[RetroE83]

I think KZ/CCA have a good ear tip arsenal, but don't utilize them on their IEMs correctly. For example, the OG AS16 sounded messed up tonally imo with the stock Starline eartips (sharp treble, and anemic bass), but when you put a shallow depth, wide bore ear tip packaged with the original KZ ZEX or CCA CSN, the tonality improves for the better.

 

[Podster]

Yo KZ Fans, it's throw back Friday for me Amazing for less than $50 bones they both still work flawlessly

 

[Carpet]

I had the KZ EDA balanced and KZ ZS10 PRO X come in as part of my usual unplanned "What the hell, it's on sale" Xmas spending. Both are excellent at their price points. ZS10 PRO X is pretty much my daily driver now when I don't want to take one of my preciouses out of the house.

 

[Brain Damage]

I had the KZ EDA balanced and KZ ZS10 PRO X come in as part of my usual unplanned "What the hell, it's on sale" Xmas spending. Both are excellent at their price points. ZS10 PRO X is pretty much my daily driver now when I don't want to take one of my preciouses out of the house.

Me too. Just received my ZS10 Pro X 3 days ago and loving them. My daily run IEMs too. Paired with the RU6 4.4, they sound away above their price point.

 

[XerusKun]

Revisiting KZ ESX (ESX Y4S Mod)

If only ESX has cleaner bass and less recessed vocals..And if only the soundstage doesn't have this tunnel like feel to it.

Turning ESX from a bassy set to a neutral midforward set that is very good for female vocal centric tracks.

1. Removed the backplate by applying a downward force on the grills on the shell.

2. Get a Y4 filter and put it on the existing back vent, make sure that the Y filter is in the middle, little offset from the middle can alter the bass response by a lot.

Look at that driver PCB, very clean and very cool.

3. Remove the stock filter, add the SGF (Sony General Foams) inside the nozzle, the SGF will complement the bass response and reduces the fuzziness in the treble.

4. Return the stock filter and done.
4.5 Get some tips that can reduce the 8kHz peak like Sony EP EX 11 or Moondrop Springtips, to further refine the new sound signature.

Results

Tested Mods:

• ESX Y4 + 350 Mesh + SGF - Shouty....bass is very good, sounds like Shimin Li.
• ESX Y3 + Stock Filter - Less bassy than stock but the midbass still colors the female vocals, bass bleeds.
• ESX Y4 + Stock Filter + SGF - Very nice balance.

Subjective Sound Impressions

• ESX Y4S sounds very open compared to stock, vocals specially female vocals aren't recessed and clarity is excellent.
• There is no mud or boominess compared to stock, less fun sounding as others would like to call it.
• Vocals still isn't in the proper level like Quarks DSP, but they are now the focus of the whole sound signature compared to stock.
• Bass is cleaner, drums and bass lines are more audible and snappy. But isn't that distinct like Quarks DSP.
• Imaging and separation improves by a lot and soundstage widens too.
• Sounds leaner and a bit aggresive than stock.
• Sound more transparent and better to my ears than EDA Balanced / Lyra or even the AS16 Pro.
• 8kHz is still there and can make cymbal crashes quite forward at times.
• Just think of ESX but without the bloated bass mess also add the speedy nature of that 12mm driver.

 

[greymousetaxi]

Revisiting KZ ESX (ESX Y4S Mod)

Turning ESX from a bassy set to a neutral midforward set that is very good for female vocal centric tracks.

1. Removed the backplate by applying a downward force on the grills on the shell.


2. Get a Y4 filter and put it on the existing back vent, make sure that the Y filter is in the middle, little offset from the middle can alter the bass response by a lot.


3. Remove the stock filter, add the SGF (Sony General Foams) inside the nozzle, the SGF will complement the bass response and reduces the fuzziness in the treble.

4. Return the stock filter and done.
4.5 Get some tips that can reduce the 8kHz peak like Sony EP EX 11 or Moondrop Springtips, to further refine the new sound signature.

