[crabdog]

Found a good price for ATR on AliExpress $4.64::
 
https://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/New-KZ-ATR-In-Ear-Headphones-Noise-Canceling-Earbuds-3-5mm-Stereo-Headset-Original-KZ-Mp3/202190_32696181984.html

 

[Shawn71]

To be honest i do expect a significant diminishing returns by jumping 9 times in price, I atleast hope they will be a significant upgrade over the ZST and use more premium materials this time around.

Yeah have to agree to some extent in dimishing returns.......but I guess they are putting some serious man hours and premium materials (like you said) into everything this time until QC checked and nicely packed, so the pricing.

Speaking of kz, They showcased many possibilities in the budget IEM world, like micro dynamic,wooden shells,tunable filters,dual dynamic,miniature shells,introduced atheir own built-in amp with a model to custom the sound,and lastly the dual hybrids and the removable cables, still within the impressive lower price point.

And we have seen their models bassy,trebly,balanced,good/avge SS and vg imaging,fun,U'ish etc already so I wish zsr pro cld be a strong one in mid-centric,huge SS with all 3 areas even, and pin point imaging and oh, the tough call "the coherency". yeah,expectations are high when the price goes up.

 

[Shawn71]

I'll keep an eye on the ED9 then

And also zs3.......I recommend for edm,rock (crispy) etc even tupac,no regrets.

 

[Keller1]

Yeah have to agree to some extent in dimishing returns.......but I guess they are putting some serious man hours and premium materials (like you said) into everything this time until QC checked and nicely packed, so the pricing.

Speaking of kz, They showcased many possibilities in the budget IEM world, like micro dynamic,wooden shells,tunable filters,dual dynamic,miniature shells,introduced atheir own built-in amp with a model to custom the sound,and lastly the dual hybrids and the removable cables, still within the impressive lower price point.

And we have seen their models bassy,trebly,balanced,good/avge SS and vg imaging,fun,U'ish etc already so I wish zsr pro cld be a strong one in mid-centric,huge SS with all 3 areas even, and pin point imaging and oh, the tough call "the coherency".

yeah,expectations are high when the price goes up.

My wish list includes crisp/broad imaging / sound, while still being thumpy and rumbly, all with a whole lot of transparency. with actual decent QA and QC, aswell as hopefully campfire audio shell and a removable MMCX cable.

Now that might be a bit much, but when you consider what they've done for less i'd say it has a pretty good chance we'll get something along those lines.
The ED9/RX are very-well machined and still cheap, which means that aluminum shells are not out of the question, though them being campfire-audio lookalikes is so far just a rumor.
The ZST has the beginnings of amazing sound, by adding more drivers they'll tone up everything, so there's no question that the sound's probably gonna be the high point.
QA and QC i doubt they'll skimp on because this is their first 'highend' model, so they'll need to prove that they're able to compete.
 
The only thing i doubt is the MMCX, i dont think kz has ever made a pair of MMCX IEMs, even though they hadnt made removable cable IEMS either and the ZS3/ED12/ZST incorporate that feature really well.
 
Oh, and hopefully a good but crazy color aesthetic.

 

[robervaul]

Directly from the KZ company.

 

[To.M]

You clearly have good sources, sir! I expected the price to be 80-100usd so now I need to buy a piggy bank right away

 

[Saoshyant]

I was hoping around $50, but will still buy as I assume it'll still have great value

 

[Thomas De Brito]

I was hoping around $50, but will still buy as I assume it'll still have great value

too cheap is not good sometimes. I don't mind paying more if they make a greatp pair that last a long time. They earned the right to have an little extra from kz fans

 

[bibinjohn5000]

My KZ ZST bought from gearbest for $ 15.94
 
 

 

 
 
 

 

[B9Scrambler]

nice!

 

[zwspore]

Ah Np.......OK, so you might want to check with that seller whether the pins fit your zst,both physically (pin dia) & electrically(matching polarity).If you know chinese (? guessing by your name you are a singaporean?) that might make your day easy.

On a side note, read someone saying one model accepts both the cables but the other model dont but its own.those models are zst and zs3 coz they both have UE style pins.

Introducing a 2.5mm/3.5mm - trrs/trs adapter in the chain will be of no use,so dont waste your money and time.

Thanks for the good advice 

 I will make sure to check with the cable seller if it will fit the ZST and ZS3 before taking the plunge. I can read and write basic Chinese, but sometimes will need to use Google translate for some of the more complex words when communicating with Taobao sellers. 
 
