KZ KS6 home user review

Disclaimer: This review is written based on a normal listener (a.k.a not audiophile) and I believe that everyone has a different listening experience. My listening preference is balanced sound and treble-happy (I enjoy clarity over bass). My listening setups are Flac file format, Samsung A7 smartphone with Poweramp, laptop with Dolby Advance sound plus foobar2000.

Short Summary

Cons

• Subpar construction quality.
• Screw-on housing has no purpose and doesn't enhance the aesthetic (personal opinion).
• Imbalance channel (The right side is louder than the left)
• Piercing treble if paired with a headphone amp.
• V shape sound characteristic. High treble and bass. Mid-range frequency is tad laid back.
• The bass is a little artificial, especially the bass drum. A bit more rumble and bloated.
• Sound leak and average isolation.
• Rubbery cable plus edgy housing causing discomfort.
• Large housing may not fit people with small ears. Not comfortable for long listening.
  

Pro

• Dual Balance Armature produces detailed sound characteristics. (if you don't mind the sibilance)
• Very good price-per-performance ratio. 4 drivers (dual BA + dual dynamic) with price less than $30.
• Easy to drive with a smartphone. A headphone amp is NOT recommended.
• Replaceable cable.
• Aluminium housing.

Long story

After reading the online reviews and most of them reported with a positive conclusion, I finally bite the bullet and order a pair (with android headset cable) from Gearbest with AUD $29.37 including shipping.

Afterall, 4 drivers in-ear-monitor with price less than $30, what could go wrong?

After 5 weeks of waiting (impatiently) and finally got my hands on the earphone, things start to go horribly wrong.

Quality Issue

The first thing I noticed is that the left earpiece cover is a bit loose. I thought this is a small issue as the screw on the housing was loosened. So I try to tighten up the screw but it has no end. It seems to me that there no internal thread and caused by manufacturing issue. Then I thought maybe I tried something else later to jam the screws but they are so loose that I ended up losing one of them. Disappointment plus frustration, instead of sending back to Gearbest for the repair (more waiting), I went to the nearby stationery shop and get a $3 superglue to end this frustration once and for all.

Both screws do not hold up the cover. One end up missing and the other I kept it in a safe place.

Aftermath after putting the superglue. A "scar" between the top cover and the housing. It's not perfectly aligned but the seal does not matter because there is a bass port on the cover.

Please be warned this earphone I got has a physical quality issue. Or perhaps it was just me who happens to be the unlucky one. 

Furthermore, the screw on the housing doesn't enhance the earphone aesthetic nor provide any advantage to the listener (e.g. bass/treble tuning). In my opinion, I don't think anyone would unscrew the cover and do something special about it. If you are a KZ engineer or designer, please throw away the screws design and have it clip-on on the housing.

Right earpiece has no issue.

Another quality issue is the cable connection gap is different between left and right earpiece. There is a slight gap in the right cable connector while there is none on the left (See screenshot below). I have tried to push in hard but it won't budge any further. Fortunately, the connector stays in place and does not fall out easily.

Left & right connector looks the same.

There is a gap on the right connector but there is none on the left.

Then, there is the rubbery cable that is easily picked up microphonic noise (e.g. cable rubbing on a shirt while moving) and the memory ear hook does not help to stop the noise much. Furthermore, the rubbery cable irritates my skin when I tucked the cable inside my t-shirt. In short, I don't really like the cable much. However, cable splitter, L shape 3.5mm plug, and the headset controller is well built.

The housing is made of aluminum and it's big compared with others similar earphone I have. It carries some weight and eventually caused some discomfort after long session of listening. People with small ears will definitely have difficulty on the fitting.

Sound

On my first listening, I noticed there is an audible channel imbalance where the right earphone is louder than the left. I used my smartphone to run a pink noise check with 80% volume and I can confirm that the imbalance is real. Adding more salt to my KS6 injury. Ouch. However, low volume listening might not able to notice the difference.

