PRICE: $45

PROS:

• Faithful improvement of the KZ House sound
• Versatile tuning (from bright u-shaped to neutral bright)
• Very clean bass presentation
• Open and airy sounding vocals
• Sparkly, detailed treble
• Good technicalities for the price
• Comfortable fitting

CONS: 

• Can sound quite hot
• Lean, dry sounding vocals
• Distinctly metallic timbre
• Poor accessories

WHO THIS UNIT IS FOR:  

• People who like the old KZ sound
• Trebleheads
• People who want versatile tuning
• People who like clean, open and snappy sounding vocals

WHO THIS UNIT ISN’T FOR:

• Treble sensitive people
• Bassheads
• People who want a natural sounding timbre
• People who want bodied vocals

RECOMMENDED GENRES: 

• Classical
• Vocal Pop
• Instrumentals

SHORT REVIEW: 

Just like the ZSN Pro 2 released a few months ago, the ZS10 Pro 2 is a faithful improvement to the legacy of the old ZS10 series cemented in Chi-Fi by keeping fun and bright sound while sounding considerably more refined than the previous sets. It’s not an everyone-everywhere set as these cater to those who love the old KZ sound, but it’s very good at reviving an old series with a new and improved sound! RECOMMENDED WITH CAVEATS!

FULL REVIEW

Many talk about the house sound of a brand defining who their IEMs are for. Some brands stick to this mentality much more than others, while others choose to completely deviate from this mindset. But when you’ve released so many IEMs over the years that you’ve developed different house sounds, how do you choose to revive your older sets to fit modern sound standards?

DISCLAIMER:

 The ZS10 Pro 2 was sent over by KZ in exchange for my honest thought. I am eternally grateful for the opportunity. I was not paid. Rest assured, my thoughts and opinions on this product will be of my own honest opinions and will not be affected by the facts beforehand. 

Audio is a very subjective hobby and as much as I try to objectively explain my thoughts and opinions, your mileage will vary. My preferences will also affect how I perceive the gear that I review. Sources and other accessories will also modify your experience. Lastly, my reviews should always be used only as a guide and not as the definitive bible. Trust your ears to know what’s good.

THE ZS10 CRAZE!

If you started your audio journey in in-ears, you’re most likely well aware of who KZ is and familiar with their IEMs, particularly the ZS series of IEMs. Praises were sung with the release of the ZS10 series for providing a multi-BA hybrid IEM for cheap back in the day. So when KZ announced the updates to their IEMs with the ZS10 Pro 2 being one of them, many were quite excited to see what they’ve done to improve the tried and tested formula. So strap in and let’s talk about it starting with the unboxing experience!

UNBOXING

The unboxing experience of the ZS10 Pro 2 is basically like every other KZ IEM with the IEM illustration up front and a straight-forward layout. 

Here is the full list of accessories:

• KZ ZS10 Pro 2 IEMs
• QDC 3.5mm Cable
• 3 Pairs of eartips (1 pair of foam eartips, 2 pairs of silicone tips)
• Tuning fork
• Paperwork

BUILD & FIT:

One of the weirdest changes they made to the ZS10 Pro 2 is the drivers. The ZS10 name came from the fact that there were a total of 10 drivers with the package. 1 Dynamic Driver and 4 balanced armature drivers. But the ZS10 Pro 2 cuts off 2 balanced armatures and has now become a 1DD + 2BA hybrid.

This is for the better, however, as the balanced armatures that they used are the same ones that are featured on their recent hit, the CCA Rhapsody. This new 31736 is admittedly a MASSIVE improvement compared to the aging and arguably screechy 30095 and 50060. We’ll talk more about the sound later, but the use of the 31736 is an audible improvement from the older ZS10 IEMs, despite featuring fewer drivers. Maybe KZ has finally realized that more drivers doesn’t mean better sound.

What they kept consistent is the aesthetics. The ZS10 has kept the metal faceplate with a zig-zag lightning pattern since the first ZS10 Pro. Unlike the old ZS10 Pros, the Pro 2’s grills have grills that make the ZS10 Pro 2 semi-open back. Whether you think that open backs matter or not, it’s a cool aesthetic piece that makes the ZS10 Pro 2 closer to the very first ZS10 where you can somewhat see the internals from the faceplate. 

