r31ya
Headphoneus Supremus
So... castor bass appears locally for $14...
should i take it? but its an actual twin-sidegrade...
should i take it? but its an actual twin-sidegrade...
Knowledge Zenith (KZ) impressions thread
- Thread starter bhazard
- Start date
Drakis
Head-Fier
I'm loving my D-FI more each day that passes... What would be the logical upgrade for it? Just asking.
DaveLT
500+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Aug 23, 2015
- Posts
- 968
- Likes
- 212
Try it! Two flavors of one cake won't hurt when it's this cheap.
They're different animals but the bass is hugely addictive...
Maybe Krila or Castor silver. Probably Castor silver.
Same after ~3 hours
BrunoC
100+ Head-Fier
Try blowing on the nozzle (no kidding). Some air pressure may unblock the dynamic driver, if that's the problem of course.
Carpet
Headphoneus Supremus
It really depends what it is about it that you like. If it's the tunable version, how do you set it up? Do you spend a long time listening and to what type of music?
I find the Juzear Clear to be a really good single DD for extended listening to a wide variety of music.
Got my Castor bass edition. Went straight for UUDD position for maximum midbass and I'm fairly happy with it. It's not as big of a shelf as you'd find with EQs for bassheads, but for a stock IEM I'm very satisfied that I'm not left desiring more bass in very bassy music like Future Sound of London's We Have Explosive.
I'm left with a little smile on my face.
I should learn photography someday.
I'm left with a little smile on my face.
I should learn photography someday.
PhonoPhi
Headphoneus Supremus
There are positive opinion of bass lovers here about the bass edition
My take is that if for the standard in up, up & down, down configuration - more bass may be needed, then that is roughly where the bass version starts in down, down & up, up and it can bring bass a couple of notches further.
Then (my subjective opinion) that it feels that the bass version is some extension/stretch of the standard. Given that the driver is the same, EQ may work reasonably similar.
Thank you for sharing the news about upcoming DD+8BAs, really looking forward to it!
It would be really great if this hybrid can offer the DD of Krila coupled with BAs similar to ZAX (rather than ZAS to my preference).
I expect it to cost roughly in between ZS Pro X and AS24 at $65-80.
r31ya
Headphoneus Supremus
Hopefully it will come with early bird half off,There are positive opinion of bass lovers here about the bass edition
My take is that if for the standard in up, up & down, down configuration - more bass may be needed, then that is roughly where the bass version starts in down, down & up, up and it can bring bass a couple of notches further.
Then (my subjective opinion) that it feels that the bass version is some extension/stretch of the standard. Given that the driver is the same, EQ may work reasonably similar.
Thank you for sharing the news about upcoming DD+8BAs, really looking forward to it!
It would be really great if this hybrid can offer the DD of Krila coupled with BAs similar to ZAX (rather than ZAS to my preference).
I expect it to cost roughly in between ZS Pro X and AS24 at $65-80.
Its been few iems since KZ did that
Nimweth
Headphoneus Supremus
What's next? ZIS?a return to the abc names
requal
100+ Head-Fier
Not everyone dislike them. For me it's nice. Even I enjoy them more then CVJ Mei and Freedom, so I'm getting to sell them.
For example this two reviews are positive.
Drakis
Head-Fier
I'm using the non-tunable version. I listen to almost everything...It really depends what it is about it that you like. If it's the tunable version, how do you set it up? Do you spend a long time listening and to what type of music?
I find the Juzear Clear to be a really good single DD for extended listening to a wide variety of music.
DynamicEars
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2019
- Posts
- 3,682
- Likes
- 10,503
Cross post from discovery thread, for KZ users here :
THE KZ CASTOR
So my Castor is arrived, I bought the Bass version as they have more unique tuning for me to mod them.
I bought the Castor with my own money, $13 shipped, an IEM that anyone can buy if they are willing to. I have no affiliate with KZ nor any connection with them
and this isn't a review post, more just honest impressions from someone that already happy with his endgame things. Just because the budget segment is very interesting to me, and to fulfill my Mod hobby as how far the budgets can be better.
The usual KZ small box and accessories, just like any other KZ standars, so I didn't take photo of them as I assume all of you ever unboxing a KZ, at least once.
I just took off the L and R driver and store the box, but the unit shell are stunning, made the lazy me grabbed my camera and did little simple set up and took few photos of the Castor. The shell design and the color is elegantly beautiful, they are quite a looker, and don't look like cheapo tranduscers at all. I do think this is the best KZ design I ever had.
So my impressions out of the box, they have great timbre, sounded natural, though intense on upper mids and lower trebles, I'm using 1110 setting as reference with Faeall balanced cable, with Fiio BTR7 as the source:
(I won't use M17 as this is a budget set) and the Pentaconn Coureir Brass on the tip. I will talk about switches later, but I like the 1110 more than others (best balance to me)
Bass : sub bass can't go real deep even though they have 2 DDs with 10mm on the lower frequencies, I can hear the limitation but very capable and passable for something below $50.
