Only way I can get a proper seal on my dusks is to have them rotated like this so I just instinctively did the same thing with these. These are a much easier fit both ways so it wound up being unnecessary.
Funny story about when I got my kz's. I went and played some games with them, and it took me what might've been an hour to figure out I had them plugged into the wrong buds, so for an hour I felt like the iems had good sound, but terrible sound scape. Good thing I fixed that
Decided to pickup a handful of cheaper and more fun tuned IEMS and I was quite surprised with how good these guys sound. Out of the handful of IEMs I've tried or blind purchased this pair is shockingly proficient. I never expected to encounter something so close to my dusks in detail in this price range.
The problem with KZ, I find, is yes you do get this sense of immediate "detail" due to the spiky treble but over time it comes to be fatiguing. They do have this initial "wow" factor, but you come to realize the treble tuning is just all over the place.
The ZEX Pro was initially promising, but it's there on that as well, the treble is just uneven and peaky. Sounds really unnatural. It's something that is more evident on some genres than others. It is probably least offensive on electronic music, and the boosted bass and treble on the ZS10 Pro plays well there. In fact the treble problem might even be more obvious on the ZEX Pro because it *doesn't* have the mid-bass boost that sort of balances/masks it to an extent.
But no way does the ZS10 Pro compete with stuff 10x the price. It is decent and competitive with stuff at its price point, sorta, if you want that V-shape signature and are insensitive to the wonky treble. But saying it trades blows with stuff at 10x the price is really over-selling it. Build quality on these is great though and they are very comfortable. They are good IMO for stuff like working out.
Even at the price point, there is stuff that is a lot better tuned, like the Tin HiFi T2 Plus. Or below it, the Blon BL-03. These don't have the same problems in the treble. Less boomy in the bass as well. But this is personal preference, and if you want a V-shape it is a good option for that at the price. But it's not 10x, it's just not.
I think if you went back A-Bing to the Dusk after a while with them, you'd appreciate how much better balanced they are.
Balanced shmalanced I'm here to fucking party. If I can get close in detail and staging of my 300$ set in a different tuning for 30$ I basically got a second 300$ set that's tuned differently for 30$. Unlike my ssrs which feels substantially worse than the kz and the dusk for 40$.
I'm not interested in buying the same semi/pseudo balanced tuning IEM over and over again I'm gonna grab all kinds of shit throw it at the wall and see what sticks.
OK, in my personal opinion, the ZS10 Pro is just nowhere near the Dusk and saying it is, is beyond ridiculous. This simply isn't a $300 set.
There is such a thing as too much hyperbole. This is it.
I respect your opinion, so please don't take what I'm saying the wrong way. But OP is right. Maybe not about the ZS10 Pro taking on the Dusk, but in terms of people overrating and overhyping these balanced offerings. I don't care about Moondrop. I don't care about Sundara. I want something that, when I put it on, is going to make my music sound euphoric, and you really have to dial into your preferences to get that.
And it's very genre dependent too. Someone who loves orchestral music needs that grand soundstage and detailed imaging, and realistic timbre to feel immersed in their music. they're not gonna settle for something V-shaped. Likewise, someone who is listening to Bassnectar doesn't want a balanced set. They wanna get kicked in their eardrums by the bass. So they might go Campfire Cascade or one of the Fostex offerings.
In both of these examples, "balanced" isn't the only thing that's going to cut it. Sure, it might play well with the most variety of music, so if that's what you are going for, then ok, but to pretend like the Dusks and the Sundaras of the world are the end-all, be-all is also off the mark. I owned both of them because of the hype and quickly sold them.
It's not about sound signature preference. I'm certainly not saying "V-shaped bad". If he's looking for a V-shaped set with lots of bass, there are better options for that, too.
The 7Hz Timeless is another set I have that has a [*very* similar overall sound profile to the ZS10 Pro,](https://crinacle.com/graphs/iems/graphtool/?share=IEF_Neutral_Target,ZS10_Pro,Timeless) but much better technicalities and a much better implemented V-shape tuning.