Fit-wise, it’s your usual KZ shape which is either very comfortable or slightly comfortable. I’ve never really given KZ the praise for the comfort in their IEMs, but they deserve it on many of their “normal” IEMs (looking at you, Rhapsody, and Hydro). Build quality is also your usual KZ build which means, just like the fit, is perfectly fine overall. 

SOUND:

NOTE: As the ZS10 Pro 2 has 5 official sound signatures, I’ll be talking about the default (UUUU) configuration and comparing it to the other tuning modes in their respective section.

Sound Signature: 

The ZS10 Pro 2 keeps the fundamental DNA of the ZS10 Pro with a bright v-shaped sound signature but cleans it up to modern tuning standards. This means a cleaner, tighter, and faster bass, cleaner and leaner mids, and a sparkly, bright but smoother treble. This genuinely sounds like a modern revival of their old KZ sound and I am all for it! However, they also retained the rather metallic sounding treble that was also present in the older ZS10 Pros, but you could say that’s a part of the listening experience with this series. 

Drivability:

The ZS10 Pro 2 has an impedance of 25-28 ohms and a sensitivity of 108dB, which means this thing is VERY easy to drive. Using your smartphone will be more than enough in terms of volume and enjoyment, but using a better source improves the transient smoothness and giving better technical detailing to the sound. Recent KZ IEMs have been quite the scaler, and I’d like to attribute it to the 31736 BAs, but that would be speculating. 

Bass

The bass of the ZS10 Pro 2 is lean, clean and surprisingly tight for a series that was known for being a little bloated in the midbass. The ZS10 Pro 2 completely shifts the bass to basically be a very clean yet deep and engaging bass. It goes surprisingly deep too as the overall presentation leans to subbass over midbass, which means rumble is king! This also means that the midbass is a little thin and lacks punch and texture which I found quite disappointing, but understandable considering the tuning philosophy they’ve wanted for the ZS10 Pro 2. This is definitely not for bass heads, but has more than enough low-end energy to be present when it calls for it. 

Listening to Liz by Remi Wolf presented the bass in a rather clean, deep and well-defined way but lacks the midbass  texture that I usually look for in this track. However, the deeper rumble in the bass feels quite satisfyingly clean to listen to as it kept the midrange uncolored from any warmth or bleed from the bass. This ensured that the instruments in the lower mids still sounded quite clean despite the boosted subbass. 

Mids

The mids of the ZS10 Pro 2 is alright. Nothing fantastic but nothing terrible as well. The lower mids are a little lean and thin due to the emphasis in the upper mids which makes the male vocals and lower octave instruments sound a little stale. It doesn’t sound pulled back or distant but it lacks nuance and note weight on most tracks that I throw it at. The upper mids are forward and very clean sounding. The forwardness doesn’t sound honky or unnatural, but it does have a brighter and metallic tinge to it that makes the vocal sound extra airy and bright compared to the rest of the mix. It might come across a little shouty for some people who are sensitive to a little bit of shout, but it’s not overly forward and peaks a little later to make it sound more balanced overall. 

This is present on upper vocal focused genres like vocal pop and could be a little problematic if you like listening to tracks that are a little shouty in the mix like Adele’s tracks. 

Treble

The hallmark of the ZS series is the bright, snappy and sharp treble that brings out high-frequency nuance at the cost of timbre. The said is true even for the ZS10 Pro 2 which leads me to believe that this really just is the ZS zing. The overall presentation is quite bright and hot, but I never found that it sounded peaky or grainy. It genuinely surprised me how smooth it sounded for how ridiculously bright and metallic sounding the treble was. Obviously, treble sensitives beware as these are quite hot and can get quite fatiguing over long listening periods. It is quite airy and resolving which is always a nice thing to hear as a trelehead. 

Listening to Samara Joy’s Linger Awhile is wonderful on these as the combination of the somewhat smoother treble mixing and Samara’s darker, warmer tone fits perfectly with the ZS10 Pro 2’s leaner and more analytical sound. 

Technicalities

The name of the game for the ZS10 Pro 2 is detail and resolution. While the previous set just threw a lot of treble at you and hoped for the best, the ZS10 Pro 2 throws a lot of treble at you but sounds quite resolving. Separation and layering are pretty decent, but not fantastic for the price. The same goes for the imaging and the stage isn’t very expansive and the instruments are more 2 dimensional. 

