Android Redmi K20 Pro blew me away with the DAC/ amp capabilities!!

dissel said:
This is BLON BL-05 not BL-03 which is listed by the HeadphoneZone - Both are great in it‘s own path, If you are comfortable go ahead and buy from the Headphone Zone - Those guys are great, Though I point out one thing, They list CCA brand in their website and particular model which is CCA C10 listed 3499/- which is very very inflated price and not worth it - I bought that 1200/- from Aliexpress and even now it retail 1500 - 1700/- but they are charging premium for this which is absolutely too much...

Anyhow below I’m attaching the screenshot of my Aliexpress order of Blon BL-05

ILURkWH.png




The only diffrence between the BL-03 and 05 is the later one produce much more clean sound than the previous, also in 03 when required there is 12 inch subwoofer kicks in which is tone down at 05 - This doesn’t mean the 05 is not capable of producing bass note or anything. Everything is much more clearer in 05 comparing 03.

03 hold it’s own ground and 05 is not an upgrade of 03.....

(All of my above feedback done by the device of Fiio Q5s and BTR-5 in 2.5mm balanced mode.)
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Thanks for that difference. Also how are they for listening to heavy metal which has a mix of drums, bass, vocals etc.
 
I don't have the 05s anymore, but from memory, they were easier to wear properly and sounded very very good ( but I liked the signature of 03s more)
But I had KZ ZS10 pro for a longer time and 03s are better in every aspect ( ZS10 pro being pretty darn good for the price)
All these 4 iems ( T2, 03, 05, ZS10) are of exceptional quality and you can't go wrong with any of them.
However the pro and plus versions are not better than the original T2.
And BLON does have some quality control issues ( I bought 5 pairs of them, and 2 had some channel imbalance issues, initially thought it to be improper seal in my right ear, but I checked with other people too..it's definitely channel imbalance)
If your budget permits, get all 3 of them ( or T2 and bl03/05) , you won't regret it.
If AliExpress is working and you don't mind waiting, you can get both within 70USD!!
I bought the T2 plus and pro previously and was kind of disappointed ( they smoothened up the highs with slight bump to the lows for mass consumption) the original T2 with slightly rough edges ( but very easy and non fatiguing highs) is a gem!!
You will love the T2 for hard rock/ metal ( 80% of my music collection)
 
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red dragon said:
I don't have the 05s anymore, but from memory, they were easier to wear properly and sounded very very good ( but I liked the signature of 03s more)
But I had KZ ZS10 pro for a longer time and 03s are better in every aspect ( ZS10 pro being pretty darn good for the price)
All these 4 iems ( T2, 03, 05, ZS10) are of exceptional quality and you can't go wrong with any of them.
However the pro and plus versions are not better than the original T2.
And BLON does have some quality control issues ( I bought 5 pairs of them, and 2 had some channel imbalance issues, initially thought it to be improper seal in my right ear, but I checked with other people too..it's definitely channel imbalance)
If your budget permits, get all 3 of them ( or T2 and bl03/05) , you won't regret it.
If AliExpress is working and you don't mind waiting, you can get both within 70USD!!
I bought the T2 plus and pro previously and was kind of disappointed ( they smoothened up the highs with slight bump to the lows for mass consumption) the original T2 with slightly rough edges ( but very easy and non fatiguing highs) is a gem!!
You will love the T2 for hard rock/ metal ( 80% of my music collection)
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T2 might be boring for many. I have not heard the BLON 05 but the ones who liked the 03 did not like the 05 much. Yes T2 is very comfortable and non fatiguing for sure. Probably it's USP.
 
cloudval said:
what's CCA ?
& your product description says both bl05&bl03, from aliexpress ?
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CCA is a sub-brand of KZ - Another IEM maker, they make some wonderful product time to time with very good pricing.

Here is the listing from where I bought and got it delivered in India without attracting any duty - Orderd in Aug Sale and received in October.

www.aliexpress.com

647.71Rs. 52% OFF|Blon Bl-05 Bl05 Bl-03 Bl03 10mm 2nd Generation Carbon Nanotube Cnt Diaphragm In Ear Earphone Hifi Dj Sport Earbuds - Earphones & Headphones - AliExpress

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com
www.aliexpress.com www.aliexpress.com

Post-Covid only 'Sun-You' or 'Special Line - YW' shipping method is working for India - Both are trackable - Avoid any EMS shipping method which cost 2k to 7k INR as shipping charge <---- That is strict No No.
 
thx for the link. i will just bookmark it for future sale.

idk if chinese have Dusshehra type festival. can wait for few months, if any special sale is near.
 
