BGVP NS10 Pro Review-NymPHONOmaniac(head-fi)

Pros: -warm balanced W shape tonality
-muscular and articulate macro dynamic
-fast chunky punchy bass
-holographic multi layering
-forwards lush mid range
-wide panoramic soundstage
-heavy note weight from piano to drum
-fast snappy enough treble with good micro dynamic rendering
-creamy upper mids (no sibilance-harshness)
-pleasantly colored treble for mids instruments
-above average technical performance
-exotic, engaging and immersive 10 drivers musicality
-great accessories with nice modular cable
-all metal construction

Cons: -not best define and separate mid bass (warmed)
-lack of air around instrument (not clean sounding)
-ultra highs lack brilliance and sparkle
-non realistic imaging
-upper mids loudness can be too much for some
-harmonic distortion can make highs euphonic
-while cohesive 10 drivers balance isn’t organic
-tuning nozzles are vain

TONALITY: 8.2/10
TECHNICALITIES: 8.5/10
TIMBRE: 8/10
SOUNDSTAGE: 8.2/10
IMAGING: 7.5/10
MUSICALITY (subjective): 8.5/10
CONSTRUCTION: 8.5/10
ACCESSORIES: 9/10
SOUND VALUE: 8.8/10

Intro

BGVP is an IEM company from China that was established in 2007 and specializes in offering high sound value hybrid IEM.

I’ve tried a lot of their products and those who stand apart are the DMA (1DD2BA2BCD) and DM9 (1DD4BA4EST) in terms of high performance value at extremely competitive prices.

Today I will review one of their latest releases, the NS 10 pro, which is a 10 drivers tribrid using 1 dynamic driver+1 planar driver for bass and 8 balanced armature (knowles, sonion, customs) for mid and high range.

Priced 200$, the NS 10 pro is very competitively priced and promises high sound value for the price.

Let’s see in this review if the tuning is cohesive and musical and if the technical performance surpasses its price range.

CONSTRUCTION&ACCESSORIES

The NS 10 pro construction is sober and elegant, all made of metal and it feels very sturdy. The nozzle is very short so it’s not possible to do deep fit. Like all BGVP IEMs it uses MMCX connectors which are solidly embedded in the shell. There is a venting port at the shell side that can leak some noise, but it’s not that loud or distracting. Shape is smooth and ergonomic, so I find those quite comfortable.

The included cable is very nice, it’s a 56 cores silver plated high purity copper braided modular cable. Construction is very good, braids are thick and flexible and feel very sturdy. Termination plug is big and solid, it includes 3.5mm and 4.4mm, no 2.5mm plug which is a bummer for people like me with a 2.5mm output source.

Packaging is elegant and luxurious, the box is beautiful and a number of accessories are very generous and of good quality. It includes 7 pairs of eartips (1 memory foam, 3 wide bore silicone, 3 short wide bore silicone), a very nice and spacious carrying case, 2 extra tuning nozzles.

All in all, construction and accessories are excellent.

SOUND IMPRESSIONS

The tonality of NS10pro is an exotic one that takes full advantage of its 10 drivers setup to deliver a warm energetic W shape balance with chunky bass slam, forwards lush mids and rich treble with lively micro dynamic rendering. The macro dynamic rendering is dense with near infinite sound layers, note weight is on the heavy side, nothing sounds thin which means the sense of transparency isn’t very boosted too.
It’s a 45% technical-55% musical sound experience to my ears where the listener is put in the middle of a holographic soundscape that is very tactile, center stage seems widened and you are part of it, mixed within thick instruments layers that all seek for your attention.

Fun and bassy, yet near mid centric and more than impressive in technical performance, the NS 10 pro is opposite of U shape balance where mids are recessed, light in weight and thin in presence, as well, the macro layering of Balanced armature for mids bypass potential bass release veil-masking, mids has plenty of lower to upper mids fullness and it’s inherent to the BA not to mid bass warmth.

