ZIIGAAT LUSH: An Introductory To Modern Neutral Tuning

Lush has many definitions as either they are pertaining to a verdant and abundance of a vegetation or an orchard, a pleasing and attractive to body senses from seeing to hearing or in a British English slang term used for attractive and pleasant person or an event.

ZIIGAAT became one of the rising stars audio company brands in the audio market right now in which all of their released models were exclusively distributed under LINSOUL. I'm actually one of the first audio reviewers when I've tested their introductory entry-level IEM model, the NUO or should I say UNO and given my initial impression of their other products, I noticed that their tuning capability is keep improving that within my thoughts, they will establish themselves in the audio market soon and will garner some strong following from audio enthusiasts around the globe.

What I have here is their latest model for over $100 price segment and it has multiple transducers configuration of different driver technologies. This is ZIIGAAT LUSH and it has a hybrid driver set-up consisting of a single dynamic driver and a four (4) balanced armature drivers that are custom-made specifically for ZIIGAAT's standard for this model.

The dynamic driver that ZIIGAAT implements here is a 10mm dual magnetic structure with a PET diaphragm that is quite rigid and stiff that it can provide a faster response and accurate bass reproduction as it was optimised to deliver a deep reverberating and well-controlled impactful bass response. The supporting balanced armature drivers are of custom-made (it was sourced either from Bellsing or E-Audio) as each drivers uses variety of BA driver configuration for specific frequency region as there are dual full-range BA drivers for the midrange frequency while the other dual BAs are tweeter-types  in which specially handles the high frequency for a clear, neutral and natural sound on vocals and instruments and also  for a crisp yet smooth and detailed treble quality.

The drivers are then encapsulated in a 3D-moulded medical-grade resin shell in a UIEM-style shape profile. The shells are on medium-size and a bit on a chunkier and there's only one vent hole that was situated at the top part on it, near the connector port as it allows to escape excess air pressure that was generated by its dynamic driver to alleviate any possible development of ear fatigue due to long listening sessions. The faceplate has a leaf veins-like pattern on its panel with some glittery surface along with a ZIIGAAT logo etched on it. On its detachable system, it uses a 0.78mm 2-pin connector as its interlocking mechanism as it is proven to be more stable and reliable on attaching/detaching removable cables with ease.

The stock cable of this one is pretty decent as it has a balanced structure and supple although in this price range under US$200/£150, there are some sets that offer better stock cable which are quite thicker and some of them feature a modular termination plug. The cable appears to be made of a silver-plated oxygen free copper strands that are divided into four parts that are braided together for a better audio signal transmission without any signal loss or any microphonic distortion for a pure audio output quality and on its termination end, it has a 3.5mm plug that was gold-plated for better conductivity and resistant from corrosion.

When it comes to wearability, while its UIEM-type shell chassis that rests comfortably into my lugholes and offers a secure fitting, but every insertion, I always felt that initial occlusion effect as it produces a slight driver flex. And by achieving a firm fitting inside, it has an excellent passive noise isolation as it was able to block some external noises from the outside.

The product packaging of this one is quite minimalistic in terms of presentation and its contents inside are sufficient that they can be used accordingly. It has a rectangular shape, a medium-size packaging box enough to accommodate the contents inside.

These are the following contents inside of its packaging box:

• Pair of ZIIGAAT transducer pieces.
• Stock cable
• PU-leather carrying case
• Three (3) pairs of balanced bore silicone ear tips in three different standard sizes.
• A pair of memory foam ear tips.

As for its driveability, with a 17ohms of impedance and a sensitivity rating of 103dB, this set is relatively sensitive that it can be driven by a device with just a standard gain mode output that you don't need any contraptions to improve amplification output. With sufficient power to drive this one, it already sounds pretty lively and full that it encompasses across its frequency range.

To determine its tonal profile, it seems that the Lush follows a modified DF-like neutral sound or in a rather simple description, mild- L-shaped sound albeit it has warmish hint and the same time, a slight lift somewhere in the upper-mid section to give more balance of its overall sound presentation, however there are few nitpicks in which I would address later on.

LOWS/BASS:

The bass quality of the LUSH  was presented in a balanced manner on how it delivers a clear bass presence and sufficient texture of its mid bass to give sufficient slam but it has that noticeable mild scoop towards the midrange . On its sub bass section, it exhibits a good rumble and reverberation that were induced from certain instruments like synthesisers, drum machines, bass guitars and double-basses as they reach a good depth on its sonic foundation.

