GR07 Classic Maroon

These headphones are amazing and exactly what I was searching for. I've tried Shure E5/Westone 2, Shure SE315, Sennheiser CX400ii, Etymotic HF3's, Apple In Ear's, and VSONIC GR07 Bass Edition. They are very close to the BE's, but I will get to that later. What I was searching for is and IEM that fit this criteria:

• Over the ear comfort
• Wide Soundstage
• Detailed
• Good low end, but not boomy
• Foam tips don't change sound
• Decent isolation
• Slightly recessed mids

The VSONIC GR07 Classics cover ALL of these. The over the ear is the most comfortable, reduces cable noise to nothing, drapes the cable closer to the body and more out of the way, and is much more unoticeable that you are wearing headphones (people come up to me at the bus stop all the time and just start talking). They don't protrude from the ear, so if they really can dissapear. The cable is small, flexible, and a 90 degree angle, which does not bother me, but I could stand the cable to be a bit longer. Now let's get to the sound.

Bass - The bass is present, but not overbearing. Compared to the CX400's they were lean, but to the Apple In Ear's and even certainly more lean than the Etymotic's. The bass is there, but tight, controlled, and detailed without beeing too boomy or explosive. They would what I warm. They have more in the 60 - 150 range than the GR07 BE's that give them that warm charachter. They sound like a well calibrated home theater system with towers and a sub...the low end is present adding to the color, but not taking over like in the Sennheiser's or a car system with dual JL Audio 12"s. Note - these take a good time to break in, so give them time.

Mids - Here is where the GR07 Clasics start to get interesting. The mids are slightly recessed, but only slightly. They are very clear and detailed giving male and female vocals a very natural sound. The true test for any mids and high mids is how well they represent acoustic instruments, and I was well pleased when listening to James Taylor's guitar. Listening to Nickel Creek made me feel the three of them were right here in the room with me. But even listening to Los Lobos or Joe Satriani, they were still quick enough to keep up. They do have relaxed mids, but not so V shaped as the Sennheiser's and not has mid forward as the Shure's. They are are also more natural than the Apple's or the Etymotics, which to me sounded like tapping a paper bag.

Higs - The highs are very detailed, but without being harsh or sibliant. I would like a bit more detail, but I think that would be a tradeoff in a more fatiguing sound. The GR07 Bass Editions had less bass and a bit stronger highs on the very top end. This gave them a very airy sound and reminded me of Grado's, but with a better soundstage. The Classics remind me more of Sennheiser HD558's - more natural fall off on the top end, but still crispy enough to satisfy for nearly any listening purpose, although they may fall short of those who want to hear every single minute detail - I find this sound fatiguing and if this is what you are after, the GR07 BE's are a better choice, but they are peaky and don't really suit all types of recorded music. On some recordings, the BE's sounded so transparent, clear, and the Classics sounded slightly less wide and warmer and a touch less detail. If only listening to the Classics, you'd never miss the BE's as many recordings sound more plesant on the Classics, but can still reveal flaws. I the Classics are a good trade off between detail, soundstage, bass, sibilance, and fatigue. I could listen to these for hours (and have).

Overall, I think it is hard to beat these. They can be used in casual listening , hi-fi listening, or for stage monitoring. They can get quiet or scream real loud and volume does not really affect the sound that much. They are in the medium area of impedence for IEM's, so there is not a lot of hiss and it does not take much to drive them. On an iPod, halfway is about a good volume for all day office listening just to give you a reference.

NOTE: These will take a long time to break in to their sound. I'd say at least 50 hours, but it is a logrithmic scale. So 10 hours is about halfway there, 25 is about 85-90 percent there, and 50 is where they will stay. I thought these had lean bass and non natural high end until they broke in. I then bought the GR07 Bass Editions because I read they were supposed to have more bass, but those reviews were in comparison to the original GR07's. These actually have more bass and are warmer than the Bass Editions as mentioned above. The BE's took just as long to settle.