[bedlamite]

A reviewer on Gearbest said the Tyrian Purple ZSN has, "sound quality comparable to about 200 or 300 dollars." I haven't heard it yet but I think the purple color has made them go cuckoo! Cuckoo!

Typical audio hyperbole, methinks. Admittedly my ZSNs are the cyan version with the "inferior" cable, but I have a silver cable from KZ as well, and the ZSNs fall well behind my IT-03s. Detail retrieval is superior on the IT-03, then again at more than 10x the price you'd expect that.

Tamper your expectations, the ZSNs are still an excellent buy for the price (the Xiaomi Pistons used to be my default recommendation for budget buds but the ZSNs have now replaced them) but $300 IEM killers? lol no

 

[Luxed]

Sorry if I sound dumb... even though I'm pretty sure mine is out of phase because it sounds really bad (in a broken way) compared to other cables.

How do we tell it's out of phase from this video? I still don't understand the exact point that's supposed to happen.

Simply put, when a driver is out of phase, the sound will come from behind you or above you or it will just "sound weird".
If you are still not sure you can take a piece of equipment that you know works and listen to the video.
Then when you try the cable you think is out of phase, the sections in the video labeled "out of phase" should be the sections that sound "good" or "normal".
This isn't something that can be described but I think anyone can hear a difference.

 

[LaughMoreDaily]

A person commented on youtube that the ZSN tuning is a RevoNext QT2 ripoff? Any comments?

 

[Slater]

The sound sounds like it's pushed up and to the sides instead of to the centre.

Now you know what I meant when I said out of your head vs in your head. Hard to explain in words, but once you hear the difference for yourself it's like ah-ha!

 

[Slater]

Sadly aproear seems unavailable now. It presented all the earphones reviewed in a nice, tabular, logical manner. Everything is ordinally accessible at a touch according to feature/characteristic.

Nooooooooooo

That's a tragedy. It's still relevant info.

 

[SybilLance]

Did I read something lately about topping amps and DIY cables and KZ earphones?



Man, this sounds sweet!

Echo that. Again. Once more. Twice, for the second time around.

Oh dear, I'm so enthusiastic about Topping products and the KZs I have I'm afraid I might be mistaken for a shill.

Indeed KZ earphones sound great through Topping amps—the more exceptional being the ZS5v1 as Coil said, and the ZS6 of course. Mustn't forget the ZSN.

Here's Rudolph sweetly enjoying Cousin Dupree from Steely Dan's Two Against Nature (Giant Records, 2000) through the N3–>NX4–>ZS5v1:

Notes:
Setup—Cayin N3 Super Slow filter, no EQ, low gain, line out to Topping NX4 amp low gain, bass boost off, phone out to KZ ZS5v1 with KZ silver upgrade cable and bullet foam tips.

Music—Two Against Nature by Steely Dan won the 2001 Grammy Awards for Album of the Year & Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical, among others. Cousin Dupree incidentally was one of the program materials in Dr. Sean Olive's research on effect of cultural differences in taste, listening experience and age in headphone preference as he presented in the PDF Perception and Measurement of Headphones. The latter is an overview of the various research studies he and his colleagues at Harman have done on the subject for the past 5 years or so. Does "Harman Preferred Target Response Curve" ring any bells?

—That red, envious in-ear at Rudolph's foot sticking out of its Batman case is the QKZ DM300.

 

[NeonHD]

KZ EDR1 UNBOXING AND REVIEW​

Woo KZ EDR1 came today

Because I sold my previous pair an year ago, this now counts as my 2nd pair of the EDR1.

First off the packaging seems to be updated to KZ's contemporary white box, ditching the old dark indigo-colored cardboard box that came with my old EDR1.

The second thing that seems to have changed is the color. The EDR1 is now sporting a new gunmetal grey look which I really love. Note that the photos make the EDR1 look like silver, but it is actually grey.

I don't think I did a proper sound analysis on the EDR1 so here goes nothing:

SOUND ANALYSIS

​

Bass:

The EDR1's bass response is primarily fixated on its mid-bass. That's not a bad thing as it gives some tracks some well-needed warmth and makes you feel cozy without ever being too bloaty or excessive. It's very similar to the bass response on the ED3c, albeit a bit more balanced.

Mids:

The mids are a bit recessed, making some songs sound a bit hollow and caved in. However moving past 2khz there is a nice emphasis on high-mids that gives female vocals a touch of clarity.

Treble:

Moving past the high-mids we journey onto the treble. From here on it's a fairly safe journey, as the treble is soft and inoffensive. Even though it's not the brightest, the treble extends decently to give you a very subtle sense of airiness. Overall very balanced.

Soundstage and Imaging:

I mean, it's okay. You're not gonna get a massive soundstage like on the KZ ED9 or QT2, but at least the sounds don't feel cramped or cluttered together. There's simply nothing remarkable about the EDR1 in this area, but it's not bad and meets the requirements.

Verdict​

Overall for $3 during the 11.11 sale, buying the EDR1 requires zero thinking. If you want the cheapest earphone ever without sacrificing sound quality, the EDR1 is a no-brainer.

 

[Mellowship]

Echo that. Again. Once more. Twice, for the second time around.

Oh dear, I'm so enthusiastic about Topping products and the KZs I have I'm afraid I might be mistaken for a shill.

Indeed KZ earphones sound great through Topping amps—the more exceptional being the ZS5v1 as Coil said, and the ZS6 of course. Mustn't forget the ZSN.

