[seanwee]

I ordered the PR1 from the KZ official Ali store on 11/20, but they won't ship it for some reason.
Does anyone know why it wouldn't have shipped by now?

I've messaged them a few times, and they just keep saying they'll ship as soon as possible.
Never had this happen before.

If it's delayed for a good reason, they should say so, but they just give generic responses.
I ordered the PR1 with the big discount. Did you order at full price, or a big discount also?

KZ have several store,
KZ official store and KZ earphone franchised store, CCA official store.

If you buy PR1 pro with the early bird discount and free shipping, it will take sometime before it start to ship.

Its crappy thing but my PR1 took 5 days, and my old esx took 11 days. Tough the two is bought on early bird discount (first week of sales). It seems that discounts is the same with preorder price. tough if you take paid delivery apparently it will ship faster.

Just arrived

 

[MacAttack7]

Just arrived

Mine still hasn't shipped from the KZ official store and it was ordered on the 20th, and they won't give me any reason why.
Will save myself some money I guess.

Hurry up and review it and let me know if I should cancel my order.

 

[seanwee]

Mine still hasn't shipped from the KZ official store and it was ordered on the 20th, and they won't give me any reason why.
Will save myself some money I guess.

Hurry up and review it and let me know if I should cancel my order.

Definitely a keeper at $40 imo. Even if you end up not liking them you can always sell at cost.

I ordered mine on the 17th and it only shipped on the 30th.

 

[Aevum]

Mine arrived this morning,

All i can say is that im really impressed, at 80-90 bucks im not sure it can stand up to the TE Hexa, but at the 45 bucks i paid, they sound amazing.
They can even render correctly the heartbeats at the start of renegade by styx. and doesn't get bugged down at the start of you know my name by Chris cornel,

 

[RCracer777]

Just got mine as well. Can't say much about it yet as they need some ear time first.

 

[seanwee]

Mine arrived this morning,

All i can say is that im really impressed, at 80-90 bucks im not sure it can stand up to the TE Hexa, but at the 45 bucks i paid, they sound amazing.
They can even render correctly the heartbeats at the start of renegade by styx. and doesn't get bugged down at the start of you know my name by Chris cornel,

So far technicality wise I'm comparing it to the Oracle MK2.

Both have that dry ish vocal presentation that sounds hyper detailed.

 

[whirlwind]

Mine arrived this morning,

All i can say is that im really impressed, at 80-90 bucks im not sure it can stand up to the TE Hexa, but at the 45 bucks i paid, they sound amazing.
They can even render correctly the heartbeats at the start of renegade by styx. and doesn't get bugged down at the start of you know my name by Chris cornel,

If I could get them in the USA for $45 I think I would take the plunge, they sound interesting

 

[MacAttack7]

AST did not respond much to a wide-nozzle mod (in ASX, the treble guide was firing into a rim of KZ afterthought narrow nozzles).
In analogy with the impedance adapter story on AS16 pro, AST responded amazingly to 25-30 Ohm (15 to 45 Ohm in general) - much less overwhelming bass and more opened up pronounced treble, which I always felt quite missing from AST. (The theory/speculation is that KZ tuned AST dialing 18 Ohm of the source impedance, using the value of the IEM impedance, as they purportedly admitted for AS16 pro).
So AST are my second favourite, just non-availability of balanced impedance adapters largely limiting its placement.
I constructed my own variable balanced adapter, but it is a bit clumsy to use on the go:

Can someone explain what exactly a 25-30 Ohm impedance adapter would do for the sound of the AST?
I googled impedance adapters, but I can't find anything the really explains how it would affect the sound.
The ASTs are plenty loud already coming from my iPod.

 

[XerusKun]

Finally found the PR1 endgame without opening it (referencing to what Akros did with his PLA13).

What I did..
1. Removed the front vent filter (poking the small vent near the nozzle until I hit the the outer shell of the planar driver)
2. 1-ply Alcohol Wipe (2.5 mm x 0.5 mm) rolled and inserted into the nozzle.
3. 200 Mesh filter on the top.
4. Stonks.

Final Form

Spoiler

Think of PR1 Balanced but its now truly "balanced" and not giga V-shaped as KZ wants it to be, add the planar intagibles (soundstage, imaging, fast attack and decay) without the hot upper treble

Spoiler

Now waiting for my upcoming balanced cable to unleash the remaining performance that this driver had..

