[mndless]

Technical specification of Geek Wold GK12

• drivers: 6, 3 x dynamic, 1 x armature, 2 x piezoelectric
• frequency response: 20 Hz - 30 kHz
• efficiency: 102 dB
• impedance: 7 ohms
• plug: 3.5 mm, gold-plated
• cable length: 1.2 m

I really wish they had increased the impedance a bit. Something in the 12 ohm range is pretty much the minimum that is reasonably useful with wireless adapters. 16 ohm would be even better. I'll be avoiding it because I was disappointed in the piezo drivers anyway, but I'd be more willing to consider them if they could be driven from my more convenient sources. I'm just too lazy and forgetful to bother dragging my DAP around when I can just connect my LC-BT2 to my phone and be on my way with LDAC. They've had no difficulties pushing my GS Audio GD7B, another fairly low impedance set with really high sensitivity, but the GK10 were just too low impedance to function properly off them. I wasn't super impressed by their sound off other, more capable sources, but their general incompatibility with my LC-BT2 is what really killed them for me.

 

[brsdrgn]

Here's my impressions OOTB for GK12:

Post in thread 'The discovery thread!' https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the-discovery-thread.586909/post-16574192

I do not recommend it over the GK10. Gk10 is much better.

 

[gmdb]

Here's my impressions OOTB for GK12:

Post in thread 'The discovery thread!' https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the-discovery-thread.586909/post-16574192

I do not recommend it over the GK10. Gk10 is much better.

Thanks for this. Possibly the GK12 was the prototype for the GK10? The "12" like the "10" naming indicating the total number of drivers in the pair.

 

[brsdrgn]

Thanks for this. Possibly the GK12 was the prototype for the GK10? The "12" like the "10" naming indicating the total number of drivers in the pair.

Yes, possibly!

Seeing the numbers shouldn't give the impression that Gk12 is an improved version imho. It seems like it's just about the numbers of drivers.

From that point, should we consider gk100 to have 50 drivers per side? (I know it's a bad joke)

I like the airy presentation of GK10. When I first had it in my hand the shells felt so light and weak. But, now holding Gk12 in my hand, GK10 gives me the impression of better quality.

 

[jant71]

They are making the GK10 into a true wireless...

 

[ZAXon 7]

finally managed to get a decent pic...

 

[Fat Larry]

Similar experience here. First pair was defective and it took quite a while to get a replacement. So far, after a few days, the replacement set seems ok. I did get reimbursed for the return shipping, which was more than half the cost of headphones themselves. Seems like a tough way for Penon to make a buck. I must say, I'm not getting what many people are saying about these IEMs. With pretty heavy EQ they are ok, but without EQ they are way too hot for my taste. I think you pretty much get what you pay for with these.

It certainly is an unfortunate way to make a buck selling junk.

How did you get your shipping cost refunded? I want to send my set back as well (missing grills and i can't tell if they're defective or the sound signature is just terrible) but it'll cost me 30% of the purchase price to return them and penon declined to cover the cost unsurprisingly.

 

[dharmasteve]

It certainly is an unfortunate way to make a buck selling junk.

How did you get your shipping cost refunded? I want to send my set back as well (missing grills and i can't tell if they're defective or the sound signature is just terrible) but it'll cost me 30% of the purchase price to return them and penon declined to cover the cost unsurprisingly.

They have very poor unit variability and QC, but they are not ALL junk. I have a pair like @Dsnuts original rec and they are excellent. Sadly it's clear the QC is sh**e and I sympathise with those who have spent good money to buy faulty sets. So sad that QC is so poor.....but...at their best they are excellent.

 

[Q Mass]

They have very poor unit variability and QC, but they are not ALL junk. I have a pair like @Dsnuts original rec and they are excellent. Sadly it's clear the QC is sh**e and I sympathise with those who have spent good money to buy faulty sets. So sad that QC is so poor.....but...at their best they are excellent.

