[rasmushorn]

Two new boxes arrived on the same morning we left for vacation. Ready for some time off…

 

[Brain Damage]

Two new boxes arrived on the same morning we left for vacation. Ready for some time off…

Enjoy . You will love the ZS10 Pro X. It's such an enjoyable IEM.

 

[DynamicEars]

Cross post from discovery thread for Krila impressions here :



It's in da housee!

Are you ready? 3..2..1.. Let's Go!!
Krila Krila!
Are they the giant killa?
Let's put up the D.A.P
Are you guys coming with me?

Ahh cut it off I won't win the rap competition.

Thanks for my local courier he sent the Krila faster today
First impressions are really good, that's why they are so confident with this set.
Paid full price for this set just for itchy feeling that you know exactly how does it feel.

I was listening with kbear cable, SPC, and azla sedna crystal eartips, connected to Fiio BTR7 with LDAC hi res codec, playing apple music Lossless / Hi Res Lossless quality. I have yet to try them with my Fiio M17 but I think BTR7 is more suitable for the IEM price and casual audience.

Well build quality is great for budget level, shell looked great in real life, dark grey mirror finish, although prone to fingerprints and micro scratches.

Fit is good, not the best. They are light, small but they are thick because of the switches. So you have to deep insert this or slightly protruding from your ears.

Bass is expected from XUN, and because i think the filter on nozzle doesn't dampen sound, bass sounded open, clear, with minimum smear. Tight and deep and impactful. I've been through lot of IEMs from $1 to $6000 to find great quality bass IEMs (not quantity or bass head level). And this bass is easily the best in this range and few class above. I rated the Bass maybe 7 or 7.5/10 and that quite high standard for my bass rate, passing the Kato 7/10 and beat Monarch MkII bass at 7/10 too. Score can be changed as this is just very first impression but the bass is very great with XUN combined with great tuning. Oh I was using all up switches for the maximum bass level (still under 10db level from neutral point).
Mid bass on just nice level without any bleed. Texture also very good although on lowest end they isn't the deepest i ever heard like from Mest bass or Z1R. But on their level i never heard bass this good. Maybe the CNT from good old TFZ no 3 and niceHCK NX7 bass but they are already on higher price level also.

Now on mids they have great details of instruments with very good air. Mids are forwarded, too forward for my liking but still acceptable, maybe similar forwardness with Monarch mkII but with slightly towards thin and hint of "boxy" presentation here make them unnatural but I'm not complaining seeing the price.
On positive side, mids are presented clearly with lot of details but again i hope there is more body to the mids. I think this is perceival of too forwarded mids tuning.

Going up to higher region, trebles are presented with lot of details too. With very adequate level of lower trebles, so they don't lose details there but still very safe and far from being splashy. However because of the raw performance and BA in the nozzle, there is BA timbre in the mix and I would put little foam to absorb the ringing. Moving up upper trebles, here little bit intense as I heard more air mixing with end of instrument end tails, soft little tizzy but not harsh sibilance.

Technicalities are very good, the details are superb and above their class level for sure. Soundstage I mark them as medium to medium wide while having very good instrument separation with good imaging. Impressive Technicalities that beat most budget sets, but definitely not to be compared with TOTL or great midfi sets (sorry KZ, there are lot of competition up to $1000)



The filter on the nozzle is like tight mesh filter but little bit see through. I suspect this just acting as ear wax protector without dampening the sound like nylon damper on old KZ sets.

Little bit comparisons with other budget sets, I like this more than the CCA CRA, CRA may have more bodied mids but weird tonality of 5khz on CRA is drawback that comparable with con of the hint of thinness in Krila. But aside from that, Krila have better bass performance. Hit harder with better tuning and impact. Technicalities of Krila also better than CRA.
Side by side with Hola, another budget contender, the Hola sounded cramped and very overdampened. Krila is much better in bass quality, resolution and technicalities.
The Krila is noticeable as a better set easily than Similarly priced Truthear Hola.
Too bad I don't have cadenza and WanEr to compare directly since I pass on them last time.

So for now, I'm impressed with Krila aside from that thin mids and slightly off timbre, they have great bass that hard to find in this class with superb technicalities as bonuses. As objective as I try, i have to congrats Tyvan and KZ, you did great job with Krila although there are room for improvements as I commented above. Perhaps lower down the 2-4khz roughly -3db and put foam in the nozzle or move the BA further from nozzle opening will be great. Congratulations on delivering the sub $50 budget King challenger here, but sorry they are not ready to fight up until $1000 class.

Cheers,

DynamicEars

 

[Phantomize]

Soundstage and imaging are good but treble is somewhat aggressive on PR2. ZSN Pro is not very good. ZAX was okay. There are much cheaper options than Aria now, although it's tonality and stage width are the best ot the three you listed. A lot depends on personal preference and what types of music you listen to.

Thanks, you've helped a lot!

I really like good imaging/soundstage in my IEMs (at least that's what I hope for everytime). Given that I listen a mix of different genres but predominantly to (indie) rock, heavy metal, world music, blues and some French house, would you recommend anything outside of the Aria's under 100 USD?

 

[DynamicEars]

Thanks, you've helped a lot!

I really like good imaging/soundstage in my IEMs (at least that's what I hope for everytime). Given that I listen a mix of different genres but predominantly to (indie) rock, heavy metal, world music, blues and some French house, would you recommend anything outside of the Aria's under 100 USD?

