Linsoul KZ ZSN Pro X Review

Our Experience

The Linsoul KZ ZSN Pro X are a pleasure to use, standing out in the sea of competition like a lighthouse on a stormy night. With a price significantly lower than fancier options, we were pleasantly surprised by everything they offer and how well they deliver.

The Linsoul are relatively comfortable with 4 ear tips to choose from and an average wear time of 6 hours before discomfort sets in. Their around-the-ear hook design kept them in place, even when they occasionally tried to sneak out of the ear canal. While the fit might favor a slightly larger ear, we think most adult ears will be right at home wearing this pair.

We love the detachable cord, which can be useful for untangling or replacing damaged cords, though you'll need it for listening, making calls, and online meetings. And you'll want to use them for calls because they excel at clear call quality and provide better clarity with less background noise than the competition.

The Linsoul offers some of the best sound in the group, rivaling that of significantly more expensive options, and we think bass lovers will appreciate how punchy and loud they get.

Overall, their reasonable price and stellar performance make them our go-to choice and the one we think is perfect for most listeners seeking a tethered experience or old-school vibe.

Sound Quality

These earbuds sound great across the board. The sound mix is balanced and never overly sculpted. While they lack force in the low, sub-bass frequencies at low volumes, they gain power without getting thumpy or muddled at higher volumes. Their clarity and precision will have you losing yourself in the music.

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 sometimes sound a bit distorted.

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. “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. They are simply 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 get loud, offering powerful gains while maintaining their audio integrity at every volume with no discernible distortion. Although quality seems to suffer at the highest levels, they're too loud there anyway.

The KZ ZSN Pro X creates an impressively expansive soundstage, evoking space, depth, and atmosphere. 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, and “Either Side” by LOONY.

Our chart shows the relative intensity (loudness) of each frequency for the KZ ZSN Pro X compared to our idealized GearLab House Curve. The bass starts higher and has a more pronounced curvature throughout this range. This could be the “felt” versus “heard” distinction we experienced when listening to low-end bass segments that didn't match our curve, resulting in a lack of warmth.

At the other end of the spectrum, the treble matches our concerns about the detail and precision of instruments and higher-pitched vocals. That being said, this frequency response curve showed a strong correlation, as reflected in our overall pleasant listening experience.

Comfort and Fit

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.

These earbuds come with four silicone ear tip sizes. Once the right size is selected, the fit is quite comfortable. They are lightweight and easy to wear, sitting on the ear rather than in the ear canal, reducing ear fatigue and allowing longer wear. We didn't feel pressure points, even after wearing them for hours.

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, it was 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.

Passive Noise Isolation

These earbuds don't actively cancel noise, but they do physically block some of it from entering. The KZ ZSN Pro X earbuds do a surprisingly good job of passive isolation, especially given that they rest over the ear rather than act as earplugs.

Passive isolation is better at blocking high frequencies. Active noise cancellation (ANC) excels at canceling low-frequency sounds. Despite not having active noise cancellation technology, the Linsoul buds effectively quiet both, improving the listening experience.

We used SoundCheck to quantify the amount of sound they block. The results are impressive: they quiet bass notes by almost 8 decibels and higher-frequency sounds by 20 to almost 30 decibels.

Call Quality

The KZ ZSN Pro X earbuds are available with and without a microphone for phone calls, recording, voice commands, and other communications.

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 excels here where most fail. They subdue background noise and let us hear the recorded voices very clearly amid the chaos of screeching train cars and announcements.

They also work similarly well for 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're looking for a wired option. They offer excellent sound compared to the other wired buds we tested, and their good noise isolation effectively damps background noise, improving the listening experience. They make some of the clearest phone calls and are comfortable enough for hours-long wear, even if they aren't the most stable for exercise. Overall, we think they are an excellent choice for most listeners.

What Other Earbuds Should You Consider?