Knowledge Zenith (KZ) impressions thread
Oct 9, 2018 at 1:07 AM Post #36,902 of 63,671
I bought a KZ ZS5 used from my local forum. It came in this white box instead of the fancy black ones like you see on google. Is this fake or something? It sounds quite bad.

ih9Kqew.jpg
 
Oct 9, 2018 at 1:32 AM Post #36,903 of 63,671
I bought a KZ ZS5 used from my local forum. It came in this white box instead of the fancy black ones like you see on google. Is this fake or something? It sounds quite bad.

ih9Kqew.jpg

That's the zs5 v2 you got there. Treble is kinda hot similar to zs6. Zs5 v1 is much much better but it's hard to find nowadays.
 
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Oct 9, 2018 at 3:05 AM Post #36,904 of 63,671
A good track for sibilance and sharp highs is “Juliet of the Spirits” from the B52 Funplex album. I use a flac rip direct from the CD, so I don’t know if a YouTube version would show the same characteristics.

Anyways, they used hot/sibilant mics and/or hot mastering, not just for the vocals but also some of the electronic sounds in the song. No really good cymbal crashes though, so you have to find other songs for that.

It’s one of the main tracks I use to evaluate that aspect of sound. You will notice differences right away between gear that has smooth treble vs gear that has sharp or sibilant treble.

Hope that helps.
Many thanks @Slater and @CoiL .
I'm traveling at the moment, but I got the ZS4 with me. I'll give it a try when I find some time.
 
Oct 9, 2018 at 9:33 AM Post #36,905 of 63,671
I bought a KZ ZS5 used from my local forum. It came in this white box instead of the fancy black ones like you see on google. Is this fake or something? It sounds quite bad.

ih9Kqew.jpg
No they are not fake at all. I have seen only few black boxes from few reviewers. But what do you mean they are sound bad ? If its because of Treble The ZS5 and ZS6s are treble cannons so..
 
Oct 9, 2018 at 12:07 PM Post #36,906 of 63,671
That's the zs5 v2 you got there. Treble is kinda hot similar to zs6. Zs5 v1 is much much better but it's hard to find nowadays.

Try foam tips
 
Oct 9, 2018 at 1:29 PM Post #36,907 of 63,671
After a couple of weeks with the ed16, for use in the office, i have to say that I'm very pleased. And, yeah, use foam tips. Right now I'm using my LG g7 as a source with my ed16 and my HD 598 sr.

Should i use an amp? My HD 598 sr sound loud enough but the ed16, as low impedance iems, cannot activate the gain of the LG g7.
 
Oct 9, 2018 at 9:32 PM Post #36,909 of 63,671
So, good news and great news.

Good news:

Yesterday I had errands to run from noon until well after sundown and I spent the entire day with my ZSR.

10077751.jpg


I have to say that the ZSR was an excellent companion. My fatigue-free session was more than nine hours and I absolutely loved every minute of it.

There was more than enough micro-detail on tracks that I am thoroughly familiar with. Serving up all the micro-detail one can handle on the go with zero fatigue is impressive enough but to simultaneously deliver a rich midrange with defined and authoritative bass in equal measure is what makes the ZSR so special to me. I had an excellent seal throughout the day using the eartips that came with my BGVP DM5. The isolation wasn't as impressive as the ZS3's isolation but few IEMs isolate that well. I'd say the ZSR has about 85% of the ZS3's isolation for my ears.

The ZS6 has been my favorite IEM for the last year but my ZS6 will never be led outdoors because while they are a ton of fun they are also a more analytical listen due to the voluminous amount of detail across the frequency spectrum.

All in all, I stand by my original review of the ZSR. It's a very, very good IEM at it's ridiculously low $28 price tag. Just do yourself a favor and move past the stock cables.

These should suffice at $11 (disregard the MMCX portion of the picture)

HTB1ZwMKXirxK1RkHFCcq6AQCVXax.jpg_640x640q90.jpg



Bottom line:

The ZSR is my go-to IEM for the great outdoors.


The great news:

The BA10 is in the house!


KZ BA10 10.png


I spent three hours with them and I'll be spending the next few days pouring over different genres to report back as accurate as is humanly possible (for my ears). My ears are on the larger size so I had zero discomfort, even after three hours with a rectangular shaped IEM. I haven't even pulled out the memory wire so I can install my silicone earhooks yet so that's a good sign for those of you that like the memory wire or for those of you with larger ears.

First impressions are as follows:

If you liked the sound signature of the original matte black ZS3 and you have larger ears then you will like the BA10. Initial impressions are that it sounds like a more refined "original" ZS3.

Indeed, I pulled out my matte ZS3 for comparison purposes (though this is a photo of the glossy ZS3). Be aware that the original ZS3 was shipped with "NO" foam in the nozzle. The foam makes the ZS3 boomy and muffled.

