[430633]

Oh, QC is a must though- for the GK100 and hopefully the GK10 as well. They can have 5% of the sets sound as good as the Sennheiser Orpheus and it would be drowned out by the doubts of the other 95%, even if it were true and intended *(not to mention trust issues and insecurity; people want what they are paying for)

 

[AmericanSpirit]

Or there could be a GK100A and GK100B- let the masses choose their own poison, just as they always have

Great idea!

 

[profusion]

 

[430633]

The DD without the piezos is the same dd as KZ zsn pro from the looks of it. Sounds like KZs too

It does look similar, but the ZSN *Pro's driver is stated to be 10mm so the dimensions are off. No mention of the material too, usually if it's graphene they would be happy to advertise it as such

 

[F700]

So, the wait wasn’t all that long actually. Yesterday came the GK10 in. Short burn-in session, approx. 12 hours. Then went the time to listen to those pretty sapphires:

Didn’t care much about the stock accessories. The unboxing experience is non-existent, but I am not asking for anything special in this price segment.

Playing with tips, and to a lesser extent with cables, I have in my collection, I ended up choosing a Satin Audio Hyperion silver cable in 3.5mm and Final Audio Clear tips. Fit and isolation are great to me. The Satin Audio cable is very lightweight and comfortable. My source is a Calyx M DAP with class A amplification and this is exactly what the GK10 are asking for. On low gain, 35% volume, the GK10 are groovin’ with different music genres and I am enjoying what I am hearing so far.

Let’s forget the price and the very lightweight shells for a moment. I might have been lucky, but both shells have zero fabrication default. Soundwise, the Calyx M and its slight warmish/analogue signature pairs well with the silver cable from Satin Audio. The GK10 enjoy the spa treatment.

After a 3 hours listening session, here are my early and short impressions (sound only):

+ Warmish and agreeable tuning (might be a con for some)
+ Inoffensive sound signature, which could please a wide audience looking for a budget set
+ Very decent level of details (cost-no-object) - nice performance!
+ Vocals are well-rendered, as long as the recording quality is acceptable too
+ Not a basshead set (might be a con for some)
+ Fatigue-free IEMs, not sibilant

- Limited technical abilities (pretty obvious)
- Instrument separation / layering (it’s not a « sound soup », but don’t expect anything special here)
- Bass is not really bloated, but lacks impact in the sub-region and definition. With a tighter and more impactful bass, the GK10 would have played in another category
- Honeymoon phase over, the GK10 might land in the drawer and will struggle getting attention again (I hope not, though)

Is this set worth its price tag? Yes, it is, definitely. Most of us do have tips and cables to play with, you just have to find the combination that works for you, because the stock accessories can be ignored imo. But then, you also might possess a collection of IEMs and, out of this collection, most likely some IEMs, at any price point, that are more enjoyable or technically superior than the GK10.

I won’t lie, I am really enjoying my time with the GK10. Like the Blon BL-03, the GK10 is a set I could take with me on holidays (maybe with my L&P W2 - I need to test this combo) or use just for the pleasure of wearing them, from time to time. Honestly, I don’t see those stealing much time from my favorite sets, but it’s not the GK10’s purpose, I think.

That being said, I will spend the next days with the GK10 and I am looking forward to experiencing how they will grow (or not) on me.

In a nutshell: a hype well-deserved, especially at the price point, but not a true revolution in itself or a real game-changer, only a very, very good IEM under USD 100.-, and it’s already a performance. This is my (positive) opinion about the GK10.

Well done Geek Wold.

 

[Mouseman]

Yes.

 

[tgx78]

GK10 First Impression

The very first thing I hear on the GK10 is bass. More specifically gobs of mid-bass pounding my head. Anything large orchestral, I am defaulted to hear Cello section doing their own solos. Problem is, it didn't quite get the texture of the bass section either and double bass section gets hardly any extension and slam to show it means business. If you are looking for a quality bass, I would say stay clear as bass tuning falls short in the technical department and too skewed towards the mid-bass which by the way shamelessly encroaches lower to mid midrange.
The Gk10's midrange is borderline shrill, etched, echoey and distant. Violin and Viola section of Mozart Piano Concerto by Yeol Eum Son is incredibly metallic and thin note weights are nothing short of fatiguing. The Piano solo part had me cringing at just how distant and soulless it sounded. Treble is not much better either. Percussion instruments sounds splashy, with the general lower treble emphasis seemingly contributing to a level of ringing. Maybe I received a dud? I don't know. My unit also doesn't do a channel matching well. I will put it on my burn in station for now.

 

[Dsnuts]

Some perspective here. @tgx78 just got one of the most substantial earphones in the price range in the Yanyin Aladdin. Though I could have guessed going from those to the GK10 would have been a bad idea. As those have been taking the spot light for him and for me to be honest. In comparison the GK10 will sound like how he described.

