KZ ES4 vs MoonDrop Aria

The ZSA is just a little bit warmer of a sound which some people really like other people like a mid-forward sound personally. I generally prefer mid-...

This time the right channel made a soft pop. Now the earphone that I do have barely gets to a listenable level at full volume on my phone and has the same tinny-ness as the left. The quality control of these units is awful and the process of getting anything about it fixed at all is more of a hastle and wait than I am willing to go through again (keep in mind it's been three months since I've recieved the headphones and not only are neither working properly anymore, but half of that time was spent with only one earphone anyway). Update: The company happily and swiftly issued a refund at request after a breif explanation, so it is at least easy to get refunds/replacements, and for that I give them credit

For the fit it's just like all the other KZ earphones where it goes in my ears and it fits in there but I do have trouble keeping them from falling ou...

If you are going to find any decent in-ear/earbuds, it's worth to give this a try blindly if you don't know anything at all, I bet you won't regret about it. The only one small thing that maybe different from one to another, is that the comfortabilty. I'm not sure what causes it, but this can't stay in my ear at a long time, compared to the Moondrop Quarks, which is one of the smallest and cheapest In ear, but it has a muddy mid which I don't really like. But since it's has a really good price, I can't complain about this at all

Quality control isn't good with KZ apparently. I'm not too well versed in audiophile lingo, but I suppose I'm more of a neutral sound guy that wants to be able to listen to all kinds of music. I've recently found Etymotic er2se's, which are regarded as one of the best sub $100 IEMs amongst the community, for 50$ and will compare when I receive them. If they're not what they're cracked up to be, then this IEM audiophile stuff is definitely not for me and it may not be for you either if you're just an average person like me

Basically, when I'm wearing them, only the tips are in and not the body, so I'll be sending them back. Before I purchased the T3 Plus, by the bunch of reviews and comments I've heard and read about the Moondrop Aria's, they seem like a good upgrade from the Blon's because of the similar warm balanced tuning. However, I'm still concerned about the fit since their size looks similar to the T3 Plus' and definitely those paint chipping issues.

Build quality, fit and finish: 4/10: Cheap feeling, empty looking, all plastic, weird uncomfortable shape (that somehow stays in better than my Arias? ), Bad 2 pin plug design, weird and kinda thick nozzle that makes adding and removing nozzles difficult. Stylized KZ logo is now a generic looking ES4 print on PCB on all newer models. Ugly glue job around DD inside.

It's not all positive however, the Moondrop Aria's can cause some ear tenderness after hours of wearing. Changing the eartips out to custom ones doesn't really help much, but it can if you find an eartip that really works well for you. I think this tenderness is due to the metal casing that is used, but I can't complain too much about them being metal because it'll add durability and make them last longer. If you're looking for a great pair of earbuds under $100 for the gamer or audiophile in your life, this is an excellent pair of earbuds for them