[ian91]

I think that

I think that's right. There is very little output in the high frequencies, I have the BQEYZ Summer and that is very sparkly in the treble. I suspect the piezo drivers are dead and the tiny bit of treble I am hearing is coming from the BA. In fact they sound worse now than when I first heard them.

I would reach out to Penon and see if they can help. Sorry man...

 

[Musicoflife]

I think you may have yes. I don't hear the treble as lacking sparkle. The note weight is light in the mids but there's great definition and resonance to string instruments and when I first received mine I was pleasantly suprised by the BA/piezo treble.

I've never heard mass strings so resolved, refined, sheeny and silky as I did with my GK10. This is with the Y****o 6N UPOCC copper cable. But then I don't own TOTL stuff, only the likes of Starsea and Shuoer Tape. The GK10 highs are better than the piezo of the LZ 6mini and megnetostatic tweeter of the Tape.
Contact Penon to post your pair back for replacement.

 

[gmdb]

I think that

I think that's right. There is very little output in the high frequencies, I have the BQEYZ Summer and that is very sparkly in the treble. I suspect the piezo drivers are dead and the tiny bit of treble I am hearing is coming from the BA. In fact they sound worse now than when I first heard them.

I am starting to wonder whether some of the variability in results comes from the low impedance of the GK10. If it's around 6-8 ohms that's on the low side and the Smabat NCO by comparison is 32 ohms. My AP80 Pro is recommended for earphones with impedance of 8 ohms and above. I can't test with GK10 as mine hasn't arrived yet. But AP80 Pro, for example, may not be the best match for GK10 impedance of 6-8 ohms. Ideally we would want a source component with an output impedance of 0.8 ohms or less fora good match with GK10.

 

[Barndoor]

It cracks me up that any time somebody doesn't like the GK10 it is declared faulty.
Geek Word will go bust with all these returns!

 

[Barusu Lamperouge]

It cracks me up that any time somebody doesn't the GK10 it is declared faulty.
Geek Word will go bust with all these returns!

Or if they're smart enough they will fix them and resell them as brand new.

 

[ian91]

It cracks me up that any time somebody doesn't like the GK10 it is declared faulty.
Geek Word will go bust with all these returns!

I'm not declaring anything. In fact, I said it may just be the sound signature that doesn't suit @Nimweth. We all hear things differently, but to my ear the treble hasn't been a weakness of the GK10, hence my suggestion.

 

[illumidata]

Your impressions line up with my take nearly identically. There is a bit of thinness to the mids (note-weight) and needs a tad more heft to the bass below 50hz.

There are so many variables to IEM use--tips, cables, source, fitment--that the variances people hear are hard to pin down. Sure, there could be qc issues, but hopefully some tip-rolling and burn-in is fully invested in before judgments are made.

I'm still a bit concerned with the stated impedance, as it doesn't seem quite as sensitive as it should be for 8ohm (or 6 as stated on box!). With so many drivers, and particularly different types of drivers (which could all be specd at different impedances), how the x/o is implemented could affect the sound impressions via different sources. Low/high gain outputs, etc. ...

But my set is sure worth the price without question, and the tuning is quite good, and with the few tweaks you mention, would be even more my ideal too.

It might just be some kind of confirmation bias but I'm not getting a particularly good match with my M11+ (1 or 2 ohm OI depending on output), bass sounds like it's losing definition instead of gaining it, which is the exact opposite of what I'm expecting!

 

[Nimweth]

Well I am astonished. I took the advice about trying different sources and the Sony NWZ A15 sounded a lot clearer than the Xduoo X20 but the best result was with the Hifi Walker H2 and using this I can begin to see what all the fuss is about. There is obviously a mismatch there, perhaps it is an impedance issue, I do not know the specifications of my players though. Anyway I am now using this combination: Hifi Walker H2 > Faaeal Hibiscus copper cable > KBEAR medium bore tips (black/red). They now sound very good indeed.

 

[ian91]

Well I am astonished. I took the advice about trying different sources and the Sony NWZ A15 sounded a lot clearer than the Xduoo X20 but the best result was with the Hifi Walker H2 and using this I can begin to see what all the fuss is about. There is obviously a mismatch there, perhaps it is an impedance issue, I do not know the specifications of my players though. Anyway I am now using this combination: Hifi Walker H2 > Faaeal Hibiscus copper cable > KBEAR medium bore tips (black/red). They now sound very good indeed.

