[ScrofulousBinturong]

Wanna join to the BA10 gang, probably one of the best chifi iem all time.

The last KZ iem that I like was the ASX.
I dont like the DQ6 (uncomfortable)
And the KZ zex pro (Ive got the preCRN version) didnt satisfy me at all.

Where can one obtain a ba10 these days? Or an og nicehck nx7?

 

[ScrofulousBinturong]

Among KZ/CCA I still have listen to regularly: CRA, NRA, ZEX Pro, BA10, C12, and the ZAX, which my wife uses mostly. I have zero balance issues with any of them despite regular use. Is there a chance that your source might have an issue? the 2 minor issues I've had are:

ZEX Pro: the metal shell cover did pop off of the ZEX Pro on one side and I lightly glued it back into place.
NRA: has a loose connector on the left channel. I keep meaning to put a drop of super glue in there to lock it down but it hasn't been a problem.

I've been listening to my NRA all day today off the PowerDAC, actually - and using the stock cable at that. I still love these things and they keep up with some of the most challenging metal albums I own.



This album has some of the densest mids I've ever heard but the NRA keeps enough detail and separation in there to pick rhythm guitar parts from the drums, vocals, and bass and provides some space for the lead guitar bits to float thru as they come. There is still an amazing amount of clarity in these IEM to my ears.

This track rocked so hard that drummer Brann Dailor has his own signature "ghost" cymbal made for him from MEINL. Check it out here:



edit: man those fills are still SICK

Top 10 metal album of all time, hands down.

 

[SpaceOperaVillain]

Top 10 metal album of all time, hands down.

It's not as epic, but the last release, Hushed and Grim, has some fantastic tracks that evoke a bit of the same sound they explored on Crack the Skye. Brann's vocals have only gotten better. There's a guest solo on there, too, by Kim Thayil.

 

[seanwee]

Me the same, I just find out my CRA right side 50% lower volume than the left. After 3 months burn in , the CRA kept working very well once. Then, I left it for a week not listening and it fails all of a sudden today. I have DQ6, ZAS, they are all working very well. CRA's tuning is so good, I even choose it over DQ6, ZAS, that makes me so much disappointed ! I agree there are must be quality issues for CRA.

Just got a few more pairs of CRA in for modding and the new ones are louder than my older pairs by about 20%. Looking at the drivers it seems like the tape part of the DD is oriented towards the 2 pin rather than the nozzle like the previous ones i've modded.

 

[scratchmassive]

Now get sponge / foam as damper, make sure dont block entire nozzle, give space for air to go through.
You need to dampen the 5khz but remember to let air go through. And welcome to the better CRA.

OMG I think you are right. I sucked on the left earphone and the balance almost returned to normal. Do you have a link to the sponge or foam you use to replace the filter?

 

[courierdriver]

KZ did deliver the sound the tuners wanted, it just turned to be all coming from a single driver.

In a way, you are correct; but then why advertise these sets with multiple drivers, when the extra drivers don't actually DO anything? It's deceitful advertising and rips off the consumer who is paying good money for a multiple driver set. The bottom line is: people expect to get a product that they paid for, with all the parts functioning. Would you accept a new car that has air conditioning included, but didn't actually work? Power windows and locks that didn't work? Seriously...when a consumer buys something with specifically advertised benefits, the consumer deserves that product's full potential and should expect it to be fully functional using all the elements that that were advertised.

 

[lushmelody]

In a way, you are correct; but then why advertise these sets with multiple drivers, when the extra drivers don't actually DO anything? It's deceitful advertising and rips off the consumer who is paying good money for a multiple driver set. The bottom line is: people expect to get a product that they paid for, with all the parts functioning. Would you accept a new car that has air conditioning included, but didn't actually work? Power windows and locks that didn't work? Seriously...when a consumer buys something with specifically advertised benefits, the consumer deserves that product's full potential and should expect it to be fully functional using all the elements that that were advertised.

That scam would do a nice study about placebo.....

 

[courierdriver]

That scam would do a nice study about placebo.....

Not sure I get what you're saying. Can you elaborate a bit more?

 

[Tzennn]

Not sure I get what you're saying. Can you elaborate a bit more?

Something like "oh wow i use my entire fortune on the iem, there is no way it sounds worse than something cheaper"

 

[lushmelody]

Not sure I get what you're saying. Can you elaborate a bit more?

Lots of people, including reviewers, believed the drivers were fully functional, praising the tuning and the "crossover"

Something like "oh wow i use my entire fortune on the iem, there is no way it's sounds worse than something cheaper"

Haha yes. That price bias is the worst placebo. That shows why KZ is still relevant, for sure. Even those recent fake multi-drivers are great sound quality for the price. Contrasting a market that mainstream western or japanese brands charge $300 for single DDs....

 

[Taila]

In a way, you are correct; but then why advertise these sets with multiple drivers, when the extra drivers don't actually DO anything? It's deceitful advertising and rips off the consumer who is paying good money for a multiple driver set. The bottom line is: people expect to get a product that they paid for, with all the parts functioning. Would you accept a new car that has air conditioning included, but didn't actually work? Power windows and locks that didn't work? Seriously...when a consumer buys something with specifically advertised benefits, the consumer deserves that product's full potential and should expect it to be fully functional using all the elements that that were advertised.

Please understand me, I’m not saying KZ was correct in advertising multiple drivers that do not work.
What I’m pointing out is the fact that, they delivered the tuning that Crin had approved as it is. And that tuning worked to such an extent that the collaboration was kept secret at first, the product was called ZEX Pro, and reviewers were praising the different new sound from KZ.

