BACKGROUND
After having all over-ears for a while (for the good duration of 3 years or more), I kinda missed IEMs. Checking reviews online for the best budget IEMs, I came across Knowledge Zenith (KZ). Reading good reviews about their IEMs, I started researching on what their best offering is at that time (2017). Most reviews pointed me towards the KZ ZS3. I’m a sucker for good soundstage and reviews seem unanimous, it has good soundstage for an IEM so I decided to buy one online. Does it meet my expectations? Let’s find out.
ABOUT ME
I listen to almost all genres of music but my favorites are rock, blues, and jazz.
I am a music lover, not an audiophile. I need to veer away from the audiophile persona from now on. I love music more than the equipment to play music with. I recognize that decent equipment is important but decent is good enough. Expensive is not necessary. I’m not willing to go past the $100 mark for any reason. I firmly believe in the law of diminishing returns.
I believe in burn-in but it depends on the headphones. Some do not need much. Some do not need any at all.
I believe in measurements but I never relied on them. I solely rely on my ears.
I believe that blind test is the only real test, without any visual influence or biases, without placebo.
Audio nirvana for me is a state of mind, not a state of equipment.
Regardless of my beliefs, I respect all audiophiles and music lovers for their passion and dedication.
PACKAGING
Here are the pictures of the basic packaging and the IEMs themselves. I also purchased the upgrade cable but what I chose is originally intended for the ZST so I needed to carve some plastic off surrounding the two-pin plugs for them to fit perfectly. Why did I choose one for a different model that doesn’t fit on the on-set? Simply because they’re beautiful! See for yourself:
SPECS AND FEATURES
For complete specs and features, please check here - https://www.aliexpress.com/store/pr...Music-Sports-Earbuds/1358152_32720789438.html.
BUILD QUALITY, DESIGN, AND COMFORT
Build quality is impeccable for the price. It’s plastic but very high quality. I say the cable is pretty decent and the mic that also works for play or pause is more accurate and reacts faster than the ones found in the VE Monk Plus. Cable is quite rubbery too so if you do not like that type of texture, then upgrade cables abound online for KZs.
Comfort is average for an IEM. I’ve got an average size ear so it fits me well and I don’t find it unpleasantly painful for long listening sessions (past the 1 hour mark). It doesn’t “disappear” and you’ll know it’s there but the housing is shaped to the outer ear so you don’t have the feeling that it’s digging in to something. Quite comfortable overall.
Design is really beautiful, don’t you think? It almost looks like a custom IEM. I believe it is inspired by custom IEMs. Not that I own one but I think that’s where they’re going with those looks. With the upgrade cable, it looks ten times more expensive than it really is. And because of the over-ear wearing method, plus the shape of the housing conforming to the outer ear, fit is very secure. I like the fact that it doesn’t slide off often as with traditionally worn IEMs.
SOUND
Burn-in: Well it did not change that much after 100 hours or so I don’t think it benefits too much from burn-in.
SET-UP USED:
Mids and highs are not drowned out by the powerful bass but there is considerable bleeding. I believe that’s intentional. They’re going for a big, wholly sound and I believe they achieved that. One merit I would laud them for is, this sound signature is perfect for the commute. Bass can be easily drowned by outside noise and the extra bass to these IEMs compensate well for that. A big plus is that they give you great isolation because of their shape. If isolation’s your thing, these are worth considering. It’s the type of isolation though where you would hear yourself chew or swallow so there’s a fair warning. If you hate that type of isolation, go with classic earbuds instead.
A lot of reviewers are not wrong about soundstage either. It’s mostly outside your head, a few inches away. It’s not too wide as you would expect for an IEM but it’s decent, great even, for the price they’re in. Imaging is also great for the price. It’s not hard to pin-point where instruments are or where they’re coming from. I also enjoy movies with these. I believe that bass has some influence on soundstage. I find that over-ear studio monitors sound wider than bassier sets because they are tuned flat. That gives all of the instruments a breathing space. Bass can push things forward and not too spread out, affecting soundstage. This is very noticeable when engaging the bass boost in headphone amplifiers, like the Fiio A3 in this regard. These, apparently, do not need a bass boost. With that said, kudos to KZ for still giving this IEM a good soundstage relative to the bombastic bass.
CONCLUSION
The KS ZS3 is a very competitive budget IEM. Is it a giant killer? You tell me. I never owned no giants nor tried some in the IEM department. As I said, I am an over-ear person. I find them most comfortable and enjoyable. I equate comfort to sound because there’s no point enjoying music if it gives you pain.
If you’re looking for a set perfect for the daily commute, this one’s for you. If you are looking for a daily driver just for sheer music enjoyment, this one’s for you. If you enjoy movies using IEMs, this one’s for you too. For professional monitoring, I wouldn’t say so. I have the Shure SRH440. That is tuned for monitoring purposes. Not this one. If you love powerful bass, go get one! It’s definitely a great budget find in that department! Enjoy! And…
Happy listening, everyone!
