oxford_wolfeIf you like the ZST, look at KZ’s newest model ZS5. I don’t have to convince you that KZ has amazing sound for their price. With 4 drivers per ear it’s an upgrade over everything KZ has made so far. Also, the KZ silver upgrade cable makes a huge difference in clarity for $12.
Get the ZS5 and it will beat anything you throw at it under $200.
jjwfrI suppose I haven’t tried every single in-ear out there, but I’ve tried quite a few in the $100-200 range and most of what people consider the best budget iems. I think part of the reason I find them to be such a strong contender is because it’s difficult to find good quality quad drivers at that price point. This allows them to be more responsive than most single or dual drivers to source upgrades like a good quality dac/amp and a better cable. That said, I guess it still depends on preference.
I’m curious to know what pairs of earphones you think are better than the ZS5’s in the range.
Alexdre119Hell no... I am using the ZS5s currently.... The treble extension is crap. and there are much better options UNDER 200$ considering value... i.e exclusive 5 and Magaosi K3 series and Kinera H3.
Pr0l1f1kKZ zs5 does fine in treble and lows. Its where the mids that are lacking a bit. There is bit of sibilance as well. I would like to try out KZ zs5 with wire that comes with tfz series 4 and see how sound changes. I own One more triple driver, quad driver, shure se215 and LZ a4 all are phenomenal iems. KZ zs5 gives u price for performance for sure. One more series are very clear sounding iems and shure are good on mids and bass. Compare to one more and KZ zs5 shure sounds bit boomy in base. Difference lies on build quality shure, one more and LZ has best cable and build quality compare to KZ zs5. But KZ zs5 has sound stage that shure lacks and one more quad driver there is but not as great as in KZ zs5. LZ a4 is almost perfect iems but its big and dont stay well in my ears. Not to mention it has filter system. Among all these one more series is balanced and clean sounding, kz zs5 is fun, wide sound stage, LZ a4 has filter change system and good sound stage but lacks on ergonomics, shure is good on mids and decent bass. Hope this helps. I would like to see what is this hype about on TFZ series. The wait going to be painful for sure. :)
Pr0l1f1kAre you using the stock cable? If not, try switching it out for something better to recover the treble.
Cool! I’ve never heard of the Magaoski K3. It looks pretty good. Also, I never realized the Kinera H3 had 48 ohms of impedance.
Alexdre119No problem. Yes, I am using the white upgrade cable. did make the sound more intimate and the treble extended a bit. The cable is absolutely essential. But now its been half a month and I want to upgrade. :(
Pr0l1f1kI’m considering saving up for a pair of customs like 64 audio A3s. Considering all the money I’ve spent to find the perfect combination of sound and comfort, I’ve probably spent too much on iems already.
Alexdre119They are now called "Noble Trident". They are an updated version of the Noble3. I have the Nobe3 version in Universal fit. A V shaped sound but still sounding balanced. Great detail and very musical and dinamic. Do t know the A3 but from what I've read, the Nobles are more balanced and have great detail. But I'm sure you'll be happy with any of them if that's your type of sound signature.
WainI heard a noticable difference with the cable swap, albeit a teensy bit. The zs5 like power and good source, the seperation got a lot better with a fiio a1. I have a fiio f9 and q1 mk2 coming. Maybe I'll do an a/b.
bYtockThey're complete garbage if you don't tiproll them, even with the tiprolling they are still selective with the type of music you throw at them. But when the stars align, you have the correct tips, you're listening to the right music, THEN they're a steal and a half!
bYtockJVC Spiral Dots:
What i use daily, it smoothens out the frequency range across the board while still keeping it kind of exciting, turns down sibilance and it increases size. They definetly aren't fatiguing any longer, which i recall was a big issue. The negative is that the midbass gets slightly reduced, this makes the transition from sub bas to female vocals slightly uneven, it's a very negligible though, especially at the trade of losing the fatigue and sibilance.
+size
+sound
+no fatigue
-slightly uncomfortable
-slightly thin sounding relative to other options
Comply Foam Tips T400:
These are very specific, these are for female vocals and subbass, pretty much exclusively. In this combination the female vocals seem to gain more depth and airiness to them. The overall sound is more sedate and tranquil, though the high energy in the upper mids is a stark and contradictory contrast to that. The upper mids can tend to distort very slightly yet noticably at higher volumes. The soundstage is pretty much nonexistent, the sound is in the very center of your head and reaches out to about where your ears are. The frequency response gets kind of whack so the transition from bass to mids is really unnatural. Despite the negatives, I had a blast when listening to songs such as Venezuela Trains by Ravyn Lanae.
+ heavy focus on female vocals
+female vocals gain depth
+sedate
+no fatigue
-slight distortion
-male singers lose right to preform
-no soundstage, though might be preferable to some. (hey, im not judging)
Spinfits:
The most comfortable option. The sound closly resembles the Spiral Dots but it's a bit warmer and it has more body. The spinfits does this thing where the sound sounds big, yet it kind of thunnels into your ear in a way that decreases the size along the way. The imaging is not as good as on the spiral dots because of this. The reason i don't use these is that there is still a very, very tiny sparkle in the highs that still seem to sharp, it's almost as if you can't hear it, but it's gnawing at you in the back of your head, causing some fatigue.
+comfort
+midbass (more body!)
+warmer (im very neutral about this though)
-slight fatigue (at higher volumes)
-wierd thunneling
Overall the zs5 don't seem to like my Oppo-Ha2 yet it loves my old Samsung Galaxy s5. The zs5 is a bit bright and overbearing on the oppo while being warmer and more natural sounding on my phone, so i'm assuming something like a tube amp would work pretty well since they're often regarded as warmer.
Also, there is a chance that you have the second revision of the zs5, which has both BA drivers in the nozzle. You can check this by shining a light through the grill of the nozzle, if there's two holes in the nozzle you have the second revision. apperantly the second revision is supposed to be pretty bad. I have the first revision and im happy with them, though i'd only listen to a very specific type of music with these so don't get the zs5 for an all 'rounder duty.
Please excuse me if what i said was incorrect or missleading, there was a lot of jumping back and forth, im just tired and wondering why im practically writing an essay at 2am.