Hisma
100+ Head-Fier
Hey Guys,
Don't see any discussion on the newly released goldplanar gl850 so I figured I'll start a quick thread.
I pre-ordered my set back in February of this year (2020). Goldplanar is a chinese company that makes various planar & AMT-driver based IEMs & headphones. Their flagship at the moment is the GL850, which was finally released on September 18th. I got mine just a few days later, September 21st.
Here are some pics & basic impressions:
the delivery box
comes in a giant pelican case
the contents
close-up. Can clearly see the AMT driver
another pic of the AMT
came with a nice cable. mini xlr inputs & xlr output. Also comes with a xlr to 6.35mm adapter I did not personally need to use.
my setup. Next to a hifiman arya, my previous end-game. My rig is a TA-10 dac/pre-amp with a sp200 amp on high gain (I also have a m200 dac, but terrible synergy for this headphone...more on that later)
Specs:
Impedance: 32Ω
Sensitivity: 90dB/mW
range: 10-40kHz
weight: heavy
Price: I paid about $800 as a pre-order special price. As of now it's roughly $1100. I bought it on the official goldplanar store on taobao (a chinese ebay essentially).
Sound impressions:
Excellent stage depth & detail. Sounstage isn't exactly wide, but it's deep and three-dimensional. Bass & lower-mid bass is prominent, but with fast decay. Where I'm not as enthusiastic is in the mids. Very mid-forward. With instrumentals, this isn't a big deal. But with vocals, particularly female vocals, it can get shouty. So to me, this is very much a mid-dominant set. Originally, I had these paired with my m200 dac & sp200 amp. With that combo, the vocals were so harsh on some tracks (I'm talking well-mastered, lossless flacs), that it made me regret buying this thing. When I decided to go to my old setup, using a xduoo TA-10 as a dac/pre-amp (which has a mediocre AK4490 dac but a smooth, warm tube pre-amp stage), it really helped tame the harshness in the mids. Still, certain tracks I feel I have to turn the volume down as the vocals are just too damn forward. So moral of the story for me... these do not synergize well with bright sources. Go warm, if you can. At least for my preference, a warmer source was noticeably superior to a colder/neutral source.
As far as treble goes, it's there, but I would describe these as "laid back". I'd love for someone to graph these, as there is a clear roll-off on the treble, probably somewhere around the 10khz range. In terms of treble, these remind me of my old trusty HD6xx. It's there, but it's clearly not the emphasis. If you're a treble head, these aren't for you. Having said that, I wouldn't describe these as dark or veiled either. Just more mid/lower-mid focused.
Other:
They're surprisingly comfortable for the weight. And the thing is very well built. Compared to my hifiman arya, it's not even close. This thing is absolutely premium in comparison. The supports are actually plastic, but looking at it, you would think its metal. There's no creakiness when rotating the pads, that is a trademark of the arya. The headband adjustment takes some effort, but in a manner that feels like you know it will hold its place. When adjusted, it satisfyingly clicks into place. The pads are comfortable for long listening sessions, and there is ample protection at the crown of my head. But the sheer weight of this thing cannot be ignored - you feel it, regardless of how much emphasis was put on comfort.
Overall, I feel like these have some great potential, but ultimately its held back by a strong emphasis on vocals/mids that can be borderline harsh & uncomfortable at times. The package came with some cloth pads to swap in. So I tried them, and to me, it didn't really make the mids much better, but it did reduce the bass & lower-mid bass enough that I went straight back to the original stock pads. So I'm wondering if with the right pads, you could tame the harsh mids while not hurting the beautiful depth & detail that makes these sound so special.
Compared to my arya, it's hard to say which is the winner. These really do sound "special". It has a dynamic driver-like quality with a unique twist that puts a smile on my face. I was previously impressed enough with my aryas to assume they'd be my end-game. But with certain tracks, particularly instrumental tracks, jazz, or music that tends to emphasize the instruments over the vocals, the GL850 blows me away. But on tracks with prominent vocals, or other forms of music where the vocalist is belting out high notes, I immediately crash back down to earth. The I put my aryas back on, and I'm back in my safe place.
So at this time, these don't make me want to sell my aryas, but they do make a nice supplement. I heard goldplanar is working on new pads, which hopefully can address the issues I mentioned above. Also, on some chinese forums, folks are suggesting that you need burn these in for 80 hours or so to see their full potential. I haven't put near that many hours on these (maybe 3 hours total now?). So hopefully that can also tame the mids, while also maybe opening up the treble a bit more as well. We'll see.
