[Bozz_Keren]

Yep. Dumb by Drop really. You are making people buy blind at $700. Can't be surprised few sign up.

It will be upped again by Drop, just wait for a couple of month and hopefully there will be reviews before then

 

[pmvaldon]

It will be upped again by Drop, just wait for a couple of month and hopefully there will be reviews before then

any other place to buy the shozy black hole?

 

[Bozz_Keren]

any other place to buy the shozy black hole?

You can find it here
https://www.linsoul.com/products/shozy-black-hole

 

[GrandNagus50]

This is the first sort-of review of the Black Hole that I have seen. Most of us need to click on "translate" to read it.

https://www.hifivietnam.vn/uncategorized/tai-nghe-in-ear-open-back-full-kim-loai-gia-125-trieu-dong/

The gist: unique sound signature, excellent sound stage, emphasis on mids and lower treble frequencies. Not particularly strong on bass and sub bass, most ideal for classical/acoustic/vocal music. Has some of the airiness of an open-backed headphone but to avoid "fatigue" has attempted to roll off the highest frequencies a bit. I think that is pretty much it, but someone else can add to this or correct me if my memory from a few minutes ago failed me .

 

[davidmolliere]

Anyone got his hands on the BlackHole?
I'd like to get impressions... (read the vietnamese blog, that's a start thanks for the link @GrandNagus50 )

 

[Virtu Fortuna]

Here's the review that you've been waiting for

Shozy Black Hole Review - Headfonia Reviews

 

[MrDelicious]

Oh no

 

[unifutomaki]

Oh no

 

[Ultrainferno]

As always, listen to gear and trust your ears.

 

[MrDelicious]

I agree that graphs are not the whole story and given the open shell it might not sound as bad as it looks, but that's way too esoteric to ever consider at a $800.

 

[unifutomaki]

Auditioning items that often aren't readily available for demo in one's area isn't a practicable suggestion for many. It's honestly frustrating to hear this sort of cliche response to a graph (except when the graph looks good, and then it's all "I told you so!!!!!")

The graph is what it is. We shouldn't be trying to minimise or dismiss it.

Don't @ me.

 

[GrandNagus50]

When the Unique Melody MEST came out the graph indicated a treble "spike" that caused a lot of discussion. I have not heard any complaints about it from people who actually own the MEST, however (including me). I agree with the above comment that the open design is a factor here. I suspect that if there were a treble irritant the Headfonia reviewer would have commented on it. I have a pair on order from when it was offered thru DROP. When I receive the order (who knows when that will be) I will report back.

 

[TomKorn]

I will receive a pair too. As soon as it's there, I will post some impressions.
I have various Empire Ears as well as Shozy Pola39 to compare to. Personally, I don't care about measurements at all. I let my ears judge.

 

[Ace Bee]

Lows: Starting off with the Pola in hits low and deep with a nice warmth that will satisfy you. Both have plenty of detail with the 39 trading some impact for a tighter faster presentation here but both units reach very deep. Neither are a bass head iem but they take EQ very well and can be taken to ludicrous levels if you wanted.
Mids: This is where there starts to be more a difference in tuning as each does it differently. The pola has a relaxed mid that is in-offensive and plays it safe but is soft for my taste. This isnt to say its recessed at all it just has a softer presentation id say speaker like if you where to try and compare it. The 39 has a lift and presents the mids in a more forward fashion that I find suits me better. The mids in the polas both have amazing amounts of detail and shouldn't disappoint anyone here but the 39s have more clarity to them.
Highs: The Pola give treble smoother than anything i have ever heard lending credit to the electrostatic tweeter it reaches skly high and never gets fatiguing to me high hats and cymbals have a shimmer and life to them that i haven't heard in an iem before and never gets harsh or over bearing. The 39s take this even further by offering a touch more energy and air giving notes more space.

Sound stage: Both units give great presentation and illusion of space with the nod going to the 39. The original Polas will wow you if you haven't heard space and separation but the tuning of the 39 gives a very airy presentation with larger spacing between notes
Imaging & Detail: Now if you got this far reading this you'd get the impression that the pola is dark but i can assure you its not. It is the darker of the two but far from dark sounding and has outstanding imaging and detail. With both units i was definitely hearing things in tracks i couldn't hear before. Lucia de lammermoor from the fifth element was notable on both giving breath and life to Inva Mula-Tchako's performance in a way i haven't heard before. The 39s however add more clarity and detail (if you can believe it) and sound completely organic in doing so. Most iems with this level of detail tend to offer a harsher or fatiguing edge that is absent on both sets. The 39s have over all more clarity and space over the polas with a touch more resolution at the slight expense of bass slam.

In the end both sets offer amazing smoothness and detail that I didn't know could come with such a smooth and non fatiguing flavor that is dangerously addictive. Both units are cut from the same cloth but I feel the efforts made by Shozy and AAW have taken the sound of the pola and refined it in the 39. If the price isn't a stretch for you id take the 39 and I cant wait to see what else Shozy and AAW cook up as they have created auditory magic , at least to me

Huge shout out to Ian at the source AV for making all this possible and to this amazing community. Thank you.

