[alamnp]

Fine, thanks for asking. I am still active, and have been writing some reviews on Audiosolace. My latest ones are Fiio FD11 and FH11. Recently bought the Krila, very pleased with this, but no idea if it challenges $1000 IEMs! My most expensive is the KBear Believe.

fh9 is so closed to my end game IEM, but it was $600. I still remembered the excitement of CA16. I think the only challenge for low-tier IEM is the casing. Most of the higher tiers IEMs have unique casings with sound tubes and pressure relief channels. Hoping that CCA or KZ will work on that, but apparently, those are the ones that making it expensive. Believe it or not my endgame IEM only has 4 drivers, 3 BA and one DD.

 

[countryboyhk]

fh9 is so closed to my end game IEM, but it was $600. I still remembered the excitement of CA16. I think the only challenge for low-tier IEM is the casing. Most of the higher tiers IEMs have unique casings with sound tubes and pressure relief channels. Hoping that CCA or KZ will work on that, but apparently, those are the ones that making it expensive. Believe it or not my endgame IEM only has 4 drivers, 3 BA and one DD.

CA16 used to be my big favourite, I like its warm, smooth and organic tuning. Then, I get a KZ ZAS, its just like a XL bass version of CA16 Skip all those other iems that I bought inbetween, the KZ D-Fi can fulfill all my needs from the CA16 nowadays, with better resolution. All looks so good until my PR2 arrived, the planar driver simply sounds so meaty and real. There is no endgame for me before my wallet get empty anyway !

 

[Nimweth]

CA16 used to be my big favourite, I like its warm, smooth and organic tuning. Then, I get a KZ ZAS, its just like a XL bass version of CA16 Skip all those other iems that I bought inbetween, the KZ D-Fi can fulfill all my needs from the CA16 nowadays, with better resolution. All looks so good until my PR2 arrived, the planar driver simply sounds so meaty and real. There is no endgame for me before my wallet get empty anyway !

CA16 is very good, smooth and musical, but just lacks a bit of sparkle and energy up top. I prefer the CKX personally. BA10 and ZS7 are my favourite KZs, but the Krila has surprised me, it's up there as well.

 

[jananan78]

The new AZ20 Earhooks look great. Qualcomm Lossless BT 5.3.
I wish they went with a standard 2-Pin though. I can't use my best IEMs with that recessed connector.
I hope they release a standard version at some point, because I can't find other earhooks with specs like this.

i cut the recessed connectors with a fine blade to expose them and they go in flat 0.78mm iems fine though it looks ugly

 

[alamnp]

CA16 used to be my big favourite, I like its warm, smooth and organic tuning. Then, I get a KZ ZAS, its just like a XL bass version of CA16 Skip all those other iems that I bought inbetween, the KZ D-Fi can fulfill all my needs from the CA16 nowadays, with better resolution. All looks so good until my PR2 arrived, the planar driver simply sounds so meaty and real. There is no endgame for me before my wallet get empty anyway !

I took that chance, plunge $2000 for possible end game IEM, and I am just lucky enough to find it.
Since then, I also got a chance to listen to the top-tier IEMs and let me tell you, some do not live up to the hype. lol
The ones that incorporate sound channels and pressure relief valves are the ones that excel.
Anything that just jammed drivers, comparable with others in the mid and low tier.

Just for example, Thie audio Monarch, is just a hype...

 

[Carpet]

Found my end game with Aure Elixir and stopped buying IEMs lol... worth every single penny...
Trying to get a shortcut, since I will be in charge of getting very good IEM for our musical team.

Any recommendations, great neutral IEM, preferably W-shaped sounds that do not break the budget, possibly low tier but mid to high-tier killer.

All of the following are cheaper mid forward IEMs with good timbre. No bass cannons. Also comfortable and slightly relaxed treble for longer listening sessions. I can wear any of these all day. They are usually available heavily discounted on AliExpress as they are no longer FOTM. Recommendation is just one opinion and at the reduced, NOT full price.

Audiosense DT200 (best isolation and comfort)
IKKO OH2
Tin Hifi P1Max (power hungry as it's planar, best details though)

​

 

[alamnp]

All of the following are cheaper mid forward IEMs with good timbre. No bass cannons. Also comfortable and slightly relaxed treble for longer listening sessions. I can wear any of these all day. They are usually available heavily discounted on AliExpress as they are no longer FOTM. Recommendation is just one opinion and at the reduced, NOT full price.

Audiosense DT200 (best isolation and comfort)
IKKO OH2
Tin Hifi P1Max (power hungry as it's planar, best details though)

​

Thanks @Carpet, I think I'm going to go with Audiosense, since Planar will probably not be good for audio monitor and IKKO I am not too familiar with it...
Sound channels in Audiosense sold me...