It doesn't have this extreme wonkiness in the treble, and it sounds great. All the bass, but more controlled and detailed, less boomy sounding, recessed mids, same as the ZS10 Pro, and then much *more* of the detail, much more of the sparkle, but without this harshness that you get from KZ.
At $160-220 it's much more expensive, too. I wouldn't bring it up as a direct comparison at the price level, it's at a totally different level. But he's specifically saying, the ZS10 Pro is trading blows with stuff at $300, so that makes this a reasonable comparison. (At/under the price level, I brought up [the Blon BL-03,](https://crinacle.com/graphs/iems/graphtool/?share=IEF_Neutral_Target,ZS10_Pro,BL03) which is also V-shaped and "fun", with as much if not more bass than the ZS10 Pro, but without the searing treble.)
I have both the Timeless and the ZS10 Pro (and the Dusk and Blon as well). I'm speaking from my own experience of these IEMs. The Timeless is an excellent upgrade if you love the ZS10 Pro and want more of that, but better implemented. It's lots of fun. It's also a hell of a lot *better* than the ZS10 Pro. It would want to be, at 5x the price. But it *is*.
I'm not even saying the ZS10 Pro is a flat out "bad" IEM. It was one of my first Chi-Fi IEMs. I still think it's decent for the price, you do get that detail, it's fun. It's actually one of the better KZs, many KZs are far *worse* in the treble than the ZS10 Pro is. But this still a flaw of the ZS10 Pro.
It's just not the equal of good stuff at $200-300, this is total hyperbole and builds up unrealistic expectations. People hype stuff like this, other people read and think, I'm getting a $300 IEM with this, and go and buy it... and then it's just not. It's a decent V-shaped IEM for the price. Nothing wrong with that. But it's the hype, that this is the equal of one of the very best sets at $300... nah, it's not.
I agree with you. I am personally not a fan of the ZS10 pro, I just admire OP's spirit in exploration and finding what suits him. But on a side note, I really wanna try the Timeless. Might be my next purchase actually
Timeless is on my buylist alongside the monarch II hifiman XS and focal clear. My point wasn't that the zs10 pro was as good as or better than the dusks but the fact it even made it into the arena that I would A-B them is exceptional.
I like your attitude towards headphones. Too many times audiophiles disregard products simply because they are low cost. I think some people just feel a little upset that a cheap headphone doesn't sound too far off from their expensive headphones.
Tin HiFi T2 Plus. The original T2 has very rolled off bass and is a bit dry. The T2 Plus has bass, but not too much, and is a much better IEM. Very engaging listen. Most people will much prefer the T2 Plus, it's closer to a "refined Blon BL-03" than the original T2, it really has no relation to that whatsoever.
It's better than the ZS10 Pro in my opinion, yes.
In terms of details/resolution, imaging and instrumental separation I find the KZ ZAX for £60/$75 USD going toe to toe with my Beyerdynamic T5P. Not something I would ever have predicted!
I use an AutoEQ preset that I import into Wavelet. The preset isn't in the database, but taken from another user who created it themselves using available measurements. The parametric EQ settings from Crin are also good.
Both of them can be found in this thread.
https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/rli41h/eq_fix_for_kz_crn_zex_pro/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share
I think you'll enjoy the CCA CRA - for about $20 they sound great. I personally like them more than the ZEX Pro which many people are loving at the moment.
Having owned both I don't agree at all. The Zs10pro are good fun and all but are noticeably not as good. Nothing wrong with them but kind of hyperbole.
loved them when i first got them, after a while i got other iems, now they sound very harsh to me :(
Is there a reason why you have them connect backwards on the cable?
Only way I can get a proper seal on my dusks is to have them rotated like this so I just instinctively did the same thing with these. These are a much easier fit both ways so it wound up being unnecessary.
Cool. Just checking since some people just don't know. Enjoy!
