[alamnp]

BL03 is just a special IEM. Every time I listen to it, I just lost in the music, not thinking about the flaw, too little treble, too much bass or what not. Just pure music bliss.

I found TFZ Tequila likewise, pure music bliss.

 

[courierdriver]

BL03 is just a special IEM. Every time I listen to it, I just lost in the music, not thinking about the flaw, too little treble, too much bass or what not. Just pure music bliss.

I much agree with that. Glad I finally got a set for myself after many positive accolades. I was initially scared off because of potential fit issues, but after a few mods with tips and a cable swap, I totally enjoy the 03. I regret not having jumped on these much sooner.

 

[kameenadesi]

absolutely loving the KZ ASX paired with LG V40(with shure impedance adapter)... don't have much to compare, just the ATH-IM02... I've had the ASX for 3 days now and the sound finally opened up yesterday (I think the drivers have burned-in pretty well by now), make sure you have a good fit, currently using the stock tips and i'm very pleased with the sound.
Genre: Uplifting Trance

prefer the ASX over my previous IEMs too:
Massdrop Plus, Shuoer Tape, and IM02

Really wanted to order the TRI i3 or Audiosense T800, but got the ASX last minute after seeing this thread.

 

[unifutomaki]

I think the drivers have burned-in pretty well by now

BA burn in... yeah.

 

[kameenadesi]

BA burn in... yeah.

I feel there was a burn-in, wasn't enjoying the sound as much out of the box, compared to now. The sound is much more complete now.

 

[voicemaster]

I feel there was a burn-in, wasn't enjoying the sound as much out of the box, compared to now. The sound is much more complete now.

I felt that way too when first got mine, everything was sounded cramped together and suddenly it opened up like "what the F" and everything started coming together. Very weird indeed.

 

[alamnp]

I felt that way too when first got mine, everything was sounded cramped together and suddenly it opened up like "what the F" and everything started coming together. Very weird indeed.

how many hours burn in? 50 hours minimum like TFZ?

 

[voicemaster]

how many hours burn in? 50 hours minimum like TFZ?

For me, it started to really changed at around 20 hours.

 

[Gummybuns]

I do not know if it's burn in or placebo. But yeah, it did sound "cleaner" compared to out of the box performance after a while.

 

[Floschi12345]

The ASX seem to need a really good fit. And should have the vent non-blocked. With the Spinfits it is just a great earphone with lots of micro-detail, clean bass and treble. As with In-Ears in general proper fit, seal and tip-rolling for his/her own ears is of the utmost essence to get most out of them. And not all non-costum IEMs are for every ear. I will not say that the ASX sound like a custom In-Ear costing several hundred dollars but with a little effort the can sound really, really good!

 

[Floschi12345]

Plus: Do not dismiss "brain burn-in". Your hearing gets used to different sound signatures: Just do an experiment: When I listen to my HD600s out of a tube amp, I absolutely adore them. I love the smoothness, the detail, you can listen for hours, just perfect. Now: When I switch to my Beyerdynamics DT990 out of a solid-state amp, the treble seems harsh, metallic, fatiguing, but after a while I also love them and love the treble. When I now switch back to the Senns they will seem dark, veiled, etc... I think you get what I want to say...I always made it my principle not to dismiss a headphone before at least spending a full day with them. And this principled suited me well!

 

[unifutomaki]

The thing about brain burn-in, however, is that it tends to make everything that isn't broken sound better or at least "acceptable". The brain is an extremely adaptable organ, and it is simply a matter of growing accustomed to the idiosyncrasies of the sound, especially in the absence of a point of comparison. How else would people be able to listen to iPhone pack-in earbuds unironically?

 

[Viber]

Depends on which KZ, maybe a fair comparison would be with the EDX, since both are single DD types that are at the cheaper rung.

It would be kinda apples and oranges comparison to compare the single DD BL-01 with those multi BA/hybrid KZs as in general, at the budget segment, the single DD types tend to have better timbre/tonality, whereas the multi driver types tend to have better technical performance, but may have timbre/crossover/coherency issues.

Exceptions exist of course, but I would see KZ multi driver types and the single DD BL-01 as complimentary rather than competing IEMs. They can suit different music genres and sonic preferences with the different things they bring to the table.

I'm not sure this is accurate.
I see the BL03 in comparisons with Tin T2\+ and they seem to compete well with them, just a matter of taste.

"Bad Guy Good Audio Reviews" who got the BL01 first is a pretty critical reviewer ,yet he said they are an improvement from the old Blon03 in various aspects and calls them "The new Budget KING for 30$".
Mind you, he rated the Blon03 as A+ while he rated the AS10 (which he really liked) as C+, ZS10p as C+.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1TH9_bqUq1vANsFiXVbVZ6w8kVA9C3DkknnMGyIcKE7M/edit#gid=0

So yeah, it's only one guy, but it's not the first time i see someone prefer Blon over KZ so i am curious.

