BGVP NS9 Review: Thick, Powerful Bass

BGVP is a well-reputed High-Resolution IEM brand based in China with many successful products in the market. Their “DM” series of multi-BA driver IEMs are praised by many, BGVP DM8 is also one of my favorite IEMs under the 500$ price segment. Earlier this year, BGVP released their latest 9-driver hybrid IEMs, the BGVP NS9. BGVP NS9 features a powerful dual dynamic driver with seven high-resolution Balanced Armature drivers per side. BGVP organized a review tour of NS9 in my country. I was lucky enough to be a part of it. Today, I am gonna share my review and impressions with the BGVP NS9 that I received about a week back.

Unboxing & Accessories:-

BGVP packs the NS9 in a simple packaging that is very similar to previous products from the brand(such as BGVP Zero, BGVP DM7, and more). The pair comes in a simple black box with a white slip-on cover. The outer cover has an image of BGVP NS9 earphones along with some branding logos. On the backside technical features of NS9 are printed in both English and Chinese languages. Upon lifting the top lid of the Black box, we have a direct glimpse at the entire contents of the package arranged in an engraving design foam layer. There is a BGVP branded zipper case at the lower portion.

The top portion includes six pairs of silicone ear tips, 3 pairs of Blue Vocal ear tips, and 3 pairs of white Bass ear tips. The beautiful NS9 earpieces are located just near the ear tips. There’s also a set of Memory foam ear tips placed in between both earpieces. The carry case includes the bundled cable and three pairs of replaceable tuning filters. BGVP has included three different pairs of tuning filters, Red, Black, & Silver. These filters alter the sound quality slightly, which we will discuss in detail in this review later.

Package Contents:-

>One pair of BGVP NS9 earphones.

>One MMCX connector cable with a 3.5mm termination plug.

>Three pairs of tuning filters.

>Six pairs of silicone ear tips(Three Vocal and three bass focused).

>One pair memory foam ear tips.

>One Zipper carry case.

Design & Build Quality:-

BGVP NS9 has a strong metallic build. The shells are made up of gold aluminum faceplates and black inner cavities. They have a bulky look and feel to them but don’t weigh as much as other metallic shell earphones. The faceplates have three beveled lines depicting the BGVP logo. There are two DD vents on the cavity, one on the back and the other on the inner side of the cavity. The build quality and feel of BGVP NS9 are solid and sturdy. They give a rich feeling to hold and wear.

I always like the heavy cable that BGVP bundles with its DM series. With the NS9 it is a silver-plated cable with twisted memory hooks near the connectors for a comfortable fit. The carry case here is the same as they have included with the BGVP Zero, a small squarish zipper case with ample space for the earphone and a few extra pairs of ear tips.

Driving the BGVP NS9:-

Even with such a high driver count the BGVP NS9 doesn’t have any high power requirements. It can be powered straight off your smartphones without any trouble. BGVP NS9 has a low impedance rating of 25 ohms and high sensitivity of 107dB/mW. It ran brilliantly straight off my Samsung Tab S6 Lite. As always, I recommend using hi-res players for better signal decoding that results in a better sound experience with our hi-res IEMs. For the purpose of this review, I used my Shanling M3X for critical listening.

Sound Quality:-

BGVP NS9 has a warm touch to its output with a deep, exceptionally deep bass response. The lower end is the most emphasized frequency range of the NS9. It soothes the soul with powerful thumps hitting with every single drum kick. Mids have a recessed yet clean response where vocals show good clarity. Warm touch to the vocals also adds to the musicality of the pair. Treble frequencies have a non-sibilant, smooth, non-fatiguing response. Though in certain bass-heavy tracks the treble-frequencies are overshadowed by the powerful lower-end response. Overall it’s a smooth, jazzy ride of music that maintains a fun factor with a slow, impactful bass. Here’s the sound description based on different frequencies.

Lower End:-

BGVP NS9’s lower end has a slow yet deep impactful lower-end response. Both the mid-bass slams and sub-bass rumbles go deep hitting you with a pounding, meaty punch every time the bass drops. This adds weight to the output, giving it a thick and warm feel. The lower end with the NS9 might not be the fastest one, but it is slow, soft, and mellow. It has a soft, smooth feeling to it that also adds to the musicality of the pair.

Mids:-

Mid-frequencies continue the warm and musical tonality of the pair. They are recessed, veiled by the powerful low frequencies. Both the male and female vocals have a smooth, warm tone to them that I like. They also have a grainy texture. Instruments such as acoustic guitars, pianos, show a natural timbre. There is no fatigue or sibilance noticeable with the NS9 even at loud volume levels.

Treble:-

Treble has a smooth, well-extended response, it doesn’t rolls-off all of a sudden. NS9 doesn’t show any peaky or harshness in the treble portion. BGVP has tuned the pair with a smooth, non-fatiguing high-frequency response. The resolution of high-frequencies is also quite good. Though they get overshadowed by the lower end in certain bass-heavy tracks. Instrument detailing and separation is very good. Using a silver filter is what I would recommend with the pair(coming to the filters in a while).

Soundstage & Imaging:-

Soundstage width with the BGVP NS9 is above average for the price though depth and height are quite good(Keeping SeeAudio Yume as a reference here). Imaging and instrument separation is pretty good. BA does their job really well here in maintaining good resolution with the NS9. It just feels BGVP has tuned the dual DD with too much power haha.

Filters:-

There are three sets of filters that are included with the BGVP NS9, Red, Silver, and Black. Red is said to improve the bass(believe me NS9 doesn’t need that with any filter), Black is supposed to improve the mids, and Silver is there for treble lovers. Well, to be very honest the difference between these filters is very subtle and hard to notice. But yeah they do affect the sound that is noticeable when we do A/B seriously.

Red does bring some extra punch with the output but that completely overpowers the other frequencies so I don’t recommend it.

Black pushes some life into the mids by bringing some more energy in the upper mids, though the difference here is very subtle.

Silver filter does improves the treble portion with some added airiness. I liked the silver filter most as it tries to bring a good balance between the lower and higher frequencies. I used the BGVP NS9 most of the time with the silver filter only. And my whole review is based on that too.

Final Words:-

BGVP NS9 is a well-built pair of in-ear monitors with slow and smooth sound output. It has a warm meaty touch to its sound with a deep, thick, pounding bass that grows on you slowly. The pair complements slow, smooth genres of music such as jazz, acoustic, vocal-centric, and more. While I am okay with its veiled mid-frequencies as they have a crisp and clean presentation, treble could’ve been better with more air and refinement. The included filters bring small changes, Silver filter brings a slight bit of energy in the treble portion but the pair could benefit with more. Well, this wraps up my thoughts for the BGVP NS9. It was a good experience exploring the depths of the lower end with this beautifully built product.