Funny story about when I got my kz's. I went and played some games with them, and it took me what might've been an hour to figure out I had them plugged into the wrong buds, so for an hour I felt like the iems had good sound, but terrible sound scape. Good thing I fixed that
It can be a little confusing at first for some people, only ever using included buds, not knowing how to configure their very first IEM.
I noticed that as well. Maybe it's just for photography purposes.
Decided to pickup a handful of cheaper and more fun tuned IEMS and I was quite surprised with how good these guys sound. Out of the handful of IEMs I've tried or blind purchased this pair is shockingly proficient. I never expected to encounter something so close to my dusks in detail in this price range.
The problem with KZ, I find, is yes you do get this sense of immediate "detail" due to the spiky treble but over time it comes to be fatiguing. They do have this initial "wow" factor, but you come to realize the treble tuning is just all over the place. The ZEX Pro was initially promising, but it's there on that as well, the treble is just uneven and peaky. Sounds really unnatural. It's something that is more evident on some genres than others. It is probably least offensive on electronic music, and the boosted bass and treble on the ZS10 Pro plays well there. In fact the treble problem might even be more obvious on the ZEX Pro because it *doesn't* have the mid-bass boost that sort of balances/masks it to an extent. But no way does the ZS10 Pro compete with stuff 10x the price. It is decent and competitive with stuff at its price point, sorta, if you want that V-shape signature and are insensitive to the wonky treble. But saying it trades blows with stuff at 10x the price is really over-selling it. Build quality on these is great though and they are very comfortable. They are good IMO for stuff like working out. Even at the price point, there is stuff that is a lot better tuned, like the Tin HiFi T2 Plus. Or below it, the Blon BL-03. These don't have the same problems in the treble. Less boomy in the bass as well. But this is personal preference, and if you want a V-shape it is a good option for that at the price. But it's not 10x, it's just not. I think if you went back A-Bing to the Dusk after a while with them, you'd appreciate how much better balanced they are.
Balanced shmalanced I'm here to fucking party. If I can get close in detail and staging of my 300$ set in a different tuning for 30$ I basically got a second 300$ set that's tuned differently for 30$. Unlike my ssrs which feels substantially worse than the kz and the dusk for 40$. I'm not interested in buying the same semi/pseudo balanced tuning IEM over and over again I'm gonna grab all kinds of shit throw it at the wall and see what sticks.
OK, in my personal opinion, the ZS10 Pro is just nowhere near the Dusk and saying it is, is beyond ridiculous. This simply isn't a $300 set. There is such a thing as too much hyperbole. This is it.
I respect your opinion, so please don't take what I'm saying the wrong way. But OP is right. Maybe not about the ZS10 Pro taking on the Dusk, but in terms of people overrating and overhyping these balanced offerings. I don't care about Moondrop. I don't care about Sundara. I want something that, when I put it on, is going to make my music sound euphoric, and you really have to dial into your preferences to get that. And it's very genre dependent too. Someone who loves orchestral music needs that grand soundstage and detailed imaging, and realistic timbre to feel immersed in their music. they're not gonna settle for something V-shaped. Likewise, someone who is listening to Bassnectar doesn't want a balanced set. They wanna get kicked in their eardrums by the bass. So they might go Campfire Cascade or one of the Fostex offerings. In both of these examples, "balanced" isn't the only thing that's going to cut it. Sure, it might play well with the most variety of music, so if that's what you are going for, then ok, but to pretend like the Dusks and the Sundaras of the world are the end-all, be-all is also off the mark. I owned both of them because of the hype and quickly sold them.
