[flatlander3kgt]

@ppGabe

The Blon 01 isn't so hard to drive that it's a disaster to listen to on a phone.

I have a few iems - Blon 01, iBasso IT01, Tin HiFi T3, Shozy 1.1, Tripowin TC-01, and Mangird Tea. They ALL sound great on my iPhone SE 2020. And I just compared all of them to the Blon 01. Yes, the Blon needs about 10% more gain to be on the same volume level as the others... and it sounds great! It didn't lose anything in regard to sound quality.

I will admit I'm not an accredited audiophile... I just listen to music for enjoyment without analyzing it to death. So, I guess you can take my opinion with a grain of salt amongst a mountain of audiophile salt.

 

[ppGabe]

@ppGabe

The Blon 01 isn't so hard to drive that it's a disaster to listen to on a phone.

That's good to hear, don't worry, I'm not an accredited audiophile either.

I admit I am struggling to choose an IEM which is the best for me and my budget. There's just so many. KZ ZS10 Pro, KZ DQ6, the famous Blons, some of Kbear's products. I might as well ask again: For someone who's on their phone most of the time, likes listening to music casually, watches a lot of shows, and games sometimes, which is the best monitor at around $30-$40? The Blons which are the focus of this thread, or should I be looking somewhere else for the use cases mentioned above?

 

[JEHL]

Yeah, I'd not recommend any BLON for use with a smartphone. Even if said smartphone is an LG V Series like mine, it's just not up to it.

KZ ZAX is a good shout, DQ6 is easily driven by a smartphone if DD timbre is needed. Kbear KS1 is great if you want to pick up things like reverb really well but too V shaped for mixing ideally.

I'm pretty sure the issue is the phone's weird behavior rather than actual power as Amir from ASR stated on the LG G7 thinq review. It apparently capped at a comically low 3.6mW on a 33Ω load (the apple usb-c dongle caps at 31mW under the same load). But gave 50mW on a 100Ω load, which I believe it matches the Earstudio HUD100 if not beats it outright. And I've never heard of the HUD100 struggling to power any IEM ever.

So at this point I wonder why the LG phones just don't allow the user to enable quad mode (don't know actual name) always on. Since power hungry low impedance gear exists. Like I get the idea that they may want to save battery. But I don't think battery life is your biggest concern on an LG flagship in the first place.

 

[Vannak]

Feel so like home, so mature, well educated
Reading you guys comments

 

[JEHL]

That's good to hear, don't worry, I'm not an accredited audiophile either.

I admit I am struggling to choose an IEM which is the best for me and my budget. There's just so many. KZ ZS10 Pro, KZ DQ6, the famous Blons, some of Kbear's products. I might as well ask again: For someone who's on their phone most of the time, likes listening to music casually, watches a lot of shows, and games sometimes, which is the best monitor at around $30-$40? The Blons which are the focus of this thread, or should I be looking somewhere else for the use cases mentioned above?

Also, let me release one elephant in the room real quick.

What signature you like in the first place? I know some people unironically love listening to EDM with some kind of ER4 which most people would consider its signature too lifeless or whatever else you'd associate the ER4 family for this task. But I ain't judging.

I listen to a lot of EDM on my BL-03 since for starters is my ONLY IEM. However I did EQ both the 60-400hz regions and 4-10kHz a little bit. I'm pretty sure no one calls the BL-03 V shape, but I have issues hearing mids apparently.

Edit: Does anyone have any recommendations based on how I EQ my BL-03 on the previous page under $200 for that matter?

 

[ppGabe]

Also, let me release one elephant in the room real quick.

What signature you like in the first place?

I'm much more used to a V-shaped signature, but not too much to the point where the mids feel... weak. I also listen to some EDM, so that might be of help to you. If it's energetic, it's for me. If it's lifeless, I'll pass.

 

[Jitu13]

That's good to hear, don't worry, I'm not an accredited audiophile either.

I admit I am struggling to choose an IEM which is the best for me and my budget. There's just so many. KZ ZS10 Pro, KZ DQ6, the famous Blons, some of Kbear's products. I might as well ask again: For someone who's on their phone most of the time, likes listening to music casually, watches a lot of shows, and games sometimes, which is the best monitor at around $30-$40? The Blons which are the focus of this thread, or should I be looking somewhere else for the use cases mentioned above?

