I thought it was interesting, but that might be part of their experiment too.
I bought the CRN version, mostly because I felt like supporting Crinacle, and was thankful he did the tuning, and not KZâs in house people.
Am I alone on thinking this is really the DQ6 Pro ?
The shell and the sound profile below about 1.5k are way closer.
However HBB has said in his video that he is in talks with KZ to retune the DQ6. Will have to see where that goes.
I decided to sell my ZEX PRO before his announcement, but now I know where my money will go haha
The CRN/ZEX Pro with EQ down the 8k peak and up the air is quite good compared to stock.
I posted my review of the ZEX Pro in the Acho Reviews thread here:
Config/txt?
I fixed CRN / ZEX Pro with EQ, at least for my taste.
I started of with the EQ from Crinacle called âCrinacle fix-palatable airâ and added my own bass shelf that starts earlier, like around 400/500Hz.
I did this manually because Iâm a dum dum and have no PEQ and only use Wavelet.
It now sounds much fuller with better bass for electronic music and even some slam. The added air and fixed 8k peak fixes the timbre and the soundstage. I found it has pretty decent soundstage actually. It works for most genre but maybe less for Rock. As always YMMV.
This song sounds really good on this:
Cable is jank but they sound good. Tiny treble peak somewhere is annoying but not always. Snares are a bit much sometimes depending on the track. Other than that theyâre easily the most capable IEMs I have but that isnât saying much and for $35 this is a pretty ridiculous amount of detail and dynamics. If thereâs a passive way of taming that treble peak Iâd probably use these all the time. Do filters or anything like that help with it?
Edit: might just be used to planar over ears but the bass is a little loose down really deep. totally passable but does fall apart a little.
Maybe you could try @Rikudou_Goku 1 devided by 16 mod where you cut a foam from an Earbud to 1/16 of its size and put it into the eartip.
Foams mostly affect the 2-4k range. The peak is at 8k.
It can help but not the ideal mod.
The KZ CRN is a dramatic step forward for KZ, but the treble balance, timbre issues, and average technical performance keep the CRN from being an unqualified recommendation from me. These issues can be remedied with PEQ, but if you have access to PEQ the need for such a strong starting point in terms of base tuning is much less, and you might do better to pick something more technically proficient instead.
My full review, with measurements, a comparison with the Tanchjim Tanya, and additional images, is available on my blog:
KZ CRN (ZEX Pro) Review. A Mile Forward and a Yard Short | by Alec | Bedrock Reviews | Dec, 2021 | Medium
If you like planars you should consider the 7Hz Timeless, more than $35 obviously but itâs really good, I think the best IEM available around $200 and competes with stuff much more expensive. Great planar bass and sparkly and detailed in the treble without being fatiguing.
I donât get it. Why do they need fixing, if Crin tuned them? Werenât the idea of the set that it has good tuning from the start?
Iâm with you. It may be the best that can be done with an incredibly affordable driver?
I donât like how they are tuned stock but Iâve had monoprice m350s for a couple years and with some heavy EQ theyâre pretty incredible. Iâm a bit of a sucker for soundstage, imaging, and separation and Iâve heard the 7hz is pretty flat soundstage wise. If 7hz could make a properly tuned open back timeless I bet it would solve a lot of their staging issues.
I think you need to look at it in the context of an IEM, and a $200 IEM at that. Itâs not going to compete with open back over ears for soundstage. Few if any IEMs do. Almost all IEMs are closed back, open back IEMs are very niche.
Imaging and separation are particularly good on this IMO. Soundstage isnât terrible either, itâs average. If you like this and you like the Edition XS I think youâd like the Timeless. Itâs not perfect in every way but itâs a huge step up from this IEM (which I think is good, for the price).
This hobby is subjective
