[HAMS]

I thought that damper material does not makes any difference as long it has the same acoustic resistance. Though In my experience the film dampers are more prone to clogging by moisture compared to foams.

 

[DynamicEars]

I thought that damper material does not makes any difference as long it has the same acoustic resistance. Though In my experience the film dampers are more prone to clogging by moisture compared to foams.

Different materials affect different frequency range even same foam material with different kind of its density also affect differently. THe nylon / paper damper that budget / mid chifi often use made bloated / smeared bass because its blocking the entire nozzle thus made bad airflow for DD. Prone to clog is one of the proof that their pores / holes are too small and tight, when the DD push the air, much of them blocked by the nylon / paper film damper and resonance back inside nozzle / cavity, that made sound of the bass still heard, but bloated

 

[RikudouGoku]

I was about to ask you about this

Is that "smears" on original CRA (look at sub bass area and that around 38hz area) This is something new for me but if this graphically proven that is something nice for my knowledge about audio world, very useful for mod stuff etc. Although I'm sure the differences of bloated and smeared bass is very noticeable with those nylon dampers

its probably a coincidence for these 2, as I havent been able to find out any general traits for the same type of bass while looking at other iems.

Prone to clog is one of the proof that their pores / holes are too small and tight, when the DD push the air, much of them blocked by the nylon / paper film damper and resonance back inside nozzle / cavity, that made sound of the bass still heard, but bloated

its a form of distortion, take a look here:

 

[PhonoPhi]

Brief opinion on ESX after more than a week of listening and comparisons.
Very nice IEM, a beautiful top plate - "cracked lines", two metals are gourgeously subtle and great gold/bronze grills:

Compared to CRA and CRA+, ESX feel more weighty (less agile/fragile), less V-shaped. The bass is potent, and with wide-bore tips is not overwhelming to my ears.

ESX are well-resolving, though again less agile than CRA, CRA+ and HZ Mirror, the champion of resolution (at least from the first impression).

Aria still feels to me as more mature tuning all the way. While I am more appreciative of V than Harman, the near-boring tuning of Aria with those subtle spikes at 5 and 10 kHz works well for me - not so as my listening preference, but as a very good reference.

Overexaggerated 5 Hz region of CRA made me feel the treble/sibilance (not my preference for long listeming).

Compared to CRA, CRA+ offer more conservative, safer tuning. Does it worth alnost twice more? Not so much to me, but both were worthy competitors to listen to.

Overall, ESX, CRA and CRA× were all very enjoyable experience. The best deal for the money is still arguably CRA. More solid, weighty overall champion is ESX. CRA+ is close.

 

[DynamicEars]

Brief opinion on ESX after more than a week of listening and comparisons.
Very nice IEM, a beautiful top plate - "cracked lines", two metals and great gold/bronze grills:


Compared to CRA and CRA+, ESX feel more weighty (less agile/fragile), less V-shaped. Thr bass is potent, and with wide-bore tips is not overwhelming to my ears.

ESX are well-resolving, though again less agile than CRA, CRA+ and HZ Mirror, the champion of resolution (at least at the first impression).

Aria still feels to me as more mature tuning all the way. While I am more appreciative of V than Harman, the near-boring tuning of Aria with those subtle spikes at 5 and 10 kHz works well for me - not so as my listening preference, but as a very good reference.

Overexaggerated 5 Hz region of CRA made me feel the treble/sibilance (not my preference for long listeming).

Compared to CRA, CRA+ offers more conservative, safer tuning. Does it worth alnost twice more? Not so much to me, but both were worthy competitors to listen to.

Overall, ESX, CRA and CRA× were all very enjoyable experience. The best deal for the money is still arguably CRA. More solid, weighty overall champion is ESX. CRA+ is close.

That is a very beautiful yet very cool shell at the same time. One of the best shell design, i love the grills on the top part.

I have prediction that this ESX have great potential to be modded, large driver, boomy bass sounded like bad airflow again because of nylon / paper damper on the nozzle, and looking at the FR, it is easier to mod because no 5khz peak like CRA, but I hesitate to spend because currently too many IEMs lying around untouched.

 

[PhonoPhi]

That is a very beautiful yet very cool shell at the same time. One of the best shell design, i love the grills on the top part.

I have prediction that this ESX have great potential to be modded, large driver, boomy bass sounded like bad airflow again because of nylon / paper damper on the nozzle, and looking at the FR, it is easier to mod because no 5khz peak like CRA, but I hesitate to spend because currently too many IEMs lying around untouched.

I very much agree.
I too have way too many IEMs (hard to resist here...)
If ESX were my main IEM, I would remove the fairly restraining mesh per all good recomendations here, and go from it (for my main IEM, I just removed the mesh).
Interestingly, CRA+ have a less restrictive, more open metal mesh compared to CRA and ESX.

 

[profusion]

Just brief impression after 1-2 months using only my CRA, now switched back to my loved DQ6……well DQ6 are really a thing, and clearly the winning pair for me. More body and velvet sound, really somehow homogeneous like all well tuned, with better soundstage.

 

[Atek2019]

it's really the best KZ iem.

 

[kalo86]

Just remove the net to unlock the full potential. It's not the best iem but for the cost it's amazing!

it's really the best KZ iem.

 

[Carrow]

got a pair of ZS10 Pro with a bonus cable for sale on eBay if there's any interest!

 

[jananan78]

isn't it time for a new model KZ S-E- X?

Pun aside I'm waiting for them to bring back some BA with the new DDs from ESX.

 

[Carpet]

isn't it time for a new model KZ S-E- X?

Pun aside I'm waiting for them to bring back some BA with the new DDs from ESX.

In a clear resin shell so we can see they're wired up!

 

[brsdrgn]

Wrong thread...

 

[northernsound]

I'm listening to the KZ EDA Balanced now, with the original tips and the mic-version. I'm getting a pretty good seal with the biggest original tips, the AC is on full blast in the background and it's doing a decent job of drowning it out. So far I'm very happy with it. I've bought the CCA CRA and now the KZ EDA Balanced and I think I'm becoming a KZ/CCA-fan. To me that's mainly been into speakers before it really is amazing what kind of sound-quality you can get for the money when you buy Chifi-IEMs. As usual I've equalized it to compensate for the normal hearing-loss in the upper frequencies I've gotten with the years. I have not yet tried out the mic.

 

[jananan78]

I'm listening to the KZ EDA Balanced now, with the original tips and the mic-version. I'm getting a pretty good seal with the biggest original tips, the AC is on full blast in the background and it's doing a decent job of drowning it out. So far I'm very happy with it. I've bought the CCA CRA and now the KZ EDA Balanced and I think I'm becoming a KZ/CCA-fan. To me that's mainly been into speakers before it really is amazing what kind of sound-quality you can get for the money when you buy Chifi-IEMs. As usual I've equalized it to compensate for the normal hearing-loss in the upper frequencies I've gotten with the years. I have not yet tried out the mic.

ensure you pair it with a usb dac amp at least if you are listening from your phone. even the cheapest one makes a lot of difference, there will be more energy in the music, impactful bass and well extended treble. only a handful of photos can do what any simply usb dac amp can do for yy (your music)