[boodi]

I preferred ast to as24, found it slightly superior in some technicals

 

[passie42]

I told myself to stop buying cheap IEM’s and save for more expensive ones because my collection kept getting bigger and bigger but in a moment of mental bafflement I bought the Kz As 16 Pro… anyone has them? And do you like them?

 

[4ceratops]

I told myself to stop buying cheap IEM’s and save for more expensive ones because my collection kept getting bigger and bigger but in a moment of mental bafflement I bought the Kz As 16 Pro… anyone has them? And do you like them?

I have them and they're sitting in my drawer. I don't like their tuning at all (chaotic mids). And the biggest surprise for me was the lack of resolution and detail with so many drivers. I hope my impressions are strongly subjective and you will find them much more to your liking.

 

[passie42]

I have them and they're sitting in my drawer. I don't like their tuning at all (chaotic mids). And the biggest surprise for me was the lack of resolution and detail with so many drivers. I hope my impressions are strongly subjective and you will find them much more to your liking.

I hope so to but I think I just wasted 32,- . Anyway thanks

*based on your input I cancelled them and AliExpress accepted. I dodged (a small) bullit there*

 

[Hung Tuan]

I hope so to but I think I just wasted 32,- . Anyway thanks

*based on your input I cancelled them and AliExpress accepted. I dodged (a small) bullit there*

try to avoid any weird tuning . The AS16 pro has a big dip after 3k and its bump at 1.2K can make the mid sound honky.

 

[FiGuY1017]

The price performance metrics are going down as upper budget series now enroaching Midfi and MidFi now enroaching ToTL
it further cause the price performance curve to become really steep after you reach $80~150 territory.

Say PR1 Pro ($80) have 75~80% of KiloBuck ToTL performance, then you move to S12 Pro and WuZetian Heyday ($150~250) that have 80~90% of Kilobuck ToTL.
The question now become, whether the rest of 10% of sound worth $800+ cost to reach it?

Having the Susvara I'd say the jump from say my hek v2 to Susvara was definitely worth it and I do love my Lola more than Pr1 but it's scary how close they are for what I paid for them. And I'll also add that imo this Pr1 smokes the Diana no contest and that was a 600.00 iem' unless I haven't found the right tip yet, I've tried a lot because I hear some potential there

 

[Hung Tuan]

The price performance metrics are going down as upper budget series now enroaching Midfi and MidFi now enroaching ToTL
it further cause the price performance curve to become really steep after you reach $80~150 territory.

Say PR1 Pro ($80) have 75~80% of KiloBuck ToTL performance, then you move to S12 Pro and WuZetian Heyday ($150~250) that have 80~90% of Kilobuck ToTL.
The question now become, whether the rest of 10% of sound worth $800+ cost to reach it?

I tried the Zertian Wu HBB and found that most of the improvements are not from SQ.

Zetian sound signature was too smooth and thick for my taste, but others may enjoy it and conclude it as more refined sounding. The main differences between the two IEMs seem to be in packaging, build quality, cable, QC, and production scale.

 

[boodi]

I got quite a bunch of KZ ( ZAR ZAS ZAX as16 as24 ast ba10 s10 pro x and something else likely not sure what other model ) ,

I ended keeping the ZAR and AST, they are pretty different both quite refined for the price they are offered (imo) , AST is airy spacious sensibly resolving and well behaving in mids/vocals , not shy in timbral accuracy , instruments separation is top tier. ZAR is darker very organic analogue and coherent through bass and mids , nothing like ZAX and ZAS ( bright ) , bass sounds way ( way ) better then 50$ , behave very well with eq ; a tad less ultimate for resolution ( not bad but not in the same league of AST ) and subpar for soundstage ; if they had a baby ..


Best of the bunch for me anyway, couldn't sell or return them and enjoying both of them

 

[RetroE83]

I have them and they're sitting in my drawer. I don't like their tuning at all (chaotic mids). And the biggest surprise for me was the lack of resolution and detail with so many drivers. I hope my impressions are strongly subjective and you will find them much more to your liking.

I feel the same way. I haven’t touched mine for a while, they’re in my drawer also. I’d recommend the AS16 Pro High Impedance instead for mids and overall tuning; treble could have more sparkle (but that’s why I keep my OG AS16).

 

[boodi]

Having the Susvara I'd say the jump from say my hek v2 to Susvara was definitely worth it and I do love my Lola more than Pr1 but it's scary how close they are for what I paid for them. And I'll also add that imo this Pr1 smokes the Diana no contest and that was a 600.00 iem' unless I haven't found the right tip yet, I've tried a lot because I hear some potential there

VS he1000se , whatever the source , KZ AST (120$) vocals sound more naturally fletched detailed and lifelike ( even out of an lgv30 or dongle )
and quite many instruments alike ( mids )
not ashame to tell it
just a sound factor among many , just a part of frequence , but .. .

