Geek Wold GK10 | Super Short Sound Review | Incoherent performer
Pros: + Pretty good treble, operating on a higher level
+ Separation
+ Decent all-rounder with EQ
+ Decent technicalities owing to treble
+ Crispy, transparent
Cons: - Hollow bass, bass extension, lacking texture and real impact
- Midrange a bit lean or stretched
- Timbre
- Incoherent
- Not a very secure fit
- Offers poor isolation
Additional Notes:
I liked the GK10 quite a bit once I EQ'd back the missing bass. The glaring issues with this set is the incoherency in terms of drivers, frequency response and extension.
It lacks this kind of richness that music is supposed to have, it's sort of hollow and thin throughout its sound presentation. The treble is quite nice however and really is the highlight of this IEM, if you can tolerate that slightly brittle Piezo sizzle that is. It imparts a different vibe than the other drivers and does its own thing, lending further to the aforementioned incoherency.
Today there are better IEMs for the price as the GK10 issues are too glaring for me.
Pairs best with laid back source such as Ovidius B1.
Driver Setup:1 balanced armature for high frequency,
2 piezoelectric ceramic for ultra-high frequency,
7mm graphene diaphragm dynamic, and
8mm dome titanium diaphragm dynamic
Price: US$47.90
Intro
Disclaimer: This review set was graciously lent to me by a friend from his personal collection and the review is written of my own accord.This set was purchased by him from Penon Audio at full price.
At first sight, many will misread the name Geek Wold as “World” which I too made the same mistake. Geek Wold is one of the many relatively obscure Chi-Fi brands out there that are up and coming. The GK10 is a 5 driver hybrid consisting of 2x Piezoelectric, 1x Balanced Armature, and 2x Dynamic Drivers which is uncommon to see in this price range but certainly the trend in the upper echelons of the IEM world.
Accessories and Build Quality (Score: 7.0/10)
For a budget option, the GK10 comes with minimal accessories as I would expect given the stacked driver design and usage. It comes with 2 sets of silicone tips, a carrying pouch and a pretty decent braided cable.
For US$47.90, I do not have any qualms in terms of value here and besides that, the quality of the cable is certainly much better than the likes of some other budget options.
Build quality-wise, the shells are smoothed out with no rough and pointy edges, a heart-shaped faceplate design which I am not a fan of but that depends on your preferences as well. The materials used feel like plastic to me but at least it feels sturdy handling it.
Fit (Score: 7.0/10)
Fit wise, the heart-shaped design feels relatively odd as it does not sit into my ears as well as some others do. It is relatively small as compared to some offerings that stack drivers as the GK10 do which helps with comfort in longer listening sessions. Nozzle size is pretty average, no comfort issues there but hoped that it could be slightly elongated to have more seal.
Sound (Score: 7.5/10)
Sources used:
Ibasso DX120
Atom DAC and AMP
Music I listened to:
Alan Walker – Alone/Faded/Darkside
Billie Eilish – When we all fall asleep, where do we go?
Tchaikovsky 1812 Overture
Chainsmokers – Sickboy
Cigarettes After Sex – Cry
The White Stripes – Seven Nation Army
One Republic – Human
Keane – Fears and Hopes
Nino Rota – The Godfather OST
Osaka Shion Wind Orchestra – 2016 all Japan Band competition
Fedde Le Grand – Cinematic
ARTY – Rebound
ACDC – Highway to hell
Bass
The GK10 is tuned rather warm and meaty which some may enjoy this enormous warmth bass that engulfs the listener. On my end, I felt that it made the entire presentation here rather sluggish for my taste and took some marks away in technicalities. I would have liked it more if there were lesser bass bleeds and more emphasis on separation here which could really make it a superb experience.
On the upside, the GK10 does have good thumps and punches which again appeals to the majority of having an energetic bass response that is overly boomy to the listening ear.
Mids
There is some slight recession in its mid-range at around 1khz and an uplift in its upper mids to create that sense of clarity and energy. I do notice that vocals on the GK10 sound rather thin and it is lacking some sort of “depth” that makes it sound “full and weighty”. Think of it as a painting, it has the right colours but with weaker strokes. There isn’t much upper-mids spike here so we are all good on that fatigue bar over time.
Treble
Now I would like to say that the GK10 does have pretty gorgeous treble tuning here. It is very smooth and sparkles like a star when the time comes for it to shine. It does not sound sibilant even with some spikes in that region. The extension is great on the GK10 which is another plus point that I did not expect in this price bracket. I am guessing it is due to the 2 piezos it has and it is definitely working wonders in there.
