[Dsnuts]

its a big problem and can damage a driver, even tfz acceptit as a problem.
my friends are shocked by what I said and probably the sales of these headphones will be very bad.

I really liked my GK10 but GK80 sounds like a trash

Hold on before you judge them fully, those Zishan audio devices will not be a good match for the GK80. I can tell you that right now. I know those are something like 2-5 ohm out. Also I know it sounds counter intuitive but try the GK80 in single ended vs balanced. Reason I say that is because balanced out will double your output impedence meaning balanced out of the Zishan will be 4 - 10 ohms out. Which drastically changes how they sound.

I tried the GK80 on a 10 ohm out Acmee MF02S and I can tell you they sound nothing like how they sound on my Fiio M15 or DX300Max. It sounds like a completely different earphone.

Sensitivity of these earphones are what makes them all over the place. While you have them try all your sources and in single ended see how that might affect the sound you're hearing.

 

[Mr.HiAudio]

Hold on before you judge them fully, those Zishan audio devices will not be a good match for the GK80. I can tell you that right now. I know those are something like 2-5 ohm out. Also I know it sounds counter intuitive but try the GK80 in single ended vs balanced. Reason I say that is because balanced out will double your output impedence meaning balanced out of the Zishan will be 4 - 10 ohms out. Which drastically changes how they sound.

I tried the GK80 on a 10 ohm out Acmee MF02S and I can tell you they sound nothing like how they sound on my Fiio M15 or DX300Max. It sounds like a completely different earphone.

Sensitivity of these earphones are what makes them all over the place. While you have them try all your sources and in single ended see how that might affect the sound you're hearing.

I have a heavily modified Zishan Z4 and only the name is left of it . I also tested on Fiio x7-2
Also, non-zero non-zero output impedance does not threaten these headphones because there is no crossover and the drivers are soldered in parallel(maybe they will sound quieter and that's all).
But on Z4 GK10 sound like a sharm, GK80 is not

 

[Dsnuts]

Might not be a good match for your sources. In any case, I know they aren't complete trash. They have a more musical tuning than the GK10. In any case give them a good break in and try out all your tips. It takes a bit to really get them to become 100%. Not exactly revealing on open listen. If you're getting brightness, I am 100% certain it is due to bad synergy with your source. The only one I get some brightness out of is that Acmee MF02S. Sounds a bit harsh out of it actually.

Even though sensitivity is similar from the GK10 to the GK80. The GK80 is actually more sensitive due to having one less dynamic in the mix. Uses even less power to drive.

 

[Mr.HiAudio]

Might not be a good match for your sources. In any case, I know they aren't complete trash. They have a more musical tuning than the GK10. In any case give them a good break in and try out all your tips. It takes a bit to really get them to become 100%. Not exactly revealing on open listen. If you're getting brightness, I am 100% certain it is due to bad synergy with your source. The only one I get some brightness out of is that Acmee MF02S. Sounds a bit harsh out of it actually.

Even though sensitivity is similar from the GK10 to the GK80. The GK80 is actually more sensitive due to having one less dynamic in the mix. Uses even less power to drive.

I have an even source, which still sounds better than acme. The GK10 is essentially the same as the GK80, so why do they sound better? the stuffing is basically the same. I'll try to deal with penon. If they send me the same model, it will be very strange. The brightness lies in the fact that they do not cut no, they have very bright and more brightened vocals and mids. Also they sound already.

Perhaps, of course, I am escalating the situation and they are simply defective, and those that are not defective sound better - hm, maybe there are my mistakes about firs impression, but I wrote so that I heard. To be continued...

 

[Dsnuts]

I highly recommend experimenting with them. Try this and try that. I see the output impedance for the Fiio X7 Mk2 is 1.2ohm out. That will be the closer of the sources you have to what the GK80 likes but in single ended.

 

[Mr.HiAudio]

I highly recommend experimenting with them. Try this and try that. I see the output impedance for the Fiio X7 Mk2 is 1.2ohm out. That will be the closer of the sources you have to what the GK80 likes but in single ended.

do not look at the output impedance, this does not apply to these headphones, because there is no crossover that would cut off certain frequencies(RC filter), the maximum - the headphones will sound quieter(ng the output impedance at which the headphones will be quieter should be about 20 ohms or more).

