[ZAXon 7]

please do share your impressions... I'm done, lol spent $1000 for IEMs these past couple of months

4 CA16
6 KZ ED9
4 ZS 10 PRO
1 ZAX
3 TFZ TEQUILAS
SPINFITS 6 DIFFERENT TYPES
6 DIFFERENT COPPER/SILVER, PURE SILVER CABLES
1 TRN V90S (STILL WAITING)
1 TRN BT20S (STILL WAITING)

I gifted those to some of my colleagues... they are SUPER HAPPY, for audiophile virgin - ED9 is enough to blow their mind, for Beats lover - ZS10 Pro crushed them, for Airpod/Sony/JBL/AKG lovers CA16 and TFZs trumped them all (well, they need the BT20S, but they are willing to use the cable, after they found out how good is the sound).

IEM gifts are the best, made my life easier and projects done faster when people are happy working from home with quality musics on their ears.

ah-ha... you kept the ZAX for yourself i see...

 

[trumpethead]

I asked him why my tracking number doesnt work and why did he pull out all of his items for sale...
I don't remember getting a tracking number which resulted no details whatsoever, even a few years back. It has to at least show acceptance by the post office.

Well, the fact that he responded at all could be promising...

 

[Slater]

Looks really nice. Completely transparent and clear.

Thats the smoke transparent. It’s not perfectly crystal clear.

You can see it in this photo. It’s like a slightly grey tinted window.

 

[paulwasabii]

Yes, not quite crystal clear, but not smoke transparent either. KBEAR F1, EDX, and KZ ZSN and a bit off white lighting. And apologies for the dirty star tip.

Thats the smoke transparent. It’s not perfectly crystal clear.

You can see it in this photo. It’s like a slightly grey tinted window.

 

[courierdriver]

Thats the smoke transparent. It’s not perfectly crystal clear.

You can see it in this photo. It’s like a slightly grey tinted window.

Yeah, but still pretty see through to me. Easy to see the driver with that shell. Both my ZS10 PRO'S have/had a nice bottom shell. Even with my poor eyesight, it's still pretty easy to see all the drivers if you look close enough. It's one of the things I like alot about many KZ models. They let you see what the internal components they are using, instead of covering everything up with solid shells. Pictures in ads are great, but nothing beats being able to see everyday what you bought.

 

[Slater]

Yes, not quite crystal clear, but not smoke transparent either. KBEAR F1, EDX, and KZ ZSN and a bit off white lighting. And apologies for the dirty star tip.

Awesome picture, and a great comparison. Thanks for showing the differences side by side

Yeah, but still pretty see through to me. Easy to see the driver with that shell. Both my ZS10 PRO'S have/had a nice bottom shell. Even with my poor eyesight, it's still pretty easy to see all the drivers if you look close enough. It's one of the things I like alot about many KZ models. They let you see what the internal components they are using, instead of covering everything up with solid shells. Pictures in ads are great, but nothing beats being able to see everyday what you bought.

Totally agree. Whenever faced with the choice of multiple colors, I always opt for transparent so I can admire the internals of gear

 

[slex]

He didn't say overTUNED. Whoever posted that made a mistake. According to Google Translate, he said overTURNED.

Here's exactly what he said. All 4 sentences of his detailed review, from some random gamer none of us knows. We don't even know if he had a defective pair, what his source was, if it was even a good match, what other gear he has to compare/reference it to, or what music he was even listening to.

"The instrument becomes noisy when it is too many, and it will get muddy when it is loud. Experience: Compared with AS16, this one has a zero score. Compared with other KZ, it is really shameful. Finally, it was overturned."

ok I get that, I coined it overtuned because I dun get wat he meant by "overturned" And perhaps google translate have corked that up.

 

[xxAMAROKxx]

It looks like the AS12 will remain the only more expensive KZ that can be listened to at high volume...

 

[Viber]

Oh

So i think we can already see shades of a trend in opinions:
The new gen of KZs are not a major upgrade, but a sidegrade.

But of course, we need more opinions to solidify that statement.

