Hi everyone, today I'll be reviewing about the BGVP DMS. It's one of BGVP's latest offerings, along with the DM7, and costs $160 on Amazon, making an entry to the mid-fi tier. Since B9Scrambler did a great job with pictures, I won't bother with too many. Disclaimer: I received the BGVP DMS as a review unit in exchange for my honest thoughts in the form of a review. I don't otherwise get compensated in any way.

Build and Comfort: The BGVP DMS is well built with a nice smooth metallic shell that feels really sturdy. Its specs are 6 BAs (Knowles!) + 1 DD. Interestingly enough the DMS is actually an open-back IEM with a large grill on it's faceplate in the form of the BGVP logo. It is extremely comfortable to wear for extended periods of time with a low feeling of pressure even with a good seal. The trade off is that there is lowered isolation due to the open design.

Cable and Accessories: This time around, BGVP did not include the gorgeous cable that came with the DMG. Instead, they opted for a cheaper feeling black rubbery/plasticky MMCX cable with pre-molded ear hooks. The MMCX connections are rock solid and don't spin loosely. The cable itself, while slightly generic looking, actually feels pretty nice and has essentially zero cable noise which is very nice to (not) hear. Accessories wise, the DMS comes with 10 sets of tips. 1 pair of foams and 3 sets of silicons (S, M, L) when you take them out of the box. Included is a cable clip. Unlike the DMG, the DMS does not come with tuning filters. All in all, a nice selection of accessories and a nice no-noise cable for the price point.

Overall Sound Signature: V-shaped with a greater emphasis on the bass than treble.

Bass: Undoubtedly, the DMS is bassy. Bassy with more of a slight emphasis on midbass than subbass, though there is solid rumble when called for. Unfortunately, the DMS' low end suffers from the two problems that plagued the DMG. The first is that it is a soft. The DD doesn't have a quick heavy slam but more of a soft sustained boomy ring to it. The second is that there is minor bass bloat into the 300Hz region, making it a bit muddy on poorly recorded rock songs. Unlike the DMG, these concerns with it's bass is definitely improved, having an overall cleaner tilt to it as the DMS' DD feels markedly quicker. Other than its two flaws, the bass on the DMS provides fullness to the soundstage. On instrumental tracks that call for a huge sustained bass presence, the DMS delivers.

Mids: The bass bloat falls off relatively quickly and doesn't muddy up the mids too much, giving the mids a touch of warmth. The mids are smooth without any real tonality or timbre issues to me. My only complaint with the DMS is the upper mids with vocals. There is emphasis on the 1.5-2kHz region, causing the snare drum and vocals to have a thicker lean to them. For the most part this is fine except for a couple of vocalists (typically female) that require a specific tuning for and clarity takes a bit of a hit. Vocals otherwise are well balanced in the mix, neither forward or recessed. Electric guitars are pushed forward a bit due to an emphasis around the 3.5kHz mark.

Treble: The treble of the DMS improves on the DMG. Unlike the DMG, the DMS' treble is not splashy or peak to my ears. Rather, it's tame and smoothed out with clean attack and good shimmer on the hats and cymbals. Furthermore, the DMS is neither sibilant nor harsh to me at all with vocals. There seems to be a fairly steep roll-off at about 7kHz and starting to rise up again at 9kHz. This has the effect of decreased sizzle from the crack of the snare, hotness from the snare, and sibilance from the vocals at the cost of some instrument and note definition that comes from this region. The upper treble has a decent amount of air and sparkle such that the mix doesn't feel congested nor suffocated.

Resolution and Instrument Separation: Resolution is good on the DMS with equally good instrument separation. Compared to common budget offerings such as KZ, I'm picking up on the more subtle notes and harmonics hidden in a mix. Instruments are separated pretty cleanly even in harder tracks. Pretty much what I'd expect from a good product that this price point.

Soundstage and Imaging: This is where the DMS shines. The open nature of the DMS definitely helps with its soundstage, allowing an open feeling with a broad (though not vast) 3D soundstage. Imaging follows through. While not pin-point accurate, it does a good job showing off the 3D feeling of the overall soundstage. There's sufficient depth and width to the stage with nuanced imaging that makes instruments find their place comfortably in the mix. Coupled with good resolution and instrument separation, the DMS does a really nice job for its overall sound presentation. It never feels enclosed to me but presents a good stage for the music to take place in.

Conclusion: The BGVP DMS is a solid entry in the border between budget- and mid-fi. The only two things I would change in the DMS is to tighten up the bass (with more slam) and decrease the mids thickness a bit. To me, it is a very comfortable listen. Comfy in the ears, a pleasing V-shape tone with no concerns in the treble and an open soundstage presentation. While the DMS might not be the most impressive IEM on the market, I would give the BGVP DMS an 8/10 for the $160 it costs. To me, the BGVP DMS is a good work IEM for the office. The comfortable nature and non-fatiguing signature is great for long listening sessions at the desk. It's open back design means it has lower isolation which is less ideal for public transport but isn't a problem in the quieter office setting (there is sound leakage but it is quite minor). Personally, the BGVP DMS would be one of the top IEMs I'd get as a gift for a good friend. It's a safe pick for your average listener.

Notes: The BGVP DMS is quite sensitive and is affected fairly significantly by high output impedances like other BA IEMs. I run the DMS with lower than average volume on and I detect some hissing with my device (phone with OI < 1 ohm) when music is playing. The hissing is not really noticeable except for the very start and end of a track where the music fades to nothing. As for the output impedance, when I tried to run it right out of my mobo the frequency response greatly changed to become muddier with much less presence and clarity in the upper mids and treble regions. In other words, the BGVP DMS would definitely benefit from a clean DAP such as the Shanling M0.