Simple Summary:
Before we begin a more in-depth explanation of these earbuds, we understand that most people do not want to get too deep in audiophile acronym bingo land. As such we have included a rather brief synopsis that covers the key points.
The Blast Plug 82’s are much more nuanced in their sound signature compared to the BP82s. Yes they still offer a ton of bass, so much so that at higher volumes harmonic distortion is introduced via their plastic case vibrating, but the bass is not as forward nor as muddy as the 81’s bass. The same is true of the highs. While we would not use words such as ‘crystal clear’ or ‘sparkly’ the 82s do exhibit a more nuanced upper-frequency response when compared to the BP81 earbuds. Equally important, is while the 82s do have a slight ‘happy V’ / mainstream sound profile applied to them it is not as steep as the BP81. Put simply, most people will not feel the need to tone down the upper or lower frequencies as the mids are not drowned out to the same extent as they are with the 81s. This combination of better clarity with less forwardness results in a less fatiguing listening experience. A listening experience that is also more enjoyable. The only major issue is due to their size and design getting a tight seal, which is necessary to getting the full experience, which may prove to be more difficult than with the smaller Blast Plug 81s. If you do not get a good seal… all the above goes out the nearest airlock and they will sound worse than a $5 pair of earbuds from a gas station.
InDepth Look
For those of us who lived through the ‘disco era’ we all know about the extreme V setup on many a noob’s equalizer. One where the highs and lows basically drown out the mid frequency responses. Sadly, this became the norm as many people liked this overly ‘warm’ sound profile. We do not. This is why we are happy to report that the Blast Plug BP82’s sound signature bears an only passing resemblance to the Blast Plug BP81s. Specifically, the high and lows are more forward than we personally would like but the mid tones are not drowned out or pushed to the background all that much. Simply put, Silicon Power as given their Blast Plug BP82s a shallow V instead of the extreme V sound profile of the 81s. If we were to summarize these set of earbuds in one sentence it would be to say that they are much more nuanced and cleaner in their sound reproduction abilities compared to their similarly priced BP81 brethren. This in turn makes them a less fatiguing set of earbuds to use for extended periods of time.
Thanks to the fact that the mid tones are actually there, women’s vocals in particular will actually come through loud and fairly clear without having to tweaking the sound profile. So if your tastes run more towards artist such as (previously known as) Heather Alexander and their “War Trilogy”, Evanescence, or most of the ‘goth’ and ‘emo’ music genres a lot of the subtly and emotional impact will come through much, much better than the typical sub $40 set of earbuds. Of course, there is clarity and then there is clarity. The mid frequency response is indeed better than the 81’s but no one will confuse these earbuds with more expensive buds – so FiiO and their F9 series has nothing to fear from m. Basically, they are good enough for average MP3 music listening consumers ‘as is’ without the need to tweak them in order to get a visceral response from emotionally laden music. That is actually impressive for inexpensive earbuds… and rather impressive for wireless earbuds to say the least.
While the mids did indeed surprise us with their greatly improved clarity compared, the raison d’etre of the BP82’s is still the high frequency / treble response they offer. While they are not nearly as forward as the 81s the clarity and depth of their response rate is excellent for their price range. They easily maxed out our hearing abilities and can reproduce at least up to the 19KHz range. It most likely can hit 20KHz… but our ears can no longer ‘hear’ above 19KHz due to decades of shooting. In either case, while we would be hesitant to use terms such as ‘bright’ or ‘sparkly’, their reproduction abilities with only moderate roll off may not have surprised us but we are still pleased to see that Silicon Power did not change this feature of the BP81 when they designed the BP82 earbuds.
As with the 81s the BP82s will allow listeners to hear subtle details that they may never have heard before on inexpensive earbuds. Minor things like the rasp in Lemmy’s voice from years of abuse during his unplugged take on “I Ain’t No Nice Guy”; Clapton’s finger rubbing across his guitar strings, the raspy brush of the individual hairs in a drum brush skidding across the top of the drumhead. All of these are the types of immersive sound quality the BP82 offers.
This precision in conjunction with a surprisingly large sound stage makes them very enjoyable for certain types of music such as simpler Jazz songs. Unfortunately, just as with the BP81s before them, their polyrythmic handling abilities are only adequate at best. Songs such as “BadBadNotGood” by Speaking Gently is a little sloppy. As such free-form Jazz with multiple collaborators all riffing over each other does loose a good bit of its ‘wow’ factor – and you certainly will not ‘feel’ like you are in a smoky bar listening to them live.
The same holds true of Classical music, especially opera’s like Wagner. Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen does loose a good bit of its punch. It really will come down to how many instruments are playing at once. The BP82’s (like pretty much every inexpensive headphones ever made) abilities’ fall off as the number of simultaneous instruments playing increases. However, we consider the BP82 to be slightly better in this regard than the BP81. This difference most likely comes down to different firmware applied to the BT5 controller, but regardless of the reason the fact remains the BP82 can be considered superior to the BP81s. Once again, the level of clarity, precision and detail is not up to the standards of say FiiO’s F9 series or other wired earbuds that cost upwards of twice of the Blast Plug BP82… but surprisingly well for their asking price.
With all that said, much of this clarity and precision relies on the fact that they have good noise reduction abilities when inserted properly. Only by eliminated aberrant external ‘noise’ will you be able to hear all the details these earbuds can reproduce. Sadly, due to their design getting a great seal can be difficult. This is especially the case if you have larger ear canals. Here the short stems sometimes will simply not be deep enough to get that great seal… and a great reason you may want to modify some foam earplugs to work with these buds. Doing so will further boost noise isolation and really let you fully enjoy the experience these buds have to offer.
The amount of bass at a given volume level the Blast Plug BP82s produces has been toned down a noticeable amount compared to the BP81s. This is a good thing. Much like the highs, by turning things down with the bass output the number of frequency artifacts is reduced. In their stead is clearer and more precise bass. Do not get the wrong idea, there is still a lot of bass. It just is more precise in its output. In back to back listening with the BP81s and BP82s this can actually give the illusion of lack of bass output, but with further listening, you realize that you are hearing more bass than just THUD THUD THUD and actually hearing the differences between say a bass drum and a bass guitar. So, while there is enough bass that all but true ‘bass heads’ and ‘skullcandy’ lovers will not be disappointed some novices may be disappointed until they get used to this increased level of detail.
As such, and unlike the BP81s, if you like complex bass heavy Funk, or musical genres where the bass guitar plays just as critical a role as the drums you will like what the BP82s can do. The same is true of ‘Reggae’ genres. Fishbone’s “Party at ground zero” and other ska type-bands will be really enjoyable and help you get through that last ten minutes of ‘leg day’. The same is true of King Yellow (Yellowman’s) classic “Zungguzungguguzungguzeng” which can help you mellow out after a hard day at the gym, range, or work. Conversely, if you are into EDM, OG gangster rap, some bass heavy metal, death, thrash, baby/japan metal that is more… simplistic in its bass tracks the BP81s muddier but ‘heavier’ bass output may be more to your liking. It really will depend on how your musical tastes run on which is ‘better’ between these two models.
In either case we consider the Blast Plug BP82s to be a great addition to Silicon Powers current wireless earbud lineup. One that noticeably widens the range of buyers that should be thinking about SP and their buds… instead of opting for one of the ‘usual suspects’. Usual suspects who usually cost more and really do not provide all that much more for that increase in asking price.
