[nihontoman]

so, I just tried to remove the memory wire portion on the stock cable of the ZS3 and to my surprise, there is no "memory wire" under the thick rubbery portion that should be housing it... There is no metal wire underneath. jus the cable itself and that's it. glad I decided to cut it off, because this way it is MUCH more comfortable :/

Also changed the red filters to the mesh steel screen. 4mm fits great. the thing is, the sound is bit better this way (more highs) which makes the thing less boomy and more spacious sounding. also, there was no red foam thingy in the sound tube. Mine are the VERY first generation, I preordered these when they first came out

 

[bjaardker]

Any suggestions on a non memory wire ZS5 replacement cable?

 

[vladstef]

Any suggestions on a non memory wire ZS5 replacement cable?

I can't wait to receive my pair and see what all the fuss is about regarding that cable, generally, you can fix a lot of issues with memory wire by molding it to a specific shape and just being careful not to reshape it when inserting/removing them.
You can always just remove that memory wire, no need for new cable. Memory wire and signal cable are separated and have a protective tube around them, find the end of memory wire, push it through the tube and keep pulling it till the connector, cut it at the root and remove the tube that is leftover which has no function now.

 

[bjaardker]

I can't wait to receive my pair and see what all the fuss is about regarding that cable, generally, you can fix a lot of issues with memory wire by molding it to a specific shape and just being careful not to reshape it when inserting/removing them.
You can always just remove that memory wire, no need for new cable. Memory wire and signal cable are separated and have a protective tube around them, find the end of memory wire, push it through the tube and keep pulling it till the connector, cut it at the root and remove the tube that is leftover which has no function now.

Yup, I'm going to hack away at it and remove the wire tonight. I normally really like memory wire cables, however it doesn't work with this specific IEM for a few reasons:

1) The IEM is REALLY light. So even the slightest bump of the wire ends up shifting the IEM in your ear and sometimes breaking the seal.
2) The memory wire seems to be longer than most leading to the need for some extra sculpting of the wire to get it to fit right.
3) The shape of the IEM and the angle at which the cable connects to the IEM makes it much more awkward than usual for memory wire. It just feels...un-natural.

 

[Slater]

so, I just tried to remove the memory wire portion on the stock cable of the ZS3 and to my surprise, there is no "memory wire" under the thick rubbery portion that should be housing it... There is no metal wire underneath. jus the cable itself and that's it. glad I decided to cut it off, because this way it is MUCH more comfortable :/

Also changed the red filters to the mesh steel screen. 4mm fits great. the thing is, the sound is bit better this way (more highs) which makes the thing less boomy and more spacious sounding. also, there was no red foam thingy in the sound tube. Mine are the VERY first generation, I preordered these when they first came out

Interesting - I thought all of the memory wires had an actual metal wire inside.

So I was able to verify on a brand new pair of ZS3 that they indeed still have the acoustic foam inside the tube (ie early models = no foam, later models through current = foam).

Good call on the red filters - I swapped mine out for 4mm stainless screens as well.

Knowing the effect the red filters (vs stainless mesh) has on the highs, I wish KZ had instead put the filters on the ZST instead of the stainless mesh they used. The ZST would have been just the right amount of brightness then. Kind of ironic that they did the filters on the ZS3 when they benefit from the stainless mesh, and the ZST has the stainless mesh when they would benefit from the filters LOL

 

[ezekiel77]

Should one get the silver cable together for the ZS5?

The silver cable is better to handle and better looking than the stock. I didn't like the stock cable. Too springy and rubbery feeling. To me the $7 for an extra silver cable is worth it. Just don't expect sound improvements.

Some might not like the silver cable bcos of the memory wire, and no chin slider.

 

[hanaxxaru]

Hi, please take my review as non-professional side. I may be wrong in the word terms used in the below part. My ZS5 is used with iPhone SE.

I already tried using it few days and it is really good. Out of the box, its sound little thin but after a while, all frequency can be heard. Kinda U-shaped but close to balance. Tight and punchy subbass, midbass left behind and not so pronounced. Voice has forward signature and great clarity due to reduced midbass but lack body. I'm impressed on how it is so clear and bright without any sibilances. Same goes with the treble. Great extension, splashy and bright but little bit fatigue to be listened for a long period of time. Soundstage and instrument separation above average without being unnatural.

