[PhonoPhi]

Is there a lot of negative to this model? Why? They are not suitable for smortfonam. Of all the company's headphones fault, these are the best. The sound is good. There were headphones kz 10pro. Thick bass and treble smooth.(google tr.)

A good question.

ASF & ASX has been received as a quite "mixed bag" KZs, indeed.

In my limited opinion, their really narrow nozzles do not work universally for everyone - different tastes and preferences (or ear cavity coupling).

In ASX, at least one sound guide fires directly into the rim of the nozzle, so it limits/striangulates the sound.
Perhaps, a good acoustic design was just forced into their recent most popular form factor from wireless (?)

Then many enjoy ASX & ASF as far as I know - tastes (and ear cavities) are differerent.

For me, ASX are my favourite pair by far, though with the wide nozzles (from ZSN/A10).
The modified ASX are my most bass-head pair (way more than AST that is touted as bass heavy), rich in mids and not slacking in treble either. They do sound rich and edgy.

As much as I like AST (and give KZ all the due credit for the great BA array and making AST sound most "un-KZ"), ASX wins for my sound preference. Late Beethoven string quartets by Takács are so engaging with ASX, while with AST, they sound just smooth, as possibly preferred by most audiophiles

Then ASF are the only all-BA pair of KZ and CCA that I do not own since I just got a second pair of ASX.

 

[Godflesh]

Then many enjoy ASX & ASF as far as I know - tastes (and ear cavities) are differerent.

Even so. Our reviewers compared these two models, and came to the conclusion that ASF sound even better than ASX. Since I really liked this model, I plan to buy the ACX model in the future. Sorry for the translator! In my country, these two models are very unpopular. Decided to test whether the same everywhere.))

 

[PhonoPhi]

Even so. Our reviewers compared these two models, and came to the conclusion that ASF sound even better than ASX. Since I really liked this model, I plan to buy the ACX model in the future. Sorry for the translator! In my country, these two models are very unpopular. Decided to test whether the same everywhere.))

ASF may be affected more by the narrow nozzles.
ASX got much more attention and a lot of criticism compared to ASF.
So ASF could be unfaiirly afected by the shadow cast by ASX.

I really like ASF design, perhaps I should get it one day

 

[Godflesh]

I really like ASF design, perhaps I should get it one day

The design is large. The sound was impressive. After them, my Sony xba a3 have been safely discarded in the trash.

 

[RikudouGoku]

The design is large. The sound was impressive. After them, my Sony xba a3 have been safely discarded in the trash.

You threw away the XBA-A3? I sure hope not, they can still be sold for around 100-300 usd depending on the condition....

 

[Godflesh]

This company decided to conquer the whole world? enslave everyone.))

 

[Godflesh]

You threw away the XBA-A3? I sure hope not, they can still be sold for around 100-300 usd depending on the condition....

No, I didn't. Figure of speech. Not bad, but disappointing. Left in the collection.

 

[RikudouGoku]

No, I didn't. Figure of speech. Not bad, but disappointing. Left in the collection.

Sony´s older stuff are quite warm and bassy, you might just prefer brighter tonalities like KZ uses.

 

[Godflesh]

Sony´s older stuff are quite warm and bassy, you might just prefer brighter tonalities like KZ uses.

I love the sound that plays correctly. But the sony headphones play just as well on my smartphone. The player did not fit. There is no synergy.

 

[lushmelody]

all my earlier AST considerations were pairing it with an AKM (famous sharp mids) usb dac and i think is a nice combo (any bright tone dac will do wonders i guess). i kept tinkering around AST midrange though after some discussions here and bc is a bassy set

if you have a way to reduce bass pressure on other frequency ranges (my solution is whirlwind tips), vocals and treble are presented fully and the tone is smooth, nothing is lacking there (things are just not too sparkly, but you can slight EQ if you want that). i personally don't EQ bass bc i think it is easy to mess this region

some thoughts to add - about tone - comparing to my DD sets

- i don't know if it is because is BA bass, but subbass is very weak, DDs clearly are rumble winners but AST midbass is perfect

- midrange is very clean, not much reverb compared to the DDs (i dont know if it is bc is BAxDD or the tuning)

- treble implementation is satisfying in layering (my same tuning single DDs struggle and in some music genres treble is too congested, very one note)*

i think i did all experiments i could with the things i own. im satisfied with this set and trying BAs first time. my personal audiophile journey is now acquire a decent DAC with filters options (BTR5 i think). thanks for whoever gave my impressions credit