Results

Tested Mods:

• ESX Y4 + 350 Mesh + SGF - Shouty....bass is very good, sounds like Shimin Li.
• ESX Y3 + Stock Filter - Less bassy than stock but the midbass still colors the female vocals, bass bleeds.
• ESX Y4 + Stock Filter + SGF - Very nice balance.

Subjective Sound Impressions

• ESX Y4S sounds very open compared to stock, vocals specially female vocals aren't recessed and clarity is excellent.
• There is no mud or boominess compared to stock, less fun sounding as others would like to call it.
• Vocals still isn't in the proper level like Quarks DSP, but they are now the focus of the whole sound signature compared to stock.
• Bass is cleaner, drums and bass lines are more audible and snappy. But isn't that distinct like Quarks DSP.
• Imaging and separation improves by a lot and soundstage widens too.
• Sounds leaner and a bit aggresive than stock.
• Sound more transparent and better to my ears than EDA Balanced / Lyra or even the AS16 Pro.
• 8kHz is still there and can make cymbal crashes quite forward at times.
• Just think of ESX but without the bloated bass mess also add the speedy nature of that 12mm driver.

if you have lyra, you should order a set of FD5 nozzles from aliexpress and replace the stock nozzles. i did this mod and it reduced the midbass bloat without killing the bass entirely. (i machined some kbear ks1 nozzles to replace the fd5 nozzles so i can keep using my fd5.) the nozzle fits well and tips fit much better, the stock nozzle is small and awful for tip rolling. i dropped some sgf in there too to reduce some peaking. it's my favorite set. also, i am using softears uc tips with another tip underneath it for added support and isolation. does a better job than the symbio insert i had in it before. i tried the sony "hybrid" tips but they're not as good as the softears. kz have some quality single dd, but the way they tune their iems is towards the masses.

 

[XerusKun]

if you have lyra, you should order a set of FD5 nozzles from aliexpress and replace the stock nozzles. i did this mod and it reduced the midbass bloat without killing the bass entirely. (i machined some kbear ks1 nozzles to replace the fd5 nozzles so i can keep using my fd5.) the nozzle fits well and tips fit much better, the stock nozzle is small and awful for tip rolling. i dropped some sgf in there too to reduce some peaking. it's my favorite set. also, i am using softears uc tips with another tip underneath it for added support and isolation. does a better job than the symbio insert i had in it before. i tried the sony "hybrid" tips but they're not as good as the softears. kz have some quality single dd, but the way they tune their iems is towards the masses.

Interesting..thanks for the share but I already sold my Lyra..Do you have some graphs with the mod you've done for reference?

 

[greymousetaxi]

Interesting..thanks for the share but I already sold my Lyra..Do you have some graphs with the mod you've done for reference?

i dont have any graphs but the difference was noticeable on tracks i use for detecting peaks and bloat

 

[DynamicEars]

Revisiting KZ ESX (ESX Y4S Mod)

Turning ESX from a bassy set to a neutral midforward set that is very good for female vocal centric tracks.

1. Removed the backplate by applying a downward force on the grills on the shell.


2. Get a Y4 filter and put it on the existing back vent, make sure that the Y filter is in the middle, little offset from the middle can alter the bass response by a lot.


3. Remove the stock filter, add the SGF (Sony General Foams) inside the nozzle, the SGF will complement the bass response and reduces the fuzziness in the treble.

4. Return the stock filter and done.
4.5 Get some tips that can reduce the 8kHz peak like Sony EP EX 11 or Moondrop Springtips, to further refine the new sound signature.

Results

Tested Mods:

• ESX Y4 + 350 Mesh + SGF - Shouty....bass is very good, sounds like Shimin Li.
• ESX Y3 + Stock Filter - Less bassy than stock but the midbass still colors the female vocals, bass bleeds.
• ESX Y4 + Stock Filter + SGF - Very nice balance.

