[Fat Larry]

I hope nobody gets a defective product from KZ because getting a refund from them is annoying af.

After they denied my first request for a refund, they asked for video evidence of my unit being broken. So I obliged and gave them 2 long clips showing the left monitor not producing any sound, just like they asked in the example video they showed me.

https://imgur.com/a/1K1J0ly

Then they gave me this message after I already gave them the video evidence:



Seriously, screw KZ. Has crappy QC and can't stand behind their products.

Makes customers jump through hoops and refuses to provide a refund for $30. I guess this is what I get for trying to save a few bucks going through KZ Global on aliexpress, and not wait until it got released on Amazon.

What a hassle and waste of time.

Going through these hoops with the refund for my failed LingLongs.

First video to Ali support showing linglong set with one side dead. Response = Sorry this is insufficient.

They requested a more detailed video showing source, and that the source has no issues. So i did one with showing a working set and me changing it to the borked Linglongs... radio silence since.

I don't blame KZ though, this is typical Ali bs.... unless my second Linglong set fails in a month.. then there'll likely be some shade spreading their way.

 

[lmfboy01]

$3,299.00 for a dynamic + 4 BA + 1 EST, and here I sit, with a cheshire grin on my face, listening to my sub $500 Aure's, with stellar, and I mean STELLAR musical presentation. Mother Love Bone never sounded better, and I got $2,843 sitting in the bank for other things. lol

Sonion ESTs come in pairs right? I own a Hodur that claims to have 1EST, but I’m pretty sure it’s one of those other electrostats that mirror a DD.

 

[Click]

In a way, i don’t blame them, I got scammed twice on TWS on eBay, the first time PayPal backed me but still refunded the buyer, the second time I said fu*k it, not worth my time and effort to fight. Be vigilant, many unhonest people out there. .001% of 8 billion is 80000 or 800000?!
They could likely be your next door neighbor. But I don’t blame them for asking for video proof. How can they justify if your claim is legit? KZ and other companies are likely paying their workers well enough for their countries economy and wage for the qc/r&d work to double/triple check any non working units. If it’s a continuing problem, we’ll…that could just be bad/poor design.

You don't blame them? LOL what?

I totally blame them. First for producing a defective IEM, then for not having good QC to make sure defects aren't packaged and sent out.

I also blame them for not refunding after I already gave them proof the unit is broken.

Not saying they should take everything and anything at face value, because there are a lot of scammers and people who like to try something out, then abuse return/refund/exchange policies of retailers.

I immediately notified them of a defective unit and provided evidence like they asked. I didn't wait 2 weeks or a month, which wouldn't have been wrong to do because products should be free of manufacturer defects longer than a year. They want me to film more videos, asking for different methods, after I already followed their first example of how to show evidence. Screw that noise.

Luckily, this is only $30 down the drain, but it put a sour taste in my mouth and I'll never buy another KZ product again. I will also be more careful about purchasing stuff from aliexpress, even though I'm already very cautious. I will keep telling people about my bad experience, so I hope KZ gets whatever negative publicity from me. Hope it was worth the $30 to them.

 

[baskingshark]

IMHO, these ultra high-end IEMs are not the way to get good sound, but they are the bets to get something exceptional / cutting edge. It’s most likely that they fail to be that good, or even good. But thanks to the wacky design and unrestrained R&D spending, sometimes, something truly outstanding appears. And then long after, mid-fi $500 would be able to replicate that sound for the mass. And then, even longer, $100 IEMs might be able to capture a bit of that magic.

My stance is to support those brave souls with financial means to pursue these wacky TOTL. They benefit all of us geeks.

Diminishing returns are a real thing once you go up the ladder, and even TOTL gear has weaknesses. But sometimes the money that kilobuck gear makers are asking for has too obscene amounts of zeros in the price tag:

$11.3K USD for the oBravo RA C-Cu gets you channel imbalance and more peaks than a Universal Studios roller coaster.

 

[WAON303]

I remember when $30 guaranteed you bloaty v shaped until the Xaiomi Pistons 2 and the Havi B3. That's when the wheels of chifi started to rear it's head and spin fast, and the Vsonics came in and for $30, people started saying 85-90% of the performance of $100 sets. Then the Zero Audio Tenore blew the roof off the price to performance, and then....here we are today, with my $15 Ling longs with performance of sets three-four times the cost, planars for $30, and the Z300 providing high fidelity/audiophile quality sound at $35.00. It's come a long way.

I forgot about the Tenore, I've heard people say it's a surprisingly good IEM especially given it's around a decade old by now.