Got $16 to gamble? Try the new KZ Krila.
They have very decent technicalities on budget class. Great separation and imaging and good Soundstage.
Slight off timbre and little thin and boxy / hollow mids if you don't mind. But technicalities are very good, maybe outperform aria. For the bass, I'm sure they are.

 

[Phantomize]

Got $16 to gamble? Try the new KZ Krila.
They have very decent technicalities on budget class. Great separation and imaging and good Soundstage.
Slight off timbre and little thin and boxy / hollow mids if you don't mind. But technicalities are very good, maybe outperform aria. For the bass, I'm sure they are.

That sounds like quite a deal, thanks for the suggestion!

 

[Carpet]

Thanks, you've helped a lot!

I really like good imaging/soundstage in my IEMs (at least that's what I hope for everytime). Given that I listen a mix of different genres but predominantly to (indie) rock, heavy metal, world music, blues and some French house, would you recommend anything outside of the Aria's under 100 USD?

Aria is still good, but there are better or cheaper options for $100. I'd take the Audiosense AQ4 if it comes up on sale again, warmer tuning but one of my favourites. Fiio FD7 also looks like a very solid choice, still rated highly for daily use by a lot of people. That would depend on whether you like that small almost bullet form factor. The original Olina was very good for soundstage and imaging, but light on bass and a little peaky in the treble. I believe that the Olina SE has improved those areas and might work for you. It would be better for rock, blues etc. Those models had some condensation issues, so I'd avoid if you live in a humid area. Hexa won't work very well for your preferred music genres.

A hybrid or multi-BA IEM would handle complex music like metal better. So I'd consider NiceHCK NX7 Mk 4 for metal (although stage isn't the largest). KZ ZS10Pro X, KZ AS16Pro, TRN ST5 and CCA HM20 are worth a look too, as significantly cheaper but still versatile options.

Wait until sales, non FOTM options are usually available for a good discount if you're patient

Akros, Paul Wasabii and Vortex are three good reviewers (from here) on YouTube. This site has the best collection of written reviews anywhere, just use the search function and include "review" with the IEM name.

Lastly everyone's preferences differ, so just because one person loves or hates something, doesn't guarantee that you will have the same experience.

 

[ext23]

Thanks for the review!

Oh I was using all up switches for the maximum bass level (still under 10db level from neutral point).

Did you notice if the direction of the switches was "reversed" on the R side? Can you comment on other switch settings?

 

[DynamicEars]

Thanks for the review!

Did you notice if the direction of the switches was "reversed" on the R side? Can you comment on other switch settings?

Yes, by default the Krila was coming with all switches turned up, and indeed the switches are placed linearly same way on left and right unit as oppose to usual "mirror" placement on other sets.

I haven't try other switch config as the fuller bass setting still not enough for me personally (i would like to have slight more 2-3db on sub bass) and I imagine the lower bass setting will made mids even thinner. I will try later though

 

[r31ya]

Yes, by default the Krila was coming with all switches turned up, and indeed the switches are placed linearly same way on left and right unit as oppose to usual "mirror" placement on other sets.

I haven't try other switch config as the fuller bass setting still not enough for me personally (i would like to have slight more 2-3db on sub bass) and I imagine the lower bass setting will made mids even thinner. I will try later though

There is one all gain switch, apparently it affect the treble quality negatively for at least one people in kz facebook group.

It should be interesting to check

I was gonna wait till krila available locally, but it does take it sweet time (1~2 month or so), but the review is mostly positive and i'm craving for some budget hybrids after all of that single DDs and planars.

 

[DynamicEars]

There is one all gain switch, apparently it affect the treble quality negatively for at least one people in kz facebook group.

It should be interesting to check

I was gonna wait till krila available locally, but it does take it sweet time (1~2 month or so), but the review is mostly positive and i'm craving for some budget hybrids after all of that single DDs and planars.

Thanks for that, is there any guideline for the switch out there?
I mean the function for each switches.

I can check with measurement later but if there any guideline that will be very helpful.

 

[r31ya]

Thanks for that, is there any guideline for the switch out there?
I mean the function for each switches.

I can check with measurement later but if there any guideline that will be very helpful.

This should help

It seems switch 1 till 3 is Bass Eq switch with each raise bass +1 db
The fourth switch is treble taming switch that reduce the treble by 1.5db

Thats interesting i tought like dfi and other kz switches, the fourth will be all gain.
But it turns out to be a treble taming switch, interesting addition considering people have different treble tolerance and preferance.
Or to further emphasize the bass tilt by lowering the treble.

 

[DynamicEars]

This should help



It seems switch 1 till 3 is Bass Eq switch with each raise bass +1 db
The fourth switch is treble taming switch that reduce the treble by 1.5db

Thats interesting i tought like dfi and other kz switches, the fourth will be all gain.
But it turns out to be a treble taming switch, interesting addition considering people have different treble tolerance and preferance.

Thanks, this is really a helpful guide. So they have bass switches along with treble reducing switch for treble sensitive people. Usually I don't really care about switches but this is a nice addition to the set.

 

[riodgarp]

funnily i didn't feel my dq6 was boomy, probably because I'm using braided cable and multiflange eartips? or is it just my personal preference

 

[Nimweth]

I have a set of the Krila on the way. So far I have not been impressed with switches, I have TRI Starsea and Hidizs MD4 and the changes are fairly minimal to my ears.