Don't see any discussion on the newly released goldplanar gl850 so I figured I'll start a quick thread.
I pre-ordered my set back in February of this year (2020). Goldplanar is a chinese company that makes various planar & AMT-driver based IEMs & headphones. Their flagship at the moment is the GL850, which was finally released on September 18th. I got mine just a few days later, September 21st.
Here are some pics & basic impressions:
the delivery box
comes in a giant pelican case
the contents
close-up. Can clearly see the AMT driver
another pic of the AMT
came with a nice cable. mini xlr inputs & xlr output. Also comes with a xlr to 6.35mm adapter I did not personally need to use.
my setup. Next to a hifiman arya, my previous end-game. My rig is a TA-10 dac/pre-amp with a sp200 amp on high gain (I also have a m200 dac, but terrible synergy for this headphone...more on that later)
Specs:
Impedance: 32Ω
Sensitivity: 90dB/mW
range: 10-40kHz
weight: heavy
Price: I paid about $800 as a pre-order special price. As of now it's roughly $1100. I bought it on the official goldplanar store on taobao (a chinese ebay essentially).
Sound impressions:
Excellent stage depth & detail. Sounstage isn't exactly wide, but it's deep and three-dimensional. Bass & lower-mid bass is prominent, but with fast decay. Where I'm not as enthusiastic is in the mids. Very mid-forward. With instrumentals, this isn't a big deal. But with vocals, particularly female vocals, it can get shouty. So to me, this is very much a mid-dominant set. Originally, I had these paired with my m200 dac & sp200 amp. With that combo, the vocals were so harsh on some tracks (I'm talking well-mastered, lossless flacs), that it made me regret buying this thing. When I decided to go to my old setup, using a xduoo TA-10 as a dac/pre-amp (which has a mediocre AK4490 dac but a smooth, warm tube pre-amp stage), it really helped tame the harshness in the mids. Still, certain tracks I feel I have to turn the volume down as the vocals are just too damn forward. So moral of the story for me... these do not synergize well with bright sources. Go warm, if you can. At least for my preference, a warmer source was noticeably superior to a colder/neutral source.
As far as treble goes, it's there, but I would describe these as "laid back". I'd love for someone to graph these, as there is a clear roll-off on the treble, probably somewhere around the 10khz range. In terms of treble, these remind me of my old trusty HD6xx. It's there, but it's clearly not the emphasis. If you're a treble head, these aren't for you. Having said that, I wouldn't describe these as dark or veiled either. Just more mid/lower-mid focused.
Other:
They're surprisingly comfortable for the weight. And the thing is very well built. Compared to my hifiman arya, it's not even close. This thing is absolutely premium in comparison. The supports are actually plastic, but looking at it, you would think its metal. There's no creakiness when rotating the pads, that is a trademark of the arya. The headband adjustment takes some effort, but in a manner that feels like you know it will hold its place. When adjusted, it satisfyingly clicks into place. The pads are comfortable for long listening sessions, and there is ample protection at the crown of my head. But the sheer weight of this thing cannot be ignored - you feel it, regardless of how much emphasis was put on comfort.
Overall, I feel like these have some great potential, but ultimately its held back by a strong emphasis on vocals/mids that can be borderline harsh & uncomfortable at times. The package came with some cloth pads to swap in. So I tried them, and to me, it didn't really make the mids much better, but it did reduce the bass & lower-mid bass enough that I went straight back to the original stock pads. So I'm wondering if with the right pads, you could tame the harsh mids while not hurting the beautiful depth & detail that makes these sound so special.
Compared to my arya, it's hard to say which is the winner. These really do sound "special". It has a dynamic driver-like quality with a unique twist that puts a smile on my face. I was previously impressed enough with my aryas to assume they'd be my end-game. But with certain tracks, particularly instrumental tracks, jazz, or music that tends to emphasize the instruments over the vocals, the GL850 blows me away. But on tracks with prominent vocals, or other forms of music where the vocalist is belting out high notes, I immediately crash back down to earth. The I put my aryas back on, and I'm back in my safe place.
So at this time, these don't make me want to sell my aryas, but they do make a nice supplement. I heard goldplanar is working on new pads, which hopefully can address the issues I mentioned above. Also, on some chinese forums, folks are suggesting that you need burn these in for 80 hours or so to see their full potential. I haven't put near that many hours on these (maybe 3 hours total now?). So hopefully that can also tame the mids, while also maybe opening up the treble a bit more as well. We'll see.
. 