different magic have different effects depending on the target.. like fire magic is more effective to ice target, or water magic is better against fire target
for me, the BL01 is more effective than the BL03
i played too much RPGs growing up, apparently, sorry for the weird analogy
It's not a weird analogy. I have been testing the BL-01 and BL-05s side-by-side after previously using the BL-03, and they all have their strengths.
BL-05s, for example, is killing it on atmospheric synth, synth jazz, and amateur orchestral arrangements, BL-01 is much better for real OST. One is better than the other for DnB.
None of them replace the BL-03, which is better for many pop rock / classic rock standards.
So BLON is giving us a whole golf bag now. Who knows what they'll come up with next?
The funny thing about the build quality is that you can give someone you know the BL-01, let them try this shiny metal IEM with the hi-end tuning, and then ask them how much they think it cost.
I know I'm posting a lot, but the BL-05s is worth testing a lot.
There's a strange album I’m listening to that's very revealing.
It's called "(Score) SimCity," by Sue Kasper and Ryuichi Katsumate, which is a remix of the music tracks from the game series of the same name. This is a professional album created on the basis of the series' quite well-regarded and memorable OST.
This is a more complex and detailed re-imagining, maintaining the base themes, but with greater detail.
I’m listening to it as a 320 kbps MP3 CD-rip, and I’ve been trying it with various IEMs, especially the BL-05s and Starsea.
(this Youtube recording is not at the level of the CD audio)
The BL-05s is just killing it. Absolutely killing it. Sharp guitar picks, harmonious woodwinds, powerful bass and percussion grouping at the L-R poles. The BL-05s is incredibly coherent, warm, and jazzy. Saxophone in particular stood out, as in other tests.
The upbeat 90s theme of the Simcity 2000 OST really comes through here. Not all the songs are meant to be optimistic, and Track 09 “Skyscrapers” is more contemplative.
In 'Dancing Megalopolis,' the soundstage nearly was as expansive as the piece demands, with some of the airiness implied in the original MIDI. Percussion thumped powerfully in my ears, but without being painful. It was a soft thump. Everything that could have been harsh or piercing was rounded-off. All the right instruments stood out. Overall, the BL-05s triumphed in this track. It sounded like the ending credits to some sentimental 90’s sitcom.
In the rest of the album, these constants largely hold up. Sweet strings and sultry sax, some airiness present, not much sparkle, natural ability to convincingly render changes from major to minor keys and to harmonize. The instruments largely non-piercing (except in 'The Construction,') plus thumpy/thuddy bass and percussion (the latter was a little piercing in 'Work Work Work'.) Realism of acoustic strings was hit-or-miss. Piano was bright sometimes. And the synth church bells / alarm in "Acid Land" did not work out.
You owe it to yourself to try this oddball album with the BL-05s, and probably the NA2 if you have one.
I had comparative difficulty getting through this album with the Starsea or the NM2+. They were both extremely analytical. They did not present the song as I remembered it from the game – they instead chopped up all the instrumentation and served it to you separately on a platter. Some instruments were brighter, such as the saxophone. Have to credit the Starsea’s electric guitar timbre, though.
Listening to it on the Starsea was like if, back in the day, your copy of Simcity 2000 was plugged into one of those high-end Adlib OPL or SoundBlaster systems, with many channels and more expensive instrument patches. More technically-impressive, but less coherent. And somewhat overwhelming. It sounds everywhere and no-where at once. The risk of instruments being oppressively isolated and detailed was higher. Whereas the BL-05S was like how it sounded on the older Soundblaster Pro with a couple of gaming speakers and a woofer pointed right at you, in terms of overall sound. [Obviously the BL-05S is much more detailed than that.]
Yes, Starsea had much sharper precision and detail, better tone for some of the instruments, better instrument isolation, and some of the dynamics were unreal over those of the BL-05s. And in track 05, you start to notice what transients are.* Conversely, the album sounded with the BL-05s exactly as I remembered the OST, but enhanced.
--
*I initially thought the Starsea demonstrated superior airiness in Track 19, “Misty Lake.” However, on second listening, the BL-05s might actually beat it here!
The BL-01 is a cheap date; by definition, it's a let your hair down and have some fun outing.
Unlike the BL-03, the 01 doesn't benefit from the balanced, NiceHCK 4N LitzPS Silver cable. For my tastes, the 01 slides too much towards neutral (but still warm), on the 4N silver cable. I also tried a balanced NiceHCK C16-3 cable, but the overall results were thin and encroaching on being shouty. In the end, I ended up digging up a pair of the infamous SE, Tiger cables (that was the rage, when the TRN V90 1st came out).
