[AmericanSpirit]

To normal people, these KZ IEMs sounds quite good. So, yeah, I think the strategy might work. I mean I bought the first KZ because of that Aussie drummer guy on YouTube who fixes iPods and make funny videos (he lives in the same city, we shop at the same hifi store) Good for KZ. They don't win any point with audio geeks, but I guess we don't buy enough stuffs for them to care

yea, actually driver spec of CCA’s CRA is quite amazing even to me, I was “wow”d by CRA. Very good. Actually better driver than Cadenza.

I see KZ is trying hard, that “outreach” marketing maybe just one of them.

Out of curiosity, I challenged how hard KZ’s marketing efforts are. I looked up trending platform service in KZ’s main domestic market, Mainland China.

I found that ther is very popular platform service called “Tmall” —天猫U先: Tmall U xian — a subsidiary of Alibaba (aliexpress’s host).

It’s popular especially for younger generations, which is exactly what KZ is targeting for their main product. At umall you can rent out certain products sample with a fraction of its MRSP, basically subscription business model.

I looked up in Tmall and wow,

KZ is already offering varieties of subscriptions. They are doing what they supposed to do.

Man…I seriously want this subscription platform service to be globally available….. just pay few bucks then you can rent out for a month… a paradise for IEM enthusiasts

Anyway, only consulting advice I could give to KZ is that, their product PR image is old-school. Copy and paste Western Model and slap IEM on it.

That’s not going to impress their target zone 10-30 ditital native zone.

They had to employ young fashionable icons to let their potential audience to believe “ if you wear KZ, it makes you more appealing”.

What KZ doing right now with that old school PR image is a mismatch in marketing methods and their potential target.

 

[r31ya]

KZ marketing copy phrase…..sad to see KZ has to go that way. I mean their sales point emphasis..

Amateur’s comment “Sound is bassy and stereo”
That’s KZ’s V for sure

Maybe the dig is worth, though. The reviewer has 25k subs, of which maybe many of them are non-audio enthusiasts at all, so at least some publicity you could expect from that page views /playbacks.

Giving out $14 iem (probably cost $2) for 25k subs may or may not work. I checked the channel’s past uploads, mainly consumer products, with avg 500 views. Not bad man. Not bad. It’s a hit or miss. Maybe the video could get the buzz. The channel is constantly uploading videos, which is very important to be a candidate of search result & auto-play recommendations on youtube.

the guy is diligent but that 25K subs is kinda sus considering his vids mostly 300~1000 views with 1~7 comment.
---
Considering the speed KZ release stuff, subscription rental might not be a bad idea.
---
KZ driver still impresses some people, modded CXS apparently pretty awesome.
its the lack of finetuning or lack of more balanced option and KZ decision to release that KZ-V over and over again within short period of time killed the hype.

 

[saldsald]

yea, actually driver spec of CCA’s CRA is quite amazing even to me, I was “wow”d by CRA. Very good. Actually better driver than Cadenza.

I see KZ is trying hard, that “outreach” marketing maybe just one of them.

Out of curiosity, I challenged how hard KZ’s marketing efforts are. I looked up trending platform service in KZ’s main domestic market, Mainland China.

I found that ther is very popular platform service called “Tmall” —天猫U先: Tmall U xian — a subsidiary of Alibaba (aliexpress’s host).

It’s popular especially for younger generations, which is exactly what KZ is targeting for their main product. At umall you can rent out certain products sample with a fraction of its MRSP, basically subscription business model.


I looked up in Tmall and wow,

KZ is already offering varieties of subscriptions. They are doing what they supposed to do.

Man…I seriously want this subscription platform service to be globally available….. just pay few bucks then you can rent out for a month… a paradise for IEM enthusiasts

Anyway, only consulting advice I could give to KZ is that, their product PR image is old-school. Copy and paste Western Model and slap IEM on it.


That’s not going to impress their target zone 10-30 ditital native zone.

They had to employ young fashionable icons to let their potential audience to believe “ if you wear KZ, it makes you more appealing”.

What KZ doing right now with that old school PR image is a mismatch in marketing methods and their potential target.

Tmall is just TaoBao actually with Tmall shops being more reliable because they need to deposit a certain amount as a guarantee. Not all (actually most) products are not under this subscription scheme.