Yes, some people bought the unit because it was the first tribrid at this super low price level. I’m one of the people who bought it to hear what Crin approved as acceptable on an IEM. The problem for the average people (me included) is that all these reviewers have got a certain preference on sound. So before we throw in a lot of money to buy an expensive headphone/IEM we would like to hear what they really like, and a super cheap IEM gives us that ability, so that we can understand better when they wax lyrical about something whether it’s of any interest to us or not.

Case in point, some time last year, Dave (The Honest Audiophile) bought himself the Meze Empyrean, he was almost in tears with satisfaction and happiness with how they sound. He actually declared at the time that he was done with reviewing headphones as there’s nothing more for him out there. Of course he later returned to reviewing again, I must have missed the video where he explains why he returned. But anyway, Crin had a video not along ago where he dismisses the whole Meze line of products as not good sounding.

So what is a person like me here in Cape Town, South Africa to think when these two reviewers say something is amazing? I’m not able to just go and listen to everything out there, and it’s prohibitively expensive to buy things to test out and return from here. The shipping costs and customs duty tax alone can add a hell of a lot of money to the base price of a product and the higher the price of that the higher the tax that starts to include luxury tax. Also the long turnaround times.

The graphs don’t tell the whole story, it’s like an SUV and a sports car that have the same or similar power train. They feel different when you actually drive them. This is why it’s very important to understand what each reviewer think sounds good , put aside shilling, just honest preference.

So in conclusion, I don’t agree with what KZ did at all, it’s deception. At the same time, if I can get a sound at ChiFi price levels similar to a $500 IEM (I’m not saying CRN sounds like IEMs at that level), I’ll go ChiFi. At the end of the day, as much as I get excited by the gear, I’m after great sound reproduction, not nicely done packaging box, extra ear tips, nice cable and included carry case. Those are just bonuses. For example what makes an Sennheiser IE600 to be coming at $700? Is it the 3D printed exotic material case, the research that went into making the transducer, the brand name, or all of the above?

 

[astermk]

Not sure I get what you're saying. Can you elaborate a bit more?

Reviewers, including experienced ones, kept going on and on and on about KZ's 'metallic BA timbre', almost on autopilot, in every KZ IEM review. How did a headphone manufacturer convince the Hi-Fi community that its IEMs have BAs that are not only functional, but so dominant in the sound signature that they introduce a specific unnatural timbre to them, if not placebo? We went from discussions like 'man KZ really needs to tame those BAs in the nozzle' to 'WAIT they basically were inaudible this entire time?'.

IMO it just goes to show that a large part of audiophilia is actually just make believe based on spec sheets and snake oil. If the box of the IEM says 1DD + 7BA, a lot of people will 'hear' 1DD + 7BA regardless of the internal circuitry, and the 'timbre' and everything else that 'come' with them.

Which leads me to the main thing I wonder about, which is why my ZAX still sounds a lot better to me in technicalities than my ZS10 Pro, which I attributed to the higher driver count until now. Even with this knowledge (I'm assuming the BAs in the ZAX are similarly decorative), they still sound a hell of a lot better.

 

[SpaceOperaVillain]

I'm out of cheese to pass around with all the whining in this thread. I hereby cast a hex upon the heads of KZ detractors with a dozen downgrade TWS purchases in their future from name brand suppliers. May your wallets be emptied and after experiencing the greatest of kilobuck hifi cons may you be doomed to repeat your mistakes a second and even third or fourth time.

I'm unsubscribing for awhile as this debacle has nonetheless sucked any and all joy from participating here. There are worse problems in the world to contend with. Be safe everyone. Ciao

 

[saldsald]

Reviewers, including experienced ones, kept going on and on and on about KZ's 'metallic BA timbre', almost on autopilot, in every KZ IEM review. How did a headphone manufacturer convince the Hi-Fi community that its IEMs have BAs that are not only functional, but so dominant in the sound signature that they introduce a specific unnatural timbre to them, if not placebo? We went from discussions like 'man KZ really needs to tame those BAs in the nozzle' to 'WAIT they basically were inaudible this entire time?'.

IMO it just goes to show that a large part of audiophilia is actually just make believe based on spec sheets and snake oil. If the box of the IEM says 1DD + 7BA, a lot of people will 'hear' 1DD + 7BA regardless of the internal circuitry, and the 'timbre' and everything else that 'come' with them.

Which leads me to the main thing I wonder about, which is why my ZAX still sounds a lot better to me in technicalities than my ZS10 Pro, which I attributed to the higher driver count until now. Even with this knowledge (I'm assuming the BAs in the ZAX are similarly decorative), they still sound a hell of a lot better.

Most of these "reviewers" just rely way too much on FR measurements and if they don't "see" on the graph they don't hear it. But after 'hearing" it on graph and then when some of the drivers are disconnected and they don't see the change their only conclusion is they dont' make a sound and they forgot about the BA timbre. Also they mistakenly think that they have good Echoic memory but probably can't remember what they just heard about a minute ago. (I admit I can't) Best commedy of the year seriously.

 

[Nimweth]

I'm out of cheese to pass around with all the whining in this thread. I hereby cast a hex upon the heads of KZ detractors with a dozen downgrade TWS purchases in their future from name brand suppliers. May your wallets be emptied and after experiencing the greatest of kilobuck hifi cons may you be doomed to repeat your mistakes a second and even third or fourth time.

I'm unsubscribing for awhile as this debacle has nonetheless sucked any and all joy from participating here. There are worse problems in the world to contend with. Be safe everyone. Ciao

That's a shame, you are one of the most interesting contributors here. Come back soon.