[Fat Larry]

Please post your thoughts when you get it. Sorry for my ignorance but can you elaborate on the cost and construction of the Through? Is it copper or silver or a SPC hybrid?

Its this https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001519342301.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.26634c4d6I7ZbE

It's said to be a silver coloured version of the FAAEAL (what does that even mean??) Hibiscus cable that people seem to rate very highly as bang for $ champ. Grabbed it as it has a TFZ option which suits the Blons.

 

[unifutomaki]

Can QDC be cut to fit the BLON 01, say, in this cable

https://www.amazon.com/Detachable-Upgrade-Earphone-Replacement-Standard/dp/B07RZY5C8D/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=kbear+iem+cable&qid=1606961644&sr=8-3&th=1

Or is 2 pin required? It looks like they would appear awkward, without the sleeve that comes with the stock cables...

You'll want a "TFZ/NX7" compatible 2-pin cable for the BLONs. Simply cutting a QDC cable will not work because it's not just a matter of insertion depth, the QDC socket is also rounded on both ends while the BLON/TFZ/NX7 socket is squared off. So it will be like trying to fit a round peg in a square hole, literally.

Source: Mistakes I made

 

[Tonymac136]

Just got my Blonanas. So now I've got BL-01 (old), BL-01 (new), BL-T3, BL-03, BL-05 and BL-05s. The 01 seems pretty good especially for the money. Better bass extension and a similar sound signature to the 05S, with much of the weight but slightly less detail and separation that is quite a bit worse. They're a bit trickier to drive than the 05S too, ES100 does the job but a smartphone doesn't. For the cash though, they're a worthy successor to the BL-03. Vastly improved technicalities and tonal balance, at the expense of some lushness in the timbre.

 

[Sam L]

Anyone in the US get the Blon 01's yet?

 

[Capo Dei Capi]

Just got my Blonanas. So now I've got BL-01 (old), BL-01 (new), BL-T3, BL-03, BL-05 and BL-05s. The 01 seems pretty good especially for the money. Better bass extension and a similar sound signature to the 05S, with much of the weight but slightly less detail and separation that is quite a bit worse. They're a bit trickier to drive than the 05S too, ES100 does the job but a smartphone doesn't. For the cash though, they're a worthy successor to the BL-03. Vastly improved technicalities and tonal balance, at the expense of some lushness in the timbre.

How do you know the old one from the new one?

Do you have an amazon link.

 

[RikudouGoku]

How do you know the old one from the new one?

Do you have an amazon link.

The old ones are discontinued (?) and you cant get them anymore. But they also look completely different from the new 01. The old 01 looks like the T3.

 

[Tonymac136]

The old ones are discontinued (?) and you cant get them anymore. But they also look completely different from the new 01. The old 01 looks like the T3.

I saw the old ones on TaoBao a little while ago and considered trying to get hold of a spare pair but thought it not worth the effort in the end. Whether they are still on there I don't know.

 

[trumpethead]

Anyone in the US get the Blon 01's yet?

Mine are on a state to state usps tour..started in Atlanta, GA and At one point they were 30 minutes from me in Connecticut and then somehow the next day they were in Massachusetts. Left Massachusetts and are now in New Jersey. I would be pissed if it wasn't so hilarious.. It's taking longer for usps than it did for them to get here from China.. Smdh....

 

[paulwasabii]

Just got my Blonanas. So now I've got BL-01 (old), BL-01 (new), BL-T3, BL-03, BL-05 and BL-05s. The 01 seems pretty good especially for the money. Better bass extension and a similar sound signature to the 05S, with much of the weight but slightly less detail and separation that is quite a bit worse. They're a bit trickier to drive than the 05S too, ES100 does the job but a smartphone doesn't. For the cash though, they're a worthy successor to the BL-03. Vastly improved technicalities and tonal balance, at the expense of some lushness in the timbre.

I think you nailed it and the issue is what does it sound like without power as most people are going to plug it into their phone. It is not as clear of an upgrade when just using a phone.

Mine are on a state to state usps tour..started in Atlanta, GA and At one point they were 30 minutes from me in Connecticut and then somehow the next day they were in Massachusetts. Left Massachusetts and are now in New Jersey. I would be pissed if it wasn't so hilarious.. It's taking longer for usps than it did for them to get here from China.. Smdh....

Mine did the China to Atlanta route as well but six days later it was delivered. I have another order from 11-11 that arrived to Atlanta on the same day and has not moved yet, still there now.

 

[Benaudio]

I totally agree with Slater: CA (crazy) glues are over-used and generally MIS-used, although popular. I also build RC planes, and having a dozen or so types of glues, and knowing exactly what to use for the intended purpose, substance, etc. is very important.
Interestingly, law enforcement/csi also use CA fumes in a sealed chamber to get fingerprints to form (show up well) on objects.
But it's just nasty stuff on electronics.

Back to your regularly scheduled program...

Just for reference, I didn't know that and I did repair mu BL-03 after they fell off and used CA on the 3 points to close it back together, with no indue after.
Not saying this is the correct way to do it, but in my case it did not have any adverse consequence

 

[Howell29]

Thanks Sensei @Slater, applied epoxy surgery last night and tried listening to my 03 this morning and glad to have them back

 

[baskingshark]

Just got my Blonanas. So now I've got BL-01 (old), BL-01 (new), BL-T3, BL-03, BL-05 and BL-05s. The 01 seems pretty good especially for the money. Better bass extension and a similar sound signature to the 05S, with much of the weight but slightly less detail and separation that is quite a bit worse. They're a bit trickier to drive than the 05S too, ES100 does the job but a smartphone doesn't. For the cash though, they're a worthy successor to the BL-03. Vastly improved technicalities and tonal balance, at the expense of some lushness in the timbre.

