Zorloo Aero Quick Review

Zorloo Aero Quick Review

Thanks to Zorloo for the sample.

Brief:  Zorloo make exactly what I wanted them to.

Price:  Post Indiegogo I believe RRP will be US$120

Specifications:  DAC/amp ESS SABRE 9018Q2C, Max Sampling 48kHz, Max Depth 24 bit, SNR 105dB, THD 0.003%, Driver Size 14.8mm, Cable Length 1.2m

Accessories:  3 pairs of silicone tips, a pair of Comply’s and a little baggy case thing.  Which looks like a grey version of what I got, it’s a pretty sturdy, thick nylon baggy.

Build Quality:  It would appear to pretty good.  There isn’t really anything I can think of to complain about, though I still don’t love flat cables.

Isolation:  Very nice actually for a dynamic.  They don’t feel or sound open so accordingly they isolate very nicely.  More than sufficient for your normal out and about, on a bus type travels.  You’d get by with the odd flight or Tube commute too.  Naturally that means they are way easily enough to make you an organ donor if you forget to use your eyes when near traffic as you won’t otherwise hear it.  Eyes people!

Comfort/Fit:  They fit me bang on great, though…….. the buds are big, really big and I did, when I first saw them, gulp.  They turned out to fit snugly in my ears with no issues whatsoever but I’m convinced that can’t hold true for everyone.  If you have little ears I’d be concerned.  However they fit me perfectly well and could thus wear them all day long, happily.

Aesthetics:  The buds aside from being huge, they are exposed metal and as I’ve said many a time, I love that.  I also love that the metal colour is dependent on the tuning / type.  I’m not totally sure why the apple vs android editions come in different colours as you can interchange the cables and hence the connector, so why can’t you get the light and dark grey ones with either connector type?

Sound:   They are big, weighty powerful beasts and they a have a slant towards the low end.  It does make me wonder then how bass must the “Euphoric” ones be?  Anyway think big thumping bass.  It’s pretty rounded, its depth drops off and it declines on nearing the mid-range but it itself is a bit of a beast.  It loves to come out, rip roaring, thundering out a party bassline.  The audio snob in me frowns a bit as it’s kinda over blown but there’s no denying it’s a party animal.  The mids comparatively are rather behind the bass but the mid/bass blending region is nicely dipped so the vocals are largely unimpeded.  They are however still on the darker, warmer, more weighty side of things.  Delicate, light breathy vocals just isn’t its forte.  Soft and creamy vocals though do very nicely, a little over viscous perhaps but they just sound so pleased with themselves.  There is a joy to what they do, they feel like are wildly enjoying themselves.  So much joy and happiness.  The treble, it’s a little bit muted.  They don’t want to do cutting, crisp edges which is perfect for my ears.  It’s also perfect for the majority of mainstream music in that they are badly recorded, horribly mastered then often played back at crappy bitrates.  Oh and not forgetting being dynamically compressed to hell so they clip like a fleet of clipper ships.  The Aero does its best to gently cover up those acoustic atrocities so they won’t be loved by everyone.  They won’t be replacing a pair of RE-0’s or ER4’s as their treble in comparison is very tame and it doesn’t offer up massive detail.  It’s about ensuring the listener has a good and enjoyable time, they are not acoustic magnifying glasses there to help you examine music in detail.  

Think party fun time.  Give ‘em a woo hoo and then go dance inappropriately round the room.

Value:  If you already have a fantastic source then at their RRP of US$120 you can do “better” but these aren’t for people who already have good stuff.  These are for people who, for whatever reason, need to use their phone.  They then get to ignore the potentially terrible DAC and amp in your phone and give you a consistently capable output no matter what’s driving them.   It’s a vastly more convenient package than having your phone and strapping a DAC and amp to the back of it.

Pro’s:  Super dainty complete package.  Party time enthusiasm.

Con’s:  Sadly USB audio out on android is hit or miss.  Treble is light for some.