[LaughMoreDaily]

I'm not a 'audiophile' by any means. My listening is mainly thru :
- Samsung Galaxy S3 that someone gave me (it has a Wolfson DAC) as my DAP. I cannot afford a real DAP.

According to this guy, daps may be dead (I.e. niche forever:

 

[Conest]

Canadians can't order big tickets online right now. Apparently, the packages due to our postal strike may not come in until March. Thanks for the help though.

Until March ???

 

[voicemaster]

This song sounds amazing on the ZSN.

 

[DocHoliday]

Ya know.......

This little doohickey has been around for several weeks now but there isn't much talk about it. I know there has been some talk.......but not much.

I'll have to get a set and see if KZ has succeeded in giving us a great single dynamic IEM that seals like a CIEM (for most of us that is).

 

[gbrgbr]

As for price differences, I can only speculate. What I do is simply search for the lowest price available and from a seller with a high satisfaction rating. Then there's the matter with shipping costs and customs duties. My term for it is bargain-searching. The husband laughlingly calls it penny-crimping.

The KZ BA10 Original Cable is type-B (angled) according to KZ, right? So it should fit (after cutting) the ZSA?
Just $3.59 from the VS Audio Store on AE. And, free AliExpress Standard Shipping which I found to be quick and reliable.

 

[CoiL]

Coil, only the vent situated at the inner colored plastic shell of the ZSN was covered. As a matter of fact, I went by the initial assumption that the 3 faceplate holes covered may not have an audible effect, which assumption was in turn partly based on your earlier post about them:

Which hole on the plastic inner side did You cover? The one above the driver which has fabric filter under hole? Or the one nearer to the side of plastic shell?
If the latter one, then there is NO difference in sound. Tested it and no difference. If You heard difference, then it is probably placebo.
But if You covered the vent above driver, then I agree with Your observations.

What does the oxidation do to the sound, etc? When you say it doesn't measure so good, are you speaking of the flow of the sound through the cable or does it damage the sound when it's oxidized or can't flow as well?

Look, Your "jokes" are insulting.
I don`t care about oxidization and my point wasn`t about it. I was talking about cable impedance/resistance which can be measured by multimeter and contributes into sound in certain cases.
Most of the time chi-fi cables measure around 0.5-0.8 Ohm and there really is no difference into sound most of times.
Now, I do not want to discuss and argue about this subject in this forum as I really do not care about what You think.
But please, respect others input and experience.

 

[SybilLance]

Which hole on the plastic inner side did You cover? The one above the driver which has fabric filter under hole? Or the one nearer to the side of plastic shell?
If the latter one, then there is NO difference in sound. Tested it and no difference. If You heard difference, then it is probably placebo.
But if You covered the vent above driver, then I agree with Your observations.

Sorry wasn't specific enough.

 

[CYoung234]

I may be new to this forum, but I've certainly seen nicer comments.
The consensus I referred to is the strong majority of the opinions including reviews (and importantly here also including my own experience).


I am sorry to hear about your troubles.
You can be the lucky guy as well.
My orders were from the same seller you quoted earlier. Two separate orders. Worked well. I rarely use E-bay these days.

PhonoPhi, I am sorry if my comments offended you. They were not meant to. My personal experience and method for assessing what to buy is not based on figuring out what most people think about something. For that reason, I personally tend to discount posts where people try to conclude that many or most persons say such and such...

Rather, I find posters who, over time, show that what they like and dislike lines up more with my own personal listening experience. I weight their opinions higher than others whose musical tastes and goals are different from mine. I pay attention to what genres of music people listen to, as that affects opinions greatly. I also try to list my musical tastes and what I am looking for in iems when I post my experiences, as I personally find that to be helpful when others list that in their reviews. I personally do not pay much attention to fr curves and such, as they do not tell the whole story or even the real story for me. That is my personal opinion, based on working in the engineering field and being a musician...

 

[Tihstea]

Thanks so much for the instant response, @voicemaster.

I see that the relatively longer nozzle of the ZSN has this more acute protrusion angle from its shell. This, plus the sloping profile you mention must be the reason why it is so comfortable and such an easy fit for me. Clearly KZ did so many things right with the ZSN.

