I went with the one @mbwilson111 recd from aliexpress. See her link in previous posts.
C$ 21.01 33%OFF | 8 Strands Cable 0.78mm 2 Pin for QDC ZSN Earphone Headset 2.5mm 3.5mm 4.4mm Custom Earphone Cable for IPhone Android IOS https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/Gb7fWjm
Since were veering off topic allow me to ask: What’s a good “budget” (under 250) DAP for my first buy? Wi-Fi is nice if I want Spotify but not necessary, doesn’t need BT. Just a thing to play flacs and mp3s and sound much better than my Galaxy phone. The Walkman NWA45B looks intriguing for $180. Help?
I've been looking around in that price range myself, but I'm going to stretch my budget by $100 and get the Xduoo x20. Ali has it for around $300-335 CDN (it'll probably be less when they have their next big sale). No touchscreen but seems to pack alot of other good sound tech into it. Good dac chip, sd card slot and powerful balanced output makes it appealing to me.
The odd thing to me is that it sounds like the C16 should have been a KZ and the A16 should have been a CCA. Since balanced signatures is kinda CCAs thing.
Its interesting that his observation of the higher treble BA's are in line with mine that the C16's treble region don't behave very well with higher power input. In other words, beyond a certain threshold, you start to catch sibilance and indirectly, distortion.
So I really wasn't imagining things in my listening assessment.
They should revisit the Zs6 and replace those 30095 BAs with the latest ones !
As I posted ~30 mins. ago they might have done that already. Now they just need to replace the 10mm DD with the new Tesla driver, give us new colors, better cables and call it ZS6 Pro or whatever.
(I'm listening to some excellent Chesky jazz recordings with my new red ZS6 right now and there's not the slightest hint of sibilance or harshness, just beautiful transparent spaciousness and spatial accuracy. Best 23€ spent in a loong time.)
it's generally my policy to agree with panda about everything, but here i break ranks and rate the zs7 higher than the zs10 pro, which has more detail but woolier bass and a smaller stage. i might actually place the underrecognized ed16 third; for sentimental reasons i'd have to put the ed9 near the top as well.
My second set of KZ6 doesn't sound nearly as bright (upper mids) and piercing as my older pair. Maybe these days they're using different 30095 BAs ('customized') than half a year ago and if so they possibly use them for pretty much everything else in their lineup as well. (Still waiting for my third pair, they already cleared customs and should arrive in a couple days.)
Yes, I too have noticed a difference with ZS6 purchased recently. The highs are more subdued. I don’t know if the drivers or the crossover is different (or both).
Since were veering off topic allow me to ask: What’s a good “budget” (under 250) DAP for my first buy? Wi-Fi is nice if I want Spotify but not necessary, doesn’t need BT. Just a thing to play flacs and mp3s and sound much better than my Galaxy phone. The Walkman NWA45B looks intriguing for $180. Help?
Hi; I have a Cayin N3 ($150), which sounds great and has a 10-Band EQ (very useful) and a lot of power if you need to drive bigger earphones, but I find my Sony A45 sounds better and has more energy, produces beefier sound and is very clear, not much output power though, good for iems. Very good sound. Others say they prefer it over some A&K or the Shanling M0. Both the Cayin and the Sony have BT, but if you stream music online, that won't be directly possible with any of them: that is where phones beat DAPs.
Except for Android based DAPs with WiFi that do stream. They are more expensive though. I personally do not care about streaming. I have a lot of great music on MicreSd cards. My Cayin N3 is my most used DAP.. I have a 400 GB card in it. You do have to factor in the cost of cards.
Yes, I too have noticed a difference with ZS6 purchased recently. The highs are more subdued. I don’t know if the drivers or the crossover is different (or both).
I like my old set a lot as well but my ears give a slight nod to the new pair, especially with reference grade recordings of all sorts of horns, strings and cymbals. The upper mids and highs of the new pair just sound distinctively more natural to me. Regarding the cause for that refinement (vs. simple rolled off treble) I tend more towards new BAs since I don't think you can get there by exchanging one or two components of that humble passive RC crossover. Anyway, just my 2 €¢
Just got my ZS10 pro and first listening impression is they sound pretty darn similar to my ZSN pro. After further listening, the 10pro is more detailed and in a song with a lot of instruments, the separation is more pronounced and that makes it easier to distinguish between each instrument hence a more detailed sound.
Here is an example:
I wonder if people from this thread will jump me for a slightly more critical approach to the KZ BA50 and the two ZSN models
Basically, I felt like both ZSN models were the reason I first started my audio journey into the better audio devices, as for BA50, they have one fatal deisgn flaw, at least for my ears, they have a really sharp corner that cuts into my ear quickly.
I just wowed by almost everyone's charts here are invaded by ZS10 Pro on top, stroke all the way to the top beating all KZ models. I believe they're that good considering I lik e the ZSN pro too for their price range. I have to resist. Have to..
but i won't order them, as much as i'd like to hear them. i already have several pairs of IEMs and they are getting less and less use over time. I prefer the sound of headphones for one thing. Even small headphones like the Koss KSC75's. And more importantly, I have sensitive skin in my ears which gets very itchy no matter what type of tip I use.
There's no doubt the the small form factor of IEM's is attractive when you are mobile, or exercising....but they just don't work for me any more.
The odd thing to me is that it sounds like the C16 should have been a KZ and the A16 should have been a CCA. Since balanced signatures is kinda CCAs thing.
That's interesting. I have recently reviewed the CA4 and ZSN Pro and thought the same thing, the CA4 should have been a KZ and the ZSN Pro a CCA. It's getting confusing!
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