KZ D-fi review and teardown. the next evolution of KZ!

[@Anily.]

Great review over all and as always love the teardown , tbf fan of it on any tech really, I do have a suggestion you should probably do also some comparison before the teardown like how this compare to what is available in the price range that would be great.

[@SB-ht6kf]

Thanks for the great content. The reason they don't call out the materials of their diaphragms is they are open BOMs...it's a well known standard in the Chifi market. Let stock rotate for a few months and buy another one of the same sku, it's highly likely you will find a different material used. Not saying it's a bad thing, the tuning is mostly everything with IEM performance.

[@matusjurcik6974]

from what Andy Audiovault measured, every switch turn on would change impedance or lower its value. Everything off is almost 100 ohm. Then every switch that is on would incrementally lower the impedance. The lowest impedance is with everything on. Based on the number of switches that are on D-fi can have impedance of 94ohm, 81ohm, 69ohm (hmm 😅) and 39ohm.

[@burns0100]

So I was considering these but I already have the Hola and Starfield so I probably wouldn't benefit from these at all. I was recommended to try the Simgot EA500 or the Hexa but do you have any other recommendations at or around $100USD.

[@rizaleffendie]

What about the non tuning switch of KZ D Fi? How does it compare to the tunning one?

[@sleepe8050]

Question 🙋🏾‍♂️? How come u never took apart the 24 driver Kz or cca iem before being I think that is the most speakers u can get in any headphone period for the price ? Or is there another?

[@hariramv7764]

Excellent videos as always...currently I enjoy tin C2 above all my other iems like S12, PR1 Pro, Olina, Khan etc.....do you think EA500 is an upgrade to C2..better driver with improved tech? Or anything else?

[@JovanKK]

Why is that? Is c2 actually that good?

[@namnguyentran2285]

Can we do the network thing with the planar for tunning? It pop up while listening to you

[@requalll]

Ah, Id like to ask you, did you heard better iems at imaging department then CCA HM20? I love their holographic presentation, and consider my self to be an imaginghead ;)

[@requalll]

Great review as usually! I'm looking for link with filters.

[@mordecuckoo9415]

Great Review and Teardown! Btw they just released a new set called the "KZ Krila" based on graphs it's the D-Fi with switches but they added a 30095 BA driver to improve treble. So it's basically a 1DD + 1BA Hybrid D-Fi. Would love to see your Teardown and see if KZ's BA implementation are working this time.

[@hi-friaudioman]

Actually just posted a video of it couple days ago. I'm not a fan of it, I think the BA was implemented poorly and it's better to go with either the single DD alone, or go with a full-blown hybrid like 1DD, 5BA kind of thing.

[@Siavash128]

Was there the link to the dampners mentioned in the video ?

[@fiddlix]

Thank you Hi-Fri for another excellent review and tear down. Thank you.

[@MarsChan07]

I agree with you about the sound staging and imaging precision on this , In this aspect it beats all my other 20 dollar IEMs. Thanks for this video . 👍

[@hi-friaudioman]

Thanks bro. Much appreciated.

[@atilara]

Can you explain how you opened? My unit is leaking current on the right side and I'm probably gonna try to fix it

[@user-pk1mo5bm4z]

what is the best thing to take for rock up to $35? we need bass.

[@sleepe8050]

Keep them coming also my pockets stay dumping and my wife starts running 🏃‍♀️ 😅

[@roundabout9452]

Will you do a review and teardown of the Non-Tunbale KZ D-Fi? I've heard the Non-Tunable D-Fi seem to have different Internals (drivers maybe) and have a different tuning. Only two reviewers (Akros & Practiphile) have ever reviewed the non tunable and came to the conclusion that it sounds way better than the Tunable D-Fi.

[@hi-friaudioman]

I won't, I'm sorry. I only have the tunable version, but I can tell you they both have the same diaphragm, only difference is the DD in the non tunable version should be the same one that is in the ZVX.