Build quality looks piss poor but you couldn't ask for connectors on a 30 dollar IEM back in 2013.

Wonder why it took earphone companies a long time to make cable connectors a standard?

 

[lmfboy01]

You don't blame them? LOL what?

I totally blame them. First for producing a defective IEM, then for not having good QC to make sure defects aren't packaged and sent out.

I also blame them for not refunding after I already gave them proof the unit is broken.

Not saying they should take everything and anything at face value, because there are a lot of scammers and people who like to try something out, then abuse return/refund/exchange policies of retailers.

I immediately notified them of a defective unit and provided evidence like they asked. I didn't wait 2 weeks or a month, which wouldn't have been wrong to do because products should be free of manufacturer defects longer than a year. They want me to film more videos, asking for different methods, after I already followed their first example of how to show evidence. Screw that noise.

Luckily, this is only $30 down the drain, but it put a sour taste in my mouth and I'll never buy another KZ product again. I will also be more careful about purchasing stuff from aliexpress, even though I'm already very cautious. I will keep telling people about my bad experience, so I hope KZ gets whatever negative publicity from me. Hope it was worth the $30 to them.

So if their return policy includes following directions to the absolute dot., do it…exactly. One reason why are outlook in the future of all mankind looks grim bro.. There are laws and the 10 commandments and and the Bill of Rights for a reason. they say film at least 20 seconds, 10 seconds for the working unit and 10 seconds for the non working unit at a high volume…go crazy and put a mic up right against the unit so there is no doubt. They will thank you and you will thank them and all will be good. It would be awesome if all IEM manufacturers were ultra transparent and release their doa return rates and other stuff along that lines, wouldn’t it?

 

[o0genesis0o]

Diminishing returns are a real thing once you go up the ladder, and even TOTL gear has weaknesses. But sometimes the money that kilobuck gear makers are asking for has too obscene amounts of zeros in the price tag:


$11.3K USD for the oBravo RA C-Cu gets you channel imbalance and more peaks than a Universal Studios roller coaster.

If one wants the best band for the buck, one should stick to $500 market They are truely high-end products (but not exactly luxury goods) that likely to be relevant and serve you for a long time. The road to TOTL is difficult and costly.

---

Folks, any recommendation for an alternative to Apple dongle? I mean complete clone but with better look and durability. I‘m working on the source pairing section of SA6II, and I wonder why these USB stick dongles like KA3 exist when they are not that much better than the Apple dongle, and they drain battery way quicker. Don’t get me wrong, KA3 is noticeably crisper than Apple dongle, but it’s flat, it’s 2D, and it’s not more dynamic anyway.

Btw, I’ve also learned that BA woofers like amp. If you listen to SA6II with a dongle, you might find the bass and dynamic is alright, or even meh. Everything changes with a proper amp. Personally, I think one does not get all the sound out of $580 they put in these SA6II if they only use some USB stick dongles. Just me and my criteria, of course.

To think about it, maybe the mythical “dynamic” of 64 Audio IEMs is due to the fact that they can wake up the BA woofers with everything, even Apple dongle.

 

[Click]

So if their return policy includes following directions to the absolute dot., do it…exactly. One reason why are outlook in the future of all mankind looks grim bro.. There are laws and the 10 commandments and and the Bill of Rights for a reason. they say film at least 20 seconds, 10 seconds for the working unit and 10 seconds for the non working unit at a high volume…go crazy and put a mic up right against the unit so there is no doubt. They will thank you and you will thank them and all will be good. It would be awesome if all IEM manufacturers were ultra transparent and release their doa return rates and other stuff along that lines, wouldn’t it?

I already followed their example videos of providing proof to them. They now want a different video with different methods of proof. I'm not going to film half a dozen videos after my videos already clearly show their product is defective.

This has nothing to do with the 10 commandments or Bill of Rights or laws. Not sure what you're on about. This is simply a failure to provide basic customer service.

 

[Tzennn]

If one wants the best band for the buck, one should stick to $500 market They are truely high-end products (but not exactly luxury goods) that likely to be relevant and serve you for a long time. The road to TOTL is difficult and costly.

---

Folks, any recommendation for an alternative to Apple dongle? I mean complete clone but with better look and durability. I‘m working on the source pairing section of SA6II, and I wonder why these USB stick dongles like KA3 exist when they are not that much better than the Apple dongle, and they drain battery way quicker. Don’t get me wrong, KA3 is noticeably crisper than Apple dongle, but it’s flat, it’s 2D, and it’s not more dynamic anyway.