 

[hmscott]

It's been a weird week... so many reasons, but the weirdest reason is my surprised disappointment with the KZ ASX. Triple Painful.

Painful as in physically so. It's too big and keeps popping out of my ears, and it's painful while doing it.

But, that wasn't the first painful thing I noticed about the KZ ASX, that would be the "fixed curved" ear bends in the cable. The tight fit of the IEM in my ear keeps pulling against the cable and that plastic tubing hard bend dragging over my ear eventually caused an "ouch" moment - and worse I pulled it and the IEM stuck in my ear and I had painful moments pulling off the IEM and cable.

So I swapped cables, I put on the KBEAR 4n 99.99% silver which actually sounds great on the KZ ASX - up to a point, more on that pain in a moment - and I then tried to not seat the ASX quite so firmly in my ear - as that is painful after a medium time period - but then the ASX pops out when I move.

The third painful thing about the ASX is the sound. IDK if I have a bad pair - both hit the same threshold of volume and produce bad sounds. The threshold is there in all material, just when the volume starts getting close to an enjoyable level - music, movies, youtube, the sound goes south - the KZ ASX sounds bad to me.

If I pull back below my normal listening level the ASX sounds great. Nice sound stage, 3D elements appear as others have mentioned, and the KZ ASX is smooth and enjoyable. But, when I turn them up their sound "crumble's" in my ears.

I've been burning them in but they aren't changing that threshold limit of volume. They are sounding smoother in the range I can listen to, but the threshold of pain is still there.

Fortunately, the KZ ZSX's are still hanging in there sounding sweet and fine all the time - I can rock out, listen intently at a raised volume, or turn them down - all good.

I was going to ask for another pair of ASX's hoping I got a pair from a bad batch, but then there is their huge size - IDK if I want those in my ears for long periods even if I could rock out with them.

I'll continue running the ASX's on their own and see if anything changes...

Has anyone else experienced this painful sound transition threshold with their KZ ASX?

The week did bring some good news as I opened the NiceHCK NX7 MK3's and they are sounding great out of the box with the Blue Filtered sound as my favorite. I will leave the Blue filters in while I am breaking in these NiceHCK NX7 MK3's.

I think the NiceHCK included mixed copper/silver plated cable is a good part of the NiceHCK NX7 MK3's great sound, with the new MK3 tuning + Blue filter's as the star contributor. More on these in another thread.

 

[Sebulr]

It's been a weird week... so many reasons, but the weirdest reason is my surprised disappointment with the KZ ASX. Triple Painful.

Painful as in physically so. It's too big and keeps popping out of my ears, and it's painful while doing it.

But, that wasn't the first painful thing I noticed about the KZ ASX, that would be the "fixed curved" ear bends in the cable. The tight fit of the IEM in my ear keeps pulling against the cable and that plastic tubing hard bend dragging over my ear eventually caused an "ouch" moment - and worse I pulled it and the IEM stuck in my ear and I had painful moments pulling off the IEM and cable.

So I swapped cables, I put on the KBEAR 4n 99.99% silver which actually sounds great on the KZ ASX - up to a point, more on that pain in a moment - and I then tried to not seat the ASX quite so firmly in my ear - as that is painful after a medium time period - but then the ASX pops out when I move.

The third painful thing about the ASX is the sound. IDK if I have a bad pair - both hit the same threshold of volume and produce bad sounds. The threshold is there in all material, just when the volume starts getting close to an enjoyable level - music, movies, youtube, the sound goes south - the KZ ASX sounds bad to me.

If I pull back below my normal listening level the ASX sounds great. Nice sound stage, 3D elements appear as others have mentioned, and the KZ ASX is smooth and enjoyable. But, when I turn them up their sound "crumble's" in my ears.

I've been burning them in but they aren't changing that threshold limit of volume. They are sounding smoother in the range I can listen to, but the threshold of pain is still there.

Fortunately, the KZ ZSX's are still hanging in there sounding sweet and fine all the time - I can rock out, listen intently at a raised volume, or turn them down - all good.

I was going to ask for another pair of ASX's hoping I got a pair from a bad batch, but then there is their huge size - IDK if I want those in my ears for long periods even if I could rock out with them.

I'll continue running the ASX's on their own and see if anything changes...

Has anyone else experienced this painful sound transition threshold with their KZ ASX?

The week did bring some good news as I opened the NiceHCK NX7 MK3's and they are sounding great out of the box with the as Blue Filtered sound as my favorite to be left in while I am breaking them in - while listening to them as they sound great out of the box. I think the mixed copper/silver plated cable is a good part of their great sound, with the new MK3 tuning + filter the star contributor. More on these in another thread.

Hmmmm. I haven't got the Asx. But this is almost my exact experience with the kbear kb10, a 5 ba iem. They only cost me £20 though, so it isn't as bad. The bass is too light, for my musical preferences, and I tamed the upper mid screechiness with a tape mod.