KNOWLEDGE ZENITH (KZ) DAWN: Another Affordable Option Set But…..

Knowledge Zenith also known as KZ is a well-renowned audio company in the world with their hard to beat, price-performance ratio products that they release on the market. And now, they have just released their latest budget-friendly entry-level IEM under ten quid.

This is KZ DAWN, and like all IEMs in this price category, it has a single driver set-up encased in a polycarbonate plastic shell chassis. The driver that was implemented here is a 10mm neodymium magnetic dynamic driver with highly sensitive voice recoil that responds well with its fast transient response as it will deliver a deep and impactful bass, clear and detailed midrange and bright treble response.

The driver was then encapsulated in a compact size polycarbonate plastic shell chassis in a modified UIEM-type profile. But alas, it doesn't have a detachable feature as the cable was firmly fixed on it that most IEMs in this price range offer this attribute.

The fitting and comfort of this one is quite excellent on how it rests well into my lugholes without any discomfort. It also gives a good passive noise isolation that this set able to block some unwanted external noises from the outside surrounding.

As for product packaging, The KZ DAWN is pretty spartan with just some basic inclusions inside of its packaging box.

These are the following contents that are included:

• KZ DAWN IEM transducers
• Three (3) pairs KZ Starline silicone eartips in different standard sizes.
• User's manual/warranty card.

The KZ DAWN is relatively a very sensitive set that can be easily driven by devices with just a normal gain power output. So pairing it with multimedia device sources like smartphones (unless if it still has a 3.5mm jack), dongles, laptops and tablets, this IEM will deliver an optimal performance with a full range and very dynamic sound.

As for its tonal signature, this one is definitely on the V-shaped sound profile as the low and high frequencies are definitely elevated on how this set was tuned. It also has a balanced-warmish tonality that makes this set on a coloured side of the tonal spectrum.

LOWS/BASS:

The bass response of this one is quite punchy, impactful and robust as this one is apparently more focused on mid bass which is quite well-textured. There's still a sub bass presence as I can still felt its rumbling and reverberations coming from instruments like synthesisers, drum machines and some low-tuned bass guitar and double basses albeit a bit faint.

The mid bass has the fullness and heft that affects the note weight on some bass-clef instruments. Bass kick drums have a full and pounding sound while bass guitars and double basses have weighty, sombre and broad sounds on them. The deep male vocals like basses and bass-baritones have deep resonating dark timbre vocals on them that sounds dense and wool-like. Take note that there are some instances of bass bleeding across low midrange.

MIDRANGE:

While it has a noticeable notch presentation on its overall frequency range, due to that bass smearing, it adds up some warmth and texture on its midrange for vocals and instruments to sound “natural” especially on male vocals, brasses, percussives and some strings.

On male vocals, baritones have a warm, smooth sound while tenors have some brassy and a tad spiciness on their vocals, and also, countertenors have a velvety with warm and broadness on their distinctive falsettos. As how the female vocals sounds like on this set, contraltos will surely hit a spot on this one as it has a strong, plush and smoky sound from their chesty vocals, while mezzo-sopranos’ voices have a fiery and warm sound akin to countertenors, and then sopranos have a rather emotive and rich sound which somehow fares well with dramatic soprano vocals.

The instruments on this one sound quite natural and with some warmth on it. Brasses like trumpets, trombones and horns sound rounded, full and warm respectively while woodwind instruments like piccolos, concert flutes, clarinets and saxophones, in corresponding order, sound delicate, rich, warm and pale. The string ones, guitars have a rather warm and midrange-y sound, cellos sound warm and sonorous on them, and then violins have a rather sensuous and sweet sound. As for percussives, tom-toms have a warm and resonant sound, snares have some hard and punchy sound, field drums sounds a bit boomy and kettledrums have warm and ponderous on them. Pianos sounds sort of a balanced side as it has a sweet, rounded and clear tone on them.

HIGHS/TREBLE:

The treble response of this one is definitely on the balanced side of treble tuning as it is just slightly elevated on the upper mids up to presence treble which gives a tad bright and clear sound. In that regard, its simply deliver some sense of clarity and definition on vocals and the attack notation on instruments without sounding too sibilant, harsh or piercing.

The airiness of its brilliance section on this is rather modest and it has a less intense sparkle. Cymbals sound rather undulating while hi-hats have a short warm and buzzing sound. Celestas have a sweet and golden sound and then, glockenspiels sounds quite a bit lustrous in my opinion.

SOUNDSTAGE, IMAGING AND OTHER TECHNICALITIES:

The KZ Dawn is capable to project a perceived moderately spacious soundstage as its an above average width, notable height reach and excellent depth for its driver configuration. It does present a two-dimensional stereo presentation with adequate layering on its soundscape and a reasonable separation of vocals and instruments.

Driver coherency is excellent on this one too as how it performs smoothly with a fast transient response on it without any hint of distortion at all. On resolution capability, it has a solid macro-dynamics and its micro-detail aspect is capable to extract nuances and subtleties on an audio playback.