 

[Barusu Lamperouge]

all my earlier AST considerations were pairing it with an AKM (famous sharp mids) usb dac and i think is a nice combo (any bright tone dac will do wonders i guess). i kept tinkering around AST midrange though after some discussions here and bc is a bassy set

if you have a way to reduce bass pressure on other frequency ranges (my solution is whirlwind tips), vocals and treble are presented fully and the tone is smooth, nothing is lacking there (things are just not too sparkly, but you can slight EQ if you want that). i personally don't EQ bass bc i think it is easy to mess this region

some thoughts to add - about tone - comparing to my DD sets

- i don't know if it is because is BA bass, but subbass is very weak, DDs clearly are rumble winners but AST midbass is perfect

- midrange is very clean, not much reverb compared to the DDs (i dont know if it is bc is BAxDD or the tuning)

- multi BA treble is way better layering (the 1 DDs struggle and in some music genres the treble is too congested, very one note)

i think i did all experimentations i could with the things i own. im satisfied with this set and trying BAs first time. my personal audiophile journey is now acquire a decent DAC with filters options (BTR5 i think). thanks for whoever gave my impressions credit

Probably old Starlines tips can help you with sub-bass rumble and mids. But it might induce the splashy KZ peaks. One way to mitigate that is to damp your IEMs by foam/cotton.

I have a KZ BA10 and it definitely rumbles and probably has bass that matches a DD. With damped starlines they're fantastic. Definitely worth a shot if you have some spare starlines handy.

 

[KutuzovGambit]

I can't describe the sheer enjoyment I'm continuing to get out of the DQ6. I even stopped EQ'ing. I think the ZAX and even the C12 are obviously "better" in technicalities, but for plug and play pair these are really good. And 20 euros shipped including VAT? No brainer.

Fully agree. I enjoy it as much or more as models 10x the price.

 

[seanwee]

- i don't know if it is because is BA bass, but subbass is very weak, DDs clearly are rumble winners but AST midbass is perfect

- midrange is very clean, not much reverb compared to the DDs (i dont know if it is bc is BAxDD or the tuning)

- multi BA treble is way better layering (the 1 DDs struggle and in some music genres the treble is too congested, very one note)

i think i did all experimentations i could with the things i own. im satisfied with this set and trying BAs first time. my personal audiophile journey is now acquire a decent DAC with filters options (BTR5 i think). thanks for whoever gave my impressions credit

From my experience demoing hundreds of sets of iems, blanket statements like multi ba having better layering compared to single DD or DD iems having better bass is a case of correlation does not equal causation.

There are many sets of multi ba iems I’ve demoed, quite a few of them being kilobuck items that have very bad layering due to their warm dark tuning causing them to sound muddy. Likewise there are DD iems that outclass the majority of multi BAs in terms of detail, clarity, and instrument separation. For example my FDX1 goes toe to toe with my Sony IER-M9 in terms of clarity and detail even when one is a $300 single DD and the other is a kilobuck 5 BA iem.

Specs are nice on paper and exciting to read, but ultimately it’s the tuning that makes or breaks an iem.

 

[lushmelody]

From my experience demoing hundreds of sets of iems, blanket statements like multi ba having better layering compared to single DD or DD iems having better bass is a case of correlation does not equal causation.

There are many sets of multi ba iems I’ve demoed, quite a few of them being kilobuck items that have very bad layering due to their warm dark tuning causing them to sound muddy. Likewise there are DD iems that outclass the majority of multi BAs in terms of detail, clarity, and instrument separation. For example my FDX1 goes toe to toe with my Sony IER-M9 in terms of clarity and detail even when one is a $300 single DD and the other is a kilobuck 5 BA iem.

Specs are nice on paper and exciting to read, but ultimately it’s the tuning that makes or breaks an iem.

i completely agree. i mistakenly generalized in that post, my comparison is between the budget warm/dark sets i own and i should've made that clear

 

[AmericanSpirit]

I was revisiting ear tips for KZ AST today, since I had to give CP360 on AST to GK10.
Usually I pass stocks tips of KZ series but I’ve noticed the short nozzle soft white silicone ear tips does good treble extension, which will open up the true potentials of 50024sx6 super tweeter’s detailed layering.

If anyone overlooked stock short nozzle soft white silicone tips, like me, you may give it a try

AST performs very good with tracks with very complex upper registers like full orchestral