Details, speed, attack, decay, and tuning/tonality were pretty much spot on here for the GK10 which I really enjoyed and dig. What a great surprise here!
Overall
The imaging and soundstage of the GK10 are definitely above average in this price bracket but I felt that tonality wise, it is slightly skewed. It did well in striking a good balance with that mild V-shaped tuning where it does not sound wonky and off.
I do enjoy the mid to treble regions a lot but with a slight letdown with its mid-bass hump which makes it lose out in terms of quality and shy away from a super-competitive triple threat driver pick.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the GK10 is wonderful at what it is good at, has superb treble performance and good staging/imaging capabilities that ensure great value for you people out there. However, it does have some shortcomings in terms of technicalities in its bass regions. For the price, I feel that the tradeoff is decent and furthermore, individual preferences will differ and who knows, if you like that warm tone with great sparkles, this might be a good budget pick and a good introduction to those piezoelectric drivers.
Pros: Will make you appreciate your other iems more
Cons: Bloated bass (loose), lacking texture
recessed mids
Lacking treble air due to bloated bass
Poor timbre
Very incoherent
Technicalities lacking due to bloated bass
Non-existent QC
Value
Disclaimer: I received this review unit from HifiGO for free. Thank you very much. Prayed to the audio gods and burned in for 50 hours before reviewing it.
Price: 48 usd
Specifications:
Shell material: ABS+PC
Impedance: 8Ω
Sensitivity: 106dB
Frequency response range: 20-30kHz
Accessories:
S/M/L silicone tips (2 colors)
Carry pouch
Cable: 0.37ohms, 8-core cable. Metal divider/connectors are decent. Not needed to change the cable.
Build: feels like the kind of cheap plastic that is used in sub-10 usd iems from KZ. Has a lip for the nozzle and metal mesh at least.
Fit: Not that good due to the unique heart shape.
Comfort: Good due to the size being a bit smaller than average.
Lows: Mid-bass focused, speed is decent but combined with the very high quantity of bass and it being quite loose. It is bloated to the point it masks the treble air. Sub-bass doesn’t rumble much despite the high quantity.
Mid-bass: Metallica – fight fire with fire (01:11-01:52), very unclean due to the bloated bass (loose, decent speed) and too much quantity, individual bass strikes are poor and is very mushy sounding. The (02:55-03:01) section with the chopper is hearable but very unclean.
Hiroyuki Sawano – Pretenders (01:18-01:47), a lot of quantity and it is bloated due to the loose bass, but decent speed.
Sub-bass: Djuro – Drop that bass (01:15-01:30), poor extension and doesn’t rumble a lot. Punch quantity is high but is bloated thanks to it being loose, speed is decent but lacking texture.
Will Sparks – Sick like that (03:08-03:22), good quantity but needs to be tighter because it is very unclean (and lacking air).
Mids: recessed vocals, lacking clarity due to the overly warm and bloated bass. Poor timbre as well.
Female-vocals: Hiroyuki Sawano – OldToday (01:25-01:52), vocal tonality is poor due to the bass bleed causing it to lack clarity and is also recessed. Instrument tonality is decent but overly warm. Timbre is very poor and incoherent.
Yuki Hayashi – MightU (01:58-02:55), vocal and instrument tonality lack a lot of brightness and clarity, also recessed vocals. Timbre is bad.
Evanescence – Bring me to life (01:18-01:35), not fatiguing at least. But lacking clarity.
Hiroyuki Sawano – Crescent (02:07-02:26), sharp, bloated and chaotic at the same time.
Male-vocals: Hiroyuki Sawano – Pretenders (00:57-01:17), recessed vocals, lacking clarity and timbre is poor.
Hiroyuki Sawano – Scapegoat (00:57-01:17), recessed vocals and bleed from the bass. Poor timbre.
Treble: Linkin Park – Shadow of the Day (03:24-03:42), electric guitars aren’t sharp, but poor timbre and overall bloated.
Deuce – America (03:03-03:16), very bloated and chaotic.
Hiroyuki Sawano – Lose (string version) (01:22-01:59), Cello tonality overly warm and bloated, timbre is poor, lacking texture and clarity. Violin tonality lacking brightness, clarity is lacking due to the bass bleed and timbre is poor. Treble-extension is decent though.