 

[AstronoTAM]

anyone has them? And do you like them?

I absolutely love AS16 Pro (standard green 18ohm version), i use it without the filter on the nozzle with a 220ohm impedance adapter and a small wide bore eartips, it's been my endgame for a little over a year now, the detail and resolution are quite superb for the price though not gonna lie, also pretty good holographic soundstage, sounds can definitely travel above your head and to me it's immersive and realistic sounding, great separation too, i have other KZ/CCA IEMs and the AS16 Pro is just in a different realm for me

listening to lossless (FLAC) Jigsaw Falling Into Place by Radiohead, the guitars and other instruments are what i describe as pretty tasty and addictive sounding, they're so sparkly and resolute, and it is not just that song mind you, trying to give an idea of how it is haha

the bass isn't like DD where it has this rumbly authority, but BA has this more realistic speed and snappy transients that i really like and it still has that deep rumble

there are many things you can pick up with it too such as textures in a synth and vocal textures in other songs

in games, especially FPS, reloading your weapons have this detail in the sound and sparkle you can hear, and many other things too such as gunfire and it's so cool, especially in Battlefield, that game has an impeccable sound design

my aim for the next IEM would probably be the AS24 silver version maybe, looking forward for that haha

here's a graph of it with different impedance adapter as a reference, and to me the 200, 75 and 30ohm are well tuned already, it sounds better than looking at a graph imho

and yeah, Banbeucmas is my fav target ^-^

 

[Hung Tuan]

my aim for the next IEM would probably be the AS24 silver version maybe, looking forward for that haha

here's a graph of it with different impedance adapter as a reference, and to me the 200, 75 and 30ohm are well tuned already, it sounds better than looking at a graph imho

and yeah, Banbeucmas is my fav target ^-^

I didn't know the AS16 pro with 220 ohm is that great. I am planning to change the filter on my AS24 too. But a bit hesitate since it is almost irreversible, I can't find 5mm cloth mesh from my local shop.

 

[Kumonomukou]

Has anyone tried Silver Castor and Pianist? Are they close to technical aspects such as resolution or it's better to go directly for the Pianist?

I feel like all those sub- $20 KZ single DD past year, offer pretty much the same thing. Same driver, same design codes, similar graphs, yeah slight change in tuning filters but that's about it. If you already have buds like D-Fi or Krilla, You probably don't need multiple sets of those. Buds like Moondrop Chu II, Truthear Hexa, or XSL X-One (just to name a few) are very competitive and more varieties in budget range nowadays.

 

[r31ya]

I feel like all those sub- $20 KZ single DD past year, offer pretty much the same thing. Same driver, same design codes, similar graphs, yeah slight change in tuning filters but that's about it. If you already have buds like D-Fi or Krilla, You probably don't need multiple sets of those. Buds like Moondrop Chu II, Truthear Hexa, or XSL X-One (just to name a few) are very competitive and more varieties in budget range nowadays.

The one that manage to break the market and make genuine waves is KZ Castor.
the rest, we have announcement, only 1~2 review, and disappear.

Unlike Moondrop, Truthear, Tangzu, 7hz who have clearer product plan/segment and relatively good relation with its somewhat active fanbase and audiophile community.
KZ have rather negative name in audiophile community, didnt have the healtiest relation with reviewer that can promote their product, and the product release is a bit haphazard... all in all caude apathy among the community

Unless the product is really good like castor, it will comes and goes really fast.

 

[boodi]

The one that manage to break the market and make genuine waves is KZ Castor.
the rest, we have announcement, only 1~2 review, and disappear.

Unlike Moondrop, Truthear, Tangzu, 7hz who have clearer product plan/segment and relatively good relation with its somewhat active fanbase and audiophile community.
KZ have rather negative name in audiophile community, didnt have the healtiest relation with reviewer that can promote their product, and the product release is a bit haphazard... all in all caude apathy among the community

Unless the product is really good like castor, it will comes and goes really fast.

Using extensively home /outside / pockets / gym etc both AST and ZAR , some months now.. in and out ears, swapping cables etc..
Not a problem .

Mind that they are 'premium' KZ late models.., so they suffer less from QC then budget models and early models.

Mind that also kilobucks luxury IEMs suffer from QC and fail.

There's been report of 30$ iem/buds failing ? Sure..i checked sales , they were sold in thousands units too ( not exactly your 'normal' hundred+ sale, or limited edition 5k$ Oriolus Traillii )