YinyooKZ ZSX Earphones 5BA 1DD Hybrid IEM Hifi In Ear Headphones 0.75mm 2 pin Cable, 1 Dynamic 4 Balanced Armature Driver Wired Headsets (With Mic, Cyan)

The ZSX is the latest flagship hybrid design from KZ (Knowledge Zenith). Dubbed “The Terminator” it is a 6 driver IEM (1DD + 5BA). Whether the name “Terminator” denotes that no further hybrid models will be released is unknown. The Dynamic driver is 10mm in diameter and is a development of the unit featured in the ZS10 Pro, a dual magnet design with a field strength of 1 Tesla. The balanced armatures include two sets of the dual DWEK BA, a mid-high frequency design, coupled with a 30095 driver covering the extreme HF.The IEMs arrive packaged in a black box similar to that supplied with the ZS7 with the earpieces displayed in a foam cut-out above the KZ plaque seen in other premium models. The words “12 Units Hybrid Technology Earphone” are printed below. Under this cut-out you will find the detachable cable, a set of three Starline-type tips and documentation. A set of plain soft silicone tips with a medium bore are pre-fitted on the IEMs. The shell is a new design with the faceplates finished in a matt charcoal colour with “12 hybrid” written on it and the resin underside finished in a deep greenish colour (called cyan). They look very smart indeed. There are two pinhole vents on the inner surface of the earpieces. The fit was very comfortable with the “fin” on the end of the earpiece providing stability. Isolation was also very good.The detachable cable is identical to that supplied with the KZ ZS10 Pro. It has a clear plastic connector (known as “Type C”) with the pins covered in a plastic shield. It is still possible to use other cables, which can be plugged into the protruding sockets on the IEMs. The cable itself is composed of braided copper and has a very long section between the chunky Y-split and the earpieces and as a result is somewhat prone to tangling. The plug is the usual right-angled plastic 3.5mm TRS type. It would have been good to see a more premium cable with a flagship model, and please, KZ, can we have a chin slider?The earphones were left burning in for over 72 hours before testing and included tracks of white and pink noise, glide tones and other audio conditioning tracks. After this I used a Hifi Walker H2 DAP with a Fiio A5 amplifier and a Sony NWZ-A15 for evaluation. The supplied tips were used but I changed the cable to a 16 core silver plated one from TRN.The immediate impression was of a huge soundstage, powerful bass and a lively engaging presentation. It reminded me of my favourite KZ so far, the ZS7, but with an improved more forward midrange, better staging and layering and a more extended treble. Sensitivity was good with adequate volume obtained via the headphone socket of my DAP but a more authoritative and controlled sound was obtained using an amplifier.BassThe bass performance of the ZSX was excellent. Starting in the sub-bass, extension and power were first-rate. Depth was impressive while still retaining good texture and clarity. A good example of this was in Jonn Serrie’s “Land of Lyss” from his “Midsummer Century album. This track contains some of the deepest sub-bass you will hear and the ZSX handled it with aplomb. I was able to hear more detail here than ever before with the deepest notes being reproduced cleanly and with low distortion. Orchestral bass instruments also benefited from the ZSX’s ability in this region. The bass drum and timpani in Holst’s “Uranus” performed by the LSO under Andre Previn were very impressive and possessed great impact and immediacy along with weight and power. The mournful trudging of the double basses in “Saturn” were also testament to the cleanliness of the bass with remarkable detail and resolution. Popular music too, sounded good with the bass guitar and bass drum rhythm section in Al Stewart’s “Year of the Cat” being nicely separated and defined, yet combining to produce a very satisfying foundation to the track.MidrangeThe midrange performance carried on where the bass left off with good resolution and separation, and not suffering from any bass bleed. The complex guitar arrangement in Ray Lynch’s “Over Easy” depicted this perfectly. Each instrument was clearly defined and at the same time, beautifully integrated with the whole. There was good transient attack, excellent portrayal of studio ambience and accurate stereo imaging. Electronic music enjoyed a particularly clean reproduction, with Mark Dwane’s “Geoglyphs” from the “Variants” album displaying superb “slam” in the percussion and clearly-defined synth layering. The whole combining to produce a really entertaining result. The tuning