Hiroyuki Sawano &Z (02:18-02:57), poor tonality, timbre and lacking a lot of clarity.
Soundstage: Average
Tonality: Warm-V-shaped, with very poor timbre and incoherent due to the fast piezo/BA vs the bloated and slower DDs.
Details: below average due to the bottlenecked tuning.
Instrument Separation: Very poor imaging due to the tuning and poor separation.
Bad genres: Entire library
Comparisons:
IEM: Blon Bl-03 (mesh mod), Radius Deep mount tips, cable B3 4.4mm
Bass: Djuro – Drop that bass (01:15-01:30), extends lower and rumbles more on the 03. Punch quantity is higher on the GK10 but a lot tighter, faster and more textured on the 03, as well as being cleaner and airier. Tonality and timbre are a lot better on the 03.
Hiroyuki Sawano – Pretenders (01:18-01:47), cleaner on the 03 due to the faster/tighter bass along with more texture and a lot better timbre.
Metallica – fight fire with fire (01:11-01:52), cleaner on the 03 due to the faster/tighter and lower bass quantity.
Mids: Hiroyuki Sawano – OldToday (01:25-01:52), vocal/instrument- timbre, tonality, clarity, detail and coherency are all better on the 03.
Evanescence – Bring me to life (01:18-01:35), brighter on the 03 and thus more fatiguing, although a lot cleaner on it and natural.
Hiroyuki Sawano – Scapegoat (00:57-01:17), a lot cleaner, more natural and more correct tonality on the 03.
Treble: Linkin Park – Shadow of the Day (03:24-03:42), electric guitars are a bit peakier on the GK10. Cleaner and more natural on the 03.
Hiroyuki Sawano – Lose (string version) (01:22-01:59), Cello tonality, timbre, texture, clarity and detail are better on the 03. Violin tonality, timbre, texture, detail and clarity are better on the 03. Similar treble-extension though.
Hiroyuki Sawano &Z (02:18-02:57), a lot better tonality, timbre and clarity on the 03.
Technicalities: Shiro Sagisu – Hundred years war (02:24-02:57), wider and airier on the 03 but similar depth. Detail, imaging and instrument separation are better on the 03 due to the very poor tuning on the GK10. Timbre and coherency on the 03 are outclassing the GK10 badly.
Overall: The 03 has better timbre, tonality AND technicalities.
EQ: Does EQ fix it? It certainly does improve (like, a lot) it but the fundamental lack of bass texture, unnatural timbre and poor coherency are still there and that cheaper iems are still better.
Low-shelf: 500hz, Q: 0.6, gain-6db
Low-shelf: 80hz, Q: 1, gain: 6db
Preamp: -6db
Conclusion: Just another hype train that is all bark and no bite. QC is utterly non-existent as well, since all current graphs on it are different and channel balancing is poor as well. Thanks for reading.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who had problems finding positives about these. I'll accept that mine are probably lemons, but you'd think that HiFiGo would have double triple checked these for functionality before shipping them as review units. So if these are lemons, then there's no hope for the average buyer.
Mine still sounds absolutely 'good', exceptionally so fo the price. Now; either Geek Wold QC sucks big time, one piece different from another or we are on different sides of audiophilia. In any case a good set for the price and for me, a tri hibrids lover.
So finally I get my GK10 and I can't really say if it's just my ears today, if maybe my expectations where set too high, or perhaps even a bad set, but I can't for the love of me understand the hype.
The GK10 are mehhhhh, I mean:
1)with just a little extra volume from my X1 doongle or Qudelix 5k they start complaining, 2)built quality is mediocre especially when for the same price you have HZSOUND HEART MIRROR, CVJ Mirror, KZ ZAS can be had at almost the same price,
3)QC definitely not the best, stock cable would not go in....had to get aftermarket to open up the way and then the stock would go in, and finally,
4)sound....it's mehhh....thin bass, okayish mids, highs are clean but loose composure the moment volume is turned up.
Like I said maybe I was unlucky but I am a believer that the first impressions count.
To all those that did like the GK10 I envy you , but rest assured that if it does prove to be a worthy set I'll be the first to retract what I am about to say now, but as it stands...GK10 is a Pass.
I think you're opinion is of the minority, most seem very pleased for the price. Maybe it just doesn't suit your tastes or you received a lemon? Minority opinions are still useful though, so thankyou for sharing. I hope you find more enjoyment elsewhere!
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