 

[MacAttack7]

My PR1-Pros finally shipped. Ordered on the 20th. My faith in KZ is restored!
Now I can go shop for something else I don't need.

 

[MacAttack7]

Finally found the PR1 endgame without opening it (referencing to what Akros did with his PLA13).

What I did..
1. Removed the front vent filter (poking the small vent near the nozzle until I hit the the outer shell of the planar driver)
2. 1-ply Alcohol Wipe (2.5 mm x 0.5 mm) rolled and inserted into the nozzle.
3. 200 Mesh filter on the top.
4. Stonks.

I wouldn't be able to modify my earphones.....seems so wrong for some reason.
What is "Stonks"?
What did this mod do for the sound?

 

[XerusKun]

I wouldn't be able to modify my earphones.....seems so wrong for some reason.
What is "Stonks"?
What did this mod do for the sound?

Makes the PR1 Balanced midforward with enough bass and treble to boot, sounds very analog and natural with the mod. Cymbals aren't that splashy anymore, midrange nuances can be easily heard unlike stock, treble is softer and is now pleasant to listen to. Whenever I'm listening to it, it feels like I'm in a studio of some kind, imaging is on point, soundstage is ironically wide and deep..Sounds majestic for my Bossa Nova and Jazz playlist..

The sound is somehow remisniscent to my Hzsound Heart Mirror but with planar resolution and a more immersive soundstage.

I like it better than my RS1 and AS16 Pro.

Stonks = Profit.

Compared to other planars

Yeap pretty balanced, that midbass boost that my mod has is basically nothing for KZs planar, there's literally no bloat and slams as hard as stock.


Update:
4 hrs in with this mod, this can be an end game material, like literally..haha..I can't just contain my grin everytime a track is played..the immersiveness, the details, the vocals, the separation its unreal how a simple mod can awaken this sleeping planar driver that KZ is using. Like man I'm cryin. plain beautiful.

 

[PhonoPhi]

Can someone explain what exactly a 25-30 Ohm impedance adapter would do for the sound of the AST?
I googled impedance adapters, but I can't find anything the really explains how it would affect the sound.
The ASTs are plenty loud already coming from my iPod.

A good question!
Actually, it took me some time to understand, so it definitely needs some explanation.

First, upon using an impedance adapter, the volume is expected/implied to be matched to the same levels for proper comparisons.

Second, the primary purpose of impedance adapters is to better match a source and a transducer. A most common case is for a too powerful source that can deliver only few % of its power before making a transducer sound too loud, often with some background noise. In this case, a proper impedance adapter can dissipate some energy, so the source will be used at its higher (more optimal) power levels, often with less noise. (Again, volume matching is assumed).
An important point from here is that using impedance adapters implies having strong sources that can provide more power. Weaker sources, like phones, may not have sufficient driving voltage when used with impedance adapters.

Now, the third and most relevant to your question point, which I actually missed before, is that using impedance adapters may strongly affect power distribution to different drivers for multi-driver IEMs. Taking AST as an example, the bass BA takes most of the power in the AST crossover design, leaving less power for multiple treble drivers. As a result, AST sound bass heavy (too much for many) and somewhat gentle/anemic in treble (definitely too gentle for me). Using an impedance adapter with AST makes power distribution more even (more story to it, just not to be overly long). As a result, bass BA gets less power and treble BAs more with the great overall effect (to my ears, at least).

Now a bit of the background, the effect of the impedance adapters was brought to HIFiers' attention with KZ AS16 pro, where KZ admitted using wrong source setting of 18 Ohm for the source impedance, while tuning (they dialed the IEM impedance of 18 Ohm instead). So 18 Ohm impedance adapter should bring an original tuning (that is noticeably leaner (less bass, more treble again) and closer to original AS16; I like both versions). KZ actually promised to produce a properly tuned version of AS16 pro, but it did not materialize, likely because the "wrong tuning" actually worked out well, if not better, for most.

After learning from AS16 pro, I decided to test other all-BA KZs, and AST seem to be a similar case, as I described above. Given AST impedance of 30 Ohm, 25-40 Ohm adapters make the bass leaner, and treble more pronounced.
Also TRI Clarion tips are great for AST.