 

[Nimweth]

I am finding the Krila very sensitive to sources and cables. The Xduoo X20 sounds too bright and the Hifi Walker H2 too dark. The Hidizs AP80 Pro X is perfect. However with this the TRI Grace S is very detailed but thin, the TRN balanced cable from the ST5 is great for soundstage but lacks bass, whereas the Fedai 16 core strikes a good balance. It seems the Krila is a revealing IEM. For the price it is remarkable. Can anyone recommend another good value IEM at this kind of price that sounds this good?

 

[BrunoC]

The CVJ KE-S is stupidly good for €10. V-Shaped fun. This sound quality would cost like €50 some years ago.

 

[Aevum]

anyones knows the release date for the AZ20 and final price ? im seeing 88 dollars on some and 105 on others

 

[r31ya]

anyones knows the release date for the AZ20 and final price ? im seeing 88 dollars on some and 105 on others

first week promo at $88 , now its at $118
https://www.kztws.com/products/az20

at one point, there is a promo for 2 hours on one day release that spending 88 will get you AZ20 and AS24.
but the hours term is a bit confusing so don't post it here, afraid someone might get charged for $160 by accident.

AZ20 does have the latest Qualcomm chip with APTX lossless support so it should be decent,
It also have built in DSP or some kind, but i doubt KZ could be arsed to make proper programing for it.

 

[Griffith]

Full disclaimer: I've made it no secret that I do not like KZ as a company. I have not liked them for a long time because when I first got into the hobby KZ seemed, to me, like an exciting opportunity to purchase increasingly better sounding audio products at very low prices. After purchasing a few models, I came to the conclusion that they were mostly identical sounding or suffered from some very harsh or unrefined tuning. As reports started emerging of how misleading some of the claims about their products were: drivers that were present but completely inaudible, unrealistic performance claims, increasingly higher prices without any noticeable improvements in audio quality, I moved away from the brand and never looked back.

Despite my opinions on the company, I hope that some of you here can acknowledge that no company, regardless of how much you like it should ever pay reviewers to review their products. It creates a glaring conflict of interest, it's against the Terms of Service and the Laws of many countries. It should be something that most of us can agree is a very crappy thing to do. Regardless of how much you like KZ products, I think we should stand united against this practice.

 

[PhonoPhi]

Full disclaimer: I've made it no secret that I do not like KZ as a company. I have not liked them for a long time because, when I first got into the hobby, KZ seemed, to me, like an exciting opportunity to purchase increasingly better sounding audio products at very low prices. After purchasing a few models, I came to the conclusion that they were mostly identical sounding or suffered from some very harsh or unrefined tuning. As reports started emerging of how misleading some of the claims about their products were: drivers that were present but completely inaudible, unrealistic performance claims, increasingly higher prices without any noticeable improvements in audio quality, I moved away from the brand and never looked back.

Despite my opinions on the company, I hope that some of you here can acknowledge that no company, regardless of how much you like it should ever pay reviewers to review their products. It creates a glaring conflict of interest, it's against the Terms of Service and the Laws of many countries. It should be something that most of us can agree is a very crappy thing to do. Regardless of how much you like KZ products, I think we should stand united against this practice.

I am not sure - what is exactly your message here.
I always liked KZ starting from AS10 - their relentless progress not maximizing ther profits, but different products, their cheerful V tuning, and their great price/performance ratios. Their very recent Krila and AS24 are really great IEMs to my ears.
(I do not have any affiliation with KZ and any other entities out there and always paid for my products).
What put me deeply off KZ recently are the repeated collabs, but that is a different story.

P. S. I am not going into here how many reviewers put KZ off for one subjective reason or another...

 

[Griffith]

P. S. I am not going into here how many reviewers put KZ off for one subjective reason or another...

Reviewers are under no obligation to cover every audio company, but if there's a company that has a reported history of shady practices, misleading marketing (inflated driver numbers that don't contribute anything to the sound, glue covering driver output, out of phase drivers, etc, scummy or outright-illegal behavior) and they choose to cover it, then they would be doing their viewers a disservice in my opinion.

They have lost so much trust from reviewers over the years that they are now allegedly doing something that is objectively immoral and illegal, in many countries, to get coverage for their products.

Even if you disagree with my opinion on the quality of their products, though I understand that over the years the sound quality of their products has improved, what they are doing is indefensible unless you don't care for the integrity of product reviews.

 

[Atek2019]

i like my KZ ESX