[chinmie]

There will never be "perfect" iem no matter the price nor brand. And again, sound is subjective, what good for you might be ****ty for me or vice versa.

i agree. now i think of collecting my earphones like completing a golf club set or a toolbox:
buy several earphones each for specific needs/uses, and buy the best price to performance ratio (or sometimes just the best sounding that i can afford) for that particular category.

because no matter how good an earphone sound, the ears will sometimes get bored, and it will not excel in all kinds of songs.

so for me, when it comes to earphones it's better to have several great ones than a single excellent one (and also better than too many mediocre/just good enough ones)

 

[LaughMoreDaily]

There will never be "perfect" iem no matter the price nor brand. And again, sound is subjective, what good for you might be ****ty for me or vice versa.

When I say perfect, I mean listenable in a high quality way. Check my signature for many high quality iems, none of them are KZ.

I'm sorry KZ!

After buying 15 iems I don't think I ended up liking the tuning? Or the lack of quality components? No Knowles?

 

[Seazer]

When I say perfect, I mean listenable in a high quality way. Check my signature for many high quality iems, none of them are KZ.

I'm sorry KZ!

After buying 15 iems I don't think I ended up liking the tuning? Or the lack of quality components? No Knowles?

Have you heard the ZSX? They legitimately sound different than every other KZ I've tried. I seriously doubt us posting here are paid shills lmao. Seems a little silly to write off a company forever

 

[voicemaster]

When I say perfect, I mean listenable in a high quality way. Check my signature for many high quality iems, none of them are KZ.

I'm sorry KZ!

After buying 15 iems I don't think I ended up liking the tuning? Or the lack of quality components? No Knowles?

Are there any iems cost under $100 with knowles? Most of KZ iems cost under $50 and only some cost over $100. If you want quality component, you should look elsewhere imho. Maybe look into campfire audio, 1964audio, jhaudio, noble audio, etc. I think you are missing the point of KZ, budget iem that can hang with the big and much more expensive guys. And I think they really do a good job lately. IMHO.

 

[LaughMoreDaily]

Have you heard the ZSX? They legitimately sound different than every other KZ I've tried. I seriously doubt us posting here are paid shills lmao. Seems a little silly to write off a company forever

I'm not sure how I can hear the ZSX without buying them? Lol.

I posted a message a while back saying I wanted to check out other companies iems to be better educated on the iem market. I'm not writing KZ off as I love their isolation and style.

I'm not sure what my next iem will be. Maybe a Tin Audio T2? TFZ T2? Another BQEYZ?

 

[voicemaster]

I'm not sure how I can hear the ZSX without buying them? Lol.

I posted a message a while back saying I wanted to check out other companies iems to be better educated on the iem market. I'm not writing KZ off as I love their isolation and style.

I'm not sure what my next iem will be. Maybe a Tin Audio T2? TFZ T2? Another BQEYZ?

Why not campfire? They are full of quality iirc. High end too. And add Astell and kern dap while at it because why not they are quality.

 

[LaughMoreDaily]

Are there any iems cost under $100 with knowles? Most of KZ iems cost under $50 and only some cost over $100. If you want quality component, you should look elsewhere imho. Maybe look into campfire audio, 1964audio, jhaudio, noble audio, etc. I think you are missing the point of KZ, budget iem that can hang with the big and much more expensive guys. And I think they really do a good job lately. IMHO.

Audiosense uses Knowles BA's.

Something is wrong with a brand when you have to change the cable to make the iem sound good. Honestly, KZ should be shipping all iems with the ZSN copper cable. That move alone will raise the brand quality immensely. And, better their sound quality.

My max budget on an iem is $75USD.

KZ doesn't hang with anybody. In terms of high quality smooth sound they're still trying to.

 

[1clearhead]

@LaughMoreDaily

Have you tried the sister company CCA? They are starting to take tuning very seriously and to another level. I don't see no faults in their latest model; the C12. No metallic-like sound creeping up at you, especially using the star line silicone ear tips, IMHO.

-Clear

 

[voicemaster]

Audiosense uses Knowles BA's.

Something is wrong with a brand when you have to change the cable to make the iem sound good. Honestly, KZ should be shipping all iems with the ZSN copper cable.

My max budget on an iem is $75USD.

KZ doesn't hang with anybody. In terms of high quality smooth sound they're still trying to.

I enjoyed my brown cabled ZSN just fine really. Maybe you should try the zsx or c12, they are pretty smooth imho.

 

[baskingshark]

Are there any iems cost under $100 with knowles? Most of KZ iems cost under $50 and only some cost over $100. If you want quality component, you should look elsewhere imho. Maybe look into campfire audio, 1964audio, jhaudio, noble audio, etc. I think you are missing the point of KZ, budget iem that can hang with the big and much more expensive guys. And I think they really do a good job lately. IMHO.

Audiosense uses Knowles BA's.

Something is wrong with a brand when you have to change the cable to make the iem sound good. Honestly, KZ should be shipping all iems with the ZSN copper cable.

My max budget on an iem is $75USD.

KZ doesn't hang with anybody.