of the new DWEK dual BAs certainly seems to be very successful. There was a little emphasis towards the upper midrange which occasionally resulted in a sharper tonality but this only occurred on certain tracks. In general the midrange was very well-tuned. The modern tonalities in Elizabeth Maconchy’s “Proud Thames” overture played by the LPO displayed excellent timbre and the differentiation of the brass and woodwind sections was well handled with good integration and thus preserving the musicality of the piece.TrebleThe treble was clean and well-extended, which was, I feel, due to sharing the upper register between the DWEK units with a single 30095 driver which, I would guess, has a higher crossover frequency than in former designs like the ZS10 Pro. This resulted in a very clean reproduction with few of the harsher or peaky artefacts seen in earlier KZ models (excepting the ZS7). The 30095 unit would appear to have been well-tuned here. Richard Burmer’s “The Forgotten Season” from the album “On the Third Extreme” possessed a clean, smooth tonality in the treble with excellent separation and detail, having a kind of “etched” quality. This also manifested itself in Matthew Clifford’s “Accumulus”, a kind of synthesiser multi-tracked symphony from 1989. Incisive flute-like synth patches soared above the bass accompaniment in superb style. The high string melody in Britten’s first “Sea Interlude” played by Andre Previn and the LSO was clearly depicted. Set against the scurrying woodwind figurations and supported by deep bass drum, it retained its detail well and stood out clearly from the accompaniment.SoundstageThe soundstage of the ZSX was one of its best features. In fact it possessed the most impressive spread I have heard in an IEM. Width, depth and height were all of high quality, enabling the production and the character of the recording venue to be appreciated fully. This airy soundstage endowed the ZSX with an open, relaxed presentation and well-recorded pieces displayed an impressive sense of space. Vangelis’s “Theme from Antarctica” was a perfect example. Synthesised bass, drums, lead voices and percussion effects assailed the ears from all directions, all contained within a huge, cavernous acoustic. Classical music also benefited from this with accurate imaging and positioning of instruments within the ambience of the concert hall clearly defined. The second movement of Britten’s “Sinfonia da Requiem” was very impressive in this regard, with the brutal percussion scoring impressively powerful and precisely placed within the stereo image.ConclusionThe ZSX impressed in all areas. With new components, including a revised dynamic driver and DWEK dual BAs, KZ have really “nailed it” with this model. Powerful yet controlled in the bass, clean and articulate in the midrange and smooth and detailed in the treble, added to this was a wonderfully expansive soundstage. All of this came together to produce an impressively musical IEM which combines the impact and entertainment of the ZS7 with the detail and resolution of an all-BA design like the CCA C16 or A10.Released at the same time as the CCA C12, it is tempting to compare the two. These two IEMs share the same components but in a different shell design and internal configuration. Traditionally, KZ IEMs have been “V-shaped” whereas CCA models have been tuned with a more neutral signature. This is also the case here.The ZSX has a gentle V profile but does not suffer from bass bleed, nor is the midrange notably recessed. There is a slightly emphasised bass region and a mildly raised upper midrange and treble but this did not produce an unbalanced presentation. The soundstage is very large and the tonality somewhat warmer than neutral. As a result, the ZSX displays a very musical character. In fact, “character” is a quality with which the ZSX imbues each track and the overall tonality more resembles a full-range DD design rather than a hybrid.The CCA C12 on the other hand, sounds clean, clear and detailed in the manner of an all-BA IEM. The overall effect is like adding a DD to the existing A10. The tonality is brighter than the ZSX which gives the impression of more detail, though when examined closely, the ZSX does not lack any resolution in this area.The similarities between these two, I feel, are closer than the differences, which is unsurprising given that the same units are employed in both models. It is more a nuance than an obvious contrast, but the differences, though subtle, are there and may influence a choice between them according to taste. However that may be, it is undeniable that the ZSX is the finest IEM to date from KZ and can be heartily recommended.