 

[AmericanSpirit]

Tmall is just TaoBao actually with Tmall shops being more reliable because they need to deposit a certain amount as a guarantee. Not all (actually most) products are not under this subscription scheme.

long way to go it seems. Thanks for the info. I like the idea of sample size cosmetics and various products.

 

[AmericanSpirit]

the guy is diligent but that 25K subs is kinda sus considering his vids mostly 300~1000 views with 1~7 comment.
---
Considering the speed KZ release stuff, subscription rental might not be a bad idea.
---
KZ driver still impresses some people, modded CXS apparently pretty awesome.
its the lack of finetuning or lack of more balanced option and KZ decision to release that KZ-V over and over again within short period of time killed the hype.

Yea….sad truth is that, head-gear’s page view is a good as that youtube channel….

For past month, the most page views head-gears have earned is HEXA, 10x more than others. 5k views. That 5k view is less than my old blog’s random sennheiser MX760 amateur review….it had like 10k pv.

I think KZ made right decision, rather than giving us a sample to review, and most likely it may be a lukewarm one at its best, if not a bashing, they’ve given a script for that youtuber. At least some possible new customer acquisition they may achieve.

 

[Ace Bee]

Regarding ranking, I believe that the only way to have consistent ranking is A/B against benchmark IEM, which do not shift around. If a reviewer sits down, listen, and say 6/10 technical performance, it’s unlikely to be consistent between ranks. Heck, given how subjective and fizzy this whole hobby is, I don’t even think we can have the granularity to score IEMs from 1 to 10 or 100.

For example, the JD7 sounds great, very transparent and resolving by itself. 5/5? Nope, one quick A/B against Blessing 2 and Andromeda put it into place immediately. But if I review without A/B, I would sing praises about it much more due to how much I enjoy listening to it.

I would like to express my opinion here. See, I believe that a gear should be ranked within its price range, and not beyond is price range. Then all 100, 200, 300, up to 1000 bucks gears will be merely 2 stars since multi-kilobuck gears exist now and obviously they sound much better. Take for example the Blessing 2, it is at $200-$300 price range, Andromeda is at $1000-$1200 price range. To compare them with a $79 iem seems a bit unfair to the latter . To rate a $79 iem, I believe it should be compared with below $100 iems, preferably within the range of $50-$100. And here, I believe it can easily garner 4 star, may be even 5 star, if you feel it is delivering everything you expect from a below $100 iem. I believe perspective is very important in case of ranking the iems, and there should not be a universal standard, rather standards relative to definite price brackets. Hence, there should be multiple bechmark iems based on your experience so far in different price segments as per your preference, and ranking should be done based on that. That is how I do it.

 

[r31ya]

Yea….sad truth is that, head-gear’s page view is a good as that youtube channel….

For past month, the most page views head-gears have earned is HEXA, 10x more than others. 5k views. That 5k view is less than my old blog’s random sennheiser MX760 amateur review….it had like 10k pv.

I think KZ made right decision, rather than giving us a sample to review, and most likely it may be a lukewarm one at its best, if not a bashing, they’ve given a script for that youtuber. At least some possible new customer acquisition they may achieve.

yeah, i was surprised that Timmy just recently reach 100K viewers.
i watch that more recognizable name in iem review is at 10K~50k viewers.

 

[o0genesis0o]

I would like to express my opinion here. See, I believe that a gear should be ranked within its price range, and not beyond is price range. Then all 100, 200, 300, up to 1000 bucks gears will be merely 2 stars since multi-kilobuck gears exist now and obviously they sound much better. Take for example the Blessing 2, it is at $200-$300 price range, Andromeda is at $1000-$1200 price range. To compare them with a $79 iem seems a bit unfair to the latter . To rate a $79 iem, I believe it should be compared with below $100 iems, preferably within the range of $50-$100. And here, I believe it can easily garner 4 star, may be even 5 star, if you feel it is delivering everything you expect from a below $100 iem. I believe perspective is very important in case of ranking the iems, and there should not be a universal standard, rather standards relative to definite price brackets. Hence, there should be multiple bechmark iems based on your experience so far in different price segments as per your preference, and ranking should be done based on that. That is how I do it.

