Review on 🎧 KZ AS10 5BA Hifi Stereo In-Ear Earphones | High-Resolution Earbuds with 0.75mm 2-Pin Cable | Five Balanced Armature Drivers | Noise-Canceling | Microphone | Cyan by Natalie Grant

It's been 2 years since I bought a new set of IEM or headphones but I thought I'd like the new KZ -Let the flagship go first and see how I like her. Here is my collection so far KZ ATE/KZ ZS6/KZ ZST/KZ BA10Xiaomi Piston 2/Xiaomi Piston 3/Xiaomi Headphone Pro IEM/Xiaomi Earbuds) Shure SRH440/Shure SRH550DJSkullcandy Smokin' Buds 2/ Skullcandy Ink 'd 2Noble Audio Trident Fiio EX1 (aka Dunu Titan) Philips SHP9500S Needless to say I have a lot of audio experience behind me. But I will never call myself an "audiophile audio nut". I will ALWAYS share with you my honest impressions of what I hear! Test device - Fiio Q1 DAC/amplifier - LG V20 (integrated DAC/amplifier) Eartips used - JVC Spiral Dots / Size: M - KZ Star Tips / Size: Stock - Equivalent to Comfort T500 build quality/packaging --- ---- - --- They're all metal and the cable is pretty good, about what you'd expect in the $80-$100 range. The box they came in was neat, clean and minimalistic. The cable reminds me a bit of my Noble Trident, but I find the wire a bit bulky for a comfortable fit. /cube Ironman looks like an IEM -- it didn't and won't get any awards for ergonomics. I have weird ears, I have big ears but the ear canal is narrow. They were comfortable for about an hour, but over time the corner closest to the plug began to irritate my ears. For me personally they aren't terrible but sorry KZ it was a valiant attempt to come up with a unique form but definitely stick with the ZST/ZSN form they are MUCH better. to me they sound cold and relaxed and tend to be a bit on the thin side of tonal expression. That's not a bad thing, as their ZS6 had a terrible frequency spike in the high frequencies, only curbed by good manners with foam ear cups (Comply Comfort works great) that would cut those highs. The BA10's high frequencies are clean and detailed, with good brilliance without the harsh jumps that plagued older KZ models. I actually like how they're placed a bit behind the soundstage, which gives more room for the highs around the mids and lows. If you are looking for high centered IEMs then stay away from these as this is not a high accent set, high frequencies are needed for musical detail but are not saturated. Mids ------ ---- The best way I can describe it is as a descending curve tending towards lower mids and mid bass. They sound warm and rich and give the music a nice depth. I love the mids (second only to the soundstage) and they are well tuned for long mid-focused listening sessions. Male vocals may not be as detailed as desired as they tend towards mid-bass which can muddy them. Luckily, when the music is made to emphasize the vocals, the highs can push away some of the detail to bring it back to life. I'd only recommend them in the mids if you're looking for a pair of headphones to put in your ears and just relax, but not looking for insane detail. Bass ---------- The focus of this set is simple and straightforward. The low frequencies are simply gigantic. Everything from mid-bass to sub-bass. This is BA10. BA10 can be easily identified as BAs 10, and if anyone else tells you otherwise, you question the honesty of their assessment. Or maybe their earplugs were bad or their ears don't work like other people lol jk. I actually like some bass these days, there was a time when I was a bit of an audio nut who thought the only 'good' sound was neutral sound signatures. I eventually came back and found that in terms of listening to music, a well-tuned V-shape is good and a bass is always a nice touch when properly behaved. I personally think there might be too much bass for many genres, but those that can benefit from bass will sound great. The best way I can describe it is that the bass is closest to your ear, the mids are about halfway horizontally, and the treble is then evenly spaced as the mids but slightly raised vertically. Folding your hand in an L-shape and resting your thumb on the IEM is the best way to visualize the position of the soundstage. Space is a great asset to the BA10 because it allows the IEM to breathe properly despite all the bass it's throwing at you. By allowing the sound dimension to move, the mids and highs can still be relevant to the music experience without being overly drowned out by the lows. I would say the soundstage is a little above average for a closed case IEM. Wave / Chillstep / 8-Bit / Hip-Hop / R&B (Excellent) - Indie Folk / Folk-Acoustics / Accapella / Modern Jazz / K-Pop / Reggae (Modern / Updated) / Soul 70s (Good) - Classic Jazz / Indie -General/Original Reggae/Metal/Modern Instrumentals (Neutral) -Classic *not much room to test*(needs improvement) -Rock/Alternative/Punk Rock/Classic Rock. Overall too much bass. In general, the better a track is mastered, the more likely it is that the BA10 will outperform it in the sonic representation of the track. OF COURSE, in each of the genres listed, there are artists who are exceptions to the rule! So PLEASE don't take my list for granted, these are simple generalizations that I have noted and can be considered as an overview. Unfortunately Rock tends to get stuck on too much energy and ends up being very dirty and loud with no discernible details or vocals. If you want to listen to rock you should look for true open-back headphones as they tend to capture detail in rock much better than most IEMs, but if that's not an option a decent pair of dynamic driver headphones like the Fiio EX1 might do well. General thoughts ---------- At $90 they're about what I would expect in terms of sound, to be honest they sound good and I'll definitely be using them quite a bit. I think KZ made a great attempt to launch a flagship model. If the bass were tuned a little better to be less intrusive and the highs were fuller, they could easily come close to perfection in my opinion. 5 drivers per side is actually very optimal and it seems like KZ figured it out as they now have 3 models with this feature. If they fit into the ZSN mold along with the mentioned setup, I won't hesitate to buy the next flagship model! Note to KZ ---------- You are now in the ring with the big boys. If you want to survive in the audio market and not be king of the budget, you really need to surprise us with your future value propositions. The high-end market is saturated with incredibly well-tuned headphones. You've got your 10 drivers setup right, all you have to do is perfect your driver setup and you'll be on your way to healing Fiio, Dunu and Sony. Then Noble, Audeze, 64 Audio and all the others potentially. Good work so far and keep it up!