Ya tenemos aquí los nuevos reyes de los auriculares de la marca KZ.Veamos primero las diferencias físicas con respecto a sus antecesores los KZ-ZS10 Pro.En el interior hay seis controladores: un BA súper alto, dos BA dobles medio-altos (cuatro en total) y un controlador dinámico de nueva generacion de 10 mm para reproducir los graves y subgraves.Y exteriormente tienen una pequeña joroba ergonómica que ayuda a que ajusten mejor en la oreja y el acabado de la parte metálica es mate.En cuanto a la sonoridad tienen:SUBGRAVESProfundos y penetrantes.GRAVESFirmes, claros y bien definidos.MEDIOSAqui es en dónde más diferencias se van encontrado.Hay un impulso en los medios superiores que agrega un poco de brillo y ataque a las guitarras y la percusión.Las voces masculinas son un poco secas y podríansonar más naturales, pero las voces femeninas son nítidas y vibrantes, sin ninguna sibilancia. La delgadez de las notas de rango medio hace una presentación detallada y una buena articulación vocal.Los medios-agudos dan a estos auriculares un característico sonido echado para atrás que favorece el tono de las voces. AGUDOSPara mí, son los agudos los que más han mejorado en comparación con el ZS10 Pro. No hay signos del timbre agudo de acero KZ habitual. Ya no parece que alguien golpee un martillo en una plancha de metal.En general, es un agudo nítido y detallado con buen tono y buena extensión.ESCENAEl ZSX crea una etapa promedio con más ancho y profundidad. Las voces se colocan hacia la parte posterior del escenario, mientras que los instrumentos se colocan más cerca del frente.La separación de sonido en ambos canales es extraordinaria Es la mejor oída por mí en unos auriculares de esta marca, con una perfecta ubicación de los instrumentos.Solo me queda por decir que para una escucha óptima recomiendo un "quemado" (tenerlos reproduciendo música variada) de al menos 24 horas, que indudablemente beneficiará al driver dinámico de graves.

These were the 3rd set of IEMs from KZ I brought. I got ZSN Pros and ZS10 Pros but both of those had a very bizzare problem, the right side dynamic driver blew.I used the cable supplied with the earphones and used a different device for each set.The ZSX sound alot better then the other 2 sets mentioned above, but after just 3-4 hours of listening to music and playing osu!, the right dynamic driver blew again!I think this is not an issue with the earphones, more of an issue with my ears. I can hear bluetooth, maybe this has a part to play in all 7 sets of earphones (3 IEMs, 2 Apple branded earphones, 2 overear headphones) I've owned that had THE SAME PROBLEM.Knowing this, I got a refund for these and brought a pair of KB EAR KB10s, earphones that don't have a dynamic driver.If you have hearing as sensitive as mine, don't stick magnets in your ears!

Like the headline says, if you want to spend £500 on Shure or some other name brand IEM, I will not argue you'll get a better sound. Just! I have A/B them with a pair of SE515, and yes, there's a sound difference, but not huge. I used to have the set SE215, which are the entry level Shure brand and are great for the money! But wanted a spare set in case something happened on a gig. Got these, now the SE215 are the spare as I found these way better sounding.I was worried about their durability, but 6 months in and no issues (yet)

Pros: Excellent sounding earphones, i couple mine with a fiio external headphone amp/dac and the overall sound is airy, balanced, average sound stage and capable Bass. Good instrument separation.Cons: could be more comfortable, maybe just the shape of my ears but worth noting. You’ll need a headphone amp to get the best sound out of these earphones, i don’t recommend these without as they require some umph to drive them. Cables could be improved in quality.Summary: excellent value for money, excellent sound and id say they are equivalent to a £200 japanese/famous brand earphones. To ensure the best listening experience i would highly recommend trying each of the eartip fittings as the wrong size eartip in your ears will affect the sound massively and i mean massively change the sound.