Review: Knowledge Zenith – KZ ATR : Budget Miracle 

Comfort & Isolation

 

The KZ ATR of course is a universal fit IEM and while the nozzle is quite long, I actually get a very good fit from these. It might be different for your ears of course. Comfort wise these aren’t pretty good but they’re not the best either like the Inear StageDiver series. At the same time they don’t hurt your canals either (unless you’re listening for longer periods) and the great thing about these is that they actually isolate pretty well. That of course also depends on the tips you’re using but in my case these did a great job isolating with silicone tips. I normally don’t tend to use universals in the train but I could use these without issue and not hear too much of the outside noise.

According to KZ, the 16g ATR is earphone is light and comfortable to wear. They also claim it fits the majority of people’s ears. The only thing they could have maybe done is made the pendants a little bit heaver as the cable sometimes gets pushed over your ear, especially when you’re listening in a couch.

Sound signature

I don’t often write about the lowest budget gear but when I do it means they sound a whole lot better than what their price suggests. One of the KZ guys supposedly worked for Audio-Technica before and according to them the sound quality is clear and treble is comfortable. The ATR mids are for vocals and you get elastic bass. They also regularly repeat the sound signature as follows:

“Clear treble exquisite vocals and heavy bass”

They even suggest listening to pop, blues, rock and new age with these monitors but I do find that to be a little narrow-minded. When comparing the ATR sound to that of their ATE model they state the ATE has more bass (probably also a result of the foam tips) and that the sound field is wider.

So yes, I was pleasantly surprised when I started listening to the ATR with my favorite set of plastic tips that fit my ears best. It is very important to get a good seal with these IEMs or you’ll lose a lot of the bass presence and the ATR will sound “off”. For $5 the sound quality simply is ridiculously good and the first things that come to mind are: bass, vocals and treble with an overall darker yet dynamic sound signature.

Bass impact and weight is definitely heavier and these bass-wise are nowhere near a neutral tuning. At the same time however bass actually has great quality with good detail and depth. Bass goes low and stays fairly tight. This is fun bass at its best, but bass always is present in a more than neutral amount. The layering and depth from bass to treble on this IEM actually is pretty good. The mids section still has good body but it’s nowhere near that of the bass. The mids are rich sounding but actually are a little more in the back. The slightly forward sounding voices increase this perception even more. I personally really like how the KZ ATR is doing vocals but for some musical types you might want a little more present mids. Treble is very energetic sounding and it has good detail, it makes your music very lively and dynamic sounding. Detail and layering levels here are (again) well above their price-point.

The KZ ATR is airy from bottom to top but it isn’t overly so that it sounds unnatural. This, with a good level of separation, makes these universal in-ears sound musical and spacious, yet detailed. They’re more musical then they’re precise though. Their speed is pretty good and the foot-tapping factor is high.

Matchings

The KZ ATR @16Ohm and 108db is fairly easy to drive so you really don’t need a fancy DAP to use this and enjoy the heck out of them. The sound signature of course will be a bit different depending on the source you’re suing. In the Fiio X5iii review I reported that both the single ended as well as the balanced output are noisy but with this IEM you won’t hear anything of that (using the 3.5mm headphone output). The X5iii and KZ ATR combo sounds excellent with great bass, rich detailed mids and energetic treble. For some the sound signature might be a little dark and smooth but this combo scores incredibly on fun and musicality.

Straight from my Samsung S6 phone the KZ ATR sound clearer but you don’t get the excellent bass impact like you do with the X5iii. Bass is lighter body-wise and it a little looser and less defined. It’s still nice to listen to though, it’s just not as good as from the X5iii.

Another Unit I immensely enjoyed the KZ ATR with is the Fiio E10K. The bass boost was a little too much as the ATR already has a bass focus but without Fiio’s bass boost you get a very dynamic and energetic sound. The sound stage might not be the widest or deepest but this combination is so energetic and musical that it seems like they were made for each other. The Fiio E10K to me is still one of the best units Fiio ever made, I still use it weekly and I own three of them. Get one before they are discontinued, that’s all I can say.

Comparisons

The Alpha & Delta AD2M is the AD01’s successor and it sells for about $28USD, while it is almost six times as expensive as the ATR, this still is a budget IEM. The AD02’s physical body is a lot smaller than that of the KZ ATR and it disappears in your ear. The nozzle is very short on top of that and it does result is a softer feel to your canals and improved comfort, especially for longer listening sessions. Compared to the KZ ATR the AD02 sounds more balanced. Tt doesn’t have the bass focus the ATR has but even here bass has more than neutral presence and impact. Bass sounds a little looser though and isn’t as detailed. The mids are reasonably neutral and the voices compared to the ATR are les forward and more natural and relaxed sounding. Treble is a lot softer on the AD02 though and it doesn’t give the AD02 a dynamic and energetic feel to it, something the ATR definitely has.

Everyone seems to be interested in how the KZ ATR performs against the budget earbud king, the VE Monks, but these of course are very different as the ATR is an inear and the Monk+ is an earbud. The fit, bass impact and isolation with inears will always be better. The ATR actually sound more like the original Monk than it does like the latest Monk+. Monk+ doesn’t have the bass body of the original and the ATR and it sounds more linear than both. For an earbud its bass is excellent, it’s tight and punchy but it is nowhere near the bass of the ATR which is bigger and fuller. Voices on the Monk are less forward and treble is more like that of the AD02: soft. Treble on the ATR is more energetic and lively with good detail and layering.

Conclusion

The sound quality you get for only $5 is incredibly. Just like the VE Monk for earbuds, this is an absolute killer in the IEM segment. Great bass, lovely treble and rich mids, the KZ ATR does it all. If you don’t want to spend a lot of money but get great sound for the price, then I can only fully recommend getting the KZ ATR.

Of course you won’t be getting an Andromeda or Fidue A91 experience but for the price they’re going for, they’re extremely hard to beat. If you want to spend less than $10, this is the IEM to get, it’s that simple.

4.2/5 - (43 votes)
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Lieven is living in Europe and he's the leader of the gang. He's running Headfonia as a side project next to his full time day job in Digital Marketing & Consultancy. He's a big fan of tube amps and custom inear monitors and has published hundreds of product reviews over the years.

2 Comments

  • Reply April 3, 2017

    Pan

    At last, some thing us poor mortals can get! 😀

    I got its big brothers, the ATE and ATE-S. the ATE is the second gen (without small vent) while the ATE-S, funnily enough, with the little vent (it supposedly had no vent). I listened to my friends ATR and found them sounded just like your description. Personally I prefer ATE, since it has this delicious dark sound, but the vented ATE-S is my current daily driver, since the treble is smoother than ATE (which can be metallic sometimes).

    This little IEM is really something, isn’t it?!

  • Reply April 10, 2019

    Tawhid Khan

    If I can not find the ATR model in my country; can I buy the ATE model?
    Will I be missing out too much?

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