[voicemaster]

i'll wait for your review of the ASF and see what happens on 11/11, wife wants the ZAX too, let's see...

Yea, I will do comparison between ZAX, ASF and ASX. As of now, the ASX has dethroned my ZAX as my favorite (from KZ) IEM. I have 2 ZAXs too...
Oh and the ASX is a lot harder to drive to the same level as ZAX.

 

[nraymond]

You should try the ASX if you can get them where you can return them easily. I haven't heard an IEM to be able to present height yet, I know headphones can because of their massive driver, but IEM... this is first time.

It's not the "massive driver" per se that results in better localization for over-ear headphones, but rather they radiate a wavefront that interacts with the individual listener's pinna, which is closer to the way that listening to real-world sound (without headphones) works. With an IEM, it bypasses the pinna and so the IEM has to simulate the pinna in it's frequency response curve, and since each person's pinna is physically different, how well a given IEM matches a person's physiology varies. It could be that the ASX simulates the function of your personal pinna better than other IEMs you've tried.

 

[ZAXon 7]

Yea, I will do comparison between ZAX, ASF and ASX. As of now, the ASX has dethroned my ZAX as my favorite (from KZ) IEM. I have 2 ZAXs too...
Oh and the ASX is a lot harder to drive to the same level as ZAX.

if i got it right, you consider the ASX as a unique IEM for its ability to present height, so where do you place it (and the ZAX) in the money vs. improvements curve? which IEM do you consider better?
consider that the ZAX is my first and only IEM so i have no comparison terms...

 

[voicemaster]

if i got it right, you consider the ASX as a unique IEM for its ability to present height, so where do you place it (and the ZAX) in the money vs. improvements curve? which IEM do you consider better?
consider that the ZAX is my first and only IEM so i have no comparison terms...

The ZAX sounds good and I will easily recommend it to people looking for IEM. But the ASX is a different beast imho, when you can play in the vertical plane, the song become completely different.
Which one I consider better? ASX. It offers a more realistic and natural sound than the ZAX to me. Not to mention the detail retrieval is on another level imho.


Here is a binaural recording of walking in the rain and the ASX makes you feel like you are there, the sound of rain hitting the umbrella is on the parietal area instead of the temporal area. All the ambiance is so realistic its surreal. On the ZAX, the rain is only coming from your left and right side. Also, the sound of the rain hitting the umbrella kinda too thin imho. I know that sound and the ZAX sounds overly bright here. The ASX sounds so realistic, its actually kind of creepy yet addicting.

 

[ZAXon 7]

The ZAX sounds good and I will easily recommend it to people looking for IEM. But the ASX is a different beast imho, when you can play in the vertical plane, the song become completely different.
Which one I consider better? ASX. It offers a more realistic and natural sound than the ZAX to me. Not to mention the detail retrieval is on another level imho.


Here is a binaural recording of walking in the rain and the ASX makes you feel like you are there, the sound of rain hitting the umbrella is on the parietal area instead of the temporal area. All the ambiance is so realistic its surreal. On the ZAX, the rain is only coming from your left and right side. Also, the sound of the rain hitting the umbrella kinda too thin imho. I know that sound and the ZAX sounds overly bright here. The ASX sounds so realistic, its actually kind of creepy yet addicting.

thank you for your kindness, i didn't ask the question correctly, i didn't mean which is better between ZAX and ASX, but what's better than ASX in general, given your experience in IEM.

 

[purplesun]

Here is a binaural recording of walking in the rain and the ASX makes you feel like you are there, the sound of rain hitting the umbrella is on the parietal area instead of the temporal area. All the ambiance is so realistic its surreal. On the ZAX, the rain is only coming from your left and right side. Also, the sound of the rain hitting the umbrella kinda too thin imho. I know that sound and the ZAX sounds overly bright here. The ASX sounds so realistic, its actually kind of creepy yet addicting.

You should try watching some recent science fiction shows/movies. Some sound effects directors can go too hard on the spatial controls. Was watching Star Trek Discovery S1 with my CCA C16. It took me by surprise - when the shuttle came in for landing from left-of-screen - visually, it looked about 100m to 200m distance travelled on-screen but, sonically, it seemed like it flew in from several kilometres away! I have not used C16 for movie-watching since then. AS10 does a much better job for my ears. But an interesting experience, nonetheless

 

[voicemaster]

thank you for your kindness, i didn't ask the question correctly, i didn't mean which is better between ZAX and ASX, but what's better than ASX in general, given your experience in IEM.

Well from my collections, none. Their instrument positioning is pretty accurate. This of course only shown in binaural recording.

Like here for example, in the ZAX, the drums sound like really close like the mic is close like 1 feet away from the drums. The ASX on the other hand present the drum a bit further up front just like how you see from the camera.

 

[voicemaster]

I watche

You should try watching some recent science fiction shows/movies. Some sound effects directors can go too hard on the spatial controls. Was watching Star Trek Discovery S1 with my CCA C16. It took me by surprise - when the shuttle came in for landing from left-of-screen - visually, it looked about 100m to 200m distance travelled on-screen but, sonically, it seemed like it flew in from several kilometres away! I have not used C16 for movie-watching since then. AS10 does a much better job for my ears. But an interesting experience, nonetheless

I watched Interstellar using the ASX and the scene when they enter the wormhole is pretty intense. The ASX is quite accurate in term of depicting length, if you watch the video I posted before this, I talked about it.
Watched "Arrival" and when the scene inside the chopper where they went to see the alien ship for the first time, the camera did a wide pan and you can hear the chopper and the jets flew by and the distance is accurate imho.

