[CGrish]

I've no idea what tip rolling means.. (

With M8 (No V4A):
ED9 sounds a little better. Probably because of no V4A.

Now again with my 6P with V4A:
I'm like.. Oh really? :O The Earpods sound really really good with the V4A optimisations! It's kind of like an entirely different thing, I can't actually believe how this app does wonders/magic!
ED9 - same thing I told earlier - treble is too harsh sometimes (even after trying so hard).


Now I get it, people who say ED9 is much better than Earpods have clearly not utilised its true potential. With no EQ, the ED9 sounds downright better, but with some good EQ optimisations, The Earpods are a lot better (the harsh treble the ED9 is really bad... It's worse than I first thought). 

What is V4A? it sounds to me your Nexus 6P is equalized to sound best with your Apple Earpods, which in no way are better than the KZhighs The KZ Ed9 has a bit harsh treble when first bought and I highly recommend burning (playing lots of sounds/music for 100-200 hours) them in. The Ed9 has tighter quicker bass, wonderful mids, and sharp treble (not fatiguing after burn in). Meanwhile the Earpods have muddy decent bass, nice warm mids, and horrible treble IMO, no detail. Whatever that V4A thing you're taking about, I'd disable it.

 

[crabdog]

What is V4A? it sounds to me your Nexus 6P is equalized to sound best with your Apple Earpods, which in no way are better than the KZhighs The KZ Ed9 has a bit harsh treble when first bought and I highly recommend burning (playing lots of sounds/music for 100-200 hours) them in. The Ed9 has tighter quicker bass, wonderful mids, and sharp treble (not fatiguing after burn in). Meanwhile the Earpods have muddy decent bass, nice warm mids, and horrible treble IMO, no detail. Whatever that V4A thing you're taking about, I'd disable it.

He means Viper4Android.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2191223

 

[rmatech]

  Well, I needed an answer to this question earlier, before buying. Didn't get a proper answer anywhere.
 
I got my ED9 today, was excited and was really confident that it'd be really better than the EarPods reading the comments here.
 
I'm disappointed. And I can say, EarPods sound better. I'm really a noob about this sound quality thing but I'm never completely satisfied with what I have ( ).

After a LOT of playing with V4A settings, I was able to get the ED9 CLOSE to the EarPods (and I thought it was better at first). The bass is all fine and punchy enough (for the price, I guess), Earpods have SLIGHTLY lower bass. Then after listening to a few more songs, I kind of started getting irritated due to the sound it produces. The mids and highs are really harsh. The Earpods on the other hand produces a very clean sound. ED9 hurts my ears. Kind of like the... cheap sound...
 
 
Honestly, I cannot hear any real difference between the two nozzles (or whatever you call it). However, the bass nozzles sound better to my ears.
 
Should I sell it or wait more and give it some burn in?
 
BTW I'm using a Nexus 6P which has a PATHETIC DAC in built. Is that the issue? I guess not, because the Earpods are also running in the same thing.

Had a similar issue with my KZ ZS1, was expecting incredible bass, but was nothing extraordinary and looser than the bass on my xiaomi hybrids which are in now way bass heavy IEMs. Where did you buy it from, I ordered mine from http://www.aliexpress.com/store/1358152?spm=2114.10010108.100005.1.1jnTQi
 
Did you order from the same place by any chance? 

 

[CGrish]

He means Viper4Android.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2191223

Huh, I've never heard of it. How does it work? Is it actually good? Might want to get it if it actually improves audio quality somehow

 

[kaiteck]

Huh, I've never heard of it. How does it work? Is it actually good? Might want to get it if it actually improves audio quality somehow

i think it improves sound experience,not audio quality.

 

[Deveraux]

   
Tip rolling is swapping tips from other headphones you have in your collection until you find the pair that fit your ears best.   You might also try Comply foam tips as they can make a world of difference in fit.

Oh, I get it now. Thank you.. Unfortunately, I don't have any other earphone I use (been using XB-450 on ear for sometime now [started using headphones/earphones recently])
 

What is V4A? it sounds to me your Nexus 6P is equalized to sound best with your Apple Earpods, which in no way are better than the KZhighs The KZ Ed9 has a bit harsh treble when first bought and I highly recommend burning (playing lots of sounds/music for 100-200 hours) them in. The Ed9 has tighter quicker bass, wonderful mids, and sharp treble (not fatiguing after burn in). Meanwhile the Earpods have muddy decent bass, nice warm mids, and horrible treble IMO, no detail. Whatever that V4A thing you're taking about, I'd disable it.

