[kmmbd]

So, I received the KZ ZST X today, and frankly I didn't have much high expectations of them, esp at $17 and given KZ's inconsistent track record.

However, it's pretty decent, and doesn't really have any deal-breaking flaw IMO. Firstly, you get nice set of accessories as the stock cable is now the KZ SPC upgrade cable they used to sell a year or so back for ~$7. The tips are also KZ Starline tips, so there really isn't any need to go tip-hunting. The shells are lightweight, looks decently put together but probably won't endure much abuse. Also there is no R/L channel marking on the earpieces themselves, you have to figure that out yourself (it's not too difficult to figure out).

Speaking of the build, the dreaded "BA driver in the nozzle" is in plain view here as the nozzles are transparent plastic. The dynamic driver is apparently their new 10mm XUN unit which is just a fancy name for a double-cavity DD driver (has better low-end extension in practice).

The sound is V-shaped, but not overly so. The bass has nice punch but I feel like that BA in the nozzle is blocking quite a bit of low end. Despite that, this is good low-end, better than their much pricier ZSX even I must say. The lower mids aren't scooped and the upper-mids are just a bit lower my shoutiness threshold. There are a couple lower-treble peaks (I gather one around 4KHz and another near 6/7KHz) but those are not too exaggerated so sibilance or harshness is just kept under control. Certain tracks will still get sibilant but it's a rare occurrence comparatively.

Unfortunately, that 30095 BA driver sounds as splashy as ever and cymbals/hi-hats can get fatiguing over time. Soundstage was decently wide, imaging was average.

Overall, a pleasant surprise indeed. Hopefully I'll have more to say in the full review.

 

[RSC08]

LOL you should go sue them then.

The Urbanfun YBF-ISS014 and the Aune E1 also advertise "beryllium drivers".

 

[tgx78]

The Urbanfun YBF-ISS014 and the Aune E1 also advertise "beryllium drivers".

And we all know that they are plated.
Look, you should go to Periodic Audio's website and should look around. They also have some videos of their assembly process.
I love there transparency. I used to own the BE and it sounded great, but I sold it because it was uncomfortable and little bass heavy.
I could totally see the potential of the driver and I even sent them an email asking about their tuning process.
Too bad so many people are sucked into paying mega bucks for what company is saying 'oh we have to recoup our R&D cost' bullsh%t
Reason why we are seeing upwards of $8000 IEMS now. lol

 

[rggz]

If you guys google "Periodic Beryllium iem mod" you'll find the crinacle's link to his mod.

Red: stock FR, Black: simple mod FR

And his impression:

Final impressions
I'm not the best person to pass judgement considering that this is tuned literally to my own specifications, but IMO this is now my favourite dynamic-driver IEM. I wouldn't call it true neutral but it certainly doesn't overly emphasise any specific frequency range. The sound is slightly warm, vocals aren't biased toward either male or female, no significant complaints on my end apart from the housing the cabling of the IEM itself. Already prefer it over the Beyerdynamic Xelento and the Sennheiser IE800S based off a comparison earlier this afternoon.

Bear in mind it's an old post and maybe he changed his mind nowadays, but definitely I'm interested in getting a pair when it goes on sale again for $150ish.

I was eyeing the Urbanfun, which seems similar but I'd hate the sensation that another person has another tuning version and we can't even be sure if we're talking about the same IEM and sharing the same findings (or getting a QC lemon).

 

[tgx78]

If you guys google "Periodic Beryllium iem mod" you'll find the crinacle's link to his mod.

Red: stock FR, Black: simple mod FR

And his impression:


Bear in mind it's an old post and maybe he changed his mind nowadays, but definitely I'm interested in getting a pair when it goes on sale again for $150ish.

I was eyeing the Urbanfun, which seems similar but I'd hate the sensation that another person has another tuning version and we can't even be sure if we're talking about the same IEM and sharing the same findings (or getting a QC lemon).

That frequency response looks beautiful after the mod. I might grab the BE again to try.

 

[rggz]

That frequency response looks beautiful after the mod. I might grab the BE again to try.

The hardest part would be tuning the bass, you'd need a coupler or some basic measurement rig (e.g. imm6 + tube) to get it right and match the channels. But definitely it looks really even after the mods.

 

[baskingshark]

TRN has a new IEM (with tuning filters): On multiple stores on Aliexpress now. $23 USD.

Called TRN STM.

I'm a bit wary of TRN putting BAs in the nozzle directly (looking at you TRN VX cough cough), they are generally harsh in the treble, but maybe the tuning filters this time may help? Not sure if the tuning filters are gimmicks though, but I think this is the first time TRN is going down the tunable filters route.

Though, it looks very much like their recently released TRN ST1 (just with the tuning filters), which was IIRC about $9ish USD.

 

[Slater]

Periodic BE has a pure beryllium foil driver similar to the LUNA.
Periodic Audio makes their own drivers. Dunu outsources theirs.

That’s a goofy looking cable connection. Is that a normal mmcx? Or something proprietary?

 

[zenki]

Without damper, it's probably definitely a no no.
P2 still far away

 

[genck]

That’s a goofy looking cable connection. Is that a normal mmcx? Or something proprietary?

Periodic Audio IEM's don't use detachable cables.

 

[DUNU-Topsound]

But is that a beryllium driver or a beryllium coated driver..?

Dunu confirmed recently that the Luna's driver costs them around $120 per unit and that the machinery to make the driver cost them more than 100K.

