It is part me, part KZ and TRN are not sending out as many sets as they did in the past. It looks like some reviewers stopped the budget sets, but some of it is just they aren't being sent out.
Awesome review as usual Paul! Its price is really what makes this such a likeable set because of how well balanced it it compared to other sets in the price range. It's also nice they went back to the D-Fi style tuning because I still think D-Fi is the best tuned KZ to date. Cheers man!
Would you prefer this or the original "old" CCA CRA? I have an original CRA and really like it, but the treble is a bit to bright sometimes for me (is the only iem that I have, and I was wondering if the polaris would be an upgrade) Thanks.
I don't have Nord Plus buds, but generally tws have a large bass curve assuming there will be some bass leakage. They tend to over do the bass which is fun but it is the opposite of most IEMs that require a sealed fit .
@@PaulWasabii i watch you and akros then russian channels on top of that. and read reviews on head-fi. i starting my researching on KZ ESX then goes upper till Castor. ended up buying QKZ x HBB. my final list is QKZ x HBB, KZ ZVX and EXS. for hip-hop and rap. im not bass head im new. budget was around max 20$.
For me yes, but it is subjective. I prefer a bit less treble which you get in Polaris. You can just get the cheaper one as they are similar, but not the same.
The cheaper one? I actually thought the small tweaks to Polaris are better but both are similar and I wouldn't buy both. I think Polaris has the price advantage.
The overall sound is not as bright as Zero, its closer to Zero:2, more bass, relaxed treble. Take a look Crinacle's video on Zero:2 and that will give you a feel for Zero vs Polaris
Lyra is not bad actually, but goes back in history quite a bit. KZ's drivers, tuning methods, and the switches are things that didn't exist in Lyra time. I like Polaris alot, would definitely take it over Lyra simply because you can tweak the bass level.
Castor bass with kbear07 tips. 1000 or 1010 settings and it’s time for fun. It has pretty great techs for the price, they are on par with the truthear zero as far as techs, but imo sound better than the blue.
Both of those are quite good. Polaris was super cheap for a while and I would say give it a try at $12. If you look at the post release hype period on Piccolo, it is a nice set that didn't get as much hype as it deserved. Just lots of competition at the same or lower price.
That is where KZ rarely specifies it so hard to know if that is the case or not. Now you see the super linear DD mentioned. Is that the same unit or do they now have multiple super linears.
Yeah someone mentioned it was well below that at the $10usd level. Again, if you have a few IEMs, probably not the target for this set, but it is a bunch of fun.
@@PaulWasabii I buy some of the cheap sets to try other tunings, and the kids / grandkids get them if I am disappointed. I was expecting this to be more like the Castor, but the bass is totally different.
I never heard Castor Harman but many people didn't like the Castor treble level which is probably more noticeable on Standard, so I would personally got Polaris as I don't like brighter sets.
ESX loses coherence in the treble at volume.. It's a fun set.. Bass bleeds a bit to the mids, but that give a good authoritive timber to acoustic instruments in the lower range, viloas, acoustic guitars, etc.. It's nice, needs the right tips..
@@НИИВВ That's a hard one. I have both.. They are different use case scenarios, hbb maybe more of an all-rounder, use kbear07 tips if you want to refine the treble a bit. On the other hand, if I were to dive into my low end collection I would probably pick up the ESX.. But only for specific things.. So ya I would lean towards the hbb if it has to do everything, the only problem with ESX is if your source is not strong and your files are not top quality, it sounds awful at very high volume. I know this is unhelpful. So if your files and source are very good maybe the ESX. If there is a question about that, or some of your library is lower resolution, the hbb. ESX wants the KBear 07 as well.. Don't use a straight copper cable if you can avoid it, it will reduce the treble. Use silver coated, I think it comes with one like that. Don't buy expensive cables, just get the materials you want. Silver coated ofc for this. ESX is more fun. Hbb is reliable at everything. The tips that come with the ESX are usable, don't worry too much about it..use the black ones.
Not better, but D-Fi tweaked tuning which was right on, more low end than Castor, and not a specialist like Castor bass. If you don't know what to get, Polaris is the one. If you want lots of bass, Castor bass.
Castor bass is a must have imo. I have a lot of sets and it is in my rotation. If you wanted the legato, but don’t want to spend $100, this is a good choice.
@@PaulWasabii, thank you very much Mr Paul. I just got the Castor bass just today. Using it on some of my music. I really like it suprised that that the Castor Bass was soo clean that it doesn't muddle up the mids with how much the bass have. I am really liking it. I really liking this than the headphone I have which is the Ath M20xbt. I guess I am a basshead. But this bass is quality bass.
