This short review will cover two of the latest In-Ear
Monitors from Knowledge Zenith: The ZSN Pro and the ZS10 Pro. They both were
released last month at around the same time and share so many similarities, I
won’t bother making separate reviews.
The ZSN Pro is a dual driver – Single Balanced Armature and
Single Dynamic Driver, while the ZS10 Pro is a five-driver setup with 4 Bas and
1 DD. Both are updated models from the previous ones released last year. I
never had a chance to listen or review the ZS10, but I did really enjoy the ZSN
as a budget pick with it’s neutral-ish sound signature that was only $20.
So what’s new?
Well, first off, the shell design on both is slightly
changed. They both feature faceplates on their respective shells that are quite
similar. The ZS10 shell faceplate actually looks like the ZSN original but in a
reflective chrome color, while the ZSN Pro’s chevron marks are lifted off the
faceplate, as opposed to the cut-out look on the ZS10 Pro.
The accessories package is the same as before with the newer
2-pin cable and attachment style.
The major difference, of course, is the sound tuning.
For me, these sound almost identical except one thing: the
ZSN Pro is brighter and I don’t really recommend it. The ZS10, however, is tuned
to have less treble and that makes it more listenable.
In general, both IEMs have similar bass and mid performance,
and are improvements in that regard over the original ZSN. The bass is slightly
elevated making the overall sound profile a tad warmer, and the mids are not as
recessed as before. The upper-mids, which boosted on the ZSN original, has been
tamed down, and the lower treble is more even on both IEMs. The ZSN Pro, again,
has more treble in the middle to upper portions of the treble region, making
them pretty bright.
If you’ve listened to the T2 Pro and the T2, the ZSN Pro is
similar to that tuning, albeit slightly warmer. The ZS10 Pro is closer to the
T3, but tamer in the upper-mids and treble. Detail retrieval on the T3 seemed
better, from memory, but that could also be due to the boosted treble.
Quick Conclusions
Again, this is just a quick review, as I do have large queue
I am working through and I’d like to spend more time on other headphone reviews
in the future. The ZS10 Pro is worth consideration. I would skip the ZSN Pro
altogether, as I prefer the ZS10 Pro more and the ZSN more as well – along with
a host of other budget IEMs like the Tin Audio T2, Final Audio E2000, and
others.
I’d like to thank Lillian for Linsoul for providing the KZ
ZS10 Pro for review. I personally purchased the disappointing ZSN Pro myself
from their Amazon storefront at LSR-Direct. They are also located at http://www.Linsoul.com if you are interested
in either of these two IEMs.
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View the product ratings on
Antdroid's IEM Ranking List and/or Antdroid's Headphone Ranking List
Hmmm. I found the ZS10 PRO considerably brighter than the ZSN PRO. They are VERY similar sounding.....some would say identical other than the elevated treble on the ZS10 PRO along with being a bit wider and technically a bit more capable of extracting extra details. Other than that I can easily switch from one to the other. To my ear the ZSN PRO sounds meatier in the treble being that the lower end of cymbals are the focus as opposed to the highest frequencies of the decay. Where I find these 2 very similar the original ZSN has an emphasis in the lower treble that can be preferable with some female vocals or where guitar tones have energy in that band. I enjoy all three equally and will switch iems when changing tracks.
ReplyDeletei have the kz zsn pro and the cca c12. For me, they almost sound the same, but the zsn pro is more forward and aggresive sounding, some will like it, but for me I prefer the cca c12 a bit more cuz it has better overall timbre and sounded a bit more neutral.
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