KZ ZS7

The ZS7 has been out for a while now, but I haven’t had a chance to take a listen to it until more recently, thanks to Head-Fier, HiFlight, sending me his review sample, which was provided to him by YooAudio.com.

The ZS7 is the newest version from their line of Campfire clones, starting with the plastic ZS5, the metal ZS6, and now this. I never had the opportunity to listen to the original ZS5, but both the ZS5 v2 and ZS6 had very wide soundstage, impactful bass, but incredibly sharp, harsh, and sibilant treble.

From listening to the ZS7 now, it looks like Knowledge Zenith (KZ) has taken some of the feedback and toned down the ZS7’s treble range and made it a much more enjoyable listen, which is nice to see. The ZS7 still features a big bass boost that can occasionally bleed over and become muddy in busy sections, and struggles a bit with busy sections of songs.




The toned-down bass does also make the soundstage narrower than the ZS6, but that’s an acceptable trade-off since the ZS6 treble was piercing bright and I could not use it for more than just a few minutes.

Anyway, this is going to be a rather short review, but I believe the ZS7 is a decent purchase, but for the same price range of $50 or under, I would strongly recommend the following IEMs:

KZ ZS10 Pro – More balanced sound, slight V-shape, warmer, good extension.

Tin Audio T2 – Neutral Diffuse Field sound. Good mids. Slightly harsh, but cleaner and more detailed than ZS7

I'm still not sure who came up with "earphone" but I digress... For me, these are a great sounding, inexpensive set of IEMs. They are warm and musical with a punch in the mids. I have trouble in the 7kHz range and these compensate marvelously. of course, YMMV, but for the price, you really cannot go wrong.

The KZ ZS7 is one of KZ’s newest additions to its ZS# series of earphones and is the third to use a polygonal Campfire Audio derived shell, along with the ZS5 and ZS6. It is of a 4 BA + 1 DD driver configuration, featuring 2 of KZ’s 30095 BA units, a 31005 unit, a 29689 unit, and KZ’s newer 10mm DD unit.


Build and Accessories:

Angular aluminum shell, nearly identical to the ZS6 shell with a slight difference in the angle of the vents on the sides. Very sturdy as one might expect, and comfortable enough – though they may not sit well in some ears due to the large size. Strangely, despite using the same type of shells as the ZS6 and the many color options available for those, the only color option currently out for the ZS7 is black with blue faceplate. The included cable is the newer braided brown style, with standard KZ 2-pin connectors. The packaging on this model is a step up from KZ’s other offerings, complete with an etched metal logo plate, but the accessories are lacking with just a set of silicone ear tips.


Sound:

From the tuning, it’s evident that KZ has learned well from the strengths/critiques of the ZS line. Soundstage and imaging remain respectable – about the best you can get in cheap IEMs, similar to the KZ ZS10. Sibilance issues present in the ZS6 have been resolved, and overall the tuning is much warmer and less fatiguing. Because of this, the highs don’t have the same sparkling clarity, but the result is a much easier listening experience.


Following a slight v-shape curve, the mids are a bit recessed but much more apparent than on older KZ models. As they aren’t fighting a great deal of treble, the detail comes through more easily, picking up a lot of vocal detail. Lower mids on the other hand compete slightly with the bass.


Emphasis in the ZS7 is placed on the low frequencies. Bass is powerful and controlled, making for a very fun listening experience especially in fast paced or busy songs. Sub bass is just right to me, offering a bit of kick without being distracting. On the whole, it’s a very warm earphone.


Overall:

The ZS7 runs about $50 off Amazon, and at that price it’s a great deal given the build and sound quality. It may be worth investing in additional ear tips, as I personally don’t find the stock ones too comfortable. Beyond that though, it’s a fun set to listen to with a tuning that’s hard to go wrong with.