Grado GR10 In-ear Headphones

--

Gear used for testing: iPod Video 80gb (5th gen, Rockbox) + Fiio E17
 
Test tracks: "Survival" by Muse, "Take the Power Back" by Rage Against the Machine, "Finally Free" by Dream Theater, "Hessian Peel" by Opeth, "Sacred Worlds" by Blind Guardian
 
Sound quality and signature: Not transparent. Presentation is upfront. But the amazing thing here is how they've managed to reproduce the Grado headphone sound with these small earphones (the shells are just as big as pills, probably smaller). This piece of work is a minified Grado RS1i. Of course it's not as airy as the RS1i, because IEM.
 
On lows, mids, and highs: The bass punch is similar to that of the RS1i. The mids and highs are amazing as well. Compared to my Westone 4R and my friend's AKG K3003, the GR10 is significantly brighter-sounding.
 
Comfort, build quality: Great for fun listening. Not very fatiguing. The 'phones are small but the build looks sturdy. Maybe other people will find the tips too small and may not seal it for them.
 
Overall: If you liked the Grado RS1i, you will like these as well. Small, compact, punchy, and bright. Grado-sounding in all aspects.

I am lost for words for 2 reasons, 1st: These in ears behave much more like over ears headphones in all the good ways.
2nd: these deserve to be much more popular than they are, I am simply shocked that there is not much more renowned!
I currently own the Shure SE535's as well as Sennheiser IE8 and have used and owned many of the 500 and under earphones, such as Monster Turbine Copper Pro and Etimotics. all these earphones are very good and each of them has qualities that are admirable and impressive, however what the Grado GR10 has is something that I don't think could be measured and or described in words, all I can say is that regardless of specs these in ears make music! this sounds silly, but, really, you will no longer try to access the sound and look for how accurately the specs reflect what one hears, you simply will be so engrossed in the music, you will now be in the presence of the performer (artist).
Detail is amazing, even on an Iphone with Lossless files, when I close my eyes I can clearly infer the ambiance of the recording! 
I jokingly emailed Frank (The person who sold me the Grado's at HiFi Centre, Vancouver) saying that these earphones should be called the Quad ESL 57's of the in ear headphone world! 

These IEMs are not jack of all trades, which means they do not perform like their main rivals in the price range (300-500 dollars).
 
Most IEMs in this price range, such as UEs, shures or Westones use multiple balance armatures to produce a relatively good sound through all range, the GR10, on the other hand, uses single armature, there is a inherit disadvantage of this design, as one single armature cannot cover the whole range as good as the multiple ones. In the light of this, the GR10 lacks treble and bass energy and extension which most of it's rivals possess. I did not mean the treble and bass quality aren't good, both of them are well controlled and of high quality. The less treble and bass energy makes the IEM non- fatiguing.
 
Above is the "weakness" of these IEMs. But their strength is so strong, that make me overlook it's weakness. In fact, the GR10 is one of my favourite IEMs.
The GR10 has a woderful wonderful mids, the mids is a bit forward than it should be, makes it's sound quite engaging, and the quality of it's mid is superb, even surpass most $1000+ universial IEMs such as IE800, K3003 and SE846. On top of that, it's sound has great instrument seperation. The soundstage is quite big for an IEM also. As a single balance armature design, it's sound has a beautiful coherence. 
 
The IEMs looks nice and small, the comfort is quite good on par with IE8, there are some customers complain about hard to get the right seal, I do see the ear tips a little bit strggle to get the perfect seal for some, but in my case it is alright.
 
In conclusion, the GR10 is an adorable IEMs which has maybe one of the best midrange in the market, it's engaging while non-fatiguing, it probable be one the best headphones/IEMs for vocal and pop music. It is also pretty good for many other genres. The GR10, to me, is one strong contender in the mid-price IEM market and well worth your consideration.