[Nimweth]

I just popped in the ED9s and listened to some classical music, using the dull brass filters. Wonderful! After months of using multi-driver IEMs it is remarkable how good the ED9 sounds with a micro DD. Soundstage is super and the tonality really natural and the transient response is quick and clean. If KZ revisited these with a detachable cable they'd be giant killers.

 

[igorneumann]

I just popped in the ED9s and listened to some classical music, using the dull brass filters. Wonderful! After months of using multi-driver IEMs it is remarkable how good the ED9 sounds with a micro DD. Soundstage is super and the tonality really natural and the transient response is quick and clean. If KZ revisited these with a detachable cable they'd be giant killers.

The ED9 doest stay in my ear, but I agree it sounds awesome!

I just bought some plastic earhooks that atrach to the cable to see if I can finally use them.

Spinfit did the job but I have just one and Im using it in the ED15, they are just too expensive (cost as much as the earphone itself).

 

[igorneumann]

Just received. Small case, easily fits in pocket. Removed buds, immediately connected to iPhone. Excellent fit first time.Am playing at around 95% volume, with my old ears.Excellent instrument separation, and width/depth of sound field.Treble is bright and clear, but not overpowering, a good depth of Bass,with no bleed up.Mids blend well, certainly not forward like some. More listening, to get a definite view.

Damn Im jealous... And glad you didnt found any obvious flaw in this "beta" (yet?). It sounds awesome!

Does it stick too far out in your ear?

Hope mine gets here soon.

 

[actorlife]

Just received. Small case, easily fits in pocket. Removed buds, immediately connected to iPhone. Excellent fit first time.Am playing at around 95% volume, with my old ears.Excellent instrument separation, and width/depth of sound field.Treble is bright and clear, but not overpowering, a good depth of Bass,with no bleed up.Mids blend well, certainly not forward like some. More listening, to get a definite view.

Don't keep us waiting too long. Really appreciate you posting. Looking forward to the battery life at 50 percent volume, mids, bass, treble sparkle and soundstage. Please make sure to share your review here as well: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/goi...re-we-there-yet.861024/page-675#post-15101328
Thanks.

 

[baskingshark]

I had W60, 846, but sold, as I get around 90% sound from Chi-fi.I also sold HD800, HEK,as I get around the same from Verum1. I think some manufactures will suffer sales, when more people find these type of products.

Fully agree. I would subjectively say my KZ ZS10 Pro can reach about 80 - 90% in sound quality of my westone W30 (in terms of details/clarity/bass/soundstage), but costs 10x less. If I had known about such great offerings from CHIFI before I had gotten the westone 3 years back, I would not have spent the cash for a marginal improvement.

I think the TOTL brands won't suffer as most CHIFI companies cannot reach their standard at this point in time, and there's always a niche market for the top end consumers.
It's the mid range/budget range western brands that will face some competition from CHIFI in the next few months, when more savvy consumers realize the money they are paying does not equate to as good a price: performance ratio as the CHIFI companies. More competition is always good for us consumers too.

But having said that, I have tried recommending CHIFI gear to my audiophile or band friends, and quite a number of them are snobbish when it comes to brand names, and would stick to their western brand gear without even wanting to test my stuff. Their common perception is that CHIFI has no reliable QC, which may be true for some products I gotta say. But I usually tell them that other than some TOTL gear, most of these western gear are made in China anyway (but maybe the western brands do have stricter QC before selling to consumers in order to maintain their brandname standards).

Slowly but surely, I think the budget/midFI range consumers would come around to see the possibilities that CHIFI can provide at a decent pricing, and in just a short span of the past 3 - 4 years, these CHIFI companies have already gotten a big footprint in this lower market segment. I'm very interested to see how they will evolve over the next few years.

 

[rayliam80]

For me it is sort of apples and oranges. The original ZS10 is still one of my favorite iems, even after buying the CCA C16 and ZS10 PRO. THe ZS10 has a bit looser bass, but for me, a lot of bass. Good balance for me with the ZS10. The ZS10 PRO is tighter, and instruments have a bit more oomph. The original ZS10 has better sound stage for me and is a bit airier. I keep going back and forth on these, and whichever one is in my ears becomes the favorite...

Unfortunately, for me, the C16 is starting to move into 3rd place, even though it costs as much as the other two combined. It is, for me, a bit too analytical, and is not engaging like the other two are.

