[ian91]

Indeed, very well said.

@sonicfanatic
Here are charts that @ian91 and I have created to help explain the Blur House Sound.

Here is an example of a few recent and popular Blur models showing their primary sound signature plots... as you can see the Beautiful Witch's primary sound signature is way down in the far right which equates to forward upper midrange (again great for female vocals).



It's secondary and tertiary sound signatures and characteristics pull it even further into the Asian Female Poison domain as well as well into both the Aggressive and Bright quadrants.


Here is a very rough showing of the possible behavior of the Blur House Sound tuning:


So the typical Blur House Sound is generally mid-centric" with most models bright-aggressive leaning (sometimes nearing female poison aka Beautiful Witch) and thus very "vocals" focused.

Concur with this wonderful post. Bright-aggressive, mid-centric is a good way to describe the general sound. Tonal qualities aside, what also typifies Blur sound is a incredibly authentic timbre.

 

[WoodyLuvr]

@WoodyLuvr might I make a suggestion? I've always felt the Blur OFC MX400 STE (non-aPs) is one of the most texturally resolving buds (more so than BW). Do you think it deserves a slot in your top 10?

The Blur OFC MX400 STE (non-aPs), and it's direct descendent the Blur 266R MX400 Reference STE Limited Edition (non-aPs) which used the same STE tuning as the Blur OFC MX400 STE (non-aPs), were both a bit too bright and analytical clinical sounding (not as bad as the Blur OFC MX64 aPs STE though) for my personal top ten which is geared for darker and/or warmer leaning signatured earbuds. But you are indeed quite correct they should be in the Honorable Mentions, as well as the Monstrous Resolution tables. Added good sir! Thank you for reminding me!

 

[ian91]

The Blur OFC MX400 STE (non-aPs), and it's direct descendent the Blur 266R MX400 Reference STE Limited Edition (non-aPs) which used the same STE tuning as the Blur OFC MX400 STE (non-aPs), were both a bit too bright and analytical clinical sounding (not as bad as the Blur OFC MX64 aPs STE though) for my personal top ten which is geared for darker and/or warmer leaning signatured earbuds. But you are indeed quite correct they should be in the Honorable Mentions, as well as the Monstrous Resolution tables. Added good sir! Thank you for reminding me!

When I got the Blur OFC MX400 STE (non-aPs) I was impressed with the clarity of vocals, extension and massive staging (the biggest I've heard from an MX500 shell). However, the bass was very flat / rolled from the sources I had at the time (even cello sounded flat) so I actually ended sending mine back to Master Wong for retuning. Now, with that retune and having heard it through the Defiant it is totally 'complete'. I am super impressed with the tonality for instrumental, the authentic timbre and wide and spacious staging on it. Can you remember much about this particular driver?

 

[WoodyLuvr]

When I got the Blur OFC MX400 STE (non-aPs) I was impressed with the clarity of vocals, extension and massive staging (the biggest I've heard from an MX500 shell). However, the bass was very flat / rolled from the sources I had at the time (even cello sounded flat) so I actually ended sending mine back to Master Wong for retuning. Now, with that retune and having heard it through the Defiant it is totally 'complete'. I am super impressed with the tonality for instrumental, the authentic timbre and wide and spacious staging on it. Can you remember much about this particular driver?

Yes, the driver was a special proprietary version of the DIY 400Ω Graphene with a slightly lower sensitivity of around 96-98 dB/mW instead of 102 dB/mW. It was an abandoned variant driver order by an unnamed brand which explains why the stock was very limited and he was no longer able to source it. I highly suspect this was going to be a replacement driver for the anticipated update of the 2017 - Seahf AWK-F400S Pro 400Ω (90 dB/mW) that never materialized in 2018. He greatly preferred this special variant driver over the standard-stock DIY 400Ω Graphene which is much harder to tune and well known to have very poor bass and lower midrange performance. The standard version performed badly in all of his R&D and was a royal headache for him and thus why he avoids it like the plague and also why he stopped offering the 400Ω driver option on his model lines in Q4 2021 when his stock of the special version was finished. I believe he used the last remaining pair of these proprietary 400Ω Graphene drivers on a customer project in Q1/Q2 2022.

You got me thinking... maybe I should create a Flatheads for Timbreheads (Natural Sounding Timbre) table. Definitely will include Blur Beautiful Witch and STE series, as well as the Wraith. If I recall correctly the Zen SU has quite excellent timbre... much better than the Sun series and Zen 2.0.

 

[sonicfanatic]

Thank you both @ian91 and @WoodyLuvr! I have quite a few off the top 10 list. The above descriptions feel accurate, and I only have the Blur 266R 400 to compare against. I started with Toxygene Ganja Kru remix and am now onto the Ganja Kru's Sharp Shooter album. I'm loving them both. You have to turn the 266R up more. There is something amazing about the Beautiful Witch bass.

 

[qua2k]

Thank you both @ian91 and @WoodyLuvr! I have quite a few off the top 10 list. The above descriptions feel accurate, and I only have the Blur 266R 400 to compare against. I started with Toxygene Ganja Kru remix and am now onto the Ganja Kru's Sharp Shooter album. I'm loving them both. You have to turn the 266R up more. There is something amazing about the Beautiful Witch bass.

Stop it, you are making me regret selling them!! Haha, seriously though, enjoy them and I am happy you are currently!