For really cheap, you have KZ EDX and QKZ VK4. I like EDX more, but it has more upper midrange energy than VK4, so it may well be shouty to you. Clarity wise, I feel EDX is quite ahead of both VK4 and blon 03. Of course blon 03 is a great option. You will love the sound of electric guitar in them (read, they have great timbre). They have a lot of mid bass, and clarity wise they are better than VK4. These are the 3 I have, apart from them here's the other options that you can look at: TRN TA1 (the new hype, FWIW they have a Knowles ba in them), kz dq6 (3dd magic, lot of people love them here), Tripowin TC-01 (touted as the improved blon with the same magic, wasn't picked up though), hzsound heart mirror/moondrop ssp (from what I heard, they have the best mid for this money, they are also technically proficient).

 

[Jitu13]

casually, watches a lot of shows, and games sometimes

If you play fps games then blon bl03 is a no go! Their soundstage is not spherically symmetric, and as such you will not be able to utilize footstep. I used to use vk4 for my fps games(in smartphone), but edx is better than vk4 when it comes to footstep. You can't go wrong with vk4 though, they are more than accurate enough.

 

[ppGabe]

TRN TA1 (the new hype, FWIW they have a Knowles ba in them),

Thanks for bringing the TRN TA1 to my attention. At $28, they look pretty tempting. There is just a lack of reviews out there currently.

If you play fps games then blon bl03 is a no go! Their soundstage is not spherically symmetric, and as such you will not be able to utilize footstep.

Thanks for the heads-up! Both the EDX and VK4 are cheaper than my current ZSN Pros, and I fear it might be a downgrade in sound quality if I choose them. What do you think? I'm eyeing the KZ DQ6 and TRN TA1 right now.

 

[unifutomaki]

Thanks for bringing the TRN TA1 to my attention. At $28, they look pretty tempting. There is just a lack of reviews out there currently.

Thanks for the heads-up! Both the EDX and VK4 are cheaper than my current ZSN Pros, and I fear it might be a downgrade in sound quality if I choose them. What do you think? I'm eyeing the KZ DQ6 and TRN TA1 right now.

I wrote about the TA1 here. Those of us who have them rate them pretty highly.

 

[ppGabe]

I wrote about the TA1 here. Those of us who have them rate them pretty highly.

Well, I think I'm pretty much set after reading your review. Engaging and musical? That's for me. Thank you very much.

 

[Tonymac136]

I'm pretty sure the issue is the phone's weird behavior rather than actual power as Amir from ASR stated on the LG G7 thinq review. It apparently capped at a comically low 3.6mW on a 33Ω load (the apple usb-c dongle caps at 31mW under the same load). But gave 50mW on a 100Ω load, which I believe it matches the Earstudio HUD100 if not beats it outright. And I've never heard of the HUD100 struggling to power any IEM ever.

So at this point I wonder why the LG phones just don't allow the user to enable quad mode (don't know actual name) always on. Since power hungry low impedance gear exists. Like I get the idea that they may want to save battery. But I don't think battery life is your biggest concern on an LG flagship in the first place.

Nail/head. I dunno the exact numbers but with stuff like the HE400i or a lot of DD or planar IEMs, it's no more powerful than any other smartphone... IE rubbish. It makes a noise.

I wouldn't say you need massive amplification with a lot of DD stuff but "better than a smartphone" is important with the likes of the Blon gear.

 

[Jitu13]

Thanks for bringing the TRN TA1 to my attention. At $28, they look pretty tempting. There is just a lack of reviews out there currently.

Thanks for the heads-up! Both the EDX and VK4 are cheaper than my current ZSN Pros, and I fear it might be a downgrade in sound quality if I choose them. What do you think? I'm eyeing the KZ DQ6 and TRN TA1 right now.

You can't go wrong with either of kz dq6 or tan ta1. As @unifutomaki mentioned above, they are both regarded highly here. You can always grab a kz edx, as they are darn cheap. For fps gaming they should be better than zsn pro(I don't have it, but I have zs10 pro. edx is miles ahead in footstep imaging compared to zs10 pro. The only thing that beats it is my er4sr in my collection, others are either on equal footing(timkoo c630) or worse.). So if you buy one of the kz dq6/trn ta1, and an edx for 8$, you should be set for both gaming and music.

 

[Dany1]

I was recently using my blon bl-01 and took them out of my ears for a moment. Once i put them back i noticed a severe channel imbalance on left side. It is sounding significantly weak. I don't know what happened. I was just using them and this happened so suddenly. I tried different sources and even tested another cable. But the left side is still sounding significantly weaker. It's impossible to enjoy them in this condition. Is there any way to fix this ? anyone else faced this issue with their blon's ?

 

[Dany1]

Edit: Sorry ..duplicate post by mistake