Subjective Sound Impressions

• ESX Y4S sounds very open compared to stock, vocals specially female vocals aren't recessed and clarity is excellent.
• There is no mud or boominess compared to stock, less fun sounding as others would like to call it.
• Vocals still isn't in the proper level like Quarks DSP, but they are now the focus of the whole sound signature compared to stock.
• Bass is cleaner, drums and bass lines are more audible and snappy. But isn't that distinct like Quarks DSP.
• Imaging and separation improves by a lot and soundstage widens too.
• Sounds leaner and a bit aggresive than stock.
• Sound more transparent and better to my ears than EDA Balanced / Lyra or even the AS16 Pro.
• 8kHz is still there and can make cymbal crashes quite forward at times.
• Just think of ESX but without the bloated bass mess also add the speedy nature of that 12mm driver.

Thanks for sharing this @XerusKun the Y4 paper mod to tame bass is new to me, I guess i need to try that but from the pic, looked like your Y4 paper is like circle shape damper similar to nylon mesh? becuase I have Y2 - Y4 damper that shaped like donut ring (with hole on the center)?

Btw a little bit sharing tips, you can cut the original filter (or mesh filter on other mod) just a little to make airflow for the bass, that make the bass airflow go through without any blockage, the result is tigher and cleaner bass response (ideally we can make a very small hole, just little bit bigger than needle hole but very difficult to do it, so other way is cut triangle part on the side, just very small triangle.

Like this

That way, the filter will still do the job to tame high mids area (2khz - 5khz) while giving good airflow to having non bloated bass.

cutting too much nylon filter will reduce the effect of the filter, for example 1/4 cut like this :

I have lot of measurement too, but the best trick is small triangle on the side, so when placed onto nozzle lip, there will be only small edge of hole (best combination of taming high mids while still have great airflow for dynamic bass).

if you have lyra, you should order a set of FD5 nozzles from aliexpress and replace the stock nozzles. i did this mod and it reduced the midbass bloat without killing the bass entirely. (i machined some kbear ks1 nozzles to replace the fd5 nozzles so i can keep using my fd5.) the nozzle fits well and tips fit much better, the stock nozzle is small and awful for tip rolling. i dropped some sgf in there too to reduce some peaking. it's my favorite set. also, i am using softears uc tips with another tip underneath it for added support and isolation. does a better job than the symbio insert i had in it before. i tried the sony "hybrid" tips but they're not as good as the softears. kz have some quality single dd, but the way they tune their iems is towards the masses.

is the nozzle can be taken off? not glued onto the shell? or do we need force to do it?

 

[greymousetaxi]

Thanks for sharing this @XerusKun the Y4 paper mod to tame bass is new to me, I guess i need to try that but from the pic, looked like your Y4 paper is like circle shape damper similar to nylon mesh? becuase I have Y2 - Y4 damper that shaped like donut ring (with hole on the center)?

Btw a little bit sharing tips, you can cut the original filter (or mesh filter on other mod) just a little to make airflow for the bass, that make the bass airflow go through without any blockage, the result is tigher and cleaner bass response (ideally we can make a very small hole, just little bit bigger than needle hole but very difficult to do it, so other way is cut triangle part on the side, just very small triangle.

Like this






That way, the filter will still do the job to tame high mids area (2khz - 5khz) while giving good airflow to having non bloated bass.

cutting too much nylon filter will reduce the effect of the filter, for example 1/4 cut like this :


I have lot of measurement too, but the best trick is small triangle on the side, so when placed onto nozzle lip, there will be only small edge of hole (best combination of taming high mids while still have great airflow for dynamic bass).



is the nozzle can be taken off? not glued onto the shell? or do we need force to do it?

i used some locking channels to twist it off, make sure to only twist and not pull. you only need to break the adhesive to make the nozzle come loose

 

[XerusKun]

Thanks for sharing this @XerusKun the Y4 paper mod to tame bass is new to me, I guess i need to try that but from the pic, looked like your Y4 paper is like circle shape damper similar to nylon mesh? becuase I have Y2 - Y4 damper that shaped like donut ring (with hole on the center)?

Btw a little bit sharing tips, you can cut the original filter (or mesh filter on other mod) just a little to make airflow for the bass, that make the bass airflow go through without any blockage, the result is tigher and cleaner bass response (ideally we can make a very small hole, just little bit bigger than needle hole but very difficult to do it, so other way is cut triangle part on the side, just very small triangle.