PEER COMPARISONS:

ND AUDIO VENUS

• A budget entry-level set from a new audio company with similar driver configuration with DAWN.
• It has a dynamic driver inside its polycarbonate plastic shell and unlike the DAWN, it features a detachable cable.
• Like the DAWN, the product packaging and its inclusions is quite pretty basic.
• The VENUS has a V-shaped sound signature as it has a punchy bass response, a recessed and yet warm sounding midrange and a bright treble response.
• The technical performance of this one is pretty average but satisfying for its asking price as it has above-average sound speaker stage, a typical linear two-dimensional stereo presentation and a decent resolution capability.

KZ EDC PRO

• A previous model of KZ in budget entry-level segment with similar driver configuration.
• Like the DAWN, It has a 10mm dynamic driver on its polycarbonate shell chassis and unlike the latter, it has a detachable cable feature.
• As expected, like all budget entry-level KZs, the EDC PRO is pretty spartan in terms of product packaging and its inclusions.
• The EDC PRO also has a V-shaped sound signature as it rumbly and punchy bass response, a recessed and a tad warmer midrange, and then a bright and energetic treble response which  makes it a susceptible to sibilance and shrillness.
• The technical capabilities of this one is rather pasable as it has an average-size sound/speaker stage, and less resolving particularly on micro-detail retrieval.

KZ again released another budget-friendly set that defines this audio company whose focus is to release a product that defines price to performance quality for economic-minded audio enthusiasts. And if you are looking for a fun, coloured and engaging sound set that will satisfy your listening pleasure, this one is definitely a good recommendation without batting an eye.

KZ DAWN is available to all e-commerce platform but I will provide a non-affiliated link from KZ's official store below.

https://www.kztws.com/products/kz-dawn

SPECIFICATION:

MODEL: KZ DAWN

IMPEDANCE: 23Ω

SENSITIVITY: 108dB

FREQUENCY RESPONSE: 20Hz – 40kHz

CABLE LENGTH: 1.2m

PIN TYPE: **NON-DETACHABLE**

PLUG TYPE: 3.5mm

DRIVER UNIT(S):  (1) DYNAMIC DRIVER

PROS:

● Absolutely affordable for a budget-conscious starting audio enthusiast.

● Decent build quality on its polycarbonate plastic shell.

● Comfortable to wear and it offers a good passive noise isolation.

● Easy to drive.

● A likeable tuning for both casual listeners and audio enthusiasts that advocates more of a coloured tuning.

● Authoritative bass response that bass heads might find acceptable on their preference.

● Warm and yet a bit energetic midrange.

● Good for tracking on male vocals, some female vocals like contraltos and instruments like brasses and percussives.

● Surprisingly smooth and balanced treble presentation.

● Acceptable performance on some of its technical capabilities.

CONS: 

● Non-detachable cable.

● Dearth of inclusions, as usual on all KZ's budget-level sets.

● Occasionally bass bleeding across the midrange.

●  Less bright treble response with just a modest airy presence that treble heads will stay away on it.

TRACKS TESTED: ( * = 16-bit FLAC, ** = 24-bit FLAC, *'* = MQA, '*' = DSD, *'= .WAV)

Alison Krauss -When You Say Nothing At All *

Jade Wiedlin - Blue Kiss**

Led Zeppelin - When The Levee Breaks **

Mountain - Mississippi Queen *

Queen - Killer Queen **

Guns N' Roses - Patience *'*

Eric Clapton - Tears in Heaven '*'

Sergio Mendes- Never Gonna Let You Go '*'

Pearl Jam - Daughter **

Roselia - Hidamari Rhodonite *

Assassin - Fight (To Stop The Tyranny)*

Celtic Frost- Visual Aggression *

New Order - Blue Monday *

The Corrs- What Can I do (unplugged version) *

Jimi Hendrix Experience - Voodoo Child *

The Madness- Buggy Trousers *

Metallica - Motorbreath **

Mariah Carey- Always Be My Baby *

Destiny's Child - Say My Name *

Malice Mizer- Au Revoir *

Mozart - Lacrimosa *

New York Philharmonic Orchestra - Dvorak- Symphony 9 " From the New World." *

Eva Cassidy - Fields of Gold (Sting cover)*

Michael Jackson - Give In To Me *

Exciter - Violence and Force *

Diana Krall - Stop This World **

Debbie Gibson - Foolish Beat *'*

The Sisters of Mercy – Lucretia My Reflection**

Suzanne Vega – Luka **

Lauren Christy – Steep *

Ottoman Mehter - Hucum Marsi *

Diana Damrau - Mozart: Die Zauberflöte*

Type O Negative - Black No.1 *

Felix Ayo - Vivaldi: Presto **

Three Tenors - Nessum Dorma *

Mercyful Fate - Witches' Dance *

P.S.

I am not affiliated to KZ nor receive any monetary incentives and financial gains as they provide me a review unit for an exchange of factual and sincere feedback from yours truly.

Once again, I would like to send my gratitude to Tyvan Lam of KZ AUDIO for providing this review unit. I truly appreciate his generosity and trust towards me and other reviewers.