The cheap AF headphones/earphones thread

Sound stage and imaging on KSC75s is quite impressive, especially for the price.
I don’t think good headphones with good detail retrieval under 50$ or even 100$ exists (hmm… except maybe Sony MDR-V6, MDR-7506, or Audio-Technica ATH-M50x’s – and they are sometimes qualified as violent headphones… maybe that’s the only way to have good detail for “cheap”).

My Grados SR60s have excellent mids/treble detail but… I’m too treble sensitive for them. I listened to them like, 10 hours… this year. Violent mids/treble for me. :confused:

for around the same price as the m50x’s you can get the dt 770 which are nicer and tend to retain more detail than the m50x’s and are an actual enjoyable listen. and for a little bit more cash you can get the akg k553

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Way, wayyy too much treble for me. :smiley:
Anyway, that’s the cheap AF headphones thread, I don’t even know if we should talk about over 50$US headphones. :stuck_out_tongue:

Talking about FR deficiencies without mentioning EQ is a bit off-topic for “poor man’s headphones”. A poor man learns to respect the EQ and how it can help him extract every last drop of performance out of cheapo headphones. :wink: My equalized KSC75s not only have bass, they have sub-bass, and they’re not driven to distortion because I don’t listen to them at 80+ dB_SPL, I just use them in quiet environments, and overall they’re pure soundstage joy with no FR complaints to mention. All they’re missing that you can’t really fix is speed/detail, the most extreme sub-bass and highs, and maybe massive slam.

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Update: I loved the Yaxi pads. They greatly improved comfort and had some sonic changes for the better as well. I forgot to link my update that I did on the Porta Pros thread a few weeks back to here. :grimacing:
Link below with photos.

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Just received the KZ ZS10 Pros (35$US without the mic). Neutral with a bit of sibilance.

When I saw the graphs I was like “well, close enough!”. But apparently the FR on my pair is more like the black line (10khz peak) than the blue line.

ZS10 Graph:

Raw Graph, ZS10 vs ZS10 Pros:

They’re also the weirdest thing to put in your ears correctly, because of the wire going over your ears… and, probably, all the weight of the IEM going over your ears/ear conduit too.

Still, they’re great at not-extremely-loud volumes. If you mainly listen to metal and/or electronic music, loud, do not buy this, you’ll go deaf (Note: I’m treble sensitive. So, that’s perfectionism. If you like Beyerdynamics, the treble won’t bother you, you’ll love the KZ ZS10 Pros).

Edit: After two days, I say they’re neutral with “a bit of” sibilance only. Neutral AF (except there’s a dip at 1khz) detailed AF, fun AF!

Anyway. This is decent technology (one dynamic driver and 4 balanced armatures!), and you can hear it. Sounds clear – sometimes sounds “airy” like you don’t have 'em in your ears – and the depth is impressive. Yes, depth. As if you were at the show. The 10khz sibilance peak also helps that, because, well, 9 out of 10 shows I go to, the sound guy adds +5dB to +10dB the cymbals anyway…

The cheap AF range:

With the 10$ HJE-120/125s, you crank the volume, because you want to hear more of the music, but you can’t, because you hear everything… but there’s no detail. Still, whatever you listen to, you can crank the volume. No sibilance at all. With the small tips, for my small ears, they’re Neutral AF. They’re the best for travel/walking/bus/etc. Because you won’t go deaf with the volume a touch higher than normal to mute your environment, and you won’t listen for details outside anyway. Good luck finding better for 10$.

With the KZ ZS10 Pros, you hear more detail. More depth. More “air”. Transparency. Cleanliness. Instrument separation… And that’s on my old Samsung Note 3!!! They’re the best “cheap AF” headphones (They’re 35$ without the mic!) for critical listening.

I’d be curious to plug them to something else than my old smartphone, but I ordered them with the microphone, so I received… a 4-pole connector. Oops. Still, they’re already impressive. I’ll buy the standard cable soon (if possible), I want to know how blown away I’ll be when I plug them in a better source.

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Yeah, I believe so… haha. Ordered!

[quote=“LeDechaine, post:27, topic:1739, full:true”]
Just received the KZ ZS10 Pros (30$USD?). Neutral with sibilance (eh, crap).

(Note: I’m treble sensitive. So, that’s perfectionism. If you like Beyerdynamics, you’ll love the KZ ZS10 Pros).

Well I’m sold. love the beyer treble

Uh, I meant to say, the treble won’t bother you with these if you like Beyerdybamics.

Anyway, yes, the cymbals (etc), sounds really clear.

Okay, not like “Sennheiser HD58X” instrument separation at all, but still, fuck, I’m impressed. I wanted high quality IEMs, I got em.

I might but a pair as a back up pair for my t3’s

After one day, I say they’re neutral with “a bit of” sibilance only. Neutral AF, detailed AF, fun AF!

Sorry, there’s already Zeos hyping stuff but. :stuck_out_tongue:

Nice try, but there’s no way vibrating earplugs can be better at music reproduction than real earphones/headphones. :sunglasses:

Not for cheap, though!

Anyway, it’s a personal preference for something noise-cancelling or “closed” versus open-backs :slight_smile: I know my jaw will probably drop when I’ll get the T50RPs in 2-3 weeks but… we’re in the cheap AF headphones/earphones thread. :stuck_out_tongue:

Argons? or Stock T50RP MKIII?

Stock MK3s for my home studio.

Final correction: KZ ZS10 Pros are neutral AF (except there’s a dip at 1khz) detailed AF, fun AF!

I’ve done a thing.

Took the raw graph comparing ZS10 and ZS10 Pros (see above), looked at the differences, and added a red line for the ZS10 Pros, over the averaged/compensated/harman curve corrected rtings graph.

Enjoy!

how do you think the ZSN and the ZSN pro compare to the ZS10’s?