I wanted to show the shell which looks great but I don’t want to look like I’m stealthily shilling something, the focus is on which eartips make these good.
Wide bore is only part of the picture. With these tiny wide-bore tips that allow deep insertion, that’s when these become really good. Even with wide bore M sized tips (Tenmak Whirlwind) there’s just too much detail lacking, a little recession of mids.
With deep insertion and wide bore, these are still not perfect, most noticeably detail as I mentioned - but as far as enjoyable/well balanced/natural sounding, I’ve been listening to these last night and this morning and haven’t once felt like “Ok that’s enough, back to the better IEMs”. Music is very enjoyable through these. Plenty of bass, volume can go way up if wanted, stage is large.
Just a reminder that if the fit works (it actually does for me), the Blon 03 is still nuts, and quite honestly not just at the pricepoint. The open, rich, spacious, warm sound is one I really wish more single DDs gave out.
So far I prefer it to other “Blon killers”, and frankly an awful lot of IEMs I’ve been listening to lately. Their profile seems to just be a good match for what I want from a DD.
Yep, I have fit issues with the BL-03. About the only way for me to get a good seal is to go with tips that are uncomfortably large, and I have never found foam to be comfortable for more than 10 minutes.
I assume it is similar to the issue people describe with the Oxygen as well.
ime bl-03 is a little bit easier to fit than O2.
They do share the shallow fit and you have to use larger tips.
On top of that O2 is less secure so when I walk it bounces around, unless i use Azla Sedna because they have stiffer stems.
For people that want a bargain entry point to this hobby that isn’t the BL-03, I have to admit the CCA CRA is better than I would expect a $14 IEM to ever be. Very good sub-bass and otherwise pretty solid.
I have a few pairs and never think of using them, but that might be the answer on the BL-03 for my fit problem.
I’m in the same opinion. I know I’m a minority but i absolutely don’t like Blon 03.i just simply don’t like it. It sounds… Wrong to me. The horrendous fit definitely doesn’t help.
Sold it as soon as i can. Recently got CCA Cra and that is definitely better. Like u said, i think Cra is better entrypoint for budget iem. Better fit, better sounding.
Treble slightly harsh, making me listen at 1 step lower volume, but other than that, can’t complain much, especially i got it for around 10usd
I did my journey somewhat backward. I skipped the standard entry models, then came back out of curiosity. I started with the KZ ZS10 Pro, spent some time figuring out my preferred sound in that $50-100 range, and then bought a couple nice IEMs ( Timeless and S12 ).
I am always curious about affordable IEMs that I can take on the train or not worry about by the pool. So I periodically checkout an interesting set like the CRA, if I EQ that 5k peak down on my phone, it sounds pretty good.
I bought the BL-03 as a reference, mostly because everyone talked about them in reviews and I didn’t get it. I got them on sale, and it was worth the money to understand. Because I struggle to get a good fit, they don’t have that much bass for me. They sound decent, but not warm not like people describe. If I push them in my ears the bass shows up and they, they sound like a less technical version of the T3+. If you get the seal just right, they really are pretty magical, and if you were one of the people, they just work for that had to be a wonderful experience.
On the subject of metal shelled IEM’s and humidity this was the reading on our barge this morning UK and that’s why I store them with silica gel sachets in Tupperware = no moisture problems
I wonder how prevalent this is with metal IEMs. I have observed it with the Mele (which caused the product to fail), and the Fiio FHE (which didn’t cause an issue). To be honest, I probably never would have noticed it, until the Mele failure occurred. It was then only afterward that I looked at FHE under a magnifying glass did I see that there was also condensation.
When the temp falls, the relative humidity increase, since colder air carries fewer water molecules.
I did spot that indoor temp, which seems a bit chilly for me, but I live in a desert.
Our morning humidity is around 50%, by in the afternoon it is back down to 20%, and that is usually a temperature change of 10-15 C most days ( granted my starting point is higher, usually around 10C ).
Those reviews were from last 6 weeks
the 1,2,3 star reviews include driver failure which accounts for 10% of complaints.
My set popped a cap off back (July) and I left a 2 star on a site where I bought, that never published that review.
It has a perfect 5 and 4 star rating there…incredibly…as my 2 star never was published.
That set has broken caps, failed cables, and the driver failures.
@syscrusher your question was about metal shells and condensation …correct?
Seems some people, due to anatomy, have issues
Now, in spending my week in several review sites I am doubting the drastic difference in reliability of Seller review sites. Amazon is infamous for fake positive reviews. I think Chifi has done them one better and I never would have known if I hadn’t been looking
Just opened the Tanchjim Ola. I was having extraordinary fit issues. Just would not stay or seal in my right ear. Went through all the provided tips, as well as most tips from my own stash (spinfit, spiral dot, comply, lots of tips that came with various IEMs). Still no success.
I eventually did manage to get a fit, with the largest tips in the box, only after bending the overear section of the cable at the connection point towards my head. The IEMs are extremely light, and I think the cable was providing a gentle spring force against the inside of my outer ear, which was pushing the IEM out of my ear.
And there are some other really weird things that happen on Amazon.
I had a deal where TaoTronics screwed up a cross ship replacement, and when they failed to respond for another month, I dropped the review they deserved. They protested the review, Amazon rejected their protest, so they offered me $60 to delete the review, on a pair of $50 TWS ear buds.
I took the money, but I won’t buy any anything from TaoTronics after the whole incident. I now wonder what percentage of bad reviews get bought off on places that they do happen on. I sort of wish I had left the review up, but I has just been laid off. It was during the pandemic, and I wasn’t super confident of how job hunting was going to go.
