[Tonymac136]

"rock music, indie, punk rock, heavy metal" is close to my main listening. I have a BL-03 on the way, and already have a CNT-1.

What would you say is the best for indie rock, post punk, and prog rock in the sub-50 range? Still the BL-03? What about $100?

Between the BL-03 and the T2 imho. I'm just getting a slight feeling that you might enjoy the sparkly highs of the T2 a bit more. Truth be told, neither of those is going to disappoint you and if you hadn't heard the other you wouldn't feel you were missing out. At $100 I've heard great things about the toneking 9 tails but can only give an opinion on what is in my signature. The Semkarch was originally $95 and respected at that price so I think it might be a slightly upwards sidegrade rather than night and day better to buy a $100 iem over the Blon or Tin.

BL03 is better than CNT1

It is. Although the fit issue I have clouds my judgement.

 

[salocin82]

Between the BL-03 and the T2 imho. I'm just getting a slight feeling that you might enjoy the sparkly highs of the T2 a bit more. Truth be told, neither of those is going to disappoint you and if you hadn't heard the other you wouldn't feel you were missing out. At $100 I've heard great things about the toneking 9 tails but can only give an opinion on what is in my signature. The Semkarch was originally $95 and respected at that price so I think it might be a slightly upwards sidegrade rather than night and day better to buy a $100 iem over the Blon or Tin.

Have you had the opportunity to try the Final Audio E2000? Because I have read good opinions, but I don't know if they are recommended for listening to rock music.

 

[Dustry]

I have received BLON BL-03, my first purchase of IEMs in almost 10 months (I used to buy new IEM every week but stopped since I found **** ****)
Also it is a first single driver IEM I have bought in years

It looks and feels cool. As everyone says, nozzles a bit too short for this form factor but I use spinfit tips anyway which are fairly long, so I get good fit and isolation

Man, what is wrong with soundstage? It is crazily tiny! After **** (or my other recent favourites like KZ ZSN and CCA C10) it is unbelievable. Even if you take my dynamic-driver-only favourites (Tin Audio T515), BL-03's soundstage is laughably small, I didn't even think that was possible. All instruments and vocals are confined in a cube one by one inch inside your head. No sense of 3D imaging at all.

Is it something wrong with my pair? Tonally sounds good with deep bass which I love but I can't give it a good test as I can't make it past the soundstage issue.

 

[DynamicEars]

I have received BLON BL-03, my first purchase of IEMs in almost 10 months (I used to buy new IEM every week but stopped since I found **** ****)
Also it is a first single driver IEM I have bought in years

It looks and feels cool. As everyone says, nozzles a bit too short for this form factor but I use spinfit tips anyway which are fairly long, so I get good fit and isolation

Man, what is wrong with soundstage? It is crazily tiny! After **** (or my other recent favourites like KZ ZSN and CCA C10) it is unbelievable. Even if you take my dynamic-driver-only favourites (Tin Audio T515), BL-03's soundstage is laughably small, I didn't even think that was possible. All instruments and vocals are confined in a cube one by one inch inside your head. No sense of 3D imaging at all.

Is it something wrong with my pair? Tonally sounds good with deep bass which I love but I can't give it a good test as I can't make it past the soundstage issue.

If your BLON soundstage smaller than your ZSN and C10 then something must be wrong, either you eartips or problem with your set. Their soundstage is wideee with good depth with great imaging, not only me saying this

 

[Tonymac136]

No, all I've heard is what I have. I'm keen to try a pair of planar IEMs as I love my HE400i. Other than that I am mostly happy with what I have. Not that it stops me buying more.

Here, genuine, and fantastic.

 

[Slater]

Man, what is wrong with soundstage? It is crazily tiny!

...BL-03's soundstage is laughably small, I didn't even think that was possible. All instruments and vocals are confined in a cube one by one inch inside your head. No sense of 3D imaging at all.

What model SpinFits are you using? CP100? If so, maybe try something wide bore (whether SpinFits or otherwise).

Also, test your phase to make sure they’re not wired out of phase. That definitely makes the soundstage sound weird. There’s a link in my signature that you can use to test phase.

 

[Tonymac136]

Something is off if you're finding the soundstage tiny on the BL03 definitely. It's not massive but far from tiny either.