 

[alamnp]

The ASX has a better soundstage even though the ZAX is semi-open and the ASX only has a few small vent holes? I wonder how that works.

I freaked a little when I saw the FR graph from Crinacle:

Would you say it sounds like it graphs? Because this looks v e r y odd with the huge slope beginning at 800Hz and it seems to lack upper treble. And the V shape looks pretty extreme so I was worried about the mids (well, the lower mids really) being too recessed.

what an odd looking graph... KZ does put a brave front with this tuning.

 

[alamnp]

Well from my collections, none. Their instrument positioning is pretty accurate. This of course only shown in binaural recording.

Like here for example, in the ZAX, the drums sound like really close like the mic is close like 1 feet away from the drums. The ASX on the other hand present the drum a bit further up front just like how you see from the camera.

wow, I can’t even imagine that...

you need to be on the other boards too not just KZ.

i love TFZs and TRN, sadly nobody is like you peeling off their IEMs like you do.

after CA16 and ZAX, they all almost sound the same except a certain aspect where the specific IEM is created for.

 

[seanwee]

thank you so much for the very detailed response! i really appreciate it. i’ve been using westone for years, since 2012 (i currently have the AM pro 30) and a couple of weeks ago, one of my friends told me that he had been using ZST and he liked them more than his 900 dollar IEMs. i was really skeptical and decided to do more research and found out that chi-fi has come a long way. the first and only KZs i’ve tried was the KS6. i didn’t like it that much because the trebles were too harsh for my liking.

anyway, i decided to get the ZST X instead after doing some research and i was pretty impressed (bc they sounded great for its price point) and got a pair for my “non-audiophile” boyfriend as well, who likes them a lot. i ended up in this rabbit hole and went ahead and ordered the ZSX from aliexpress since shipping is not THAT slow to california. i’m really tempted to get the ZAX too (since many of you guys love it) but if they’re pretty similar to the ZSX, i don’t know if i should spend the extra money getting it too.

I've tried a lot of westone iems and never liked their dark and muddy yet sometimes sibilant sound

 

[seanwee]

Copper is good for too bright cables, that's why KZ ships with them - and they are less expensive material than Silver plated or Pure Silver, and other high end materials - Cryogenically Cooled, single draw crystal OCC, etc.

I'm sure its just purely because of cost lmao.

That said, KZ's cables are better than the stock cables on my QDC neptune. The stock cables on those are one of the worst I've ever heard.

 

[Makahl]

Just playing with some mods on the EDX. Funny that you can basically get the VK4's curve with a smidgen of cotton stuffed into the eartip. Wondering if the VK4 uses a sort of foam/filter inside of the nozzle and EDX is just filterless. I'd try opening the EDX's nozzle grill to check it out, but it isn't popping off with my prying edges method with a sewing needle, it feels like the grill is glued.

The results:

As it was mentioned before, fully covering the nozzle with micropore completely mess up the sound. Covering 50% works better depending on your goal but I think I'll retire the micropore as a mod for taming upper-mids/treble. It ages like milk, so after some weeks your result may vary since the tape degrades quite fast and the tape's glue gets messy onto the nozzle.

I'm really liking the cotton stuffed into the eartip, your result will vary a lot depending on the quantity of cotton, but it takes less than 1 minute to perform the mod, and usually, it won't muffle the bass so you can get pretty good results if you don't overdose the quantity. It won't get gummy after some weeks just like micropore tape, the trade-off would be it works optimal only with narrow tips, so if you like wide-bore this won't work very well.

I think foam would work well too, but a smidgen of cotton is more reliable to achieve the same modding result, each foam has its own characteristic and thickness, so depending on the foam your result will vary a lot.

(for example, this one is too thick and dampens much more than the "animal foam" posted early)

 

[Sebulr]

Just playing with some mods on the EDX. Funny that you can basically get the VK4's curve with a smidgen of cotton stuffed into the eartip. Wondering if the VK4 uses a sort of foam/filter inside of the nozzle and EDX is just filterless. I'd try opening the EDX's nozzle grill to check it out, but it isn't popping off with my prying edges method with a sewing needle, it feels like the grill is glued.

The results:

As it was mentioned before, fully covering the nozzle with micropore completely mess up the sound. Covering 50% works better depending on your goal but I think I'll retire the micropore as a mod for taming upper-mids/treble. It ages like milk, so after some weeks your result may vary since the tape degrades quite fast and the tape's glue gets messy onto the nozzle.

I'm really liking the cotton stuffed into the eartip, your result will vary a lot depending on the quantity of cotton, but it takes less than 1 minute to perform the mod, and usually, it won't muffle the bass so you can get pretty good results if you don't overdose the quantity. It won't get gummy after some weeks just like micropore tape, the trade-off would be it works optimal only with narrow tips, so if you like wide-bore this won't work very well.

I think foam would work well too, but a smidgen of cotton is more reliable to achieve the same modding result, each foam has its own characteristic and thickness, so depending on the foam your result will vary a lot.


(for example, this one is too thick and dampens much more than the "animal foam" posted early)

I've mentioned it before, but I did a similar mod to my zs10 pros. I just removed the grill and stuffed a small piece if tissue in the nozzle. Too much and it muffled the earphone too much. Same amount in each tube. Then replace the grill over the top. Nice to see a graph. Didn't think it would make that much difference as it does with your graphs. But then I just used a little. Just enough to stop it falling in or out. The good thing is, it's fully reversable in a few minutes.

I'm tempted to do this with my blon bl 05 as I dislike the uppermids on those. But I don't really like the bass on those either, so it's probably a waste of time. Thumbs up from me.

 

[ChristianM]

Is the black color of ZAX and ZSX the same or pretty much different? thanks