[Lohb]

I just wonder about over-ear fit of A3 and if that bass port will be blocked by resting against part of the ear (did anyone comment on that ?)

 

[Paulpark222]

  I just wonder about over-ear fit of A3 and if that bass port will be blocked by resting against part of the ear (did anyone comment on that ?)

No need to worry about that, it won't get blocked.
 
 
Paul

 

[Lohb]

Managed to get my hands on a Chord MOJO for a while and its pretty amazing with the good old A2.
Wider sound-stage/separation/dynamics/more details. The hype is real, but it is a pricey MO*O.
 
Especially sounding amazing with HURON and his deep electronica. These puppies can indeed scale.

 

[jatergb]

The LZ-A3 is what I wish the DN2000J would have sounded like. To be honest, the sound like the DN2000J without the treble spike.

This is a really good thing!

 
So how do they compare over-all purely on SQ basis? I'm looking for more accurate sound than emphasized signature. By any chance, anyone with ER4 compared these two? I'm wondering if this displaces DN2000 or even comes close to doing so.

 

[JezR]

  Managed to get my hands on a Chord MOJO for a while and its pretty amazing with the good old A2.
Wider sound-stage/separation/dynamics/more details. The hype is real, but it is a pricey MO*O.
 
Especially sounding amazing with HURON and his deep electronica. These puppies can indeed scale.

That's good to know, I have the Mojo and A2, I haven't tried them together yet because I'm waiting for the SD card adapter for the Mojo to turn it into a DAP, until then the Mojo stays indoors. 

 

[Zerketi]

Heya all, the last time I posted here was I supposed to do a comparison between the two LZ-A2s I got since one sounded different than the other and looked a tad different in manufacturing. I ended up passing them to my friend his pair and never got around to do the test/photos of them since no time. Since the A2s are discontinued now, more or less that probably won't happen. I might do the sound graph of the LZ-A2 to see how mine compares against the other people who posted their A2 graphs months back.

In other news, I finally got my LZ-A3 today! Promptly bought it after it came out CNY. I purchased mine through the same seller I got the my A2s originally, Shenzhen HCkexin. Shipped out around March 2nd, received March 18th in the US. Box is quite decently sized, but there's a lot of empty space really. It came with 4 different styles of eartips: Widebore (Red), Normal (Yellow), Plain Silicone, and I think I might have seen a double flange too. Plug is a 45 degree connector. Seeing these in persons is quite nice. Chamfered edges like the iPhone 5/5s, semi rose gold color so it shouldn't cut you. Fits comfortably over the ear and hanging down like normal.

Initial sound impressions, I tried the same song I first tried when I used the LZ-A2, Madeon - Isometric -> You're On. Just playing it off an iPhone 5S with Google Music player and the default installed silicone tips, yellow bore. I was actually a bit disappointed in the A3 in this case. I felt like the entire sound had a "wall", pushed back feeling, and didn't sound as fun or as good as the very first time I tried the A2s. The volume level was about the same too, 50%. I tried a few other songs and for some reason that impression stuck on me and I felt a little bit deflated for paying double against the A2 and I am much happier with them. EDIT: I just tried them with the same song I tried against the "different" LZ-A2s I got. It is starting to sound very similar to the one I didn't like.
 
Though what gave me hope a bit was when I tried playing Zedd - Candyman that I bought from the iTunes Store and used the native iOS music app. I didn't get that "wall" feeling and got the song's fun sound feeling, felt like an A2 but more refined. I don't believe I tried listening the song through the A2s though, so I am not entirely sure if there's a problem somewhere yet or was just delusional. I'm leaving them to burn in right now so I'll see if my opinion on it changes.
 
tl;dr, I don't know what to think of the A3 just yet. I still prefer my A2 pair at this time by a long shot.

 

[Lohb]

  Heya all, the last time I posted here was I supposed to do a comparison between the two LZ-A2s I got since one sounded different than the other and looked a tad different in manufacturing. I ended up passing them to my friend his pair and never got around to do the test/photos of them since no time. Since the A2s are discontinued now, more or less that probably won't happen. I might do the sound graph of the LZ-A2 to see how mine compares against the other people who posted their A2 graphs months back.

In other news, I finally got my LZ-A3 today! Promptly bought it after it came out CNY. I purchased mine through the same seller I got the my A2s originally, Shenzhen HCkexin. Shipped out around March 2nd, received March 18th in the US. Box is quite decently sized, but there's a lot of empty space really. It came with 4 different styles of eartips: Widebore (Red), Normal (Yellow), Plain Silicone, and I think I might have seen a double flange too. Plug is a 45 degree connector. Seeing these in persons is quite nice. Chamfered edges like the iPhone 5/5s, semi rose gold color so it shouldn't cut you. Fits comfortably over the ear and hanging down like normal.

