So yeah I got these from Amazon with 1 day delivery. They call these the KZ ZST Colorful (or also known as Pro). My audiologist is away until November 1 but I gave these a listen anyway just to prepare myself. I read a few reviews and a lot of them said that I'd need the SPC "upgrade" cable or else they would sound muddy and boy were they right. I ordered the cable + some comply tips separately (also 1 day shipping but they arrived later in the evening) and these were muddy af compared to the new cable. I also hate silicone ear tips so much. It's the main reason why I feel the need to have customs, it's just a comfort thing, I can't do universal ear tips it irritates me, even foam ones but I'll settle for the complys.
Got these in a very Sifo-style aesthetic, the main reason why I chose them to be honest. It's probably what my customs would look like if I didn't go with the Wizard's fancy craftsmanship. I also wanted to go with these because they were the only 2-pin iems available through amazon canada, but then I found out these are the TF10 2-pin so I wouldn't be able to use my cables without permanently expanding the sockets so I decided to get the SPC upgrade cable instead. Ended up costing like $60 cad? IEMs were 27 and comply tips + cable ended up being 33 or so.
I must say though, for the price they're definitely not bad. Probably the 2nd best Chinese IEM I've tried (and I've tried quite a few since before I got my customs I was a chi-fi budget chaser). The best I've tried being the Ostry KC06A but those are also a lot more expensive. I have the Noble 4C which was the flat/neutral monitor in the previous lineup, so I knew I wouldn't be getting anything with a sound signature I'd be used to.
The sound signature is fine, good mid bass and decent sub bass extension, highs with good clarity and a little bright, slightly recessed + warm midrange but no big deal. Definitely wouldn't call them dark. They're comfortable and have great isolation for a universal though.
Biggest difference going from something nice to Chi-Fi is the imaging and instrument separation. These have pretty good clarity with the upgrade cable, but the bass is far far behind compared to the rest of the instruments and vocals which sound very forward.
Main things I can pick out during burn-in: surprising amount of detail but snares and claps are kinda hard to hear in electronic music and metal, kicks are fine and sub bass is good. They kinda remind me of my TH600s at home which is nice. They're definitely way more bassy than my "boring" style 4C but I'm not super into bass. One thing I like about the 4C better in the bass department is the tight and controlled punch it has, which I definitely miss. Female vocals sound kinda dry but very forward. Guitar kinda tinny, lacking a larger body/presence that I like but once again very forward. One of my favourite piano pieces sounds god awful with these, much tin.
Only other pair of earphones I have are MEE M-Duos which I got off Massdrop ages ago. Only thing I remember about those was that I didn't like the bass. Kinda lazy to compare them right now while i've still got my customs but maybe in the future when I'm bored. But really it's not fair to compare these to my Nobles at all, they were never meant to be on the same level lol. I do like these though, sucks that you pretty much HAVE to buy an upgrade cable