KZ ED4

ø9.6mm Dynamic Driver

$5~$10
3.0/5.0

Bigger drivers don't translate to a better sound, as my experience with KZ ED4 has proven. You would expect a massive bass from these drivers, but you only get a standard one. The vocals and highs are so loud and harsh that it makes you want to take these earphones off and throw them away.

There's another issue which seem to be plaguing many KZ earphones: they use extremely weak glue. That plastic nozzle part broke off as soon as I tried to take the ear tip off and I had to glue it back myself with a more decent glue.

Althought these earphones' sound signature is suspiciously similar to KZ GR's sound signature, the ED4 seem to improve quite a bit in terms of clarity.

Pros

  • A pretty nice bass response, but pretty standard.
  • A robust and nice looking housing and inline remote.

Cons

  • The vocals are shrieky and sibilant and the highs are sharp and painfully loud.
  • The plastic nozzle part is poorly glued, it broke off as soon as I tried to take the ear tip off. Had to glue it back myself.
  • The same gut-like cable KZ uses for their products.
  • The splitter is way lower than chest-level and makes the cable wiggly and hard to control.

Package & Accessories

Package:

Corrugated fiberboard

Ear Tips - Single-Flange:

S+M+L, black (translucent), ø4mm bores

Build & Materials

Housings*:

Metal + plastic (glossy), ø5mm nozzles, soft strain reliefs

Remote:

Metal, single-button

Y-Split:

TPE, soft strain reliefs

Cable:

Silicone (grippy), 119cm, soft, straight

Plug:

TPE, 90° angled, short, soft strain relief

Comfort & Fit

I got a good seal with the pre-applied M-size tips. No problems at all. Still, the generic tips aren't the best at keeping the earphones inside.

Lows / Bass

The bass is pretty deep and precise, and even has some sub-bass, but it struggles with it, almost as if it's about to crack.

Mids / Vocals

Very audible sibilance in the vocals make the whole listening experience fatiguing.

Highs / Treble

Excessively harsh highs. They are so loud that listening to these earphones just for a few minutes can induce a headache.

Frequency Response

Published on 2016-02-08 12:00:38 (GMT)
AS06 ATE BTE C56R DT5 ED2/EDR1 ED3 Youth Version
ED4
ED9 ED10 ED11 ED16 EDR2 ES3 GR HDS1 HDS2 HDS3 IE80 RX S3 ZS1 ZS5 (V1) ZS6 ZS7 ZS10 ZS10 PRO ZSA ZSE ZSN ZSR ZST