Reviewed by GREQ

Disclaimer

This review sample was provided by KEEPHIFI in exchange for my opinions.

At just under $27, these enter an extremely competitive segment.
CCZ is a fairly new face in the market, so let’s see what they can do.

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Build, Design & Ergonomics

Starting with the cable, things are about what you’d expect at this price. It’s thin, and the coils don’t do much to alleviate tangle potential.
Overall I’m getting very KZ vibes from this cable, with it’s 2-pin TFZ plugs and aesthetics.
The IEM shells overall feel quite cheap and lightweight, but are finished well.
I don’t see any cosmetic defects, the parts fit together properly and the addition of a metal nozzle at this price is always good to see.
You get three sets of silicone tips, each with an extra raised ring around the opening.
I don’t know if there is any function here, but at least makes it easy to distinguish them from other tips.

The design features some extremely small printed text that I struggle to read with the naked eye.
The green jewel-cut aesthetic is let down by the flat surface on top which washes out the effect in certain lighting conditions.
In hindsight, I think I should have picked the black colour, but I’m also tired of the same blacks, greys and polished metals, so I still don’t have regrets about the colour choice.

As for ergonomics, they’re superb.
They are probably the best fitting IEMs I’ve ever used under $100 and easily the best I’ve worn under $50.
So if you have ears that prefer the general shape used by Kiwi Ears IEMs, these should be a very good match for you.

The Sound

Let’s do things differently and start by taking a look at the graph, because it’s completely wrong.

For whatever reason, the miniDSP EARS either can’t measure this one properly, or my personal HRTF is just weird and inconsistent.
If we go by this graph, it appears to have less bass than the Kiwi Ears KE4 and the Simgot SuperMix4, and includes a significant canal-gain peak.

I don’t hear either of those things that way.

The CCZ Harmony is bassier than the KE4 and has, according to my ears, very little boosted canal-gain.
The tuning is excellent.

If you’ve recently bought or heard the TRUTHEAR x Crinacle ZeroRed and wished they had more bass, the CCZ Harmony is a very strong contender with a bass shelf that is sub-bass focused on, and just starts to bleed into the mid-bass, so it won’t work with all recordings/genres/artists etc.

While we’re on the topic, I also thought the ZeroRed had almost no imaging and a discernably miserable soundstage.
The CCZ Harmony possesses the opposite!

Quite frankly I’m quite shocked with some of the CCZ Harmony’s technical performance.
In terms of resolution, it does fall behind the pack a little, with bass that does start to lean into bloated territory, but mostly remains thumpy and energetic for most music genres, and a treble that is simply just there, but smoothed out and inoffensive.

It didn’t wow me with micro-details or an airy spaciousness, but more importantly it was never piercing or forced the so-called dreaded ‘BA timbre’ down my ears.
The little bit of ear-gain that I heard only helped push vocals and guitars incrementally more forward in a tasteful way.

So, if we look at technicals, the detail retrieval potential fits this price category:
• The tuning is punching quite well above the price.
• Imaging is punching up with some of the better IEMs around.
• I was shocked how well these perform for FPS games, with positional cues being very accurate in all directions.
• The only category I would mark these down is the separation.
These tend to get congested with more complex music, especially things like bass heavy hardcore metal quickly becomes very fuzzy with fast ripping bass drums.
Also depending on the timbre of the bass drum or bass sound, it might either sound fine, or bloated.
They tow that line, but directly on the line. So you either have to listen at lower volumes for some tracks, or stick to mid-bass light music.

Comparisons

KZ HBB PR2
Almost tuned as opposites. The KZ is lean and too crispy up top, with a lean dry bass. The CCZ is thick and bassy and slightly dark with a lot of slam.

BLON BL02
For a little more money, these give an objectively better tuning with clearer bass and higher quality metal shells, but a worse cable and inferior imaging and positional accuracy.

As I mentioned previously, the KE4 and Supermix4 both have a tuning that is closer to Harman target.

If I was doing any kind of serious music-listening session, of course there wouldn’t be a single time I would pick up the Harmony over those two.
Everything suddenly becomes more agile and individual sounds become more distinctive and not blurred together.
But these IEMs cost many times more, so let’s keep things realistic.

Conclusions

I’m almost tempted to get some wireless Bluetooth adapters to use with these for the gym or for when going out for a run.
I think the combination of extra slamming bass and solid fit is exactly what it calls for.

Side by side, it’s clear that from the mid-bass up through most of the midrange, the sound is slightly blurred compared to the KE4 and SuperMix4, so I would also recommend using the Harmony with simpler music, or just keep them in your gym bag.

I’m more than happy to give these a recommendation.
If this is what CCZ can achieve under $30, I can’t wait to see what they can pull off in the future with a bigger budget.

I can especially recommend these for ultra-budget FPS gamers who need superior imaging and spacial cues, and moderate bassheads.