About its mid bass texture, it has an adequate note definition to deliver an enough punchiness on bass-clef instruments and deep make vocals to rich and resonant, although  I noticed that it doesn't have that dark timbre and also its body is a bit hollowed and less weight  but it ensures a seamless and cohesive shifting from this part of this bass section up to the midrange to deliver a clean bass presentation. The bass guitars have resonant and clear sonorous timbre while the double-basses sound a bit more mellow and sombre albeit it has a bit hollowness with it, and then bass kick drums have a resonant and sonorous sound with that dullness on its overall tonality. Deep male vocals like bass and bass-baritones have those incisive resonance from their vocals but apparently they have a bit inadequate in power and heft as they sound a bit too smooth and hollowed and not that dense nor dusky sounding the low register vocals should sound like.

Overall, the bass response of this one is rumbly, precise and somewhat tight as the midbass sets tidy and it has smooth transition to other frequencies in which I actually like this kind of bass as I’m not a fan of a boomy nor thin and feeble bass response.

MIDRANGE:

The midrange of the Lush is relatively neutral and smooth on its overall presentation with an ample warmth, transparency and a tad energetic sound that somehow makes the vocals and instruments sounds more closer to natural  and accurate tonal colour on each of them. Male vocals have smooth and lushness but lacking of “muscularity”  on some voice registers particularly on the sub-types of baritones, while on most female vocals sounds emotive and open due to its a bit energetic nature of  its tuning. Instruments have these dynamics with almost authentic sound as they have an ample richness and musicality from them although there are some timbral quirks that I also noticed.

In reference to the male vocals, baritones have a smooth, mellow and plush in which suitable for both light and lyrical baritones but not so much on the kavalierbariton, verdi and dramatic in which they are lacking of that note density and less steely  for a fuller and rich sound that these baritone sub-types required, while the tenors sound clear and dazzling with a hint of tinny sound which makes the an ideal tracking on leggero down to the spinto tenors, and then on countertenors, while they have a tender, agile and emotive from their falsettos but they have this excessive breathy extension with a hint of metallic and a bit harsh registers given on how the tuning of this one is on warmish-neutral that makes it more on relaxed tonality. Meanwhile on female vocals, contraltos appears to have a smoky and soothing sound from its chesty vocals but apparently, it’s a bit lacking on both depth and strong note foundation that makes it more weighty, while the one and other female vocals types like mezzo-sopranos and sopranos, they somewhat sound realistic on how they should sound on live as former has velvety, rich and sensitive but on some tracks, they sound a bit coppery while the latter has a creamy, crystalline and silvery that makes them almost perfect as they  sound captivating and euphonic.

As the instruments, starting with strings – guitars sound crisp and sustaining, while the violins sound more lustrous and vibrant, and then on cellos, they have these sonorous, cantabile and open sounds. And then, it will be to be followed by the woodwind instruments as the concert flutes have mellow and clear sounds, piccolos have a graceful and delicate sound, clarinets sound softer and melodic, and then saxophones sound mild and melancholic. Next instruments that will be featured here are brasses like trumpets, trombones and horns as they sound full, rounded and mellow respectively. And last but not the least, the percussive instruments as they are once responsible for the foundation of consistent on steady rhythm and pulse beats in the music structure as the snares sound hard, penetrating and sustaining while toms-toms have that incisive warm resonant on every stroke on its drum head, field drums sound sonorous and venerable, and the kettledrums seems to have a more rumbly and substantial although sometimes they sound dry and hollow. Pianos seem to have a balanced sound as it sounds full, rich and serene that makes them sound more pleasant and mesmerising.

HIGHS/TREBLE:

Smooth, even and moderately airy with a bit of shimmer, that's how I describe the treble quality of the LUSH, and that tad shimmer nature that I mentioned was the mild accentuated upper-mids and then a gradual slope transition towards the presence section as it lessens any chances of sibilance or harshness while having a sufficient crisp enough for highlighting the clarity and definition on the articulation of vocals and the sharpness of the attack on instruments on both rhythmic and percussives. The treble-clef instruments have a enough sparkle as the cymbals sound lustrous and undulating , while hi-hats have a short sizzling and resonant sound, then glockenspiels sound bell-like and lustrous, and the celestas have a sweet and velvety sound.

