It really shouldnt be seller dependent.
If anything, QC, someone at Tanchjim forgetting it is more likely.
see that iām almost out of all options, i will ask the seller :ā)
So after some research and looking at what was easily available for me where I live, I decided to get a pair of Blessing 2 as a replacement/upgrade for my old Shure E425, which were my first and only IEMs.
I didnāt know what to expect of that sound signature at all, but since my other listening device is the sony wh-1000xm4, where I have to EQ some bass out to make them sound more reasonable, I wanted to try something more neutral (but not as low-bass as the Shure).
After listening to them for a few hours, I gotta say theyāre not exactly what I expected, for worse but also for better.
First of all, I was a bit worried about the fit before ordering. In the end, while theyāre not perfectly comfortable, I can listen to them for a few hours in a row without particular issues. Guess I have big ears after allā¦
Second, what I like and donāt like to listen to on them is only partly what I expected. I thought it might make sense to share it here, as a landmark āToday I Learnedā in my earphone journey.
I (probably naively) thought that a neutral-ish signature like that would work well for pop/folk/classical, everything with clear voices, especially female, and perhaps less well for stuff like metal and jazz. Turns out I was right about classical and jazz, and wrong about everything else.
The bad
I apologise that I might not have the vocabulary to express my impressions - feel free to correct me. But the B2 sounds veryā¦ crisp and a bit dry to me, rather than just clear.
On intimate female vocals and acoustic guitar sort of folk, like Joni Mitchellās Blue, the lack of warmth completely kills the album for me. Itās all too thin and sparse. I couldnāt feel the emotion in Joniās singing, and the guitar sounded cold and tinny. Likewise, Dinah Washingtonās This Bitter Earth sounds too crisp and cold.
The average
More surprisingly, pop songs were a mixed bag. Tame Impalaās Let it Happen works nicely: the bass comes through well, with a satisfying thump, and the voice is beautiful. OK enough on Revolver, especially on Mc Cartneyās voice, although the instruments around it are a bit tinny. But not particularly engaging on Fleetwood Macās Rumours: not bad, exactly, justā¦ not very fun.
The good
So after being slightly disappointed in the folk/pop range, I went onto Massive Attack, and there it started to all work a bit better for me. On Unfinished Sympathy, the added detail made the different instrument lines stand out more clearly, which gave the song added depth and interest. The extra edge on the voice also made it sound moreā¦ raw, something that fits the entire Blue Lines sound quite well IMO.
Emboldened, I moved to classical music, specifically Ian Bostridgeās Winterreise. Halfway into the first lied, I started tearing up. It all suddenly clicked and the magicā¦ just happened. The B2 did amazingly with the dynamics of the piano accompaniment and Bostridgeās voice. I feel that I discovered something new about this cycle, and thatās despite listening to it a lot and seeing it sung on stage twice.
The unexpectedly friggin amazing
And then, enter classic metal. I really donāt like either the Shure or the Sony for my metal library. The former eviscerates the bass lines, the latter muddies everything. Well, it turns out that the Blessing 2 is pretty great!
On Burningā for You, the bass line is punchy, the voice cuts through nicely but not harshly, and itās just a massively entertaining experience. Same verdict on Killing Yourself to Live: the bassās clarity is as close to jamming with friends as Iāve ever heard on head/earphones. The voice is full of energy. Itās all just fun. I threw my favourite Maiden anthem (Revelations) at the B2, and they did amazing as well, both on the long instrumental parts and on Dickinsonās voice.
I might just have found my favourite way to listen to metal to dateā¦ and I wasnāt expecting that at all.
Conclusion
So then, it hit me. Bear in mind that Iām an IEM noobā¦ But I figured out that the music that I prefer on the B2 is more technical music. Anything where emotion comes from the clarity of instruments and notes, from separation and complex layers. Conversely, I intensely dislike it on anything more intimate and visceral, smaller and simpler, where the emotion comes from a more direct, less intellectual engagement with the song.
I also prefer it overall on male voices rather than female onesā¦ so I suppose there must something there in the treble that I donāt enjoy (but damned if I know what.)
Iād be really curious to hear if any of you guys have a similar experience of these to mine. Does my reaction to the B2 come from a lack of experience with IEMs in general? Or does it track with your own impressions?
Also if you have any complementary recs, Iāll take them: I really like these earphones, but Iām going to need to find something else to cover the half of my library that they donāt work for.
