oyobass
100+ Head-Fier
Not yet. Probably will...Ahha did you buy Zs10 ?
I already have a number of really decent IEMs.
I'm slowing down on the early adopter thing. Now it's more of the wait for the reliable reviews thing.
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Not yet. Probably will...Ahha did you buy Zs10 ?
If you are an early adopter, it is kind of like putting money into a capsule toy vending machine. You never know what you'll get.
So far I've enjoyed the ride.
KZ is as KZ does...Exactly. It's "like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are gonna get."
Has anybody ordered ZS10? When is the expected time to get them?
Here's photos of the red screen so you know what to expect:
The following interior diagram will show you everything that you need to know (you don't actually open the shell for the foam mod - the interior diagram is just to illustrate where the foam is located):
UPDATE: I found a camera lens and settings that would allow me to get a good shot of the foam. It's impossible to gauge the depth in this photo, but that foam is located about 1/4" down inside the nozzle:
Here's what the piece of foam looks like after you've removed it with the needle (it gets more compressed once inside the plastic tube):
Also, while you're at it you may as well use the sewing needle to verify that the vent hole is open and not blocked. Just poke it with the sewing needle (or the tip of a thumbtack) and make sure it's not blocked with glue.
One more thing - even if you don't plan on removing the foam, I would strongly recommend that you at least peek under the red screens of your ZS3. Something that has always bothered me about 1 of my pairs of my ZS3 is that 1 side never sounded quite right. Well, low and behold I found that the foam on the 'never quite right' side was not even in the plastic tube, but just floating around freely inside the nozzle directly under the red screen. So at a minimum, looking under the red screens will allow you to make sure both of your foam pieces are inserted properly into the ends of the plastic nozzle. There have been reports of sound mismatches on 1 side. Early batches of the ZS3 had a crushed sound tube. Those were recalled a long time ago, so if you have a relatively recent ZS3 and you have something odd going on with 1 side, it could be that the foam isn't situated in the tube properly.
Let me know if you have any questions.
- Slater
P.S. - To the advanced IEM builders/modders out there, as you can see from the exploded diagram this would be an excellent host for turning into a hybrid DD + BA. The shell is easy to open, it's comfortable as heck, and there's plenty of room inside for a crossover in the shell & a BA driver inside the nozzle tube. Looking at the above photo, it almost looks as if KZ was planning that all along, and it wouldn't surprise me if a "ZS4" comes out as a dual hybrid using this same shell as they already have the shell tooling. Also, it would be easy to swap out the plastic tube for a copper one, as the plastic is extremely thin (it looks exactly like a piece of heat shrink tubing that hasn't been heated/shrunk; or it could also be a piece of drinking straw). It's that thin & flimsy.
I agree. The ZS3, of all the KZ’s I tried, has the most messy and muddy sound. The mid bass overwhelming the bass and sacrificing some of the mids... it just doesn’t work for me.I believe you are right.
ZS3 was my first KZ (spring 2017) and immediately blew my senn cx300ii out of the water pretty much in terms of everything besides forward mids. However, from reading the forums, later I learned I got the later batch (another KZ stealth change) of glossy ZS3 which seems to be very different from the early matte batch which were more balanced and loved by seasoned early adopters.
ZS5v1 is in an others class. Later ZS3 surpass it only in isolation.
I believe one should be carefull in buying the latest ZS3 as it doesn't seems to be the same as the one owned by those who praise it.
Edit: lately I've tried to bring ZS3 into rotation along with TNT and ZS5(I) as a bass heavy alternative. Just can't. It's a muddy mess in comparison. And to think of they topped my gear at one point... that's how one's taste and experience evolves with more listened iems. They are fs on local classifieds now. If you want clean bass centric signature I think (from reading) you might want to try your luck with CM5 or the more expensive Z5000 - mind you I tried none, it's just what I would do.
Edit 2: the impressions above are with @Slater KZ ZS3 mod. Unfortunately futile.
The CM5 tend to work their way out of my ears using the stock tips, and there is a bumb somewhere in their contour that doesn't quite fit MY ear right.
How is the sounstage?ZS10 is in da house!
Braided stock cable (with mic confirmed) is heappppps better than the old sticky rubber cable. It's about 3cm longer than the ZSR stock cable and 10cm longer than my ZS5v1 stock cable (w/ 3 button remote), so that's nice.
Very brief first impressions vs ZSR and ZS5v1
ZS10 highs are detailed and lively but not overboard, don't hear any sibilance yet. Mids are good, definitely less recessed than ZS5. Bass is strong and present, fairly similar to ZSR, though I feel like ZSR extends a bit deeper but this could be a difference in fit. I get a superb fit with the ZSR/ZS3 shell, the ZS10 is somewhat similar to the ZST in terms of fit. The housing itself is the biggest one yet, so it sticks out a bit more than the others, but the ear canal part is fine for me, width of the nozzle is same as ZS5. No lip on the nozzle again though...sigh I hope the tips stay on better than the ZS5. The black starlines that are firmer hopefully helps a bit.
Immediate feeling is the ZS10 sounds like a ZSR with better treble. Or you could say it's like the ZS5 without the sibilance and warmer sounding and a bit more bass/sub bass. I like the ZSR alot and this only improves on it SQ wise, only minor regression is the fit (for me).
As for power requirements, I need ~8/10 volume on my phone for ZS5v1, ~7/10 for ZS10 and ~6/10 for ZSR for the same volume, so these should work fine with phones.
Hope you all get yours soon!