Blox YIN

• English is not my native language but I will (as always) trying my best.
• I am not affiliated to anything/anyone, so my review reflects exactly what I really think of the product itself.
• Note that my pair has been properly burned for about 200 hours before this review (yes! in burn-in: I trust)

Some of you probably already read my previous Blox TM9 review. This review won’t be a full new one as YIN is just the exact same as TM9 in term of box contain and earbuds look. I will only focus on the sound difference this time.



Here we go, in less than two months after TM9 was released, YIN just appeared as the new flagship from Blox. Blox claimed to have done new tuned drivers on the YIN. What are the sonic differences and what we could really expect ? this is what I will try to explain (as better as I can).

TM9 received a lot of complain about sounding much laid-back, this kind of signature seems to definitely not have been much appreciated people here on headfi (included me). This signature couldn’t be denied on TM9, clearly. On the YIN, this has been fixed. There is now much more engagement and involvment. The laid-back effect seems to have gone by much. I would say that overall YIN shares the same character as TM9 (it is easy to recognize main Blox sound attitude and caracteristics now).

Bass and sub-bass shares almost the exact same sound as TM9 (a bit more punchy this time, I feel liek there is better precision too).

Mids are clearly much more forwarded (maybe too much for my taste. I feel like there is a high-mid bump, which can (but rarely) sound a bit harsh sometimes depending on music genres. This makes the YIN unlistenable without any foams on it. This bump makes the sound experience sounding a bit tiring to me, as it tends to be much less analog sounding than TM9. Otherwise, mids are close to perfection which much presence and more body than TM9, so both female and make vocals sounds excellent, it’s just that now it is from the analytical side, still smooth but analytical.

Highs/treble were also one of the bad point of TM9, they were lacking presence and we needed to most of the time listen to them without any foam at all. On the YIN, we need to put at least ali thin foams on it, but I won’t recommend more than thin foams, as it will add more bass than needed, also details and clarity will be lost. On YIN, those treble part has been slightly fixed I would say. There is now more details and clarity and great amount of details retrieval. Treble are more refined but maybe still too smoothed out to me. Anyway, there is much more enjoyment overall than TM9, for sure.

Instrument separation is still top notch.

Soundstage also shares the same at TM9, with a touch of more width this time, which makes the YIN one of the best earbuds for those who are looking for best soundstage that can be achieved on an earbud form. On TM9 it was already very deep, but with this little extra width addition, it even make those earbuds probably the best you can achieve from earbuds form in this domain.

I really hope the next Blox release will tame a bit this tiring mid bump and improve on highs clarity (even if I recognize I’m a very difficult guy).

A bit more talk also about the excellent cable that is the same as TM9, I don’t know how Blox did, but they are still extremely soft and makes them so lightweight and comfortable. Seeing copper wires is still very fun, and makes them so premium. I really like it, probably one of the best earbuds cables I’ve ever seen.




To sum-up, I’m a bit mitigate. The improvement is here and clearly audible, but the annoying high-mid bump spoil the party a little. This makes listening a little tiring for my taste, also, without having the best details retrieval that I personally achieved in one of my EMX500 DIY mods.

My only complain is still this treble part. Other than that, YIN soundstage, bass and mids are close to perfection.

On these YIN, still don’t expect the « WOW » effect that some earbuds can do, but you will really appreciate to feel the music as it should be. Both TM9 and YIN are a model (of not the king) of natural and transparent sounding.

YIN has plenty of qualities (for sure they are TOTL) but definitely requires a listen before buying I would say (if you can, of course). The price tag is still high and there is lot of competitors in this price tag today

My personal advice is if you already own TM9 and already appreciate its soundstage, then stay on it, but if you want to upgrade those mids (especially), treble, and stop that laid-back sounding, then go for the upgrade with YIN. Overall, I truely believe that YIN are now better allrounder than TM9, but for electronic music lovers, there are better alternatives (my EMX500 mods are still my favorite for now for this).

As always, for those interested, the official website is: http://bloxearphone.com




★ MY SUBJECTIVE RESULTS ★

(Looks like I’ve been much friendly about TM9 previous rankings, I judged better this time for YIN, even if YIN is technically better).

• Overall sound quality and appreciation : 8.5/10
• Soundstage/imaging : 9.5/10
• Details : 8.5/10
• Bass : 9/10
• Mids : 8.5/10
• Highs/treble : 8/10
• Quality/price value ratio : 8/10