BGVP DM9 Review – Ear Hairs Will Dance

INTRO

It’s IEMs like the $629 BGVP DM9 that make listening enjoyable and ruin the lower tier IEMs. BGVP came to prominence with their DM6 and DMG back in the day and made their forum victory laps for a while until new toys came out. There have been several iterations of the DMx family, although they were above my typical shopping price range, a quick survey says they have been well liked. 

The BGVP DM9 is a nine driver hybrid with famed balanced armatures from the market leaders Sonion and Knowles, and the newer technology of EST. The BGVP DM9 bathes you in uber detail and resolution, with a lively energetic treble while not pounding you to pulp with overblown bass in a wavy Harman plus tune.

DESIGN

With a 4 way electronic filter circuit, the BGVP DM9 separates the bands starting with a 9.2mm liquid silicone dynamic for bass, Knowles BA RAD, Sonion 2300 for the midrange, Sonion E50 series for the treble, and finally the Sonion EST65QB02 extending that final octave at the top. 

BGVP does not stop there, some of the sound tubes use a resistive filter to smooth out the resonances and act as further filtering. The tubes ensure the sound is controlled all the way to the exit and reduces interference inside the shell.

COMFORT / ISOLATION

The BGVP DM9 comes in a custom painted wooden shell in two colors, green or blue/purple. The latter is definitely more eye-catching, but I opted for the less boisterous but still beautiful green. The shell is on the larger side, and does not fit as snugly as the Moondrop Blessing 2 Dusk. For longer periods of time I found the top of the shell has a slight edge that creates unwanted pressure on my ear. YMMV.

BGVP DM9 isolation is above average, however fitment creates some cavities that tend to amplify wind caught at the wrong angle. The BGVP DM9 did stay firmly planted during walking, so that is always appreciated. I trade minor discomfort for constant readjustment any day of the week.

PACKAGE CONTENTS

The leather carrying case of the BGVP DM9 is plenty roomy and the ease of opening and closing was strangely satisfying to my wife. It is on the larger size, so bag and coat packet friendly, but side-eye glances will ensue if stuffing it down your pants pocket. There is also a handy cleaning tool with a loop for scooping out the gross gunk and the other end is equipped with a brush and small magnet.

Three full sets of different eartips are included, plus a bonus set of U shaped medium sized eartips guaranteed to increase the midbass region and almost forgotten- a singular set of foamies. Two of the sets are labeled “Bass” and the third set are ”Vocal” type. Of the “Bass” sets, the clear stemmed ones are less firm, have a shorter stem for closer placement to your eardrum, and a larger opening. I had to ask BVGP if these were meant to be called reference,  atmosphere or balanced, but alas they said no they were definitely “Bass” tips.

 The other bass set has a longer stem, firmer, a smaller opening and worked better for sealing in my experience.

The vocal set of ear-tips were a combination of the two bass sets. They were basic level of firmness, short stem, and a smaller opening.

The set of foam eartips are useful for taming the upper treble if too bright. It tilts the plateau of treble in a downward trajectory to make them more appealing for a more traditional tune.

BGVP DM9 comes with a detachable MMCX 6N OCC braided cable with swap-able 3.5mm single-ended and 4.4mm balanced connectors. The connection is not as tight as the Kinera Golden 2.0, but is not so loose it falls off. It will disconnect at that connection point before the 3.5mm/4.4mm plug if pulled on. I have not paid much attention to cable technology these days, but BGVP managed to combine graphene in the strands as well. No way to test this, so just take their word for it.

SOUND

Tested with the LG G8, HIDIZS AP80 Pro-X, Shanling UA2+, and SMSL DO100/HO100.

The BGVP DM9 does so many things well, but I wanted to start at the top. It drenches you in so much splashy upper treble that is hard to find in lesser capable sets. The detail is quite exquisite, and controlled, maybe at times slightly overdamped if I had to nitpick. While this might sound like too much treble, it is well spread out evenly with some strategically placed dips to average it out. 

Compared to the 7Hz Timeless which also plays fast and loose with the treble, the Timeless sounds more concentrated in a smaller band of frequencies.The BGVP DM9 on the other hand is like looking through a microscope at the level of detail across the entirety. Acoustic guitars really pop due to a peak at 5Khz, it gives rock music a very live concert feel. 

