[Barusu Lamperouge]

So... remember KZ have that release schedule..., yeah
This is KZ EDC-X, Their cheapest variant, 1DD with fixed cable. the old one is priced lower than EDX.



Apparently this is the first round of their KZ-Tuners projects (something that i'm not sure how that suppose to work),
I guess, its a statement by making a sub $15 (or possibly even sub $10) Harman target IEM.

I've always felt that KZ does really like to turn on the screws in the sub $15 market. Always going to their origins of being this brand that simply wows you every time with the sound at a dirt cheap price point. If they manage to marry their existing bass quality+quantity with a natural tonality of the Harman target then their high end models automatically will give a lot of the competition in the sub $100 category a run for their money. IMO they don't need to create a dead neutrally tuned IEMs because that's unlike them.

They sound really determined to prove that they're not some cheap brand but serious IEM tuners who can challenge the best. Sounds even more fantastic considering this then also potentially can end the driver wars that they themselves initiated in the first place by packing bazillion drivers in an IEM.

But with Harman target they have a golden opportunity to turn the tide for both casual and nitpicking consumers alike.

 

[seanwee]

Question for you guys who have the PR1b/PR1h/PLA13

Do you find the bass kinda weak relative to the quantity?

Its a lot of bass yeah, but it feels less tactile than DD iems that have less bass. Ie you hear it more but don't feel it as much.

I don't main planar iems so I'm curious what you guys think about this disconnect. Do planars just not move as much air or is it something else?

 

[DynamicEars]

Question for you guys who have the PR1b/PR1h/PLA13

Do you find the bass kinda weak relative to the quantity?

Its a lot of bass yeah, but it feels less tactile than DD iems that have less bass. Ie you hear it more but don't feel it as much.

I don't main planar iems so I'm curious what you guys think about this disconnect. Do planars just not move as much air or is it something else?

I don't have those But I have timeless, i mod them so bass really open (default is too overdampened) but yes i concur that planar bass is more like BA bass, there is sub and mid bass presence but little air moving feeling that responsible for the impact. Still better than most BA though

On positive side, planar bass is so precise that on mid upper bass, they wont smear as much as DD, so planar bass usually tighter and precise. While all details and texture is an added bonuses

 

[Carpet]

Question for you guys who have the PR1b/PR1h/PLA13

Do you find the bass kinda weak relative to the quantity?

Its a lot of bass yeah, but it feels less tactile than DD iems that have less bass. Ie you hear it more but don't feel it as much.

I don't main planar iems so I'm curious what you guys think about this disconnect. Do planars just not move ad much air or is it something else?

I have the PLA13 but it's out on loan, so this is from memory. Planar bass does seem intermediate between BA and DD bass. PLA has most bass by far of my planars, but if a DD set was tuned like that I'd expect them to pop out of my ears!

 

[DynamicEars]

I have the PLA13 but it's out on loan, so this is from memory. Planar bass does seem intermediate between BA and DD bass. PLA has most bass by far of my planars, but if a DD set was tuned like that I'd expect them to pop out of my ears!

This.

 

[seanwee]

I don't have those But I have timeless, i mod them so bass really open (default is too overdampened) but yes i concur that planar bass is more like BA bass, there is sub and mid bass presence but little air moving feeling that responsible for the impact. Still better than most BA though

On positive side, planar bass is so precise that on mid upper bass, they wont smear as much as DD, so planar bass usually tighter and precise. While all details and texture is an added bonuses

I have the PLA13 but it's out on loan, so this is from memory. Planar bass does seem intermediate between BA and DD bass. PLA has most bass by far of my planars, but if a DD set was tuned like that I'd expect them to pop out of my ears!

While I do concur with those statements. My experience with planar headphones are the opposite.

Yes it's definitely faster, tighter and more precise than DD headphones, they also have more oomph. Which is why I'm questioning my experience with planar iems.

Perhaps driver excursion isn't ample enough in iem planar drivers?

 

[DynamicEars]

While I do concur with those statements. My experience with planar headphones are the opposite.

Yes it's definitely faster, tighter and more precise than DD headphones, they also have more oomph. Which is why I'm questioning my experience with planar iems.

Perhaps driver excursion isn't ample enough in iem planar drivers?

THey do need juice but my M11 plus ESS and dx160 definitely can drive them well, maybe characteristic of the planar drivers themselves, while planar headphones benefit from the giant size planar and maybe other things like tuning and construction?
but planar bass on IEMs arent bad at all, as a very picky bass quality person i like the bass on timeless (modded), they similar like bass on IER M7 and M9 (open BA), but with better tuning. THe sony open BA are better than traditional BA bass and have more impact like small DD, little impact, the planar bass is similar like that, like @Carpet said too, like a hybrid of DD and BA bass. The smaller planar driver maybe have less impact too, like the one in Huawei Freebuds Pro 2 (more like SPD to me) that one also have no impact.

 

[seanwee]

THey do need juice but my M11 plus ESS and dx160 definitely can drive them well, maybe characteristic of the planar drivers themselves, while planar headphones benefit from the giant size planar and maybe other things like tuning and construction?
but planar bass on IEMs arent bad at all, as a very picky bass quality person i like the bass on timeless (modded), they similar like bass on IER M7 and M9 (open BA), but with better tuning. THe sony open BA are better than traditional BA bass and have more impact like small DD, little impact, the planar bass is similar like that, like @Carpet said too, like a hybrid of DD and BA bass. The smaller planar driver maybe have less impact too, like the one in Huawei Freebuds Pro 2 (more like SPD to me) that one also have no impact.

