Most of us have dabbled in chi-fi at one time or another. I suspect this is where a number of us got started in this hobby. I’m curious out of the sea of hype out there, what chi-fi has actually held up in your collection? What are some good pieces that are worth trying or recommending to somebody just getting started?
Personally, I’m sitting here listening to the Blon BL-03 and thinking “These should not still sound this good to me after all the other stuff I’ve tried.” But they do. I’ve done some modding, swapped the cable, took the stock mesh out of the nozzle and put in a thinner one, and threw some ePro horn shape tips on them and I’m enjoying them a LOT.
I’ve had some other chi-fi that did not live up to the hype but these are one of the sets I’m still happy I rolled the dice on back in the day. I think they will always have a place in my collection.
That is one that seems to have stood the test of time and survived past the end of the hype train to maintain a solid fan base. I have looked at picking it up several times. I might have to check it out one of these days.
hifiman gear in general is good and they are chifi. another one I wanna say is decent bad for the price but just a good headphone if it was $200 or lower is the harmonicdyne zeus. the sound sig is honestly what a lot of people tend to be looking for in a bassy open back and should be considered by some issue is you gotta buy from linsoul and msrp is pretty not worth.
I’m getting in a set of buds next week that I picked up off Aliexpress. I decided to try the Yincrow X6. I’m hoping they will be a fun thing to mess with because I haven’t tried buds since I became so frustrated with the old buds that came with my iPod classic. I think @j.fopps ordered a set too after he had a positive experience with some Monk buds.
Blon bl-03 is definitely one that just is good for the price, it’s all in the tuning. Also the tin t2 I would still consider to be very good especially for the price. The guideray gr-i series as well.
Moving on up in price, I really liked the ikko oh10 and thought it was a pretty good v shaped set, for the money you can get them used now its a excellent value.
Would you consider the OH10 to be an upgrade to the BL-03 or is it more of a different tuning? I would be very interested in a BL-03 upgrade since I’m obviously a fan of the tuning. Something about the heft of the bass, the impact, and the energy of the upper midrange / lower treble region that makes things like female vocals shine. I had the JVC FDX1 and liked it but it was still a little leaner and more analytic sounding than the BL-03.
I didn’t spend too much time with chifi, but I did enjoy the bl-03 a lot, it was the hype for the tinhifi t4 and shouer tape that made me stop trying chifi lol
No idea what I would think of the bl-03 now, but if I manage to find them somehow, I’ll be sure to listen off my current portable setup.
lol I still love my tin t4
to me its a pretty great version of neutral. And doesn’t really do anything bad for me its just overall a pretty good IEM. but the hype did probably contribute a lot to it not holding up in the grand scheme of things
man t4 was a huuuuge dissapointment for me. was surprised by how many reviewers showered it with praise after i heard it. even my bro steve guttenberg loved it. First hypetrain that i was like all hype indeed lol
Absolutely lol, I didn’t hate it, but I wasn’t looking for something that was literally just okay. Was just boring to listen to for me. Expected more because of hype.
Even without the hype it was dissapointing to me because it really was just boring sounding, like it had no life. Slam wasn’t particularly great, speed wasn’t particularly great, nothing stood out and i was like dang. The T2 is slightly more enjoyable even
Edit- Also it’s funny how even in this forum the first chifi thread is still getting more input :theface:
Oh, I just realized, my first chifi was the TinHiFi P1 and I did actually enjoy that one, I think it was a controversial iem and some thought it did lack bass but it was nice to have that with the blon for variety.
to me it just did the thing I wanted from t2 was the t2’s sound but better as it had better overall bass with better extension, added a bit of brightness but was not murder like the t2 pro tor t3, and had a 8k dip. honestly it just did what I wanted and why I really like it unfortunately it doesnt really hold up in the same space that the moondrop aria rules and even cheaper hype chifi like the hz sound heart mirror or t2 plus to the wider chifi audience
an upgrade in overall quality? yes. Tuning? not so much. While they both are vshape the oh10 leans into it way more imo. I pretty much find the oh10 to be overall a full tier above the bl-03 technically and in most regards. The real secret sauce to the blon is just how it is tuned, if it works for you and your music library then it is good. I found the oh10 to slam way harder and that is why I really liked that set, the bass is good for that price point imo