ratul
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Pros:
- Good isolation and fit
- Really good premium build quality, although internet is full of complaints these failing sooner than expected
- Soundstage/Imaging
- Lows, powerful but not overpowering
- Ample Accessories in the box
- 3 year warranty
Cons:
- Highs lack some sparkle and airiness
- Details could have been fetched better
- Slightly veiled mids
Initially, when I was looking to upgrade my VSD5, i wanted something to have good isolation, build, soundstage as my main requirements. Almost went with GR07BE with detachable cables, but not so good isolation and build held me back, and I pulled the trigger on these puppies for $125 incl. shipping.
Box:
The unboxing experience in itself will put a smile on your face. A good looking box, with a flap design, held by the magnets, reveals the earphones themselves, along with the wide variety of eartips provided (2xS, 2xM, 2xL, 2xBiFlange 2xComplyFoam), nicely put onto a metal holder. Pulling out those reveals a shirt clip, a nice zipped carrying pouch, big enough to hold all the eartips with the holder and the earphones themselves, and a hefty user manual.
*i.imgur.com/dQJdZPo.jpg
*i.imgur.com/xKAbAI0.jpg
*i.imgur.com/EwKHv0z.jpg
Build:
The build of these oozes premium all over the place, with a stainless steel housing for the earphones, the Y-split, and the jack itself. The cable is thick, sort of rubbery, and feels good in the hand, which is somewhat tangle-free, until it tangles, then it just sticks to itself due to the rubbery texture, and is difficult to untangle. It's strain relieved properly everywhere, and the jack has a springy strain relief, which inspires confidence. The earphones ends at a over-the-ear earhook design, helping in reducing the microphonics and providing a good fit.
*i.imgur.com/q4q669g.jpg
*i.imgur.com/EooBBWI.jpg
*i.imgur.com/BEyDZzc.jpg
Fit and Isolation:
The fit is snug, feels comfortable to wear for prolonged listening sessions, and the isolation is really good. My main requirement was to block out all the noise on the road when I travel, and they do it pretty well, better than my VSD5 tape modded.
Sound:
Now comes the main aspect. How do they sound? In short, they have sort of a warm, U-shaped signature, with good emphasis on lows, slightly laid back mids, and good and non-fatiguing highs, and a really good soundstage.
I mostly listen to 60s-80s rock, old pop, EDM, OSTs, Trance, Metal, Alt.Rock, and had them on burnin period of 40-50hrs on these genres, mixed with the pink/white noise, frequency sweeps before actually starting listening to them.
Source:
Fiio X1 2nd Gen, Laptop with foobar2000, Oneplus 3, Spotify Web on laptop, Sansa Clip Zip.
Lows:
The lows are the highlight for these earphones, with emphasis on the sub-bass region, extended well, with fast decay and bleeding ever so slightly to the mids. I was never a bass-head, but had tape-mod on my VSD5 to increase the thump. These have better attack, with a sort of thumpy rumbling sub-bass, that won't reach the bass-head level, but will have enough quantity for any type of genre.
Mids:
The mids are the one's that slightly disappoints me, not in a bad way, just they sound slightly laidback to me. The vocals on some songs, lacks the intimacy you need, and in some, works really well. Guitars sound good, but again, lacks the feel that I am used to because of VSD5. Like the guitar in "Stairway to Heaven", "Sweet Child O'Mine", "Kashmir", "November Rain" sounds slightly veiled as compared to the VSD5's, and lacks the intimacy and energy you'd expect from these songs. Same goes for the vocals of Robert Plant in every Led Zeppelin song, slightly veiled.
Think like, in VSD5, the vocals and the guitar used to be the center of presentation, but in here, they are far away than that, so I need to sometimes crank them up to higher volumes in order to actually listen those details that I miss. In no ways the mids are bad, just I am used to the vsonics, which might take some time to adjust on these.:k701smile:
Highs:
Now, as I come from VSD5, you might expect that I have a good tolerance for those piercing highs.:ksc75smile:
The highs are well extended, non fatiguing, and not as piercing as in the VSD5. The drums in the beginning of "Unskinny Bop" sounds more like drums on these compared to VSD5, which now sounds like cymbals overpowering the drums in that segment. But, I do miss the airiness in these as compared to the Vsonics. :triportsad:
Soundstage/Imaging:
This aspect really nails it for me. The soundstage is vast for the earphones this size, better than the Vsonics, and made me realize how much depth was lacking in the VSD5's. They sound much more 3D than VSD5, GR07??(heard that they have slightly more intimate soundstage than VSD5), instruments sounds well separated from each other, though the 3D-ness seems to be dependent on the source. From my Fiio X1ii and foobar2000 on PC, the soundstage is impressive, but when I plug them in my office, playing from Spotify Web, soundstage suddenly like drops to 50%, everything sound congested and veiled to me. On VSD5, it didn't used to sound this bad as compared to these.
Final Verdict:
I needed an upgrade from my Vsonics, and got what I expected from them. They are worth the money you pay for them, and I'd say that though I haven't tried the GR07BE, I have a sense of what I would have got if I had gone that path. I am happy with my purchase, and 3 year warranty is a cherry on top if something goes wrong. Highly recommend these in under $150.
