KZ - Vader Balanced Version

Personally I like the Trio and the Vader Balanced over any of the Truthear Zeros. You can get the Trio or Vader Balanced for under $30, and with a good cable from KBEar, you will still be under the price of the Zeros, and have better overall tonality, without the oddball shortcomings of the Zeros. I still feel, personally, that the Zero Blue is better than the Blue2. But I am in a minority for this opinion.

Kz is undervalued, but as you said, it is the best budget iem brand. Castor's successor- castor pro bass, and Vader normal are the best budget iem i think right now. (I've tried more than 40 iem under 25 dollars.)

If soundstage is the most important thing, then og castor harmman is also a very good choice. But vader also has a wider soundstage than castor bass, and is more technical and instrumental. I would recommend vader more.

Vader is less concerned about the problem of getting broken than castor. The build is better, and there are fewer qc issues. No wonder it's a little bit more expensive. If well managed, it can be used for more than five years..as you care

Castor pro harman/bass, zvx pro..and both versions of vader.

Kz vader balanced would recommend its an upgrade from the castor released recently and is three dynamic drivers instead of two. The soundstage is more placed on vader vs castor, punchy while clear, and imaging apparent. It’s musically immersive and can be tuned with the switches as well. If it’s too out of range Kz libra balanced, another well tuned single iem. Best of luck.

ZSN Pro 2 is good and the cheapest you will see a real hybrid at. The highs can get a bit spicy so you might have to EQ, and there is some BA timbre but the technicals are very strong for the price and it's way better than last-gen KZ hybrids for the most part. I can't think of an IEM with more incisive mids without at least doubling if not tripling the price. Another good cheap KZ is Vader balanced. If you want to play it safe get the one without the switches, the tuning is a little bit more relaxed.

Wow more than me! My favs are ZS12 Pro X, Zenith, PR2 (black mesh), and Vader. How do you like the ZA12 and Hydro? I tried to get a ZA12 but it was a scam listing so I got a ZSN Pro X instead lol, at least it was free. Oh, and original CCA CRA, one of my favorite DDs to this day.

From that list Castor or Castor Pro but honestly I prefer Vader Balanced, Zenith, AM16, and ZS12 Pro X as my favorite KZ IEMs.

Oh man, for the price: the CCA trio, Kefine Klean, KZ Vader Balanced and HighRes, TRN V90 pro,Tripowin Vivace, Artti T10, KZ Zenith, gaming and audiophile beasts. (personally I'm more inclined to the Klean, the Zenith and the T10) The CCA trio and the Vader Balanced are similarly tuned, but both are one of the best iems under 30 usd. The Klean have a hidden trick who is you can do a subtle mod on it for improving the bass and tuning overall (stock is still so good), is one of my go to sets in the market, excellent tuning and a soundstage and imaging, and macro and microdetails retrieval delight. KZ Vader HighRes, this is 90% the CCA Hydro, but is a hungry boy who craves good sources. Tripowin Vivace, this is an excellent tuned iem, well priced and a gaming powerhouse. TRN V90 pro, they put all the effort in the iem itself but TRN don't disappoint: Nice stock cable, good included eartips (the trn t eartips are one of my favorite eartips ever, period. Lol), and the tuning is an upgrade to the ST7 because is a fix of the flaws of the other iem. Artti T10, is the best planar iem for 50 usd or less, is bassy, balanced, an all-rounder set to enjoy music and a gaming beast. KZ Zenith, is the best DD iem of KZ, with high praise from various reviewers, HBB and Paul Wasabii included.

There's a lot of more than nice options mate: -Kefine Klean (but there's reports of channel imbalance and issues with the nozzles, my unit is kicking ass fine) -Inawaken Dawn ms, a little less technical than Klean but more musical (waiting it to arrive soon) -Sgor Luna one of the best planar iems for less than 50 bucks (loving it mine) -KZ PRX the best planar by the brand, trades blows with the Luna (waiting it to arrive soon) -KZ Vader Balanced/CCA Trio oh yes, so fun, musical and technical (loving my Vader Bal and HighRes) -Artti T10 the best planar for 50ish bucks -7hz x HBB Elua oh yes , a better and more technical and fun driven iem than legato, basshead approved (loving my unit, is a well received iem in head-fi) -Simgot EW200, dude, that iem doesn't need presentation 😅 -TRN White Tiger, impressive good tuned, interesting config, I'm not so much into the shell looking but is made of metal and well builded, is what matters to me

then, definitely check the Tripowin Vivace, and as a second option, CCA Trio or KZ Vader Balanced.