Btw, I’ve also learned that BA woofers like amp. If you listen to SA6II with a dongle, you might find the bass and dynamic is alright, or even meh. Everything changes with a proper amp. Personally, I think one does not get all the sound out of $580 they put in these SA6II if they only use some USB stick dongles. Just me and my criteria, of course.

To think about it, maybe the mythical “dynamic” of 64 Audio IEMs is due to the fact that they can wake up the BA woofers with everything, even Apple dongle.

Ve odyssey hd (if you can find one), 7hz 71.

 

[lmfboy01]

If one wants the best band for the buck, one should stick to $500 market They are truely high-end products (but not exactly luxury goods) that likely to be relevant and serve you for a long time. The road to TOTL is difficult and costly.

---

Folks, any recommendation for an alternative to Apple dongle? I mean complete clone but with better look and durability. I‘m working on the source pairing section of SA6II, and I wonder why these USB stick dongles like KA3 exist when they are not that much better than the Apple dongle, and they drain battery way quicker. Don’t get me wrong, KA3 is noticeably crisper than Apple dongle, but it’s flat, it’s 2D, and it’s not more dynamic anyway.

Btw, I’ve also learned that BA woofers like amp. If you listen to SA6II with a dongle, you might find the bass and dynamic is alright, or even meh. Everything changes with a proper amp. Personally, I think one does not get all the sound out of $580 they put in these SA6II if they only use some USB stick dongles. Just me and my criteria, of course.

To think about it, maybe the mythical “dynamic” of 64 Audio IEMs is due to the fact that they can wake up the BA woofers with everything, even Apple dongle.

That’s how I feel about my Nanna v2s, I can get a different sound out of them with different sources. Best of both worlds in that ultra smooth easy to listen to or the total opposite V shape to jam out to that everyone loves.

 

[lmfboy01]

I already followed their example videos of providing proof to them. They now want a different video with different methods of proof. I'm not going to film half a dozen videos after my videos already clearly show their product is defective.

This has nothing to do with the 10 commandments or Bill of Rights or laws. Not sure what you're on about. This is simply a failure to provide basic customer

Above is from your post ^^^

It’s possible there was an oversight and their own sample video is outdated and there terms were recently updated. I would say 30 seconds total 10 & 10 seconds and another 10 seconds from the defective unit would be enough.

Buy from a brand at this price, expect this type of service, buy from a no name, good luck

 

[Surf Monkey]

If one wants the best band for the buck, one should stick to $500 market They are truely high-end products (but not exactly luxury goods) that likely to be relevant and serve you for a long time. The road to TOTL is difficult and costly.

---

Folks, any recommendation for an alternative to Apple dongle? I mean complete clone but with better look and durability. I‘m working on the source pairing section of SA6II, and I wonder why these USB stick dongles like KA3 exist when they are not that much better than the Apple dongle, and they drain battery way quicker. Don’t get me wrong, KA3 is noticeably crisper than Apple dongle, but it’s flat, it’s 2D, and it’s not more dynamic anyway.

Btw, I’ve also learned that BA woofers like amp. If you listen to SA6II with a dongle, you might find the bass and dynamic is alright, or even meh. Everything changes with a proper amp. Personally, I think one does not get all the sound out of $580 they put in these SA6II if they only use some USB stick dongles. Just me and my criteria, of course.

To think about it, maybe the mythical “dynamic” of 64 Audio IEMs is due to the fact that they can wake up the BA woofers with everything, even Apple dongle.

HiBy FC3. Sounds outstanding. Low power draw. It’s only 3.5 though.

 

[emdeevee]

My stance is to support those brave souls with financial means to pursue these wacky TOTL. They benefit all of us geeks.

Especially when they start selling them off!

 

[Carpet]

HiBy FC3. Sounds outstanding. Low power draw. It’s only 3.5 though.

Agree completely on the FC3. Separate cables too, so they can support lightning, USB-C and replace if it fails. They may be discounted soon, since MQA is no longer a thing!

 

[lmfboy01]

Agree completely on the FC3. Separate cables too, so they can support lightning, USB-C and replace if it fails. They may be discounted soon, since MQA is no longer a thing!

I’m stuck with a Tanchjim Stargate as it’s the only usable and pocketable dongle, a one piece with lightning for IOS. Anything with USB-C is prone to disconnects(pro tip). Or I go with the go blu with case and carabiner. I can’t wait for the iPhone 15 which they finally ditch the lightning for usb-c.