On the bright side, KS6 is my first pair Balance Armature (BA) earphone and it does really bring out the details in a song, up to a point where I can imagine the song environment (e.g. reverb, echo, guitar string picking, live concert ambient noise). With a headphone amp (Fiio E11 Kilimanjaro), KS6 shines until that the treble went overly bright and hot, resulted in some of the reviewers reported hissing/sibilance with this earphone, which is true.

Please be warned that sibilance effect on electronic genre song is the worst of all where high pitch electronic sounded annoyingly buzzing and piercing. Never in my life that I have experienced this before.

Luckily, to remedy this issue, I got a Samsung Galaxy Tab P1000 (with voodoo sound app), which has fall-off starting from the 20khz treble region. Without headphone amp, it pairs really well with KS6 without too much hissing/sibilance except it reduced sound imaging. Another workaround is low volume listening will help ease the sibilance issue. I have tried using comply foam tips for toning down the sibilance but it doesn't help much.

Next is the bass region which I find it a bit artificial, bloated and rumble. Some might even enjoy the coloration. After a long session of listening, I'm not compelled to tune down the bass so I guess it is acceptable.

Soundstage is above average but not spaciously wide.

Overall sound characteristic, in short, it's a V shape with high treble and bass. Mid-range frequency is a tab laid back but doesn't overrun by the bass or treble. Instrument separation is superb and surpass my other earphone collection (All non-BA).

I have tried equalizing it to my preference by tuning down the treble and bass for a better sound balance but I find it hard to control.

Isolation is average and the bass port on the housing will leak sound but not enough to annoy other people in public transport unless they sit really close.

Conclusion

So in the end, how's KS6 performed? In my opinion, this is the first earphone review that I put up a Not Recommended. To be honest, I had high hopes on KS6, as Chinese companies nowadays are producing high-quality products (e.g.XiaoMi, Huawei). However, this KS6 that I have gotten does not live up the hype from reviews I read on the Internet. Well, we can all argue if I get a replacement, my experience might change to a positive note. But I would rather move on than deal with the quality issue.

On top of that, here are some points to ponder:

Is channel imbalance a deal breaker? For me, yes.
Is potential sibilance presentation a deal breaker? I can work around it but not ideal.

The only joy that I can get out from my pair of KS6 is that the BA sound signature comes with lots of details and clarity, differentiating itself from my other earphones with its own unique listening experience. So, it's a keeper for now until I find another pair of BA earphone (perhaps KS6 version 2?) that can match up with KS6, then it will be stored away.

Update: After couple of week of listening, the bloated bass start to becoming a problem, sounded unnatural. It's affecting the sound quality when watching video or youtube and some of my favorite tracks. I even bought the silver cable just to see whether that help improve the sound quality and channel imbalance. Unfortunately, that didn't work either however, it is more comfortable for the skin and less microphobic issue.

 Gallery  

Android headset. One button mic controller. No volume control.

Cable splitter

L shape 3.5mm plug

Metal earguard. Ear tip falls out sometimes since there are is no hook around housing tip.

3 sizes ear tips

Galaxy Tab 7 home user review

I bought the Samsung galaxy tab (3G version, 7' screen size) couple of weeks ago and start playing it around ever since. In summary, I really enjoy using it.

The unit I'm reviewing was used mostly in WIFI. I don't use the unit for phone call or sms (I already have a dumb phone) but mainly for web browsing, ebook, occasional msn, games, music and YouTube. There are no technical spec provided in this review, as a home user doesn't really care much about the spec. Seriously. However, I do care about whether this device able to handle the stuff we're are looking for. (e.g. playing video without a need to convert the format or resize the resolution)

Sound

I love the sound quality. The default music player is superb that comes with equalizer and effect. My preference music setting is Rock equalizer with Wide/Sound Clarity effect. For classical music, choosing classical equalizer plus concert hall effect is awesome. The player also comes with 5.1 channel surround sound but I guess that is for the TV output using the HDMI accessory. Unfortunately the earphone comes with it is average quality and the bass output was rather flat. I recommend get a portable headphones (such as Koss Portapro) for better sound experience.