Check KZ Vader (Non-pro). The balanced version gave me slightly better spatial awareness compared to Castor Harman - have to EQ down some lower frequencies though. Consider if massively discounted and similarly priced to Castors For FPS I can recommend KZ PR2 v3. Superior to Castors, both 7hz and Truthear zeroes and many other budget sets imo when it comes to fps. 15 USD or less, but you can not be 100% sure which version between v2 and v3 you're getting. Honestly great for music too KZ Gale are copying Kefine Klean to a certain extent, so check them out as well.

KZ Vader has been my favorite in the under $50 bunch. Gate looks so frail. Though the anime girl on the box almost always makes me buy it…

KZ Vader is also a good one here. Whatever you buy, you should pair it with a DAC like the Audiocular D07 for proper output.

Wtf. Vader is bloody bright. Nowhere comparable to castors. Also have you tried the castor pros?

Well it depends of course on your music preferences, finances and source of music. May I suggest you disclose a couple of tracks you absolutely adore and would want to sound brilliant with the new IEM. Based on the genres you're into, the recommendations will change. Also mention your budget. Second, unless you are monitoring recorded/ live studio music, analysing technicals, you are not going to enjoy flat tuned iems that people generally recomend. Most people prefer iems with overall good textured thumping bass and sub bass rumble, clean strong vocals and airy crispy treble with a wide soundstage. If you have the option to physically try out IEMs before buying them, you might be able to first time right on purchase. Else, start small and go for starter iems and accessories. Once you are sure about what you like, you'll be able to research and find your endgame iem. I am listing some starter iems based on my listening preferences: Single Drivers. 1. Truthear GATe - Good single 10mm Dynamic Driver, fun sound tuning. Nice bass and vocals , smooth treble. Can be Equlised to make it amazing. Cons. Cheap cable, plasticy, needs 8 core upgrade cable to improve music quality and eq above 4 db boost. 2. Kiwi Ears Cadenza - Good single 10mm DD , fun sound, nice bass , smooth vocals, smooth treble. Can handle EQ well. Looks great. EQ can boost bass and treble and vocals . Cons. Bass is good you will love iems with more thump. 3. 7Hz Crinacle Salnotes Dioko - Single planar driver 14.5 mm. Clean tuning , focus on mids and vocals. Great for vocals and classical music. Can EQ will to boost bass and treble to sound amazing. Good looking set and kit Cons. Can sound muddy with EDMs with out EQ. 4. ARTTI T10 . Good single planar driver 14.2 mm. Great tuning , good bass texture , mids and lows. Sounds amazing on female vocals and instrumental tracks. Good kit, ok looks . Cons. Looks, needs EQ to boost lower mids for male vocals . Tambre is very planar and may sound different to sensitive ears. I recommend Truthear GATe with a better cable or the Kiwi Ears Cadenza as is. Multiple drivers. 1. Kz Vader. 3, 8mm dd drivers. Good bass, mids and treble. Nice soundstage, can handle eq boosts well. Good sound stage. Cons. Need cable upgrade to 8 core (qkz t1 cheap will do) . 2. Kz AM16 bass edition- 8 driver all BA. Good bass, good vocals and treble. Great musicality and comparable to expensive DD iems. Cons. Need better cable 8 to 16 cores. EQ is tricky as the low frequency BA driver is easy to boost , mids not so much. 3. Kz Castor Pro. 2 10mm DD driver. Good bass , good mids and treble.. Can be Equalised to boost bass and treble to sound like endgame bass iems like Punch audio Martillo . Cheap and dynamic. Cons. Need a 8 or 16 core cable (qkz t1) . With EQ this can amaze people . 4. Letshuoer DZ4- three 6mm DDs with a passive radiator. Great sound, good bass and treble. Sounds nice without EQ. Mid focused and perfect for vocals . Good kit and cable. Cons. Looks. 6mm dds do not handle much EQ. Sound is not the best for EDM. I recommend the KZ Castor Pro bass version or the Letshuer DZ4. With EQ and new cable the KZ Castor Pro or Vader will sound better than others.