 

[Dsnuts]

Well I do know they sound different with each device I have tried them on. DX300Max, Shanling M6 pro, Fiio M15, Shanling M5s, Ibasso DX160, Shanling M3s, Acmee MF02S, Fiio K3, Sony ZX300. Fiio UTWS5. Fiio KA3 IFI black label, IBasso PB3 .Every single one made the GK80 sound different. Anywhere from neutral bright sounding to full bodied slightly warm and everything in between. The GK80 will let you know if it likes the source it is attached to.

 

[1clearhead]

interesting...seems odd they would use the non-removeable cable on gk12. from this and Clear's review, I might tend to this tuning too.

+1 I found the non-removeable cable weird, too!...especially with a 12 driver unit? The tuning is incredibly good with a deeper quality sub-bass and less emphasis on the mid-bass. I find the GK12 more accurate and balanced with better extension from the lowest bass note to the highest micro-detail treble when compared to the GK10.

PS. The non-detachable cables are surprisingly better than most of my 4-stranded cables.

 

[gmdb]

The GK10was very ordinary at first. It needed around 40 hours burn-in time and a source with 1 ohm or less output impedance. The lower the output impedance the better. I am expecting that the GK80 will be the same, so i will give it a couple of days with my Minidisc player on repeat. The old Sony Minidisc is good for this as you can just swap in a new disposable battery when needed. (And it still has great sounds quality!)

 

[ian91]

It's insane how different the GK10 can sound depending on the source...personally not a fan of low impedance sets for this reason.

 

[Mr.HiAudio]

warmed up, no miracle happened, everyone also sounds bad
I repeat again that the impedance does not affect these headphones because there are no filters. You can read at your leisure what a RC filter is and why exactly multi-drivers with additional impedance sound bad

I keep hoping that I have defective ones, and that they are really better than gk10.

 

[ian91]

I'll just listen with my ears and experiment with sources when the GK80 arrives. The proof that will matter to me is what I hear. I'm not qualified to comment on circuitry.

 

[gmdb]

warmed up, no miracle happened, everyone also sounds bad
I repeat again that the impedance does not affect these headphones because there are no filters. You can read at your leisure what a RC filter is and why exactly multi-drivers with additional impedance sound bad

I keep hoping that I have defective ones, and that they are really better than gk10.

You may be thinking of a different impedance issue. The critical impedance issue is the ratio of the headphone impedance to the source output impedance. The impedance should be 10:1 or better, 8:1 is okay but lower than this, the headphone/IEM will certainly not sound its best. This impedance issue affects all audio component connections: preamp to power amp; power amp to speakers; CDP to amp, etc. The internal impedance of the GK headphones is specified as 8 Ohms. The source component (DAP, DAC etc) should have an output impedance of 1 Ohm or less. If the output impedance is higher than there will be an impedance mismatch leading to poor performance. An RC filter will change will impact on this impedance issue and change the impedance values, but the critical issue exists without any RC filter being present.

(Note that it does get more complicated than this as the IEM cable is technically a long series of RC filters. Eliminating the impact of that in the design of a cable is why some cables can sound better than others.)

 

[bhazard]

GK80 is in.

I immediately dislike how tight the 2 Pin connector is. This seems to have carried over from the GK10 and isn't a problem on my other IEMs.
First impression sound is very similar to the GK10, but the bloat was subdued a bit (not completely). The GK80 is still very much bass boosted and it sounds like the mids are scooped around 400Hz.

Treble may be uneven as well, as cymbals come through clearly, but there's a bit too much bite on guitars, really bright here. There could be some significant peaks and dips here. Won't be sure without some FR measurements.

Maybe the Piezo's need time, but not impressed OOTB. I don't hear enough of a difference/improvement compared to the GK10 (yet).

 

[Mr.HiAudio]

GK80 is in.

I immediately dislike how tight the 2 Pin connector is. This seems to have carried over from the GK10 and isn't a problem on my other IEMs.
First impression sound is very similar to the GK10, but the bloat was subdued a bit (not completely). The GK80 is still very much bass boosted and it sounds like the mids are scooped around 400Hz.

Treble may be uneven as well, as cymbals come through clearly, but there's a bit too much bite on guitars, really bright here. There could be some significant peaks and dips here. Won't be sure without some FR measurements.

Maybe the Piezo's need time, but not impressed OOTB. I don't hear enough of a difference/improvement compared to the GK10 (yet).

brightness is not given by a piezo, but by an armature driver