Mine seem to match Dsnuts original description pretty well. Sadly many of the other descriptions I've read here sound as though they've been written about a completely different product, to the extent that I cannot believe that these differences are simply down to us just hearing things differently, or having varying 'taste' in music reproduction or library.
I'm still really enjoying mine, despite me being a little sensitive to some 'hot' treble presentations in other earphones. The treble, to me, is borderline edgy, by that I mean that it's quite demanding of your attention, but not unduly so, not quite anyway.
Even for a borderline basshead like me the sub-bass is plenty, even (very very slightly) too much in a handful of my bassiest tracks. Mid-bass in mine are fine, and not even slightly overdone as others have reported.
The mids are the best presented part of the GK10 for me though, just superb.
I wish I loved the way they look too!
Mine match my Shuoer Tape in the 'reach test' as I find them equally good, despite the Tape being more expensive, better built (and much better looking IMO).
The only set I own that are clearly better to my ears are my IMR EDP (and to be honest I slightly prefer the slightly greater bass quantity of the GK10).
I still hope that Geek Wold release something slightly higher end, with a better shell with improved finish/build quality and QC (although I must admit that the inner shell shape and nozzle angle really match my ears as perfectly as universals can I think, so I hope those don't change!).
My GK10's have taken over out and about use completely. There isn't too much noise from the ports when it's windy. My EDP's are hopeless in this regard, and can't really be used outside unless it's a really still day.
The slight emphasis at either end of the FR works well to combat external noise, even if isolation is only average, perhaps even a little poor depending on which tips I'm using.
I liked Sony triple-comforts the best followed by Xelastec's, but neither of those would stay on reliably so after trying a butt-load of other tips, none of which wanted to stay put, I've settled for the OEM tips, flipped and down a size for a deep fit, they've stayed on the nozzle really well, but don't offer particularly good isolation, they sound great though, and I can wear them for hours without issue).

 

[miter53]

It certainly is an unfortunate way to make a buck selling junk.

How did you get your shipping cost refunded? I want to send my set back as well (missing grills and i can't tell if they're defective or the sound signature is just terrible) but it'll cost me 30% of the purchase price to return them and penon declined to cover the cost unsurprisingly.

Paid with PP, they refunded shipping through PP. It took a fair number of emails, some polite, some a little less so. In the end I wound up with a pair with no obvious problems, unlike the first set. It took awhile, and they just sound only so-so to me.

In contrast, at the same time I had a pair of Meze Rai Solos that I bought at Apos, and one side went dead. Once the confusion over who was going to handle the warranty issue (Apos or Meze) was resolved, it was handled in a professional manner. Meze emailed me a shipping label and arranged the pickup, and turned around the replacement pretty quickly. The only downside was the unavoidable shipping delays. Both Apos and Meze were helpful and pretty prompt to return emails.

 

[SpaceOperaVillain]

Sadly many of the other descriptions I've read here sound as though they've been written about a completely different product, to the extent that I cannot believe that these differences are simply down to us just hearing things differently, or having varying 'taste' in music reproduction or library.

^ agree with this. For example, my set seems to be lacking in treble, and I'm surprised to hear when others describe this pair as "hot". Either I have wildly different definitions or the piezos in my pair are dark. Defects usually present themselves with a channel imbalance somewhere in the FR, but my pair seem to be very well matched for their curve, so I don't think it's that. Weird.

The mids are the best presented part of the GK10 for me though, just superb.

Also agreed. The beautiful mids earned their way to GK10 keeping a place on my desk. I settled on a few EQ presets to get the most out of the top and bottom ends. The recent swap to wide and shallow bore tips still paying dividends, but I haven't been spending much time with these.

The balanced cable brought very minor improvements. A touch more treble, a bit better controlled bass but nothing that deserved another post about.

 

[camikeva]