Agree. Zs10 pro 2 ( uppose to be upgrade ) are crap.Too bright and harsh heights. Vocals sound weird to me. Also overhiped to me are Castor Bass,HBB ''gaming'' collab. I have KZ Castor,QKZ x HBB ( these 2 are the crappiest ) Vader,Zs10 pro,PRX,and CCA Rhapsody. Rhapsody are the only ones that are good for me as a bass head.NIce sub bass rumble,punchy mid bass,present vocals,no harsh or piercing heights ( like zs10 pro 2),Decent wide soundstage.THey just sound good. Took me a while to make them comfortable,was about to give up on them. Definitely i recomend them for a basshead They need short steam eartips ( i shorten the stock ones ) to make them usable for 6,7-10 hours.Otherwise they push too much in your ear canal and cause pain due big nozzle. I ordered some eartips that suppose to work with them ( **Zhulinniao Zhu Rythme** ) but they are in transit and i didn't try them yet. I'd give them a try if u are a basshead.THey are good.

Interesting. I took apart vader and i did not found any part number on them. Same with my zs10pro2 no part number on any components. Do you know by any chance if A30019 are superior to 31736 used in Rhapsody and zs10pro2? On paper both use the same ba but zs10 have piercing high notes,not the same case with Rhapsody so i assume the tuning is done on the circuit board. Also i think those ''silver'' wires have a role also,otherwise won't make sense to use coper and silver wires ( Rhapsody ) I swapped on my PRX those silver wires with thicker copper ones and i have the impression the bass is a bit stronger ( could be just on my mind ) Also there is a chance to remove hot glue with some chemical or something.Heat could damage the driver. In Vader they used some glue that got dissolved by acetone but in Rhapsody they used hot glue so no chance to disassemble them unless i find a way to get rid of that ho glue.

kz castor pro (harman tuned with improved bass) kefine delice ae kz vader (hi-res version) kz zs10 pro 2 or kz zs12 pro x

The Zenith is the best one by a large margin for me, the Gale would be my second choice (EDX Pro 2 has the same tuning and about 2-3dB more bass, I prefer the balance of the Gale though, both are an incredible value for the price (+/-$8-9)). I have or had at some point the Hydro, PRX, Saga (both), Castor (both), Libra (hi-res and balanced), ZVX, ZVX Pro, Vader Balanced/Trio, ZS12 Pro X, EDC Pro, D-Fi and Polaris, of this sets I like the Saga Balanced the most.

Lmao, these people are gonna have you miss out on a really good iem for $13 because of their morality hyperbole. I have every iem in your pictures except the zsn and the Vaders are the best, imho. I've tried gaming with 3 of the 4 also. Don't want a lot of bass. Get the high-resolution version and find the QKZ T1 cable for $3-4, and you'll be set.

Vaders are the best out of the choices you have pictured imo. Balanced version for general music and single-player games. High-resolution version for competitive games with less bass.

Depend on your tastes The current darling would be Edx2/gale for the cheapos. Zvx pro for great budget balanced tuning Zenith, kz flagship one dd with balanced tuning Prx, zenith like tuning on planar which gives less "impact" but more details. Require more power. --- Cca trio/vader balanced, for fun v tuning with ample bass for rock music AM16, thick ish fun v with better res via multi BA setup Vader pro, attempt of giving kz fun v tuning more resolution at cost of reigning in the bass tuning. --- Sonata, kz true flagship. Detail monster for the price. --- According to some reviewers in head fi Top 3 kz (well, ish) right now would be KZ AM16, KZ ZAX/CCA trio, KZ ZVX Pro.

Kz vaders are everything that the castor is but slightly better.

I doubt you've listened to any recent KZ releases if that's your take. Vader, Vader Pro, AM16, Zenith and other recent IEMs have all been excellent for their price

KZ hasn't really fallen and instead it's probably the opposite. They have improved their tuning and frequently get recommended in the sub $100 iem realm. Vader, Vader Pro, Castor Pro, Zenith, AM16 etc are all very good IEMs for their price.

Good call. I play bass and the Sure single driver couldn’t cut it. A friend in Nashville recommended the KZ. I got the dual driver for $20 and the difference is night and day. The triple driver work well too I just didn’t find them as comfortable.