[darmanastartes]

What is this Cable 130 I keep seeing people mentioning? I was trying to find a link or something for it...

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32952865240.html

 

[toji]

Can someone give me a suggestion for a good kz iem
I listened to all kinds of music like pop, rock, jpop, kpop.

 

[Slater]

Can someone give me a suggestion for a good kz iem
I listened to all kinds of music like pop, rock, jpop, kpop.

Since you didn’t give a budget, I’ll put my favorite choices from cheapest to most expensive:

EDR1
ED9
ZSN
ZSN Pro
ZS7
CCA C10
ZS10 Pro

Be aware that there’s many other good choices besides KZ though. BQEYZ makes great IEMs, such as the KB100. And there’s loads of other brands too.

 

[nxnje]

Can someone give me a suggestion for a good kz iem
I listened to all kinds of music like pop, rock, jpop, kpop.

It depends on how much do you wanna spend.
I have EDR1, ED9, ZSN PRO, ZS10 PRO, ZS7, and had ZS3 and ZS6 as well in the past.
In my KZ's collection, if you want a good all-rounder, i would go with EDR1, ED9, ZSN Pro or ZS10 Pro.
Edr1 is v-shaped but for 3 euros you get monster value. I use them very often even if i have more expensive stuff in my collection.
Ed9 is another killer value IEM, and has two filters that you can even mod and try more combinations: ed9 have good soundstage, good bass and does everything well for the price.
ZSN Pro and ZS10 Pro are similar in terms of signature but the ZSN Pro has more emphasis in the highs which could be a bit more fatiguing, while ZS10 Pro does everything better with a perfect all-rounder signature.
ZS7 is terrific, moreover if you buy a silver upgrade cable: super soundstage, monstrous sub-bass... but their tonality and V-shape make them a little difficult to be recommended as an allrounder.

If i were you, i would go with the ZS10 Pro.

Be aware that there are many other brands that make very good earphones as well, KZ is not the only one that makes cheap-but-good stuff.

PS: whatever will be your final decision, make yourself a super gift: buy a pair of EDR1.
You won't find anything like that in the market for that price.. they're my best buy ever.

 

[citral23]

This stories of upgrade cables improving soundstage always crack me up lol

Electrons be like "guys, guys! It's a silver cable we're traveling. Let's honor it and reorganize ourselves to widen the soundstage!"

 

[Slater]

This stories of upgrade cables improving soundstage always crack me up lol

Electrons be like "guys, guys! It's a silver cable we're traveling. Let's honor it and reorganize ourselves to widen the soundstage!"

You’ve obviously never heard of the Magic of Mpingo:

http://www.shunmook.com/text1.htm

All you do is set the magic discs on top of your source or speakers, and “listen for the wonderful changes”. You can even put them on the floor and it makes the soundstage wider!

It’s patented, so it has to work!

 

[LaughMoreDaily]

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32952865240.html

Wow, it's $90 in my country.

 

[Nimweth]

You’ve obviously never heard of the Magic of Mpingo:

http://www.shunmook.com/text1.htm

All you do is set the magic discs on top of your source or speakers, and “listen for the wonderful changes”. You can even put them on the floor and it makes the soundstage wider!

It’s patented, so it has to work!

Does anyone remember Peter Belt and his electrostatic foils which purported to do the same thing? The only improvement these type of things make is to concentrate your attention. You listen more closely for any changes and hear more details. It's psychology.

 

[Coldheart29]

This stories of upgrade cables improving soundstage always crack me up lol

Electrons be like "guys, guys! It's a silver cable we're traveling. Let's honor it and reorganize ourselves to widen the soundstage!"

Well, if your stock cable is crappy enought have tens of ohms of resistance, an aftermarket one might in fact improve the sound of your earphones :V

 

[citral23]

Well, if your stock cable is ****ty enought have tens of ohms of resistance, an aftermarket one might in fact improve the sound of your earphones :V

There is 0 rationale to support this. An upgrade cable looks nicer, feels nicer, and is generally a nice thing to have, especially if the stock is as horrible as the browny tangly KZ.

