[FastAndClean]

 

[baskingshark]

There's apparently 2 types of Cardinals that were sold, one with @Slater 's in built filter nozzle and one without. Not sure which Cardinal was measured here.

FWIW, my Cardinal has no default nozzle and when using same source/eartips/cable, with volume matching, I thought the Cardinal had more subbass quantity and subbass extension compared to the BL-03 (this may be due to the Cardinal's better isolation as bass is the first frequency to be lost with a poor seal).
To my ears, for both sets, the mids and treble were pretty similar to me. I quite dislike the usual 2 - 4 kHz peak in CHIFI tuning, and didn't really hear it in the Cardinal as per the above peak at 2kHz. Though yeah I do think there's a dip in both BL-03 and Cardinal at around the 3 kHz areas, like the above graphs.

But graphs of course don't tell the full story. Soundstage, isolation are better on the Cardinal, with slight improvement in imaging, clarity and details in the Cardinal too. Timbre and imaging is identical. But the differences are probably not cost effective for existing owners of the BL-03 to buy the Cardinal. Anyway I think the Cardinal is no longer in production, so it can't be bought easily nowadays.

 

[dan]

Is the 4 core bundled cable (not stock) enough or should I go for 8 core cable? Also, what memory foam should I choose, Newbee or TRN?

Cables at this level of iem(BL-03) may be a choice with limited positive enhancement. I use a 16 core silver plated cable this Tripowin Zonie for $16. I'm using it with the 2.5 balanced end. This gets me more output power from the BTR5 DAC then when using a 3.5 unbalanced cable. I like how that makes the 03 sound.
I got one of each from Linsoul. I'm not using the 3.5 at all.
All the good times, baby I've been misusing.
I'd allocate money toward the BTR5 before going with a more costly cable.
Get it on, bang the gong, get it on.
I'm a flea bit peanut monkey

 

[Slater]

So now that my Cardinals are fixed, I have been able to finally listen to them for the 1st time tonight.

Why Blon stopped making these is beyond me. They could sell these like hot cakes!

They’re soooo comfortable, and solve all of the fit issues that people had with the BL-03 had.

I’d buy a 2nd pair in a second if they were available.

 

[HungryPanda]

I tried to but my order was cancelled after 2 days

 

[Slater]

I tried to but my order was cancelled after 2 days

Yeah, there’s still a few sellers who have them listed but when you try and order they are out of stock. I don’t understand why they just don’t take down the listings.

 

[baskingshark]

So now that my Cardinals are fixed, I have been able to finally listen to them for the 1st time tonight.

Why Blon stopped making these is beyond me. They could sell these like hot cakes!

They’re soooo comfortable, and solve all of the fit issues that people had with the BL-03 had.

I’d buy a 2nd pair in a second if they were available.

From the individualized serial numbers on the shells of the Cardinals posted on headfi, I haven't seen any with numbers more than 200 (mine is 0143L), so I think maybe less than 200 pieces were being sold. And the BLON Cardinal was already retailing around end 2018, so they've probably been all sold off already. I've seen a few on the second hand for sale area here on headfi a few weeks back, I think that's the only way to get a legit set now.

I also like the Cardinal's fit and isolation a lot. The shell looks exactly like the resin version of the BGVP DM6, which quite a number of folks liked for the fit.

Now the question is what does the Cardinal's attached filter nozzle do? I would be interested if anyone could measure one without it and one with it on.

 

[Slater]

From the individualized serial numbers on the shells of the Cardinals posted on headfi, I haven't seen any with numbers more than 200 (mine is 0143L), so I think maybe less than 200 pieces were being sold. And the BLON Cardinal was already retailing around end 2018, so they've probably been all sold off already. I've seen a few on the second hand for sale area here on headfi a few weeks back, I think that's the only way to get a legit set now.

I also like the Cardinal's fit and isolation a lot. The shell looks exactly like the resin version of the BGVP DM6, which quite a number of folks liked for the fit.

Now the question is what does the Cardinal's attached filter nozzle do? I would be interested if anyone could measure one without it and one with it on.

I would like to see a comparison too, but IMO it’s not really worth the risk of messing with the nozzle filter on the Cardinals

 

[voicemaster]

I would like to see a comparison too, but IMO it’s not really worth the risk of messing with the nozzle filter on the Cardinals

You can buy those broken cardinal for cheap later xD.

 

[Slater]

From the individualized serial numbers on the shells of the Cardinals posted on headfi, I haven't seen any with numbers more than 200 (mine is 0143L), so I think maybe less than 200 pieces were being sold. And the BLON Cardinal was already retailing around end 2018, so they've probably been all sold off already. I've seen a few on the second hand for sale area here on headfi a few weeks back, I think that's the only way to get a legit set now.

I also like the Cardinal's fit and isolation a lot. The shell looks exactly like the resin version of the BGVP DM6, which quite a number of folks liked for the fit.

Now the question is what does the Cardinal's attached filter nozzle do? I would be interested if anyone could measure one without it and one with it on.

So I wonder how to interpret/decode my serial number?

It seems quite different than most others. I don’t really know what manufacturing # mine is (DGS01C4):

 

[baskingshark]

So I wonder how to interpret/decode my serial number?

It seems quite different than most others. I don’t really know what manufacturing # mine is (DGS01C4):

Your shell says "Cardinal" whereas mine says "Audition" on both shells. And I've no nozzle filter. So I have a feeling the non nozzle vs nozzle Cardinals are from different production lines?

 

[jsmiller58]

Your shell says "Cardinal" whereas mine says "Audition" on both shells. And I've no nozzle filter. So I have a feeling the non nozzle vs nozzle Cardinals are from different production lines?

Mine say Cardinal and don't have the nozzle filter

 

[SoundChoice]

Mine say Cardinal and don't have the nozzle filter

I have the only authentic one as mine says CARDENULL
#driams

 

[sabloke]

Any news on BL-05 release? I though it was scheduled for early march 2020 but Blon went quiet. Must be the bloody virus slowing things down to a halt in big part of China...

 

[genck]

Any news on BL-05 release? I though it was scheduled for early march 2020 but Blon went quiet. Must be the bloody virus slowing things down to a halt in big part of China...

I gotta fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell blon