A side note, do be careful when delete files in the disk while your music is playing. This is because the media scanner will stop the music and re-scan the media again. Furthermore, the stock earphone sometimes will automatically plays music when I pull them out from the jack. I'm not sure why but that's rather inconvienent. Sometimes I have accidently press the earphone call button and music player starts playing. This can't be turn off in the music player setting. Errrrggg.

 
Update: If you are serious on getting good quality sound out from the tab, get the PowerAMP Music Player app music player (tweaking required) from android market. I have tried the app for one day and I already love it. It really changes the sound and music to a new level.

Screen (video and reading)

Viewing angle is great and text is crisp and clear. Video playing is great (with general avi format) with bookmark and subtitle support. Screen is also superb for ebook and web page reading. Anyway, like other tablet suffers, finger smudges all over the screen after few pages turned and links tapping. Furthermore, the screen is reflective type (will become annoying in bright area) and it can be solved with an anti-reflect screen protector.

There is one cool app which is the Digital Frame where I can turn the tab into a desk frame. it can show the clock, photo or playing music. of course it should always connected with the charging cable else it will run out battery fast.

Typing (Blogging, messaging and web browsing)

Portrait typing is easy and pleasant. Landscape typing wasn't that comfortable as the key is bit too far for my 2 thumbs to reach (but increase in accuracy). However, typing on screen lacks of physical key feel thus it's easy to make mistake. No fear, the keyboard comes with spelling correction. However, it was not always foolproof.

Position the cursor in a statement is hard because setting the cursor just beside "I" is hard to pin point using index finger. Highlight, cut and paste a statement require some effort to get it right. At this point, I'm missed the mouse I used for document editing in laptop.

The keyboard comes with 3 types.The Samsung basic keyboard, swype, and the Diopen Chinese input keyboard. Now not only i can type in English but in Chinese as well.

Update: Typing using swype is a joy because it uses gesture for input. It's like drawing on the keyboard screen and your text just pop up. For me, I think it's kinda fun. I also recommended it to my friend with a samsung phone and the first time he try it, he was hooked. Anyway, I will made swype as mandatory for my future phone purchase. No swype, no phone.

Blogging is a joy as once the idea comes along, pick up the tablet, press the power button and I can start writing straight away. No need to hold the idea until I get to my laptop, where sometime the idea slipped away. Writing/blogging can be done on every minute if the mood is right because there's no need to stick at the desktop/laptop.

Synchronization between tablet and laptop is must for me (I hate connecting cable to laptop) when editing my article. Therefor, I relied on Dropbox (which is a great app) to do the synchronization between laptop and tablet for me.

Internet messaging now can be bring around with you to where you go, as long you have 3g connection setup or in a WIFI hotspot.

Web browsing does not have the same experience as a laptop and I always do my web surfing at home using laptop whenever possible. Tablet browsing has some lag and it gets bad when multiple tab are opened and flash content is loaded (always set the flash plugin in demand mode or disable it). Nevertheless, it still perform much better than using my dumb phone, plus web page text still readable using landscape position without resize the text or zoom in. (Get Opera browser for better performance. Please note that some web pages will not show properly but most of the popular website shows just fine.)

Battery life

It can last for a day for heavy used. Light usage may extend the battery for 2 days. Nevertheless, this is a charge daily device because I guess no one wanna leave a tablet half charged when taking it out for a spin. Beside that, I recommend to get a usb extend cable because the default cable is short. Having a extend cable will allow me to use the device while charging comfortably.

App

The Galaxy Tab comes with ThinkFree office (full version), which I think it's essential for any office document reading (including pdf viewing support) or writing. However, editing office document in the tab was not as smooth as in laptop. Furthermore, there are no spell check, thus editing your final work is better take place in the office site in your desktop.

Other standard app such as ebook, memo, alarm clock, calendar, contacts (if you're using the phone function), browser, YouTube, music and video player are user friendly and easy to use.

