A quick update, surprised at the sibilance reports for the ZAX because I can't get mine to exhibit sibilance even on 99.99% pure silver. The details picked up, the treble became more defined as did the bass. And I ran through lots of genres to check out the range, I am very happy when listening to the ZAX's.
Going from Copper, to silver plated, to pure silver cables the ZAX kept delivering awesome enjoyable audio for me on the M15 and Topping A90 / D90 MQA.
After deciding that the KZ ZAX is a keeper, I moved on to the next new IEM - the BQEYZ Spring 2, and I swapped them directly for the KZ ZAX's on the 99.99% pure silver - right in the middle of playing the most potentially sibilant tracks I had recently heard,
The two Tenilles, and the Traveling Wilbury's:
Love, Heartbreak, & Everything in Between by Tenille Arts
(I really want to enjoy Amazon HD Music as much as I do Tidal, but to my head bopping ears Tidal has so much more definition, slam, and rocks solidly better A/B with Amazon HD Music...it's like the track wakes up when I switch over, UltraHD on Amazon, Hifi on Tidal - not even an MQA master: https://tidal.com/browse/track/145654147 )
...I went from rocking out with the ZAX's to the "ear bleeding sad sad" Spring 2's...Such an unpleasant sound I'd not heard since... Tinhifi P1's straight out of the box. This is the sound I fear from high end IEM's out of the box.
The ZAX's being pure joy right out of the box tricked me into hoping that was going to keep happening...not so. Sigh.
Then I spotted the Spring 2's bundled 4.4mm cable, two braided cords of many threads in a clear plastic - bright shiny Copper showing through the clear coating. And, I knew, "they know". BQEYZ knows the Spring 2 is too hot and spitty, and needs to be tamed.
Yup, the Spring 2 bundled cable makes the Spring 2 more bearable. The Spring 2's don't sound nice but they aren't anywhere near as bad - it's not immediately noticeable that they have mismatched drivers - which I hope even out after some burn-in.
What gives it away is the unpleasant feeling I get while listening to them - all of a sudden a couple of jabs of unpleasant sound hits my ears. Not fun - they apparently are like many IEM's and need lots of break-in - and on the scale of Blon BL-05 (7) to TinHiFi P1 (10), I'd expect the Spring 2's to be an "8" - needing a least a week or more of burn-in, and like the Blon BL-05 and TinHiFi P1's I can't wear the Spring 2's while they are burning in - mostly because I have the KZ ZAX's to wear
I'm gonna enjoy the KZ ZAX's for a while before moving on to the Mia Cat 8mm and NICEHCK NX7 MK3's, and hope the Spring 2's are ready after a long burn-in.
The Spring 2's have had about 15 hours of burn-in, and I am still hearing that "spitting bad sound" come out at times, and yes this is on their bundled copper cable. I subbed in the KBEAR 16 core silver plated and I like more of the sound, that is the enjoyable sound around the "spitting bad sound".
And, I keep wondering as on the Copper - "where's the Bass?" These things advertise a 13mm dynamic driver and I just don't hear any bass. What's up with that?
When I first put the Spring 2's on the 99.99% pure silver cable I was too busy fending off the shrill sounds to realize I wasn't hearing any bass - the KZ's with the 10mm driver have way more bass - solid well defined fun bass - and the Spring 2's didn't improve much on their bundled Copper cable. What a disappointment.
IDK, I don't think burn-in is gonna help enough to make me want to end up buying these Spring 2's, so sad, they are such a pretty Green color and the box comes with all the normal goodies - including a nice zippered pouch.
But, it comes down to the sound I hear, does it make me happy? No, the Spring 2's sound does not make me happy, not out of the box, not after 15 hours.
I'll keep going and hope they come through in the end. I'm not counting on it at this point. The difference? The TinHiFi P1's had a smooth connected sound, with no bad spitting mismatched drivers, it was a matter of honing the sharp edges. After 3 weeks of burn-in, now I love the TinHifi P1's.
IDK about the Spring 2's, this is something different.
I should mention that I did first try using the BQEYZ Spring 2 included tips, they are similar in construction to the AZLA SednaEarfit Size ML I rely on (both of the IEM's in the photo have them), but unfortunately the included sizes weren't quite what I needed to get a solid seal - they kept losing connection with my ear and the sound suffered for it. My notes above are with the AZLA SednaEarfit Size ML's attached.
I have swapped the stock cable on the ZAX for a 16 core SPC one from Hifi Hear. Wonderful improvements include staging, clarity and detail. Such a big bold sound, great for classical and film scores. This ZAX is shaping up to be top of the tree from KZ!
