This is my first earphone review. I am upgrading to LZ A7 from Shure 215. Yes, quite a gap between these two and my short conclusion - it is worth it. Keep in mind, that everything written here is a heavy basshead opinion 😀
Package & build quality.
Both wood box and leather case are good enough to use as a storage, but none of them should be used as carrying boxes for audio gear, as they will easily wear out. Yes, even leather case, that is supposed to be a carrying case, it seems not very weather resistant. Personally, I would prefer case with zippers like KZ offers for some of their products.
Earphones quality, on the contrary, is amazing. Seems like LZ put all the effort to make a great product, so they didn't pay much attention to accesories. Earphones feel really solid, jack and MMCX connectors fit in place, no backlashes. But in comparison to Shure 215, MMCX connectors are way more easy to detach. Everything from LZ logo engraving to nozzles is built perfectly. There's a rubber ring in between nozzle and earphone for the better fitting, isn't it beautiful? The weakest point in a cable, which is, in my experience, cable-to-jack connection, is reinforced with a piece of a thick rubber as well, which gives 10 extra points to durability.
Comfort.
LZ A7 form-factor is closer to Shure than anything else, as I expected. 10/10 fit. LZ A7 feel cold in the ears, as they're made of metal, so this might be a disadvantage in severe climates. Ear hooks are much softer than in Shure 215, and the cable itself, despite it's massive apearance, is very lightweight. Not sure if it's very tangle-proof, but it's very easy to handle: because of its softness it rolls up very nicely. Velcro buckle is detachable if you don't need it. Sliding bead is a piece of aesthetic, definitely. Sound isolation is somewhat close to Shure, volume of my environment significantly decreases when I put earphones in, even though these IEMs are open. Maybe it's because of the longer nozzles that go deeper into the ear.
Sound.
Now, the most interesting part: why we're wasting 300+ USD for it? My source is Sony A55, not a mighty machine, and it requires low-resistance highly sensitive IEMs. And LZ A7 nailed it. At first, I plugged in LZ A7 as is from the box, with black nozzles and pop mode on. Trebles were so vigorous that I couldn't rate the sound as a whole (remember, TS is a basshead used to dark Shure sound). Then I switched A7 to monitor mode and a miracle happens. That's the right earphones for Walkman's to drive: details are so well articulated that I have to rediscover my music library! Soundstage is quite compact (again, I think it's Sony's fault), and mids aren't very rich, but these are only two negatives and all the rest is absolutely positive. I choose red nozzles as they're diminishing excessive trebles, but the rest of frequencies stay bright and crystal clear, bass is not humming, but still very substantial and fast. Overall sound is slightly faded with warmth of Sony, and it's not extra bright to me, so my conclusion is LZ A7 and Sony are paired well. I would recommend LZ A7 to everyone listening musical genres with lots of different instruments, because the texture of each sound is gorgeous.
Here's the link to Linsoul product page of LZ A7:
https://www.linsoul.com/collections/headphones-iems/products/lz-a7
