GS Audio SE12

Now let's get into it a bit deeper with some techy spec stuff.
12 Drivers per side are used.
2 Sonion 38D Series for Subbass
2 Sonion 37 Series for Bass/Lower midrange.
4 Knowles Upper Mids/Treble
4 Sonion EST65QB02 for Ultra Highs
Slightly recessed 0.78 2 Pin port for a stronger connection with a matching cable.

Hello all: I hope my subjective audio impressions help you determine if this IEM might be for you.

I share my impressions as I hear them with my ears.
As all our ears are different shapes & sizes so what I hear as bright or bass heavy -you might hear as dull and Vise-Versa; just something to be mindful of.

What makes my ears happy as a sound signature is slightly more aggressive U shape. I love my Bass Sub and Mid Bass love it all actually; and in large quantity. With the Bass I prefer a faster decay the faster the better as to not bleed into the mids., I am treble sensitive and prefer a darker warmer replay with good extension and a more relaxed high end with enough sparkly details for fun.

I prefer the fast speedy bass of the Beryllium Coated Driver of my Xenns Mangird UP and KiwiEars Cadenza. Of course there are exceptions in the market - as I also find the bass of the Bio Diaphragm used in the Yanyin Canon special - has some special sauce like a 8" subwoofer that feels like a 12" Has the slam and some serious sub bass! And the super cool Copper Alloy Shell IKKO Obsidian OH10 does some magic to the bass.

My music Library is widely varied on my mood from; Poncho Sanchez, BB King, Jimmy Smith, Metallica, Great White, Cowboy Junkies, Pink Floyd, Adelle, Melisa Ethridge, Hania Rani, Vivaldi, Fleetwood Mac, Five for Fighting, Manskin, Poncho Sanchez, , Chopin, The Crystal Method just to name a few.

That dripple being said:
Now for a Completely Subjective Audio Review - And as such here is my take on the: GS Audio SE12

Sources: E1DA SG3 (ES9038), Shanling UP5 (ES912), TEMPOTEC Serenade X (ES9219) Geshelli JNOG J2 with AKM4493 chip. iBasso DX160 (Cirrus Logic CS43198)
DAP/TRASPORT: From Lenovo Laptop with Amazon Unlimited ULTRA HD, iBasso DX160 ,Samsung S22 Ultra with DSD Files.
Amps: XDUOO MT-604 tube amp and Topping A90D ( Final thoughts and comparisons )
I use all my gear with balanced cables and Input/Output from my gear.

LISTENING NOTES:
- Vocals are clear a tad thin on Male better on Female.
- Sub Bass goes really low and very clean but not pronounced or exasperated.
- The SE12 graphs with tons of lower and mid bass but because of the BA vs DD there is no excess of bloat to fast to give it a good thump. Kick drums sound not exciting to me.
- Mids are to my ears a tad recessed and vocals are a lot more energetic and forward in the mix still not to bright sounding to be sibilant but darn close. I think I am treble sensitive and sometimes the SE12 makes me turn it down not Up.
- Jazz and instruments sound natural but I still prefer more note weight on more tracks and kick drums for my tastes
- Sounds best on the warmer sources AKM J2 really brought out the stage , iBasso nice with the Cirrus Logic Chip
- Not great at all on the E1DA SG3 , The ESS on the TempoTec and Shanling ESS9219 chips a tad too resolving and clean - Subjective
- Not a fun listen at low volume levels at all and especially with lower powered sources! But turn it up and oh boy good times. So if you’re a low volume casual listener don’t bother with this IEM.
- Not a all rounder nor a endgame for me after spending a few weeks and back and forth with other IEM's
- Gave the SE12 a 10 day listening break and went back and did more tip rolling / cable swapping with even less enthusiasm than initial impressions.
- Weird pressure build up ear tip thing kills me and makes we want to take them out. My ear shape? No idea but does not happen on any other set I tried and its really hard to describe.

