[cingcut]

very sad, i got defective zircon.  Sound is unbalanced, left side have bass but right side didn't have bass and remote button didn't work. 

 

[crabdog]

  very sad, i got defective zircon.  Sound is unbalanced, left side have bass but right side didn't have bass and remote button didn't work. 

Unfortunate. Have not heard of anyone else with quality issues.

 

[cingcut]

  Unfortunate. Have not heard of anyone else with quality issues.

yeah. fresh ootb, maybe need adaptation and need burn in.
and the plug quite annoying, i must set good position to work correctly.

 

[crabdog]

yeah. fresh ootb, maybe need adaptation and need burn in.
and the plug quite annoying, i must set good position to work correctly.

What source are you using? Have you tried with another?

 

[cingcut]

What source are you using? Have you tried with another?

pc and smartphone (android).  after 3++ hours burn in, both side have bass now but plug still annoying.
remote button still doesnt work, i think because plug doesnt fit correctly.
i dont care about remote button. now i can use this rroockkk.... 

burn in will continues later.

 

[WrxSTI]

 
Zircons IN DA HOUSE! Boom boom. I'll post a full review after I've listened to them for a day, probably tonight. For now just this:
 
 

 

[crabdog]

 
 
Zircons IN DA HOUSE! Boom boom. I'll post a full review after I've listened to them for a day, probably tonight. For now just this:
 
 

Damn that's a sexy jack for such a low price phone. 

  Do let us know how they turn out for you. Took mine to work with me today.

 

[WrxSTI]

 
 
"I don't even listen to anything else anymore"
 
I originally got these mainly because I needed a cheap IEM to use when outside walking and cycling. So I needed something that would stay put in the ears well, and sound quality was second on the list since exteriors are far from an ideal listening environment as it is. I originally got the Xiaomi Pistons 3 for that purpose but after listening to them they didn’t agree with my ears at all, despite all the hype. I came here and lurked some more and that’s when I heard about the Zircons. The fact that they were bass-heavy intrigued me since all my headphones and speakers thus far were fairly anemic. I went over to AliExpress thinking they were gonna be like $50 based on the talk, but when I saw the price tag of $10 I immediately pulled the trigger.
 
Build quality:
The cable is braided and nice and doesn't exhibit much microphonics. Not a fan of the 90-degree plug for computer use, but it will probably be a welcome thing when I use them on a smartphone. The part where the phones split off into two seems like a potential weak point, as I see one member here already had theirs split off at that location, so I treat them carefully. I feel like the cabling could be more rugged with better strain relief. The IEM themselves are made from zirconium I guess, look totally high-end and have a nice ceramic clang to them. I like the material and color which has a black-greenish tinge to it. Nothing is plastic, which I like. Not a fan of plastic on earphones for whatever reason.
 
Comfort & seal:
The tips are fairly comfortable but the actual seal is somewhat hit or miss. Sometimes they seal right off the bat and stay there, other times I have to fiddle with them for 10-15 minutes before they give me the full bass and stay put. I tried some tips I had around and the stock ones are best from what I have but I ordered some triple flange tips so I'm gonna try those to get a really good seal.
 
Sound quality:
My other audio gear includes the Superlux HD668B over-ear headphones (big hype a few years back) and a Yamaha Rx396 receiver with a pair of Kenwood LS-85 100W three-way stereo speakers.
 
Both of those have been unused the past two days. The Zircons are all I listen to. Now I will preface that saying that I am not a basshead, or at least I didn't think I was one. I always preferred a balanced, flat, neutral approach to music. "The bass should be supporting the rest of the instruments, not overtaking them" - is what I always used to say to the people who'd crank the subs on their cars and drown out the rest of the music. And the Zircons just made me question that stance. The bass is definitely way up there in terms of volume, it's booming, loud, punches you in the face and doesn't let you forget about it for a second. But it does so in such a nicely balanced way, with such deep low end extension that you just can't help but sit there and listen to it with a big stupid grin on your face crying tears of joy like you're a 5 year old who just got their favorite Christmas present. And as unbalanced as the low-end seems to be compared to the rest of the spectrum, there is something to be said for an earphone that can pull out the deep 30 Hz subs from an Ice Cube or Dorrough song that you've listened to years before and never even knew it was there. Using Sinegen I could hear down to 25 Hz which would be like the Mariana Trench for my Superlux headphones. I definitely feel like the 20-40 Hz region on these earphones is done right and fetches a lot of depth and immersion you just can't get with other 'phones, but the area above that, from 50-100 Hz or so could maybe be a bit flatter and more balanced.
 
The mids seem okay, no real complaints there. But I have beef with the vocal region. 1-2 kHz sound recessed and vocals a bit more distant than they should be. If this area was a bit more forward it would be kick-ass.
 
Everything up and above 4 kHz or so I have a little bit of a love-hate relationship with. On one hand the treble is very smooth, without any noticeable spikes or harshness, I can turn the headphones way up and they don't aggravate me so I can listen for a long time. Detail is there, but it's gentle. On the other hand occasionally I find things to sound just a touch veiled and would prefer a slightly crisper treble.
 
