KZ EDA Balanced - The mature VK4 / CRA

Submitted by oxtoacart t3_yconnf in headphones

I've been a long-time fan of the QKZ VK4 and its spiritual successor the CCA CRA. There's something about the midrange tuning that's just perfect for me, not shouty but not withdrawn, plenty energetic without being fatiguing or harsh, clear but with enough body to avoid sounding thin. It's not perfectly natural, but close enough not to distract me.

Things weren't perfect though. The VK4 lacked treble extension and detail, and had too much bass for general listening. The bass was mostly sub-bass focused, so on older bass-light recordings like Ella and Louis' Verve recordings, it was fine, but on more modern stuff and especially EDM, it was too much. The CRA fixed the treble extension but kept the massive bass.

I'm happy to report that the next in this spiritual line, the KZ EDA Balanced, keeps the best attributes of the CCA CRA and tones down the sub-bass enough that it sounds great on pretty much all genres. It doesn't fatigue me at all, still has the same upper bass to midrange transition that strikes a perfect balance between body and clarity, and it still has enough oomph in the sub-bass to make me smile when I listen to GoGo Penguin.

As usual, I'm not a fan of the stock tips--their bore is too long and narrow, overemphasizing the bass and clouding the midrange. The small Moondrop Spring Tips work well for me here--I get a deep insertion which smoothes out the treble and brings out the mids, and I get a good seal to keep the bass intact.

I got the KZs from Aliexpress for about $13 including shipping, and I bought the Moondrop tips for about $20 with a free Moondrop Chu thrown in. Like most IEMs, these sound just great out of my phone, so for about $35 I've got an excellent setup that I'll take over the Moondrop Chu or Starfield, the Kiwi Ears Orchestra or the OG Campfire Andromeda any day.

I think I'd even take this setup over any of the many headphones I've owned, including the Sennheiser HD58X, Hifiman HE6SEv2, Verum One, Audeze LCD2C, Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro, or Focal Elex. With the kind of sound quality that's available in cheap IEMs these days, it seems really hard to justify headphones except for when my ears don't feel up to having something stuck in them.

KZ EDA with Moondrop Spring Tips

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Comments

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Chok3U t1_itngfvk wrote

They look hot too. I might have to try these out. I have the CRA's and like em a lot, but that sub bass can be a bit too much at times

Thanks for bringing these to my attention

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oxtoacart OP t1_itngk4e wrote

Yeah, I got these because I wanted CRA with less subbass, and I got exactly what I hoped for.

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blorg t1_itozup0 wrote

CRA+ is another option for CRA with less subbass. Very similar to the EDA balanced but I think a bit better overall, better bass, sounds more dynamic, better upper mids/clarity and more technical with better treble. A bit more expensive as well though.

https://pw.squig.link/?share=PaulWasabii_Target,KZ_EDA_Balanced,CCA_CRA_Plus

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oxtoacart OP t1_itpkoze wrote

Cool! This definitely comes down to a taste/hearing thing. Having listened to dozens of earphones, and having once owned and rather loved an Audeze headphone, something I realize about myself is that I enjoy having a somewhat laid back 2-4 KHz region like the OG CRA and the EDA Balanced, and having once owned and loved/hated a DT 1990, I actually like a slightly elevated lower treble. The CRA and EDA Balanced walk that line of nearly too much treble without ever stepping over it.

So looking at that CRA+ graph, I see a couple of things I don't like:

  1. Increased energy at 2 KHz
  2. The somewhat typical 6 KHz dip that definitely avoids sibilance but usually makes things sound kind of boring and muted for me
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SupOrSalad t1_itnedsd wrote

Yeah the EDA silver is really a good cheap IEM

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FastGecko5 t1_itnivdl wrote

I wanna try these but I can't find just the Balanced model anywhere for cheap. Like all the sellers on AliExpress want almost as much for the single set as the three pack costs but I have no use for a three pack of IEMs lol.

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oxtoacart OP t1_itnjbhp wrote

I got mine from CUFOK Global Store.

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FastGecko5 t1_itnjrke wrote

Their shipping charge is what gets me. Ends up being $17 shipped for me, whereas a different store has the 3 pack for $22 shipped. Seems dumb to not just spend the $5 and get the 3 pack yknow?

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Jing_Arjay87 t1_itodycq wrote

Kinda weird that they sold a 3 pack iem. What's the motive behind it?

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FastGecko5 t1_itoudgw wrote

One is tuned "bassy" (really V-shaped), one is tuned "balanced" (sorta Harman with a bit more V), and one is tuned "reference" (even closer to Harman but on the shouty side apparently)

I think the point is just to get 3 different tunings for the price of one. But idk why you wouldn't just buy a single better IEM at that point.

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Miller_TM t1_itnmr33 wrote

The KZ EDA lineup is pretty good, 2 out of 3 are good.

I myself preferred the Cyans over the Clears, I do hate the driver flex that this one suffers from. The Cyans are also basically Harman target tuning, VERY close.

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