Listening to some of the only classical I enjoy from US pop culture, Back to the Future Overture washes a whole orchestra across your face.. Other sets sound very flat, the BGVP dimensionally layers the different parts of the orchestra to sound very dare I say the cliche life-like. The price of admission comes at the cost of sitting in the front row for the symphony.

Paramore’s original hit Misery Business has new ife as if it would ever go out of style. Lesser qualified IEMs will just reproduce as another pop song sounding busy and crowded. The  BGVP DM9 loafs through, allowing all parts to shine and feel effortless which is ironic for a punk rock band where raw grit is the goal. Pink Panther by Henry Mancini is another song that just sounds light and airy as cymbals and chimes traverse gently through.

Vocals are pleasant and not recessed, sounds balanced and never strained. The middle band of the frequency response never really catches my attention, but bookended by such wonderful treble and excellent controlled articulate bass, it does not ever feel lacking.

The BGVP DM9 pushes authoritative bass with a purpose that knows what it wants to be. Well damped in the mid bass with a nice rounding out of lower registers, haptic is light. The boost is well centered, pianos sound percussive and full without sounding bloated. Purists will probably think there is a sprinkle of too much warmth, much like arguing over a heating setting of 70F/21C vs 68F/20C. 

Bass guitar slaps and bass plucks are well defined, and not just lost in the resonation of it all. I did find a hiccup in the set sent to me so only a sampling size of one. Channel imbalance in the bass by ~2,5db. I can feel it pull a little, this is near the threshold of detection. Probably a minor blockage in the shell vent on the inside, unfortunately I have no way to determine which channel has the tuning level BGVP was aiming for, or if other sets will have this anomaly.

UPDATE: BGVP was concerned about the channel imbalance so they sent a new set. The second set had better channel matching, with only a 1dB channel difference in the bass which is undetectable when listening. This is a company that honesty cares about their product and takes criticism seriously.

FURTHER TECHNICAL

In the name of detail sometimes it can be too much depending on the recording. It would be unfair to label it as too much of a good thing, instead what it does is expand the gap between good and bad recordings. Sometimes a set of earphones will really uplift everything without drawing too much attention to what might be wrong in a recording. 

The BGVP DM9 is the friend you want to give it to you straight.  The House is Rockin’ by Brian Setzer Orchestra gets a little hairy. I would give it a trim and tighten it up. The triangle sounds garbled and overdamped in  Mountains O’Things by Tracy Chapman, but on Pink Panther by Henry Mancini it rings true. This is an example of really accentuating the aspects of the recordings. Listening further to Pink Panther and some Chesky drum improvisations the resolution and detail of cymbals is ear tingly excellent.

There were a couple of tracks that sounded so realistic I startled myself during a walk thinking something was actually nearby. These would make excellent gaming headphones where you might want to hear in extreme detail with wide positional aspects. They do have excellent depth with layering, but run overall forward with peaks around 2K and 5K anchoring staging close. 

The BGVP DM9 can deliver micro-dynamics with sheer ease, so much so that I can hear hidden details in songs (cliche), but also hidden noise in electronics. In casual Spotify listening, I was either hearing some electronic noise from my external DAC or from the Spotify itself during song transitions.

Jumping back and forth between different gear and sources, the LG G8 can sound more bassy while the SMSL DO100/HO100 sounded more even keeled. It’s wonderful yet troublesome to have at your disposal something with greater resolution. Some of these nuances can be picked out for better or worse.

COMPARISONS

BGVP DM9 ($629) vs Moondrop Blessing 2 Dusk ($329)

Sorry not exactly swimming in flagships, the BGVP DM9 against the Moondrop Blessing 2 Dusk is the best I can do. The Moondrop is highly regarded, and lacks the airness the BGVP DM9 puts forth. Even the tuner himself Crinacle admits this is perhaps the only missing piece of the Dusk for cost reasons. Crinacle also prefers a thinner sounding lower midrange, so the BGVP DM9 sounds fuller and warmer with extra bass guitar and piano percussion. 

