KZ AST 24 Units Balanced Armature in-Ear Studio Monitor Headphones(Silver, No Mic)

About myself:======START OF INTRODUCTION ======—BackgroundAudio equipment reviewer over 20year of experience in headphones/earphones/IEM/DAP, initially motivated by Sennheiser/AKG.—BioAfter spending a decade with full-size headphones, home audio speakers, I shifted my main listening environment to IEM. Of which, I have over 100 personal inventories —not loaner or review unit—purchased with my hobby budget).—On mobileI enjoyed Lexus’s Mark Levision system, and moved to Mercedes AMG’s Burmester 4D System.—CommunityI have been a member & reviewer at headfi.org —one of the most diversified international audio equipment enthusiast community— since 2008, have 100 IEMs/50 full size cans/numerous DAPs.—My Reference anchorsCurrently enjoying 7Hz Timeless, Softears RSV, Moondrop’s Blessing 2, Blessing 2 dusk, Variations, Aria, Kato, as well as many other current market gatekeepers such as qdc anole VX ($3,00USD), UM MEST MKII ($1,600), Thieaudio Monarch ($760), DUNU SA6 ($560), AKG N5005($1,000) besides consumer brands such as Sennheiser/ Shure / Westone / Sony / AudioTechnica / AKG/ Etymotic Researchms IEMs.—Current favorites & set upIEM fav:[ 7Hz Timeless / Salnotes Zero | Tangzu Wu Zetian | qdc Anole VX | Softears RSV | UM MEST MkII | ThieAudio Monarch | Moondrop Variations | DUNU Studio SA6 | Moondrop Kato / Dusk | XENNS Mangird Tea | TRUTHEAR HEXA | See Audio Bravery | FiiO FHE | Moondrop Stellaris | GeekWold GK10 | TRI Starsea / i3 Pro | Moondrop Aria(mod) / Chu | KBEAR Believe | KZ ZAS | DQ6S | Tripowin Lea | Kiwi Cadenza ]Wireless fav:[AKG N5005 / N400 | AirPodsPro | Moondrop Nekocake | Air3 Deluxe HS / Gamer No.1 ]Headset fav:Sennheiser PC38X / PC37XFullsize-Can fav:[ Sennheiser HD560S / HD650 / Unipolar 2002 / HD25 | Yamaha HP-1 | AKG K340 | Beyerdynamic DT990PRO[600Ω] ]DAP/DAC fav:L&P W2 | FiiO M11Pro/BTR5/3K | HifiMan HM801 | Astel&Kern AK70 |Speaker:AMG Burmester 4D System////////Shelved items(benched-roaster)////////——Big box Brands——Sennheiser:IE8 / MXW1 / Momentum OE / HD414 / HD202 / PX100 / CX95 / MX90VC / OMX90VC / MX760/660/500 /HD450BTAKG:K701 / K530LTD / K450 / K171MKII /K24&26P/ IP2 / K314P / K324P / K12PUltimate Ears:UERM / Triple.Fi 10PRO / Super.fi 5EB / Superfi 5SONY:EXQ1 / EX90LP / EX700STAudio Technica:ESW9 / EW9 / ANC7Etymotic Research:ER4S / ER2SEBang&Olufsen: A8Phillips: SHE9700 /SHP8500Klipsch: Custom2Harman Kardon: EP720Final Audio Design: E500/E1000/VR3000JVC: HP-FX500Westone:Westone 4/ UM2Ultrasone: DJ1PROV-Moda: Bassfreq——Modern Innovative Brands——Moondrop:Blessing 2/ Starfield / KXXS / Quarks / ShiroYuki / NamelessKZ:ZST Pro / ZS5 / ZS10 / ZS10Pro / ZSN / ZSN ProX/ AS10 / AS12 / AS16 / ASX / AST / DQ6 / ZAX / EDX / S1D / SKS / SK10 / Z1Pro / ZEX/ NRA/ZEX Pro/ T10CCA:CS10 / C10 Pro / CA16 / CS16 / CRNTRN:VX(w/BT20ProTWS) / MT1 / VX PROKBEAR & TRI:Stellar / KS1 / KS2 /Lark 4K / Neon / RobinQKZ:VK1 / VK3 / VK4 / KD4 / KD7 / CK3 / CK7 / CK9See Audio: Yume |ThieAudio: Legacy 3 |NICEHCK: DB3 | FiiO/ JadeAudio: EA3| Surplex: HD668B/HD661 | HZSound: Heart Mirror | NF Audio: NM2 | Tripowin: Mele——Start Up Brands——GS Audio:ST10 /GT12 | GeekWold: GK3 | OpenHeart: Resin | CCZ: Plume/Coffee Bean DC-01Other Old classics:HPM1000 | JBL Reference410 | Yamaha YH-100 | Fostex T50RP | Grado SR225 | TEAC HP102 | Goldring GR-104 | STAX SR40 | Marantz HP101 |////////END OF Shelved items////////========END OF INTRODUCTION======—About AST:AST compared to benchmark fully burned-in qdc Anole VX and my reference IEM for monitoring —Softears RSV— for A-B test.—TL:DRI think AST is well worth $100 tag, and compared to $129 monster TRI Starsea(it hits A- in my list), AST still can justify its raison detre by layering / separation and impactful bass.I’m confident to refer AST is power hungry IEM, —same applies to ASX, but much more power-thirsty than ASX—; this could divide impressions to day and night.With less powered source:one may say “ahh it sound muddy, everything is off focus, with one note bass “boom”With high powered source:one may say “it’s the one of the best sub $300, specialized in resolution/ brain shaking bass / hard to attain multi-layering capability which only kilo buck 8 BA IEMs could offer.