After four years of disappearance from the scenes, the Chinese company Knowledge Zenith which was better known for making cheap IEMs that deliver amazing audio quality for their price which made them popular among audiophiles on a budget, is now back with a new and more pricey product of the under the name KZ AS16 Pro, it has got a new elegant design available in multiple colors options, but more importantly, they are equipped with 8 drivers on each earplug which sums up to 16 drivers total, this will help deliver the high audio quality they promise, in this review, we will find out how good is the AS16 Pro and whether they are worth a buy.
KZ AS16 Pro Features
- Exquisite Design & Comfortable Fit
- Silver-plated cable & Hd microphone
- Metal Inlay Resin Process
- 8 Balanced Armature units
- Noise Cancelling Technology
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Packaging & Accessories
The KZ AS16 Pro comes in a very small black package made of cardboard that feels very nice to the touch, it has one big sticker on the side containing technical details about the product such as the sensitivity and the frequency range, all that information is available in the buying webpage, from underneath it has information about the company itself in black which pretty hard to read, on the sides we find nothing and on the top, we simply find the KZ logo in the center, overall the design is very minimalistic, it looks beautiful and gives a premium vibe.
Once you open the box up you are presented with the headphones themselves sitting inside a hard piece of foam that has a nice metal plack with the KZ logo and the product name etched on it, the foam shields the earphones from any damage that could happen to it during shipping and transportation, underneath the foam, we find all the other package contents such at the replaceable tip that come in 3 different sizes to fit inside your ear comfortably, the 1.2m braided plastic cable which comes in two choices with and without the microphone, as well as the user manual in Chinese and English language.
Design & Build Quality
The KZ AS16 pro earbuds have a very unique and elegant design, they are one of the biggest IEMs in the market, made out of transparent plastic in either the cyan or black color, it lets you see the internal components through it, you can clearly see the different drivers present inside this device, on top you’ll find the metal frame that has either right or left written on it along with a tinted window like a piece of plastic with a cool design with a lot of triangles that change the way they look with different angles, on the lower side we find the huge nozzles with the metal filter which is more solid and enduring than the plastic one and that’s nice to have.
To connect to your smartphone on a laptop, the AS16 pro has a two pins connector compatible with the cable included in the box, and while the pins do the job, they are a little inconvenient in plugging and unplugging and could easily get broken if you operate them properly, for that MMCX connector is going to replace the two pins soon, and we would love to see companies makes this shift faster since it is a much better and safer option.
Overall, I find these earbuds quite comfortable inside my ear, they fit perfectly and don’t fall off if I shake them, especially since they have different tips for different ear sizes, but with such big nozzles and large size, it is no surprise that people with smaller ears will have a hard time fitting these inside their ears and could be an inconvenience for them, and speaking of the build quality, I think they have done a pretty good job on this department too, they device looks very elegant but more importantly it feels sturdy and solid, and it doesn’t take scratches easily, that will help it look new for a longer period of time.
Sound Quality Of KZ AS16 Pro
The Knowledge zenith company claims that the AS16 earphones deliver a sound that competes with 1000 dollars worth of earphones in terms of quality and tuning, which as you would expect is a ridiculous claim, the KZ AS16 doesn’t even come close to that, nevertheless, they are still good quality for their price and will provide you a great experience whether you are consuming content, listening to music or playing video games, that’s because KZ decided to equip the AS16 pros with multiple drivers each for a different range of frequencies, 2 drivers for the bass, 2 for the mids and four for the treble, they all visible from inside the earbud, and even though more drivers don’t necessarily mean better quality, I quite enjoyed listening to music with these earphones.
First, we have the highs, the KZ AS16 Pro is equipped with 4 * 31763 BA drivers to handle the high frequencies, treble heads will definitely enjoy listening with these since they provide clear and detailed audio for highs, even though in some audio files the sound got close to sibilance but not quite, nevertheless, the AS16 pro is easily one of the best earphones in this price range when it comes to treble.
As for the mids, these earphones have a very wide range and provide amazing audio quality, it brings a lot of details and it is well tuned, the high mids kind of hiss a little and are a little on the sharp side but overall you won’t notice that and you rather just enjoy the forward sound coming at you and the high level of details that you can even hear background noises.
The Bass on the KZ AS16 pro is good, the sub-bass sounds warm and has weight the rumble has texture and you can feel it, it doesn’t sound lean or dry, and the Fast midbass is much better than other dynamic drivers found on other IEMs and that’s where balanced armature really shines
Overall, the sound provided here is of high resolution, it is clear the fast driver has no flex, the soundstage is wide and deep, and the layering and sound separation are amazing and you can feel the close sound and the background sounds each one alone and that allows you to emerge in your music better and enjoy different instruments separately but at the same time, also, the vocals sound natural and a bit on the warm side, male vocals are natural and quite in the center whereas female vocals are bright and bring a lot of energy but are still clear and forward, I personally don’t like that very much but that’s a personal taste, some will like it and some prefer don’t.
KZ AS16 Pro Experience & Comfort
I have had a good experience with the KZ AS16 Pro, i have a couple of remarks to add to the review that i think are important, first i’ll start with the positive, these earphones provides a type of noise canceling thanks to the plastic tips which is nice to have especially in complex environments it helps reduce the noise and focus better of what’s between hand, they are also comfortable to wear for long period if you reduce the amplitude, KZ has a table of the maximum recommended continuous usage time in correspondence to the amplitude of the sound, that you should respect to preserve your ears and not damage them, on the other hands, i have found some inconveniences, for instance, replacing the plastic tips was challenging for the first time and the fit was extremely tight but then it was alright, and upon connecting the earphones with the cable, it is a little tricky to place them correctly since they plug in both way but only one way is correct, also the way the earbuds are shaped and the big size of the nozzle could be an inconvenience for some users.
Final Verdict
Over, I personally had a positive experience with the KZ AS16 Pro, the sound quality was terrific, I could feel the bass and the drums in music and the texture was good, the fit was comfy and the cable length helped me use it more freely, so for this price point, I would say the AS16 pro are a fine choice, especially for treble heads, the 4 BA drivers deliver an amazing experience not to mention that the design looks very cool and the colors are pretty.
KZ AS16 Pro Price And Where To Buy
The KZ AS16 Pro Wired Earphones are currently available on the AliExpress Store and Amazon for a very good price So, don’t miss out on this great deal. And to view its price or buy it, you can access the offer by clicking on the store icon.
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