BLON BL-A8 Review

The BLON brand got ultra popular in the IEM world with its release of the BL-03, which was well-received by many in the community; both reviewers and buyers alike. While there were some real issues with the IEM, such as mushy bass and inconsistencies in unit variation, these things can be overlooked due to its competitive and ultra-budget price of $40 USD and its nice build quality at this price point. Yes, you still had to upgrade the cable, but those are cheap nowadays anyway, and you're looking at a product that is pretty good at $50-60 USD.

I gave it a harsh take, but again, its also one of the very few budget IEMs I've kept through this entire time, with the purple BL-03 still in my collection and still used to compare to others in this price category.

BLON has taken a bit of an Alien theme with their newest $85 USD in-ear, the A8, or also known as Prometheus. Yes, like the name of the Alien prequel. My favorite line of all Alien movies is in the very first original by Bill Paxton's character Hudson: "Game over, man. Game over!"

But is this new Prometheus A8 the end game budget IEM? Let's find out.

The BLON-BL-A8 was provided to me from Linsoul. If you are interested in buying this unit, you can find it on Linsoul directly here: https://www.linsoul.com/products/blon-bl-a8-prometheus

First off, the A8's new cable is very nice. It's a silver-colored cable with two (relatively) large bundles of wire braided together and each individual bundle terminating on each channel. It is a very attractive and also very usable design that is soft and supple. I am a big fan of this style of cable as it is lightweight and pretty to look at, and is also photogenic.

Besides that, the star of this show, depending on how you feel about it, is the shell design. BLON went with a 3D printed metal design that has a blobby alien look to it with a very intricate outer-shell that houses an inner ball were the driver resides. There is also a main blob that goes from the connector that goes directly into the driver ball in the center. The outer-alien pattern is unconnected to this besides at the connector and at the ball, and as far as I can tell, has no impact to the sound.

The look is strange, unique, cool, weird, and blingy all at the same time. While it is a pretty cool talking piece, I do find myself slightly self-conscious wearing these out in public because they are so shiny, so bright, so flashy, and look like a strange set of jewelry. That said, they fit very comfortably, and I had no issues with getting good seal on these and they can be worn for a long time without pain.

Sound Impressions

The A8 Prometheus' sound signature can be described as slightly V-shaped, with an elevated bass response, slightly muddy mid-range, and a bright treble range. While I did not find the signature to be overly excessive in any of these statements, I can't say this IEM is a balanced U-shaped sound either. 

The first thing I noticed is the upper range on this IEM. The A8 treble is a bit uneven, especially considering how really smooth I feel the bass and mid-range is. While it is an overall smooth tonal balance, the treble range can have some moments where I feel it deters from the expected and produces a slightly over-exaggerated peak. Some times a string will catch me off guard with a little more spice than I expected. Or a cymbal strike splashes with extra zing. These aren't deal killers in anyway, but it is something to note.

The upper-midrange also sounds just a bit compressed. Its hard to really explain this, but when I listen to female vocalists like Aiofe O'Donovan, Alison Krauss, or even Lauren Mayberry or Hannah Reid, there is a just something off with how their voices are presented. They sound not only just slightly strident, but also there appears to be a strange dynamic compression going on as well that leaves a sonic artifact behind.

Perhaps this is just the combination of the uneven treble response and the rather mushy bass and lower midrange. I faulted the Blon BL-03 for its bland and one-noted bass response that was overly round, missing any texturing capability, and lacking resolution as its primary weakness, and was expecting the BL-A8 to improve upon this bass and low-mids characteristic given its price tag that doubles that of the BL-03 at $85 USD.

Instead, the blunted bass response that lacks texture seems to actually be worse, as I find it to actually affect the midrange more so now. Some may not mind this, but I'm a bit more picky in this area specifically, as I don't like my mid-range to be obscured by a heavy dose of bass, and while the A8 isn't exactly bass heavy, it renders itself into the lower mids more than I can appreciate. This causes a deadening sound that I find makes the mid-range just inadequate and unstable.

The A8 has, at times, a little more dynamics than the BL-03, and that's mostly due to a more lively upper end, but the BL-03's tonality is more even and well-rounded. It also excels in its timbre, something that I find the A8 to be just slightly off for everything I mentioned above.

Wrap-Up

The A8 isn't necessarily bad by any means. It's okay by standards of 2017 or so for this price range. It's unfortunately 2021 now, and the level of competition at this price is improving dramatically. The Moondrop Aria is out now at $80 USD and is the king of the mountain and a much better buy no matter the genre, as it easily tops the A8 in every category across the board, whether its quantity or quality.

BLON still has a winner in the BL-03 for ultra-budget, but its got to try again for the next level up.