Hello all, I have been using the great Shozy BK earbud for the past few weeks and thought I would give some feedback as they truly deserve it.
I hadn't gone back to earbuds since using Aiwas in the 90's, so I don't have many points of comparison, but these are truly a breath of fresh air after using IEMs all the time. Obviously you do not get any isolation, but that is perfect for me at the office, especially at the end of the day, when my ears are bit tired and IEMs sound congested.
The build on these is great. They look elegant and solid, but remain very light. The cable is excellent quality, but my only issue is they it is quite tangly. I am hesitant to splurge on the new limited edition with a thicker cable to overcome that. In terms of comfort, they are fine for me. Earbuds cause me some slight pain after a while, but this is more a general thing, not specific to the BK.
Soundwise, coming from IEMs, the first thing you will notice is openness. Such a breath of air! The sound does not feel constricted in a closed space, but more like an open air concert. It is not necessarily a matter of stage size (which is average) but how the sound flows out. Imaging is good, but a bit more diffuse then with top IEMs, you get a nice holographic stage but not pinpoint accuracy. Obviously separation is not as clear cut as good multi BA, but then the openness of sound allows to avoid congestion, and the overall sound remains very coherent.
The BK has a reputation for slight warmness, but I find it is quite close to what I consider as my reference for a neutral / natural tone. Bass is punchy and well controlled, not as tight as certain top IEMs like the VE8, but still good considering this costs 20 times less...plus it has a nice dynamic texture.
Mids are very transparent but some might feel they lack body. I would say this is the main downside, the price of openness versus IEMs : the sound is overall less fleshed out, a bit thinner, has less body.
Despite the slight thinness of sound, highs remain quite smooth and unagressive. There is a hint of sparkle, but I would day the BK has the airiest highs out there. In my opinion it doesn't manner, because the overall sound is open by design, so the highs do not need to enhance that. They are great as they are and allow for great naturalness of sound on instrumental pieces with many strings for instance.
Overall, I would say if you need a more open sounding alternative to IEMs and don't mind the slightly tangly cable, the BK punches WAY above it's weight. For 165$ or so, it sounds, to me, as good (in a very different way) as 1k+ IEMs. I know that earbuds usually have a much better value for money than IEMs, and I think the Shozy BK clearly proves it.
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