KZZAR in-Ear Monitor 7BA+1DD Hybrid 8 Drivers Earbuds HiFi Bass Noise Isolation Earphones, Clarity in All Frequency Stereo Sound Comfortable Headphones for Audio Engineers, Musicians(No Mic)

After four months of using these KZ ZAR buds, I am happy I went with these. I did a lot of research before I pulled the trigger on a pair of IEM earbuds. So, I felt it appropriate to post my experience of what I purchased here on Amazon. Here's my thoughts:BUILD:As a drummer and vocalist, I will admit I’m very hard on my gear, including my headphones. Sticks hit the wires, they get yanked out of my ears due to aggressive playing style, they bounce off of gear and so on.- After four months the wires still seem brand new, very flexible and the jack connection is still solid.- I love the unique twisted wires from the jack to the separator.- The outer cases show no sign of wear.- I also really like that they use the 2-pin "C" style to connect the wires to the body of the IEMs, as they do not spin like the round "new style" connectors. Those are much harder to put in on the fly, if you are in a rush or have removed one in the middle of a song. It's really very hard to do with one hand...UPGRADED WIRES:The manufacturer KZ, talks about upgraded silver wires. I don’t know how much this helps the audio, but given the build quality, I assume it does.- You don’t get much noise traveling through the wires to your ears, from it rubbing on your clothing or hitting your body, like you do from lower end earbuds with thinner wires/cables.- I also really, really like the fact that it is braided differently from where it comes out of the jack up to the splitter. An obvious upgrade and giving a bit more substance so it hangs nicely and does not get twisted up, but not too heavy.- Something not mentioned in the description; the wire that comes out of the earbuds has about a 3-inch sheathing to keep the two wires in place, which helps for supporting in the wires, direction so they stay together and not get caught on your ears. I had no idea this would be as beneficial as it is.(It’s hard to see in my picture, my thumb is holding the wire in place where the sheathing stops.)SOUND:The 8 drivers per ear are well balanced, I can hear the music in great detail.These are not ultra flat but not dull either. They are well balanced without overly V-curved either, in their frequency responses. The imaging and separation are good enough to tell the two guitarists apart when the levels are equal. Bass is loud and clear, but not hyped or overbearing. Like any set of earbuds, you're not going to get sub bass prominent in a full range mix. However, I can hear the 80K range that my bass drum produces. I have my kick drum higher in my mix, and the drivers do not have a problem separating that low end vs. the vocals and guitars without any frequency cancelling out or dominating the others.NOISE CANCELING:KZ's marketing says "You could conceivably not notice the apocalypse if you had these on."Well...Let's scale it down a bit folks. Without an internal DB meter, I cannot say if they are "capable of blocking up to 36 dB of noise" as noted.- However, what I can tell you that with just drums and three vocalists in my IEM mix, I can hear the bass and the guitarist (that always, always play too loud), now at a reasonable level. That's a huge win for me! - I do have to remove one ear to hear talking between songs, IF it is not done into a microphone.CONS:The only downside is they 'can' hurt the top of my ears after prolonged use. This is because when you put them in what feels like the natural position to go in, the wire harness sits against the front/top of your ear.THE FIX:After putting them in, rotate both of the IEM's forward, and there is no pressure on your ear.THE BOTTOM LINE: Overall I really like these IEMs.This level of IEM's would cost a lot more several years ago. Gave a 5-star rating and would buy these again if needed, or for the price, as a backup. These will be my main in-ears for now.PS ... IF YOU PURCHASE:An accessory I purchased on Amazon that I really recommend is the KZ–AZ09. You'll need the model with the C pin. It is a Bluetooth attachment/upgrade ear hook that attaches in place of the wire, so you can wear them as normal earbuds. While I’ve only used them once on a plane, they worked flawlessly. Connected to my iPhone seamlessly, and the set up was great listening to movies on a cross-country trip. It really let me experience the separation of the 8 drivers per ear.

Unbelievable sound at the price point. Better than ones I paid much more for.

This isn't my first pair of IEMs from this company. Previously, I used the ZS10 Pro, and they were great. I bought these thinking they might be a good upgrade, but they're not great for me. For rock/metal, they sound great. Music closer to pop is their weak point. The IEMs themselves also have a great fit in my ears and are particularly comfortable. The cord, however, fits poorly on my ears and makes it feel like it's trying to come off. Length-wise, the cord is fine to me. Compared with the ZS10 Pro, I would go for the ZS10 Pro again at half the cost and better tuning for what I listen to. They would just take whatever you threw at them and sound good. These took a bit of EQ to be balanced out and not make the highs sound like they're coming through a cardboard speaker.So, if you listen to rock/metal, these are for you. But if you listen to music closer to pop or a mix of genres like I do, these are not for you.

As someone who has only recently tried an IEM, these were my second pair. My first being FiiO JH3s which are half the price. If you can appreciate the details in the sound your hearing these are leaps ahead the first pair I bought. While at a hardware level these have much more driver behind them and it shows. I paired these with a DAC and it only got better.My Pros.•Huge bass range, these hit new lows I didn’t know I knew existed. I’m usually a speaker listen and the low end clarity on these shocked me.•The mid range follows the low with great clarity. Great volcals that don’t feel washed out by the bass. There is clear separation.•Build quality is great they feel solid in the hand while also being light weight. The connector is reinforced and feels very secure, something I had issues with my first pair.•Fit is great. I don’t even realize they’re in, they stay in. Enough said.•Cable is very flimsy in a good way, seems to be just rigid enough to not tangle. The connectors on both sides are very high quality.My Cons.The high end leave a little to be desired. This is my opinion others may feel differently but I find the higher side of things to be sometimes subdued by the low end and mid range, there is great tone but it’s not as sharp as other headphones I’ve used. I knew this going in as I wanted the low end kick these have•NO CASE! I would have really liked to have at least seen a soft carrying pouch or a hard case, but nothing. For $100 it seems like that could’ve been added. My $50 FiiOs came with a sweet hard clear case and I’ve actually now used that as my case for these.As my second set I can confidently say I’m content…for now. These are a very nice set of IEMs that I feel are totally worth the money.

These sounded really great while they worked -- I was using them as in-ear-monitors for live musical performance -- but after 6 months of semi-regular use at shows, for teaching, and for practice: the right bud has lost a significant amount of volume to the point where I can no longer use them. (The tips were cleaned frequently and carefully.) I had another pair of sub-$100 IEMs, and the fidelity of these was way above the other set; those are the MEE Audio M6 Pro ... but those also still work, and have a much better cable.I also don't like the design of the KZ ZAR cable; the cable is too short; it does not have a great "memory" around the ear section, and it also doesn't have anything to cinch the cable at the back of my head.I am torn on whether or not to buy another set of these, as the sound was excellent, but if I am going to buy a new set every 6 months: maybe I should try something else.