[stryed]

In my experience, the ZS6 nozzle is random (even from Gearbest). The only way to know 100% for sure is to ask the seller to open the box and actually verify. I would also ask for photographic evidence as well.

Some will accommodate, and others will either not understand what you are asking, or will flat out lie. I'm sure better and more trustworthy sellers like Jim @ HCK, Penon, etc will be more than happy to honor a request like that.

I ran into the exact same thing when I was hunting for ZS1 v1 (with the brass ring). The only way to verify the specific revision I wanted was visual inspection. I contacted about 50 sellers between Aliexpress and ebay, sending my request and a clear photo showing how to properly identify what I wanted. Of the 50 requests, only about 15 even bothered to respond. Of those, only 5 sellers were willing to actually look. Of those, 3 sellers claimed they had the correct version (QTY 1 at each seller). So I bought all 3.

Of the 3 I bought, only 1 turned out to be the real deal ZS1 v1. The other 2 I received were the ZS1 v2 (which I did not want). I chalk up those 2 to either lying and telling me what I wanted to hear (a common problem in Chinese culture), or some sort of language barrier or misunderstanding.

Oh well, at least I ended up with 1 at the end of the day.

Thanks for the tip. I'll ask my sis to translate into Chinese and contact sellers. We're from Hong Kong but only she speaks Chinese. Hopefully, they'll understand notch/lip/good-thingy-for-tips.
At least your effort wasn't wasted as the V2 isn't all that bad and the V1 is a treasured rarity.

 

[CYoung234]

In my experience, the ZS6 nozzle is random (even from Gearbest). The only way to know 100% for sure is to ask the seller to open the box and actually verify. I would also ask for photographic evidence as well.

Some will accommodate, and others will either not understand what you are asking, or will flat out lie. I'm sure better and more trustworthy sellers like Jim @ HCK, Penon, etc will be more than happy to honor a request like that.

I ran into the exact same thing when I was hunting for ZS1 v1 (with the brass ring). The only way to verify the specific revision I wanted was visual inspection. I contacted about 50 sellers between Aliexpress and ebay, sending my request and a clear photo showing how to properly identify what I wanted. Of the 50 requests, only about 15 even bothered to respond. Of those, only 5 sellers were willing to actually look. Of those, 3 sellers claimed they had the correct version (QTY 1 at each seller). So I bought all 3.

Of the 3 I bought, only 1 turned out to be the real deal ZS1 v1. The other 2 I received were the ZS1 v2 (which I did not want). I chalk up those 2 to either lying and telling me what I wanted to hear (a common problem in Chinese culture), or some sort of language barrier or misunderstanding.

Oh well, at least I ended up with 1 at the end of the day.

Slater, wish you would have seen my ad when I was in the U.S. in September. I had two zs5 v1's for sale there and on eBay, but did not get any offers. I ended up giving one of them to my nephew and brought the other one back to Paraguay with me. Oh well. They were both almost new too, from Gearbest when the ZS5 first came out.

 

[Slater]

Slater, wish you would have seen my ad when I was in the U.S. in September. I had two zs5 v1's for sale there and on eBay, but did not get any offers. I ended up giving one of them to my nephew and brought the other one back to Paraguay with me. Oh well. They were both almost new too, from Gearbest when the ZS5 first came out.

I was looking for a ZS1 v1, not ZS5 v1.

I hope you were able to sell yours. The ZS5 v1 is a sought after IEM

I have (1) ZS5 v1, and I do like it for its awesome soundstage. It does have flaws that bother me though, so I rarely ever use it.

The ZS1 v1 is my bass head guilty pleasure. Although the UiiSii CM5 has better treble, so I find myself grabbing for it more than the ZS1. I will never get rid of my ZS1 v1 just due to their rarity though!

I wish KZ would re-release the ZS1 v1. If they added a BA for treble and kept everything else exactly the same, it would be epic!

 

[Slater]

Thanks for the tip. I'll ask my sis to translate into Chinese and contact sellers. We're from Hong Kong but only she speaks Chinese. Hopefully, they'll understand notch/lip/good-thingy-for-tips.
At least your effort wasn't wasted as the V2 isn't all that bad and the V1 is a treasured rarity.

I’ll post a nice photo you can hopefully send the sellers. It should help you in your quest. A photo is worth a thousand words, no matter what the language is!

 

[stryed]

I was looking for a ZS1 v1, not ZS5 v1.

I hope you were able to sell yours. The ZS5 v1 is a sought after IEM

I have (1) ZS5 v1, and I do like it for its awesome soundstage. It does have flaws that bother me though, so I rarely ever use it.

The ZS1 v1 is my bass head guilty pleasure. Although the UiiSii CM5 has better treble, so I find myself grabbing for it more than the ZS1. I will never get rid of my ZS1 v1 just due to their rarity though!

I wish KZ would re-release the ZS1 v1. If they added a BA for treble and kept everything else exactly the same, it would be epic!