Like this






That way, the filter will still do the job to tame high mids area (2khz - 5khz) while giving good airflow to having non bloated bass.

cutting too much nylon filter will reduce the effect of the filter, for example 1/4 cut like this :


I have lot of measurement too, but the best trick is small triangle on the side, so when placed onto nozzle lip, there will be only small edge of hole (best combination of taming high mids while still have great airflow for dynamic bass).



is the nozzle can be taken off? not glued onto the shell? or do we need force to do it?

I bought my Y4 filter here.
https://m.ja.aliexpress.com/i/1005002584285688.html?gatewayAdapt=glo2jpn

Hmm.. I also tried cutting the front mesh by a little like what you did but it resulted to a peak at 4.5kHz in my measurement with the ESX...the 2kHz is somehow subdued though. I also think that its okay for the ESX driver to have a full front mesh, I didn't encounter any slow down with the bass like in FLA or EDA Hires. What amazed me with the mod is how rumbly it is while having that very clean midrange, I'm still looking for a way to tame the 4.5kHz peak as it is still a bit spicy in some tracks, if you know any filter that can do such thing it will be highly appreciated.

 

[DynamicEars]

I bought my Y4 filter here.
https://m.ja.aliexpress.com/i/1005002584285688.html?gatewayAdapt=glo2jpn

Hmm.. I also tried cutting the front mesh by a little like what you did but it resulted to a peak at 4.5kHz in my measurement with the ESX...the 2kHz is somehow subdued though. I also think that its okay for the ESX driver to have a full front mesh, I didn't encounter any slow down with the bass like in FLA or EDA Hires. What amazed me with the mod is how rumbly it is while having that very clean midrange, I'm still looking for a way to tame the 4.5kHz peak as it is still a bit spicy in some tracks, if you know any filter that can do such thing it will be highly appreciated.

Yeah still just a little hole make different upgrade for bass airflow as per my picky experience with bass. If you cut small enough, the measurement will be the more or less the same.

As for 4.5khz - 5khz, its the most difficult frequency range to tame. Similar to CRA that have peak on 5khz, sadly no damper that take great effect on that area without affecting too much on other frequency range.
The nylon mesh like mesh 200 300 up to 500 tame high mids 2-5khz with the 2.5-4khz being the most dampened, without affecting too much on higher frequencies.

While foams, absorbing resonance that leads to dampening 6khz until 15khz (or more) depends on the foam density (higher density have more damping effect to trebles)
While the blockage (if your foam is blocking entire nozzle, it will affecting high mids are too)

While bass response need to be have good airflow, without blockage, if really needed, foam blockage is still better sounding for bass rather than full blockage with nylon / paper damper, like sony did from their cheapo IEM mh750 until their flagship Z1R.

But those IEMs are built with foam damper in mind in production, so they already boost the trebles so when foam attached, they still have trebles extension heard, because they already have boost at the first place.
While KZ or other chifi usually too depending on nylon paper so they have set the treble amount fixed, then boosted high mids combined with nylon damper that only affecting on 2-5khz, that through pass higher frequency areas.

Simple but complicated, yes

 

[Mr.HiAudio]

Red - KZ PR1 Pro stock
Green - KZ PR1 Pro Mesh 300

 

[zachmal]

Red - KZ PR1 Pro stock
Green - KZ PR1 Pro Mesh 300

how is the bass response, speed and agility after the Mesh 300 mod ?

interesting approach !

is "mesh 300" referring to stainless steel filter mesh 300 ?

edit:

found it - it seems to be the following

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004052480882.html

 

[Mr.HiAudio]

how is the bass response, speed and agility after the Mesh 300 mod ?

interesting approach !

is "mesh 300" referring to stainless steel filter mesh 300 ?

edit:

found it - it seems to be the following

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004052480882.html

no effect on bass
Mesh filters: 4mm
https://sl.aliexpress.ru/p?key=Gx16tui