On the other hand, I anticipate a certain difficulty, fit-wise, with the AS10. For it to have a good fit and for its nozzle to properly align with my ear canal it would have to be pressed further into my ear and that straight and edgy inner portion may exert undue pressure on my concha, leading to pain and discomfort over time.

That's why I can listen to music with the ED16 for only a very short time.

Oh dear...

You are completely right. The AS10 is huge for me and I do feel ear pain after wearing them for a while. I don't know about the rest of the people here, but I actually mainly listen to music on my IEMs when I'm walking outside. The AS10 creates such a strong seal, that whenever my cable is dangling around, I can actually hear it catching the corners of my jacket, shirt, etc., and that sound also hurts my ears. This, of course, is even more present when I'm using them with an 8 core TRN cable, which I now regret buying, less so with the stock one. (call me crazy, but I hate the memory plastic thingie around the ear, and I'm considering removing it with a sharp object, on both cables that is). Also, I like the way they sound and all, but (excuse me, for I am an audio noob) they are too forward? sounding. As in, the sound is so close to my brain that it's actually a bit unpleasant. That could be due to the nozzle having to be pressed further into the ear, as you said.

As I said I'm a complete novice and probably tone deaf, but at this current moment I prefer my ATRs over them but possibly because I've used them for such a long time (2 years or so). Yes, I'd say they sound a bit dull, but you know that feeling of relief after needing a scratch. That's exactly what I feel when I switch from the AS10 to the ATR. And that's very sad, since I prefer the sound of the AS10 by far. Also the ATRs weigh considerably less.

All of this combined with me having non-optimal audio sources (which produce some hiss in the AS10) lead me to the following decision: I'm probably buying a ZSN along with a FiiO BTR3 or a shanling m0, not sure which one yet. But on 12.12 the BTR3 will cost around 60 usd on taobao, and I assume the ZSN will have some price reduction as well. I'm undecided on which ZSN color to buy though, seeing that there is some difference between the models, based on the replies in this thread. People seem to like the purple one and its cable, but they also say the cable is thicker? Which would suggest that my problem with it catching on the edges of my clothing would make it rather unpleasant. If I could, I would get an old school type of cable without any type of edge. Also, call me insane, but buying a separate audio device when you already own a reasonably expensive phone which will always have a better user interface just seems impractical to me. Ergo, my BTR3 choice, which is hopefully a silent source. (Right now I'm using an ancient iphone 4, but I plan on getting an 8 plus, or some random android phone)

Rant over, lots of controversial opinions, I know, but those are my weird preferences, and I am by no means an audio connoisseur.

Can anyone confirm once and for all if there is a difference or not between the different ZSN colors? Also any experience with the BTR3 or shanling m0 as a bluetooth receiver would be quite helpful.

 

[LaughMoreDaily]

Look, Your "jokes" are insulting.
I don`t care about oxidization and my point wasn`t about it. I was talking about cable impedance/resistance which can be measured by multimeter and contributes into sound in certain cases.
Most of the time chi-fi cables measure around 0.5-0.8 Ohm and there really is no difference into sound most of times.
Now, I do not want to discuss and argue about this subject in this forum as I really do not care about what You think.
But please, respect others input and experience.

If you're going to tell me that you don't like my jokes, at least say so when responding to a post where I actually made a joke. I was asking you a question, ignorantly, as I'm not an audio pro like most of the other people here. If you don't like my posts, ignore them. If you really hate them, quote them and send me a private message so we can discuss them.

Either way, thanks for the enlightening comments about sound.

 

[PhonoPhi]

PhonoPhi, I am sorry if my comments offended you. They were not meant to. My personal experience and method for assessing what to buy is not based on figuring out what most people think about something. For that reason, I personally tend to discount posts where people try to conclude that many or most persons say such and such...

Rather, I find posters who, over time, show that what they like and dislike lines up more with my own personal listening experience. I weight their opinions higher than others whose musical tastes and goals are different from mine. I pay attention to what genres of music people listen to, as that affects opinions greatly. I also try to list my musical tastes and what I am looking for in iems when I post my experiences, as I personally find that to be helpful when others list that in their reviews. I personally do not pay much attention to fr curves and such, as they do not tell the whole story or even the real story for me. That is my personal opinion, based on working in the engineering field and being a musician...

