Audiophilepure

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“Canary is my first CIEM with electrostatic tweeters. I have been very interested in this driver technology in In Ears for a while, and I am very glad to finally have had the opportunity to explore e-stats a little. AAW brings a more than complete package with this CIEM. The accessories are spectacular, the build quality very good and the sound just wonderful.

The Canary does make a lot of things right, maybe it doesn’t lead the hoard in any particular segment, but it presents an excellent tuning balance and for me is one of the top CIEMs in my collection. Canary doesn’t seem to step a foot wrong, but rather plays it safe. It doesn’t risk anything to go beyond it’s abilities, which makes it a nicely enjoyable ride.”

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“While there is top-notch clarity and a fairly transparent midrange, its lower registers lack the presence which in turn takes away just a little of body and weight on snares and other percussions. Nonetheless, the midrange of Z1R remains transparent and open-sounding while providing a good level of attack.

The focus on the upper midrange of the Z1R is more prominent when I took it for a spin on Alice in Chains’ track “Brother” from their MTV Unplugged album. The track portrays a well-layered vocal presentation from both Layne Staley and Jerry Cantrell. While Z1R is able to achieve superb separation on the vocals, the upper midrange spike provides more clarity and presence on Staley’s high-pitched voice compared to the low-pitched voice of Cantrell which is pushed back just little bit.

Listening to the acoustic guitars from the same track, high notes on the chords are more highlighted but the low-pitched strings still manage to maintain satisfactory weight and body even with the slight lower-midrange roll off.”

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“The new Pro version offers some improvements for both sound and design. Once again we have a hybrid configuration with 1 Dynamic Driver and 4 Balanced Armature Drivers. However the BA drivers are upgraded to new versions, and the dynamic driver is now a second generation one. They promise a more dynamic and transparent sound across the spectrum.

Design wise the face plate has been changed and it has a more premium appearance to it. It is also made from stainless steel material, or so KZ claims. The inner shell looks to be the same.”

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“The decay on the X drivers has a very nice balance with just a hint more length to the low-end drivers moving to something much quicker and slightly drier by the time you get to those two top-end smaller BA drivers. It prevents the X from sounding sterile even though I still would class the timbre as quite neutral.

It gets that neutral quality through a midrange and treble driver combo that primarily focuses on clarity and speed rather than trying to outdo the low-end in richness and warmth. As a result, instrumental separation is excellent and imaging cues are dead easy to pick up and seem very accurate to my ear.”

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“They did equally well with binaural recordings, resolving spatial cues, position, and distance with uncanny precision. The Tucker Zone, one of the best binaural demonstrations I’ve ever heard, was rendered with startling realism and will have you flinching, jumping, and reaching to answer a phantom cell phone. It’s mind-blowing, my 12 year old uses it to freak out his friends when they come over. I also recommend checking out Redscape Audio’s excellent binaural processing demonstration. It transforms regular stereo and multi-channel source material into a spacious headphone soundscape.

Pairing the STWs with various devices was simple and automatic. Though typically used with smartphones, these and any Bluetooth IEMs, headphones, etc. can be used with your laptop, Bluetooth streamer, or my favorite, the Apple TV for late night catching up on episodes of Saturday Night Live while my wife sleeps.”

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“The Equinox has one of the most potent low-end custom monitors outside of the JH Layla for a fraction of the price and a fine example of just how powerful a dynamic driver can be in a custom build. It builds on the legacy of the Vega and Atlas but this time allows for mid-bass presence by just subtly reducing the amplitude of the sub-bass tuning.

I would also contend that Atlas steep 125Hz drop is somewhat more nuanced and slower on the Equinox and responsible for a little more warmth being carried up into the lower-mids. Lower-pitched instrumental timbre, as a result, still sounds powerful but with a lot more body than before.”