61HE197vXzL._SL1600_.jpg



Took me about two hours of playtime to place the sound signature. Then I pulled out my ZS3's and boom......there it was. Then I searched for FR graphs and.....voila!


I'm not necessarily a big follower of "The Phonograph.net", but their graphs coincide with what I am hearing.

KZ-BA10-frequency-response-curve-1.jpg


KZ-ZS3-Frequency-Response-1.jpg



The midrange and bass are on equal footing. Bass is full-on and midrange is rich.
Note that the treble trails off in similar fashion to the ZS3. This is also how I hear it.


This next FR graph is AntDroid's and it is close to what I am hearing, although, to my ears the red line should be where the green line is because, again, the bass and midrange are on equal footing. That would also mean that the AS10 midrange would still climb higher (all things being equal) and the AS10 would have more midrange presence than the BA10 (B9 can probably confirm or deny my hypothesis since he owns both IEMs).


10173553-1.jpg



For me, wide-bore shallow depth silicone eartips worked best. The wide-bore may assist in the bass having a more diffuse presentation allowing the midrange to come slightly more forward than you see in the above graph. Again, to my ears, the bass and midrange are on equal footing. With narrow-bore silicone eartips the upper-midrange became borderline strident on occasion.

My matte black ZS3 sounds clear; the midrange is just as prominent and clean as the slammin' bass. The BA10 sounds like a cleaner, smoother ZS3 a few tiers up in timbre while displaying much higher resolution.

And that bass......
thus far, it sounds like a very clean dynamic driver that takes no prisoners.
Again, this is with wide-bore silicone eartips and the BA10 coupled to my bright-leaning ZuneHD. Next I'll use the more powerful Fiio X3(i) and note any nuances that may or may not exist.


I'm still not a fan of the red and gold. I'll wait until the price drops then I'll pick up the BA10 in black/red. I'll swap the faceplates and the end result will be one completely red BA10 that I can use white or copper cables with and one black BA10 with a gold faceplate that I can use a black cable with.

If anyone has a link to the black KZ cable with the 90°+/- angle please share it. They seemed to have disappeared almost as quickly as they appeared.

Screenshot_2018-10-09-20-29-18.png



HTB10TnBEH5YBuNjSspoq6zeNFXae.jpg_640x640q90 (0).jpg


HTB13r9ewviSBuNkSnhJq6zDcpXa8.jpg_640x640q90 (0).jpg


https://www.google.com/amp/s/m.aliexpress.com/item/32899379734.html


I know about Kinboofi and other black cables but their round connector heads coupled to a box-like receptacle will bug me to no end......even if said cables are superior.


In the end I'll likely use the BA10's laid back sound signature for chillout sessions.

Zero 7 - Home


Lilac Wine (Album Leaf Remix)


Tiesto - Close To You


Try (SweetWesty Remix)
 
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Oct 9, 2018 at 9:50 PM Post #36,910 of 63,671
The great news:

The BA10 is in the house!




I spent three hours with them and I'll be spending the next few days pouring over different genres to report back as accurate as is humanly possible (for my ears). My ears are on the larger size so I had zero discomfort......after three hours with a rectangular shaped IEM. I haven't even pulled out the memory wire so I can install my silicone earhooks yet. That's a good sign for those of you that like the memory wire or for those of you with large ears.

Glad to hear this fits you well and good news for larger ear people! Would love to hear your sound impressions in the future when you're ready!
 
Oct 10, 2018 at 3:57 AM Post #36,911 of 63,671
So, good news and great news.

Good news:

Yesterday I had errands to run from noon until well after sundown and I spent the entire day with my ZSR.



I have to say that the ZSR was an excellent companion. My fatigue-free session was more than nine hours and I absolutely loved every minute of it.

There was more than enough micro-detail on tracks that I am thoroughly familiar with. Serving up all the micro-detail one can handle on the go with zero fatigue is impressive enough but to simultaneously deliver a rich midrange with defined and authoritative bass in equal measure is what makes the ZSR so special to me. I had an excellent seal throughout the day using the eartips that came with my BGVP DM5. The isolation wasn't as impressive as the ZS3's isolation but few IEMs isolate that well. I'd say the ZSR has about 85% of the ZS3's isolation for my ears.

The ZS6 has been my favorite IEM for the last year but my ZS6 will never be led outdoors because while they are a ton of fun they are also a more analytical listen due to the voluminous amount of detail across the frequency spectrum.

All in all, I stand by my original review of the ZSR. It's a very, very good IEM at it's ridiculously low $28 price tag. Just do yourself a favor and move past the stock cables.

These should suffice at $11 (disregard the MMCX portion of the picture)




Bottom line:

The ZSR is my go-to IEM for the great outdoors.


The great news:

The BA10 is in the house!




