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Review: VSonic GR01 - A Gentleman's TWFK
Apr 18, 2012 at 11:45 AM Post #32 of 66
Apr 18, 2012 at 11:48 AM Post #34 of 66
Apr 18, 2012 at 12:29 PM Post #36 of 66
Yeah I was looking at them in Singapore dollars, I'm such a tard sometimes.
 
Apr 19, 2012 at 1:15 PM Post #37 of 66
I have a question for any of the Gr01 owners here, 
 
What's the bass like? Is it deep and accurate? I wan't bass to be there, and I'm seriously considering these, but I need accurate bass that doesn't drown out the mids. 
 
 
EDIT: could you also post a picture of the "y" splitter. I want to see what it looks like.
 
Apr 19, 2012 at 2:30 PM Post #38 of 66
 
Hi Joker,
 
Thx for the review.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by ljokerl /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
smoothest and most musical of the TWFK-based sets I’ve heard.

doesn’t quite have the bass depth of the ATH-CK10
 
slightly warmer than a UE700 or DBA-02
 
GR01 lacks a bit of the absolute transparency of the DBA-02 and Ety ER4S.
 
Detail, similarly, is on-par with the CK10 and DBA-02 without being presented quite so aggressively.

At the top, the GR01 is surprisingly smooth and non-fatiguing, perhaps the most inoffensive of the TWFK-based dual-drivers.I
 
significantly less bright than the UE700 and lacks the hot treble of the CK10.
 
The tone is kept fairly neutral and timbre is among the best I’ve heard from an analytical armature-based earphone.
 
there isn’t quite as much energy to the sound compared to the CK10 or DBA-02, resulting in a signature that may be too ‘safe’ for fans of analytical earphones but still to neutral and accurate to appeal to the masses.

There is still slightly more width to the stage compared to the DBA-02 and the GR01 is clearly more spacious and airy than the Final Audio FI-BA-A1.
 
Separation is good as well, though imaging lags behind the CK10 a bit, partly due to the more elongated shape of the soundstage.
 
Overall, the presentation is solid and reminds me of the Etymotic ER-4S
 
Fischer Audio DBA-02 with a more laid-back signature. The GR01 comes across restrained, yet refined
 
Click to expand...

 
 
Just curious, any thoughts on the quality / tonality / presentation of the mids versus UE700 / CK10 / FI-BA-A1 / FX500?
 
I heard you picked up a newer UE700, with different housing and sound, is that true?
 
On and unrelated note I think the XBA-3 is pretty weak.
 
Thx in advance for any thoughts, your reviews always appear quite objective and careful, sometimes emotion and musical involvement gets the better of me.
 
kiteki
 
 
 
 
 
Apr 19, 2012 at 2:50 PM Post #39 of 66
 
Quote:
winter charm said:
I have a question for any of the Gr01 owners here, 
 
What's the bass like? Is it deep and accurate? I wan't bass to be there, and I'm seriously considering these, but I need accurate bass that doesn't drown out the mids. 
 
 
EDIT: could you also post a picture of the "y" splitter. I want to see what it looks like.
Click to expand...

 
From Joker's review, and from experience owning other TWFK IEM's, I can safely say that the bass won't be drowning the mid at all... it'll be sufficient enough IMO, and of course, accurate
 
Apr 19, 2012 at 9:10 PM Post #40 of 66
 
Quote:
winter charm said:
I have a question for any of the Gr01 owners here, 
 
What's the bass like? Is it deep and accurate? I wan't bass to be there, and I'm seriously considering these, but I need accurate bass that doesn't drown out the mids. 
 
 
EDIT: could you also post a picture of the "y" splitter. I want to see what it looks like.
Click to expand...

 
 
Bass extension is decent but there are sets that do better (e.g. the GR07). Accuracy is excellent - you definitely don't have to worry about the bass drowning out the mids. 
 
I've already sent them off to another head-fier and didn't bother taking a picture of the y-split. It's pretty standard fare - rectangular in shape, small, no cable cinch.
 
 
Quote:
kiteki said:
 
I heard you picked up a newer UE700, with different housing and sound, is that true?
 
On and unrelated note I think the XBA-3 is pretty weak.
 
Thx in advance for any thoughts, your reviews always appear quite objective and careful, sometimes emotion and musical involvement gets the better of me.
 
kiteki
Click to expand...

 
I don't really have anything to add to review - there are no major differences between these and other TWFK sets in things like clarity and detail, just differences in tone due to relative bass and treble emphasis, etc. I did not A:B with the FX500 and the BA-A1 is very different as it is quite mid-forward and very colored.
 
