Wow! Other people’s sound descriptions don’t usually line up perfectly with my own, but your review sounds like it describes my impressions exactly, although you say it much better than I do.
When comparing to Harman, the stock ZS10 Pro frequency response has a few areas where it can be improved (measurements courtesy of crinacle).
- There are peaks at around 2 and 4 KHz that give it that aggressive energy you mentioned.
- There’s a peak around 8 KHz that can occasionally expose sibilants.
- Mid-bass is a bit much (just like you said)
- EDIT - There’s also an audible dip around 6500 KHz that I see in a lot of IEMs. I have a hard time describing the impact of it other than to say that it makes some string instruments seem a little muted and pushes background vocals even further into the background.
What’s great about the ZS10 Pro is that it has good extension at both ends. I’ve found that especially in the treble region, if an IEM is missing extension there, you usually can’t just EQ it in.
When I do eq the ZS10 Pro, I end up with something like this:
Basically it’s a warm version of Harman (I think the mid-bass suckout in Harman sounds unnatural) and retaining the natural extension of the ZS10 Pro, just with a peak at 11.5 KHz ironed out. Sounding pretty amazing so far!
EDIT - Here are the EQ settings