I spent three hours with them and I'll be spending the next few days pouring over different genres to report back as accurate as is humanly possible (for my ears). My ears are on the larger size so I had zero discomfort......after three hours with a rectangular shaped IEM. I haven't even pulled out the memory wire so I can install my silicone earhooks yet. That's a good sign for those of you that like the memory wire or for those of you with large ears.

First impressions are as follows:

If you liked the sound signature of the original matte black ZS3 and you have larger ears then you will like the BA10. Initial impressions are that it sounds like a more refined "original" ZS3.

Indeed, I pulled out my matte ZS3 for comparison purposes (though this is a photo of the glossy ZS3). Be aware that the original ZS3 was shipped with "NO" foam in the nozzle. The foam makes the ZS3 boomy and muffled.




Took me about two hours of playtime to place the sound signature. Then I pulled out my ZS3's and boom......there it was. Then I searched for FR graphs and.....voila!


I'm not necessarily a big follower of "The Phonograph.net", but their graphs coincide with what I am hearing.






The midrange and bass are on equal footing. Bass is full-on and midrange is rich.
Note that the treble trails off in similar fashion to the ZS3. This is also how I hear it.


This next FR graph is AntDroid's and it is close to what I am hearing, although, to my ears the red line should be where the green line is because, again, the bass and midrange are on equal footing. That would also mean that the AS10 midrange would still climb higher (all things being equal) and the AS10 midrange would have slightly more presence than the BA10 midrange (B9 can probably confirm or deny my hypothesis since he owns both IEMs).





For me, wide-bore shallow depth silicone eartips worked best. The wide-bore may assist in the bass having a more diffuse presentation allowing the midrange to come slightly more forward than you see in the above graph. Again, to my ears, the bass and midrange are on equal footing. With narrow-bore silicone eartips the upper-midrange was borderline strident on occasion.

My matte black ZS3 sounds clear; the midrange is just as prominent and clean as the slammin' bass. The BA10 sounds like a cleaner, smoother ZS3 a few tiers up in timbre while displaying much higher resolution.

And that bass......
thus far, it sounds like a very clean dynamic driver that takes no prisoners.
Again, this is with wide-bore silicone eartips and the BA10 coupled to my bright-leaning ZuneHD. Next I'll use the more powerful Fiio X3(i) and note any nuances that may or may not exist.


I'm still not a fan of the red and gold. I'll wait until the price drops then I'll pick up the BA10 in black and red. I'll swap the faceplates and the end result will be one all red BA10 that I can use white or copper cables with and one black BA10 with a gold faceplate that I can use a black cable with.

If anyone has a link to the black KZ cable with the 90°+/- angle please share it. They seemed to have disappeared almost as quickly as they appeared.








https://www.google.com/amp/s/m.aliexpress.com/item/32899379734.html


I know about Kinboofi and other black cables but the round connector head coupled to a box-like receptacle will bug me to no end......even if said cables are superior.


In the end I'll likely use the BA10's laid back sound signature for chillout sessions.

Zero 7 - Home


Lilac Wine (Album Leaf Remix)


Tiesto - Close To You


Try (Sweet Westy mix)


There you go. I recently bought one of these. It sure makes my black ZS6 look good.
https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/0jHd0qV
 
Oct 10, 2018 at 5:40 AM Post #36,913 of 63,671
That's the zs5 v2 you got there. Treble is kinda hot similar to zs6. Zs5 v1 is much much better but it's hard to find nowadays.
No they are not fake at all. I have seen only few black boxes from few reviewers. But what do you mean they are sound bad ? If its because of Treble The ZS5 and ZS6s are treble cannons so..
Thanks guys.

They have pretty harsh treble. I'm still ok with hot treble but these are affecting the mids making them sound rather breathy/raspy. Overall dynamics is also not too great, they're not as good as most reviewers hyped them to be. The V1 needs to be a lot lot better than these V2 to receive high praises.
 
Oct 10, 2018 at 10:39 AM Post #36,914 of 63,671
My ED16 finally arrived. Thank you all who recommended these, money well spent. I am surprised how similar it sounds to v80. I in fact put ed16 on right and v80 on left side of my bt3 cable and played at the same time. Ed16 almost sounded as good as v80, at least when using bt3 cable.

Build quality and stock cable? V80 hands down.

Fyi I used stock tips.
20181010_074737-2080x1560.jpg
20181010_075244-2080x1560.jpg
 
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Oct 10, 2018 at 9:02 PM Post #36,915 of 63,671
A pleasant surprise today when a friend sent me a ZSA. He bought that and the AS10 and raved about the AS10. I guess he didn't need the ZSA so he gifted me. Strangely I have not been able to get good results with them. I've tried every tip on the market and just can't get the sound quality I expect from a KZ product. A long list of better KZ earphones would certainly include the ZS6 and ES3. I've read many favorable reviews of the ZSA, but my results differ, they are hard to drive and light on bass.
 

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