Linsoul KZ ZSN Pro X Review

The KZ ZSN Pro X are audio champions for the masses, offering well-balanced, high-quality sound at a fraction of the cost of other earbuds on the market. The trade-off is their dangly, tangly wires. If you can manage them, you'll have an excellent set of earbuds to help you rock out at will. They're available with or without a mic, and we tested the mic'd version, which means you can buy these buds for an even lower price.

Performance Comparison

Sound Quality

To evaluate each pair of earbuds, we wear them in a variety of situations while listening to our wide-ranging GearLab test mix, covering genres from country to EDM, hip hop, and pop. These earbuds sound great across the board. The sound mix is balanced, never sounding overly sculpted. While they lack force in the low, sub-bass frequencies, their clarity and precision compensate for the loss in most genres.

High-frequency treble notes are clear, full, and smooth at lower volumes but can lack detail and precision. At higher volumes, they may sound tinny or echoey, as heard in “Without a Doubt” by The Roots. In “100% Dundee” by The Roots, the treble frequencies sound a bit distorted at times.

The middle frequencies are well-defined and powerful. Though they don't sparkle, they're clear and sound well-formed, which is great for pop songs. For example, “Parking Lot” by Allie Paige features textures from looping background vocals, gentle guitar, mellow percussion, and piano accents, all complementing each other without compromising the distinct timbre of each instrument. The electric organ in “Put Your Records On” by Corinne Bailey Rae sounds fabulous. It's forward and present in the mix, with warm and well-developed vocals. We boosted the score for this frequency range because it was a joy to listen to.

The bass is clear, fresh, and clean in most mixes and never sounds muddled. It's less powerful at the lower end of the range, below 70 Herz, in the sub-bass frequencies that are felt more than heard. It sounds stronger and more defined as it rises. A good example is “Rocky” by Still Woozy, where the athletic, bouncing bass line is distinctive and has a clean, forward sound without dominating the track, so these may not be the best choice for those seeking a warm, heavy bass.

These earbuds also get loud, offering some of the most powerful gains in the test while maintaining their audio integrity at every volume with no discernable distortion. Although quality seems to suffer at the highest levels, they're too loud for us to handle at those levels anyway.

Soundstage

The soundstage that a set of earbuds creates refers to where the music seems to originate in space. The compact, in-ear nature of earbuds often limits their ability to recreate a live-like music experience, where the sound comes from various instruments spread across a stage in front of you. Tech advancements have made them better than ever though, taking the music out of your head and making it seem like it's coming from the world around you.

The KZ ZSN Pro X creates an impressively expansive soundstage, one of the best in the test evoking space, depth, and a sense of atmosphere.

Our panel of experts agrees these earbuds invite you to the party. They create a layered, nuanced sound profile that offers a sense of atmosphere. They excel at showcasing complex, eclectic, and atmospheric songs like “1st Time” by Bakar, “Intern” by Angel Olsen, “What They Do” by the Roots, “A Small Flame / Bitter”, and “Either Side” by LOONY.

The chart above shows the relative intensity or loudness of each frequency for the KZ ZSN Pro X compared to our idealized GearLab House Curve. You'll notice the bass starts higher, with a more drastic curvature throughout this range. This could be the “felt” versus “heard” distinction we had when listening to low-end bass segments that didn't match our curve, and as a result, they miss the warmth that comes with a well-sculpted base.

At the other end of the spectrum, the treble dips and rises match our concerns about the detail and precision of instruments and higher pitch vocals coming through. That being said, this frequency response curve did show signs of great correlation that was reflected in our pleasant listening experience overall.

User Experience

The Linsoul KZ ZSN Pro X earbuds aren't as comfortable as we'd like. We had over a dozen testers try them to gauge their fit for various ear shapes and sizes. They feature shiny, metallic wires and a glossy, translucent coating, and while they're comfortable enough for an hour or more, their large size can be cumbersome. They also lack stability, and there's no option to adjust the different frequency bands to your preferences.