I know, the Earpods with no EQ sounds horrible. But with the right EQ, it sounds so good!
 

 
Had a similar issue with my KZ ZS1, was expecting incredible bass, but was nothing extraordinary and looser than the bass on my xiaomi hybrids which are in now way bass heavy IEMs. Where did you buy it from, I ordered mine from http://www.aliexpress.com/store/1358152?spm=2114.10010108.100005.1.1jnTQi
 
Did you order from the same place by any chance? 

Same here! The bass is nothing extraordinary. Funny thing is, after comparing both Earpods and ED9, Earpods provide a more punchy bass! I know most of you won't believe this..
I ordered from the KZ Official Store (same I guess).
 
BTW I'm thinking of getting the Hybrids. How are they? Better than the ZS1?

Huh, I've never heard of it. How does it work? Is it actually good? Might want to get it if it actually improves audio quality somehow

 
What?? You've never heard of it? Maan, you must definitely try it. It makes a world of a difference. I even use it on my PC too (though it's not as good).
 
 
Around three years back, I had an a-Jays Two which was supposed to be bass heavy. I was using the stock Galaxy S3 earphones that came with it. And oh boy S3 earphone was as good as the a-Jays (even after tweaking the EQ, the a-Jays was not really better).
 
I don't understand... But to get a better quality earphone than the so called poor earbuds that bundle with the phones, I've to spend really high? :/

 

[crabdog]

Huh, I've never heard of it. How does it work? Is it actually good? Might want to get it if it actually improves audio quality somehow

I'm not certain but think I read you need to root your phone to use it

 

[To.M]

yes, root is a must if you want to use V4A, without root you can test a different app: NOOZXOIDE PRO

 

[James Freeman]

KZ In-Ear Headphone Audio Comparison
 

 
 
Left to right: Philips SHE3590, AWEI Q3, KZ ED9, KZ ATE-S, KZ ZN1-Mini.
 
 

 
 
 
I used a very special method to record the Earphones to sound exactly like they are to a human ear at the ear drum.
It involves a small diaphragm omni pattern condenser microphone with DIY adapters to simulate an ear canal made from several garden hoses 

Then using Pink Noise and Auto-EQ I equalize the most natural sounding earphone (ED9) to sound like the pink noise, after that I fine tune by ear to match the EQed sound to what I hear on my monitors, only fine tuning is required at this stage.
 
The AWEI is there for comparison because it is also a popular brand on Ebay although it sound terrible, thin and screechy.
The Philips SHE3590 sound nice but lack in the low end and has some nasally peak in the upper mids.
The ED9 the most balanced of them all, I like these the most and used the as a reference in these recordings.
The ZN1-Mini lack any kind of treble and sounded very muffled to me, I don't like them one bit.
The ATE-S sounded thick and also lacked definition in the treble in comparison to studio monitors or the ED9.
The ZN1-Mini and ATE-S are very sensitive therefor louder than the rest, although not the best sounding.
 
If you ask me, ED9 is the most natural and balanced hands down.
 
Without further ado, here is a zip file (14 MB) with wav files:
http://www.mediafire.com/download/9jd2e2m9wxm0iki/KZ_In-Ear_Comparison.zip
 
The original audio source is a few seconds of the left channel of Skin O' My Teeth by Megadeth.
I chose heavy metal because is reflects all the frequencies equally more so than any kind of music.
I also want to mention the this test should be done on speakers or headphones that you are very familiar with; studio monitors are strongly suggested as they are flat to begin with.
 
Hope you find this test useful.
 
 
P.S
I freaking hate figured earphones, they are pointing to the wrong direction and I can't get a good seal with my ear canal!
The ear canal goes back NOT front, then why ALL of them are curved forward???
I strongly dislike shaped/figured over-ear earphones, if I wanted the cable behind my ear I would just rotate the earphone upside down and pull the cable behind my ear.
It's straight or nothing.
Rant over.

 

 

[James Freeman]

Measurements
 
 


http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/headphone-measurements-explained-frequency-response-part-one#Gz3bKXxMR1AZu8Bv.97
 
 
The first image is my measurements of the three KZ I own with 1K as reference frequency.
The second image is Harman's Curve of a completely flat speaker measured on the ear drum, which is basically the ideal curve for headphones to sound like the perfect speakers in a perfect room.
The link is a must read for headphones lovers and what considered Flat to our ear; information about Harman's curve.
 