Thanks for the opinion. You raise a valid point.

You also reminds me of the discussion with another reviewer: “if an IEM on discount tomorrow, should it score increase?”

A belief of mine after testing many kilobucks that I can audition is that most of the stuffs are average or adequate. The gap is not very large even with my nitpicking about staging and resolution and other little things. That’s why most of the stuffs in my rating are actually 3/5 - average. 4/5 - good is rare but not extremely rare nowadays. 5/5 is still very rare, especially if you want 5/5 across the board. I personally don’t think the performance ceiling of IEMs is that high, that kilobuck is far far ahead the level of a well done $100 IEM.

Without comparing across the price bracket, people cannot identify golden performers. Say, in the review, we say certain IEM X is outstanding with all kinds of beautiful descriptions. The question would be if it is that good, where would it fit in the grand scheme of things? Is it truely an amazing value? Or it’s good, like 3/5 good?

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

Thanks to @activatorfly purchasing the Salnotes Zero recently, his pick up made me pull out my Zero and give it another listen while pulling the AKG N5005 out of my ears. This time I'm using the Sony A55 + Mont Blanc Amp rig I've been using with the AKG's. Usually I listen to the Zero with my Cowon J almost exclusively. So the first thing I notice is that the soundstage is vastly wider and taller than most of my other DD IEM's. Hell...than most of my IEM's period. It's not quite but almost like a full-sized can experience. Imaging is also spot on, and provides such a cavernous listening experience. Now coming from the N5005, it's not as holographic though. I think that's what's missing, and it might be a limitation of the cheap driver? Or a combo of that and tuning. It's got some grit in the upper mids/treble region, so it's not smooth or clean, though it does feature some pretty killer detail retrieval for a $20.00 IEM. I think it might be the best of the sub $25.00 IEM's available, but with the caveat that the mids are thin and mid bass presence is practically non-existent unless you EQ (They sound superb on my Cowon J because it has a preset that lifts the mids). If only they had more mid bass and less grain, and they'd certainly be undisputed kings of the under $25 set. Decent listening experience on a budget, but aside from the stage and imaging, the AKG is a superior and more engaging listen.

 

[AmericanSpirit]

A discovery topic.

Japan’s canjam-ish event “Potafes” Portable Audio Festival —postponed since 2019 covid hit Japan— restarted.

It’s a short impression blog article from one of my subscribed Japanese blogger reviewer.

Bias adjustment notes this reviewer is around 40-50yo from my observation and was once in a metal band. Loves V-shape tuning like one of TRN or AudioTechnica’s. That doesn’t mean he is incompetent in evaluating IEMs, I find his short impressions to be very accurate, when I assessed evaluation gaps from our common references. Just take his “bright” as “extremely bright”.

Here is Portable Audio Fez 2022’s article of his. Google Translate to English.

If you are interested in his other reviews, click on header “Metaller’s heasphone blog” to show the list. You can see some rare ones like HifiMan’s Latest ones, and ofcourse!! One of million samples sent, the AFUL P5.

 

[AmericanSpirit]

I would like to express my opinion here. See, I believe that a gear should be ranked within its price range, and not beyond is price range. Then all 100, 200, 300, up to 1000 bucks gears will be merely 2 stars since multi-kilobuck gears exist now and obviously they sound much better. Take for example the Blessing 2, it is at $200-$300 price range, Andromeda is at $1000-$1200 price range. To compare them with a $79 iem seems a bit unfair to the latter . To rate a $79 iem, I believe it should be compared with below $100 iems, preferably within the range of $50-$100. And here, I believe it can easily garner 4 star, may be even 5 star, if you feel it is delivering everything you expect from a below $100 iem. I believe perspective is very important in case of ranking the iems, and there should not be a universal standard, rather standards relative to definite price brackets. Hence, there should be multiple bechmark iems based on your experience so far in different price segments as per your preference, and ranking should be done based on that. That is how I do it.

That’s what I used to do. I’m just being sloppy

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

Thanks for the opinion. You raise a valid point.

You also reminds me of the discussion with another reviewer: “if an IEM on discount tomorrow, should it score increase?”