CYoung234, I am sorry for my overreaction. I understand that "consensus" was too strong of a word. I never meant it as an opinion to agree but rather as an opinion existing and to be argued with. (Being in science I rather take a point as a working hypothesis and yes, those curves...)
ZS10 was my first KZ that got me into KZ world
I missed the treble quite a bit with my KZ10 but I took the useful points on amplification and trying with low impedance sources.
On a simpler plane of existence, I am very happy with my AS10.
That is the greatest strength of KZ that they have all the different models so everyone can find one (or two) for their taste (and KZ prices allows to try a bunch)

I listen to classical music largely.

 

[groucho69]

According to this guy, daps may be dead (I.e. niche forever:

Meh

 

[SybilLance]

PhonoPhi, I am sorry if my comments offended you. They were not meant to. My personal experience and method for assessing what to buy is not based on figuring out what most people think about something. For that reason, I personally tend to discount posts where people try to conclude that many or most persons say such and such...

Rather, I find posters who, over time, show that what they like and dislike lines up more with my own personal listening experience. I weight their opinions higher than others whose musical tastes and goals are different from mine. I pay attention to what genres of music people listen to, as that affects opinions greatly. I also try to list my musical tastes and what I am looking for in iems when I post my experiences, as I personally find that to be helpful when others list that in their reviews. I personally do not pay much attention to fr curves and such, as they do not tell the whole story or even the real story for me. That is my personal opinion, based on working in the engineering field and being a musician...

CYoung234, I am sorry for my overreaction. I understand that "consensus" was too strong of a word. I never meant it as an opinion to agree but rather as an opinion existing and to be argued with. (Being in science I rather take a point as a working hypothesis and yes, those curves...)
ZS10 was my first KZ that got me into KZ world
I missed the treble quite a bit with my KZ10 but I took the useful points on amplification and trying with low impedance sources.
On a simpler plane of existence, I am very happy with my AS10.
That is the greatest strength of KZ that they have all the different models so everyone can find one (or two) for their taste (and KZ prices allows to try a bunch)

I listen to classical music largely.

And I could give you both a hug!

I love this thread!

 

[Luxed]

According to this guy, daps may be dead (I.e. niche forever:

I don't agree with him on a lot of points.
First he bought a 1500$ device because it runs Android?
I have a DAP with me because it does NOT run android and I don't have to baby-sit it like my phone.
I think when you start getting into streaming services, buetooth would do fine fo me.
His "solution" is way too bulky for me because the dragonfly would be out of my pockets all the time...
Something's not right the sound quality too: his 1500$ sounds LESS good than the pairing he did with his phone? It weirds me out but may be 100% true, I can't say anything because I haven't tried but I still find it weird.
And also, he pairs a 1500$ DAP with the KZ ATE? I like KZ, but shouldn't you spend more on your iem if you spend that much on your dap?
Overall a weird video that shows another way of listening to music but doesn't convince me at all.

What are your thoughts on his video (everyone else)?

Edit: I can see the guy has multiple videos on the subject. And in its third part, he gives the only solution I would be comfortable with: the LG v30 which is a good phone and a really good music player. But my main complain with this arises: no hardware buttons to control music playback (previous, play pause, next). Most of the buttons presses on my DAP are when the device is IN my pocket not out of it.

 

[CoiL]

If you're going to tell me that you don't like my jokes, at least say so when responding to a post where I actually made a joke. I was asking you a question, ignorantly, as I'm not an audio pro like most of the other people here. If you don't like my posts, ignore them. If you really hate them, quote them and send me a private message so we can discuss them.

Either way, thanks for the enlightening comments about sound.

No problem. Just Your jokes can be sometimes taken insulting (sarcastic) and provocating into general thread trashing. Sorry if I responded harsh.
I`m just trying to provide my personal experience and information. If something needs clarifying, then I`m open to answering if asked nicely

Peace!