There are no games included but you can download the Need for Speed Shift for free from Samsung app, which is a very good driving game in my opinion. There are more games available in the Android Market but limited (probably due to different screen resolution compatibility). Nevertheless, gaming on a flat screen surface is rather weird for me because I prefer using a game pad with buttons. Therefore, I don't recommend tablet for serious gaming but thumbs up for Sudoku or Board game which fully utilize the screen surface.

Other app that I recommend install as follows:

1. Opeara browser offers for more performance compare to the default android browser. Dolphin browser for more add-on and feature. (Opera still my favorite choice)

2. Quick Setting and Quick Battery for easy access to system menu

3. Colordict dictionary + dictionary files for word searching

4. Adobe reader for pdf ebook reading but go for ezpdfreader if you can afford 0.99.

5. Taskos for easy manage todo list

6. Catch note/Springpad for better note taking with online sync.

7. Ebuddy for online chat

8. Dropbox for synchronization between laptop and tablet9. Jota text editor for text file editing. Better performance than writing in ThinkFree word document.
10. Viber (text and voice call) and Whatsapp for text messaging using wifi.
11. GPS essential to replace Google maps for navigation.

Purchased Apps
1. Gingerbread Keyboard works much better than default keyboard and comes in black theme, which helps save battery life (Unfortunately, Swype is better which I found it out later).
2. ezPDF for reading pdf files. It has bookmark and remembers setting that you have set for reading earlier. Works much better than Adobe reader plus it supports Colordict so you can search words while reading. Best pdf reader ever.
3. Switch Pro for better power control widget.
4. Juice Defender Plus for extend the battery life
5. PowerAmp that comes better sound quality and control for music player 
6. ADWLauncher for home screen customization.
7. Beautiful Widget, well the app name explains itself. 

GPS Navigation

 This is where the downfall of mobile GPS and Google Maps. First, GPS is sucks for mobile because of the slow respones and coordinate lagging. Second, Google Map is nice but it requires data connection (to get the online map) to work. Therefore, you need 3G connection plus GPS working along and this going to suck the battery life fast (required car charger to fix this). In addition, Google Map does not allow to save location. Therefore I need to search back the location again every time if I need to go back to the same place. For the time being, let's hope Google can fix this in future (as in full function navigation device) to compete with GPS device out there. By the way, the Navigation app does not work in Malaysia.

Price

When they first launch this product, it was bloody expensive. With the same price at that point of time, I can get a gaming laptop. After the price has finally come down over a year, it cost around the same price of a average smartphone. There's even a wifi version which cost much cheaper than the 3G version making them even more affordable to get. I wanted the 3G version because I might need the connection when I'm on an oversea trip to look for more info on a spot if there are no wifi around.

Verdict
Finally, I think Galaxy Tab 7 is great buy. It gets the job done for surfing the web, writing my work, playing some casual games, listening to music and viewing videos on the go. Although the new and more improved version of Galaxy Tab 8.9 and 10 just around the corner but I think the 7' screen is what makes it stands out.

Update: Gingerbread firmware has finally released. You can grab them from Kies software.

Nissin Flash Di466 Review

I have been googling for Nissis Di466 review for sometime and it seems that not much of people write review about this flash. After extensive research, finally I bought this flash for my Nikon D40 (Beginner DSLR, great for family photo shooter). I used this flash for my friend's wedding and the results are satisfactory.

Before that, initially I wanted to get the Nikon SB-400 flash but due to the price point, I find it's hard for me to put down the investment. Until I found this Nissin flash, which gives me a new life for flash photography. Hence, this review will have some comparison with the Nikon option.

Click the link below for specification.