A belief of mine after testing many kilobucks that I can audition is that most of the stuffs are average or adequate. The gap is not very large even with my nitpicking about staging and resolution and other little things. That’s why most of the stuffs in my rating are actually 3/5 - average. 4/5 - good is rare but not extremely rare nowadays. 5/5 is still very rare, especially if you want 5/5 across the board. I personally don’t think the performance ceiling of IEMs is that high, that kilobuck is far far ahead the level of a well done $100 IEM.

Without comparing across the price bracket, people cannot identify golden performers. Say, in the review, we say certain IEM X is outstanding with all kinds of beautiful descriptions. The question would be if it is that good, where would it fit in the grand scheme of things? Is it truely an amazing value? Or it’s good, like 3/5 good?

Totally agree! I bought the Dita Answer (Truth Edition) which at one time was a $1.200 IEM, and the Mofasest Trio, which was selling for $600 at one point, and neither of them blew my other IEM's away. As a matter of fact, I was really excited to get the Truth for about $700 on sale. I was hoping it would amount to my personal endgame. Boy was I surprised when I popped those babies in and it couldn't even beat my IE800 or at that time, the Dunu EST112. The stage wasn't on their level, and the bass wasn't that refined or hard hitting. The treble was the best thing about them, but resolution was average at best. Only the Trio was a bigger disappointment, as it just wasn't tuned how I like it (fast articulate bass and well extended treble with air and wide left/right stage). So yes I agree, the gap between kilobuck and mid-fi and even lower mid-fi isn't that great.

 

[ToneDeafMonk]

KZ has actually came a long way in a short while. Starting listening to the public, should have been less influencers but I did buy the $40 first week deal on the PR1 PRO and goota say it is better than my Timeless tonally wise and stage as well.

Yea….sad truth is that, head-gear’s page view is a good as that youtube channel….

For past month, the most page views head-gears have earned is HEXA, 10x more than others. 5k views. That 5k view is less than my old blog’s random sennheiser MX760 amateur review….it had like 10k pv.

I think KZ made right decision, rather than giving us a sample to review, and most likely it may be a lukewarm one at its best, if not a bashing, they’ve given a script for that youtuber. At least some possible new customer acquisition they may achieve.

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

KZ has actually came a long way in a short while. Starting listening to the public, should have been less influencers but I did buy the $40 first week deal on the PR1 PRO and goota say it is better than my Timeless tonally wise and stage as well.

Better than the Timeless? A KZ? Now that there is one hell of a bold statement!! LOL

 

[r31ya]

KZ has actually came a long way in a short while. Starting listening to the public, should have been less influencers but I did buy the $40 first week deal on the PR1 PRO and goota say it is better than my Timeless tonally wise and stage as well.

yeah to some degree they actually listening.

- PLA13 bass shelved complained by some and that some asked for more balanced planar who have more revealing details.
they comes up with PR1 Hifi which are still not quite there and now we got PR1 Pro, which are the closest thing to balanced planar that people asked.
- people asking for open back iem after seeing the metal mesh, now we have CCA HM20, CXS, and FLA who have semi open mesh.
- they also hearing the complaint on tuning issue and decided to create that tuning project which we haven't heard since they open that facebook group.

they are listening to some degree but in the same time goes on their merry way in despite people shouting at them which are a bit frustrating.
that tuning in particular is currently something that people shout at on "stop making multiple iem in the same price bracket with same-ish tuning in relatively short period of time"
that and lack of EDA-bal successor hurts, especially that we somehow get something close to eda-bal successor from different companies and its among the top 5 sub $20 now.
--

---

while i have PR1 Pro, i haven't heard timeless or the $100+ planar so i couldn't say much
but so far the reviews goes, "great for the price but still a step behind S12 or Wu"

It also need power to sound good. Sound a fairly meh at 80 mAh from 3.5mm of my BTR5.
the soundstage and separation is nice enough that you need to remind yourself that its a single driver but the item placement is not the one that i'm used to but that is preference.
Its pretty high in resolution but tonally a bit dry tough that might because i'm used to listening more lush aria. not sure which one is more "natural".

after over a week, its shaping up to be a good iem, just need more power by default and some tip rolling.