My bad part is only the comfort wise. The shape not so friendly with my ears but plastic housing make it stay as it light. Nozzle little short, i'm using my cheap chinese clear silicone with blue bore, that one works good even with my other iem. Cable wise, stock kinda sticky and silver plated one, not so comfort due to hard memory wire and the cable itself. It also need little bit more power to drive but not sure if it will benefit if using with an amp. Overall, it makes my Dunu DN-1000 sound darker and bassy. If not because the comfort issue, I would use the KZ ZS5 as my daily iem.

For isolation, I suggests to use long bore tips. It may help. Thanks!

 

[Mus1c]

How to know which is old zs3 or new zs3? Mine is glossy look.

 

[toddy0191]

Hi, please take my review as non-professional side. I may be wrong in the word terms used in the below part. My ZS5 is used with iPhone SE.

I already tried using it few days and it is really good. Out of the box, its sound little thin but after a while, all frequency can be heard. Kinda U-shaped but close to balance. Tight and punchy subbass, midbass left behind and not so pronounced. Voice has forward signature and great clarity due to reduced midbass but lack body. I'm impressed on how it is so clear and bright without any sibilances. Same goes with the treble. Great extension, splashy and bright but little bit fatigue to be listened for a long period of time. Soundstage and instrument separation above average without being unnatural.

My bad part is only the comfort wise. The shape not so friendly with my ears but plastic housing make it stay as it light. Nozzle little short, i'm using my cheap chinese clear silicone with blue bore, that one works good even with my other iem. Cable wise, stock kinda sticky and silver plated one, not so comfort due to hard memory wire and the cable itself. It also need little bit more power to drive but not sure if it will benefit if using with an amp. Overall, it makes my Dunu DN-1000 sound darker and bassy. If not because the comfort issue, I would use the KZ ZS5 as my daily iem.

For isolation, I suggests to use long bore tips. It may help. Thanks!

Just remove the memory wire the comfort improves massively. If you tear away the tubing that covers the wire, then wiggle the memory wire in a circular motion, it just pulls out.

 

[Mus1c]

Interesting - I thought all of the memory wires had an actual metal wire inside.

So I was able to verify on a brand new pair of ZS3 that they indeed still have the acoustic foam inside the tube (ie early models = no foam, later models through current = foam).

Good call on the red filters - I swapped mine out for 4mm stainless screens as well.

Knowing the effect the red filters (vs stainless mesh) has on the highs, I wish KZ had instead put the filters on the ZST instead of the stainless mesh they used. The ZST would have been just the right amount of brightness then. Kind of ironic that they did the filters on the ZS3 when they benefit from the stainless mesh, and the ZST has the stainless mesh when they would benefit from the filters LOL

I remove all inside zs3 foam and red mesh.

 

[Slater]

How to know which is old zs3 or new zs3? Mine is glossy look.

If it's glossy black, and has the black tuning foam under the red filter, then you have the latest version.

Since you already removed the black foam and the red filter, you have the best sound improvement possible. If you want to go a step further, you can install 4mm stainless mesh where the red filter was. You can get a sheet of 10 of the mesh pieces (enough for 5 pairs of IEMs) for under $1 on Aliexpress.

 

[HiFiChris]

Should one get the silver cable together for the ZS5?

Imvho you definitely should - it doesn't only look better, but is also much more flexible (the stock one is quite springy and rubbery), less microphonic and has got four twisted conductors below the y-splitter. In addition, around $7 are dirt-cheap for a twisted cable with 2-pin connectors.

 

[Vidal]

I've removed the memory wire from my ZS5 and added some weights to the cable, it's much better as a result. I don't want to swap to another cable as 70% of the time I use the ZS5 straight from my iPhone and the mic cable has full iOS controls.

 

[HiFiChris]

By the way, here is my take on the ZS5, also including a comparison with the quite popular 1More E1001: http://kopfhoerer-lounge.blogspot.com/2017/06/knowledge-zenith-kz-zs5-review.html



It's in German but there's a Google Translator option/widget in the navigation bar.

 

[B9Scrambler]

Great review