REAL WORLD USAGE:

Casual Use:

I’ll be real, I really didn’t like the ZS10 Pro 2 for casual use. While it does fit comfortably, the sound signature isn’t really something I’d want to listen to for long listening sessions like working or binge-watching shows. I have to tick the volume more than I usually like to get a comfortable long listening session which is not enjoyable, especially in films. 

Gaming Use:

The same goes for gaming as there’s not enough low-end to be able to make games sound fun and engaging. While the separation might be great, the treble energy is way too much for most games that I’ve played which sucked because the treble was almost just perfect for competitive games like Valorant, only ruined by the lack of low-end to compliment. 

VS OTHER VARIANTS

DDDD (0000) – This is the brightest and most bass shy tuning mode and is almost akin to Etymotics without the midbass to balance out the vocal forwardness and a significant treble boost. This is perfect for trebleheads and vocal heads and nobody else as it emphasizes the brightness and sharpness quite significantly from the all up tuning, but surprisingly still has a full-sounding midrange which I did not expect coming from a set like this. 

UDDD (1000) – A slight boost in the subbass which makes the overall sound a little fuller, but not enough to properly contrast from the all down setting

UUDD (1100) – A very clean boost to the sub-bass that adds a considerable amount of depth to the overall sound while still keeping the lean and analytical sound of the all-down setting. Probably my favorite setting as it kicks the bass up enough to not make it sound booming and giving the lower midrange the MUCH needed note weight. 

UUUD (1110) – Basically all up, see review above 

DDDU (0001) – Basically DDDD

COMPARISONS

vs ND Nice

The ND Nice is basically what the old ZS10 Pro sounded like, which simply means the ZS10 Pro 2 is just better in every single way. From bass dynamics to treble smoothness, the ZS10 Pro 2 is just better. The bass of the Nice is thicker and balances the brightness better, but is much slower and sloppier sounding

vs KZ ZSN Pro 2

The ZS10 Pro 2 is basically the more technical and more refined sounding ZSN Pro since the start. Better drivers and better tuning overall makes the ZS10 Pro 2 the worth while upgrade if you’re coming from the ZSN Pro 2 or just the ZSN Pro 

vs CCA Rhapsody

These two sets achieve completely different things while keeping the KZ house sound. The ZS10 Pro 2 harks back to the old KZ sound but is improved while the Rhapsody is modern KZ/CCA. The Rhapsody sounds more fun, musical and engaging but less technical and clean than the ZS10 Pro 2. 

vs CCA Pianist

Just like the ZS10 Pro 2, the Pianist has a 1DD + 2BA configuration and is tuned to be bright neutral. The main difference is that the Pianist sounds considerably rougher, sharper, and more sibilant compared to the ZS10 Pro 2 which sounds more refined. The ZS10 Pro 2 also has a better midrange presentation overall due to the scoop being less deep compared to the Pianist. 

vs Zhulinniao Qingluan Z4

Another bright neutral set at the $40 range, the Z4 has a more natural sounding timbre with better dynamics and vocal tone compared to the ZS10 Pro 2, but the ZS10 Pro 2 sounds more technical, resolving, detailed and cleaner overall. 

vs Simgot EW200

Compared to the legendary Simgot EW200, the EW200 still has a more dynamic, more engaging and more dynamic listening experience. Oddly, the treble of the ZS10 Pro 2 sounds more refined with a smoother but still bright and hot treble presentation. Technicalities is still better on the EW200 overall, particularly dynamics and stage. 

CONCLUSION

There are 2 sides to how you may view the ZS10 Pro 2. On one end, you might think this is an outdated set from the moment it was released. Lean, bass-shy paired with a thin and dry midrange with a very bright and forward treble are things that people might criticize it for. 

But after having talked to many people about their preferences and the stuff that they liked, it would be foolish for me to say that the ZS10 Pro 2 is outright bad. This is a bright neutral IEM with a LOT of treble and upper vocal energy with enough bass to compliment without being intrusive. And in a way, it’s the perfect sequel to the ZS10 Pro series of IEMs. Gone are the bloated and muddy bass with a shrill and edgy treble, the ZS10 Pro 2 cleans everything up and sounds like the modern rendition of the ZS10 series. This goes to show that KZ, as much as they release, are actually improving and innovating their sets to modern standards while keeping the fundamental DNA intact. 

Thank you for reading my review on the KZ ZS10 Pro 2! If you would like to order one, consider using the non-affiliated link below: https://www.kztws.com/products/kz-zs10-pro-2