COMPARISIONS:

LETSHOUER EJ07M Resin Custom Tuned w +3db Sub Boost.
- Instruments play further back in the mix less pronounced
- Male vocals have more weight
- Bass has more meat sub bass is BA tight but has more weight than the SE12
- Warmer than the SE12 for me vocals are more lush and the added weight of female vocals makes it sound more realistic
- Imaging is more intimate (Closer to the middle of your head) and the SE12 has the EJ's beet on depth of stage
- Stupid Driver flex on the Ej's makes it almost as annoying as the pressure thing on the SE12 Absolutly none on the UP's

XENNS MANGIRD UP
- Male vocals even better than the EJ's
- I can hear more clearly symbols and tings and bings in the highs over both the SE12 and the EJ's
- Background vocals come through with better clarity on the UP's FULL STOP.
- Wider than the ES12 but closer to the middle of your head (Not as much depth) as the ES12
- Bass has even more meat sub bass is still BA tight but has more weight than the SE12 and Ej's
- All vocals are just so smooth on the Up over both the SE12 and Ej's with more sparkle that enhances the vocals instead of competing with the singers defiantly this effect is more pronounced on the UP over the Ej'S and certainly the SE12

FINAL THOUGHTS:
The GS Audio SE12 is a very differently V tuned IEM. The GS Audio SE12 does not follow your typical Harman curve tuned IEM.

In a sea of similar sound signatures the SE12 stands on its own with the large amount extra energy from 80-450 hz bringing male vocals and tons of mid-bass presence into its sound signature. With the dip at 4500 makes it a less fatiguing listen from others I have tried but still packs lots of high frequency energy with Knowles BA & the smooth Sonion EST drivers

The BA drivers taking care of the Lows does not have the same energy as a Dynamic Driver in this implementation.
Mid bass has energy in spades but overshadowed by the forward vocals and the pina gain and vocal presence ins predominant in the overall tuning mix.

For me as I prefer a warmer smoother listen the UP just does it for me followed by the EJ's and lastly the SE12.
The SE12 just has too much energy for me in the overall tuning. EQ'ing the ES12 making it warmer worked for me and made me enjoy its worlds more and If your not shy about doing that you can get some of the special stage the SE12 can throw out still and have a incredibly detail monster set.

If your preference is faster bass with zero bleed and forward vocal sparkle over note weight you will very much enjoy the BA/EST Implementation of the GS AUDIO SE12
Cheers TheDeafMonk.

https://youtube.com/@tonedeafmonk

Tldr:

A V-shaped iem with spectacular clarity and resolution with no details to reserve. The SE12 is the quintessential bass-centric iem, tuned in favor of bassheads at the sacrifice of mids. This is by the far the punchiest bass I've heard with a high degree of transient attack. Its Achilles heel lies in the technical imagery presentation, where each note lacks space and struggles to distinguish one from another. If you are a natural-born basshead, the SE12 do live up by your alley. If you like "clear" sounding iem or any variant of the Harman target, do look elsewhere.

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My music library primarily consists of EDM and pop, with a mix array of kpop, rap, classical, and rock.

I prefer a clean sounding iem and with lots of sub-bass and 3k pinna-gain that is similar to the Dusk. I use the Dusk as my foundational reference point, as I believe it is impeccably well tuned all the way up to the 3k region, which from there on I have little expertise and knowledge in understanding my desired treble presentation.

Sources: Luxury & Precision W2, EPro 01, Stock cable + CEMA PS series cable
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Technical Specification:

8BA + 4EST

Driver Composition

2 Sonion 38D series (Subbass~bass)
2 Sonion 37 series (bass~lower-mid)
4 Knowles TWFK series (Upper-mids ~ treble)
4 Sonion EST65QB02 (Ultra high frequency)

>Impedance: 22 ohms.

>Frequency Response Range: 9Hz-40kHz.

>Effective Frequency Response Range: 20Hz-20kHz.

>Sensitivity: 118dB SPL/mW





Intro:

I've spent close to a month now trying to have a full understanding of the SE12 after a mediocre initial impression that kept me from writing a decent review. This will unfortunately be a short paragraph-style review that summarizes my general feeling of the SE12, but I do feel it will greatly benefit this community of ever-persistent enthusiast seeking after higher audio quality experience.