Yes the mids will sound a bit artificial, thinner lacking note weight, treble tinny and not nearly as refined. Mid bass will stand out on the GK10 in comparison. Imaging will be one dimensional. There is really no comparison.

In fact I bet a lot of earphones even at the $250 price range if he compares them to the Aladdin will be lacking. Let alone a $45 one. So it is what it is.

Even then I know these guys and their likes in more of a reference type sound signature. The GK10 has nothing reference on it. Lol It clearly has some coloration to its sound but one that can be enjoyable with the right source tips and cables. The GK10 for its price range is doing what a lot of earphones in the price can't and that's give an actual tribrid flavor which there are not many of if at all at this price range.

Piezo treble has always been tinny sounding and it don't matter which earphone they use it on or how it is tuned. It sounds a bit tinny on the LZ A7 as well. So this will be a good starting point for the tuners of the GK100 maybe. A more agreeable tonally correct GK100 would go a long ways. Tuning is everything in the industry. I think the GK10 was looking for a middle ground for fun yet revealing. It will be interesting to see how they tune the GK100 and what it will be using for drivers and design.

I wouldn't look at the GK10 as a loss or anything like that for folks that don't like them. Not too many heart shaped earphones you can gift to loved ones. I am just saying.

 

[430633]

So for those wondering what drivers will be in the GK100, @Ace Bee actually kindly sent me this image not too long ago. Assuming the "GK10PRO" mentioned is the GK100, it sounds like there would be 1x DLC Dynamic, 2x BA and 2x Piezo drivers in each side. Price may be subject to change with the feedback received from this thread though (if they decide to adopt some of the ideas)

 

[430633]

Good thing @chen siyuan is personally in the thread now- we can directly question the mastermind this way

 

[illumidata]

Geeks are not going to suit every library, it has to be said

I just a/b'd that bit of Mozart against Believes and I can definitely hear what the problem is. I was going to suggest it might be a source issue but that piano does indeed sound tinny as hell through the GK10s, even with a 0.1 OI source, and the violins are freakishly absent. Unfortunately to fix it you'd need to add a ton of pinna gain to the Geeks, which would make them incredibly shouty on any other kind of music.

Interesting stuff though, always good to hear how these things work with different genres.

 

[Nimweth]

Geeks are not going to suit every library, it has to be said

I just a/b'd that bit of Mozart against Believes and I can definitely hear what the problem is. I was going to suggest it might be a source issue but that piano does indeed sound tinny as hell through the GK10s, even with a 0.1 OI source, and the violins are freakishly absent. Unfortunately to fix it you'd need to add a ton of pinna gain to the Geeks, which would make them incredibly shouty on any other kind of music.

Interesting stuff though, always good to hear how these things work with different genres.

Tough competition! The Believe is outstanding and right at the top in my collection. However, having finally found a compatible source, I feel the GK10 certainly is worth its price but I don't think it challenges the Aria or my latest acquisition, the Fiio FD3 which both have superior timbre, albeit at a higher price.

 

[AmericanSpirit]

Tough competition! The Believe is outstanding and right at the top in my collection. However, having finally found a compatible source, I feel the GK10 certainly is worth its price but I don't think it challenges the Aria or my latest acquisition, the Fiio FD3 which both have superior timbre, albeit at a higher price.

The tuning for Believe is a bit too peaky on treble region to my liking, so tonality wise I prefer neutral with slight coloration on sibilance region which is GK10 with CP360 & L&P W2.

Believe meanwhile is too shouty or too sensitive (to modern recordings) from upper-mid, but I can see if orchestral mainly composed by strings are the main genre of the listener’s preference, Believe is the one of the best single DD to consider, technicalities are top notch(expect layering that multi-BAs could handle)


Believe: the upper-mid treble peak gain is the pros/cons section, bass floor gain is less than 10db, pretty nicely tuned compares to GK10, but they follow similar curve(note the scale on y-axis is 5db each here)

GK10: Bass floor gain is around 10db, and overall high bass floor and lower-mid with stock tuning will be the pros/cons area of GK10

 

[AmericanSpirit]

Are you hanging out in all the other hyped up threads and letting people in those know to stop wasting their time and money?

Seriously, move along. Some of us like it, you don't. You have made that quite clear.

Looking at the bright side, let’s call it a “celebrity’s noblesse oblige”, the famous tax

I also feel GK10 is not a perfect one, but certainly it’s worth attention to any music lover, because it has great musicality depending on the pairing.

By getting any posts, GK10 thread pops up to top of the list, and eventually that’s helping it’s name to wide spread, as not everybody’s endgame, but something causing a reactions on headfi community

Also denying criticism is not a healthy behavior, people has their own opinion and we can respect each others. I know the user’s individual behavior certainly appears to be lacking respect, so that’s casing many reactions, but things happen, I take it as criticism with famous tax

 

[marklivia]

Such a nice positive attitude AmericanSpirit!