“Dick, take a look out starboard.”
“Oh my God, it looks like a huge-”
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I know it’s going to be a meme but I appreciate an expressive 8k peak. I want to at least try it to be able to know for myself how it sounds
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We talk about not hugging a harman curve for 500th fucking time.
This is spacious…odd peaks at 4-5Khz and 15,16 can get on me much worse.
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As long as its in the budget space, you know I want to hear it before I judge it. Midbass + mid-treble is speaking my language, if the driver keeps up
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Do sets with more of a W sound signature tend to be iffy for you?
BLON Z300 & Tanya DSP Review
Hey guys, I hope everyone had a great week. We got some budget contenders here today: the HBB Blon Z300, and the Tanya DSP. As some of you may know, I think the Quarks DSP is the best budget all-rounder - so then how do these two stack up to it? Well, let’s jump in and find out.
Starting with the Tanya DSP, it has a clean and “correct” overall sound signature similar to the Quarks DSP, but with differences mainly in the low-end and treble area. The low-end on the Tanya is more articulate and sharper in its attack, notes feel slightly heavier, and the Tanya feels like it has a little more energy in the low-end compared to the Quarks. It’s not a subwoofer bouncy feeling like the Khan or Variations, but the low-end is satisfying enough with zero masking in the lower-mid range or bleeding into the rest of the FR. It’s not a bass set for sure, but it’s also not light on bass like the Chu or the Ola. The EA500 still has better overall low-end texture and slam, and the Waner and Cadenza have more impact because of their extra mid-bass, but I do prefer the low-end on the Tanya more compared to the Quarks because it’s slightly more audible, and sounds better separated.
In-terms of the mids the Tanya is clear and open with no congestion or warmness, and it’s just as clean as the Quarks. But, the difference is that the vocals pop out more on the Tanya, and the notes don’t feel as light and thin while sounding more natural. The Tanya isn’t warm like the EA500, Z300, or QKZ HBB, but it does strike a perfect balance in-terms of clarity and note-weight. Busy tracks like flower town and Strangest Thing are handled very well with no mud or masking in-between instruments. Layering can be better, more specifically in-terms of individual instruments being more noticeable, but it’s pretty great for under $100.
Treble on the other hand is nicely extended, making vocals and notes in general feel sharper and more resolving than the Quarks, where it can feel soft. The Tanya isn’t a sparkly treble-head set, but it never gets fatiguing even at higher volumes, and the dynamics are smooth just like the Quarks with little unevenness. Cymbal strikes on Model for example sounds very natural with an added bit of energy compared to the Quarks while maintaining the airy decay, but it also doesn’t get spicy like the Chu, or EA500.
Now, some of my nitpicks of the Quarks was that it can sound light and soft in its notes, but the Tanya fixes both of those, making it sound like a slightly more exciting Quarks DSP. However, because the Tanya emphasises the bass and treble a little more, sandwiched together, it shifts your focus more towards the other two frequencies, and less in the mids. It’s not a v-shape by any means, but just slightly less midrange focused, although the mids are still excellent with a boost in resolution, and one of the best even around $100.
Now, similar to the Quarks, the noise floor on the Tanya isn’t an issue unless you’re listening at like 10% volume, or during empty noise and pauses in videos, but even then it’s not that bad. Soundstage wise there isn’t that much of a difference to me, still your typical slightly pushed out cone-shape staging, but imaging does feel similar to the Quarks, and could be more accurate and weighted in its attack, but then again, $24, an overall easy blind buy.
As for the Blon HBB collab, it’s a decent choice if you have a similar library like Chris with mainly old school hip hop and rock since the bass texture and impact on the Z300 is very satisfying, heavy, and extends deeper versus the Tanya. You can feel the rumbling and physicality on tracks like Time, and male vocals on the Z300 sounds huskier with more note-weight… but there is noticeable masking and some bass-bleed into the midrange. Vocals can feel too forward and congested, and after A/Bing the Z300 with the Tanya and Quarks there’s just a noticeable difference when it comes to midrange openness, separation, and clarity. The treble on the Z300 has a nice energy at mid-volume, but it gets fatiguing and hot once you crank it up, for example the timbre in cymbal strikes leans on the metallic and grainy side of things rather than airy. Dynamics wise the Tanya and Quarks DSP are just much smoother.
So, in conclusion, if you like the QKZ HBB and Blon 03, or that type of warm sound signature, then the Z300 is still warm, but with less bass and is an overall mini-upgrade in-terms of resolution and treble extension. It won’t scale as well as the other two because it has less warmth and brighter treble, but it’s very relaxing at mid-volume. On the other hand, if you want the cleanest and most “correct” sounding set, then the Tanya DSP is my pick for the best value budget IEM of 2023, although the Z300 isn’t bad either, especially taking into account the sturdy build quality of the cable and metal shell; the white version looks really clean and classy.
Thanks for reading!
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To your ears, how does the Mele and Kai compare to the Z300?
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I’ve been trying to stay away from the budget sets, but the PR2 got me. When you said it was the best planar on the market, I had to order a set.
I was sorta interested in the Zetian Wu when it was getting hyped. But this set at $45 or $30 with a discount is just too much to pass up!
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Don’t have those two anymore sorry! But from memory, the melee and KAI scales better with volume whereas the Z300 sounds more resolving.
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So Tanya passes Quarks now at the top of the DSP choices for you. Wowsers, okay gonna keep that in mind
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[quote=“VIVIDICI_111, post:1832, topic:36809, full:true”]
Don’t have those two anymore sorry!
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Just FYI the Tanya is still not mid-bass focused so… just a heads up 
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You saved a lot of money and got a better driver with almost identical tuning 
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Props to Headphones.com writer for saying this.
Companies do not care about a Youtuber or reviewer writers longterm credibility.
These folks are not your friends.
THIS IS A BUSINESS
They will use you up till you feel used or you can’t get them sales…and they will move on.
Next year new University students or folks who wanna get easy money will say whatever companies want. (Why should they care?)
Companies know this.
Props to F.C. Construct for pointing out how this fucks the entire hobby 
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Sadly feels like a similar effect to constantly releasing collabs to capitalize on a fan base tho… like you said this is a BUSINESS - we all need to not forget that - whether we are talking about companies or reviewers
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10 character
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Even better when Hinizs asked to see our reviews prior to they bieng public!
Return the sample if you dont like it postage paid and keep quiet.
FUCK NO!
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Bravo bro!
They asked me some dumb stuff a few months ago and I ignored em.
Speaking of collabs… 
Make sure KZ and Linsoul send you mine. Don’t care what you say…just hope music is mentioned.
That is all
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Oh shit
had not seen that… Bravo indeed!! If nobody has seem it it gets rolling at 5:09
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