The brilliance section of this one has a moderate treble extension on the balanced bore stock ear tips and I almost forgot to mention here that this set happens to be tip sensitive that when I paired it to the third party ones like Dunu S&S and Divinus Velvet wide bore variant, it improves its airy extensions as it displays more harmonic presence.

SOUNDSTAGE, IMAGING & OTHER TECHNICALITIES:

The LUSH has a perceivably moderate-size head stage as it has fairly wide lateral from left to right, a reasonable height reach ceiling and it has a proper depth on it. Its imaging seems to present a typical two-dimensional stereo imaging in which I was able to locate the musical elements decently with fairly layered soundscape but not the most accurate that I've experienced on a hybrid driver IEM but somehow, it has a good separation as it was able to decompose parts of vocals and instrumental sections as each of them are isolated in a sonic background.

As for its driver performance, the LUSH's hybrid driver configuration has a very cohesive performance that I don't hear any distortion or out of phase issues as the dynamic driver has fast transient response for the bass section while the supporting balanced armatures are quite power efficient on delivering a clear and detailed sound quality.  Regarding on its resolution capabilities, it has a firm macro-dynamics as it was able to highlight the varying degree of loudness from chorale lines and instrumental passages, while on its micro-dynamics, it has decently sharp definition on extracting some micro-details, grains and nuances from a playback track like instrumental reverb tails, musical notation textures and vocal reverb ends.

PEER COMPARISONS:

KIWI EARS QUARTET

• An older model from KIWI EARS, and like the LUSH, it also has hybrid driver set-up.
• Its multi-driver set-up consists of dual dynamic drivers in an “isobaric” configuration and two balanced armature drivers.
• The drivers are encapsulated in a 3D-moulded medical-grade resin shell chassis, and also, it features tuning toggle switches for a variety of tonal profiles that this set could offer.
• On its product packaging, this one offers more choices of ear tips that could be used and it has a decent quality stock cable that has a twisted structure.
• Since it has tuning toggles switches,  it offers four tonal profiles and all of their tuning are veering towards more of U-shaped balanced-warmish tonality that makes them more coloured sounding.
• On its stock tuning setting, It has a more punchy and impactful bass response, a recessed but more warmer midrange and then smooth and a bit darkened treble response with modest amount of air.
• When it comes to overall technicalities, it has an average and bit intimate soundstage size, less defined layering and perhaps less detailed resolution capabilities.

EPZ K5

• It has a similar price range with LUSH and it also has a hybrid driver IEM.
• The hybrid-driver composition features a smaller dynamic driver with polymer diaphragm and 4 balanced armature drivers that were sourced from Sonion.
• It was encased in an imported hypoallergenic resin shell with laminated wood faceplate and it has a smaller profile compared to the LUSH.
• This set is well-packed with quality accessories inside of its packaging box  as it has more types of ear tips and a better stock cable with modular termination feature.
• The K5 has a mild U-shaped sound signature that is somehow a bit closer to a balanced-neutral type of tonality.
• It has a rumbly, a bit tighter and precise bass response, a slightly recessed and less warmth on its  midrange that gives a bit of leanness on vocals and instruments with an energetic and transparent sound, and a bit brighter and shimmering treble response.
• This set is actually one of the most technical sounding sets under $200/£140 due its a bit analytical tonal nature as it has a very spacious soundstage, a 3D-like stereo imaging with a well-layered soundscape and a very resolving and delineating resolution capabilities especially on the aspect of micro-detail retrieval.

KEFINE QUATIO

• KEFINE's first foray on hybrid driver configuration and it is also less cheaper than LUSH.
• The driver set-up of this one consists of two dynamic drivers of different sizes and two custom balanced armature drivers.
• It wasn't encased in a resin shell chassis but rather on aluminium alloy shell structure and it has detachable tuning nozzles.
• This set is also well-packed with accessories inside of its packaging box, and among its inclusion is a good quality stock cable which is thicker and it also features a modular termination on its plug.
• Due to its separable tuning nozzles, it offers three distinctive sound profiles, from mild u-shaped up to a bit brighter shaped sound profile.
• On its silver tuning nozzle setting, it has a balanced bass response with rumbly and sufficiently punchy bass, a mildly recessed midrange presentation but it has a well-balanced texture due to its ample warmth with enough energy sound for vocals and instruments, and also it has a smooth and lustrous treble quality with moderate airy extension.
• This set has a competent technical performance as it has a fairly roomy head stage with more immersive soundstage depth although its micro-detail definition seems a bit blunted.

