I got hold of my Cardinal about an hour ago. These are my amateur impressions:
Where did our favourite puncline "Oppoty and Driams" go?? For some reason, they still love to burn music! Accessories are much more generous than the BL-03, but it still comes with the lame sackcloth carrying bag.
The fit of the Cardinal is way better than the BL-03, due to the longer nozzle/shell. I had no problems with the stock cable and stock tips.
Unfortunately, u are out of luck
@RikudouGoku, the shell shape is just very slightly smaller than the Audiosense T800. I don't find either IEM uncomfortable actually, but of course we have different build and ear anatomies. Here's a comparison of sizes and nozzle lengths between the BL-03, Cardinal and T800:
The Cardinal and T800 have a similar semi custom look with the protruding tip at the concha area of the ear.
It has no nozzle cover like the T800, so I would recommend some mesh cover to prevent wax and other debris from entering the shell. It's a few bucks on AE on many stores, something like this:
Initial impressions of the Cardinal after doing A/B for 45 min, using Khadas tone board -> Fiio A3 amp and smartphone (low end DAC):
- Do bear in mind I'm using stock tips/stock cable with the Cardinal, compared to Spinfit CP 100/NiceHCK 8 core copper cables with the BL-03, as I can't get a good fit with the stock tips/cables on the BL-03. Even for those that don't believe in cables making a difference to sound, there's definitely a difference with eartips. The Spinfit CP100s are bassier than the stock BL-03 eartips to me, so this may affect the sound signature when doing A/B comparisons.
- No burn in done yet, these impressions are OOTB. (I do believe in DDs changing in sound with burn in, but the changes are subtle and not night and day kind of difference).
- Better
fit and isolation in the Cardinal, due to the bigger shell covering the ear and the better tip fit. Isolation is still not as good as multi BA sets. There's a huge vent at the nozzle area of the Cardinal, so I think most vented IEMs will have penalties in the isolation department in general. I'll do some tests in the subway over the next week.
- I agree 100% with
@Hisma 's opinions and comparisons of the BL-03 vs Cardinal, they probably have the same driver and same tuning.
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Subbass extends lower and of slightly greater quantity in the Cardinal.
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Midbass thump/hump lesser in the Cardinal (this might be due to the spinfit CP100 being used on the BL-03, as it makes the sound bassier). The midbass distorts less in the Cardinal on higher volumes.
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Mids and treble similar between BL-03 and Cardinal.
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Instrument separation/details/clarity/imaging is slightly superior on the Cardinal. If I can give a ballpark figure, subjectively the Cardinal has about 10 - 20% more details and instrument separation. This is because of 3 reasons -
soundstage is slightly wider on the Cardinal, isolation is better on the Cardinal and lastly, the elevated midbass in the BL-03 relative to the Cardinal also obscures some details in the mids.
- Cardinal is as power hungry as the BL-03 despite specs on paper. It can be driven by a smartphone but amping definitely makes the Cardinal scale better, it tightens the bass and increases dynamics and details.
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Timbre and tonality very similar between Cardinal and BL-03, they both portray acoustic instruments very well and organically, the best in my collection of 20 or so CHIFI.
- Similarly to the BL-03, the Cardinal doesn't fair well at complex instrumentation/multiple riffs going on simultaneously, compared to multi BA/hybrids. There is smearing in the bass with complex bass lines like the BL-03. Hence, my opinion is that both sets will do better in acoustical instrument predominant genres and in slower genres with lesser instruments.
TLDR: I agree 100% with
@Hisma 's opinions and comparisons of the BL-03 vs Cardinal, they probably have the same driver and same tuning. The fit and isolation is better, and maybe the Cardinal has more subbass with decreased midbass (which may suit those folks who are dissatisfied with the midbass hump of the BL-03). The Cardinal's midbass is still elevated relative to other IEMs, though how much of the bass variation between the Cardinal and BL-03 could be explained by the different ear tips and isolation? There's about 10 - 20% better details/instrument/separation/clarity in the Cardinal compared to the BL-03, so this is really a case of a marginal upgrade.
I bought my set @ $64 USD, so does it justify the almost 2x cost compared to the BL-03 since they are similarly tuned?
Well, I think for
existing owners of the BL-03, it is worthwhile getting the Cardinal/Bluejay if u want a better fit, better isolation and soundstage (and if u have tried many different tips and still can't get a good fit). And maybe some folks might wanna see if the midbass hump is less than the BL-03. I'm a basshead so I'm up for moooooore bass any day, so I'm quite happy with more subbass in the Cardinal, so take my bass opinion with a pinch of salt if u are bass averse. There's marginal upgrades in the technicalities as discussed above, so it may not be cost effective for those who already have a good fit with aftermarket tips/cables with the BL-03.
For folks
who haven't gotten the BL-03 and are wondering what is the BL-03 hypetrain about and don't wanna waste time eartip rolling or finding aftermarket cables, the Cardinal comes in a ready made package that is good to go OOTB. IMHO, if u are gonna spend 20 bucks on an aftermarket cable and around 5 - 10 bucks on a more expensive eartip like spinfits or JVC spiral dots for the BL-03, the costs are almost thereabouts between the 2 sets. YMMV.
Will test more and burn in and give a more detailed review over the next few days!
. I honestly don't need my BL-03s anymore, as I personally see the cardinal's as too similar yet different enough in the right ways. Though I also think these views may not be across the board, especially to those that already find the subbass in the BL-03 "too much".