Nevertheless, that is their sonic character and it is what it is. Overall, I freaking like it and the little faults that they do have don't prevent them from being a truly outstanding set of earphones for the price.
 
Technicalities:
One of the things that I was kinda worried about was how these headphones would play along with my output devices since they have a very low impedance of 16 ohms. It turns out I was right and they are fairly picky as to the amp's output impedance.
When I initially got them I plugged them into my computer's front panel headphone jack. I didn't hear anything terribly wrong at first but it did seem to me that the bass sounded kinda odd and rattly. My motherboard uses the Realtek ALC889 codec which supposedly has output impedance less than 2 Ohms on the rear jack so I thought for the hell of it I would plug it into the rear jack and see if that made a difference, and boy did it. The bass immediately tightened up and was now following the rest of the song nicely, and even better, the treble gained some clarity and crispness. I thought it was placebo so I did a couple of tests where I tried plugging and unplugging the earphones from one port to the other really quickly, and it was fairly obvious that it did sounded somewhat better from the rear jack. I let my brother hear and he heard it as well. It's not a night and day difference but it's definitely noticeable.
Later on in the day I went for a walk and took them along plugged into my very old Nokia mobile phone (pre-Android). The sound quality was really awful - the bass was all over the place and the treble noticeably worse.
I don't know how it will perform with a modern smartphone as I have yet to buy one but I hope the Galaxy S5 likes them.
 
Durability:
This has yet to be determined obviously, but I hope they last at least a year. Honestly, I'm worried that they will stop making these. Maybe I should buy about 10 of them and keep them in secure storage so that I always have a pair of Zircons to fall back on.
 
VERDICT: 9 / 10
 
Highlight songs:
Here are some tracks I keep listening to over and over on these headphones. I am just amazed by how good they sound:
 
Ice Cube - Why Me ft. Musiq Soulchild (Official Video)
Trackmania² Canyon - Menu Music
Yahel - Soul (Indra Remix)
Systek - The Singularity

 

[CADCAM]

 
 
 
"I don't even listen to anything else anymore"
 
 
 
VERDICT: 9 / 10
 
 

Nice write up...I have the HD668B also and would have to agree with you based on everything you said especially coming from the 668. I enjoy my Zirc's as well but only with the Auvio tips, they were a bit too bassy for me with the stock tips. Good luck and enjoy them.

 

[crabdog]

@WrxSTI  yes they are definitely awesome for the price. For me to get the right fit with these I just pop them in light as a feather using the large tips. At first I was treating them like my previous earphones and trying to shove them in as far as possible (I'd never had the proper sized tips before) and it just wasn't working. Then after a couple of minutes I just plopped them in with a shallow insertion and the effect was immediately gratifying. I instantly got the "bad headcold" sound when I heard my own voice and since then I know that's a sign of a good seal.

 

[Podster]

  @WrxSTI  yes they are definitely awesome for the price. For me to get the right fit with these I just pop them in light as a feather using the large tips. At first I was treating them like my previous earphones and trying to shove them in as far as possible (I'd never had the proper sized tips before) and it just wasn't working. Then after a couple of minutes I just plopped them in with a shallow insertion and the effect was immediately gratifying. I instantly got the "bad headcold" sound when I heard my own voice and since then I know that's a sign of a good seal.

Excellent observation and remedy CrabD, I still think a lot of iem users have not caught onto the right tip and insertion application

 
 
100% agreement with the CAD, Auvios FTW!
 

 

[WrxSTI]

Hmm. Can you get the Auvios on eBay? Amazon won't ship to me.
 
I ordered these yesterday:

 
These earphones make me grin all the time. Right here, I'm just like (and then they fall out of my ears lol).

 

[Sylmar]

  Hmm. Can you get the Auvios on eBay? Amazon won't ship to me.
 
I ordered these yesterday:

 
These earphones make me grin all the time. Right here, I'm just like (and then they fall out of my ears lol).

Where did you find those if I may ask? 
 
The Zircon and I don't click yet. Although at the time when I did get a good fit I got good sound but pushing it a bit too far give me almost no sound at all. Bit finicky fit for my liking but I might give it another try. 

 

[WrxSTI]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/6pcs-S-M-L-Triple-Flange-Noise-Isolation-Replacements-Earbud-Tips-/331560619482?var=&hash=item4d328d8ddamRsS3aLMXiTOtGuBi__w3MQ
 
Here you go. I didn't get them yet so I am not 100% sure that they fit, but the Zircon core is just slightly over 5mm, so they should fit according to the description.
 
Pushing the stock tips too far just seems to completely seal up my ear canal and then I don't hear anything. You have to be light with it.

 

[Sylmar]

  http://www.ebay.com/itm/6pcs-S-M-L-Triple-Flange-Noise-Isolation-Replacements-Earbud-Tips-/331560619482?var=&hash=item4d328d8ddamRsS3aLMXiTOtGuBi__w3MQ
 
Here you go. I didn't get them yet so I am not 100% sure that they fit, but the Zircon core is just slightly over 5mm, so they should fit according to the description.
 
Pushing the stock tips too far just seems to completely seal up my ear canal and then I don't hear anything. You have to be light with it.

Thanks! 
 
Guess I'll be experimenting a bit with my Zircon's.