Mid bass quite punchy but bleed at the same time with smear (I guess from bad airflow of the filters, as usual). The drivers are quite tactile, they are on fast type so upper bass and texture is quite good
even they are bleeding. They aren't bass head level, above neutral but don't think like Legato. Impact is good enough, better impact than Krila.
Mids : with 1110 tuning, mids are clear, decent details, intense on high mids and lower trebles that made them little bit shouty and little bit towards thinner side, but not as thin as KZ PR2 or Krila because of
big bass counter balance. What impressed me is the timbre, they sounded natural much more than Krila and PR2. Hand claps and finger snapping didn't sounded artificial.
Trebles : lower trebles are too much even for me (who listening to Mest and Z1R that have intense trebles), but I have to give score on the natural timbre presentation. They didn't sounded sibilant of high trebles,
not tizzy, just intense and shouty lower trebles on high volume. The extension on past 10khz are great, airy with great technicalities and still sounded natural.
Technicalities : like recent KZ, they have great technicalities, and I was surprised of how good the details and imaging coming from the DD. Krila and PR2 (of course) have better details and resolution, but this Castor have best balance between technicalities and naturalness, they never sounded over sharp. Soundstage is on medium size, little bit smaller than Krila and PR2. Overall technicalities isnt star of the show but very good score as budget IEMs here.
Overall on standard (non modded) maybe I like Castor than Krila and PR2 because Krila bass is more linear, and I feel castor have better tuning on the bass, and the timbre, where Castor is better than the two.
Details are best on PR2 but mids sounded thin, the Castor is ready out of the box. I mod my Krila and PR2 though, and mod my Castor also to have better sounding. Will talk about this later on post Mod section.
Another photo of beautiful Castor with another recent KZs PR2 and Krila :
Let's talk about 2023 trend now : IEM Switches, not Nintendo Switch 2.
KZ bringing back their 4 Switches, non gimmicky switches that alter the sound tuning? kinda agree, BUT actually they don't have 16 permutations. I observed the switch tuning and measured them and have my conclusion here:
The crossover between 1st DD and 2nd DD is roughly at 300hz, so I neutralize the graph on this frequency, easier to look at.
the number 1 and 2 are BASS tuning (or affecting the Bass DD only, the 10mm driver)
1 for adding sub bass level, and 2 for adding high sub bass level. When you turn on the no 2 switch, which is high sub bass level it will ignore the switch no 1, so ON the 1 or off the 2 will
results the same : High sub bass gain. Turn on the switch 1 and 2 together will result same as turning switch 2 only, they dont sum the bass quantity.
See the graph here :
1 = Sub bass gain
2 = sub bass High gain
00 = bass switch off
10 = adding sub bass level
12 = 02 = adding High sub bass level, see the graph show no differences at all between 0100 and 1100
the Next Switches are number 3 and 4, they are MIDS & TREBLES tuning (or affecting the 2nd DD, the 8mm driver, 300hz above)
3 for adding Mids (after 300hz) and trebles at the same time (can't boost mids only or trebles only)
4 for adding High level boost of Mids and Trebles
again, they behave like the first 2 switches so if switch 4 is on (Mids and trebles High boost) the switch 3 is ignored, wheter you on or off, doesn't make any differences.
See the graph here :
3 = Mids & Trebles gain
4 = Mids & Trebles High gain
0000 = all switch off
0030 = adding mids and treble level
0004 = 0034 = adding mids and treble High level, see the graph show no differences at all between 0001 and 0011 (exactly overlapped but actually purple line is there)
Playing around with Switches, I feel that the 1110 setting (1 on, 2 on, 3 on, 4 off) is more suitable to me, because 1 and 2 are on, they have more sub bass, so not only mid and upper bass focused and on the 3 switch will perceived as more balanced tuning, the bass will perceived as reduced (but actually they are having more mids and trebles) with note the crossover are wont be affected so they are like stay on the same level (around 300hz)
See the graph here :
neutralized:
MODS
So here I'm buying the Castor for mods purpose, as I did with Krila, Hola, Pr2 and other budget sets, like I did with Blon BL-03 in the past.
I skipped all the trial and error here :
Basically I want to tame down the high mids and lower trebles, with good airflow for the bass, and still having great technicalities. I tried so many methods and after some experiences,
I found this mod is the best working method with the sounds : double the Mesh500 / Tanchjim filter with tiny needle hole in the center. Adding foam or not depends on how intense the trebles and high trebles.
