu: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Hot...ded-Balanced-Cable-With-MMCX/32915015689.html (<60mΩ average)
Ag: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/***...-4mm-Balanced-Earphone-Cable/32922963030.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/MMC...hone-Cable-Extremely-Soft-7N/32890074065.html

Thanks for taking the time to write this. Yes, I also am feeling that the copper vs silver cables don't matter that much. What does matter is the quality of the plugs, the build etc. I will researching. Thanks

As for the premium cables, at those prices, I could be ordering from reputable cable companies like Null Audio, Moon Audio, Linum, etc.

 

[scottySK]

Which iem's use the 0.78 2 pin size?

I think KZ uses 0.75 while TRN uses 0.78

 

[Trebor1966]

Both uses 0,75mm

 

[nxnje]

Guys would you mind linking me a good box to put my zs6 in when i go out?
I saw two types of box:
1. The black one with the orange label "KZ acoustics" on, which is bigger
2. One colored resin box, which is smaller

Are there any other good options out there under 3/5$ ?
Or should i buy the black one with orange logo?