BL-01 Review

Being the first IEM that I've ever owned and the one that started me on my own audio journey, I often times still use this IEM particularly because in general, it excels within its price bracket in terms of performance.

I've been thinking of doing reviews since forever, so, let's actually talk about it.

For this review I will only be talking about the build, fit, and sound because I do not have the box anymore.

BUILD & FIT

The BL-01 is build with metal, giving a heft to it. It has this fin shape to it in which is honestly a hit-or-miss for certain people because it cannot fit their ears, but personally they fit me great.

The heft due to the material, makes this IEM weighing in at about 17grams per headshell. Personally I find the fit well but there are certain people who I've borrowed these to said that they do feel the BL-01 being a little fatiguing to wear after a few hours due to the weight, so keep these in mind.

SOUND

Sources used : Foobar2000 -> JCally JM20 Dongle DAC (CS43131) -> S.M.S.L. SH-6 Amplifier

Some Songs/Albums tested : Mac Miller - Swimming Album Love Is The Message - Yuusef Dayes YOASOBI - THE BOOK Kana Hanazawa - Happy Endings

In general, the BL-01 is considered to be a V-shaped tuning IEM with a slight warmth to it.

BASS

• The BL-01's bass can be considered to be on the upper tiers for its price point.

• Midbass is punchy and very presentable, making kicks on songs with drums sound more thumpy than airy in general. Example was on Yuusef Dayes' studio session of Love Is The Message, and the bass by Rocco Palladino was being presented well.

• Slight problem with bass is it sometimes might bleed over to the mids for songs with prominent bass. This is more noticable for songs with vocals but overall is barely noticable

MIDS

• Good seperation and dynamics in the mids area, aided by the superb detail retrieval

• However, vocals tend to get recessed and sometimes veiled when songs get more busy; presence also gets pushed backwards

HIGHS

• Treble side is considered to be smooth without any metallic twang to it

• No sibilance regardless of "esses" from vocals or percussions

TECHNICALITIES

Technicalities of the BL-01 is certainly to be reckon with within that price range. The amount of detail retrieval when I was listening to Mac Miller's Swimming album, specifically Come Back To Earth, Jet Fuel and 2009's instruments present themselves will with good seperation, to not make tracks sound busy and jumbled up together. Soundstage is also good for its price point.

FINAL THOUGHTS Overall, the BL-01 delivers and outclasses a lot of IEMs with its price point. Being at such an affordable price, it definitely can be one of the best starters for anyone who wants to go into this hobby.

Personally, just looking at it from its strong suits, I would recommend this IEM to people who enjoy listening to instrumentals from orchestrated pieces, soul, jazz, and also lo-fi.

Additional notes :

In terms of vocals, I genuinely did not knew what was the term "recessed" until I've actually listened to other stuff, and I was completely oblivious of this. So I'll just say, if this is going to be your one-time purchase thing, you can consider the BL-01 if the genres I've mentioned are your daily listens, otherwise there might be better options, should you want to listen to other genres, or mainly listen to songs with vocals.