Decent price on this IEM. Idea of filters to change sound signature is a nice feature. Generally good reviews online.
Would buy if didn't already have Blessing 2.
Dont forget to apply code 5MAY25 and the cashrewards cashback.
Even better! How did you manage to not pay the tax?
It charged tax. I entered the code above and it became $408.
Wow. How does this compare with KZ ZS10 (rated one of the best budget IEM)?
I find the KZ ones very, very good already. I don't think this is 20 times as good (based on prices) to the ones I bought.
Like most niche hobbies, many things don't scale with price as one would expect. Diminishing returns occur with many audio products.
KZ zs 10 pro is terrible. Sharp treble, bloated bass.
Better offerings are CCA CRA and moondrop Chu, which are much better tuned.
Now onto the question. I haven't personally heard this iem, so I'd have to base my answer off reviews, and general experience with iems. But higher priced iems typically have better tuning, imaging, and instrumental separation.
This has to be market for someone with really intricate hearing I guess. I had no concern with KZ ZS10. Though would need to try it next to each other to see if I can appreciate the difference.
I guess it may be wrong for me to call it "terrible". But i was quite annoyed by the sharp treble, which made tracks sound thin.
For me, although the emphasised treble made things sound detailed, the lack of instrumental separation still made everything congested. When you do get the chance to try a higher end iem, I'd say try focus on the different instruments and layering of vocals (if present) in each track.
Better tuning
Tuning is subjective, there isn't really a such thing as "better tuning"; some enjoy big-chungus level bass
True. Audio hobbies are completely subjective. But my biggest concern was the sharp treble in the zs10 pro. Not many people would appreciate random peaks in mid and upper treble which can make many instruments straight up sound unnatural
I have the even older ZS 5 and the ZS 6 and both have sounded superb to me. Headphones are sort of like red wine I guess, different tastes to different folks.
Not an audiophile but KZ ZS10 pro is crap compared to other iems. I guess its Ignorance is a bliss with zs10. Its super low on crinacle as well.
Its good if you compare to crap ones, see amazon reviews that compare it to mostly bad ones like hyperx.
If you're thinking of upgrading, you could think about an area where you feel the ZS10 lets you down and try and find an IEM that improves on it.
Personally, i've just gone from the HD6XX to Edition XS. I was after more soundstage which I got along with improved bass, separation. I am very happy with the upgrade.
Those KZ’s are pretty poor.
Have a look at the CCA CRA, KZ Zex Pro and Moondrop Chu.
All are better than these FiiO’s.
The FiiO FD5 though is a different matter. I’m pretty keen on grabbing a pair of those,
Tried a friend's pair of these briefly, I prefer my Blessing 2. Pretty good price though!
Would i need an portable amp to get the best benefit for these if i use if with my phone?
No. Unless your phone produces hiss, in which case you just need an apple dongle to fix that
I have personally found moondrop starfield to be the absolute benchmark with regards to audio quality after trying nearly every chifi IEM in the 20-250 range.
It's the only IEM that makes me feel, "this is probably how the original sound composer intended it to be"
Is it perfect? Dunno. I have read articles that say every ear is different and will perceive the same ear/headphone differently.
One thing I am sure about is that my ear is not good enough to decipher those diminishing marginal returns from the higher end options.
I have a hard time differentiating 320 kbps from FLAC!
Have you tried etymotic er2se? That thing to me is the definition of absolute neutrality.
It's also the definition of ear rape lol
Though I do also want to try it, waiting for it drop below $110 on Amazon
They're not kidding when they said it feels violating at first, but afterwards becomes almost pleasurable
Charged me $408.68…
Thanks