I have swapped the stock cable on the ZAX for a 16 core SPC one from Hifi Hear. Wonderful improvements include staging, clarity and detail. Such a big bold sound, great for classical and film scores. This ZAX is shaping up to be top of the tree from KZ!
amazed at how well ZAX reacts to filtering. their staging, dynamics, clarity, detail and being so easy to drive makes them perfect terminals for my chain in which the software side is so prominent. being able to craft the perfect listening experience for any music and any mood i'm in is the greatest gift.
amazed at how good ZAX sounds from a good dac like the axon 7 mini without any intervention
amazed for having listened to Ben Harper's Diamond on the inside exactly the way i've always wanted to but never been able
next step will be try to get the same sound from spotify and youtbe.
I'm loving the ZAX. It's like a more refined version of the ZS10 pro, ZS7 or ZSX, without losing the fun factor. Very good mid timbre for BAs as well, perhaps just a little brighter than ideal and there's a minor lift in upper mids/lower treble but is not too troublesome.
I'll keep going and hope they come through in the end. I'm not counting on it at this point. The difference? The TinHiFi P1's had a smooth connected sound, with no bad spitting mismatched drivers, it was a matter of honing the sharp edges. After 3 weeks of burn-in, now I love the TinHifi P1's.
When can we expect some first impressions of the ASF?
I am really curios regarding these and I want to upgrade. Just thinking about their high ba-driver count, haha. I know that more drivers do not automatically produce a better sound.
Right now I am using the AS10, which I acquired over a year ago. Alltough I can fairly say that these are the best iem's I ever had. I am not a huge fan of the sound signature They are to dark/bassy for me. So I would like to upgrade to something more fitting now.
The ZAX sounds like a no brainer. But depending on what the ASF can do, I will probably go with these.
Can anybody comment on how the the ZAX should compare to the AS10? From what I gathered here, the ZAX should be brighter. Is this correct? Also how well do the ZAX block the surroundings? Judging by the big vents, I fear that this might be affected.
When can we expect some first impressions of the ASF?
I am really curios regarding these and I want to upgrade. Just thinking about their high ba-driver count, haha. I know that more drivers do not automatically produce a better sound.
Right now I am using the AS10, which I acquired over a year ago. Alltough I can fairly say that these are the best iem's I ever had. I am not a huge fan of the sound signature They are to dark/bassy for me. So I would like to upgrade to something more fitting now.
The ZAX sounds like a no brainer. But depending on what the ASF can do, I will probably go with these.
Can anybody comment on how the the ZAX should compare to the AS10? From what I gathered here, the ZAX should be brighter. Is this correct? Also how well do the ZAX block the surroundings? Judging by the big vents, I fear that this might be affected.
The Tips have a lot to do with blocking outside sounds, and the ALZA SednaFit ML's on the ZAX cut out sound better than most on the same tips. You are heading the right direction getting good fitting tips as a priority.
The ZAX's big vents are only a façade meant to create nice visual's. The Silver ZAX has little black screens visible through the slits. It looks very nice. I thought I'd like the black ones better, but once again the Silver looks great too.
The KZ ASF looks interesting too, but I usually prefer a DD along with the BA's. The ASF has 5 BA's while the ZAX has 1DD+7BA's, wild, right?
How did KZ do such an amazing job merging all of those BA's and DD in the ZAX, and get the result to be so smooth - usually so many BA's sound like a mis-matched mess to me. In comparison the KZ ZAX makes it look easy.
Right now I am using the AS10, which I acquired over a year ago. Alltough I can fairly say that these are the best iem's I ever had. I am not a huge fan of the sound signature They are to dark/bassy for me. So I would like to upgrade to something more fitting now.
Can anybody comment on how the the ZAX should compare to the AS10? From what I gathered here, the ZAX should be brighter. Is this correct? Also how well do the ZAX block the surroundings? Judging by the big vents, I fear that this might be affected.
ZAX is several rungs higher than AS10 (on stock cable) in terms of treble brightness. While AS10's sound isolation (with good ear tip seal) is one of the best I've heard. Being a BA-only IEM with sealed housing; it's kind of their stock-in-trade.
Sidenote: If you like AS10's sound, except for its dark signature, I recommend you invest in a $5 KZ silver cable and give that a try. If it's still not sparkly enough, then go for more trebly IEM from KZ/CCA product range; there's lots to choose from.
ZAX is several rungs higher than AS10 (on stock cable) in terms of treble brightness. While AS10's sound isolation (with good ear tip seal) is one of the best I've heard. Being a BA-only IEM with sealed housing; it's kind of their stock-in-trade.
Sidenote: If you like AS10's sound, except for its dark signature, I recommend you invest in a $5 KZ silver cable and give that a try. If it's still not sparkly enough, then go for more trebly IEM from KZ/CCA product range; there's lots to choose from.
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