Linsoul KZ AST 24 Units Balanced Armature Combination in-Ear Earphones IEM with Detachable 2pin 0.75 Cable for Musicians Audiophile (Without mic, Silver)

This Amazon page was previously used to sell the KZ AS16 in ear monitors. It is now used to sell the KZ AST (AS24) in ear monitors. Please know that this review is for the KZ AST, NOT the AS16. I recently got into the hobby of budget hi-fi and really wanted to see how Knowledge Zenith's top-of-the-line monitors would sound, and I must say- this is incredible! The KZ AST features a total of twelve balanced armature drivers- twelve in each ear. The price of entry is steep compared to their other offerings, but I find it well worth it. The bass is fast and quite extended. Not as slamming as dynamic drivers, but that is expected from an all-balanced-armatures type of earphone. It's quick and does not melt into the mids, leaving so much space to hear the details. The mids are gorgeous, and the highs are also super crisp and natural. People tend to think that KZ's highs are tinny and metallic, but the AST does away with that stereotype and presents a beautifully balanced and natural sound. They are exceedingly easy to drive, with a low impedance and high sensitivity. With that said, I find they benefit from use with a DAC, but be sure to lower the volume and maybe even invest in an impedance plug so you don't blow out your eardrums. When used with my Conexant CX31993 DAC dongle, I find the soundstage drastically larger, with greater depth and imaging. I pair that with a FAAEAL 220 Ohm impedance plug so I can make sure that extra juice is still being put to use. The stock cable is perfectly adequate, and a total upgrade from the typical stiff cables that come with KZ in ears. The new stock cable is a striking silver color and hangs loosely, much more pliable and less prone to memory than the previous stock cables. With that said, I still chose to upgrade to the Tripowin C8 cable, just because I wanted something a bit thicker. The stock silicone eartips did not work well for my ears, I found that the small ones pushed too far inside my ear and the mediums kept ejecting themselves from my ear canals. You will almost certainly benefit fromupgrading to an aftermarket set of eartips. I am using the Spinfit CP100+ (size medium). The monitors themselves are very large, housing so many drivers. This means they may not be a good choice for smaller ears (such as my own), but with the right tips, they should fit your ears quite comfortably such that you can wear them for hours. One of the benefits I find with an all-armature build is that I don't suffer nearly as much from air pressure buildup as one would with dynamic drivers. These in ear monitors are detail monitors. If you really wanna go the extra step, you may wish to get yourself a nice case to keep em in. I used a Pelican 1010 micro series hard case and DIY custom-fit the monitors into Pelican 1012 pick-and-pluck foam. There's plenty of room to spare in the case for my DAC dongle, impedance plug, and cable. If you have the cash and really want to hear what KZ is capable of, I encourage you to consider the KZ AST in ear monitors. I do not regret this purchase one bit, but you will likely wish to consider some minor upgrades such as the ones I have made.

I would've rather rated these 5 stars as that's what they deserve, but customer service is a big part of this picture too.I'll start over from the beginning...On the first day these arrived, I plugged them in to give them a very brief listen and then immediately on to burn-in. After a long time of low volume burn-in I gave them a listen again to compare them to the original listen which was about a minute total from my phone, this second time was with the same phone with a DAC/amp dongle and they had very nice mid to upper range sounds but no bass midbass or any low-end to speak of so I thought the dynamic drivers weren't working, but how would it be possible for both iems to have that happen at the same time and then I forgot about trying to take a call on the included mic and not being able to with the button on the mic and thinking that maybe there was a short in the cable so I replaced it with a Tripowin Zonie cable of the same requirements that I had on hand and the sound improved night and day. The bass was there like it should be on a monitor level iem, not extreme, but it at least existed nicely. But now I no longer have a mic that I was hoping to use so I followed the trails to customer support which led me to Linsoul's website to their support email and have yet to hear back on a possible replacement for the mic'd cable.I guess I'm starting to miss the house sounds of AKG... 🤤drools... I had a feeling I'd be back, AKG.Don't misunderstand, these do sound incredible, everything is in the right place sound-wise and they are very beautiful in their style, they are quite comfortable in their ergonomical fit, they have their amazing clarity and all else seems of high quality so far except for the cord/cable. I'm just understanding that I can't rely on their customer support. I even had to do my own troubleshooting. If you're wanting into litening to iems or something music related these days, may I suggest an electronics degree also? Haha just kidding.

I plan to wear these in-ear headphones for the entirety of the time I'm at my PC. As such, it was great when I could feel how comfortable these were as soon as I put them in. I have worn them for some hours consecutively without issue.I have no training in identifying audio quality, but I can say I've never heard anything better than through these headphones. I have heard the high-end and the low-end and the whole range of human vocals. They all sound absolutely amazing. I haven't noticed any fuzziness from the audio.I would highly recommend these headphones to anyone who can comfortably afford them.My only concern is that the four-stranded cable's individual strands are too thin to sustain much damage should something bad happen. For my setup in a quiet and low-risk office, I don't think too much will happen to it.Update: I bought these in April 2022, and they finally died at the end of December 2023. That's over a year and a half.Looking back, I have never been more satisfied with audio equipment than I have been with these. I'll be grabbing another pair right now.

These IEM’s were recommended to me by one of the guys in my band. He’s an audio engineer by day and he swears by them. Being totally new to IEM’s, I went with his recommendation. I’m glad I did. With 12 BA’s per side, these sound awesome once you get the right tips to create the right seal in your ear. They’re the priciest KZ’s but I think they’re worth it.

Un peu basseux mais à ce prix là ça passe.

Het is een wonder hoe KZ maar liefst 12 Balanced Armatures (nano speakers) en soundtubes in zo'n compacte IEM heeft gekregen. Ik heb ook de KZ as16 met 8 BA per IEM. Bij de ast zijn er 4 BA per IEM toegevoegd en dat merk je vooral in bassen die voor BA nu enorm klinken.BA's geven vergeleken met dynamic drivers veel nauwkeuriger en sneller geluid weer, perfect dus voor hi-res, maar missen vaak de echte bas puch. Daar is dus bij de kz ast geen gebrek aan. (getest op HIBY R6 III)

La qualità é medio alta e un deciso stacco rispetto alle altre KZ , sono molto piu audiofile ma un po meno dinamiche e divertenti , molto equilibrate e molto dettagliate sui medi

Ich habe lange gesucht nach guten inear Monitor Kopfhörer mit Klinke für meinen DAC....dass ist nicht einfach da alles auf Bluetooth ausgelegt ist!!!!Ein Kollege hat mich auf diese Marke aufmerksam gemacht......ich dachte, für das Geld sollen die Dinger gut sein???Also habe ich mich mal hingesetzt und mir etliche Review angesehen.........Ok, mal bestellen und reinhören kann man mal machen.Gleich ein gutes Kabel und ein paar tips mitbestellt!WOW.....der Klang ist soo klar und gespickt mit Details und so ein schöner Bass der nicht aufdringlich ist aber gut abgestimmt ist.Ich kann nicht mit den Dinger aufhören Musik zuhören !!!Sie haben mit einem Schlag alle Kopfhörer ersetzt die besitze....Um das ganze Spektrum aus den Dinger rauszuholen sollte man über einen DAC oder Amp verfügen!!!Ich hoffe sie bleiben mir lange erhalten!!!!

Il migliore in-ear che abbia mai provato. Eccezionale, enfatizza bassi e suino molto pulito