[marusanek52]

Hey guys, I'm looking for some advice. I'm trying to improve my portable setup (budget around 100$). My listening consists mainly of classical music and instrumental jazz (Orchestral, solo piano, guitar, sometimes voice). Right now I have the Blon bl03 driven from my Android phone. I quite like the sound, even though the blons seem a little bloated in the bass, kind of "loose" and the separation could be better. What do you think is a better choice - get a dap to drive the blons or buy better iems (the starfields seem good)?

 

[surfgeorge]

Hey guys, I'm looking for some advice. I'm trying to improve my portable setup (budget around 100$). My listening consists mainly of classical music and instrumental jazz (Orchestral, solo piano, guitar, sometimes voice). Right now I have the Blon bl03 driven from my Android phone. I quite like the sound, even though the blons seem a little bloated in the bass, kind of "loose" and the separation could be better. What do you think is a better choice - get a dap to drive the blons or buy better iems (the starfields seem good)?

I‘d also consider getting a DAC/Amp dongle to connect to your phone like the Tempotec Sonata Pro. That dongle does provide good value IMO, I paid $40. Compared to my Chord Mojo it lacks the magic but sounds cleaner, more open and tighter than the iPhone SE.
The Starfield should be good, I had the Kanas Pro which I think uses the same driver. Nice sub bass slam although not as fast and tight as the upgrade I got later (JVC FD02)
Bottomline, I think the $40 for a Sonata Pro should improve the signal, and then, if you can stretch your budget to $200 the FD02 is the best value I have come across while spending thousands...

 

[rggz]

Hey guys, I'm looking for some advice. I'm trying to improve my portable setup (budget around 100$). My listening consists mainly of classical music and instrumental jazz (Orchestral, solo piano, guitar, sometimes voice). Right now I have the Blon bl03 driven from my Android phone. I quite like the sound, even though the blons seem a little bloated in the bass, kind of "loose" and the separation could be better. What do you think is a better choice - get a dap to drive the blons or buy better iems (the starfields seem good)?

If your goal is to improve clarity and fix the bloated bass on your Blon, I'd recommend first trying this mod: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/blo...ressions-thread.916702/page-182#post-15531900 (link for the filter). I'd rather pick a Meizu Hifi dongle for a better synergy than a Starfield which isn't that nice for dynamics such as instrumental and jazz. Another option is Tin T4, which fits really well these genres.

I‘d also consider getting a DAC/Amp dongle to connect to your phone like the Tempotec Sonata Pro. That dongle does provide good value IMO, I paid $40. Compared to my Chord Mojo it lacks the magic but sounds cleaner, more open and tighter than the iPhone SE.
The Starfield should be good, I had the Kanas Pro which I think uses the same driver. Nice sub bass slam although not as fast and tight as the upgrade I got later (JVC FD02)
Bottomline, I think the $40 for a Sonata Pro should improve the signal, and then, if you can stretch your budget to $200 the FD02 is the best value I have come across while spending thousands...

Not the same driver. Starfield uses CNT and KP DLC. The FD01 is $225 on Drop ATM so I don't think FD02 is a good recommendation nowadays. The james444 mod needs the nozzle modification for the best SQ outcome. Before buying the FDX1 I could try both, and clearly the FD02 has less note weight due to the lack of proper damping (and yes micropore tape still leaner than the alcohol swab into the filter).

 

[IEMusic]

Hey guys, I'm looking for some advice. I'm trying to improve my portable setup (budget around 100$). My listening consists mainly of classical music and instrumental jazz (Orchestral, solo piano, guitar, sometimes voice). Right now I have the Blon bl03 driven from my Android phone. I quite like the sound, even though the blons seem a little bloated in the bass, kind of "loose" and the separation could be better. What do you think is a better choice - get a dap to drive the blons or buy better iems (the starfields seem good)?

In general, I always recommend focusing on the IEM or headphone first. The rest you can build up later over time. Given your affinity for acoustic music, something a bit more neutral would be good. For a great deal, look into the Tin HiFi T2. It is pretty neutral sounding, and great for your listed genres. Overall resolution is similar to the BL03. The Tin T4 and Moondrop Starfield are not as neutral, but are are well balanced, and are better technically vs the T2. An Etymotic ER2 would also be great, though a little over $100, and in stock form are deep insertion IEMs.

 

[baskingshark]

I second @IEMusic to upgrade the transducer (iem/headphone), more diminishing returns in general with upgrading downstream components. Though i find Blon bl03 scales better with amping, with the bass being tighter with amping.

U can try checking out reviews on the TRI I3. About $140 usd, 1BA +1DD + 1planar. Super coherent tonality, non fatiguing, holographic soundstage and better technicalites than blon. Timbre maybe is slightly better on blon, but i really like the TRI I3 for classical and jazz. But it needs amping as the planars inside do require some juice.

Starfield seems to have great reviews consistently on headfi and audio sites, though i dun have it. I have a sort of sidegrade to it, the KBEAR Diamond, has improvement in most areas over the blon (in technicalities, timbre, tonality, isolation and fit). Maybe the only area blon is better is in soundstage width, though Diamond beats blon in soundstage height and depth. Bass is much tighter and speedier on the KBEAR Diamond.

Good luck in your search!

 

[dialogue]

i have blon bl03 + cable pure silver nicehck or copper 16 core nicehck a.k.a eagle + kz starline reversed eartips.

mid forward, still warm but natural too, weight note still thick, very good and make it balance for male (lower mid) and female voice. upper mid and lower treble is smooth no sibilant or harsh, even though the micro detail still open. for me from lower treble to high is very ideal and perfect on this price. quantitiy of bass is reduce to very enoguh. speedier of bas to is very good. even though still thickness. faster decay.

i search iem like this from lower mid to upper high.

but can be fixed in this area :
the only failed is mid bass area. the hit of drum, or pedal, is SPREAD. not centris. it make me, just ideal to play in some genre music like jazz, accoustic, electro pop.

edm, rock complex 90, is not reccomended. because the spread of bass is make the songs is failed.

so.. any recomend ideas for this, in 60 usd ?
please dont recommend bl01, or diamond.

thanks