Nissin Di466 Specification

Di466 Advantage

1. Cheap – Nikon SB-400 costs RM450; Nissin Di466 costs RM355 (current price has gone up to RM385). I got the flash from a famous online photography store in Malaysia.
2. Build in reflector and diffuser - This will save me to get a diffuser or save some time to DIY a reflector. I know, DIY reflector doesn't cost much but I rather have it built in.
3. Remote trigger (without TTL/Manual flash) - I won't be using this feature but it's a plus for having it just in case I need it in future.
4. Adjustable default flash compensation value - Nissin flash allow to set and memory the default flash compensation value. If the default value is underexposed for my taste, I can increased the compensation by +0.5 in the firmware. Therefore, no need to re-adjust the value whenever I power on it.
   
5. Flash compensation button – By having the flash compensation button built on the flash, it really helps me to adjust the setting fast. As I know, adjust the flash compensation in Nikon D40 is a hassle (2 button pressed simultaneously plus thumb dial) and I can't adjust the setting in split second with the example below.

Overexposed photo (in wedding dinner) while they having a cheer.

Flash compensation -1.5 in split second. Underexposed but can be edited using Nikon Active D Ligthing.

Di466 Disadvantage

1. 4 batteries – The flash required 4 batteries, therefore I need to pull out extra cash to get the batteries. As for SB-400, only 2 batteries required. However, I don't think 4 batteries is a big minus point for this flash.
2. Weight & Size – Since it require 4 batteries, the size and weight is slightly larger and heavier than SB-400. But it doesn't matter much for me. Perhaps my wife might find it too much to handle.
3. Non-flash shooting – I need to press the power off button on the flash for non-flash photo (press the button for 2 seconds) instead of using in camera control. I think this same goes to SB-400.
4. No horizontal swivel head - I shoot horizontal in door photo most of the time, which only required the flash to point upwards. That's all I need, therefore this really not a minus point for me.
5. No advance wireless remote trigger/Creative Lighting System - I used this flash only for family photo. No studio setup or any advance lighting required. Nikon D40 also does not come with remote commander. Again, this is not a minus point for me.
6. Default flash compensation is underexposed - See direct flash comparison below.
   

Direct Flash Comparison
I have made a comparison between the built-in camera flash and Nissin flash. Below are the result and the flash compensation is increased using control on the flash instead. The first photo focus is different from the rest as I didn't check properly on the photos. However, the camera setting used are the same for all photos (ISO 800, 1/60s, f5.6, TTL flash).

Built-in Flash


+0.0 Flash Compensation (underexposed)


+0.5 Flash Compensation


+1.0 Flash Compensation


+1.5 Flash Compensation (overexposed)

Conclusion
In the direct flash comparison, the default setting for the nissin flash seems to be underexposed (Therefore, always check the photo and make necessary adjustment but I doubt anyone would use direct flash most of the time. Or I can set the firmware to default +0.5 to save some time). The +0.5 and +1.0 flash compensation result looks the same (Not sure whether this is a defect, but I think I lost a 0.5 stop option for the flash). Furthermore, I found Nissin produced slight warmer and much better lighting. The built-in flash's result looks balanced but I prefer result from Nissin flash.

With the feature comparison above, I think the Nissin Di466 has overthrown the Nikon SB-400 in terms of price and feature. If you are planning to get SB-400, check out Di466 before you make your final decision because it's a steal.

Final Note

1. Always check your photo after each shot. Although the flash recycle time took 4 seconds for full powered flash (people might argue it's slow) but it a good chance to take this time to check the photo whether it exposed correctly.
   
2. Crop for vertical perspective - Since the flash does not swivel on horizontal direction, keep shooting in horizontal perspective and crop the photo later in vertical using editor. This saves you to spend time to swivel the flash head instead of focus shooting photo.
3. Off camera flash TTL system – The flash does not have build in TTL wireless control. However that doesn't mean to put you off from off camera flash with TTL setting. Nissin has a hot shoe wire (purchase separately) that allow this flash to fire off camera flash with TTL.
4. Bounce flash will cause some photo with incorrect exposure - Factor including ceiling distance/surface and camera set up (apeture/shutter/iso/zoom length). This applies to all flash system.

Nikon D40 + Nissin Di466 Image


Sample Photos
Father's day Dinner

Nissin Di466 Off camera flash test