candycane
New Head-Fier
Hello, I'm new to the IEM world (and the audiophile world in general) and I love my current (also my first) IEMs, the ZST X's. There's so much I like about these, the V shape is really pronounced, bass strong, punchy and rumbly, treble clear, detailed and shimmery, soundstaging is good, but I'm hoping to try out a different pair and there's some things that I think can be improved upon, and some things that bug me with some tracks.
For one, there's some bass bleed, and the lower mids (including deeper male vocals) lack clarity, get muddied and the separation isn't as good in that Hz range. The bass is beautiful, clear and rumbly on some tracks but on others it gets too boomy, and some guitars and male vocals get lost in the mix. Additionally, though the treble has a lot of clarity which is one of the shining aspects of this IEM for me, it can get peaky and fatiguing to listen to on louder volumes.
I'm hoping for something that gives the lower mids a bit more detail and separation without sacrificing too much bass, bass that is distinct, punchy and rumbly without being overly boomy or too much bleed, less fatiguing treble while still maintaining shimmer and clarity, and strong separation, soundstaging and imaging with good detail retrieval(this is very important to me; I don't want to sacrifice this). I also want it to be driveable from a decent modern mobile phone as I currently do not have a DAC/Amp and I don't have the budget for one right now (never actually really looked into DACs/amps much so I can't say whether I'd see any improvement with these, as they are already very easy to drive.) I'm willing to spend a little more, but I'd like it to stay under the 50 USD range. A slightly less pronounced v-shape but still in that range, because that's always been my favorite signature.
I was actually really interested in the KZ ZS7's. The reviews here looked very promising and like what I was looking for but I just cannot find them for sale on a site I trust. They don't even show up on KZ's own website, nor on Linsoul and I was hoping they weren't discontinued. It's sad because out of all of the ones I've researched, these looked the most promising.
I am also open to discussion on budget amps etc if others believe it will improve the sound quality, but I'm hoping for a pair that will work fine without them.
For one, there's some bass bleed, and the lower mids (including deeper male vocals) lack clarity, get muddied and the separation isn't as good in that Hz range. The bass is beautiful, clear and rumbly on some tracks but on others it gets too boomy, and some guitars and male vocals get lost in the mix. Additionally, though the treble has a lot of clarity which is one of the shining aspects of this IEM for me, it can get peaky and fatiguing to listen to on louder volumes.
I'm hoping for something that gives the lower mids a bit more detail and separation without sacrificing too much bass, bass that is distinct, punchy and rumbly without being overly boomy or too much bleed, less fatiguing treble while still maintaining shimmer and clarity, and strong separation, soundstaging and imaging with good detail retrieval(this is very important to me; I don't want to sacrifice this). I also want it to be driveable from a decent modern mobile phone as I currently do not have a DAC/Amp and I don't have the budget for one right now (never actually really looked into DACs/amps much so I can't say whether I'd see any improvement with these, as they are already very easy to drive.) I'm willing to spend a little more, but I'd like it to stay under the 50 USD range. A slightly less pronounced v-shape but still in that range, because that's always been my favorite signature.
I was actually really interested in the KZ ZS7's. The reviews here looked very promising and like what I was looking for but I just cannot find them for sale on a site I trust. They don't even show up on KZ's own website, nor on Linsoul and I was hoping they weren't discontinued. It's sad because out of all of the ones I've researched, these looked the most promising.
I am also open to discussion on budget amps etc if others believe it will improve the sound quality, but I'm hoping for a pair that will work fine without them.
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