I think that's the thing, with the ZS10 PRO. They have just such an infectious sound signature. I keep going to this set, whenever I wanna just forget all the technicalities and just enjoy whatever music I'm in the mood for. I've never listened to a song on these and thought, "these sound terrible with this song". They may not sound perfect on every type of music, and there's always other sets that might sound better on this track or that track; but no matter what I listen to, they always let the music shine thru. Imho, that's a sign of a very good iem. I'm happily satisfied with the SQ, and I can't rec them enough to anyone who just wants to enjoy their music.
Yeah i agree that KZ does very well at the budget range (< $50 USD) for IEMs (I like my ZS10 Pro a lot). But now that they are trying to muscle into the territory of > $100 USD range IEMs, it is not just about dumping many drivers into a shell and hoping to compete with the bigboys. At that pricing, the AS16 has to compete with other better tuned stuff and the consumers at that price range are more discerning due to the costs.
I really hope the KZ engineers can focus on good tuning rather than quickly churning out multi BA/hybrid IEMs every few weeks.
KZ is heading toward the right direction with the AS12. I got my pair on Saturday and every genre I’ve thrown at it does not disappoint. Usually when I get an iem I can let it play for a few days and almost ignore it. But these AS12 I found myself listening for hours at a time over the last few days. They really are very well tuned. I would consider them similar to the AS10 but tuned much better. It’s 95% of what I was hoping for after the treble murder CCA A10. However after 150 hours and some foam tips the A10 is now listenable. The AS12 sounded great out of the box and no foam tips needed to be tolerable. I’m using TRN Red Core tips which bring out the treble a bit and allow the bass to not be reduced over a small bore like a Sony Hybrid which I feel brings the treble down a bit too much. The A10 would have an overall bright sound signature while the AS12 errs on the side of warmth......but it only touches the line of warmth enough to not sound thin. I wouldn’t say rich.....but not thin.
I will say this......changing to different tips has more of an affect than the different filters in the BGVP DMG. The AS12 is also much more enjoyable than the DMG which are not bad but a bit of a letdown considering the hype.
For anyone disappointed with the AS16 I can recommend the AS12 with confidence. If I were being picky I would increase the lower treble a touch so hihats have more bite, increase the midbass just a bit to give kick drums a bit more impact and toms to have more fullness. At times the upper end of mostly female vocals and some male vocals can get a bit much on peaks. Bit it’s not a problem on most of the material I listen to. And it’s only when a vocalist really lets it rip. Otherwise nothing sticks out as a problem. If I knew about this iem when the A10 was announced I would have opted for the AS12 instead of getting both. But after sending my DM6 back I was itching for another 5 or 6 BA set. I have a feeling more people will agree with the tuning of the AS12 and it SHOULD be considered the step up from the AS10 which the C16 and A16 were not both being tuned so bright.
KZ is heading toward the right direction with the AS12. I got my pair on Saturday and every genre I’ve thrown at it does not disappoint. Usually when I get an iem I can let it play for a few days and almost ignore it. But these AS12 I found myself listening for hours at a time over the last few days. They really are very well tuned. I would consider them similar to the AS10 but tuned much better. It’s 95% of what I was hoping for after the treble murder CCA A10. However after 150 hours and some foam tips the A10 is now listenable. The AS12 sounded great out of the box and no foam tips needed to be tolerable. I’m using TRN Red Core tips which bring out the treble a bit and allow the bass to not be reduced over a small bore like a Sony Hybrid which I feel brings the treble down a bit too much. The A10 would have an overall bright sound signature while the AS12 errs on the side of warmth......but it only touches the line of warmth enough to not sound thin. I wouldn’t say rich.....but not thin.
I will say this......changing to different tips has more of an affect than the different filters in the BGVP DMG. The AS12 is also much more enjoyable than the DMG which are not bad but a bit of a letdown considering the hype.
For anyone disappointed with the AS16 I can recommend the AS12 with confidence. If I were being picky I would increase the lower treble a touch so hihats have more bite, increase the midbass just a bit to give kick drums a bit more impact and toms to have more fullness. At times the upper end of mostly female vocals and some male vocals can get a bit much on peaks. Bit it’s not a problem on most of the material I listen to. And it’s only when a vocalist really lets it rip. Otherwise nothing sticks out as a problem. If I knew about this iem when the A10 was announced I would have opted for the AS12 instead of getting both. But after sending my DM6 back I was itching for another 5 or 6 BA set. I have a feeling more people will agree with the tuning of the AS12 and it SHOULD be considered the step up from the AS10 which the C16 and A16 were not both being tuned so bright.