Yeah, the M9 sounds like a hybrid more than some hybrid sets.

Curious how you modded the Timeless.

 

[r31ya]

So... remember KZ have that release schedule..., yeah
This is KZ EDC-X, Their cheapest variant, 1DD with fixed cable. the old one is priced lower than EDX.



Apparently this is the first round of their KZ-Tuners projects (something that i'm not sure how that suppose to work),
I guess, its a statement by making a sub $15 (or possibly even sub $10) Harman target IEM.

Yup, KZ EDC-X is out a $9.5, 1DD, Harman target IEM
https://id.aliexpress.com/item/1005...a2g0o.store_pc_home.productList_2911412.pic_0

 

[DynamicEars]

Yeah, the M9 sounds like a hybrid more than some hybrid sets.

Curious how you modded the Timeless.

Default timeless have 3 dampers, thats why they sounded :
1. overdampened
2. bloated / trapped bass
3. wrecked imaging
4. weird timbre because of the dampers took out the tail of notes too fast

I was impressed by details at first time hearing Timeless, but like "wow these are great with its details, but weird soundstage and wrecked imaging". But as I have modded lot of IEMs, I know that there is something wrong with the damper and I opened them up :
there are 3 dampers
Behind the grill, there is nylon mesh damper like most chifi, this have advantage to reduce high mids from 2khz until 8khz with most affected frequencies are 2-4khz (I did my homework with lot of dampers and measured them with coupler) I know they want to reduce 2.5khz from the driver.
Secondly there is foam damper below that nylon damper, the foam is have lower density than the "medium density foam", and I guess the reason they are using this is for tame the 7-8khz boost that caused sibilance.
And the last damper in on the driver, I didn't open the driver so I just leave this.

Sound coming from the planar driver, dampened by the foam damper on the driver, and flow go to foam (2nd damper) which put on the nozzle that blocks everything, with the 3rd damper attached to it also, the nylon mesh damper, edges are blunted, imaging is wrecked, still they have details but they are overdampened

So reverse engineering method and what I did is :
1. take off the grill
2. take off the nylon mesh under the grill
3. take off the foam under the nylon mesh with tweezer gently (don't push it down or it will be difficult to get it)
4. change the foam with medium density foam but sideways so there are holes on right and left, but enough to absorb the 7-8khz peaks
5. close the nozzle with mesh 500 or tanchjim hana / tanya filter with little, very little cut out on side to make airflow

With that, the airflow is good, 7-8khz peaks are handled by foam and last the 2.5khz peak is tamed by tanchjim filter with small hole to keep airflow is good. Thus, the modded Timeless have more details, better timbre, better bass obviously, large soundstage to the left and right (depth is average still), and sharp imaging (but with less depth so not quite 3D or holographic but very precise layering to the left and right). Not perfect still due nature of the driver, but much better especially on bass and imaging.

I owe pictures and steps since last time, think I will make a dedicated thread for mods

 

[DynamicEars]

Yup, KZ EDC-X is out a $9.5, 1DD, Harman target IEM
https://id.aliexpress.com/item/1005004915728079.html?pdp_npi=2@dis!USD!US $15.84!US $9.50!!!!!@2101e9d516675487004238503e0216!12000031005814628!sh01&spm=a2g0o.store_pc_home.productList_2911412.pic_0

Not bad bass shelf, but high mids if the graph is true, its +13db pinna gain. Hopefully its the raw tuning without nylon damper so i can put filter to tame high mids. Price is tempting for sure

 

[Carpet]

While I do concur with those statements. My experience with planar headphones are the opposite.

Yes it's definitely faster, tighter and more precise than DD headphones, they also have more oomph. Which is why I'm questioning my experience with planar iems.

Perhaps driver excursion isn't ample enough in iem planar drivers?

That would fit. Planar diaphragm is stretched taut, whereas the surround on a dynamic is concertinaed to enable the diaphragm to remain rigid and move back and forth somewhat more freely. Planar voice coil is also (usually) constrained by space to laminate a flat coil on the surface. I have no idea how the effective strength of the magnetic field differs between the array of small magnets in planar vs one large magnet in DD. Assume also that coils crashing into the magnets is bad in either case, so some limit on travel is essential. Less effective coil and taut diaphragm in planar should mean less energy and more resistance to movement. Hence higher power requirement and/or less displacement of diaphragm. Planar will have faster attack/decay as force is applied uniformly across it's surface, rather than being propagated from a central point, so every part of membrane will be in phase. The oomph may be the sharpness of attack not the amount of air moved? Although it could also be that the delay in propagation of movement across a conical diaphragm causes an out of phase cancelation of part of the energy (like putting 2 DDs out of phase in a DQ6, who even needs glue).

Just a guess, physics was a looooong time ago!

I'd be interested to hear if anybody with a better background can shed some light on this. Someone with a sound engineering background must have started sniffing their own product and ended up here?

 

[seanwee]

Although it could also be that the delay in propagation of movement across a conical diaphragm causes an out of phase cancelation of part of the energy (like putting 2 DDs out of phase in a DQ6, who even needs glue).

 

[evasb]

Looks like CXS and EDC-X will be similar (following the harman target)

 

[seanwee]

Looks like CXS and EDC-X will be similar (following the harman target)

Seems poorly excecuted though