@Tonymac136

I still use my ZS10 at least a few times a month. They're definitely warmer than the ZS10 Pro which I find to be fatiguing after awhile. I also like the mid-bass on the ZS10 which I feel like image bass guitar really well. Other instruments, it seems a bit more average. ZS10 Pro images instruments better overall though. Still, I enjoy the ZS10 for listening to older indie rock (80s - 90s stuff) and warm electronic stuff like Com Truise, for example. The ZS10 also needs a good source. The ZS10 sounds kinda awful with the iPad's headphone output when listening to music (Spotify) but in my V30 or my desktop headphone setup they sound much better. The ZS10 Pro sounds decent but useable with the iPad in comparison and fantastic with the V30 - so it seems less source dependent. And I don't have any trouble with the fit of the ZS10 despite being one of the largest IEMs in my collection. Some people had an issue with the short nozzle and the bulbous shell. The ZS10 Pro fits my ear well but I have to adjust them more so that one of the edges doesn't rub my ear too much. But once they're in properly, it's good to go. Something else to consider.

 

[Tonymac136]

Thanks for the feedback. I may just stick with the ZS10 for now as I have no issues with the fit, a lot of my listening is 1990s indie and most of my sources are reasonable

 

[LaughMoreDaily]

The ZS5 v2 sounds pretty awesome with the 8 core silver KZ cable. Thank goodness, cause with the stock cable it was average. A great bargain iem.

 

[SinisterDev]

I just got my ZS10 Pro's in today... And i think I'm love lol

 

[LaughMoreDaily]

A lot of my listening is 1990s indie and most of my sources are reasonable.

Which iems do you think output old recordings the best?

 

[rayliam80]

So I just did the spacer mod with my Tin Audio P1 to increase the bass presence and body with my Auvio tips. Sounds great. Then I thought what if I did it with the ZS10 Pro?

Bass. Lemme tell you....

If you felt like your ZS10 Pro was a little bass shy (which I don't think it is), try the spacer mod trick. @HungryPanda mentioned it months ago using mechanical keyboard silencer spacers on the KZ thread. I just sacrificed some old tips I'll never use by cutting the tube thinly to make the spacer. These sound more fun now. I may keep these on just for the heck of it....

 

[Tonymac136]

Which iems do you think output old recordings the best?

Based on the sets I have -
KZ ZS10 - sparkly and enjoyable - maybe not the most accurate with instruments. Downright painful with treble heavy recordings (Oasis - Definitely Maybe). Fatiguing after an hour.
Blon BL03 - Smooth and lush with good treble. Sound much better with an amp. Can be a bit enclosed and a bit lifeless with Spotify and a phone. Unforgiving of poor recordings. If I have all my IEMs to hand I will have either the Blons or the KZ in my ears.
Sennheiser IE 60 - very similar to the Blons but more of all the good and bad points
Tin T2. Jack of all trades, master of none. If I am in an eclectic mood, if I don't have an amp with me, the Tins are the ones I take.
TRN V80 - Like the KZ these are exciting sounding but they're probably my least favourite set of IEMs.
My home audio setup is Rega Planar 2 or Nad C541i, Nad C350, Wharfedale Pacific PI30. Head setup is either phone or Cambridge DacMagic into Little Dot 1+ or SMSL Sanskrit 6 into LD MK3. Everyday home cans are K702s and HE400i. I prefer fast accurate bass with some presence, authority in the mids and treble I prefer to be slightly elevated as my hearing is shot above about 14khz.

 

[Nimweth]

Further to my earlier post on the ED9, if you have one, try this:

Amazing soundstage and wonderfully natural timbre. And all at a bargain basement price! Go figure.

 

[Nimweth]

I have been using Spiral Dots on the ED9 (I know, they cost more than the earphones!) but in almost every case I find wide bore tips improve the sound of an IEM. So why don't manufacturers supply wide bore tips with IEMs? They must cost the same as standard tips.

 

[baskingshark]

I have been using Spiral Dots on the ED9 (I know, they cost more than the earphones!) but in almost every case I find wide bore tips improve the sound of an IEM. So why don't manufacturers supply wide bore tips with IEMs? They must cost the same as standard tips.

For that matter, a lot of budget CHIFI IEMs come with minimal accessories or rubbish stock tips/cables. (I'm looking at you ****, especially the horrendous red flange eartips).
Probably it's to keep costs low, but sometimes I feel they do a disservice to their decent IEMs by giving lousy eartips and cables. The less experienced consumer that doesn't roll tips would just go away thinking the sound is bad and they have lost future sales thereafter.