[AmericanSpirit]

I am not too into knowing every model KZ and what drivers it has inside. Is there a wired model with the same SKS drivers. Bet it might sound a little worse with a cable. You know what I mean it is more a happy accident than they actually tuned it right for the TWS. You are on to something. Even though the same player and not any better than aptX with a cheap BQeyz Z3 the DQ6 has no coherence issue. I have to change to a decent cable and high gain to get the DQ6 to perform that way as far as signature and sing together like wireless and it has more technical ability but still really doesn't sing the same way not as sweet. Just like with other things in front in the chain there really can be synergy with BT chips and earphones well.

I went for the CCA C1 which has 30095 and a dynamic where the SKS says 30019 armature and dynamic. Hopefully It should sound pretty sweet as well esp. for $20. I liked the CCA's more traditional shaped case.

SKS just came out last month, and multi-drivers of KZ/CCA IMO has limited capacity to produce cohesive harmony, so the good bet is on their rather simple 1BA+1DD config, which I tried every single one of them. Not only KZ/CCA, but broadly across chi-fi brands.
As most of 1BA+1DD using 30095, I haven’t see any simple 1+1 with custom tuned 30019 so far, maybe we will see it in next release of KZ/CCA.
I’d say KBEAR Lark with custom tuned 30095 +DD got a decent sound among all wired 1+1, or if you prefer brighter TRN TA1. Bass-rolled Mid-focus; CCA CSN(again 30095+DD).

It’s funny, I googled “30019 + DD”
Then someone mentioned “30019 + 2DD” on internet, drilled it down, it was myself on the post below

The market is not saturated of course, but it's maturing, KZ even needs to face their own family brand CCA in some product lines, not to mention emerging brands like QKZ, TRN, TFZ, KBF, there are a lot more choices compared to back in 2015.
Yes, it's pretty evident from aliexpress official store, $8 KZ EDX and $27 DQ6 are their main revenue stream, 80:20 rule, 80% of revenue comes with 20% of the product line.
KZ's latest TWS, the SKS #30019 + dual DD tells they seemed really got some nail in $20 TWS.
KZ still is at its developing stage, but they already got their brand name established, so I'm looking at long-term investment and capital expenditure does not necessarily only focusing on their current financial profile. If they got venture capital infusion, they would be able to have in-house innovation & higher-end R&D capabilities.
They have branding, whether good or bad, and some mass production knowhows, and as well as a sizable customer base, with established logistics, sounds like an investment profile. For KZ the recent TWS market focusing strategy seemed much more realistic than competing with Mid-Fi tier, but risky as wireless technology is now politics dependent, if they concentrate too much weight on TWS, a shortage of Qualcomm chips would simply stop their revenue stream, which FiiO is currently experiencing and just announced they will cease most of low-end, mid-tier DAP and only concentrating on M11 Plus and M15 successor M17 using ESS chips, as Japanese AKM chips are now not an option due to some external factors.

 

[baskingshark]

hye..i ve been resisting kz zax for a while now, i have zsx and zs10pro so im afraid if i got more or less the same thing...even after quite numerous positive reviews here im stil not convinced, is there any alternative within the same price range? recently ive tried a lot of earbuds and many of them have open back design, ive liked the sound signature alot, but all fitting is terrible... is there any iem with open back sound quality, or just the nature of iem didnt allow it?

IEMs won't beat open backed earbuds/headphones in soundstage (in general). Most IEMs sound "in your head", it is just a matter of physics, since the IEM is inside the ear canal.

But if you can top up a bit more cash, the TRI I3 has one of the biggest 3D soundstages I've heard in a midfi IEM (when amped). May be close to earbuds in terms of soundstage, close but still not as big as traditional earbuds/open backed headphones.

 

[Wgibson]

@AmericanSpirit TRN STM is a 10mm DD and 30019

 

[AmericanSpirit]

@AmericanSpirit TRN STM is a 10mm DD and 30019

Thanks,

Hmm..FR looks an extreme V...Not a good tuning...

 

[saldsald]

Thanks,

Hmm..FR looks an extreme V...Not a good tuning...

This is not a very well plotted graph which may look a bit deceiving. Why is the range from 1 to 20 Hz even included? That frequency of sound you can only "hear" with your body and bones I think and no way can any IEM in the world capable of driving at any reasonable amplitude.