After having all over-ears for a while (for the good duration of 3 years or more), I kinda missed IEMs. Checking reviews online for the best budget IEMs, I came across Knowledge Zenith (KZ). Reading good reviews about their IEMs, I started researching on what their best offering is at that time (2017). Most reviews pointed me towards the KZ ZS3. I’m a sucker for good soundstage and reviews seem unanimous, it has good soundstage for an IEM so I decided to buy one online. Does it meet my expectations? Let’s find out.
ABOUT ME
I listen to almost all genres of music but my favorites are rock, blues, and jazz.
I am a music lover, not an audiophile. I need to veer away from the audiophile persona from now on. I love music more than the equipment to play music with. I recognize that decent equipment is important but decent is good enough. Expensive is not necessary. I’m not willing to go past the $100 mark for any reason. I firmly believe in the law of diminishing returns.
I believe in burn-in but it depends on the headphones. Some do not need much. Some do not need any at all.
I believe in measurements but I never relied on them. I solely rely on my ears.
I believe that blind test is the only real test, without any visual influence or biases, without placebo.
Audio nirvana for me is a state of mind, not a state of equipment.
Regardless of my beliefs, I respect all audiophiles and music lovers for their passion and dedication.
PACKAGING
Here are the pictures of the basic packaging and the IEMs themselves. I also purchased the upgrade cable but what I chose is originally intended for the ZST so I needed to carve some plastic off surrounding the two-pin plugs for them to fit perfectly. Why did I choose one for a different model that doesn’t fit on the on-set? Simply because they’re beautiful! See for yourself:
SPECS AND FEATURES
For complete specs and features, please check here - https://www.aliexpress.com/store/pr...Music-Sports-Earbuds/1358152_32720789438.html.
BUILD QUALITY, DESIGN, AND COMFORT
Build quality is impeccable for the price. It’s plastic but very high quality. I say the cable is pretty decent and the mic that also works for play or pause is more accurate and reacts faster than the ones found in the VE Monk Plus. Cable is quite rubbery too so if you do not like that type of texture, then upgrade cables abound online for KZs.
Comfort is average for an IEM. I’ve got an average size ear so it fits me well and I don’t find it unpleasantly painful for long listening sessions (past the 1 hour mark). It doesn’t “disappear” and you’ll know it’s there but the housing is shaped to the outer ear so you don’t have the feeling that it’s digging in to something. Quite comfortable overall.
Design is really beautiful, don’t you think? It almost looks like a custom IEM. I believe it is inspired by custom IEMs. Not that I own one but I think that’s where they’re going with those looks. With the upgrade cable, it looks ten times more expensive than it really is. And because of the over-ear wearing method, plus the shape of the housing conforming to the outer ear, fit is very secure. I like the fact that it doesn’t slide off often as with traditionally worn IEMs.
SOUND
Burn-in: Well it did not change that much after 100 hours or so I don’t think it benefits too much from burn-in.
SET-UP USED:
- Lenovo K4 Note Smartphone (with Wolfson WM8281)
- Dolby Atmos engaged at Music mode where EQ is flat
- Stellio music player EQ is flat with Replay Gain engaged
- Also tested with Fiio A3 in low gain and bass boost off
Mids and highs are not drowned out by the powerful bass but there is considerable bleeding. I believe that’s intentional. They’re going for a big, wholly sound and I believe they achieved that. One merit I would laud them for is, this sound signature is perfect for the commute. Bass can be easily drowned by outside noise and the extra bass to these IEMs compensate well for that. A big plus is that they give you great isolation because of their shape. If isolation’s your thing, these are worth considering. It’s the type of isolation though where you would hear yourself chew or swallow so there’s a fair warning. If you hate that type of isolation, go with classic earbuds instead.
A lot of reviewers are not wrong about soundstage either. It’s mostly outside your head, a few inches away. It’s not too wide as you would expect for an IEM but it’s decent, great even, for the price they’re in. Imaging is also great for the price. It’s not hard to pin-point where instruments are or where they’re coming from. I also enjoy movies with these. I believe that bass has some influence on soundstage. I find that over-ear studio monitors sound wider than bassier sets because they are tuned flat. That gives all of the instruments a breathing space. Bass can push things forward and not too spread out, affecting soundstage. This is very noticeable when engaging the bass boost in headphone amplifiers, like the Fiio A3 in this regard. These, apparently, do not need a bass boost. With that said, kudos to KZ for still giving this IEM a good soundstage relative to the bombastic bass.
CONCLUSION
The KS ZS3 is a very competitive budget IEM. Is it a giant killer? You tell me. I never owned no giants nor tried some in the IEM department. As I said, I am an over-ear person. I find them most comfortable and enjoyable. I equate comfort to sound because there’s no point enjoying music if it gives you pain.
If you’re looking for a set perfect for the daily commute, this one’s for you. If you are looking for a daily driver just for sheer music enjoyment, this one’s for you. If you enjoy movies using IEMs, this one’s for you too. For professional monitoring, I wouldn’t say so. I have the Shure SRH440. That is tuned for monitoring purposes. Not this one. If you love powerful bass, go get one! It’s definitely a great budget find in that department! Enjoy! And…
Happy listening, everyone!