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You rated them correctly. For metal they are good, the bass kicks like a mule if you listen to it with a good source and you got a good seal. A bit of heat would have been even better for the metal library. They have a BA timbre, but itās not terrible like some other IEMs, which is due to the good tuning. And all oak for better than Shure 425, definitely! 
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So, thereās a couple of options for a complementary unit in the more budget-aligned segment if youāre looking:
For something similar but different, the Truthears Hexa offers a similar tonality with more subbass, slightly more warmth and a less-aggressive treble range (but better upper treble extension). It also sports a similar driver configuration to the B2:
For something more different than similar, with a more āRock 'n Rollā sound, the KiwiEars Cadenza is the new kid on the block that everyone is raving about (only $35, a single Dynamic in four fruit flavors):
Thereās plenty of other options out there, but Iād start there. Thereās also a lot availble from other users in the āBuy/Sell/Tradeā thread at the moment, including some sweet bundles if you want to experiment a bit more. I never had the B2, but I did briefly own the Blessing 2: Dusk (a slight re-tune of the B2), and I found it to also be a little thin and able to benefit from more extension up top.
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Blockquote
And all oak for better than Shure 425, definitely!
Iām realising I should have mentioned that, hah! But yes, immensely more enjoyable than the Shure on the parts of the library that I like them on. Iām very excited about going through the rest of my metal and classical catalogue and hearing all the stuff that the Shure kept neatly hidden away xD
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Thank you so much, that is super helpful! Wow, the Cadenzaās price is definitely right, if nothing else. And they look different enough that I might have some fun comparing and contrasting them.
I also just popped by the Buy/Sell post, and itās very appealing indeed! I was considering the Tea among my initial choices, but theyāre discontinued so I eliminated them. Hm. Have you owned those by any chance, and do you know different theyād be from the B2/B2Dusk?
I have owned the Tea OG, but itās been far too long since I had either of them that I feel I could give an accurate comparison. They are a darker listen and pretty much a polar opposite in the mids outside of the Pinna Gain region (~1-3khz):
They do have something of a cult around here though ( shoutout @nymz ) because of their unorthodox tuning and special sauce, so there should be a fair amount of people that still have them on hand in these parts if you want impressions on, say, a specific song or album.
Another thing you could look into is the current crop of Planar IEMs (in various different tunings and price brackets); thereās something about planars that comes across different than other driver types, and while it can be love-it-or-hate-it, I think theyāre a worthwhile option to keep around even for various purposes.
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Ah thank you, thatās very enlightening! Definitely, after missing some darkness on the B2 on certain songs, this appeals even more to me.
I can see (with a mix of dread and excitement) that this new hobby is going to find a lot of ways to empty my walletā¦
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Heh, we all know that pain. Just take heart that the price-to-performance ratio is at an all-time high, and with the hobby somewhat thriving, there are plenty of deals out there if youāre patient and keep an eye on used sales especially (where, if you really donāt like it, you can resell it for the same or close to what you paid)! If you can make it to a big show (like a Canjam or Axpona or the like) or find people relatively close, you can always try meetups or tours to try new things cheap, too.
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A good combination would be B2 OG and Tea OG. Tea OG will be good for the rest of your library, for metal they are calm and less mid-bass, but they have a very special sauce that makes them good for almost anything! B2 OG have better resolution. Tea OG - there are more problems with QC.
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Ah yep, Iāve been looking into Canjams and I might try to make it to one next year (so I can wistfully try the one-month-of-rent category 
)
I gotta say, Iām blown away by whatās available nowadays. I got my Shure long enough ago that there werenāt many alternatives recommended to them. Then I kindaā¦ looked away for a while, and now itās like twenty new brands have popped up with incredible offerings. Iām thrilled, tbh.
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Oh nice, thank you! I guess with that, the Tea just shot to the top of my wishlist. Excited to see if I can get them and how they will compare (Iāll report back if I do manage!)
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You are correct. I therefore feel it necessary to issue to you the following:
Itās amazing how far down the rabbit hole you can go without even realizing it! With that said, I bid you happy hunting. Oh, and welcome to the community!
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Thank you for the warm welcome - and for the warning as well (although I fear it is too late alreadyāitās incredibly easy to get hooked on this, it seems!)
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It is so well written review - I really liked your examples, very clear and without using a lot of jargon, so understandable even for noobs like me! Big props! 
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Thatās so lovely to read, thank you for the kind words! Iām glad this was useful to you 
!