Initial sound impressions, I tried the same song I first tried when I used the LZ-A2, Madeon - Isometric -> You're On. Just playing it off an iPhone 5S with Google Music player and the default installed silicone tips, yellow bore. I was actually a bit disappointed in the A3 in this case. I felt like the entire sound had a "wall", pushed back feeling, and didn't sound as fun or as good as the very first time I tried the A2s. The volume level was about the same too, 50%. I tried a few other songs and for some reason that impression stuck on me and I felt a little bit deflated for paying double against the A2 and I am much happier with them. EDIT: I just tried them with the same song I tried against the "different" LZ-A2s I got. It is starting to sound very similar to the one I didn't like.
 
Though what gave me hope a bit was when I tried playing Zedd - Candyman that I bought from the iTunes Store and used the native iOS music app. I didn't get that "wall" feeling and got the song's fun sound feeling, felt like an A2 but more refined. I don't believe I tried listening the song through the A2s though, so I am not entirely sure if there's a problem somewhere yet or was just delusional. I'm leaving them to burn in right now so I'll see if my opinion on it changes.
 
tl;dr, I don't know what to think of the A3 just yet. I still prefer my A2 pair at this time by a long shot.

And you probably know there is a new and improved A2 on the way.
I'm guessing -
 
1) Narrower ear nozzle (much as I like them they can still work their way out my ear especially if walking and that is with ear-clips)
2) Bass port moved off the back so when you insert them in the ear you do not inadvertently close the port causing stress on the cone with a kind of vacuum pressure. That is the click-clack you might hear on inserting them, the cone flexing beyond what is was meant to, I'm guessing.
3) More colors than gold ! Silver and black seems a sensible bet. I've had these mistaken for ear-stud/implants a few times...haha.
4) detachable cable upgrade option.
5) Still sub-$100.

 

[Lohb]

How would you guys describe the sound-stage on these ?
Just kind of in and out the head slightly ? Like an inch couple of inches out of the head ?

 

[Zerketi]

While I was swapping out the default tips of the LZ-A3, I just realized how long the nozzle shaft was compared to the A2 and how much smaller. Below I am using the Spiral Dot JVC Medium Small eartips. LZ-A3 basically eats up the eartip while LZ-A2 gets eaten. The included wide-bore eartips are actually too big in that the shaft can move around inside, losing a lot of bass quantity unless you jam it in your ear.
 
Note/Disclaimer: this is my own listening experience. The LZ-A3 may sound better/worse to you than it does to me, so your experience with them will vary!
 
As for minor update on my listening impressions, I'm playing these through my PC mixing with FLAC and 320kbps MP3s. The LZ-A3 I can see how the mids got better and the bass quality as well. The LZ-A2 bass sounds a tad more muddier now to me, but the bass quantity is higher and more forward. A2 reaches some pitches in the mids and highs that the A3 doesn't, but the A3 makes up for it a bit in clarity and pushes the bass back a bit for the mids. As for soundstage, I want to say the stuff is more closer together, but I can still point out the location of instruments if that makes sense. I played The Division with them for a bit by chance and I could reasonably hear everything around me with accuracy.

My left connector of the A3 doesn't give a "click" sound when plugging in the cable, meanwhile the right side does and harder to pull out. I looked more closely at it and seems like some rubber on the cable is preventing from locking solid, so I'll probably trim some rubber to get that lock "click". The aluminum shell of the A3 has a lot of nicks on mine for some reason even though I have yet to go outside with them, but that doesn't affect the SQ anyway.

Left is LZ-A3 and right is LZ-A2. The holes in the LZ-A3 may look like they have something inside (white cotton/color), but there's nothing. It is partially camera shake + light reflection of the filter surface. It is a pretty shiny surface.

 

 

 

 

 

[Hisoundfi]

Guys, the A3 has a titanium coated driver. Make sure to give them some burn in time before drawing conclusion on them. LZ recommends 200 hours of burn for the A3. I have about 80 hours on mine and notice a considerable difference on the sound of my pair.

 

[jant71]

I don't like that the end of the A3 nozzle tapers down. Only thing that does is give issues with fitting some tips. Sorry to hear the A2 might go with the same one. 

 

[Hisoundfi]

Once I have the recommended burn in time I'm going to measure and compare to what they measured right out of the box.

 

[robvagyok]

any pain issues with the A3's fit?

 

[FUYU]

Once I have the recommended burn in time I'm going to measure and compare to what they measured right out of the box.

Any words on Isolation?

 

[Lohb]

Can someone make an A3 thread please ?