LZ A6/A6 mini discussion and review thread

[peter123]

Wasn't it the A5 that had the issues? A6 seemed normal for Chi-Fi, one here or there, but not heard that the A6 had a noteworthy failure rate.

Unfortunately both flavors of the A6 (or rather some of the filters) does have the moisture issue.

 

[jant71]

Unfortunately both flavors of the A6 (or rather some of the filters) does have the moisture issue.

Not happy to hear that but do we include that as a failure or just an issue. My Tape had that issue but never failed to play and I sold it on and seems to be fine. Both have the issue but is A6 failing like A5 reportedly having armatures die or just if you are not watching you will have sound cut out till you wipe and blow out the filter or let them dry out. Or are A6 totally dying as well?

My potential interest in the A7 is waning. We know about the hydrophilic filter inserts and why they give the issue. It should have been sorted in later A6, some statement given as well on the Twitter account or whatever. As far as we know it will still be an issue with the filters on the A7.

 

[lgcubana]

Wasn't it the A5 that had the issues? A6 seemed normal for Chi-Fi, one here or there, but not heard that the A6 had a noteworthy failure rate.

As @RikudouGoku stated, it’s hard to estimate how many of the A6 have issues. But you’ll get a sample, if you do a search within this thread for: left, mmcx or moisture. If you use Google, one of the 1st reviews states that their A6 failed in a months time.

I doubt that the problems are as wide spread as those that are plaguing the YBF-ISSO14 thread.

 

[jant71]

I said before about the A7 that it is pretty decent to make the new model and not charge a higher price than the A6 esp. if it is supposed to be an improvement. That it would be nice in the current situation and economy. Thinking on it more it also could just be "I better not press my luck" because there is a point where people won't pay above a certain amount if there is a history and risk of issues.

 

[Poganin]

I found that using foam eartips eliminates the problem with moisture accumulation in the A6's filters.

 

[Luis1316]

I recorded this for some guys over the T800 thread. I thought that some people might still be interested in this probably not very accurate comparison that i recorded.

 

[zedbg]

Finally my A6 mini is here, i love the bass and the air but vocals seems gimped , did someone try some other filters on them - like Semkarch CNT1, NICEHCK M6, BGVP DMG ?

 

[sutosuto]

I just got my LZ A6, initial impression compare to my ISN D10 is its bass is cleaner but seems less quantity, vocal is more forward and treble a bit too much for my taste.
Overall, it sounds better than my D10 so it is an upgrade for me.

 

[Luis1316]

I just got my LZ A6, initial impression compare to my ISN D10 is its bass is cleaner but seems less quantity, vocal is more forward and treble a bit too much for my taste.
Overall, it sounds better than my D10 so it is an upgrade for me.

You can try out the mod suggested in this thread: add an small piece of cotton or foam directly in the filter. I love my black filter by a big margin that way; if I didn't do that mod, I would actually have preferred my T800 because the other filters still sounded harss and on top of that the timbre is weird. Also, somehow by adding a little piece of foam have rectified the timbre for me.

 

[sutosuto]

You can try out the mod suggested in this thread: add an small piece of cotton or foam directly in the filter.

Thank you @Luis1316 for your advice. I will try later.
I got it few hours ago and still playing around with the nozzles.
So far, I prefer the silver, pink and red nozzle. Btw, it sounds (with the silver) better now that when I just received it.

 

[Luis1316]

That airiness that the piezo driver made was too much, making the IEM sibilant and unbearable. I went from pink to red, to black precisely because I felt that it sounded kinda muddy and it didn't really impress me compared to the T800 until the time that I tried this simple mod proposed by some guys on this thread. The purpose of the mod was to tackle down that peak, I tried to solve that unnatural "breathy shh" sound that the piezo was making. Now it sounds really really smooth and open.
I'm also pairing it with my 175 cema cable, with comply foam tips for a good seal without loosing bass, and with a neutral-warm DAP Ibasso DX160.
Without the mod i could only crank the volume to 32-35 on the DAP and it was still very fatiguing, the highs of the piezo had too much protagonism in the set, but after putting some cotton-foam, it solved that extra airiness and treble spikes, and i can now crank the volume between 38-42 depending on the record.

I have been AB-ing today again with the filters, especially between the pink and the black with the foam mod inside.
Overall, the black (with the mod) has the mids and high-mids clearly more foward than the pink. The black is noticeably way more clean than the pink one, and that also helps with instrument separation. The black one's soundstage was so wide that made me feel like being in the same room with the performers, but the pink one sounded kinda obstructed in comparison because the clarity didn't deliver. I also noticed that the timbre and texture of the instruments and voices sounded thicker and more detailed on the black.

I honestly think that people are missing out LZ A6's full potential without trying this simple mod on the black filter, it just makes it so smooth mantaining the whole clarity over all ranges, taming the sibilance. The difference in cleanliness and coherence through all the spectrum is so big between A6 and T800 that makes my think that T800 was a big waste of money.

I fervently recommend this little mod to @RikudouGoku since it's an easy and a totally removable "mod" on the black filter and I think this maybe is going to change your thoughts again on LZ A6. Also because we share music tastes since I also listen to a lot of ACG stuff and J-Pop (my end-of-degree project happened to be a Hiroyuki Sawano's film music analysis). If you don't have foam, just use some cotton, they work the same, its just that with foam is easier to measure quantity for both sides. They foam or the cotton won't fall into the IEM and It is a totally reversible mod.

Paired with: Azla Sedna tips, CEMA 175 balanced cable 4.4mm, Ibasso DX160.

I made some comments of my progress over the time. Maybe this would help you a bit in the journey.
I'm currently using cutted foam tips.

 

[jibberish]

Finally my A6 mini is here, i love the bass and the air but vocals seems gimped , did someone try some other filters on them - like Semkarch CNT1, NICEHCK M6, BGVP DMG ?

The gold filter from the CNT1 is a pretty good pairing with the A6 mini. Makes it a little bit more balanced than the black filter imo. There's nothing that can really be done to mitigate the issue with the mids you're describing though, in my experience. My impression is basically that they just ripped out the balanced armatures in the regular A6 that handle the mids and the mini is just left with the rest of the sound sig, ha.

A6 mini can be really hit or miss for me. I can listen to something with the mini that sounds really fun and engaging, and then move on to something else where the lack of mids just makes everything sound "hollow", for back of a better term. For people that just want the excitement at the bass/treble ends of the spectrum they're a fun choice at the price range they sell at now. People that crave mids and vocals probably won't like the mini though.

 

[katatonicone1]

Thank you @Luis1316 for your advice. I will try later.
I got it few hours ago and still playing around with the nozzles.
So far, I prefer the silver, pink and red nozzle. Btw, it sounds (with the silver) better now that when I just received it.

Playing with nozzles is fun for weeks. Copper cable helps to tame the treble no matter which nozzle you decide to end up with. No mod necessary.

 

[sutosuto]

Playing with nozzles is fun for weeks. Copper cable helps to tame the treble no matter which nozzle you decide to end up with. No mod necessary.

True, I swapped to the balanced copper cable, sounding better for me now.
The stocked tips quality is also not good. I find KZ and UB YBF tips are a good match.

 

[Luis1316]

Playing with nozzles is fun for weeks. Copper cable helps to tame the treble no matter which nozzle you decide to end up with. No mod necessary.

Besides taming down some treble peaks, this MOD also rectifies the overall electro piezo timbre, so I think it's a game changing modification, especially for the black filter.