CCZ Plume came out of nowhere, gone where? As I write this review I see Plume is nowhere in stock, no word if it will be selling again or will have a retuned or reworked version. I hope CCZ will come with a Plume 2.0 IEM.
CCZ Plume features full-metal earpieces housing a five-driver hybrid configuration on each side. The shiny gold color shells are on the bigger side for some small ears out there, but also lightweight enough and sit very good in your ears because of their ergonomic design, which leads to problem-free long listening sessions.
CCZ Plume features a 10mm dynamic driver with double magnetic flux and also features an exclusive CCZ-IF-A composite dual balanced armature unit for mid-frequencies and two independent custom-tuned CCZ-HI-A balanced armature drivers for high-frequencies.
The price was 199$ while it was in stock, https://keephifi.com/collections/ccz.
Specs
- Driver Configuration: 4x Custom Tuned Balanced Armature Drivers + 1x 10mm Diameter Dual Magnetic Dynamic Driver
- Impedance: 16 Ω ±2
- Sensitivity: 110±2dB
- Frequency Response: 20-20kHZ
- Interface: 2Pin (0.78mm)
- Plug type: 2.5mm (original) /3.5mm/4.4mm
- Cable length: 1.2m
As for the package of the CCZ Plume, it comes fairly with rich accessories which justifies the price of the IEM more. Especially the cable that came with looks amazing, feels very nice in the hand, soft enough, no memory and tangle problems. The cable comes with a 2.5mm balanced plug and has the necessary adapters in the box if you want to use it for 3.5mm regular or 4.4mm balanced inputs. One downside can be the plastic 2 pin connector, would be nicer if it were also metal like the rest.
In the Box
- 1 pair x CCZ Plume In-Ear Monitors
- 1 pcs x 6 Core Detachable Cable with 2-Pin connectors
- 1 pcs x Leather Carrying Case
- 3 pairs x Original Silicone Ear Tips
- 5 pairs x KBEAR 07 Silicone Ear Tips
- 1 pcs x Cleaning Cloth
- 1 pcs x 2.5mm Female to 3.5mm Male Adaptor
- 1 pcs x 2.5mm Female to 4.4mm Male Adaptor
Sound
–Lows
The bass is very good. By good, I mean both quality and quantity. Hits strong has a good rumble. Sub-bass doesn’t overpower mid-bass and upper-bass. You can select and hear them all depending on the track. Separation in lows is there and that’s a good thing speaking of the bass performance. If you listen to EDM, Rap or Pop mostly, you will love Plume’s bass performance for sure. The problem is some bass notes sound ticker as they shouldn’t, bass guitar, drum kicks for example in some Rock and Metal tracks. So it’s not too early to say that CCZ Plume is not an allrounder IEM. More on this in the Mids section.
–Mids
This is where the balanced armature drivers kick in and I must say they do a good job. Acoustik tracks, vocal-centric tracks, instrumental tracks, all sound very natural, warm overall. Both male and female vocals are very fun to listen to, they are musical and warm. Both sound close enough that you don’t feel any recessed vocal. No harshness in high-pitch vocals either and this is very important (for me at least) in any headphones and can be a real deal-breaker in some situations. CCZ Plume is safe in here. When it comes to instruments this is where it gets tricky. Acoustick guitar, piano, brass instruments, other strings, and winds instruments sound close to natural, timbre, the quality of the notes, all sound successfully. Slow tracks, no problem, vocal tracks, very fun to listen to.
But in heavy tracks, I mean lots of instruments and fast playing, with fast drum kicks, bass guitars, like in the most Metal and Rock tracks, sorry Plume, you can’t handle those like the rest of the genres. Because of the tick and slow low note performance of the tuning, or the dynamic driver, or both, wish I knew.
–Treble
Like mids, BA drivers again do a good job in the treble section. Cymbals, snare, hi-hat, high octave synthesizer sound, again no harshness of any kind, the general timbre is good for these instruments. We can say it’s a safe tuning but that does not mean Plume doesn’t have air in high frequencies, the balance between safe and airy is well done. The clarity of the highs will satisfy most audiophiles out there.
–Separation/Soundstage
CCZ Plume does a great job when it comes to separation. This comes from the tuning and a good-made IEM shell I think. The soundstage is also better than expected. Is wide and deep enough to enjoy your acoustic and instrumental tracks. The detail level of the Plume is also at good levels thanks to the tuning and 4BA setup.
Conclusion
In the end, it all comes to this question. Is CCZ Plume worth 199$? In short: Yes if you like the lows in the 3 frequency group most (EDM, Rap, Pop, etc), listen to acoustic, instrumental as side genres, and don’t have small ears. No, if you listen to Rock and any kind of Metal mostly and have rather small ears than the rest of us.
You know what would be the best in CCZ’s first flagship attempt? Same warm and fun sound with less dominance of the lows (and a faster dynamic driver or better tuning in lows), a rather smaller shell, and a rather smaller price. If Plume 2.0 can achieve that, would be a total win for everyone.