[@Radugazon]

I am surprised to see that the shell is the same as the Joyaudio. Could this company be one more that's just owned by KZ ? About graphs, what you describe as transients more or less controlled following the switches positions could be represented either by impulse or step graphs variations if you used Arta instead of REW....REW works fine with speakers, but gives confusing impulses graphs with IEM, at least on my rig.

[@leongcheehoe5286]

You are right. Joyodio Shine is KZ

[@martincorrales4846]

Hey brother, could you do an internal review of the 24-driver KZ AST? there are 12 drivers per side! crazy

[@thetechgenie7374]

I have those and not good found vox/guitars/other strings - thick, murky, or gone pretty much and Soundstage was distant. Only thing decent was lows. The KZ AS10 are better by far, or go with the hybrid ZS10 Pro was there best as far as KZ goes they made to date. The KZ AS10 are my personal favorites as lows are fast and handles it excellent, fast and clean. Mid bass is great and present. Presence and Brilliance range are boosted as peaks around 5-7Khz presence range but the mids don’t seem to be pushed back and close to accurate as expected. Lows reminds me of planar bass. They perform better then my over $300 dollar Shures IEM’s and fit better. I am a engineer and calibrate and repair studio gear and HiFi gear. Those two KZ models are the best I heared from them. Shame as their newer offerings are not near as good and they put more drivers but cancel them out by reversing polarity and using the dynamic driver to do the work. They do this to get driver count up but they are canceling each other out so pointless in the end. Others did videos showing this

[@matusjurcik6974]

thanks for this review :)

[@thiraipadam6817]

I love your social responsibility and environment awareness...❤liked your video and ordered KZ D fi

[@hi-friaudioman]

Oh wow! Thank you so much. Yes it is a huge pet peeve of mine. I honestly hate possessions and things and consumerism and such, but I'm a fan of iem's. My opinion is you can't listen to packaging and with the "hype" cycle most of these things are thrown away and forgotten in a couple weeks time. China is by far the biggest polluter of our atmosphere with all the factories and such making our meaningless tat, of course we are all complicit in it but there is no excuse for all the wasted packaging except for marketing and selling more units by delivering a dopamine hit to the end user with some flashy package. Not to mention, a lot of this packaging contains materials like polyvinyl chloride and whatnot That out gas and make one's living space more toxic. Long rant aside, I would love to see more renewable packaging and less of it. Just enough to protect the things we like to buy during transit.

[@thiraipadam6817]

@@hi-friaudioman thank you for your reply.. I think we both are like minded...same wavelength...

[@Science_of_Sound]

Tried the PR2 i am surprised by the dynamics and resolution as i was expecting meh sound at this price

[@JCerris]

That's a planar for you, even though it's tuned more like a dynamic driver. Just wont sound as natural as a result

[@Science_of_Sound]

@@JCerris update I got my Kiwi Ears Quartet and in comparison, the PR2 sounds so thin and lifeless. I think I should have get the Simgot EA500 instead of PR2 but anyway I will sell it to someone who likes the tuning

[@leongcheehoe5286]

A Big thank you for revealing D-Fi internal mechanism. I did enquire with KZ and Tyvan Lam about what material the diaphragm is but there's no reply. My guess is spot on that they applied the same "high rigidity diaphragm" (titanium? carbon? berylium?) which presents a lot of micro detail, good separation and layering .. same diaphragm like ZVX. Bought the non tunable version which I love how it sounds .. fluid .. musical .. and make sure you have really good noise isolation eartips to do the justice to the D-Fi. Tunable version with all switches set to off position (DDDD) has very resistance at 95 ohm .. this will reduce the IEM synergy, scalability and versatility if you don't have good source to drive it. Whereas D-Fi Standard non tunable version 24 ohm is the easiest to drive. Anyway which sound tuning do you prefer .. ZVX or D-Fi tunable?