I read that as ZS5 v1 as well. Never heard of the ZS1. Some KZ oldies seem to be favourites like the EDR1/2 & ATE. I wonder how they stack up to other new cheapos like EZAudio D4 that's in my cart. KZ ZSE is indeed a disappointment although it doesn't do anything wrong, it doesn't do anything right either.

 

[Zerohour88]

Not point in getting the ZSN when you have the AS10, unless you just want a cheap beater to carry around. ZSN is a great 20 USD earphone, but it doesn't compete with the AS10.

EDIT: imo

considering AS10 and the likes are KZ's flagship model, I would've thought this didn't need clarifying. KZ wouldn't butcher their own models with a cheaper model of their own release. Especially in the same calendar year.

"hype"

 

[Nikostr8]

has someone tried the ZSN with metal music? im really digging the design of it

 

[Slater]

BTW, I am working on a permanent solution to the 'green cable' problem. Stay tuned...

BTW, here is my progress on the solution to the "green cable" problem.

Below is a pair of KZ 8 core cables generously donated by @Podster. It's hard to tell from the photos (poor lighting), but both cables were minty green with oxidation before I started. However, as you can see, 1 of the cables is now black.





In theory literally any color can be done - red, blue, green, yellow, purple, brown, pink, etc. It's even possible to do multi-colored, such as the section below the y-split in black and the section above the y-split in green. Or the R cable section above the y-split in red, and the L cable section above the y-split in blue! Picture how awesome a red cable would look with a red ZS6. Or a green cable with green ZSR. The possibilities are endless

The color is chemically bonded directly to the outside of the cable using a special industrial solvent dying process (it is NOT spray paint, fabric dye, food coloring, etc). The color is 100% permanent, and will NOT peel, chip, or rub off in any way. The jacks and inner copper conductor are totally unaffected, and there is no change with impedance or sound in any way. The cable, including the insulation, is undamaged. This process has no negative effects.

I have a few more tests to run, but so far I am very happy with the results. This is going to be a great option for cables that have ugly green oxidation, but are otherwise perfectly functional. Since some people are throwing their cables away when they turn green, this option will save money (from having to buy new cables) and keep the oxidized cables out of the landfill

Unfortunately, not every cable can be colored in this manner. The KZ 4-core silver upgrade cable (which had also oxidized green) did not turn out as good as the above 8-core cable. This is because the 4-core KZ silver cable uses 2 totally different types of wire insulation (1 type of insulation below the y-split, and a different type of insulation above the y-split)! The section of cable below the y-split turned out perfectly, and looks exactly like the above black 8-core cable. However, the upper section (above the y-split) turned out with a similar color as the KZ 'iron grey' upgrade cable (a translucent brownish grey). Obviously the upper section of the wire (above the y-split) isn't fully compatible with my process. Despite the 4-core cable being kind of a 2-tone color scheme, the end result still looks better than the mint-green oxidized cable I started out with.

I don't yet know what other cables this method works on yet (ie the silver plated 4-core TRN cable, the new 8-core cables from KZ and TRN, etc). That's 1 of the things I hope to test in the coming days.

I also need to figure out how to scale it down so people can do 1-2 cables themselves. As it stands now, I had to buy enough material to do like 1,000 cables haha. It's like a woman who wants to paint her fingernails or toenails with red nail polish, but has to buy 5 gallons at a time!

Anyways, I'll keep everyone posted with the progress.

 

[jibberish]

has someone tried the ZSN with metal music? im really digging the design of it

I received mine this morning, one of the albums I listened to today was a Judas Priest record, and I really enjoyed it. Nice separation of the lead and rhythm guitars, solid bass drum thump without bleeding into the lower mids, Halford's vocals didn't get overbearing. So yeah, it's a VERY limited amount of listening time so far, but I'm encouraged that it'll be good choice for metal and classic/hard rock.

I like the ZS4 with metal, and my initial impression is that the ZSN will offer a fairly similar experience but with more prominent mids, a slightly wider soundstage, and more detailed treble. Attitudes can change with more hours though, I initially was very enamored by the ZSR when i first got it, but then it lost its luster for me after a few weeks.

The build quality of the ZSN looks impressive compared to the other KZs I have in the same price range for sure, and fit and isolation are both superb for my ears. Took the dog on a multi-hour walk in some extreme wind, it was perfectly comfortable throughout and no wind noise leaked in at all (had a big problem with that yesterday while out with another set of IEMs).

I definitely didn't need another set of ~$20 IEMs based on how many I've bought recently, but my initial impressions are very positive and I'm looking forward to putting the ZSN through it's paces. Oh yeah, the lack of memory wire on the cable is really nice too, I had to pull the memory wire out of my ZSR and ZS4 cables.

 

[crabdog]

I received mine this morning, one of the albums I listened to today was a Judas Priest record, and I really enjoyed it. Nice separation of the lead and rhythm guitars, solid bass drum thump without bleeding into the lower mids, Halford's vocals didn't get overbearing. So yeah, it's a VERY limited amount of listening time so far, but I'm encouraged that it'll be good choice for metal and classic/hard rock.