I posted a thread about the UE700s versions here.
 
I did not like the XBA-4 for a number of reasons. Still hope to get my hands on the XBA-1 at some point for a full review since I think that might be the best of the bunch.
 
Apr 20, 2012 at 4:00 AM Post #41 of 66
 
Quote:
ljokerl said:
 
I don't really have anything to add to review - there are no major differences between these and other TWFK sets in things like clarity and detail, just differences in tone due to relative bass and treble emphasis, etc. I did not A:B with the FX500 and the BA-A1 is very different as it is quite mid-forward and very colored.
 
I posted a thread about the UE700s versions here.
 
I did not like the XBA-4 for a number of reasons. Still hope to get my hands on the XBA-1 at some point for a full review since I think that might be the best of the bunch.
Click to expand...

 
Haha!!  You could be right, at least as far as value and such is concerned, haven't heard the XBA-1 myself but tomscy2000 likes it.
 
To be honest I think the XBA-3 sounds better with a higher output impedance rather than less than 1, and the XBA-4 somehow seems to have better treble than the XBA-3, even though that doesn't seem to make sense in the driver array.
 
I think one thing which can make a TWFK (or any driver) sound differnet is where the driver is located in relation to the ear canal.
 



versus Starkey SA-12, (TWFK).


 
 
At least that's why I believe the JVC FXC51 has a unique sound which I like quite a lot, due to the driver location.
 

 
 
 
Apr 20, 2012 at 5:45 AM Post #42 of 66
 
Quote:
kiteki said:
Haha!!  You could be right, at least as far as value and such is concerned, haven't heard the XBA-1 myself but tomscy2000 likes it.
 
I think one thing which can make a TWFK (or any driver) sound differnet is where the driver is located in relation to the ear canal.
Click to expand...

 
Well, I definitely think that the XBA-1 is the most natural-sounding of all of them, and it's a respectable performer on all fronts, but sound signature wise, it is fairly conservative and takes just about everything on the safe side, causing it to feel a bit lackluster compared to the sparklier-sounding XBA-3 and XBA-4.
 
About driver placement, the shorter the port 'length' is, the more forward it will sound, so that's why tweeters are almost always placed very close to the tip, like the K3003 there. I think moving the driver back will make it sound more spacious, not sure. Port to filter distance also affects the sound, as with diameter and stuff.
 
Apr 20, 2012 at 6:58 AM Post #43 of 66
 
Moving the driver back and turning it 90 degrees (Sony EXx00) makes a nice spacious detached sound yeah, though I'd prefer to have those 16mm inside my ear-canal.  The Sony EX series isn't for lovers of the inner-core, which is an affidavit IEM's have over headphones.
 
 
 
Apr 21, 2012 at 3:48 AM Post #44 of 66

kiteki said:
 
Moving the driver back and turning it 90 degrees (Sony EXx00) makes a nice spacious detached sound yeah, though I'd prefer to have those 16mm inside my ear-canal.  The Sony EX series isn't for lovers of the inner-core, which is an affidavit IEM's have over headphones.
Click to expand...

A guess at best, the Realvoice doesn't sound spacious and it's also angled and placed back a bit. We can't make these kind of things absolute without some science behind it. Vents are bigger factor here, easily proved as well once you compare open to closed. The problem with the angled driver is that it causes a 4-6k resonance that is suffered throughout the EX line. 
 
Apr 21, 2012 at 6:35 AM Post #45 of 66
     Quote:
Originally Posted by Inks /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
A guess at best, the Realvoice doesn't sound spacious and it's also angled and placed back a bit. We can't make these kind of things absolute without some science behind it. Vents are bigger factor here, easily proved as well once you compare open to closed. The problem with the angled driver is that it causes a 4-6k resonance that is suffered throughout the EX line. 
Click to expand...

 
 
There isn't any science to measure that stuff.  Like the presentation of a closed IEM versus an open-air headphone, it just isn't applied or doesn't exist.
 
Your vents = spacious theory and 4-6kHz resonance angled driver theory is subject to scientific data too.  For example closed CIEM's can sound very spacious, so another "A guess at best".
 
The FR spikes were a cause for concern in the Sony EX700, but given the green light in the EX600/800/1000.  I think the EX700 has issues around ~1kHz versus the EX600, even though both look dead flat there, so FR has not correlated to my listening impressions, nor user comments, in my experience.
 
MDR-EX700.gif

 
 
JVC FX500 versus FX700 for another example of very similar FR, different sound. - http://www.head-fi.org/t/606252/jvc-fx700-thoughts/15#post_8323434
 
 
 
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