KZ ZST HiFI Noise Isolating In-Ear Style Earphone

I cannot say enough about these remarkable headphones. I found out about them in music forums where many folks play live on stage with in-ears. They weren’t simply using them casually. The semi-professionals and pros were using them as solid backups and volunteers as their mains. I must’ve had at least a dozen comments raving about them. I purchased a set as well as Mee M6 Pros (also a highly recommended KZ ZST for the money $20) and compared both with my Shure se215s (the industry entry level standard — fantastic in ears). I was disappointed the moment I put them in as they were thin and lacked the low end everyone raved about. I reached out to several owners. ALL of them said it was a seal issue, and I needed to buy foam ear tips. The minute they went in my ears with foam tips I was speechless. What wonderful balance with a very present but controlled low end and perfect clarity without being shrill. And this is coming from a pure audiophile. I couldn’t believe this kind of tone could come from $20 earphones. And dual drivers?! I did a lengthy side by side comparison of the same various song clips with this set and the Shures and they are very very similar in tone and sound stage.

This is a bare bones package that comes with the ear phones, silicone ear tips (I recommend buying the 5mm Comply or Rebound foam tips separately), and memory wire–no bag, 1/4″ converter, foam tips, ear cleaner, or secondary wire. The earphones themselves are larger than the Shures and M6s, and even though they stick out of my small ears a little more they were comfortable and I got a good fit with the memory wire over the ears. They felt surprisingly well made in hand and had smoother fit and finish than my M6s by comparison. The M6s were much brighter and clearer almost to the point of being shrill with very present mid highs. At $20 they came with nicer accessories and bag and would be a good fit for anyone wanting a clarity machine, voice podcast only, or something to lay down or sleep with (since the earphones are smaller). I recommend “burning in” both sets for 4-6 hours playing continuous music at a medium volume to take the edge off.

However, if you need an inexpensive pair for your bare bones budget, a backup set, or a casual set I can recommend them enough.