Thus, let's begin with GS Audio's own marketing phrase to describe the SE12 - "Luxury Beast"





Now, I could careless about whichever catchy vernacular phrases they use for marketing purpose, but in the grand scheme of things, it does accurately profile the general sound signature of the SE12 in coherence with its "luxurious" shell. The SE12 is undeniably a V-shaped signature that aims to boost the bass and treble to a prominent degree. As a result, the midrange vocals take a step back to allow the rest of the frequency to shine. The "beast" within the SE12 connotes to the excellent bass reproduction in conjunction to the heavily bass-centric tuning and sheer technical resolution.

As someone who is not against V-shaped tuning (although not a fan either), this is clearly an overemphasis in wanting to please a niche category of bassheads without taking full consideration of the traditional audiophiles who appreciate a cleaner reproduction without sacrificing the mids. I'd like to give GS Audio the benefit of the doubt by giving leeway to their massive portfolio with numerous tunings and setups for consumers to choose from, but this is in no way a mature hifi tuning that prioritizes balance in respect to the different music genres people listen to.

To further scrutinize, it would make most sense for viewers to analyze and dissect the frequency response graph, as the sound is quite resemblant to how it graphs provided by the manufacturer (IEC 603 coupler).





Personally, I believe ~250hz is the most ideal region to add incremental gain to transition into mid-bass substance and ultimately subbass impact without any bass bleeding into the mids. In contrast, the SE12 transitions into that gain starting from 600hz onward, which leads to a noticeable 3dB difference between 300hz and 600hz (and this is still within the lower-mid region). By the time we reach the 150hz mid-bass substance, we're already at a 7dB difference from the midrange. To my subjective listening, such tuning leads to the bass and mids meshing together, which is further exacerbated by the lack of separation of instrument. If it wasn't for its incredible clarity and high transient attack, its tuning alone would have induced a feeling of stuffiness, which would have been unforgivable at this price point.

The SE12's resolution is the saving grace that makes up for the lack of separation (in respect to price) by giving definition to each note, which in turn brings rise to dimensionality. Paired with this is its incredibly punchy and fast transient attack, which attempts to make a point why it deserves a flagship status. This is a highly resolving iem with a remarkable clarity and punch, which demands the listener's attention than to fade into the background. I found it fatiguing for long-term listenening session, but can see it being pleasurable for those who prefer detail-oriented signature.

Soundstage is intimate, but has good depth to add layers within the music. Unfortunately, the SE12 cannot take advantage of such layers due to its limited separation capabilities, rendering spatial positioning and imaging on a relatively flatter plane. However, it has enough potential to make me believe GS Audio can come up with a much more improved flagship.





Bass is excellent in quality. The best BA bass I've heard without a doubt (albeit the BA decay), and scales exceptionally well with the right source and cables. I'd like to make a short personal anecdote that SE12 is the very first iem to have confirmed me a cable believer, which I know is an incredibly controversial topic. I find this as a sign of how flexible and source sensitive the SE12 is, but one can make their own decision after experimenting with this iem.

Midrange vocals has a surprisingly good natural timbre. If only the tuning gave leeway to more midrange prominence, I can see how it could be intoxicating for vocal lovers.

Treble is where I believe the SE12 ends in a lackluster fashion - more so than midrange - falling within the realm of mediocrity as I cannot audibly hear the benefit of having four EST drivers. There is good resolution, but nothing else to offer, besides the occasional sibilance in treble-intensive songs. There is a peak around the 5k and 7k mark, but remains relatively tame due to the overbearing energy in the mid-bass and lower-mid region. There is not much air to be found: both within notes and in its treble extension.


Conclusion:

I've been very critical of the SE12, but such is the standard when it demands a flagship price in a competitive market. With that being said, the SE12 is by no means a "bad" iem, but moreso a prototype in my view, as a lot can be fixed through the tuning alone. This is a difficult recommendation at the $925 MSRP, but may fit in a niche collection if available at a cheaper second-hand market.

- SteveK