The bass is quite special here, the fact it uses dual dynamic+planar driver makes it for a mix of elasticity and speed, as well as boosting density and weight of mid bass impact which is on the warmed side.
Mid bass is round and thick, texture is dark and definition is a bit loose since planar sustain cream the mid bass presence delimitation. We have fast juicy booms that aren’t resonant but have a thicken sustain, very vibrant, with slightly euphonic releases that cut short but tend to make background foggy. It’s not a transparent presence we have, mid bass is opaque and super fleshy, super tactile.
Sub bass is faster, bass lines are very well layered and attack is tight with slightly compressed sustain that add tactility and rumbly density, electric bass grunt is juiced up and double bass can go super speedy too without going messy in resonance release which is shortened.
Bass never dominated mid range, it stay in the back even when going loud, it excel with electronic, IDM-EDM, R&B, pop, soul, rap and even jazz, but for rock, metal or super speedy music it’s transient can’t keep up properly and acoustic kick is dark, bit more mellow in dynamic than digital drum. In other words, when there are a lot of sub bass that need to cohabit with kick, it will tend to mix its energy with kick drum.
NS10pro don’t scoop it’s mid bass impact, it’s there but bass line might mask clarity of its presence details, so it’s no clean low end which is more inherent to U shape tuning that fully damp mid bass section, here we have fast but slightly excited chunky thumping that induce head banging, it pound hard and round, texture is euphonic and extension isn’t very linear so infra low around 30HZ isn’t as clean and cavernous in rumble which as noted don’t release very long.

The mid range is the center of the show and extremely rich in sound layers without being crisp or airy in clarity. Natural lower mids warmth is there and inflict on naturalness of tone for an instrument like piano that is everything but recessed, it’s weight in attack, wide in presence which pops out with authority, timbre is dense and warm yet attack lead is well defined. I was very surprised to discover NS 10 pro excel with jazz piano trio since for once pianist was the main instrument focus yet within a muscular macro dynamic that make bassist dense and vibrant in attack, drum weighty in punch and percussions super well defined and layered. The experience was both intimate and immediate, you rumble with other musicians as if you were jamming with them.
But jazz isn’t even best music style as noted before anything beat heavy electronic can be so good, from Hidden Orchestra to Amazondotcom to Tipper to Moonchild to Greentea Peng to Jamila Wood to Shygirl, the NS10pro offer such well articulated and multi layered dynamic that you seek for heavy punching music style with or without vocal.
When it come to vocal, it’s lush and forwards and very versatile for male and female tonality, for ex, Greentea low raspy voice is rarely upfront enough and often sound too dry, recessed or thin, here it’s perfectly layered within 3D lively musicality which make me rediscover all her album with joy.
The sonion BA used for mids is very good and master of timbre for specific low to upper mids section, it excel with wind instrument like saxophone and wide register of vocal, the presence open up wide and dense, it’s colorful and not very transparent and can mask or darken background instrument unless it’s position in left or right of stage. When music is very complex and filled with a lot of instruments, it can get a bit saturated with sound info that are more drafted than finally defined, this is due to lack of air around the instrument as well as slightly euphonic sustain-release of attack.
Instrument like violin don’t do as well and some timbre issue can happen, like metallic timbre for bow attack on string that affect roundness and smoothness of presence, which is better done with vocal, since it really when we go in higher harmonic that timbre issue can happen and this is part of treble, not mid range.

This treble uses custom BAs and it’s a bit dryer and thinner sounding than bass and mids drivers. On the other hand, it does boost micro dynamic energy and layering as well as adding much needed air on top, which is still lacking a bit.
The percussions are clearly layered with their own space to follow their own pace, this is always very pleasant to know percussions part will be well holded and articulated with any track you throw too, those cymbals and hit hat are lean, it’s not very crisp nor brilliant and the attack lead is a bit hay, the sustain is fast and release shorten, you can follow long natural resonance of cymbals, so we have very fast treble attack but not a sharp ultra snappy one.
The mix of big macro dynamic sound layers with smaller micro dynamic sounds is boosting 3D rendering, which surrounds you closely.
When their lot of percussions are playing at same time, their attack can interphase and make it less precise in micro dynamic, so there is some limit to transient clarity and flexibility of those upper range BAs.
This shows off too in how acoustic guitar is rendered, the string pulling lacks sharp snap and can’t be felt, it feels a bit scooped in attack lead and the brilliance isn’t there in release to produce sparkly resonance.
Nonetheless it’s a very capable treble, it’s just not the most refine and delicate, it’s excited to jump in action and do well with alot of music especially R&B and electronic of all sort, but ambient and anything using synth too is marvelous exactly cause it don’t need lot of bite in attack for sound layers rendering.