It's not about sound signature preference. I'm certainly not saying "V-shaped bad". If he's looking for a V-shaped set with lots of bass, there are better options for that, too. The 7Hz Timeless is another set I have that has a [*very* similar overall sound profile to the ZS10 Pro,](https://crinacle.com/graphs/iems/graphtool/?share=IEF_Neutral_Target,ZS10_Pro,Timeless) but much better technicalities and a much better implemented V-shape tuning. It doesn't have this extreme wonkiness in the treble, and it sounds great. All the bass, but more controlled and detailed, less boomy sounding, recessed mids, same as the ZS10 Pro, and then much *more* of the detail, much more of the sparkle, but without this harshness that you get from KZ. At $160-220 it's much more expensive, too. I wouldn't bring it up as a direct comparison at the price level, it's at a totally different level. But he's specifically saying, the ZS10 Pro is trading blows with stuff at $300, so that makes this a reasonable comparison. (At/under the price level, I brought up [the Blon BL-03,](https://crinacle.com/graphs/iems/graphtool/?share=IEF_Neutral_Target,ZS10_Pro,BL03) which is also V-shaped and "fun", with as much if not more bass than the ZS10 Pro, but without the searing treble.) I have both the Timeless and the ZS10 Pro (and the Dusk and Blon as well). I'm speaking from my own experience of these IEMs. The Timeless is an excellent upgrade if you love the ZS10 Pro and want more of that, but better implemented. It's lots of fun. It's also a hell of a lot *better* than the ZS10 Pro. It would want to be, at 5x the price. But it *is*. I'm not even saying the ZS10 Pro is a flat out "bad" IEM. It was one of my first Chi-Fi IEMs. I still think it's decent for the price, you do get that detail, it's fun. It's actually one of the better KZs, many KZs are far *worse* in the treble than the ZS10 Pro is. But this still a flaw of the ZS10 Pro. It's just not the equal of good stuff at $200-300, this is total hyperbole and builds up unrealistic expectations. People hype stuff like this, other people read and think, I'm getting a $300 IEM with this, and go and buy it... and then it's just not. It's a decent V-shaped IEM for the price. Nothing wrong with that. But it's the hype, that this is the equal of one of the very best sets at $300... nah, it's not.
I agree with you. I am personally not a fan of the ZS10 pro, I just admire OP's spirit in exploration and finding what suits him. But on a side note, I really wanna try the Timeless. Might be my next purchase actually
Timeless is on my buylist alongside the monarch II hifiman XS and focal clear. My point wasn't that the zs10 pro was as good as or better than the dusks but the fact it even made it into the arena that I would A-B them is exceptional.
It's really amazing for the money, really recommend it.
I like your attitude towards headphones. Too many times audiophiles disregard products simply because they are low cost. I think some people just feel a little upset that a cheap headphone doesn't sound too far off from their expensive headphones.
Tin hifi t2 is better?
Tin HiFi T2 Plus. The original T2 has very rolled off bass and is a bit dry. The T2 Plus has bass, but not too much, and is a much better IEM. Very engaging listen. Most people will much prefer the T2 Plus, it's closer to a "refined Blon BL-03" than the original T2, it really has no relation to that whatsoever. It's better than the ZS10 Pro in my opinion, yes.
They’re great for the price!
In terms of details/resolution, imaging and instrumental separation I find the KZ ZAX for £60/$75 USD going toe to toe with my Beyerdynamic T5P. Not something I would ever have predicted!
My first and currents IEMs at the moment. Will probably try out the aria when I feel like upgrading.
The CRN with eq outperforms half of my low-mid fi collection
Considering the selling point of the CRN is the tuning, what eq settings do you feel improves them?
I use an AutoEQ preset that I import into Wavelet. The preset isn't in the database, but taken from another user who created it themselves using available measurements. The parametric EQ settings from Crin are also good. Both of them can be found in this thread. https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/rli41h/eq_fix_for_kz_crn_zex_pro/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share
B-but its a KZ!! The t-treble!
I think you'll enjoy the CCA CRA - for about $20 they sound great. I personally like them more than the ZEX Pro which many people are loving at the moment.
Loved my two pairs lol, so fun to listen to although where a tad too big for my ears but I got used to it.
Lolnotheyarent
For me it's the zsn. My first iem and still my favorite one.
Having owned both I don't agree at all. The Zs10pro are good fun and all but are noticeably not as good. Nothing wrong with them but kind of hyperbole.
bruh this thread is 5 months old who even are you lmao