*i.imgur.com/vTzyPCN.jpg
- Good isolation and fit
- Really good premium build quality, although internet is full of complaints these failing sooner than expected
- Soundstage/Imaging
- Lows, powerful but not overpowering
- Ample Accessories in the box
- 3 year warranty
Cons:
- Highs lack some sparkle and airiness
- Details could have been fetched better
- Slightly veiled mids
Initially, when I was looking to upgrade my VSD5, i wanted something to have good isolation, build, soundstage as my main requirements. Almost went with GR07BE with detachable cables, but not so good isolation and build held me back, and I pulled the trigger on these puppies for $125 incl. shipping.
Box:
The unboxing experience in itself will put a smile on your face. A good looking box, with a flap design, held by the magnets, reveals the earphones themselves, along with the wide variety of eartips provided (2xS, 2xM, 2xL, 2xBiFlange 2xComplyFoam), nicely put onto a metal holder. Pulling out those reveals a shirt clip, a nice zipped carrying pouch, big enough to hold all the eartips with the holder and the earphones themselves, and a hefty user manual.
*i.imgur.com/dQJdZPo.jpg
*i.imgur.com/xKAbAI0.jpg
*i.imgur.com/EwKHv0z.jpg
Build:
The build of these oozes premium all over the place, with a stainless steel housing for the earphones, the Y-split, and the jack itself. The cable is thick, sort of rubbery, and feels good in the hand, which is somewhat tangle-free, until it tangles, then it just sticks to itself due to the rubbery texture, and is difficult to untangle. It's strain relieved properly everywhere, and the jack has a springy strain relief, which inspires confidence. The earphones ends at a over-the-ear earhook design, helping in reducing the microphonics and providing a good fit.
*i.imgur.com/q4q669g.jpg
*i.imgur.com/EooBBWI.jpg
*i.imgur.com/BEyDZzc.jpg
Fit and Isolation:
The fit is snug, feels comfortable to wear for prolonged listening sessions, and the isolation is really good. My main requirement was to block out all the noise on the road when I travel, and they do it pretty well, better than my VSD5 tape modded.
Sound:
Now comes the main aspect. How do they sound? In short, they have sort of a warm, U-shaped signature, with good emphasis on lows, slightly laid back mids, and good and non-fatiguing highs, and a really good soundstage.
I mostly listen to 60s-80s rock, old pop, EDM, OSTs, Trance, Metal, Alt.Rock, and had them on burnin period of 40-50hrs on these genres, mixed with the pink/white noise, frequency sweeps before actually starting listening to them.
Source:
Fiio X1 2nd Gen, Laptop with foobar2000, Oneplus 3, Spotify Web on laptop, Sansa Clip Zip.
Lows:
The lows are the highlight for these earphones, with emphasis on the sub-bass region, extended well, with fast decay and bleeding ever so slightly to the mids. I was never a bass-head, but had tape-mod on my VSD5 to increase the thump. These have better attack, with a sort of thumpy rumbling sub-bass, that won't reach the bass-head level, but will have enough quantity for any type of genre.
Mids:
The mids are the one's that slightly disappoints me, not in a bad way, just they sound slightly laidback to me. The vocals on some songs, lacks the intimacy you need, and in some, works really well. Guitars sound good, but again, lacks the feel that I am used to because of VSD5. Like the guitar in "Stairway to Heaven", "Sweet Child O'Mine", "Kashmir", "November Rain" sounds slightly veiled as compared to the VSD5's, and lacks the intimacy and energy you'd expect from these songs. Same goes for the vocals of Robert Plant in every Led Zeppelin song, slightly veiled.
Think like, in VSD5, the vocals and the guitar used to be the center of presentation, but in here, they are far away than that, so I need to sometimes crank them up to higher volumes in order to actually listen those details that I miss. In no ways the mids are bad, just I am used to the vsonics, which might take some time to adjust on these.:k701smile:
Highs:
Now, as I come from VSD5, you might expect that I have a good tolerance for those piercing highs.:ksc75smile:
The highs are well extended, non fatiguing, and not as piercing as in the VSD5. The drums in the beginning of "Unskinny Bop" sounds more like drums on these compared to VSD5, which now sounds like cymbals overpowering the drums in that segment. But, I do miss the airiness in these as compared to the Vsonics. :triportsad:
Soundstage/Imaging:
This aspect really nails it for me. The soundstage is vast for the earphones this size, better than the Vsonics, and made me realize how much depth was lacking in the VSD5's. They sound much more 3D than VSD5, GR07??(heard that they have slightly more intimate soundstage than VSD5), instruments sounds well separated from each other, though the 3D-ness seems to be dependent on the source. From my Fiio X1ii and foobar2000 on PC, the soundstage is impressive, but when I plug them in my office, playing from Spotify Web, soundstage suddenly like drops to 50%, everything sound congested and veiled to me. On VSD5, it didn't used to sound this bad as compared to these.
Final Verdict:
I needed an upgrade from my Vsonics, and got what I expected from them. They are worth the money you pay for them, and I'd say that though I haven't tried the GR07BE, I have a sense of what I would have got if I had gone that path. I am happy with my purchase, and 3 year warranty is a cherry on top if something goes wrong. Highly recommend these in under $150.
*i.imgur.com/vTzyPCN.jpg