I like the ZS4 with metal, and my initial impression is that the ZSN will offer a fairly similar experience but with more prominent mids, a slightly wider soundstage, and more detailed treble. Attitudes can change with more hours though, I initially was very enamored by the ZSR when i first got it, but then it lost its luster for me after a few weeks.

The build quality of the ZSN looks impressive compared to the other KZs I have in the same price range for sure, and fit and isolation are both superb for my ears. Took the dog on a multi-hour walk in some extreme wind, it was perfectly comfortable throughout and no wind noise leaked in at all (had a big problem with that yesterday while out with another set of IEMs).

I definitely didn't need another set of ~$20 IEMs based on how many I've bought recently, but my initial impressions are very positive and I'm looking forward to putting the ZSN through it's paces. Oh yeah, the lack of memory wire on the cable is really nice too, I had to pull the memory wire out of my ZSR and ZS4 cables.

I agree about the memory wire 110% and it makes the ZSN cable so much better. From memory, it feels slightly more supple than the AS10 and BA10 cable too which is another plus. I'm liking the new connectors on this one too, makes it feel more durable and reduces the likeliness of bending the pins. As for the sound of the ZSN, wow, maybe even better than the ZS4?

​

 

[Nikostr8]

I received mine this morning, one of the albums I listened to today was a Judas Priest record, and I really enjoyed it. Nice separation of the lead and rhythm guitars, solid bass drum thump without bleeding into the lower mids, Halford's vocals didn't get overbearing. So yeah, it's a VERY limited amount of listening time so far, but I'm encouraged that it'll be good choice for metal and classic/hard rock.

I like the ZS4 with metal, and my initial impression is that the ZSN will offer a fairly similar experience but with more prominent mids, a slightly wider soundstage, and more detailed treble. Attitudes can change with more hours though, I initially was very enamored by the ZSR when i first got it, but then it lost its luster for me after a few weeks.

The build quality of the ZSN looks impressive compared to the other KZs I have in the same price range for sure, and fit and isolation are both superb for my ears. Took the dog on a multi-hour walk in some extreme wind, it was perfectly comfortable throughout and no wind noise leaked in at all (had a big problem with that yesterday while out with another set of IEMs).

I definitely didn't need another set of ~$20 IEMs based on how many I've bought recently, but my initial impressions are very positive and I'm looking forward to putting the ZSN through it's paces. Oh yeah, the lack of memory wire on the cable is really nice too, I had to pull the memory wire out of my ZSR and ZS4 cables.

thank you very much for the answer , i guess ill choose between zs4 ( same shell as my beloved zs3 which fits me perfectly) and ZSN ( same shell as zst?? ).

If im going to get a similar experience between them maybe i have to choose the ZS4 for the comfort aspect . The ZSN looks so damn good tho....

 

[1clearhead]

OK, so I've burned the KZ ZSN hitting the 100 hour mark and they are just astonishing for the price! They just kept getting better and better as I gave it small breaks to listen in until the 100 hour point! The performance is phenomenal with the cable that comes with the purple/silver ZSN, or the separate purchase of the silver braided cable that's made exclusively for the ZSN. You get excellent performance from either of the two cables! I will be making a decision within a week or two where I will rank the ZSN based on their Professional Sound Rating (PSR) performance on my list, but they're definitely going to be one of my top contenders for sure. Definitely, they are worthy as one of KZ's best for; comfort, light-weight, well-made, uniquely made, good looks, professional sounding, and best price! Lastly, another unique feature is how the acrylic/resin is the part of the housing that sits in the ears, while the metal plate sits outside for a cold-free listening experience during the cold or winter seasons.

Ps. It's funny how I treat these more carefully than some of the one's that I paid up to five times more.

KZ ZSN

-Clear

 

[monitoringsound70]

And so the AS10s are here

I really like the new package for these in the black, shame no case mind.

Obviously early days at the moment but initially I wasn't wowed by these. .... Having been spoilt with the Zs10 the first few songs I heard with these were perfectly acceptable but nothing over the top

However after further listening they start to claw you in, Probably the best bass I've yet heard on a Kz, stronger than the Zs10 and certainly with plenty of power.

Mids are really nice, up front enough without becoming shouty, actually better than the ES4, very nicely done.

Treble is exceptionally good, there's a huge amount of detail there but they just sit in the background to not give you any fatigue.
I'm very nearly saying these are the most balanced and natural Kz yet, which is probably why initially the wow factor wasn't immediately apparent.
But the more I listen the more they shine!

Definitely brilliant for a studio monitor these may just have it all, anyway more in depth thoughts to follow.......

 

[eclein]

I'm so pumped,mine are out for delivery!!

 

[DSebastiao]

Are the AS10 the best of the bunch right now?

Even considering other brands?