[voicemaster]

Siblings rivalry!!

 

[courierdriver]

Siblings rivalry!!

So, whatcha think? Love my ZS10 PRO. Alot. My most used iem at the moment. Don't hear the "steely highs" that many talk about. Which is the better upgrade path... CCA C12 or KZ Terminator? Iyho, of course.

 

[voicemaster]

So, whatcha think? Love my ZS10 PRO. Alot. My most used iem at the moment. Don't hear the "steely highs" that many talk about. Which is the better upgrade path... CCA C12 or KZ Terminator? Iyho, of course.

I will do more extensive listening since I got nothing to do lol.

 

[baskingshark]

So, whatcha think? Love my ZS10 PRO. Alot. My most used iem at the moment. Don't hear the "steely highs" that many talk about. Which is the better upgrade path... CCA C12 or KZ Terminator? Iyho, of course.

I gave away my KZ ZS10 Pro a few months back, but if IIRC, it did a fair job of reproducing timbre for violins in the treble frequencies (not recorded violins but live up close violins which had a bit of harshness with steel strings). It won't beat most DD sets like BLON BL-03, KBEAR Diamond and Toneking Ninetails in timbre, but maybe head to head with other BA treble sets it does fairly well (say versus some of my older TRN models and even some westones).

I think the ZS10 Pro doesn't fair as well in timbre for woodwinds and brass instruments. Sounded a bit artificial compared to DD sets, but this is just my subjective opinion. But then again, in general timbre of BA sets won't be as good as DD sets; I've auditioned some more expensive BA sets like QDC Anole VX and their timbre is still not as natural as pure DD sets, but of course multi BAs have their own strengths and weaknesses compared to DD; so ideally we should compare similar transducers rather than comparing apples and oranges. And of course our music genres we listen to is also important (or less important) for timbre of instruments.

So, timbre for woodwinds/brass instruments aside, this is really just nitpicking the ZS10 Pro. I still think the ZS10 Pro has superb price to performance ratio for the cheap price. I still recommend it to some of my friends, but perhaps nowadays it has been superceded by the ZSX for a few bucks more. For sure, just 2 - 3 years back, it wouldn't be possible to get this kind of sound quality at $35ish USD.

 

[IEManiac]

So, whatcha think? Love my ZS10 PRO. Alot. My most used iem at the moment. Don't hear the "steely highs" that many talk about. Which is the better upgrade path... CCA C12 or KZ Terminator? Iyho, of course.

The upgrade path takes one out of KZ territory.

 

[Slater]

For sure, just 2 - 3 years back, it wouldn't be possible to get this kind of sound quality at $35ish USD.

Ain't that the truth!

Every year I am blown away at what is currently available vs just a few years prior.

Look at the T800 - a solid resin shell with 8 Knowles drivers, Knowles tuning dampers, crossover, not 1 but 2 braided cables, competent tuning, great customer service, AND a Pelican style hard case? 5 years ago you'd be talking $2-$3k. But all that for under $300 is simply mind blowing.

 

[baskingshark]

Ain't that the truth!

Every year I am blown away at what is currently available vs just a few years prior.

Look at the T800 - a solid resin shell with 8 Knowles drivers, Knowles tuning dampers, crossover, not 1 but 2 braided cables, AND a Pelican style hard case? 5 years ago you'd be talking $2-$3k.

Agreed. We gotta thank the CHIFI gods for giving us a small taste of audiophile heaven for reasonable prices. Great time to be in this hobby, with so many choices too to suit every preference. I don't remember buying any rubbish CHIFI in 2019 actually. A pity the coronavirus possibly set the CHIFI industry back a few months in terms of development and production, but they seem to be heading back to full steam.

I'm actually more worried for the western audio companies this year. Recession is probably gonna hit globally due to the coronavirus, though people might possibly still buy CHIFI due to their good price to performance ratio. But the western companies especially TOTL niche ones, may likely take a huge hit, unless they innovate or give more competitive pricing.

 

[IEManiac]

Ain't that the truth!

Every year I am blown away at what is currently available vs just a few years prior.

Look at the T800 - a solid resin shell with 8 Knowles drivers, Knowles tuning dampers, crossover, not 1 but 2 braided cables, competent tuning, great customer service, AND a Pelican style hard case? 5 years ago you'd be talking $2-$3k. But all that for under $300 is simply mind blowing.

Hard not to conclude that Western brands were running a shake-down racket all this time, fleecing us when they could have offered much better value.

 

[voicemaster]

From my hearing, the ZSX and C12 are very similar in term of sound signature. The most noticeable different is the mid and treble. The bass is very similar imho. The mid is a little bit more forward on C12 which makes snare drum and vocal more pronounce (maybe like +0.5db more) than the ZSX. While the ZSX has a tad more treble which makes it sound more airy (by not much). Cymbals has more decay on the ZSX compare to C12 and ZS10pro. So, what about the ZS10pro? The ZS10pro is like a standard. It does almost everything right imho, but when comparing with the other two (ZSX and C12), you will notice a subtle yet noticeable differences between those three.

If we take ZS10pro as a base, the bass on both ZSX and C12 is a little bit tighter. You can hear more the "click" sound from the beater from kick drum.
The mid is the same actually from ZS10pro and ZSX tho classic guitar sounds better on the ZSX. The C12 has more forward mid than the other two.
The treble is different on all of them. I usually use cymbals as my test and the ZSX has the best cymbals sound from the three. It has better decay and it just makes the sound more spacious and airy. The C12 has better decay than the ZS10pro, but just a tad short from the ZSX.

All in all, they are a very good sounding IEM. If I have to pick one today, I would go with the ZSX as it suits my preference more than the other two tho I wouldn't mind if I only have the ZS10pro or the C12.

 

[rayliam80]

Are we going to see a wired set from KZ this year?

 

[raccoon city]

Yep, and it shall be called the KZ KoronaviruZ.

 

[Nimweth]

During this lockdown I have been digging out a few IEMs which haven't seen the light of day for a while. Today I have been listening to the CCA A10 (5BA). Very impressive sound, up there with my other all BA sets I have been enjoying, BA10 and TRN BA5. Quite a bright but very detailed sound. Anyone else out there like these? Not strictly KZ, I know, but the CCA thread is very quiet. Are they going to release any more models? C18 never materialised.

 

[Podster]

Sounds as good as they look Or as the screen says "Bad Boys"

 

[peskypesky]

Just ordered the Blon BL03 from AliExpress and am looking forward to hearing them.

Currently using KZ ED9, Yinjw P8, Rock Zircon and KS ZS5.

 

[peskypesky]

Sounds as good as they look Or as the screen says "Bad Boys"

I have the same DAP. I love the small size and low weight and use it more than my Fiio X1.