Very happy for you! Now we have atleast one instance where impendance may have affected things, seemingly quite drastically. Hopefully this will help others.

 

[gmdb]

Very happy for you! Now we have atleast one instance where impendance may have affected things, seemingly quite drastically. Hopefully this will help others.

Some general information on headphone and source component impedance matching. There is even a mention of bass bloom as a result of a poor match.

https://www.headphonesty.com/2019/04/headphone-impedance-demystified/

 

[Q Mass]

Since source device output impedance seems like a somewhat plausible explanation for varying satisfaction with the GK10, I'll report my sources, for what it's worth:

Hiby R5 (love this thing. Sub ohm O.I. I think? Can't remember exact figure or load)

Echobox Explorer (despite it's pitiful wi-fi perf', and vocal detractors I still rate the sound it makes very highly, and it's beautifully made, I think I recall it's O.I. being around an Ohm at 16?).

My GK10 sounds almost absurdly good, for a very inexpensive iem, from both these sources.
I haven't tried the GK10s from my Qudelix 5K yet, and I doubt I'll ever get round to plugging them into any of my desktop gear.

 

[shrisha]

Ok people! Hold my non-alcoholic beer!
My pair just arrived two hours ago and didn't leave my ears since then. First of all I want to say that I didn't much visit head-fi for a past two years since become fond of speakers and amps and being extremely satisfied I didn't touch any of my headphones for all this time. So, few weeks ago out of curiosity I decided to check what is going on here and Dsnuts review intrigued me so I ordered GK10 on Penon and kinda forgot about it. So three days ago I've been reminded by penon's regular newsletter and came here again and found all this controversy around this thread subject
And here is my impressions so far. Again I'm saying, according to my not used to or spoiled by any head/earphones for awhile.
So for past few hours I listen practically all genres I like, jazz, blues, rock, classic music etc. everything HiRes and through decent dac amp combo. And I want to say that it's very first time I'm hearing such layering and instrument separation from chifi pair of earphones. After being victim of dozen hype-trains in here I practically gave up to find something like this. Liking Beyerdynamics headphones I always was kin to have something similar on the road without breaking bank.
Same time I can see what other people saying about sound signature. Yes bass is not clearest and controlled as I would like it to be to say the list but I wouldn't say it's bloated. But yes not a big fan of low freq tuning here for sure. Rest of spectrum is very likeable to my taste. Sound stage is not among biggest, again after speakers I'm very spoiled on this regard. But layering and instrument separation is where they are shine. And as always with earphones fit is crucial part of the experience. So tips rolling is a must. Also with every listening song they can sound different. Burn-in may be will help with that will see? With big question mark
Anyway, there are pluses and minuses as usual with everything but again we talking 50 bucks here and for this budget they are great!
So, for me hype is justified. Peace!

 

[Nimweth]

It is fascinating to think that I have experience of over 100 IEMs and it is the first time I have encountered this phenomenon. I always audition IEMs with a variety of sources, phone, CD player, DAPs etc. Some earphones are tip sensitive, others cable sensitive and these, it seems, are also source dependent as well.

 

[dharmasteve]

Since source device output impedance seems like a somewhat plausible explanation for varying satisfaction with the GK10, I'll report my sources, for what it's worth:

Hiby R5 (love this thing. Sub ohm O.I. I think? Can't remember exact figure or load)

Echobox Explorer (despite it's pitiful wi-fi perf', and vocal detractors I still rate the sound it makes very highly, and it's beautifully made, I think I recall it's O.I. being around an Ohm at 16?).

My GK10 sounds almost absurdly good, for a very inexpensive iem, from both these sources.
I haven't tried the GK10s from my Qudelix 5K yet, and I doubt I'll ever get round to plugging them into any of my desktop gear.

Me too.....HiBy R5. The GK10 sounds excellent from the 4.4mm. The R5 is great

 

[FSTOP]

I think that

I think that's right. There is very little output in the high frequencies, I have the BQEYZ Summer and that is very sparkly in the treble. I suspect the piezo drivers are dead and the tiny bit of treble I am hearing is coming from the BA. In fact they sound worse now than when I first heard them.

Wow! yea, don't see how it could be working like my set: the air, sparkle, and overall treble detail is what hit me first with mine, on first listen. The dynamic drivers get better and more punchy, faster with burn-in. But that treble detail is immediately noticeable to me, which is what makes the weight of the mids fall back a bit.