Like the 03, the 01 has a warm/slightly dark profile (on the Tiger cable). I've only listened to Bohemian Rhapsody & Hotel California so far. I would liken the playback to plugging into a tube amp. For $17 USD, you're not going to do any better.
I'll have to do an A/B against the BL-03 at some point. But to be blunt, for $17 USD, the BL-01 should be an automatic buy, if you like the profile of the BL-03.
Ha ha, that is wild. I have a Tiger cable sitting around unused. I was saving them for the V90 until Slater ripped them to pieces.
So maybe I will put it on the BL-01s after all. It will look strange together with the green MH755 tips, but maybe it's time to finally buy some SednaEarfit tips since I own like 6 BLONs.
I just wanted to close out what I wrote about the BL-05s by saying that I checked out the reviews for it on the AudioReviews.org site, and they are incredibly accurate.
Notably, the BL-05s are "cohesive" (I say "coherent"), fast, organic and warmish, and have a soundstage that is wide but also fairly tall (not that deep).
There's nothing in particular that stands out about their abilities, as you might get with BAs and hybrids, but it does create a good overall sound. This is like the BL-03 and Tin T2+, and unlike the T4.
It's also true that the tuning is carefully constrained to avoid most peaks, but without making the IEM sound confined. It would be nice to have a bigger subbass.
I agree that the percussion and bass is pretty 'thumpy' without being painful. It hits 'pleasantly,' which is an achievement. Less realistic, but it is fun.
Overall, the main word I would use to describe the BL-05s is "coherent." If you want honesty, check the Audioreviews site on the BL-05s, as they got it right.
Impressions from a chi-fi newbie:
For 17€ blon bl01 are amazing. I can't believe to my ears, I prefer them by a huge margin over my old classic open back headphones.
Happy new year guys.
Cheers from Italy
I've read here that some people are using BL-01s for FPS gaming.
I just tried them out. They have good directionality, pretty revealing for direction.
A bit boomy in sound compared to other alternatives, but at least it's not piercing in any way. Can handle lo or hi-res sounds.
The main weakness, for me, is the clearly limited soundstage. I would prefer something more expansive. So I would probably still use a Tin T2 or certain KZ for this purpose, I think. But it's nice to see the versatility of the BL-01.
It's late at night as I write this, so I'm gonna keep this short. Started my New Year's Eve listening to my Urbanfun ISSO14 noble version. I hadn't listened to them much in the past 2 months; so thought I'd give them another shot. After about 45 minutes, I swapped them out for the BLON 01. I like the 01 much more and listened to them for 2 hours. Had to stop because the battery on my ES100 was dieing. I'm sad that I never got the Urbanfun ISSO14 with the berry driver. It might have been better than the noble driver ones that were shipped to me. But as it stands: the 01 is much better in all aspects...and much less expensive too.
It's late at night as I write this, so I'm gonna keep this short. Started my New Year's Eve listening to my Urbanfun ISSO14 noble version. I hadn't listened to them much in the past 2 months; so thought I'd give them another shot. After about 45 minutes, I swapped them out for the BLON 01. I like the 01 much more and listened to them for 2 hours. Had to stop because the battery on my ES100 was dieing. I'm sad that I never got the Urbanfun ISSO14 with the berry driver. It might have been better than the noble driver ones that were shipped to me. But as it stands: the 01 is much better in all aspects...and much less expensive too.
The Blon-01 is an exceptional IEM regardless of it's price. I have the beryllium iss014 and it has a high quality sound, that for me is a similar family sound to the KBear Believe. Even with a 'good' Beryllium coated iss014 the Blon-01 holds up well to it (as does the Blon-03). For it's price the Blon-01 is a phenomena. I did change the cable to a 4.4mm and use Azla Earfits, Spiral Dots or others. I paid £11.82 for it delivered. Cheaper than Fish and Chips delivered (although the Fish and Chips is a bit fresher and very tasty). The Blon-01 is probably the bargain of 2020 of any IEM....all purely IMHO.Champion.
After 50 hours of intense burn in of the BL01 I've now done some more listening. To me they share a lot of the Sony Z1R signature (both models). Very musical, engaging and fairly even. They are not detail or precission monsters but extremely enjoyable when just listening to music. They seem to work well across all genres. Amazing for their price and also build very well. Very pleased with the purchase that was done purely out of curiosity as I had absolutely no need for another headphone
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