What are the impedances of bl03 and T2? Does bl03 require a little more power? I thought both are 32ohms.
Getting a good seal with bl03 is challenging. After a lot of trial and error got a good fit. But I lost the left eartip again!!
The blue foam tips that come with T2 were perfect for me, but I lost one on the first day!!
Have plenty of eartips but they are all mixed up in 3 boxes.
 
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The next significant upgrade should cost at least 1000 EUR.
There are plenty of articles about LG's quad DAC, I don't have the V40 with me for a comparison, but this cheap Chinese phone and even cheaper IEM is more than adequate for me for audio on the go, and I'm not easy to please in this department.
 
cloudval said:
thx for the link. i will just bookmark it for future sale.

idk if chinese have Dusshehra type festival. can wait for few months, if any special sale is near.
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Yes they do - Which is 11.11 Sale <- that's the biggest shopping event in the earth, every year lots of coupon/discount provided at Ali Express, not sure what will happen this year.
Due to Pandemic and lack of shipping line this year it may not be that good like the previous year....'Aliexpress Standard Shipping / Singapore Post' and 'China Post Registered Airmail' which are two shipping line for India, most of the time 'No Custom Duty' charged earlier - These two Shipping lines disappeared post-pandemic.

en.wikipedia.org

Singles' Day - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org

 
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Flashing ROM is so addictive...after flashing at least 8-10 ROMs, guess I'm done.
For K20 Pro Bliss ROM is possibly the best, followed by Zen.
The 2 most popular ones ( Evo X and PE) are stable, but definitely have issues with audio drivers.
Instead of using the specific DAC drivers, they are possibly using the SD855 onboard sound drivers and to cover it up, they are using a SW EQ for hifi option separately ( which can't be turned on unless you turn on MiUi EQ, in MiUi you can't do that)
I don't understand anything about android development, but it's almost impossible to fool an audiofool with sound.
 
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red dragon said:
Flashing ROM is so addictive...after flashing at least 8-10 ROMs, guess I'm done.
For K20 Pro Bliss ROM is possibly the best, followed by Zen.
The 2 most popular ones ( Evo X and PE) are stable, but definitely have issues with audio drivers.
Instead of using the specific DAC drivers, they are possibly using the SD855 onboard sound drivers and to cover it up, they are using a SW EQ for hifi option separately ( which can't be turned on unless you turn on MiUi EQ, in MiUi you can't do that)
I don't understand anything about android development, but it's almost impossible to fool an audiofool with sound.
Click to expand...
Glad you went for Bliss... its the best rom among all!
Derp and Evo comes second and also Resurrection remix if you want to which is nearly identical to Bliss except few more GUI enhancements!
 
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Yes, except the on screen FP scanner ( which is fairly fast and accurate...but I don't like the concept of FOD and don't use any lock anymore) everything is great on this phone.
The GPS is fantastic!! Significantly better than most phones I've used.
I didn't know much about Xiaomi phones, but they seem fantastic considering the price.
OnePlus 8 Pro really disappointed me, who will buy OnePlus when you have Xiaomi so easily available in India!??
AFAIK K20 Pro is more than a year old, wondering how good the more recent phones are!!
This thing is much more snappy than Note 10 Lite. In a country like India, where Xiaomi phones are easily available officially, why would someone need to buy a Samsung or OnePlus?
Yes, I don't play games and not a very tech savvy person, but I do understand basics of audio and photography, and this cheap Chinese phone is fantastic in both. The cameras are perfectly usable, has a 3.5 TRS out with more than capable DAC/ amp. What more can someone need from a phone?
 
What exactly is a quad DAC? AK4490 is pretty close to the top tier. But IMHO all the modern DACs are pretty good even the SD integrated ones.
And DAC, the chip itself is usually not very expensive. It's the amp that matters more. I've heard the LG V40 and the amp is pretty darn great and most mobile manufacturers use really bad amplifiers. OnePlus being the absolute worst.
I've heard about the exceptional high quality of some Vivo models, but never heard or seen one.
What's the best phone for audio you ever heard?
For me it would be V40 ( from memory pretty close to the fiio X5 2nd gen, if not better)
K20 pro is a very close second. Yes the amp is not powerful, but even with a cheap portable amp ( Topping NX1s) even with double amping, it's pretty clean ( beats V40 hands down, V40 definitely distorts at very high volume...I'm sure it was not my headphones NDH20..those remain ruler flat with any good source)
However even a modern entry level DAP like M3 Pro is considerably better specially with very sensitive IEMs.
I'm still impressed with this thing, had minimal expectations, surpassed in every way... specially the power output.
 
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