You have very keen observation! Yes, I'm Singaporean 

 
Sorry I don't get what you mean by "introducing a 2.5mm/3/5mm TRRS/TRS adapter in the chain will be of no use". The 2-pin balanced cables that I am looking to buy terminates in a 2.5mm balanced jack. The Aune M1s player that I'm buying has a 2.5mm balanced output. I will just plug the cables with the 2.5mm jack straight to the 2.5mm output of the player and won't be adding on any other adapter. Am I missing something here??

 

[Saoshyant]

too cheap is not good sometimes. I don't mind paying more if they make a greatp pair that last a long time. They earned the right to have an little extra from kz fans

 
I certainly agree, I just expected given the typical KZ price range that it'd be closer to 50-60 instead of 80-100 for a new flagship.  It's an impressive endeavor either way, and hopefully turns out well.  I know sometimes we get excited at the prospect of someone providing something at a lower price than usual, but we always must hope that the quality is retained.  I'm still a little skeptical about the Monoprice M560 for example which seems like a wonderful price for a planar, but the reviews are a little bothersome for now.

 

[Shawn71]

My wish list includes crisp/broad imaging / sound, while still being thumpy and rumbly, all with a whole lot of transparency. with actual decent QA and QC, aswell as hopefully campfire audio shell and a removable MMCX cable.


Now that might be a bit much, but when you consider what they've done for less i'd say it has a pretty good chance we'll get something along those lines.
The ED9/RX are very-well machined and still cheap, which means that aluminum shells are not out of the question, though them being campfire-audio lookalikes is so far just a rumor.
The ZST has the beginnings of amazing sound, by adding more drivers they'll tone up everything, so there's no question that the sound's probably gonna be the high point.
QA and QC i doubt they'll skimp on because this is their first 'highend' model, so they'll need to prove that they're able to compete.

The only thing i doubt is the MMCX, i dont think kz has ever made a pair of MMCX IEMs, even though they hadnt made removable cable IEMS either and the ZS3/ED12/ZST incorporate that feature really well.

Oh, and hopefully a good but crazy color aesthetic.

Oh yeah absolutely, all those oomph bass,ultra broad imaging etc shd be retained,the kz house sound..........

ed9 is definitely engineered precisely,the thread,length and flared port of the nozzles,the alum shells etc.

And if their looks are like some of the totl offering(like CFA) with a mmcx thats going to be a another benchmark for the other mid-tier and top-tier mfrs of known brands besides the other budget chi-fi mfrs..

Nevertheless,their first attempt with the 2 pin style removable cable might make them stay/continue with same 2 pin form or the success of it cld boost their confidence level in going for mmcx. who knows they do have some potential to introduce the linum T2 style ones?h34r:

oh well,lets wait and see.......another 40 days to go.

 

[loomisjohnson]

   
I certainly agree, I just expected given the typical KZ price range that it'd be closer to 50-60 instead of 80-100 for a new flagship.  It's an impressive endeavor either way, and hopefully turns out well.  I know sometimes we get excited at the prospect of someone providing something at a lower price than usual, but we always must hope that the quality is retained.  I'm still a little skeptical about the Monoprice M560 for example which seems like a wonderful price for a planar, but the reviews are a little bothersome for now

generally speaking, the marketplace isn't receptive to low-end manufacturers who try to go upscale--think hyundai trying to sell luxury cars. kz does a fantastic job at the $10 pricepoint--i'm positive if their iems were positioned at the $50 point this thread wouldn't be a thousand pages. ergo, a $100 kz will be quite a curiousity, but you got to wonder if they'll sell a ton of them.

 

[Shawn71]

Thanks for the good advice   I will make sure to check with the cable seller if it will fit the ZST and ZS3 before taking the plunge. I can read and write basic Chinese, but sometimes will need to use Google translate for some of the more complex words when communicating with Taobao sellers. 

You have very keen observation! Yes, I'm Singaporean 

Sorry I don't get what you mean by "introducing a 2.5mm/3/5mm TRRS/TRS adapter in the chain will be of no use". The 2-pin balanced cables that I am looking to buy terminates in a 2.5mm balanced jack. The Aune M1s player that I'm buying has a 2.5mm balanced output. I will just plug the cables with the 2.5mm jack straight to the 2.5mm output of the player and won't be adding on any other adapter. Am I missing something here??

ha ha ha yeah ;......Ok the adapter I was talkin about is something someone think wrongly that a balanced TRRS 2.5mm source cld still output balanced sound when connected to a TRS single ended 3.5mm IEMs by introducing a TRRS to TRS adapter between them,which is not.