[Keller2]

Gold plated cables, how does that improve things?

Gold is a poorer conductor of electricity than copper. Silver > Copper > Gold > Aluminium > Adamantium

It's there mostly for looks.

 

[VinceHill24]

My zs5 arrived yesterday, mids and trebles are good out of the box, i.e. close mids and good treble extension. Vocals sounds close to you as well. However the build quality left a lot to be desired, my left unit took a bit of force to be fully inserted with both stock and gold-plated cable. The fit is awkward as well, like fitting a box inside a sphere, and the units are large and stick out of my ears a bit so probably cannot be used lying down.
Overall, zs5 gives really good female vocals for me.

Wow you're fast. Is it bass light like what some Taobao review had said ? From the way you described briefly it seems like it's a bright sounding iem

 

[chinmie]

@chinmie Glad your zs3s are sounding good straight out the box, even if its a zst box lol. Im a bit on the fence as to whether I should attempt the zs3 mod myself. I was under the impression that the mod improves the overall sound quality especially the mids and bass. Everyone has a different ear though so I will at least try the zs3s without the mod for awhile. Hopefully this mod is easy enough to perform I havent really looked in detail how to do it yet.

@slaterlovesspam instructions is easy enough to follow, you shouldn't have to worry about it . I ended up keeping the red mesh off, and using a round foam tip. before that i was using sony tips, but it seals too tight that it created vacuum and pops my ear every time i remove it.. i might try inserting a VE monk foam inside the nozzle later and see how it goes

 

[ezekiel77]

Wow you're fast. Is it bass light like what some Taobao review had said ? From the way you described briefly it seems like it's a bright sounding iem

Interesting... with 2 DDs I thought it'll be bass-emphasised, or at least not lacking at all in the lower end of things.

 

[WilliamCruz]

Interesting... with 2 DDs I thought it'll be bass-emphasised, or at least not lacking at all in the lower end of things.

i was pretty shocked to hear male vocals didn't stand out when one dynamic was for mids, totqlly not what i expected

 

[asiatiger999]

Wow you're fast. Is it bass light like what some Taobao review had said ? From the way you described briefly it seems like it's a bright sounding iem

Its bass is lighter than the k3 pro and memt x5 that I also owned.

i was pretty shocked to hear male vocals didn't stand out when one dynamic was for mids, totqlly not what i expected

They still stand out a bit and not covered by drums, but not standing out as much females.

 

[Vidal]

It's there mostly for looks.

I think the correct term would be 'only' there for looks.

 

[geoemm]

I'm interested in buying ZS3 (or ZS5 if the reviews are great). Will it be a great upgrade from Mi Hybrid in terms of sound quality? Or anyone has a suggestion?

i would also like to know this..

 

[Enn Jott]

Answer is a little late now... (on the ZST mod that is)

I think your description of the mod is great - the mod itself is not that easy, but not hard either. i used some foam i had at home that looks very similar in structure and "density". worked out pretty good i'd say.

but here is the thing - as much as i enjoy the zst (that now have little treble but sound more pleasing) the sound is off - by that i mean the phantom center is not in dead center - it's pushed over to the right side (right side might be louder now). That is something that i can not listen to for more than a few minutes (it drives me nuts). no hard feelings though. after trying the zst (with and without mod) and the somic v4 (also rather disappointing) i'm not sure if i should invest more money in more chifi as i am more disappointed than pleased... but i do have an eye on either the Ty Hi-Z G3, BossHiFi B3 or Fostex TE02n as i prefer neutral sound after all...

BUT i am still very interested in the ZS5 and what ppl think about it

 

[SpiderNhan]

Answer is a little late now... (on the ZST mod that is)

I think your description of the mod is great - the mod itself is not that easy, but not hard either. i used some foam i had at home that looks very similar in structure and "density". worked out pretty good i'd say.

but here is the thing - as much as i enjoy the zst (that now have little treble but sound more pleasing) the sound is off - by that i mean the phantom center is not in dead center - it's pushed over to the right side (right side might be louder now). That is something that i can not listen to for more than a few minutes (it drives me nuts). no hard feelings though. after trying the zst (with and without mod) and the somic v4 (also rather disappointing) i'm not sure if i should invest more money in more chifi as i am more disappointed than pleased... but i do have an eye on either the Ty Hi-Z G3, BossHiFi B3 or Fostex TE02n as i prefer neutral sound after all...

