Tonight (it's just 10:30 PM here) I pulled up to a Czech alt-rock album (Ladě - Děti) by CCA Trio and KZ Vader Balanced. I had a blast with both of them, they're the best KZ I've had the pleasure of hearing. This reminded me of the upcoming KZ Decet, which should also be multi DD, even with up to 5 DDs. I'm curious to see if they can further develop the abilities of the aforementioned 3 DDs, which for me figure to be the absolute king of the category at around 20€ with the potential to break even with anything up to 70€. Does anyone happen to have any info on when the Decet might go on sale?
Knowledge Zenith (KZ) impressions thread
- Thread starter bhazard
- Start date
If KZ makes a 3DD and a 1DD and sells them for the same price, do you really think the 3DD is going to be equal in quality (physically)? I really doubt it.
So far I think the KZ Vader Balanced is overrated.
So far I think the KZ Vader Balanced is overrated.
Last edited:
Fat Larry
500+ Head-Fier
ha! no no, the design caught my attention because the ZS12 Pro X caught a fair bit of negativity for a similar fake brass screw on the bottom of the shell. No idea if it's holding anything together or not ... but it looks tough!
small confession ... I think I've listened to CRA Pro more than just about anything else in the last couple of months. Hooked up to good power they're just immaculate... which is why Zenith keeps piquing my interest.
I'm still listening to a lot of electro / ambient / post-EDM / genre-free stuff from the depths of YouTube and Spotify.
same artist from 2012. Beautiful track. No idea what you'd call it. Post classical, maybe.
Kind of in there with Hior Chronik
Lovely selections. I think it'd fit the neo classical label. Are you into Nils Frahm?
Last edited:
Piccolo is no perfect beauty superstar sound-wise (looks-wise, yes!), but it's still an A!
At least the Piccolo doesn't need a change of eartips and audio cable like I need to do for most KZ's.
What happens when you change the eartips and audio cable on an earphone (to make it sound acceptable)? It's a different earphone, and not the one I bought! Also, it's now more expensive!
The Piccolo sounds much better than many new KZ's including the KZ Vader Balanced, all for $15 on sale!
However, the brown KZ copper cable is pretty good. But the janky silver plated one, has got to go. Got to go.
Last edited:
Replacing tips and cable (for 4,4 balanced) is more or less automatic for me. I have bought both (various favourite tips and balanced cables) to stock up. In the cheap price range, you'll rarely get a balanced cable with IEMs, and the quality of the tips is mostly not worth mentioning. I politely disagree with your opinion, because in 99% of the cases there is much more potential hidden in quality budget IEMs than the included accessories are able to convey. And with a probability bordering on certainty, this also applies to your Tripowin Piccolo.
I understand your point, but accessories are what they skimp on the most in this category.
yea... cable swapping is a luxury for me anyway, so I don't fault them for cheap cables. And often, their generic starline tips actually work well not only on their IEMs, but on other brands too. Now saying the Piccolo is better than Vader Balanced... I'll respectfully say is somewhat preposterous. Maybe my ears are different, but the capabilities of Trio/Vader are outrageous.
Also...
According to these graphs, the "treble" switches on the Vader Balanced don't really affect treble at all. Rather, they modify the bass curve... I noticed the same thing for the Castor Pro Bass switches. The Vader sounds quite bassy on ANY switch setting though. At the moment, UDDU sounds good to me, but I should play around more. So yea... don't trust those KZ switch descriptions! Wish I had my own graphing ability LOL.
Last edited:
I got my Castor bass 6 months ago and haven’t logged into the site since I’ve been extremely happy with them. Just logging back in to see if KZ released anything similar to them? I have the trio and kz sz10 pro both are good but I prefer my castor bass over them. Anything similar released recently?
Castor pro bass?
iGmole
100+ Head-Fier
I'll second what Marrogwar over there said. Try a Castor Pro Bass, it's not a lot of money and you should be good for another 6 months
By then KZ will probably have a Castor Pro Bass Pro out..
Last edited:
AmenoUzume
Head-Fier
It seems like MD Jacques and their fairy are not satisfied with KZ AN01.
iGmole
100+ Head-Fier
The weak ANC makes sense, it'll probably only work as intended with the one IEM it has been tuned for. Luckily I have a big bunch of KZ sets, I can try different models to see which one fits the AN01 best ANC-wise when mine arrives.
I saw a post on Facebook.. this guy tried a PR3 on it and said the treble was reduced to a nice level, just like when using an impedance adaptor. But he tried an EDX Pro X and the treble didn't change. Graphs to prove it!
Mine will arrive at the beginning of the week, maybe as early as Monday. Personally, I don't expect much from ANC in this version of the device, my motivation for ordering was primarily the presence of LDAC at an extremely reasonable price. I'll have a chance to try them out in person soon
iGmole
100+ Head-Fier
LDAC and supposedly better audio performance overall compared to my AE01 were my reasons as well. Perhaps the transparency mode will be handy sometimes (if I need to hear the toddler waking up or something). Do let us know what you think of the AN01 when you get it!Mine will arrive at the beginning of the week, maybe as early as Monday. Personally, I don't expect much from ANC in this version of the device, my motivation for ordering was primarily the presence of LDAC at an extremely reasonable price. I'll have a chance to try them out in person soon
Personally, I am also very satisfied with the KZ AZ09 Pro, which in the first version was equipped with the Apt-X Adaptive codec capable of transmitting 24-bit audio (48kHz). The manufacturer also hid the equipment with this codec in promotional materials. Once it got out, KZ allegedly blocked this great codec in the new AZ09 Pro series, apparently due to lack of licensing rights.
Users who are viewing this thread