Mine seem to match Dsnuts original description pretty well. Sadly many of the other descriptions I've read here sound as though they've been written about a completely different product, to the extent that I cannot believe that these differences are simply down to us just hearing things differently, or having varying 'taste' in music reproduction or library.
I'm still really enjoying mine, despite me being a little sensitive to some 'hot' treble presentations in other earphones. The treble, to me, is borderline edgy, by that I mean that it's quite demanding of your attention, but not unduly so, not quite anyway.
Even for a borderline basshead like me the sub-bass is plenty, even (very very slightly) too much in a handful of my bassiest tracks. Mid-bass in mine are fine, and not even slightly overdone as others have reported.
The mids are the best presented part of the GK10 for me though, just superb.
I wish I loved the way they look too!
Mine match my Shuoer Tape in the 'reach test' as I find them equally good, despite the Tape being more expensive, better built (and much better looking IMO).
The only set I own that are clearly better to my ears are my IMR EDP (and to be honest I slightly prefer the slightly greater bass quantity of the GK10).
I still hope that Geek Wold release something slightly higher end, with a better shell with improved finish/build quality and QC (although I must admit that the inner shell shape and nozzle angle really match my ears as perfectly as universals can I think, so I hope those don't change!).
My GK10's have taken over out and about use completely. There isn't too much noise from the ports when it's windy. My EDP's are hopeless in this regard, and can't really be used outside unless it's a really still day.
The slight emphasis at either end of the FR works well to combat external noise, even if isolation is only average, perhaps even a little poor depending on which tips I'm using.
I liked Sony triple-comforts the best followed by Xelastec's, but neither of those would stay on reliably so after trying a butt-load of other tips, none of which wanted to stay put, I've settled for the OEM tips, flipped and down a size for a deep fit, they've stayed on the nozzle really well, but don't offer particularly good isolation, they sound great though, and I can wear them for hours without issue).

I wholeheartedly agree with this sentiment. I have had mine for a couple of weeks now, and they have become my daily driver. I read many of the opinions posted here before mine arrived, so I was ready with wide bore tips to offset the much maligned overabundance of bass. I didn't have that issue. I did change the tips to large Sony hybrids, which is unusual in that I usually use medium, but Sony hybrids are narrow bore and I find the bass acceptable. The only time I find the bass overdone is on songs that have a continuing heavy bass line. Other than that, no issue. The mids are exceptional. I have thirty or forty other iem's, and I find the clarity of the vocals on this set at the top of the heap. Absolutely no sibilance, and I can actually make out the lyrics better than on any other iem I have. I find the that the highs are very detailed and clear as well. To me, the most important attribute is coherence. I have the CCA C12's, which are 1 DD and 5 BA's per side. To me, you can almost hear each individual BA. It's like the audio version of pyrotechnics--very colorful, but after a short while I find myself saying that's not what the music is supposed to sound like. In short, I think Dsnuts was right. I think my set does give me an inkling of what high dollar sets might sound like.

 

[Nimweth]

I wholeheartedly agree with this sentiment. I have had mine for a couple of weeks now, and they have become my daily driver. I read many of the opinions posted here before mine arrived, so I was ready with wide bore tips to offset the much maligned overabundance of bass. I didn't have that issue. I did change the tips to large Sony hybrids, which is unusual in that I usually use medium, but Sony hybrids are narrow bore and I find the bass acceptable. The only time I find the bass overdone is on songs that have a continuing heavy bass line. Other than that, no issue. The mids are exceptional. I have thirty or forty other iem's, and I find the clarity of the vocals on this set at the top of the heap. Absolutely no sibilance, and I can actually make out the lyrics better than on any other iem I have. I find the that the highs are very detailed and clear as well. To me, the most important attribute is coherence. I have the CCA C12's, which are 1 DD and 5 BA's per side. To me, you can almost hear each individual BA. It's like the audio version of pyrotechnics--very colorful, but after a short while I find myself saying that's not what the music is supposed to sound like. In short, I think Dsnuts was right. I think my set does give me an inkling of what high dollar sets might sound like.

I agree. Once I had got a good set, I could appreciate the excellent integration of the five drivers. The GK10 is a marvel (if you get a good one).

 

[Dsnuts]

Well I just posted a review for LZs newest well 2nd to their newest A2pro. The pro is that they have copious amount of bass and a weird 2Khz upper mid spike that skews the tonal balance to be a bit unique sounding. The earphones are $139 retail price.

For a phone that cost almost 3X the price you would figure they would handily beat up on the old GK10. I would rather buy 3 GK10s actually. Lol.

 

[gmdb]

To me, the most important attribute is coherence. I have the CCA C12's, which are 1 DD and 5 BA's per side. To me, you can almost hear each individual BA. It's like the audio version of pyrotechnics--very colorful, but after a short while I find myself saying that's not what the music is supposed to sound like.

Yes, coherent is the word for these. I find the same thing when comparing GK10 to KZ ASX. Obviously I got a fairly good set, but even on mine one of the mesh plates was crumpled out of the box.