 

[ozziecook]

I desperately wish that your statement is true! Amen to that.

BL03 is better than CNT1

+1

 

[Tonymac136]

So now having listened to the MH755 a bit more, and having said I was going to do a comparison of all my supercheap IEMs - the KZ EDR1 and ED9 are easily at the rear. Not even in the same ballpark. The Blon BL-01 and the MH755 are both absolutely stunning for the money. I'd do some proper comparitive listening but I can't force the 755 out of my ears. The 755 definitely has deeper bass, and better separation between bass drum and guitar. The BL01 definitely has more pinpoint accuracy to the soundstage although it's a bit more intimate. The mids are better on the BL01 I think. Seems like a bit more presence to the vocals. The MH755 seems a bit more ragged in the mids with aggressive music. Trebles on both are detailed and present. Oh I really can't pick a favourite here. Both of these are good enough to really pick a fight with the very best of my IEMs. Bear in mind though that my BL01s are well burnt in now and the Sonys are out of the box.

Further thoughts. The Sony is more rythmic. I'm tapping my foot to literally everything I listen to.

 

[Johnny2R]

Hmm, maybe I need to wait for my MH755s to turn up before ordering any others...

 

[Tonymac136]

Hmm, maybe I need to wait for my MH755s to turn up before ordering any others...

If you've got genuine ones they really are good. Definitely a good starting point to work out what you want to hear differently on your "ideal" IEM. If you can say "I've got the MH755 and I don't like X about it" it's easier to give advice. The best sub £50 IEM is different for different people.

Or just buy a load of different IEMs and enjoy the journey as much as the destination.

 

[lgcubana]

I think every review I have read of these mentioned the driver flex, it is not an isolated case.

Blon BL-03

Negative, no, nein,...

Are you getting that annoying pop/click on both sides ?

It would be highly improbable for both sides to be poppin. I'm not saying that, to doubt you, but to lean towards another tangent; if it's both sides.
I swivel mine in, no driver flex, to date.
What tips are you using ?

 

[lgcubana]

IMHO 90% of budget to midfi CHIFI IEMs won't have as good a soundstage as an open backed headphone.

Sony MH755 has excellent timbre IMHO (assuming u got a legit set, as there are many fakes floating out there). But it is tuned to the harman curve and has elevated bass and treble, so it might not be that neutral for classical music per se. Nevertheless, it's great for the price of a coffee. Just that the cable is very short and has microphonics, so you might have to consider getting an extension cable or recable/mmcx mod it.

I have the Semkarch CNT1 and it's tonal accuracy is very good. It has 2 customizable tuning filters and I think the gold one may be a bit more neutral and may be suitable for classical. Instrument separation and soundstage is above average. There are cheap sets on ebay or taobao going at 43 and 28 bucks respectively. It is slightly U shaped, so mids may be recessed.

The best CHIFI IEM for natural and organic timbre I have is the Toneking Ninetails. It has a front and back tuning filter and there are 9 potential permutations. With both blue filters on, it can be quite neutral. Only thing is that the mids are quite recessed no matter what tuning signature is chosen. Soundstage is wide for an IEM in the budget to midfi pricing. It may be slightly out of your budget though ~ 80ish USD during sales.

I think the audiosense T180 and Tin audio T2 may be more suitable for classical, but I haven't heard them before. I have heard the CCA C16 is also quite neutral and is great for critical listening. But I'm not sure how is the timbre for these 3. Hope others who have them can chime in.

Just got in my new (to me) ToneKing Ninetails, thanks to @strooper, for including the balanced cable

I don't know if the filters really have a retention problem. But to play it safe, I added some plumber's (teflon) tape to the rear pieces; now they're much more snug, when tightening.
(silver back, red front)

 

[strooper]

Good idea with the tape. I found that the rear pieces would get loose after a few days. I got in the habit of always giving them a twist just before putting them in my ears.

 

[Slater]

Just got in my new (to me) ToneKing Ninetails, thanks to @strooper, for including the balanced cable

I don't know if the filters really have a retention problem. But to play it safe, I added some plumber's (teflon) tape to the rear pieces; now they're much more snug, when tightening.
(silver back, red front)

Great minds think alike! I did that to mine right out of the box. I got worried after reading where 1 person lost their tuning filters, and I didn’t want any problems (luckily I’ve had none).