BUT i am still very interested in the ZS5 and what ppl think about it

Fostex is Japanese, so no need to limit yourself there.

 

[Dark Helmet]

Answer is a little late now... (on the ZST mod that is)

I think your description of the mod is great - the mod itself is not that easy, but not hard either. i used some foam i had at home that looks very similar in structure and "density". worked out pretty good i'd say.

but here is the thing - as much as i enjoy the zst (that now have little treble but sound more pleasing) the sound is off - by that i mean the phantom center is not in dead center - it's pushed over to the right side (right side might be louder now). That is something that i can not listen to for more than a few minutes (it drives me nuts). no hard feelings though. after trying the zst (with and without mod) and the somic v4 (also rather disappointing) i'm not sure if i should invest more money in more chifi as i am more disappointed than pleased... but i do have an eye on either the Ty Hi-Z G3, BossHiFi B3 or Fostex TE02n as i prefer neutral sound after all...

BUT i am still very interested in the ZS5 and what ppl think about it

Thge Boss Hifi B3 has excellent sound. I had to return mine due to a cable issue. I have the KZ ZS3 and have done the mod and really like it.

 

[Slater]

Answer is a little late now... (on the ZST mod that is)

I think your description of the mod is great - the mod itself is not that easy, but not hard either. i used some foam i had at home that looks very similar in structure and "density". worked out pretty good i'd say.

but here is the thing - as much as i enjoy the zst (that now have little treble but sound more pleasing) the sound is off - by that i mean the phantom center is not in dead center - it's pushed over to the right side (right side might be louder now). That is something that i can not listen to for more than a few minutes (it drives me nuts). no hard feelings though. after trying the zst (with and without mod) and the somic v4 (also rather disappointing) i'm not sure if i should invest more money in more chifi as i am more disappointed than pleased... but i do have an eye on either the Ty Hi-Z G3, BossHiFi B3 or Fostex TE02n as i prefer neutral sound after all...

BUT i am still very interested in the ZS5 and what ppl think about it

If there is a mismatch on 1 side vs the other, that means you made the foam piece a little too large on the side that is weaker. In other words, on the side that is weaker (lower volume) the foam piece is too large, and when it is compressed is creating too dense of a foam filter. Just remove that side, trim a tiny bit off, reinstall & retest. If it still sounds off, repeat.

 

[Enn Jott]

If there is a mismatch on 1 side vs the other, that means you made the foam piece a little too large on the side that is weaker. In other words, on the side that is weaker (lower volume) the foam piece is too large, and when it is compressed is creating too dense of a foam filter. Just remove that side, trim a tiny bit off, reinstall & retest. If it still sounds off, repeat.

Hi, good point, already thought about that - the pieces really looked the same size but who knows. i don't really care atm to be honest, but at some point at some point on some rainy evening i will look at that mess again to see what can be done

 

[ricemanhk]

Answer is a little late now... (on the ZST mod that is)

but here is the thing - as much as i enjoy the zst (that now have little treble but sound more pleasing) the sound is off - by that i mean the phantom center is not in dead center - it's pushed over to the right side (right side might be louder now).

I have experienced this problem on certain players, but not with my own phone, tablet or PC. I was trying the new Onkyo android phone in the shop with my ZST and the center definitely is skewed to the right, but then I play the same song on my own phone and it's fine. I've only experienced the issue in one or 2 isolated cases, so I chalk it up to issues with the player and not my ZST. But if it's 100% skewed to the right for you in all cases, then you do have a bum one...

BTW my ZS5 have ARRIVED!! Well the package has been delivered to my home but I'm still in the office LOL...will give my first impressions later tonight. I did get the gold cable knowing that most upgrade cables use silver/silver plated/OFC copper etc. But 1. they're pretty cheap 2. they're quite awesome looking 3. from the pics they look more yellow/gold colored and not actually gold plated (I've rarely seen gold plated wires...has anyone??) 4. it's pretty easy to get the silver ZS3/ZS5 upgrade cable later if I do want one

 

[bokiboki]

Thge Boss Hifi B3 has excellent sound. I had to return mine due to a cable issue. I have the KZ ZS3 and have done the mod and really like it.

Do you know the difference in B3 and B3S?