 

[baskingshark]

Oh


So i think we can already see shades of a trend in opinions:
The new gen of KZs are not a major upgrade, but a sidegrade.

But of course, we need more opinions to solidify that statement.

The common view point is that since 2018 KZ has mostly been releasing sidegrades/marginal upgrades. I remember it got quite bad in early 2019 where they were releasing stuff almost on a bimonthly basis. Don't get me wrong, KZ does have some nice gems that are kinda groundbreaking every now and then, but the majority of releeases still seem to be marginal upgrades.

I like that KZ are trying to breach the $100 market with the ASX, but there's lots of tough competition there against big boys like the Fiio FH3, TRI I3 etc.

 

[PhonoPhi]

It looks like the AS12 will remain the only more expensive KZ that can be listened to at high volume...

CA16 are similarly treble-dampened.

Actually, if the treble filters are removed in AS12, it becomes really treble mighty (a treble beast).
A10/KB10 sound gentle in comparison.

Those treble drivers in AS12 are really powerful and quite rough, KZ used them only in AS12, stuck heavy treble filters, and returned to gentler 30095.

My optimistic thinking is that customizing treble dampening in AS12 to one's preference can deliver a nice IEM under $55 - those two bass BAs give really the best BA bass I've heard, and mids are quite nice.

On a sad note, there are problems with my ASX shipping, that was the first time I ordered from "KZ official store"

 

[Viber]

The common view point is that since 2018 KZ has mostly been releasing sidegrades/marginal upgrades. I remember it got quite bad in early 2019 where they were releasing stuff almost on a bimonthly basis. Don't get me wrong, KZ does have some nice gems that are kinda groundbreaking every now and then, but the majority of releeases still seem to be marginal upgrades.

I like that KZ are trying to breach the $100 market with the ASX, but there's lots of tough competition there against big boys like the Fiio FH3, TRI I3 etc.

Marketing works i guess.
I thought we might have some sort of evolution because of the new and improved (?) BA drivers and new tuning.

 

[astermk]

The common view point is that since 2018 KZ has mostly been releasing sidegrades/marginal upgrades. I remember it got quite bad in early 2019 where they were releasing stuff almost on a bimonthly basis. Don't get me wrong, KZ does have some nice gems that are kinda groundbreaking every now and then, but the majority of releeases still seem to be marginal upgrades.

I like that KZ are trying to breach the $100 market with the ASX, but there's lots of tough competition there against big boys like the Fiio FH3, TRI I3 etc.

It's interesting how people are easily willing to forgive other brands doing sidegrades (Campfire Audio and their billion versions of the Andromeda, more or less Sennheiser's entire output of the last 20 years etc.) or minor upgrades (Tin HiFi with the T3 and T4) but when KZ does it, it's an issue.

 

[baskingshark]

It's interesting how people are easily willing to forgive other brands doing sidegrades (Campfire Audio and their billion versions of the Andromeda, more or less Sennheiser's entire output of the last 20 years etc.) or minor upgrades (Tin HiFi with the T3 and T4) but when KZ does it, it's an issue.

That's very true. But KZ in early 2019 (and maybe mid 2020 till now) have been releasing stuff on an almost weekly or bimonthly basis. I don't think even Tin or Campfire are that productive! Prior to that, between end 2019 to early 2020, KZ was also spamming wireless gear very frequently.

Perhaps there's also an element of biasness as you say. I've met a lot of KZ haters in other forums that have this impression that KZs are badly tuned (if at all), and that KZ is more interested in driver count. Perhaps they may still be comparing current day KZs to their earlier tunings where everything was harsh and overly boosted in the upper frequencies. This may be unfair though, it does seem KZ/CCA has been trying different stuff lately, as we see some who are happy with newer releases with less harsh treble, and even some KZ gear being less V shaped. Also KZ went back to their DD roots by releasing the EDX recently, and now trying to enter the $100 market (I shall just believe the KZ AS16 never existed haha).

 

[voicemaster]

Problem is when you do "side upgrade" with campfire for example, you can get the almost the whole line up of kz iems lol. I think kz is trying to get into "monitor" sound signature with their latest releases and it is not an easy task.