IMO, the 2 smaller drivers in DQ6 is too conservatively tuned; there's still headroom in them. Throwing in a brighter cable from your collection, or EQing the highs can eke out still more performance from the pair. IMO, the overall sound gets more vibrant and cleaner, but losing some warmth.
They are cable sensitive, I have tried several cables of mine including 3.5mm and 4.4mm. The DQ6 sounds quite stressed with 3.5mm and much better with balanced cables. I also mentioned earlier, the bass driver can be easily over driven (I think) so it sounds much better with 4-core cables. I hear no lack of brightness and warmth with a 4-core OCC (balanced).
You hear the lack of brightness maybe caused by the 10mm DD being pushed too much by some cables.
IMHO, DQ6 is already quite decent sounding as is (note: am treble-sensitive). I was playing around with tips, cables & daps; and I was hearing sounds from nausea-inducing bass to beryllium-coated-like treble/details coming out of the DQ6. It's quite a fun thing to mess around with.
Yes, I agree, the BA10 is really special. The bass is more dynamic-like and the midrange timbre is excellent. Treble is more dialled back with no BA in the nozzle. KZ's finest to date IMO.
Unfortunately, that’s not a KZ thing. That’s pretty much all BAs. Even Etymotics that use the BA drivers can sound artificial in tonality when compared to the ER2SE for example (which uses a dynamic driver).
That’s why if I was stuck on a desert island for the rest of my life, and I had to choose between an all-BA, a hybrid, and a dynamic earphone, I would go with the dynamic in a heartbeat.
Actually I think in the past few months, the line between a BA setup and DD setup is becoming more blurred. It used to be that most audiophiles would say DD sets have better timbre/tonality, at the expense of technicalities, whereas multi BA/hybrid types generally have better technicalities but poorer timbre.
But from recent releases, you have single DD types like the NM2+ which have very good technicalities, and then you have hybrids (containing piezos/BAs) that have very good timbre too like the LZ A7. In fact I dare say the LZ A7 has better timbre than some single DD types I've heard (for acoustic instruments). Of course at the TOTL level, we have sets like Final Audio A8000 and DUNU LUNA (both single DD) which have technicalities that can rival multi BA types, but that may be cherry picking as this is summitFI sound and prices we are talking about.
For many years, I've always been a single DD guy, as I value timbre and tonality over outright technicalities, but I'm starting to see that it is not driver type, driver count or driver material that counts, more important is the tuning and implementation.
Personally, I really like KZs in terms of construction, they would be huge killers if they hit the sound because the fit, the construction and the accessories are better than the competition (Blon, I'm looking at you ... your cable looks like an offense) .
I'm actually facing a dilemma, now I have the BL-01 and I like it because it's very musical and silky, I would like to know if it's time to get rid of them by betting on DQ6.
Personally, I wouldn't think of getting rid of them. For the cost, they are keepers. They just need some power. Just keep em, and get the DQ6 and add it to your collection. Both are inexpensive enough and may provide a different presentation to your music. Just mho.
I should be used to the slow shipping by now and am normally pretty patient, However all of these posts about how great it is has me anxious and I want to know if it's really as good as people are saying... Also, It took 4 days to get from China to the US and has been in the hands of Usps for 25+ days... To me that's just ridiculous.....
I should be used to the slow shipping by now and am normally pretty patient, However all of these posts about how great it is has me anxious and I want to know if it's really as good as people are saying... Also, It took 4 days to get from China to the US and has been in the hands of Usps for 25+ days... To me that's just ridiculous.....
the differences between different levels are exactly what i'm trying to understand being almost totally unexperienced... don't even know if 'levels' is a correct way to categorize iems...
i only have the ZAX and while i'm greatly enjoying it i wonder which level they belong to and what should one expect from a superior level, given that i like neutrality, clarity, detail, soundstage, separation and dynamics.
i'm still educating my ears to the ZAX level with different genres and different software setups, so far i'm sure that the only player in the android world that makes them shine at their best is the onkyo hf player, (it's so much better than any other i've tried) then i craft the sound with viper4android and usually get an unbelievable listening experience. Spotify and youtube are no more an option for listening, only to find new music and decide if it's worth to look for flac version.
Anyway, on some tracks which 'opens up' the soundstage and the frequencies of vocals and instruments like Pariah and Refuge from Steven Wilson and Ave Maria from Fabrizio de Andrè, i feel i hit some kind of 'limit' in my chain i tend to attribute to the hardware side (Axon7 mini + ZAX) given that the recording and mixing quality are superb and the software side of my chain should be capable to manage them.
the more i write the more i understand how difficult it is to describe the individual listening experience and how to improve it, and in a foreign language too... as an old italian joke says: to go where i want to go, where do i have to go?
I have ordered a FiiO Q5s TC to use with the ZAX with a balanced cable [and my HD600] ....let's see how much better they can sound compared to the iPhone output...
Still enjoying mine for its soundstage, imaging and treble detail. The ZAX remains the most versatile IEM in my collection and really opened up after I got my ZX300.
Problem is that KZ releases too many sidegrades so the ZAX has become old news at this point. But I still believe it's the only >$50 KZ worth bothering with.
I have not tried them in balanced mode just yet, since the additional amplification doesn't really seem necessary for these IEMs and I'd rather retain the ability to use them straight out of my laptop for instance.
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