[@aldo-tn]

I've heard that the last switch reduces the impedance, idk if it's true

[@leongcheehoe5286]

@@aldo-tn Not heard, it's already a confirned thing that our group measure the impedance. Flicking to ON or Up position will reduce the impedance .. almost by 15 ohm. You need power to do justice to this iem

[@roundabout9452]

How is the standard D-Fi tuned compared to the tunable version? I've only found one reviewer who has actually Graphed the standard d-fi (Practiphile) and apparently the standard has 2db more bass and upper treble than the tunable d-fi with all switches on at the highest bass setting. Also do you know any other source to look for the raw graph measurements for standard d-fi?

[@leongcheehoe5286]

@@roundabout9452 With UUUU setting you get a V shape harman signature with recessed mid. Standard non tunable is as what you put it with elevated 2db bass like ZVX but treble actually remain the same as the tunable DDDD setting. Try google Paulwasabi for the graph

[@roundabout9452]

​@@leongcheehoe5286 So the Standard non tunable is just another V shaped KZ... I was kind of hoping that the tuning would remain the same as the DDDD setting of the tunable. I'm avoiding getting the ZVX because I think it's too much Bass for me and I wanted something more balanced or neutral.

[@arymaulan200]

Bro..there's another new from KZ release in indonesia..the third edition of PR..the name is KZ PR2..

[@leandrogoncalves9603]

Wheres the filter link?

[@superuser8159]

which according to you are the best DD below $150

[@VanDungLe2510]

To me, olina se and ea500

[@superuser8159]

@@VanDungLe2510 Thank you for the reply. I found Olina SE to have rolled off sub bass which doesn't sit well with me. I still have to try the EA500. Thanks for the suggestion.

[@jogurcik13]

is it worth it as upgrade from kz zex/ cca nra?

[@randomguyonyoutube5875]

I have the nra for over a year now, and recently bought d-fi. For me, personally it is worth it.

[@CammyFi]

I'm pretty sure all of the switches are bass tuning

[@s1lverhand_]

these are the closes to ief nutral 2023 target as of now

[@Randy-nb6fw]

the bird and turtle noises make me laugh

[@lucasmarchette10]

Is KZ D Fi better than Tin Hifi T2?

[@hi-friaudioman]

It depends on what you're looking for. If you want a neutral presentation T2 is where it's at. If you want a more fun presentation D-fi is a good choice, but also they're in two separate price brackets so it's not really a fair comparison.

[@roadtonever]

Just a bit mid forward. I passed mine on to a friend.

[@thetechgenie7374]

If I let my Umbrella cockatoo birds supervise, there would be literally no IEM’s to reviews as would be in pieces by the time my U2’s get done with them. My female U2 name baby destroyed my $350 UE IEM’s once 3 years ago as left them on counter had to talk to someone and she flew to them and was in pieces by the time I saw her. I had to buy a replacement set as one of my favorite daily use IEM’s as no saving them, I would have rather her destroy one of the set of IEM’s don’t use much, it had to be the ones I liked and used for 5 years plus. Thankfully found NOS ones same model a guy in eBay was clearance out for $150 each and bought two a spare set with extra cables, just in case birds find it again. Hopefully not as do put away now after done using them. I learn don’t leave stuff out you care about when you have birds out of cage loose when at home. Because they are intelligent and if they are determined they wait to you have to do something, or turn corner and wait and then destroy.

[@3b0ny1]

The KZ D-fi tuned are huge! If you have medium to small ears I wouldn't recommend. In fact, I wouldn't recommend if you have large ears either. These are way too big and bucky for my taste.

[@paulosilva8200]

I gave away my zvx. The tone was to thin for me. The drums sounded like someone playing with chop sticks

[@user-mv6de3sc8g]

I don't like switch gimmicks. If KZ has the balls, they should make tuning decisions based on their own philosophy before releasing IEMs.

[@CammyFi]

69th

[@mensrea1251]

Enough with the KZ tear downs already - XSL X-One, VE SIE, any of the Penons! 😂

[@migracing8232]

Wait So resolution and technicalities are different now? Wtf You guys throw words around without actually know what you're talking bout