WATCH REVIEW HERE: https://youtu.be/-jvoi6LS684
OVERALL SCORE: 6.53 / 10
PRICE: $179 (PHP. 9,990)
PROS:
- Neutral reference tuning under $200, making it an affordable option for audiophiles.
- Well-balanced sound signature suitable for detailed and relaxed listening.
- Smooth, refined tonality with inoffensive treble and present mids.
- Excellent for K-Pop and J-Pop genres, correcting common mixing issues.
CONS:
- Large shell size may be uncomfortable for people with smaller ears.
- Cheap-feeling cable and limited eartip selection for the price.
- Lack of engaging technicalities, making it less immersive.
- Struggles with jazz, funk, and soul genres, lacking punch and attack.
WHO THIS SET IS FOR:
- Audiophiles looking for an affordable reference-neutral IEM.
- Listeners who want a smooth, refined, and non-fatiguing sound signature.
- Fans of K-Pop and J-Pop who struggle with thin, bright mixes.
- Those who prefer evaluating music with a neutral and balanced tonality.
WHO THIS SET ISN’T FOR:
- People with small ears who may find the large shell uncomfortable.
- Listeners who prefer an immersive, technical, and dynamic sound presentation.
- Fans of jazz, funk, and soul who want a more punchy and tactile sound.
- Those who expect premium cables and accessories at this price range.
RECOMMENDED GENRES:
- J-Pop
- K-Pop
- Modern Pop
- Brighter mixed pop
SHORT REVIEW
The ZiiGaat Lush is a rare reference-neutral IEM under $200 that offers a refined, smooth sound signature with excellent balance, but its large size, disappointing cable, and lack of engaging technicalities make it more suited for critical listening than fun, immersive experiences.
FULL REVIEW:
Sometimes, it’s nice to have a set that’s dead neutral as a “reference” when listening to music. A set that won’t overemphasize anything and just sound good. The problem? It’s kind of hard to find a proper “reference” set without spending a fortune. The cheapest that I’ve personally tried is the Softears Studio 4, and that’s a rather hefty $400.
But with the release of the ZiiGaat Lush, can we finally have a slightly more affordable “reference-tuned” set that’ll fulfill all your audio needs?
Hush Hush!
Out of all of Linsoul’s “flagship” brands, ZiiGaat has been one that I’ve been fascinated with as they seem to play a similar game to Thieaudio but tackling the lower price range. This is a fascinating proposition since Thieaudio IEMs have been hyped to death for years and a brand offering similarly tuned products but being far more affordable is great for the consumers.
However, the quality of the product is king at the end of the day. If ZiiGaat cannot deliver in that front despite offering similarly tuned and sounding products, what’s the point? That’s what we’re here to find out with the $179 Lush which contrasts their usually aggressive and musical offerings with a studio-like sound. Let’s see how well this set performs!
UNBOXING
Maybe I’m spoiled with other brands, but I was really disappointed with the unboxing experience of the Lush.
Here’s a full list of accessories:
- IEMs
- Carrying Case
- Cable
- Eartips
- Paperwork
I mean, $179 for this much? I’ve seen worse but it doesn’t mean this has to be the norm. The case is unique but ridiculously hard to use, even after weeks of ripping it open and closing. The eartips remind me of Letshuoer’s 07 style eartips which are great, but do not fit the sound of the Lush. I think they could have added at least more eartip selection.
BUILD & FIT
The Lush is your typical resin-built hybrid IEM with a sparkly faceplate, minimal branding and a large shell size.
If you held this in front of me, I cannot tell you what this IEM is. That’s not a bad thing, especially for people who don’t really want to stand out with their IEMs. But it means that in the sea of resin built IEMs, these won’t stand out.
Where this would stand out is in its size. Despite just being a 5 driver set, it is massive. People with larger ears would probably find this comfy, but people with smaller ears will suffer. I have a friend who bought a lush for themselves and found it very uncomfortable. Personally, with the right eartips, these will fit my ears right. Definitely not with the stock eartips, though.
The cable is functional but very disappointing for the price. It’s light and thin, but feels very cheap and tangle prone. It feels like those cheap $5 Jcally cables. But at least it’s comfortable and does not irritate my sensitive skin.
SOUND
Sound Signature
The Lush is, quite literally, one of the flattest IEMs I’ve ever heard. There’s a bit of subass emphasis sure, but the rest of the frequency is so deadpan flat that I might even say that this is one of the first true “reference” IEM under $200. The mids are intimate and full-bodied without sounding too warm and bloated and the treble is inoffensive but present with decent extension. Admittedly, you can hear the limitations of the drivers at this price with the very very slight plasticky timbre on certain tracks, but it’s so minimal it doesn’t bother me at all.
