KC Castor & CCA Pianist (Opinion/ Feedback)

[otseiTiesto]

I would like to know what you think about these two iems, KC Castor & CCA Pianist.
Are they worth it?

Aftersound graphs.

The KZ Castor seems to be very dependent on its tips, example:

 

[markanini]

The KZ Castor seems to be very dependent on its tips, example:

​

It's not that unique to this model, FR changes with different tips in general.

Generally it's wise to not expect much from KZ, based on their history, and explore other brands. But I'll admit I have the silver Castor in transit. CCA is a KZ sub brand and Pianist graphs like a extra lean bass set, it might not sound good to a lot of people.

 

[Dazerdoreal]

My impression is that KZ improved a lot in the last year (and I swear I am not paid by them ).Their tunings look much better than the older ones.

 

[otseiTiesto]

Generally it's wise to not expect much from KZ, based on their history, and explore other brands. But I'll admit I have the silver Castor in transit. CCA is a KZ sub brand and Pianist graphs like a extra lean bass set, it might not sound good to a lot of people.

Please tell us your impressions when you get it.

My impression is that KZ improved a lot in the last year (and I swear I am not paid by them ).Their tunings look much better than the older ones.

I don't know what to think, for now I can only rely on the little information that I have been able to find, its THD is not even specified, and even if it uses dynamic drivers the THD doesn't have to be low.

 

[otseiTiesto]

I will now attach a graph and the sources of all the data.

11: Youtube KZ Castor Std. (Green Line) from:

(Red line on video graph)

12: RMS Average KZ Castor Std. (Orange Line) from Averaged data produced from the rms magnitudes of:
- KZ CSR 1100 L, KZ CSR 1100 R
- Castor UUDD L, Castor UUDD R
- KZ Castor Silver Stock L, KZ Castor Silver Stock R
- KZ Castor Silver UUDD L, KZ Castor Silver UUDD R

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

More info. (Black Versión): https://el-snow.hatenablog.com/entry/2023/10/03/235939

This thing can be either semi-decent or pure garbage.

 

[markanini]

Well I have to give it to KZ, they made banger with Castor standard. Truthear Red is still my favortite for extended listening due to the comfort. But KZ Castor bests it on texture retrieval. Each are trading blows and that's impressive for $15 vs $55.

 

[markanini]

BTW these were the graphs that sparked my interest.

 

[IAtaman]

BTW these were the graphs that sparked my interest.

So they are basically like every IEM that has been released in 2023?

 

[markanini]

So they are basically like every IEM that has been released in 2023?

It sure graphs that way.

 

[otseiTiesto]

Well I have to give it to KZ, they made banger with Castor standard. Truthear Red is still my favortite for extended listening due to the comfort. But KZ Castor bests it on texture retrieval. Each are trading blows and that's impressive for $15 vs $55.

Interesting!

BTW these were the graphs that sparked my interest.

By the way, for the nova, this graph was most likely obtained using foam tips.
A concern: does anyone know if these measurements comes from free samples?

 

[IAtaman]

It sure graphs that way.

Just had a look out of curiosity. The graphs I found are nothing like the ones you found. Not even close - look at that hump at mid bass. Why do you think that is? Not the hump, but the wildly different graphs?

 

[otseiTiesto]

View attachment 324489

Just had a look out of curiosity. The graphs I found are nothing like the ones you found. Not even close - look at that hump at mid bass. Why do you think that is? Not the hump, but the wildly different graphs?

Easy, KZ Castor Black, not silver.

 

[otseiTiesto]

Chopin:
* STDEV OF ERROR: 1,37 SLOPE OF ERROR: -0,51 AVERAGE ERROR: 1,11 Predicted Preference: 81,11

KZ Castor Silver:
* STDEV OF ERROR: 1,07 SLOPE OF ERROR: -0,20 AVERAGE ERROR: 1,33 Predicted Preference: 85,06

NOVA 89%!

 

[IAtaman]

Easy, KZ Castor Black, not silver.

Thank you, did not notice that detail.

First graph says Standard not Silver. Is there a Black, Silver and a Standard version?

 

[otseiTiesto]

Thank you, did not notice that detail.

First graph says Standard not Silver. Is there a Black, Silver and a Standard version?

View attachment 324496

You are welcome.
Yes, but avoid the Black version (if you prefer Harman).

Take a look to this (especially to the mod. section): https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the-discovery-thread.586909/page-5764#post-17739901

 

[markanini]

Thank you, did not notice that detail.

First graph says Standard not Silver. Is there a Black, Silver and a Standard version?

View attachment 324496

Standard(Silver), and Bass(Black).

 

[otseiTiesto]

What do you think are the reasons for these discrepancies (compare in the graph below, red, orange and green traces)?

Update:
Nah, on second thoughts, let's forget about comparisons. Because for the red trace (14), the difference could be due to different scaling factor between graph/trace or switches setting. And for the green trace (13), who knows what instruments were used to measure it...

Where:
03: Average for KZ Castor Silver (see post #5 in this thread).
13: Source: See post #5 in this thread.
14: Extracted from the first graph at: https://www.koolcenter.com/posts/402

Note: Edited to present the information in a clearer way.

 

[IAtaman]

Standard(Silver), and Bass(Black).

Thank you. With all those dip swithces and products with the same name but also different name sometimes - not confusing at all.

Holy moly. Are these companies run by engineers only? Don't they have one friend or a family member who studied marketing or something that they can talk to? What a mess.

 

[markanini]

Thank you. With all those dip swithces and products with the same name but also different name sometimes - not confusing at all.

Holy moly. Are these companies run by engineers only? Don't they have one friend or a family member who studied marketing or something that they can talk to? What a mess.

And marketing people that only care about moving units.

 

[otseiTiesto]

@IAtaman

The truth is that I had not realized, but you are right it is a mess, by the way the Silver/Standard is also called White.