 

[ian91]

Yes, the driver was a special proprietary version of the DIY 400Ω Graphene with a slightly lower sensitivity of around 96-98 dB/mW instead of 102 dB/mW. It was an abandoned variant driver order by an unnamed brand which explains why the stock was very limited and he was no longer able to source it. I highly suspect this was going to be a replacement driver for the anticipated update of the 2017 - Seahf AWK-F400S Pro 400Ω (90 dB/mW) that never materialized in 2018. He greatly preferred this special variant driver over the standard-stock DIY 400Ω Graphene which is much harder to tune and well known to have very poor bass and lower midrange performance. The standard version performed badly in all of his R&D and was a royal headache for him and thus why he avoids it like the plague and also why he stopped offering the 400Ω driver option on his model lines in Q4 2021 when his stock of the special version was finished. I believe he used the last remaining pair of these proprietary 400Ω Graphene drivers on a customer project in Q1/Q2 2022.

You got me thinking... maybe I should create a Flatheads for Timbreheads (Natural Sounding Timbre) table. Definitely will include Blur Beautiful Witch and STE series, as well as the Wraith. If I recall correctly the Zen SU has quite excellent timbre... much better than the Sun series and Zen 2.0.

You are a font of knowledge! This driver is special, imo. It's timbre is on point but it does need power otherwise it sounds flat. Now with the Defiant I'm seeing it's true colours. Huge stage, great detail, no shouty peaks, fairly neutral in colouration with a smidge of warmth. It's competing for ear time with the APWS!

I like the idea of a Timbre Top 10 / most natural sounding. The Zen SU isn't a timbre specialist in my opinion. As you mentioned the other day, with the warmer tonality and less clarity, instruments are smoother and less detailed and it's harder to discern aspects of their character. APWS is better in this respect.

 

[WoodyLuvr]

You are a font of knowledge! This driver is special, imo. It's timbre is on point but it does need power otherwise it sounds flat. Now with the Defiant I'm seeing it's true colours. Huge stage, great detail, no shouty peaks, fairly neutral in colouration with a smidge of warmth. It's competing for ear time with the APWS!

I like the idea of a Timbre Top 10 / most natural sounding. The Zen SU isn't a timbre specialist in my opinion. As you mentioned the other day, with the warmer tonality and less clarity, instruments are smoother and less detailed and it's harder to discern aspects of their character. APWS is better in this respect.

Roger that, so the Zen SU timbre performance is closer to the Sun Copper than I remember; thank you. Hopefully I'll hear a APWS in the coming month (someone I know in Singapore has it now) so I can put it on the list.

 

[ian91]

Roger that, so the Zen SU timbre performance is closer to the Sun Copper than I remember; thank you. Hopefully I'll hear a APWS in the coming month (someone I know in Singapore has it now) so I can put it on the list.

Brace yourself! I think it will be a difficult listen for your sensitivity with significant upper mid and treble focus. Definitely keep me updated on how it goes.

 

[sonicfanatic]

Stop it, you are making me regret selling them!! Haha, seriously though, enjoy them and I am happy you are currently!

Sorry! I thought that could be the case! This baby tube amp has a 2.5mm input, and it's been so fun to be able to easily compare the two. I listen to all genres, but I appreciate how much the blur sound elevates good jungle/dnb due to the exceptional bass.

 

[sonicfanatic]

I went to go see Ween last night, and broke these in listening to most of the set list today. Loving the sound!

 

[ian91]

I've decided to part ways with a few of my Blur earbuds. I don't have enough room in my bag for all my earbuds and they deserve to be enjoyed and not just gathering dust.

Happy to sell as a lot (at a reduced price) or individually and post to the UK/US/EU. Please reach out to me via PM if you're interested.

• Blur 266 MX150 aPs Retune (4.4mm, gold plated plug
• Blur 189 Hybrid MX64 aPs (3.5mm, gold plated plug)
• Blur 189 Hybrid MX150 aPs (4.4mm, gold plated plug)
• Blur 266R MX400 non-aPs Reference (4.4mm, rhodium plated plug)

(if you use the 'search' function in this thread you can usually find a breakdown of the tonality / technical performance of these sets. A good place to start however would be this great post here by @WoodyLuvr that includes our tonality plot)

 

[dnolan227]

I've decided to part ways with a few of my Blur earbuds. I don't have enough room in my bag for all my earbuds and they deserve to be enjoyed and not just gathering dust.

Happy to sell as a lot (at a reduced price) or individually and post to the UK/US/EU. Please reach out to me via PM if you're interested.

• Blur 266 MX150 aPs Retune (4.4mm, gold plated plug
• Blur 189 Hybrid MX64 aPs (3.5mm, gold plated plug)
• Blur 189 Hybrid MX150 aPs (4.4mm, gold plated plug)
• Blur 266R MX400 non-aPs Reference (4.4mm, gold plated plug)

(if you use the 'search' function in this thread you can usually find a breakdown of the tonality / technical performance of these sets. A good place to start however would be this great post here by @WoodyLuvr that includes our tonality plot)

I sent a PM, but I'll bet qua2k has already bought the lot.

 

[qua2k]

I sent a PM, but I'll bet qua2k has already bought the lot.

Lol! I totally missed this. No I did not buy the lot good looking out through haha

 

[goaud27]

DM via IG or Facebook... more info is here:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EZSGob-JJ7TGRivPDJUgyNqlP7aY2iFsUX-EJikj42w/edit

"The file has been deleted"
Anywhere else I can read about the earbuds?