Source Pairing
Very easy to drive and responds minimally to sources
Volume Scaling
Despite being a flat IEM, this is one of the few IEMs that I really don’t mind at lower listening volume. At the same time, this is a set that scales really well with volume. At lower volumes, the subbass stands out more than the mids and treble, but equalizes the higher volume you listen.
Listening Experience
Most IEMs usually have a distinctive quality, especially nowadays with many sets trying to get that “perfect balance” tuning that often has a hefty subbass emphasis and an ever so slightly energetic treble presentation. This makes it a “versatile” tuning for most genres, except for one. Or should I say, one style of mixing.
K-Pop has always been problematic for me. Being a treblehead, I can never properly “enjoy” K-Pop music on its own because the mixing of 90% of the K-Pop that I listen to sounds too thin and brittle. This mostly has to do with the emphasis on female vocals and compensating on the device being played, from headphones to crappy phone speakers. If it sounds decent on one, it should sound decent on another. But I don’t like listening to K-Pop because of that reason.
Until I listened to K-Pop on the Lush. It almost felt like a part of my life I’ve been missing was revealed to me. It actually sounded listenable. The bass is finally brought up to a balanced level, the mids sounding “right” and the treble does not sound as abrasive and rough like on most IEMs I listen to. It sounds correct.
Obviously, we still have to compensate for the compression and limiter to ensure the dynamic range is compressed to sound good on whatever headphone or speakers which the Lush still unfortunately presents. But at the very least most of the K-Pop I listen to is actually listenable at higher volumes with an acceptable sound quality.
My current obsession is with UNIS, the latest 5th Gen Group that has been taking the K-Pop world by storm (there are 2 Filipinos so I have to support them) and their mixing is your typical K-Pop style mixing but improved from the ye olden days of Twice and their extremely thin and brittle mixing. This means a track like SWICY still has tendencies of sounding a little bit thin, especially on the vocals and percussives. Not on the Lush. The Lush can present the vocals in a bodied but not overly warm manner while presenting the bass and treble in a euphonic way that doesn’t intrude on the rest of the mix. The bass goes deep enough and sounds clean enough to make the more bassy sections of the track sound immersive but non-intrusive and the treble is very safe, smooth and free from any sibilance or harshness. Vocals, in particular, are a highlight because despite the energetic mix, vocals still have a good level of emphasis and detail that I found most audio gears nowadays tend to sound congested. Obviously, the mix is 90% to blame why the song sounds like this and not even parametric EQ can fix the fundamental flaws in K-Pop mixing. But the fact that the Lush can somehow provide a satisfying and enjoyable listening experience when I genuinely could not enjoy K-Pop on its own before is a feat on its own.
But obviously, it’s just K-Pop that is affected by this presentation. Brighter mixed songs, especially J-Pop benefit from the more “lush” sound and allows for the rest of the mix to be heard while toning the overly emphasized parts of the mix. Something like Giga’s Remix of Ado’s Ussewa. Giga is infamous for his complex and occasionally edgy mixing with a lot of emphasis on the treble. I don’t usually like listening to his music on higher volumes with most sets that I have, but the Lush makes listening to his music genuinely enjoyable. I would mention more specific songs, but I don’t know Japanese to tell you their titles. Just know that if it’s a Giga track, it’ll sound great on the Lush.
However, the tides shift ever so slightly once you move into jazzy, funky and soul tracks. I don’t know about you, but I think those genres enjoy a nice, tactile and physical sound with a strong attack. The Lush has none of these and present music in a linear but engaging enough manner to not be stale. This means that throwing this into something like Vulfpeck or Woody and Jeremy would sound decent, but it’ll almost sound like you’re monitoring the music itself rather than enjoying it. Not to say you can’t enjoy them on the Lush, but I’ve heard sets play back those two artists better than the Lush.
Its main strength is also its main weakness. Linearity, smoothness and neutrality with a slight subbass boost is great if you’re trying to hear everything in the mix. But the way the Lush presented it is a little too smooth and a little too toned down. Bass is deep but not very tactile or punchy, the mids are forward and present but lack the crispness and openness than more technical sets have and the treble, while totally inoffensive without sounding dark or rolled off, is very tame and doesn’t give that level of “brilliance” that I look for in IEMs. And that’s not a bad thing. I love sets that can do a lot of things decently. It makes the set a versatile and safe set to use and recommend. Plus, isn’t it nice to have a set that you can use when you’re evaluating new music without the fear of feeling like the set you’re listening to might not present the music in at least a presentable way?