Thanks for your impressions about the AS12, that's good to hear.
That's exactly my point where tuning is much more important than the number of drivers stuffed into an IEM (like the AS12 has 6 drivers compared to the 8 Driver AS16). And the AS12 is half the price of the supposedly more expensive and higher end AS16, but ends up sounding better (not only your review but it seems to be a general opinion among the forums/reviews).
I have been using the AS16 and ZS10pro for a week now. The ZS10pro is absolutely fantastic! I prefer the sound over the AS16, better defined bass and bass presence. Treble seems to be done just right. The AS16 sounded off to me. The bass not quite there even with foam or AET07 tips. And seems too bright in the treble so the sound profile is quite thin. Seems that zs10 pro is a lot more enjoyable than thr AS16 for me.
Also, the output ports on thr AS16 is way too long for me and I really can't get a proper fit with them despite tip rolling for the whole week with comply/spinfits/AET07/AET08/Final E of various sizes. I guess AS16 is my first iem that I can't get a proper fit with.......
So ...no. AS12 is not for me, there is a too much treble somewhere at that sibilance range and disturbs me a lot. AS16 is my winner here - while bright and thin sounding (they are both), it has also very compact scene and it is easy to dive into the music with it.
EDIT: Hmm, after a longer time with silver/gold KZ cable on the as12, I must admit that their sound is coherent. And detailed. -- quality masters are required-- but still you have to get used to their bright sound anyway. Brighter treble than as16,
I guess we all hear differently. The AS12 does not sound thin or bright to me at all. Only sibilant on a few tracks that I demoed. I used 20 of my test albums so a few tracks out of well over 200 is not bad. I have the AS10 and the AS12 has a significantly better tuning and is more musical. The fit is also much better for me with the AS12. I could see a bad dap or extremely bright amp messing up the sound signature to something brighter than it is.
I have the AS12 and they are not sibilant 99.9% of the time. There are only a few tracks where it was a problem AT HIGH VOLUMES. The person you quoted.......did they mention the EXACT TRACKS and which parts of the tracks caused siblance? If they aren’t mentioning all the music then disregard their remarks. I didn’t mention specific tracks because the AS12 sounds good with everything. The only specific album that caused a bit of siblance in the vocals on certain portions of tracks was a Japanese remaster Of Dokken Under Lock And Key. The Japanese are known for making their remasters a bit on the bright side so that doesn’t help. The chorus of Applause where Lady Gaga is screaming at the top of her range stepped slightly over the line at high volume. Other than those 2 examples I found nothing offensive.
You watch in the coming weeks you will find more people will come to the conclusion that the AS12 is not tuned closer to the overly bright AS16 but closer to the AS10 however much more refined and musical. AS12 is a keeper and I highly recommend it for anyone that wants a musical all BA set under $100.
The AS12 isn't sibilant, it has more energy at that range which can turn into the clarity for some. For me it's rather fatiguing, maybe because it's not clear enough.
If KZ doesn’t mess up the Bluetooth side of this product, they’re gonna sell a boatload of these. It’s literally the 1st hybrid TW earphone on the market. I wish there were codec specs, so we knew if it supported aptX, AAC, etc.
If KZ doesn’t mess up the Bluetooth side of this product, they’re gonna sell a boatload of these. It’s literally the 1st hybrid TW earphone on the market. I wish there were codec specs, so we knew if it supported aptX, AAC, etc.
I think that's the thing, with the ZS10 PRO. They have just such an infectious sound signature. I keep going to this set, whenever I wanna just forget all the technicalities and just enjoy whatever music I'm in the mood for. I've never listened to a song on these and thought, "these sound terrible with this song". They may not sound perfect on every type of music, and there's always other sets that might sound better on this track or that track; but no matter what I listen to, they always let the music shine thru. Imho, that's a sign of a very good iem. I'm happily satisfied with the SQ, and I can't rec them enough to anyone who just wants to enjoy their music.
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