The soundstage is a very immersive panoramic one which is very wide, tall enough but not very deep since the center stage is close to the listener so he can take an active part in the music.

The imaging is average in terms of accurate and clean positioning, space between instruments isn’t very wide since their presence is already wide in layers, the air around it isn’t very clean for proper readability. So in terms of lateral separation it’s not the most articulate, yet in terms of layering of sound presence it’s above average, and favors a macro dynamic tactility that gives a vague idea of instrument position that surrounds you in holographic rendering, where you mix closely in the sound layer. So, think about trying to position instruments when you’re in the middle of the band and it’s how imaging is presented. This IEM isn’t made for professional monitoring for sure but doesn’t sound unidimensional and inarticulate in macro dynamics which favor relief of presence than sharp delimitation of it.

COMPARISONS

VS SIMGOT EM10 (1DD6BA1PL1PZ-440$)

The EM10 is more U shape, smoother and more laid back in balance, lighter in attack and overall more neutral in musicality.

The mid bass is more scooped, notably less thick and punchy, sub bass is leaner and cleaner, it’s not as well layered and tactile in presence, nor as thick in rumble, it’s more resonant and double bass extension feels deeper, leaner.

Mids are more recessed, thinner and dryer, upper mids are less loud but sharper, less well rounded, both male and female vocal aren’t as dense and lush nor as dynamic, yet they are more transparent, center stage is cleaner and there is more air around instruments.

Treble is less energetic, micro dynamic is leaner and cleaner but not as snappy and crunchy as NS10. It’s overall darker, more relaxed, more polished too.

Soundstage is notably wider and taller with NS10pro, but it’s cleaner and deeper with EM10.

Imaging is more transparent and cleaner in separation with the EM10.

All in all, EM10 sounds more neutral and lean, less fun and punchy, mids are thinner and technical performance while on par don’t deliver as articulated and lively macro dynamic as NS10pro.

VS EPZ P50 (1DD2BA2planar-200$)

P50 is more neutral to U shape, less punchy, smoother in balance and not as lively in macro dynamics.

Bass is sloppier and more mellow in punchy, sub bass is less extended, warmer and less rumbly. NS10 packs way more punch mid bass wise, which is less damped and rounder, thicker, weightier. Sub bass is more vibrant and tactile, better layered.

Mids are darker and smoother, less bright in upper mids presence, leaner in dynamic and notch less wide in vocal presence.

Treble is softer, darker, less articulated and sharpened in micro dynamics, percussions aren’t as snappy and well defined, their less air and extra sense of layering too. Micro details are inferior.

Soundstage is less wide and tall with P50, about as deep but not as open and spacious in macro layering.

Imaging is both average, so on par here.

All in all, P50 is more relaxed in dynamic, notch lusher in timbre, more neutral in balance but not as articulated in macro and micro dynamic, not as fun and punchy, nor as impressive in technical performance even if tonality is more organic and cohesive as a whole.

CONCLUSION

The NS10pro really took me by surprise with its lively, muscular and fun sounding W shape tonal balance and its impressive technical performance that can compete with pricier IEMs without shame.

If you like meaty speedy punchy bass, lush energetic mids and fast snappy treble unleashing extra micro dynamic goodness, the NS10pro should be in your top list.

Sure, some purists seeking for organic cohesion might find the musicality of NS 10 pro overly exotic, but this IEM takes the risk to sound different and bet on bold macro dynamics with plenty of note weight and lively holographic musicality that is both fun, immersive and versatile.

There a lot of IEM using 4 or more BAs that don’t add anything to musicality both in macro and micro dynamic, with the NS 10 pro, you can barely count all drivers since each of them aren’t shy in performance nor overly damped in presence and attack dynamism.

The fact NS10pro offer punchy engaging musicality that is both immersive, musical, technical and versatile make it a great value that should interest audiophile seeking for something different than safe, harman, meta or U shape tonality.