Just like the HIDIZS MS5 comparison, the DM9 has a more forward stage compared to the Moondrop Dusk. Resolution and clarity are equals, but the DM9 is going to extract more zing from metallic instruments that need room to really activate the harmonics. As we get older this information might be lost on us. I am not there yet, so I fully appreciate it.

HIDIZS MS5 ($399) vs BGVP DM9 ($629)

Bass is thicker and fuller still on the HIDZS MS5 and more haptic rumble (graph below), the BGVP DM9 is faster sounding by a toe in a foot race. Midrange sounds a notch more mature with the DM9, however the treble sounds more even with the MS5.

Where the BGVP comes out on tops again is that extra harmonics and air in the final octave, the MS5 has a subduction past 10Khz, but then pops again at the threshold of where our hearing drops off, the BGVP DM9 keeps the party going until 4am with that sweet treble extension. It’s like having a ribbon super tweeter. MS5 is warm and thick, BGVP is analytical and energetic.

I am not sure if these are equals, if you are shopping for $400 earphones, is $600+ also something worth considering? I feel like people shopping for the MS5 have budgets in the $300-500 range, and the BGVP DM9 is sitting with folks shopping for $600-1000.

These are arbitrary price ranges, but I feel like this is how they might stack up for prospective buyers. At this price you can find heavily used, uncomfortably shaped Campfire Andromeda. It has been a few years since I last heard a set. This would be a fun comparison, I specifically remember snare drums really standing out.

OUTRO

BGVP DM9 is highly detailed, resolving throughout, and tuned to deliver a healthy dose of treble with enough bass and midrange to not be forgotten earning its flagship moniker. It follows the spirit of Harman tuning but with some ripples in the treble, and additional super tweeter air added with the Sonion EST’s adds just enough.

If you prefer a diffuse field tuning that portrays a stage pushed further away like the Moondrop Blessing Dusk 2, the BGVP DM9 might have too much energy in the 5kHz region making for a uneven stage. I enjoy being drenched in microscopic dynamics so it is an extremely fun and lively listen.

Build quality is excellent from the outside, but I am bothered by the bass channel imbalance. At this price I expect that to be caught during End -Of-Line testing, but perhaps the cost is in the parts and design and not necessarily in further QC activities.

It’s not a deal breaker for me because they are still exceptional at what they do, but it is in the realm of differential threshold audibility. The super tweeter ESTs ratchet up the price for value to take a hit, but then again there are plenty of kilo-buck IEMs to also keep it in perspective.

UPDATE: BGVP was concerned about the channel imbalance so they sent a new set. The second set had better channel matching, with only a 1dB channel difference in the bass which is undetectable when listening. This is a company that honesty cares about their product and takes criticism seriously. The purple blue color is also very striking and eye catching.

Disclaimer: I accepted these free from BGVP thinking they were sending a set of NS10’s. I am a little giddy these came instead after a deep dive. Unbeknownst during this review we have evolved to “Dad and Mom” graduating from “Mommy and Daddy”. I hope to avoid the formal phase Mother and Father.

SUMMARY

SPECIFICATIONS

Sensitivity:≥110dB SPL/mW
Input Resistance: 30Ω
Frequency : 10Hz-40kHz
Distortion: < 0.5%
Sound Difference: 士1dB
Rated Power: 179mW
Cavity Material: Cured wood
Driver Unit:
Sonion EST65QB02*1
Sonion BA (E50 Series) *1
        Sonion BA (2300 Series) 1         Knowles BA(RAD Series)1
        Liquid Silicone VF DD*1
Cable: 4 Strands OCC Silver Plated Graphene Mixed Cable
Cable length: 120cm士10%

GRAPHS

• Left vs Right
• BGVP DM9 vs Moondrop Blessing 2 Dusk vs HIDIZS MS5
• Haptic Bass Extension closeup
• Impedance Plot
• Second Pair with bass imbalance <1db undetectable when listening.
• First Pair (Green Brown) vs Second Pair (Red Blue)-First pair shifted to avoid overlapping graphs of second set.

Contact us!

DISCLAIMER

Get it from any of the numerous distributors on ALIEXPRESS, SHENZHENAUDIO, HIFIGO, ETC

Our generic standard disclaimer.

About my measurements.