Hi, I am reaching out to you for some advice. See, I have option to obtain either a Pola for $374 or a Pola 39 for $574, both used. I already have a kilobuck iem that I love very much, UM Mirage. It has quite an energetic presentation with a very epansive soundstage and airy separation. I also have a Penon Orb that is a smoother sounding iem with good air and spearation but not as good as Mirage (obviously, 1/3rd price). I need something with a similar bass presence like Orb or slightly less, a smooth presentation but not necessarily overly soft or mushy. You mentioned Pola has soft midrange: does that make it lose details? Orb has a less energetic mid and highs but still overall it's pretty crispy. I originally got an IMR Opus Mia, but that had totally mushy mids and highs, so don't want to get another iem with a similar characteristics. Please advise which between Pola or Pola 39 will be better for me, and is the $200 gap justified between them?

 

[TomKorn]

I had some little time with the Shozy Black Hole (BH) IEMs and like to share my first impressions in case someone is interested. I ordered 2 pairs of BH, one gold and one silver colored directly from Shozy.

The impressions given here are my own and very personal ones. I describe what I heard and what I think about it, no more and no less. Regarding the measurements discussion a few pages ago: I personally don't care about measurements at all and will never even try to start measuring equipment. I am human, not a machine and my only personal single point of truth sound wise are my ears.

Note: The cable shown is not the included one! (Will post pictures of the stock cable later) Also, please excuse the crappy pictures, I quickly took them with my phone.


Test equipment

Shozy Black Hole
Astell & Kern SP1000M
Cayin N6II with E02 amp

Build

Build quality of the Black Hole is very good indeed, IEMs as well as the included cable. The finish is pretty much perfect and the 2-pin connectors of the cable "snap" into the slightly recessed sockets of the IEMs with a little click. Really nice!

Design

That’s of course a matter of personal taste. I personally love the bold and - to my eyes - beautiful futuristic design of the BHs. I do not love the cable design too much though. The strands are 3-colored: silver, gold and copper which, in my opinion, makes for a rather flashy cable. The connectors, y-split and plug are polished metal (chrome?) and have some kind of little "bumps" on them. The whole cable looks quite unique for sure and certainly is an acquired taste. There is another thing that bothers me a bit more as to the usability of the cable: While there is a small blue dot on one side of the 2-pin connectors to indicate the direction in which the cable should be plugged into the IEM, there is no such indication on the IME itself. Less experienced people might attach the cable the wrong way, resulting in possible damage to the electronics or at least a bad sound quality. However, the build quality is excellent too, so apart from the unique design, you get a very good cable.

Edit* One last thing about the cable: The BH’s cable comes standard with 3.5mm trs plug termination. On my special request, Shozy kindly provided me with 2.5mm trrs termination, because I always use balanced output. The option to choose from the most basic connections should be standard in my opinion. (Campfire Audio does the same and their balanced cables start a 149$, so this adds to the price should you want a balanced output.) I gave that feedback to Shozy and I hope they will think about that.

Note: The cable shown is not the included one! It is from Shozy Form 1.4 (Will post pictures of the stock cable later)

Packaging

The packaging is quite plain and simple: You get a small metallic-gray box where you find the IMEs and cable inside a gray fabric carrying case. Only other accessories are a bunch of different eartips. That's about it. I like the fact that this package is small and thus maybe a bit more environmentally friendly. But for an asking price of 799 $, there could be a bit more in terms of a higher quality packaging and maybe a nicer case that just matches the BH’s quality and price a bit more. I can live with that though as the Black Holes more than make up for those little shortcomings when it comes to sound.

So let's get down to business.

Sound

When I have some more time with the BHs, I will post a more comprehensive review. Also, I want to make sure they had some time to burn in. Shozy suggests 100hrs for that. So here's some first impressions for now:

The BH surprised me right out of the box with a very full, immersive and relaxed sound on my AK SP1000M DAP. Bass is tight and punchy, mids are nicely balanced, voices are clear but do not stand out too much over the instrumentation. Treble is silky smooth and as to this point, I could not make out any sibilance. The best thing though is certainly the soundstage on those beauties: Big and 3-dimensional with very good channel separation. It feels like the sound “embraces” the listener. This might be a property of that special “open back” design, but I can’t tell. It sure is impressive what can be done with a single driver in this particular configuration!

The real shock came when paring the BHs with my Cayin N6II/E02 DAP. Everything just went bigger: More bass, bigger soundstage, simply a more emotional performance overall. I figure the Black Hole IEMs need enough power and might very well profit from a more “musical” source rather than a neutral one like my SP1000M. In combination with the N6II, they punch way above their price. That much is for sure!

I will try to compare with some other IEMs that I have but so far, I come away impressed. If Shozy chooses to change the looks of the cable (personal taste!), makes sure users easily connect it the right way and maybe does some smaller upgrades to packaging and carrying case, this is a clear winner and a should be a no-brainer for many people.

800$ is a lot of money to spend on an IEM, no question. But what you get is flagship sound with a very unique design that competes with earphones way above its price.

Pros

- Beautiful, embracing sound
- Futuristic and unique design
- very good build quality of IEMs and cable
- scales well with more powerful and better matching sources

Cons

- cable design is an acquired taste
- only 3.5mm trs plug as standard option (might change)
- packaging and accessories a bit on the cheaper side


That's it for now. I hope my notes could give you a first impression of the BHs.

Edit* Added some pics of the stock cable and case below.