For Castor, I didn't put foam (I tried with foam, but I didn't like as the foam tamed the upper trebles too much for my liking and Castor already have great timbre and non edgy, therefor absorbing edgy notes with foam aren't necessary)
Step by Step tutorial (ignore the foam photos, I took off the foam in the end):
1. uplift the original filter on the nozzle with small needle or safety pin
2. double (stack) your Mesh500 / Tanchjim Filter
3. put the stacked Mesh500 on some papers (don't pull them from the plastic base) and pinch tiny hole on center with small needle / safety pin (Very important for bass airflow)
4. put on the stacked Mesh500 with hole onto the nozzle gently (the biggest 5mm mesh500 actually is slightly smaller than Castor original filter 5.5mm) but they can be sit on the lid without problem, just patiently put them on the center.
5. do the same on other unit.
And here the result with the same 1110 setting, but I switch to 1111 for reduced bass perceival :
Grey is the default Castor with 1110 tuning
Purple is modded 1110 tuning
Orange is modded 1111 tuning, neutralize to same level with 1110 tuning for easier comparison of bass response perceiving.
More balance tuning, smooth mids, better bass because of better airflow, minimum bass bleed. Definitely better to me. I wish I could lower the pinna gain area but triple stacking Mesh500 made them overdampened even with hole, and killing the trebles too much.
Currently, this is the best mod I can think of unless you want to go deeper Mod with resistors and resolder that required some serious skills which I don't have.
I like Castor after mods, and I do feel they aren't just another beater set. The bass shelf is different, not so linear, while punchy. The timbre is so good, with decent technicalities too. I like them better than Krila (compared modded to modded sets). The PR2 though after modded still have advantage of planar driver, the details, resolution and speed, but PR2 required some serious power to wake them up.
Sorry for looooong post, thanks for reading
Cheers,
DynamicEars
THE KZ CASTOR
So my Castor is arrived, I bought the Bass version as they have more unique tuning for me to mod them.
I bought the Castor with my own money, $13 shipped, an IEM that anyone can buy if they are willing to. I have no affiliate with KZ nor any connection with them
and this isn't a review post, more just honest impressions from someone that already happy with his endgame things. Just because the budget segment is very interesting to me, and to fulfill my Mod hobby as how far the budgets can be better.
The usual KZ small box and accessories, just like any other KZ standars, so I didn't take photo of them as I assume all of you ever unboxing a KZ, at least once.
I just took off the L and R driver and store the box, but the unit shell are stunning, made the lazy me grabbed my camera and did little simple set up and took few photos of the Castor. The shell design and the color is elegantly beautiful, they are quite a looker, and don't look like cheapo tranduscers at all. I do think this is the best KZ design I ever had.
So my impressions out of the box, they have great timbre, sounded natural, though intense on upper mids and lower trebles, I'm using 1110 setting as reference with Faeall balanced cable, with Fiio BTR7 as the source:
(I won't use M17 as this is a budget set) and the Pentaconn Coureir Brass on the tip. I will talk about switches later, but I like the 1110 more than others (best balance to me)
Bass : sub bass can't go real deep even though they have 2 DDs with 10mm on the lower frequencies, I can hear the limitation but very capable and passable for something below $50.
Mid bass quite punchy but bleed at the same time with smear (I guess from bad airflow of the filters, as usual). The drivers are quite tactile, they are on fast type so upper bass and texture is quite good
even they are bleeding. They aren't bass head level, above neutral but don't think like Legato. Impact is good enough, better impact than Krila.
Mids : with 1110 tuning, mids are clear, decent details, intense on high mids and lower trebles that made them little bit shouty and little bit towards thinner side, but not as thin as KZ PR2 or Krila because of
big bass counter balance. What impressed me is the timbre, they sounded natural much more than Krila and PR2. Hand claps and finger snapping didn't sounded artificial.
Trebles : lower trebles are too much even for me (who listening to Mest and Z1R that have intense trebles), but I have to give score on the natural timbre presentation. They didn't sounded sibilant of high trebles,
not tizzy, just intense and shouty lower trebles on high volume. The extension on past 10khz are great, airy with great technicalities and still sounded natural.
Technicalities : like recent KZ, they have great technicalities, and I was surprised of how good the details and imaging coming from the DD. Krila and PR2 (of course) have better details and resolution, but this Castor have best balance between technicalities and naturalness, they never sounded over sharp. Soundstage is on medium size, little bit smaller than Krila and PR2. Overall technicalities isnt star of the show but very good score as budget IEMs here.
Overall on standard (non modded) maybe I like Castor than Krila and PR2 because Krila bass is more linear, and I feel castor have better tuning on the bass, and the timbre, where Castor is better than the two.
Details are best on PR2 but mids sounded thin, the Castor is ready out of the box. I mod my Krila and PR2 though, and mod my Castor also to have better sounding. Will talk about this later on post Mod section.