KOTORI AUDIO ZEPHYR

• KOTORI's first hybrid driver set-up IEM product and it is a non-”Chi-Fi” product as this one was assembled in Singapore.
• It features a single dynamic driver with a titanium-coating on its diaphragm and a balanced armature driver provided by Knowles.
• The drivers are then housed in a composite shell chassis with metal alloy faceplate and a resin on its cavity base.
• It features an acoustic balanced tube as it improves the bass response of its dynamic driver as it also regulates the air pressure to lessen driver flex.
• Like the LUSH, it also has a neutral sound profile albeit it has a flatter and linear tonality.
• It has a tighter and precise bass response, a neutral and a balanced midrange presentation and then, a smooth and even treble response with just a modest airy presence.
• On its technical performance, it has a modest soundstage size that makes it more intimate presentation with just a fairly layered soundscape and also has a less sharper definition on its micro-detail retrieval capability.

Since the release of the NUO, ZIIGAAT shows some commitment that they will continue to pursue on having the best sounding set at reasonable price and it seems that with the release of The LUSH, they are now closer to their goal. The LUSH is one of the few sets at under US$200/£140 that was neutral-tuned with a relaxed and inoffensive sound quality that will certainly cater some neutral heads in the audio community who adhere this type of sound profile while having some natural and musicality on it that makes it somehow an all-rounder one that caters most of music genres with a less colouration.

As I mentioned that it has some quibble that I should I address like driver flex, wishing for a better stock cable and some timbre oddities on vocals and instruments but again, these minor concerns will be certainly outweighed by its more positive aspect that the LUSH due to its sheer neutral tuning while maintaining a natural and smooth coherent sound which is its main sweet spot feature. And I will not hesitate to recommend this set after all, especially if you are an audio enthusiast like me who adheres to all kinds of neutral sound signatures.

ZIIGAAT LUSH is now available on LINSOUL, check out the non-affiliated link below.

★★ZIIGAAT LUSH - LINSOUL★★

More ZIIGAAT product reviews?

■ ZIIGAAT NUO

■ ZIIGAAT CINNO

SPECIFICATION:

MODEL: ZIIGAAT LUSH

IMPEDANCE: 17Ω

SENSITIVITY: 103dB

FREQUENCY RESPONSE: 20Hz – 25KHz

CABLE LENGTH: 1.25m

PIN TYPE: 0.78mm 2-PIN CONNECTOR

PLUG TYPE:  3.5mm

DRIVER UNIT(S):  1 DYNAMIC DRIVER, 3 DYNAMIC DRIVER(S)

PROS:

● Well-built hypoallergenic resin shell chassis.

● UIEM-style shell chassis ensures a better fitting to all ear sizes and offers a better passive noise isolation.

● Follows a warmish-neutral tuning profile

● Rumbly and punchy bass response with a clean presentation

● Almost realistic sound coming from most bass-clef instruments.

● Neutral, transparent midrange presentation with enough warmth and energy.

● Pretty much of an all-rounder for vocal tracking for both male and female vocals.

● All instruments are all but natural sounding with accurate tonal colour on each of them.

● Smooth and lush sound characteristic on some male vocals.

● Expressive and sweet sounding female vocals.

● Nearly-leveled, inoffensive and delightful sensuous treble response that treble-sensitive folk will be able to enjoy.

● Fairly roomy head stage projection.

● Good macro-dynamics.

CONS:

●  Bog-standard stock cable for its price given that some of its competitors have better  build stock cables, and some of them have a modular termination.

● Can't recommend this one to ardent bass heads nor for treble heads as it won't align with their preferred tonal profile.

● Some of its technical aspects are a bit  lacklustre especially on imaging, layering and micro-dynamics which is somewhat less sharper definition on its detail retrieval 

● Instances of  timbral peculiarities on some vocals and instruments.

● Like most ZIIGAAT sets, it has a meagre quantity of ear tips.

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 ZIIGAAT nor receive 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  MS. KAITLYN WU of LINSOUL for providing this review unit. I truly appreciate her generosity and trust towards me and other reviewers.