Introduction:
BGVP has come out again with a budget under $100 offering. This time it is a revamped version of their previous rather controversial offering DN2. DN3 sports a fresh new look that has a close similarity with Hifiman Ananda. The look is fine, what is important is how it sounds.
Disclaimer: I got this unit as a part of a review tour. All my impressions recorded here are not influenced by any external factors.
Specifications:
- Drivers- 10mm Beryllium DD and HEVK BA driver.
- Impedance: 19 ohm.
- Sensitivity: 109 dB/mW.
- Frequency response range: 10Hz-40kHz.
- THD+N: <0.5%.
- Channel difference: <1dB.
- Rated power: 8mW
Accessories:
DN3 comes with 3 types of eartips - 3 pairs of Vocal, 3 pairs of Bass, and 1 pair of memory foam. The Vocal is essentially the W01 eartip of BGVP which I simply love. The testing was done with L sized vocal tips.
The cable supplied with DN3 is a mic cable - that shows that it was primarily meant to be used with smartphones. The cable is fine, nothing extraordinary.
A drawstring soft carrying pouch also comes with it. Nice accessory.
Build and Fit:
The solid aluminium body has a fair amount of weight, however, with the L sized Vocal tipsproved to have a comfortable fit. Because of the shallow length of nozzle I had to use L sized tips to get the correct isolation.
Source:
Shanling M3X
Shanling UP4
Sound:
DN3 has a classic w shaped sound profile, with boosted bass, slightly forward mids, and energetic highs. A standard formula for capturing the market I’d say - you cannot really go wrong with it. The tonality is rather neutral in the midrange, while upper mid tends to lean towards brightness, and treble is noticeably bright with a slightly cooler tonality.
Low:
Full bodied, meaty, moderately textured. Bass goes deep and hits hard, but stays within limits. Midbass has slightly more emphasis than subbass - hence the slams are harder than the rumbles. However, rumbles are not too shabby either.
Midbass notes have a nice thickness that provides the full bodied presentation of it. Pertaining to the sound profile, bass is nearer to the ear. Despite the thickness, owing to the fast decay, bass never invades into the midrange. However, because of the fast decay, some depth can be missing occasionally with tracks showing deep subbass.
In
Metallica - The Four Horsemen the double-pedal kickdrum hits with satisfactory punches.
The big drums in
Battlestar Galactica Season 2 OST: Prelude to War slams hard and rumbles well, but due to the fast decay feels rather cut short
In
Massive Attack - Teardrop the soft subbass rumbles are reproduced well and with ample body
However, the subbass rumble in
The Dark Knight OST - Why So Serious? Does not exhibit enough pressure it normally does, and hence does not become atmospheric.
Mid:
Midrange is slightly behind the bass, but still quite forward. Lower mids have ample weight and hence male vocals benefit much from this. Instrument tonality is mostly nice. Despite the weight, midrange notes are crisp and sharply defined - which sometimes may lean towards sibilance.
Upper mids have a clear hint of brightness and can get sizzling in times - which sometimes feel at odds with the thicker lower mid presentation. Almost feels as if the lower mid is played by one driver and the upper mid is played by a different driver (which may even be true.) Female vocals sound ostensibly nice and energetic, however, some sibilance can be occasionally detected.
In
Leonard Cohen - Hallelujah, his voice starts with very nice and resonating notes, and ends at a higher pitch where slight sibilance can be detected. His voice sounds very full initially, but slightly edgy at the end.
In
Battlestar Galactica Season 2 OST: Prelude to War the snare rolls sound distinct, but miss some of the crispness. While the cello notes have the required weight, due to the fast decay the reverbs tend to be missing a bit - which robs it off of a bit of physicality and presence.
In
Yao Si Ting - Scarborough Fair, her voice is musical and brilliant, with plenty of energy and extension. Slight sibilance can be detected, however, but not too fatiguing.
High:
Highs are energetic. And the energy is uniformly distributed in both lower treble and upper treble. Treble extends well and does not feel cut off, again. However, the higher frequency has noticeable brightness and slightly cooler tonality - which sometimes feels a bit odd. Treble notes sound noticeably sizzling and spicy - which may perform well with tracks with less treble presence as it will bring out whatever little treble it has very well. However, for treble heavy tracks, this attribute rather acts negatively to listening pleasure. Moreover, due to the abundance of energy in the high frequencies, the treble sounds quite forward - which may get fatiguing.
However, due to the energy and extension, there is no apparent lack of air in high frequencies.
In
Metallica - The Four Horsemen the abundant cymbals are presented in a forward and spicy manner. The crashes are forward and spicy, whereas the background rolls are easily detectable in the mix.
Technicalities:
Here is where DN3 takes a hit. Due to the apparently sharper notes the details seem well produced, however, in some cases the finer details sound a bit smudged.
DN3 does have a somewhat cleaner background, however, the presentation overall feels a bit cramped. The forward treble does not help wither. Notes do not have ample air among them.
Soundstage width is average, height is good, depth is average. Separation is average also.
Comparison:
Vs. Akoustyx R110 - Nothing cannot be a bigger contrast than this little guy. Originally $149, now retailing for $99.99, the R-110 sports a single Balanced Armature driver to play the whole spectrum, and I must say it does the job brilliantly. Compared to R110, the DN3 has a more voluminous midbass thump and stronger subbass rumble, however, the extension feels pretty similar, and R-110 does not sound lanky or hollow in the bass department. DN3 midrange is a bit more recessed and compressed than R-110, and sounds sharper. However, R-110 mids sound much more airy and open despite having smoother notes, and sports better separation. DN3 highs have significantly more energy and treble often becomes shoved in the face of the listener, while R-110 takes a laid back approach here - the highs are still pretty noticeable, and extension is quite good, but in a very busy passage the faintest cymbal rolls may get a bit subdued by the other sounds. Most importantly, though, the highs of R-110 does not sound lacking of air despite being smooth. Regarding stage and separation, R-110 trumps DN3 with a more wide and open stage with similar height and better depth than DN3. Separation is significantly improved on R-110 as well. Granted, R-110 does not hold a candle to DN3 when it comes to bass, but for the rest of the spectrum I definitely prefer R-110 over DN3.
Conclusion:
DN3 is not a bad iem. I cannot find any glaring faults in it considering the price bracket. However, it's not something exceptional as well. BGVP has gone for the regular crowd pleasing tuning here - boosted low end, boosted highs, sharper notes to enhance clarity. However, it's not something that sounds matured, rather like a flashy teenager. It looks like BGVP created DN3 following a regular formula that has proved to be able to capture attention, and has not really took time to refine the finer aspects. While it definitely pleased me at the first listen, I did not find myself going for it afterwards.