It might have less microphonics and that's about it. It's literally impossible from a science pov that it improves soundstage, makes the sound "full bodied", let alone "pulls out the upper-frequency details and clarity while keeping the sound characteristics all familiar and original".

Even if it would, in fantasy land, it would be impossible to discern, because audio memory lasts about 4 seconds so you can't swap that fast to immediately compare.

In the end it's fairly safe to assume that electrons have no feelings, sorry.

 

[Coldheart29]

There is 0 rationale to support this. An upgrade cable looks nicer, feels nicer, and is generally a nice thing to have, especially if the stock is as horrible as the browny tangly KZ.

It might have less microphonics and that's about it. It's literally impossible from a science pov that it improves soundstage, makes the sound "full bodied", let alone "pulls out the upper-frequency details and clarity while keeping the sound characteristics all familiar and original".

Even if it would, in fantasy land, it would be impossible to discern, because audio memory lasts about 4 seconds so you can't swap that fast to immediately compare.

In the end it's fairly safe to assume that electrons have no feelings, sorry.

Then what about the general consensus that high impedance (yeah, sorry, that's what i meant in the last post, not resistance) outputs are generally bad for low impedance iems, (i think that's mostly about multi BA ones with crossovers tho)? I guess that a high impedance cable would have the same negative effects.

Of course any decent cable wouldn't have such issues, and i'm the first one that would "upgrade" a cable only for a matter of looks or comfort, but in those rare cases that an earphone might come with a real crappy cable, i'd bet it would make some difference.

 

[LaughMoreDaily]

A user on headfi thinks the new "gold" upgrade cable ruins the sound of his AS16. He says some of these cables aren't made for all KZ models.

Speaking of sound, I find the silver ZSN cable artificial sounding and not natural, as I like.

I walked by a couple guys busking today and they took my attention away from the ZSN and made it sound bad. If an iem can't compete with a couple guys singing on a street corner I am staying away from it.

Live music will never be as good as a recording but hey, these headphones are supposed to mimic it well.

 

[hakuzen]

There is 0 rationale to support this. An upgrade cable looks nicer, feels nicer, and is generally a nice thing to have, especially if the stock is as horrible as the browny tangly KZ.

It might have less microphonics and that's about it. It's literally impossible from a science pov that it improves soundstage, makes the sound "full bodied", let alone "pulls out the upper-frequency details and clarity while keeping the sound characteristics all familiar and original".

Even if it would, in fantasy land, it would be impossible to discern, because audio memory lasts about 4 seconds so you can't swap that fast to immediately compare.

In the end it's fairly safe to assume that electrons have no feelings, sorry.

you are lucky, you save lot of money..

 

[loomisjohnson]

You nailed it

It depends on how much do you wanna spend.
I have EDR1, ED9, ZSN PRO, ZS10 PRO, ZS7, and had ZS3 and ZS6 as well in the past.
In my KZ's collection, if you want a good all-rounder, i would go with EDR1, ED9, ZSN Pro or ZS10 Pro.
Edr1 is v-shaped but for 3 euros you get monster value. I use them very often even if i have more expensive stuff in my collection.
Ed9 is another killer value IEM, and has two filters that you can even mod and try more combinations: ed9 have good soundstage, good bass and does everything well for the price.
ZSN Pro and ZS10 Pro are similar in terms of signature but the ZSN Pro has more emphasis in the highs which could be a bit more fatiguing, while ZS10 Pro does everything better with a perfect all-rounder signature.
ZS7 is terrific, moreover if you buy a silver upgrade cable: super soundstage, monstrous sub-bass... but their tonality and V-shape make them a little difficult to be recommended as an allrounder.

If i were you, i would go with the ZS10 Pro.

Be aware that there are many other brands that make very good earphones as well, KZ is not the only one that makes cheap-but-good stuff.

PS: whatever will be your final decision, make yourself a super gift: buy a pair of EDR1.
You won't find anything like that in the market for that price.. they're my best buy ever.

 

[LaughMoreDaily]

It's interesting how the ZSN silver upgrade cable makes the Black ZSN sound bad. The music sounds artificial and fake.

I'm back to the stock cable again, let's see how this goes...