I think you nailed it and the issue is what does it sound like without power as most people are going to plug it into their phone. It is not as clear of an upgrade when just using a phone.

K thanks for the impressions. Seems most of the impressions say that the BL01 scales better with power. The question is it worth it to pair an amp that is more expensive than the BL01 just to unlock its potential? I know most of us in this hobby have some amps/DAPs lying about, but for newbies and the majority of the lay consumers, I think they would only have a smartphone TBH.

There was some similar uproar about the KBEAR BElieve (sensitivity 98 dB) needing amping to scale optimally, but BElieve I would consider to be midfi pricing, and most folks who do dabble in the midfi segment will probably know about appropriate source pairing and will have amps. But the budget segment that the BLON BL01 is releasing into is a very different market. I'm sure folks will still enjoy the BL01 with just a humble smartphone, just that it is a pity that maybe some lay consumers will not know the true potential of this set without power.

 

[chinmie]

The question is it worth it to pair an amp that is more expensive than the BL01 just to unlock its potential?

i haven't received my BL01 yet (what a long shipping from Singapore to Indonesia )

but to answer the question, generally i wouldn't recommend buying an amp just to boost the performance of a certain earphones.

amps are similar to tip rolling.. though the main reason to buy them is to raise the volume, but choosing which one sounded the best is a more complicated thing.. each amp would have certain "flavour" they'd add to the sound: some amps adds harmonics on the trebles, some amps have better crossfeed handling, giving it a "wider" staging, some have darker blackground (low noisefloor), while some would add some distortion and makes the whole sound more exciting.

that's why even two people with the same earphones might choose two different amps, because each of them prefer certain added (or reduced) sound impacted to that earphones with their amps.

that's why some people would collect and experiment with lots of different amps, while some other would just use one, and experiment with multiple earphones.

and some would collect both

 

[baskingshark]

i haven't received my BL01 yet (what a long shipping from Singapore to Indonesia )

but to answer the question, generally i wouldn't recommend buying an amp just to boost the performance of a certain earphones.

amps are similar to tip rolling.. though the main reason to buy them is to raise the volume, but choosing which one sounded the best is a more complicated thing.. each amp would have certain "flavour" they'd add to the sound: some amps adds harmonics on the trebles, some amps have better crossfeed handling, giving it a "wider" staging, some have darker blackground (low noisefloor), while some would add some distortion and makes the whole sound more exciting.

that's why even two people with the same earphones might choose two different amps, because each of them prefer certain added (or reduced) sound impacted to that earphones with their amps.

that's why some people would collect and experiment with lots of different amps, while some other would just use one, and experiment with multiple earphones.

and some would collect both

Definitely agree with what you said. Amps are just one component of the audio chain (in addition to eartips as you say). I personally find that upgrading the transducer (ie IEM/headphone/earbud) first is where the best returns are, followed by eartips, then amp/DAC/DAP, then source files, then lastly cables (if you are a cable believer). Ie there are more diminishing returns to upgrade the latter few areas compared to changing the trandsucer first.

Also agreed 100% that amps are not only for volume. Some amps do add dynamics, microdetails and increase in soundstage independent of actual volume loudness. Some IEMs eg Final E3000, E5000 and KBEAR Believe have very low sensitivity and maybe planars like Tin P1 are very hard to power from just a smartphone and really need an amp to sound optimal.

So that begs the question of should you use a more expensive amp/source than the IEM itself, like in the case of this BL-01 (assuming you don't have an amp available already, especially for lay consumers/newbies)? Horses for courses, but I have seen a friend at an audiophile meet pair a $1000 USD cable to the BLON BL-03, and he says it makes the music "richer" and "lusher". K if that gives music happiness and rocks his boat, I'm happy for him.

 

[paulwasabii]

K thanks for the impressions. Seems most of the impressions say that the BL01 scales better with power. The question is it worth it to pair an amp that is more expensive than the BL01 just to unlock its potential? I know most of us in this hobby have some amps/DAPs lying about, but for newbies and the majority of the lay consumers, I think they would only have a smartphone TBH.

There was some similar uproar about the KBEAR BElieve (sensitivity 98 dB) needing amping to scale optimally, but BElieve I would consider to be midfi pricing, and most folks who do dabble in the midfi segment will probably know about appropriate source pairing and will have amps. But the budget segment that the BLON BL01 is releasing into is a very different market. I'm sure folks will still enjoy the BL01 with just a humble smartphone, just that it is a pity that maybe some lay consumers will not know the true potential of this set without power.

I agree, anyone who was considering Believe either has an amp or used it as motivation to buy one.

The BL01 is more difficult because of the BL03. I think with power, the BL01 sounds like the successor but without, I struggle to consider it on par with the 03. The 05S was similar, it can sound a bit dull and flat but add some power and cable, it opens up, much more dynamic sound. For me the 01 is similar, it gets very dynamic, the soundstage widens, the bass is tighter, details appear.

I will be I interested in other's thoughts on the 01 unamped. I just kept thinking the 03 sounds better. Maybe there will be some unit variance where some sound better unamped. Mine was darkish and bassy out of the box, similar to Crinacles unboxing.