 

[Freetrademan]

x

 

[Freetrademan]

I cant find much information about the HD520 I or II floating around, just wondering what your impressions of them are, and how these compare with the HD600?

The HD520ii has been discontinued for years. It was my first real "audiophile" headphone, back in the mid-90s. It has amazing highs and air, but thin bass. Still, I love it. The HD600 is a more well-rounded headphone and it's great as a standard reference, but it's not my favorite.

 

[AmericanSpirit]

This is not a very well plotted graph which may look a bit deceiving. Why is the range from 1 to 20 Hz even included? That frequency of sound you can only "hear" with your body and bones I think and no way can any IEM in the world capable of driving at any reasonable amplitude.

Yea I simply just ignored 1-20hz of that, it’s irrelevant when comparing charts. Just observing peaks dips and amplitude of the range.

 

[AmericanSpirit]

Just saw “passive noise reduction” title on AST... interesting. That’s double kilo buck high-end functions used in such as Softears RS10. Ahh, nevermind, maybe just a random marketing quote for “passive noise-cancelling” which basically means nothing for IEM.

 

[baskingshark]

Just saw “passive noise reduction” title on AST... interesting. That’s double kilo buck high-end functions used in such as Softears RS10. Ahh, nevermind, maybe just a random marketing quote for “passive noise-cancelling” which basically means nothing for IEM.

Well for unvented multi BA types (that don't have a DD inside), they tend to have better passive isolation than vented hybrids/single DD. That's primarily one of the reasons why stage musicians tend to use multi BAs for performance (to protect hearing/hear microdetails better), and also cause multi BAs in general tend to have better technicalities than single DD.


But after seeing the graphs provided here for the AST: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the-discovery-thread.586909/page-3778#post-16364413 by @cappuchino , I'm not too optimistic about this set, no matter how many drivers or passive noise reduction stuff they are claiming.

 

[r31ya]

Just saw “passive noise reduction” title on AST... interesting. That’s double kilo buck high-end functions used in such as Softears RS10. Ahh, nevermind, maybe just a random marketing quote for “passive noise-cancelling” which basically means nothing for IEM.

"Passive noise-cancelling" is basically their wording for "it also function as earplugs"
---
while i haven't the chance to tried it, but i've read in several review on famous studio headphone like Sony MDR-7506, that states, "Great for monitoring, you can spot all the details and faults in recording, but not so much on casual listening"
Despite the dilution from marketing hype for the term "monitor", True monitoring headphone might not be a "fun" headphone or all that great for casual listening.

 

[seanwee]

Just saw “passive noise reduction” title on AST... interesting. That’s double kilo buck high-end functions used in such as Softears RS10. Ahh, nevermind, maybe just a random marketing quote for “passive noise-cancelling” which basically means nothing for IEM.

So the softears iems just stuff non-functional BAs inside them

 

[AmericanSpirit]

Well for unvented multi BA types (that don't have a DD inside), they tend to have better passive isolation than vented hybrids/single DD. That's primarily one of the reasons why stage musicians tend to use multi BAs for performance (to protect hearing/hear microdetails better), and also cause multi BAs in general tend to have better technicalities than single DD.


But after seeing the graphs provided here for the AST: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the-discovery-thread.586909/page-3778#post-16364413 by @cappuchino , I'm not too optimistic about this set, no matter how many drivers or passive noise reduction stuff they are claiming.

yea the KZ house V we can claim...I may try it though, only assuming it is returnable, so I'm gonna order from Amazon..

 

[AmericanSpirit]

So the softears iems just stuff non-functional BAs inside them

basically yes, I haven't tried RS10, so I have no idea what that meant to be anything though.

 

[AmericanSpirit]

"Passive noise-cancelling" is basically their wording for "it also function as earplugs"
---
while i haven't the chance to tried it, but i've read in several review on famous studio headphone like Sony MDR-7506, that states, "Great for monitoring, you can spot all the details and faults in recording, but not so much on casual listening"
Despite the dilution from marketing hype for the term "monitor", True monitoring headphone might not be a "fun" headphone or all that great for casual listening.

Yes, only exception to Sennheiser HD25-1 II, although being used extensively as studio monitor headphone, it provides very punchy bass, works perfectly for Rock source.

That Heavy duty can still runs as good as new, and still hold place as my go-to headphone whenever I want to have an artificial concussion