@cqtek and @paulwasabii may chime more on this, from them I learned most what I summarized above, my big thanks!

I miss Master Slater so much! Under his patience quidance, I started some simple moding to enjoy this hobby. He would be a really great person to contribute here with more insight and his great explanations.

Finally found the PR1 endgame without opening it (referencing to what Akros did with his PLA13).

What I did..
1. Removed the front vent filter (poking the small vent near the nozzle until I hit the the outer shell of the planar driver)
2. 1-ply Alcohol Wipe (2.5 mm x 0.5 mm) rolled and inserted into the nozzle.
3. 200 Mesh filter on the top.
4. Stonks.




Final Form

Spoiler

Think of PR1 Balanced but its now truly "balanced" and not giga V-shaped as KZ wants it to be, add the planar intagibles (soundstage, imaging, fast attack and decay) without the hot upper treble

Spoiler

Now waiting for my upcoming balanced cable to unleash the remaining performance that this driver had..

Great and very timely mods now that KZ may feel to make KZ PR1 less relevant by the Pro version.

I will definitely try what I can do along your lines after I get my Pro (it is in a local post office since Friday, Canada Post do not do weekends...)

 

[lushmelody]

A good question!
Actually, it took me some time to understand, so it definitely needs some explanation.

First, upon using an impedance adapter, the volume is expected/implied to be matched to the same levels for proper comparisons.

Second, the primary purpose of impedance adapters is to better match a source and a transducer. A most common case is for a too powerful source that can deliver only few % of its power before making a transducer sound too loud, often with some background noise. In this case, a proper impedance adapter can dissipate some energy, so the source will be used at its higher (more optimal) power levels, often with less noise. (Again, volume matching is assumed).
An important point from here is that using impedance adapters implies having strong sources that can provide more power. Weaker sources, like phones, may not have sufficient driving voltage when used with impedance adapters.

Now, the third and most relevant to your question point, which I actually missed before, is that using impedance adapters may strongly affect power distribution to different drivers for multi-driver IEMs. Taking AST as an example, the bass BA takes most of the power in the AST crossover design, leaving less power for multiple treble drivers. As a result, AST sound bass heavy (too much for many) and somewhat gentle/anemic in treble (definitely too gentle for me). Using an impedance adapter with AST makes power distribution more even (more story to it, just not to be overly long). As a result, bass BA gets less power and treble BAs more with the great overall effect (to my ears, at least).

Now a bit of the background, the effect of the impedance adapters was brought to HIFiers' attention with KZ AS16 pro, where KZ admitted using wrong source setting of 18 Ohm for the source impedance, while tuning (they dialed the IEM impedance of 18 Ohm instead). So 18 Ohm impedance adapter should bring an original tuning (that is noticeably leaner (less bass, more treble again) and closer to original AS16; I like both versions). KZ actually promised to produce a properly tuned version of AS16 pro, but it did not materialize, likely because the "wrong tuning" actually worked out well, if not better, for most.

After learning from AS16 pro, I decided to test other all-BA KZs, and AST seem to be a similar case, as I described above. Given AST impedance of 30 Ohm, 25-40 Ohm adapters make the bass leaner, and treble more pronounced.
Also TRI Clarion tips are great for AST.

@cqtek and @paulwasabii may chime more on this, from them I learned most what I summarized above, my big thanks!

I miss Master Slater so much! Under his patience quidance, I started some simple moding to enjoy this hobby. He would be a really great person to contribute here with more insight and his great explanations.

Great and very timely mods now that KZ may feel to make KZ PR1 less relevant by the Pro version.

I will definitely try what I can do along your lines after I get my Pro (it is in a local post office since Friday, Canada Post do not do weekends...)

Thanks for this great and clarifying post. I put AST bass down too much by PEQ. I think a mod would be better. I just dont know if I can go balanced. Impedance adapters are all single ended

 

[XerusKun]

KZ actually promised to produce a properly tuned version of AS16 pro, but it did not materialize, likely because the "wrong tuning" actually worked out well, if not better, for most.

Actually it did materialize. They are actually selling AS16 Pro High Impedance Version in alixpress.

https://aliexpress.com/item/1005004748479754.html?gatewayAdapt=gloPc2jpnMsite