Comfort

These earbuds come with four silicone ear tip sizes, and it's beneficial to take the time to find the best fit for your ears. Once the right size is selected, the fit is quite comfortable. They are lightweight and easy to wear, sitting on the ear instead of in the ear canal itself, reducing ear fatigue and allowing for longer wear. We never felt pressure points, even after wearing these earbuds for hours at a time.

Stability

The Linsoul earbuds are less stable than we'd prefer. The wires do little to secure them, and we frequently dislodged them during everyday activities like washing dishes or sitting at our desks. When exercising, even reduced impact circuits of lunges or crunches, we found it far too easy to end up without an earbud by the end. Linsoul doesn't provide information about how well these earbuds handle splashes of water or sweat. It's probably best to avoid finding out.

Customization

These wired earbuds do not require an app for operation and offer minimal adjustments. Unlike many wireless earbuds, you aren't able to adjust or equalize the bass, mid, and treble frequencies. They also lack a location feature to help find misplaced earbuds. These earbuds are compatible with both Apple and Android devices, so you have your freedom there, but we are disappointed with the versatility overall.

Noise Cancellation

These earbuds don't actively cancel noise, but they do physically block some of it from entering your ears. This is known as passive isolation, and the KZ ZSN Pro X earbuds do a surprisingly good job, given that they rest over your ear rather than acting as an earplug.

As shown below, passive isolation is better at blocking high frequencies, while active noise cancellation (ANC) excels at tracking and canceling low-frequency sounds. Unlike many earbuds without ANC, the Linsoul buds effectively quiet both, improving our listening experience.

We had SoundCheck quantify how much sound they actually block. The results are impressive, quieting bass notes by 5 to 15 decibels and higher frequency sounds by 20 to almost 40 decibels. Few earbuds can match this result, which you can hear for yourself in the video below.

Battery Life

The best thing about wired earbuds is that you never have to deal with charging them. They also tend to be less expensive than their wire-free counterparts. Since you don't need to worry about battery life, you also never have to make concessions to save power. You can blast these headphones as loud as you please with power impunity (though your ears are unlikely to thank you).

When compared to wireless options that need regular charges, it's easy to see why they earn top scores in this category. The price of this battery freedom comes in the form of restrictive wires, which can easily snag on hair or clothing to pull the buds right out of your ears, interrupting your listening experience.

Call Quality

The KZ ZSN Pro X earbuds are available with and without a microphone for phone calls, recording, voice commands, and other communications. We tested the version with a microphone by recording male and female voices, and then having the Bruel and Kjaer 5128-B play these recordings through the microphone placed in its mouth while wearing the Linsoul buds. We assessed the recordings for clarity in three scenarios — a quiet room, with office noise, and with the clamoring sounds of a subway.

Our stress test really set these earbuds apart. The subway recording is so loud and chaotic that few earbuds can transmit a clear voice. The KZ ZSN Pro X excel, subdues background noise and allows us to hear the recorded voices clearly.

They work similarly well over light office noise. The background hum is audible but doesn't distract from the conversation.

In a quiet room, both male and female voices were clear and easy to hear through the earbuds' microphone.

Should You Buy the Linsoul KZ ZSN Pro X?

These earbuds are so reasonably priced that they're worth a try if you don't mind dealing with wires. They are marketed as a studio monitor, helping singers and musicians hear themselves without affecting the recording or live performance. If you're in the market for those, these will do an excellent job, with their good noise isolation dampening background noise. They're also lovely to listen to and make some of the clearest phone calls in the test. These earbuds do fall out so easily though, so we don't recommend them for active use.

What Other Earbuds Should You Consider?

If you are in the market for studio monitors, we recommend the more expensive Sennheiser IE 100 Pro earbuds over the Linsoul option. While the Sennheisers don't sound quite as good and lack a microphone, they are much more secure in your ear. The UliX Rider earbuds are another excellent option for casual wear, with a better sound profile than both the Sennheiser and Linsoul options, and they are easier to use. They do very little to block background noise though. If you decide you don't want to deal with the wires, consider the Jaybird Vista 2, which offer great value for the price.