That makes this rather lackluster technical ability all the more forgivable. It’s not a distracting set nor is it a set that you use to pick apart the music. It’s a set that you use to just relax, chill and have a lush listening experience. But I will clarify that this is not a technically inept set. Far from it. I’ve heard sets that are less capable than this for more money. It’s more along the lines of presenting the essentials and no more than that. That’s the essence of a studio reference set and that’s what the Lush is. No immersive stage and imaging, no exceptional separation and layering. But one thing is for sure. This thing sounds refined as heck. It doesn’t sound forced nor does it sound unresolving. It’s not energetic or “lively” but it doesn’t sound too dead either.
It’s a proper reference neutral sound that doesn’t do any more than it has to do. Versatile, refined and smooth. Not quite the flagship level of nuance and detail, but I’d argue that it doesn’t need to do that.
Maybe a small nitpick would be the slight metallic timbre, but it’s minor enough that I don’t really want to count it as a con. But it’s still something worth noting, especially if you’re a stickler for timbre.
COMPARISON
vs Kiwi Ears KE4
If you’ve seen my KE4 review, you would know how I think the KE4 is a solid balanced set that suffers from excessive warmth on certain tracks. The KE4 is actually one of the few sets that play through K-Pop and brighter mixed tracks, but the midbass is so bothersome that I still think the warmth affects my overall enjoyment. The Lush fixes that issue and actually sounds pretty balanced. However, as a whole, the KE4 is the more fun set for more genres and the warmth helps make it sound more immersive compared to the Lush. The KE4 stands as your “meta” option while the Lush stands as your “reference” option. The difference? KE4 tries to sound fun and the Lush doesn’t.
vs NiceHCK NX8
Even warmer and more colored than the KE4, the NiceHCK NX8 is the option for people who found the KE4 too boring. This means that compared to the Lush, the contrast is even stronger with the NX8 making music sound thick and engaging with a bit of sparkle to give energy to vocals and instruments. The NX8 is also more technically capable and revealing compared to the Lush. However, the Lush is the more refined, smooth and tonally superior set with better timbre than the NX8.
vs Dunu Kima 2
Besides the Lush, the Kima 2 is the other set that I’d consider to be reference neutral in the sub $200 range. The main difference being the Kima 2 having more warmth and lushness in the sound compared to the Lush (ironically). The Kima 2 is also less technically capable than the Lush, but has better timbre thanks to the single DD by nature being more coherent than the 5 driver hybrid of the Lush. This means that, depending on what kind of neutral you enjoy, the Kima 2 and the Lush are your two best choices for reference sound.
vs Letshuoer Galileo
This was the OG reference set in the sub $200 range and it did its job really well with the exception of sounding unresolving. As a whole, the Lush is basically a better version of the Galileo in every single way as a reference neutral set.
vs Simgot Supermix 4
From the distant Harman lands, the Supermix 4 is the more technical, detailed and engaging set at the cost of sounding like a Harman IEM. The Lush made me dislike traditional Harman sets for certain genres because of its subdued upper mids and treble making music sound so much more listenable. However, the Supermix 4 also made me appreciate the added liveliness and energy in certain genres that need that energy. The two contrast each other pretty well and comes down to preference and your use case.
CONCLUSIONS:
The Lush does its job of being a studio reference set really, really well. And considering its price, it almost feels like the Lush is a first of its kind. I haven’t heard of an IEM in this price range that achieves this level of neutrality without compromising a specific part of the sound. Some may call this neutral, but I’d say that’s by design. I found this set to excel especially for people who want to enjoy their favorite K-Pop or J-Pop at higher volumes and with better timbre.
However, the most disappointing part of the Lush is arguably the non-sound factors. For a 5 driver set, this thing is massive compared to other 5 driver sets. Tip rolling may help some people, but the large size will not accommodate people with smaller ears. Additionally, the cable and eartips are just disappointing for the price and not what I’d imagine would come with a $179 IEM. The case got better after a few weeks of use, but it’s still occasionally troublesome.
But if you don’t care about all that and just want the best reference neutral set under $200, I cannot think of a better set than the Lush.
Thank you for reading my review on the ZiiGaat Lush.
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