Yeah audiosense has some sub $100 USD IEMs using knowles drivers.
Another IEM I just bought recently is the Hisenior B5+ at $78 USD containing 5 knowles BA (now it is still on AE at $83 USD if u follow them).
And yesterday Brainwavz audio released a triple driver knowles BA @ $99.50 called the Brainwavz Hex: https://www.brainwavzaudio.com/products/hex-triple-balanced-armature-earphones

These past 2 years, the CHIFI companies have really been giving us good quality at decent prices IMHO.
And apparently some TOTL IEMs use Bellsing drivers, so sometimes costs doesn't equate linearly with quality. =)

But I gotta say even though KZ had some misses this year, their KZ ZS10 Pro which I use as my daily commuting driver is splendid (even though it doesn't have Knowles drivers). And it seems the reviews for the KZ ZSX and ZS7 are great too.

I think KZ is one of the excellent companies at the sub $50 USD pricing, but there may be better brands at the $100 pricing. (KZ AS16 wasn't too successful for them at the > $100 USD mark, where they had to compete with other big boys).

 

[chinmie]

When I say perfect, I mean listenable in a high quality way. Check my signature for many high quality iems, none of them are KZ.

I'm sorry KZ!

After buying 15 iems I don't think I ended up liking the tuning? Or the lack of quality components? No Knowles?

if you don't mind me asking, not necessarily what you've owned, what is the best sounding iem that you've ever heard (with disregard of the price)?

 

[linkzex]

is there any ear tip you guys recommend for zsx? I hear spinfit is good, which model should I get?

 

[emeraldstone]

is there any ear tip you guys recommend for zsx? I hear spinfit is good, which model should I get?

If you are getting Spinfits, the CP155 will fit as it has a diameter range of 6-7mm (the ZSX is ~6mm nozzle diameter). I would personally give the tips that come included in the ZSX a try before deciding to buy different tips. If you want to prioritize isolation, foam tips are usually the ideal choice.

 

[courierdriver]

i agree. now i think of collecting my earphones like completing a golf club set or a toolbox:
buy several earphones each for specific needs/uses, and buy the best price to performance ratio (or sometimes just the best sounding that i can afford) for that particular category.

because no matter how good an earphone sound, the ears will sometimes get bored, and it will not excel in all kinds of songs.

so for me, when it comes to earphones it's better to have several great ones than a single excellent one (and also better than too many mediocre/just good enough ones)

In over 40 years in this audio hobby, I can totally agree. It used to be that people had to buy and sell their home audio speakers all the time, to move up to the next level of SQ. With these earphones, all you need is a decent sounding source...and a person can own many with different kinds of sound signatures. Just like speakers; there ain't no BEST FOR EVERYTHING...it's all about different flavors of sound that matches up best with different genres and your mood at the moment. I think back to when I owned my favorite speakers (Totem Model 1) and how much I enjoyed them with all the different types of music I listened to. They were great on some genres...not so much on others. I always wished I could afford to keep multiple pairs of speakers, amps, sources, etc for all the different kinds of music that appeals to me. Then, I discovered headphones and more recently, iems, The advancements in micro driver tech is crazy good, and it's now possible to buy many good quality units...for much less than a single set of quality home speakers. I look at iems like speakers/transducers. Now, instead of having to rely on a single set of speakers for all the different kinds of music I enjoy; I can enjoy many sets of iems to match whatever I feel like listening to at the moment. With a speaker based system; I'd have to deal with a variety of speakers, amps, preamps, sources...and more importantly...room acoustics. All for a considerably more amount of $. I'm done with home audi . I'd rather spend my coin on multiple sets of iems that I can connect to my portable dac/amp and run it off my smartphone...or get a DAP. Smaller, simpler and equal to or better than a multi thousand dollar home system.

 

[Jmop]

In over 40 years in this audio hobby, I can totally agree. It used to be that people had to buy and sell their home audio speakers all the time, to move up to the next level of SQ. With these earphones, all you need is a decent sounding source...and a person can own many with different kinds of sound signatures. Just like speakers; there ain't no BEST FOR EVERYTHING...it's all about different flavors of sound that matches up best with different genres and your mood at the moment. I think back to when I owned my favorite speakers (Totem Model 1) and how much I enjoyed them with all the different types of music I listened to. They were great on some genres...not so much on others. I always wished I could afford to keep multiple pairs of speakers, amps, sources, etc for all the different kinds of music that appeals to me. Then, I discovered headphones and more recently, iems, The advancements in micro driver tech is crazy good, and it's now possible to buy many good quality units...for much less than a single set of quality home speakers. I look at iems like speakers/transducers. Now, instead of having to rely on a single set of speakers for all the different kinds of music I enjoy; I can enjoy many sets of iems to match whatever I feel like listening to at the moment. With a speaker based system; I'd have to deal with a variety of speakers, amps, preamps, sources...and more importantly...room acoustics. All for a considerably more amount of $. I'm done with home audi . I'd rather spend my coin on multiple sets of iems that I can connect to my portable dac/amp and run it off my smartphone...or get a DAP. Smaller, simpler and equal to or better than a multi thousand dollar home system.

It’s feedback like this that steers me away from home audio. Now that is an expensive hobby, and one that is much harder to manage.