Interesting; did not realize something I mentioned off-hand would be mentioned so quickly in multiple different places.

As the person who was the one on @Resolve 's live stream, I want to set the record straight here:

1. The reviewer (who previously worked at another company, so he really has no real insider knowledge, only hearsay) was the one who stated this --- he actually quoted the estimate it in RMB and mentioned they were about 800 RMB for the raw material and 1200 RMB for "everything" (whatever that means).
2. I did not state that he was correct, but only that he wasn't too far from the ballpark for the raw material itself. We do not disclose real costs, but for the record, he is wrong. It costs more.
3. The > $100K statement was only for tooling costs, without accounting for raw material (and we expended enough sheets of beryllium for 20+ driver iterations before arriving at the final design). Total R&D costs were much higher.
4. These costs also do not take into account the CNC programming and BOM costs for the grade 5 titanium shells, which costs significantly more than stainless steel, aluminum-magnesium, zinc, brass, or other commonly used shell alloys.
5. These costs also do not take into account the rest of the bill of materials, which includes the custom-designed magnet, voice coil, and yes, custom-formulated adhesives. While these costs are less than the ones listed in #3 and #4, they still add up.
6. These costs also do not take into account the set of accessories we bundled with the LUNA, which included a portable DAC and two genuine leather cases.
7. These costs also do not take into account our factory operating costs.
8. These costs also do not take into account engineers' salaries.

Periodic BE has a pure beryllium foil driver similar to the LUNA.
Periodic Audio makes their own drivers. Dunu outsources theirs.

We make our own drivers. Only the diaphragm is tooled and formed by Materion and its technical partners.

In fact, we had to design the diaphragm shape and morphology. But Materion and its technical partner help us make the tooling and pre-form the diaphragm for us. They don't do anything else. So it arrives to us in the form of pre-formed pieces of metal. We have to adhere the diaphragm to its surround, adhere the voice coil, and mount it to the magnet system.

I would hardly count this as "outsourcing". If this counts as outsourcing, then just about all earphone companies outsource their drivers because they have to purchase their diaphragm film from a materials supplier. Plus, forming a beryllium foil diaphragm is much more complex a process than forming a PET/PEK/PEEK/PEN diaphragm and then coating it with beryllium, CNT, DLC, graphene, etc. It is reasonable that another company does this step for us.

Sorry, but I find that very hard to believe, since Periodic Audio sells their beryllium IEMs for $299 (new) and $199 blemished ( with minor imperfections on the shell).

LOL you should go sue them then.

Too bad so many people are sucked into paying mega bucks for what company is saying 'oh we have to recoup our R&D cost' bullsh%t
Reason why we are seeing upwards of $8000 IEMS now. lol

@tgx78 if you're referring to DUNU, then frankly, you're arriving at the wrong conclusion.

So let me make a couple of categorical statements:

1. We did not release the LUNA to gouge customers. DUNU as a company does not gouge customers, period. There is a very good reason why we have trouble breaking into certain markets of the world, and it is precisely because distributors and dealers feel our products don't make them enough money.
2. The LUNA's R&D process was extremely expensive. We had to incur very steep sunk costs. It is only reasonable that we try to recoup some of these costs. We were very reluctant to price LUNA in such a way, and we've been working hard to deliver trickle-down tech at a more accessible price point.

As an enthusiast just like everyone else here, I was willing to join DUNU only because they were a company with an earnest mission to make better products. It is disheartening to see so much cynicism abound.

Please do not mistake production in China with 'cheap labor'. Wages have increased year over year, to the point that this kind of technical, skilled labor is more expensive in China than it would be in some neighboring Southeast Asian countries. However, there is a huge, preexisting supply chain in Guangdong Province, and it is precisely this supply chain that keeps companies there. It is simply faster and more convenient to go from prototype to market.

We won't try to dissuade you from how you feel, especially since you've continued to doubt how much our production line costs even after our previous conversation. However, you're welcome to PM us and we can expound on things.

You may also want to try to contact Dan Wiggins and ask him if he's really sure his diaphragm material is pure beryllium. I really didn't want to do this, especially publicly, because I don't want to insinuate that he's lying, but he may very well be mistaken.

---

Apologies to everyone else here, but I felt these statements had to be addressed head-on.

 

[zenki]

@DUNU-Topsound Well said but please make the website more responsive and less laggy.

 

[RikudouGoku]

@DUNU-Topsound Well said but please make the website more responsive and less laggy.

The laggy response is probably due to the "animations" and sliding pictures. They could easily make it better performing by making them simple pictures.

 

[thebigredpolos]

TRN has a new IEM (with tuning filters): On multiple stores on Aliexpress now. $23 USD.

Called TRN STM.

I'm a bit wary of TRN putting BAs in the nozzle directly (looking at you TRN VX cough cough), they are generally harsh in the treble, but maybe the tuning filters this time may help? Not sure if the tuning filters are gimmicks though, but I think this is the first time TRN is going down the tunable filters route.

Though, it looks very much like their recently released TRN ST1 (just with the tuning filters), which was IIRC about $9ish USD.

Literature is a bit wishy-washy, some mention 30019 BA, some mention 30095, I ever saw one where the photo's text said 30095, but the BA had 30019 printed on it. Wonder which one it actually it is. ST1 has the 30095 if it really is just that with tuning nozzles, but images don't show a BA nozzle, which would mean it's a 30019.

 

[RikudouGoku]

Is there a difference between coating and plating?