Just by quickly looking at the first graph you can see that the ED9 are VERY close to what a perfect headphones should sound like.
The descend from 3k to 10k should be smooth, a bass boost from 200Hz down should present.
I have no idea how the Chinese achieved that result with the ED9 but it is almost perfect, BUT it needs a small tweak to bring its full potential.
 
I use the Bass (short) nozzle with my ED9 plus added foam to remove the small resonance at 14k and flatten the response.
The Normal (long) nozzle has a very high 10k peak that doesn't behave well, like the other KZ headphones on the graph.
So if you don't like your ED9 initially try to add some more foam till they sound smooth and balanced to you.
I cut a strip of foam and shoved it with a toothpick in the middle so it folded in half when entered the nozzle.
If the sound is too muffled compared to your beloved speakers or other headphones just remove the foam strip and cut a small corner from it and reinsert.
Note that you really want to compare the ED9 to some quality speaker; if you don't like how the ED9 sounds after the tweaks you reference speakers are crap.
 
Note that I don't use a professional dummy head but several diameter garden hoses (one inside the other) on a mic.
Cheap but effective!

 
 
Anyway, if you have doubt about what headphone to get first go with the ED9, pack some more foam into the Bass nozzle till it sounds balanced, enjoy.
Or better yet, measure till it looks smooth and then fine tune.

 

 

[CADCAM]

  Measurements
 
 
 
 
http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/headphone-measurements-explained-frequency-response-part-one#Gz3bKXxMR1AZu8Bv.97
 
 
The first image is my measurements of the three KZ I own with 1K as reference frequency.
The second image is Harman's Curve of a completely flat speaker measured on the ear drum, which is basically the ideal curve for headphones to sound like the perfect speakers in a perfect room.
The link is a must read for headphones lovers and what considered Flat to our ear; information about Harman's curve.
 
Just by quickly looking at the first graph you can see that the ED9 are VERY close to what a perfect headphones should sound like.
The descend from 3k to 10k should be smooth, a bass boost from 200Hz down should present.
I have no idea how the Chinese achieved that result with the ED9 but it is almost perfect, BUT it needs a small tweak to bring its full potential.
 
I use the Bass (short) nozzle with my ED9 plus added foam to remove the small resonance at 14k and flatten the response.
The Normal (long) nozzle has a very high 10k peak that doesn't behave well, like the other KZ headphones on the graph.
So if you don't like your ED9 initially try to add some more foam till they sound smooth and balanced to you.
I cut a strip of foam and shoved it with a toothpick in the middle so it folded in half when entered the nozzle.
If the sound is too muffled compared to your beloved speakers or other headphones just remove the foam strip and cut a small corner from it and reinsert.
Note that you really want to compare the ED9 to some quality speaker; if you don't like how the ED9 sounds after the tweaks you reference speakers are crap.
 
Note that I don't use a professional dummy head but several diameter garden hoses (one inside the other) on a mic.
Cheap but effective!

 
 
 
 
Anyway, if you have doubt about what headphone to get first go with the ED9, pack some more foam into the Bass nozzle till it sounds balanced, enjoy.
Or better yet, measure till it looks smooth and then fine tune.

 

This exactly what I did with my ED9 back in the day. I've said this before but first the tiny filter on the inside diameter of the brass nozzle must be in position and stuck down...not curled up, I also used a bit of air filter material that is white on the outside and blue on the inside (see pic). I cut small pieces and added and\or removed until I hit the sweet spot. The ED9 continues to be one of my favorite iem's.
 

 
White and blue have different pore size...white is larger I believe and blue having smaller pores. Good for experimenting.

 

[EISENbricher]

Waiting for KZ to release something new.... much time passed since last releases.

 

[Podster]

I'm with you CAD, ED9 still the top of the heap for me in the KZ's I've owned or still own

 
I might add I've tried a few as many of you know

Appreciate all the hard work and testing James

 

[Gussisaurio]

  Waiting for KZ to release something new.... much time passed since last releases.

Oh, not yet. Please let my wallet recover first. 

 

[lesp4ul]

Hi, beside hds1, what other latest kz iem for jazz? I already own ate, ed9, ed10, ed3. Thanks.