Another photo of beautiful Castor with another recent KZs PR2 and Krila :
Let's talk about 2023 trend now : IEM Switches, not Nintendo Switch 2.
KZ bringing back their 4 Switches, non gimmicky switches that alter the sound tuning? kinda agree, BUT actually they don't have 16 permutations. I observed the switch tuning and measured them and have my conclusion here:
The crossover between 1st DD and 2nd DD is roughly at 300hz, so I neutralize the graph on this frequency, easier to look at.
the number 1 and 2 are BASS tuning (or affecting the Bass DD only, the 10mm driver)
1 for adding sub bass level, and 2 for adding high sub bass level. When you turn on the no 2 switch, which is high sub bass level it will ignore the switch no 1, so ON the 1 or off the 2 will
results the same : High sub bass gain. Turn on the switch 1 and 2 together will result same as turning switch 2 only, they dont sum the bass quantity.
See the graph here :
1 = Sub bass gain
2 = sub bass High gain
00 = bass switch off
10 = adding sub bass level
12 = 02 = adding High sub bass level, see the graph show no differences at all between 0100 and 1100
the Next Switches are number 3 and 4, they are MIDS & TREBLES tuning (or affecting the 2nd DD, the 8mm driver, 300hz above)
3 for adding Mids (after 300hz) and trebles at the same time (can't boost mids only or trebles only)
4 for adding High level boost of Mids and Trebles
again, they behave like the first 2 switches so if switch 4 is on (Mids and trebles High boost) the switch 3 is ignored, wheter you on or off, doesn't make any differences.
See the graph here :
3 = Mids & Trebles gain
4 = Mids & Trebles High gain
0000 = all switch off
0030 = adding mids and treble level
0004 = 0034 = adding mids and treble High level, see the graph show no differences at all between 0001 and 0011 (exactly overlapped but actually purple line is there)
Playing around with Switches, I feel that the 1110 setting (1 on, 2 on, 3 on, 4 off) is more suitable to me, because 1 and 2 are on, they have more sub bass, so not only mid and upper bass focused and on the 3 switch will perceived as more balanced tuning, the bass will perceived as reduced (but actually they are having more mids and trebles) with note the crossover are wont be affected so they are like stay on the same level (around 300hz)
See the graph here :
neutralized:
MODS
So here I'm buying the Castor for mods purpose, as I did with Krila, Hola, Pr2 and other budget sets, like I did with Blon BL-03 in the past.
I skipped all the trial and error here :
Basically I want to tame down the high mids and lower trebles, with good airflow for the bass, and still having great technicalities. I tried so many methods and after some experiences,
I found this mod is the best working method with the sounds : double the Mesh500 / Tanchjim filter with tiny needle hole in the center. Adding foam or not depends on how intense the trebles and high trebles.
For Castor, I didn't put foam (I tried with foam, but I didn't like as the foam tamed the upper trebles too much for my liking and Castor already have great timbre and non edgy, therefor absorbing edgy notes with foam aren't necessary)
Step by Step tutorial (ignore the foam photos, I took off the foam in the end):
1. uplift the original filter on the nozzle with small needle or safety pin
2. double (stack) your Mesh500 / Tanchjim Filter
3. put the stacked Mesh500 on some papers (don't pull them from the plastic base) and pinch tiny hole on center with small needle / safety pin (Very important for bass airflow)
4. put on the stacked Mesh500 with hole onto the nozzle gently (the biggest 5mm mesh500 actually is slightly smaller than Castor original filter 5.5mm) but they can be sit on the lid without problem, just patiently put them on the center.
5. do the same on other unit.
And here the result with the same 1110 setting, but I switch to 1111 for reduced bass perceival :
Grey is the default Castor with 1110 tuning
Purple is modded 1110 tuning
Orange is modded 1111 tuning, neutralize to same level with 1110 tuning for easier comparison of bass response perceiving.
More balance tuning, smooth mids, better bass because of better airflow, minimum bass bleed. Definitely better to me. I wish I could lower the pinna gain area but triple stacking Mesh500 made them overdampened even with hole, and killing the trebles too much.
Currently, this is the best mod I can think of unless you want to go deeper Mod with resistors and resolder that required some serious skills which I don't have.
I like Castor after mods, and I do feel they aren't just another beater set. The bass shelf is different, not so linear, while punchy. The timbre is so good, with decent technicalities too. I like them better than Krila (compared modded to modded sets). The PR2 though after modded still have advantage of planar driver, the details, resolution and speed, but PR2 required some serious power to wake them up.
Sorry for looooong post, thanks for reading
Cheers,
DynamicEars
Last edited:
Jeff Wayne
New Head-Fier
Long but interesting post, thanks. Did you mod the PR2 and Krila the same way?
Users who are viewing this thread