Here's Rudolph sweetly enjoying Cousin Dupree from Steely Dan's Two Against Nature (Giant Records, 2000) through the N3–>NX4–>ZS5v1:



Notes:
Setup—Cayin N3 Super Slow filter, no EQ, low gain, line out to Topping NX4 amp low gain, bass boost off, phone out to KZ ZS5v1 with KZ silver upgrade cable and bullet foam tips.

Music—Two Against Nature by Steely Dan won the 2001 Grammy Awards for Album of the Year & Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical, among others. Cousin Dupree incidentally was one of the program materials in Dr. Sean Olive's research on effect of cultural differences in taste, listening experience and age in headphone preference as he presented in the PDF Perception and Measurement of Headphones. The latter is an overview of the various research studies he and his colleagues at Harman have done on the subject for the past 5 years or so. Does "Harman Preferred Target Response Curve" ring any bells?

—That red, envious in-ear at Rudolph's foot sticking out of its Batman case is the QKZ DM300.

There's a lot of Xmas spirit going on, eh? Rudolph's a lucky champ!
Indeed the ZS5v1 has some new tricks up its sleeve when properly amped.
See you got a blue one too. My blue ZS5v1 was losing its colour over time, so I turned it black by stripping its very thin and cheap paintjob with some 97% ethanol. My gray one is keeping its coat though.
I didn't listen to the ZSN unamped yet. When I unboxed it yesterday, I just plugged it into what I had hanging around, which was the FiiO/Topping combo. It is too soon for my first impressions, but it sounded very sweet and engaging. Listened to Lhasa de Sela's "La Llorona" and to Andrew Bird's "The Mysterious Production of Eggs", and boy did they sound right!
Again, indeed, Steely Dan and their engineering mastery (sorcery?) produced some of the best sounding albums of all times.

 

[CoiL]

I hunt for another DAP for my small collection. I am currently in search of an excellent DAP with excellent features.


Most important features:

- Low output impedance (preferably below 1Ω)

- Enough power for full size cans (though 90% use will be IEMs)

- Album Art capable (necessary - my Vivaldi and Bach collections are huge and I've retitled many albums for simplifying the catalogue shortcomings on my old skool Fiio X3(i). Identifying albums by their artwork keeps things simple)

- On-the-fly playlist capability

- Warm-leaning/Velvet-like detail (I prefer great synergy with bright-leaning IEMs)

I am mostly looking for good synergy with the KZ (bright-leaning) lineup.
I don't usually use EQ but the Cowon and Lotoo are tempting. (Oops, can't do Lotoo, no album art)

Currently considering these two warm-leaning DAPs:

Cowon PM2 ($400)

Spoiler

Fill X5iii ($360+/-)

Spoiler

Fiio X5iii headphone out specifications (3.5mm headphone out jack)
Output power 1≥480 mW（16Ω / THD+N＜1%)
Output impedance＜1Ω (32Ω loaded)
Output power 2≥250 mW（32Ω /THD+N＜1%)
Channel separation＞73 dB (1 kHz)
Output power 3≥28 mW（300Ω / THD+N＜1%)
THD+N＜0.003% (1 kHz)
Frequency response5 Hz~55 kHz（-3dB）
Peak output voltage＞8 Vp-pSNR≥115 dB (A-weighted)
Max. output current 250mA (For reference)

Bluetooth, DSD and Wi-Fi are unimportant to me. I only do hardwired IEMs and the majority of my music collection is ripped from CD to FLAC, WAV, M4A or MP3(320kbps) format.

My current Fiio X3(i) works fine but I'm a sucker for a larger and brighter display of album art and more streamlined access to the music files.
That said, any other suggestions in the sub $400 range would be highly appreciated.

Thanks, in advance!

Doc

Get used DX50 and mod it! You can get these used for quite "small" money
If You have money - iBasso DX120

BTW guys! Want total purple IEM? Put ZST faceplates into ZSN - they fit like a glove!
Did this for my wife christmas gift - totally purple ZSN. Now gotta find purple tips too ;D

 

[LaughMoreDaily]

BTW guys! Want total purple IEM? Put ZST faceplates into ZSN - they fit like a glove!

But does the IEM ound like your ears are inside one?

 

[SybilLance]

BTW guys! Want total purple IEM? Put ZST faceplates into ZSN - they fit like a glove!
Did this for my wife christmas gift - totally purple ZSN. Now gotta find purple tips too ;D

Photo(s) please.

 

[chi-fi mel]

MEL'S RULE: If you purchase 5 IEM's for $X each you are more likely to find what you like than buying one IEM for $5X.

 

[CoiL]

But does the IEM ound like your ears are inside one?

I haven`t tested noise isolation difference (there probably aren`t difference) and sound seemed to be same.
To me, those holes in metal faceplates don`t affect sound but I have to do more comparing to be sure.

Photo(s) please.

Thing is... You just have to screw off ZSN plates, remove plates from ZST and push ZST plates inside ZSN shells, no glue even needed, fits tight and secure.

 

[Mybutthurts]

I haven`t tested noise isolation difference (there probably aren`t difference) and sound seemed to be same.
To me, those holes in metal faceplates don`t affect sound but I have to do more comparing to be sure.

Thing is... You just have to screw off ZSN plates, remove plates from ZST and push ZST plates inside ZSN shells, no glue even needed, fits tight and secure.

Wonder it's looks as good with ZST black chequer board plate?

 

[Leo-rume]

Thing is... You just have to screw off ZSN plates, remove plates from ZST and push ZST plates inside ZSN shells, no glue even needed, fits tight and secure.[/QUOTE]

It looks much more gorgeous than I imagined it would be