—For Tech-lovers:-Treble is the speciality of AST; great sensation of warm and calm tuning with astonishing detail retrieval that can well expected from properly tuned multi-BA, the open vent 6 packs of missile launcher-ish tweeter unit indeed is some interesting gimmick that KZ came up with, this is why I’m sticking with KZ even with series of “painfully” spiked extreme house V-tuning” experiences. Some R&D taking place and it works!-Mid, upper-mid is OK, I could use a bit lifted 3khz pinna gain area, but I was able to find my comfortable tuning with SpinFit Cp100 (known as vocal booster) & DAP’s low-pass filter in Short delay Sharp Roll-off mode(which I don’t usually use) to have piano&vocals show clarity ( I have a feeling mid range BA might have intentionally set to negative polarity in order to reproduce darkness, so by tilting the phase delays, it somehow matched back the off-tuning )-Bass is another “wow” factor of AST, well controlled, good texture, the weakness of BA bass (plain and lacks impact) seemed blurred by simply amp it to taunami class massive quantity —which works-Thanks to multi BA, the elevated bass does not totally overshadow mid/treble, as the other range also has some presence—Comparison around same price range $100-200USD:AST compared to $169 widely renown clean-sounding See Audio Yume. AST is well above Yume in terms detail retrieval, but Yume has class-above coherency over AST. If you prefer detail retrieval AST, if you prefer neutral and lean sound Yume.—AST VS $299 Mangird Tea / $319 Moondrop Blessing2/ $330 Moondrop Blessing2 Dusk: I can still justify AST for multi-layering for music with complex composition, but overall I found Tea/ Blessing2/ Dusk a little better tuned. AST is a hard push against these above-class IEMs—AST VS DUNU SA6:compared to DUNU Studio SA6 $549 : SA6 is better tuned and balanced, as one of the sub$1000 benchmarks to beat, AST is still not there, not depressingly far. It comes to coherence / positioning/ transient that could set AST behind SA6 two class below.—AST VS AS12:technicalities wise it’s an upgrade. Tuning wise they sound day and night. AS12 is KZ V-shape house sound, AST is dark warm signature. If you like bright and impactful, you may need to reconsider AST, it may disappoint you.Imagine AS12 is sparrow’s chirps and AST is night owl’s hooting.Basically that describes the characteristics.—Ear Tips: I had to give CP360 on AST.Usually I pass stocks tips of KZ series but I’ve noticed the short nozzle soft white silicone ear tips does good treble extension, which will open up the true potentials of 50024sx6 super tweeter’s detailed layering.If anyone overlooked stock short nozzle soft white silicone tips, like me, you may give it a try

Perfect fitting, If you looking for In ear monitors this are the perfect kind Don’t focus on the price, Focus on what your experience will be at the end with this KZ AST IEM 24

As a professional full-time traveling musician these IEMs are the perfect back up pair! I bought these because I needed something quick and couldn't find my custom pair! I've used them on stage multiple times now and love the quality and how comfortable they are!I also love using them on the road, at the airport and on the plane!Traveling a lot and using IEMs as much as I do will put any IEMs to the test! I give these two thumbs up!

Does not fit into my ear very well - wants to fall out - cord is a bit short

Right out of the box, these are probably the most kicking set of IEMs I've ever used. I've never demo'd a pair of oBravos or Vision Ears and I guess someone could say that a $5000 or $10k pair of phones might sound better. But these 24 armature KZ phones are my new 1st choice for stage ears. I wear them several nights a week in different live music scenarios and they are perfectly weighted and comfortable. As a keyboardist who also kicks LH bass, I need a big low end plus plenty of "punch." If you're in that $150-$200 budget for a pair of IEMs, look no further. Not dissappointed. Easy recommend.