Latest Thread Images

Knowledge Zenith (KZ) impressions thread
Dec 1, 2017 at 10:06 PM Post #25,861 of 63,834
1-ES3.jpg
 
Dec 1, 2017 at 10:28 PM Post #25,864 of 63,834
oyobass said:
The world of Chi-fi is a wonderful thing. I hear something entirely different from what you do.
vive la différence!
Click to expand...
sucker! You hear different things, suuuure ya do. Enjoy your delicious snake oil!
 
Dec 2, 2017 at 12:16 AM Post #25,865 of 63,834
@khighly do you own the Zs3 or ATE? Would you say they sound the same as the ZS line? If so I'm no longer a part of this discussion, I'll happily part my way

Also, to me the cables do change sound in a very minute way, I've got around 3 cables I tested. I'm not a super knowledgeable guy and can't post data, but I'm saying this now : the difference is there, bass to me was slightly quicker with the spc cable but that's very very minute. In fact, these have much less microphonics when moving or listening with the Spc cables on a bus or walk, that alone produces a much more different experience than the thick rubber hide stock cable. That's just my personal experience and observations

I would recommend an spc cable, they are around 4$ very often, and is a lot better than the stock ones. (Durability + microphonics + very slight audio changes)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Dec 2, 2017 at 12:39 AM Post #25,866 of 63,834
Mmhm. Agreed all around. Reminds me of the people losing their minds about Grados supposedly using the same drivers in a given series (the SRs the PSs, etc). Even if KZ does take all their drivers out of a basket, we know for a fact that just moving one BA from body to nozzle had a profound effect on the treble of the ZS5 and subsequently the ZS6.

There is a wide difference, IMO, between QC issues and inherent design issues. It's entirely possible to have really good engineers working on low-cost designs that get handed off to low-wage workers who screw up the assembly frequently, and at the prices we're talking about it's amazing that they don't happen more often. If you're spending $20 on a quad-driver IEM it's a bonus if the thing doesn't fall into pieces as soon as it comes out of the box let alone sound good enough to be a daily driver over stuff in the $200 range.
 
Dec 2, 2017 at 4:36 AM Post #25,867 of 63,834
After seeing a lot of guys searching for THE budget iem, I´d like to add one onto your list :)
Blitzwolf BW-ES1 ($10-15)
After a few mods the graphene driver in this thing will shine, literally. I like these even more than my RE400 which were like 10 times more expensive...
The snappiest bass I´ve ever heard, nice soundstage which is actually in front of you (in comparison to RE400 which can sound like behind your head I would say).
These can be tuned to have ruler flat bass or keep some more of it, whatever you like.. and the treble is nicely extended with one small peak around 5kHz which can be heard only in some tracks.

graphene-headphone-1.png

I wanted to buy ZS6 so much, they are beatiful, but I see they have similar tonality to ES3 with even more treble.. I just can´t, I have ES3 and Blitz absolutely destroys them imo.
For me the best kz is still ATE (old with golden weights), if I eq the bass down, they sound lovely.

I don´t want to start something similar to this marshall "discussion", just thought some of you may find it useful - especially you guys who like to mod :wink:
There is a thread in other forums about blitzwolf with measurements and tutorial, you can google it or pm me..
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Dec 2, 2017 at 10:36 AM Post #25,870 of 63,834
nxnje said:
I surrend.. tried many tricks to make my zs3 fit properly but i still can't enjoy listening with them.
I love their sound signature a lot, their bass is incredibly strong, so i'm gonna send back them to the seller.
I have heard online the rock zircons have good bass too but i saw they're not well built and so not resistant.

I was going online to see if there's something like zs3 sound signature and i found memt x5 were so well shown.
Do u tip me to buy them? I have 15 dollars budget for the moment but i can go over for lioe 2-3 euros.
What do u think i can buy as substitute?
Thanks for the tips and sorry if this goes a bit off topic.
Click to expand...
Go for it. I think that the Memt are better than both ZS3 and Zircons, and try them with the dual flange tips with the larger bore, between the tips in the case.
 
Dec 2, 2017 at 11:50 AM Post #25,871 of 63,834
khighly said:
There's no way they're doing coil winding and driver tuning for $4-$10 IEM's. They're shoving the same drivers in every IEM and making shell design changes that effect the sound in small ways. What you're probably experiencing is lack of QC.

This isn't Campfire Audio, this is KZ.
Click to expand...
If you look at FR graphs users have made about KZ IEMs - then it is basically impossible that they all have same drivers and sound same - only shell, tips, nozzle, filtering can NOT affect FR graphs SO much.

I have TESTED two different ATE versions and different revisions of ATE in EXACTLY SAME custom driver testing shell and I say - they sound different! Some are quite similar though but differences are still noticeable. Unfortunately I have no gear to do FR graphs.

So, believe what You want! :) Ignorance is bliss.

Yes KZ QC is bad often but main problems are with shell port holes, glue, grills, driver tubbing etc.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Dec 2, 2017 at 12:26 PM Post #25,872 of 63,834
Radek Jandl said:
After seeing a lot of guys searching for THE budget iem, I´d like to add one onto your list :)
Blitzwolf BW-ES1 ($10-15)
After a few mods the graphene driver in this thing will shine, literally. I like these even more than my RE400 which were like 10 times more expensive...
The snappiest bass I´ve ever heard, nice soundstage which is actually in front of you (in comparison to RE400 which can sound like behind your head I would say).
These can be tuned to have ruler flat bass or keep some more of it, whatever you like.. and the treble is nicely extended with one small peak around 5kHz which can be heard only in some tracks.

graphene-headphone-1.png

I wanted to buy ZS6 so much, they are beatiful, but I see they have similar tonality to ES3 with even more treble.. I just can´t, I have ES3 and Blitz absolutely destroys them imo.
For me the best kz is still ATE (old with golden weights), if I eq the bass down, they sound lovely.

I don´t want to start something similar to this marshall "discussion", just thought some of you may find it useful - especially you guys who like to mod :wink:
There is a thread in other forums about blitzwolf with measurements and tutorial, you can google it or pm me..
Click to expand...

I can say using hybrid tips and changing the front damper to 2 layers of 3M micropore + 2 small holes onto it with a toothpick did the trick to me. It's indeed a really good IEM after some small mods.

I'm kinda happy and sad about your ES3 isn't that good compared to Blitzwolf. I've bought a KZ ZST and probably I'll get them on Monday so... I expect at least my experience will be good with ZST too, every single person which I trust said really positive things about them.
 
Dec 2, 2017 at 12:42 PM Post #25,874 of 63,834
Makahl said:
I can say using hybrid tips and changing the front damper to 2 layers of 3M micropore + 2 small holes onto it with a toothpick did the trick to me. It's indeed a really good IEM after some small mods.

I'm kinda happy and sad about your ES3 isn't that good compared to Blitzwolf. I've bought a KZ ZST and probably I'll get them on Monday so... I expect at least my experience will be good with ZST too, every single person which I trust said really positive things about them.
Click to expand...

I may be too hard on my ES3, maybe they doesn´t suit me tonally (even after trying to reduce treble and bass).. anyway, I´m curious what you gonna say when zst arrives
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 21 (members: 0, guests: 21)
Back
Top