ZiiGaat Lush

A step away from the ordinary

Thanks to Linsoul for the chance to review these. All thoughts are my own and not influenced in anyway.

ZiiGaat have been making waves in the IEM sea for the past year, I’ve been a big fan of their other models (I own most of them) so was excited to get to try out the Lush! It’s a little different to their other sets, advertised for studio engineers and stage musicians.

Who am I? Just someone who loves music and the devices we use to play it. I own a large collection (124 IEMs and 114 full-size HPs at the time of writing) ranging from budget to TOTL. I write these reviews in the hopes that it helps someone make the right choice for them – either for a one and done, or to round out their collection. I moved past the point of needing more equipment a while back but still love getting a new item and seeing what it can offer. Despite owning so many I’m still constantly surprised by what I discover with a new tuning, and how good some of the more budget friendly sets are getting.

I used the Lush as my daily driver for two weeks since receiving it, I used it from several devices over the two weeks. Most of the review is based on its pairing with the HiBy R4 (being an appropriately priced pairing) however I’ll talk to a different source later as it does scale quite well.

The Lush comes in standard ZiiGaat packaging. You get the IEM’s, a cable (this one was 3.5mm), a nice little zip case, and some tips. I find the ZiiGaat tips to be great and used them for the duration.

I listen to a little bit of everything, some mainstays during the past two weeks were Paul Simon, Slipknot, Coheed and Cambria, Kendrick Lamar, The Doors, Lana Dely Rey, and A Perfect Circle.

On to the sound:

Clean. That’s the first thing that comes to mind when listening with these. At their price point you get a clear presentation across the spectrum. I generally break everything down by Bass / Mids / Treble to start with, however I want to talk through the opening of a track experienced on these before I do that:

A Perfect Circle – The Doomed:

Track starts with a sound appearing just behind my left eye, then the drums kick in smack bang in the centre. Vocals then start swirling, beginning on my right and then moving around. These three separate parts continue, with the sound on the left getting louder, until we get a different drum pattern on the left, then quickly some drums kick off, louder, in the centre. MJK then starts singing.

The Lush delivers these sections of the track perfectly to your ears, like you would experience on studio monitor headphones. The difference being that there is a little more bass here than you would generally get on those which make them better for everyday use. They lack a bit of excitement due to this tuning, which isn’t a negative, but needs to be called out. On to the standard breakdown:

Bass:

The sub-bass is boosted, which can provide a rumble without overpowering the mix. It’s clean and textured. The mid-bass is little more restrained, offering a natural and relaxed presentation. Kick drums and deeper male vocals sound full and uncolored, blending seamlessly with the rest of the frequencies.

Mids:

The midrange is neutral and uncolored. Vocals and instruments have a natural timbre, with no particular emphasis. I didn’t have a preference between male or female vocals on these, I found that they really brought out what was recorded, for better or worse. I really enjoyed well recorded tracks on these, something like Fortnight by Taylor Swift ft. Post Malone sounded superb, with Taylors vocals sounding magnificent on these. The ‘I love you, it’s ruining my life’ back and forth between the two artists was a particular stand out for me. 

The mids are smooth and free from any shoutiness, making for fatigue-free listening sessions. I could listen to these all day, and for the most part I did.

Treble:

Treble frequencies are crisp and extend well, contributing to an airy and spacious soundstage. They lack some sparkle, but overall I found them very nice to listen to. Even on treble-sensitive tracks, the Lush remains smooth and non-fatiguing.

Technical:

I found the soundstage to extend just slightly outside of my ears on these, there is some depth however not a lot. Even with that said, I found the imaging and precision to be superb on these, with probably the best imaging I’ve heard at this price point. I could pinpoint every instrument exactly with these, and listen to each part independently. I didn’t find them falling over themselves/blending with busier tracks. A good test for me is always ‘The Becoming’ by Nine Inch Nails. On many IEMs everything gets busy and the sound blends together, with these I could pinpoint the multiple vocal tracks, synths, drums etc. Extremely well done.

Subjective:

I enjoyed these a lot, quite different to what the standard IEM offers today. The imaging is a standout at this price point, which paired with their neutral’ish sound make them an easy recommendation for me if you’re after something neutral. I used them with the HiBy R4 for the most part, however where I really enjoyed these the most was with the Cayin N3 Ultra using the classic tube mode. This opened up the stage and depth quite a bit, which elevated these up a tier. Paired with the N3 Ultra these are competing above their price bracket. The N3 Ultra also adds some tube warmth to the sound.

The perfect pairing:

Overall:

An easy recommendation. I’ve read some criticism of ZiiGaat and their many releases, however for anyone who’s taken the time to listen I think you’ll find that they all offer something different. This one stands alone in their lineup, and gets a gold star from me (well, four and half of them). Well done!

Scorecard (at ~$179 USD)

Category	Score (/5)	Notes
Bass	4.2	Clean sub-bass with restrained mid-bass.
Mids	4.7	Natural, smooth, no fatigue.
Treble	4.2	Crisp and airy, lacks some sparkle.
Soundstage	4.0	Good width, modest depth.
Imaging	4.8	Top-tier at this price.
Build & Fit	4.5	Solid feel and ergonomic.
Value	4.6	Excellent if you want clean, accurate tuning.

Soundstage would get a boost to 4.5 out of the N3 Ultra.

Overall Rating: 4.5 / 5