[james444]

  Grado GR10 (at roughly 20 hours of loud burn-in)
No. The lowest frequency I could detect was about 30 Hz. Interestingly, I could hear a change in the amount of static when I started the tone. When I increased the frequency past 30 or so, they kinda "crackled" as if saying "oh yeah, what? I was asleep. Do you want something?".

 
There's something wrong with either your seal or your GR10 imo. Like all moving armatures, the Grados roll off below 30Hz, but produce still a little amount of rumble at 20Hz. I can easily detect it on my GR10 at medium volume.

 

[Haptan]

  There's something wrong with either your seal or your GR10 imo. Like all moving armatures, the Grados roll off below 30Hz, but produce still a little amount of rumble at 20Hz. I can easily detect it on my GR10 at medium volume.

 
Wow, really? At medium volume? Mine can't touch that. My Klipsch can't really do that either (I guess maybe medium/high they can). But I think my seal is actually quite okay. I should also mention that between 67 Hz and 70 Hz, the GR10 seems to hit a resonance frequency; the sound becomes buzzy instead of rumbley. Again around 32 (or so), a very slight crackling becomes noticeable. Between 5800 to 7100 Hz, there's a pretty clear increase in loudness; a hump.
 
It really seems like I should send these back, huh? This is disappointing.

 

[james444]

   
Wow, really? At medium volume? Mine can't touch that. My Klipsch can't really do that either (I guess maybe medium/high they can). But I think my seal is actually quite okay. I should also mention that between 67 Hz and 70 Hz, the GR10 seems to hit a resonance frequency; the sound becomes buzzy instead of rumbley. Again around 32 (or so), a very slight crackling becomes noticeable. Between 5800 to 7100 Hz, there's a pretty clear increase in loudness; a hump.
 
It really seems like I should send these back, huh? This is disappointing.

 
Take the Sensaphonics seal test to make sure your seal is ok. Then try the low frequency sweep from at least two different sources. If the results remain the same, I would return the phones.

 

[Haptan]

The Sensaphonics seal test consists of playing a 50 Hz tone and a 500 Hz tone. The results are the same as the previous test I did; the 50 Hz tone is barely there, and the 500 Hz tone is clear and loud. I have manually pushed the earphones into my ear and held them at the best possible angle to get the best possible bass response, and they still fail miserably. The shape (and material) of the GR10 tips is so similar to the Klipsch S4, that I have a very difficult time believing my seal is the problem. I even took the S4 tips and crammed them onto the GR10, and I barely noticed a difference.
 
I will say that the GR10 does not isolate as well as the Klipsch S4's do. If I rub my fingers together, I can hear them a bit more when wearing the GR10. It's quite noticeable. Typing is louder when wearing the GR10. But I really feel like the bass response should be better regardless of the isolation. In other words, I think I have a good, airtight seal. If I sit the S4 on the edge of my ears, such that the isolation is worse than the GR10, the bass response is still better. Three or four times the perceived volume!
 
I've contacted Grado, who has referred me to the local distributer. We'll see what happens.
 
When I ran the frequency sweep again, I noticed there was a clear hump between 2500 and 3200 Hz too (I didn't really pay much attention to those ranges the first time I tried). I also tried again with the Klipsch S4, and they are smooth almost the whole way through (slight peak around 7800 Hz, but not as strong as either hump on the GR10).

 

[willyvlyminck]

A whole lot of Problems for 399 Euro, I guess sending them back is your best Option, and go for the IE80, you save some Money as well

 

[james444]

  The Sensaphonics seal test consists of playing a 50 Hz tone and a 500 Hz tone. The results are the same as the previous test I did; the 50 Hz tone is barely there, and the 500 Hz tone is clear and loud. I have manually pushed the earphones into my ear and held them at the best possible angle to get the best possible bass response, and they still fail miserably. The shape (and material) of the GR10 tips is so similar to the Klipsch S4, that I have a very difficult time believing my seal is the problem. I even took the S4 tips and crammed them onto the GR10, and I barely noticed a difference.

 
Well, I just mentioned the seal test, 'cause I read your earlier post where you said you push firmly and wiggle them in. From my experience with IEMs, this shouldn't be necessary at all. I just open my mouth and pull slightly at my earlobe to open the canal and they slide in to a great fit/seal without any major pushing or wiggling.

 

[Haptan]

  A whole lot of Problems for 399 Euro, I guess sending them back is your best Option, and go for the IE80, you save some Money as well

I have that feeling too.
 

  Well, I just mentioned the seal test, 'cause I read your earlier post where you said you push firmly and wiggle them in. From my experience with IEMs, this shouldn't be necessary at all. I just open my mouth and pull slightly at my earlobe to open the canal and they slide in to a great fit/seal without any major pushing or wiggling.

 
Yeah, honestly, they go in with about the same effort (almost none) that my Klipsch S4's require. If I wiggle them a bit, they seat a bit further in. Opening my mouth and pulling my earlobe would do the trick too, but I'm lazy. Thanks for the suggestion though. I'm willing to try anything (almost).

 

[Spyro]

My opinion of GR10 bass:  Amount, tonality and texture is excellent.  But as a single driver, the GR10's greatest trait (an overall floating euphoric airiness) is a detriment with bass as it needs a bit more of a heavier denseness down in those frequencies.....some weight.

 

[Haptan]

  My opinion of GR10 bass:  Amount, tonality and texture is excellent.  But as a single driver, the GR10's greatest trait (an overall floating euphoric airiness) is a detriment with bass as it needs a bit more of a heavier denseness down in those frequencies.....some weight.

 
See, this illustrates why it's tough to read earphone reviews. To me, it's contradictory to say that the amount and texture is excellent, but then say it needs to be heavier (amount) and denser (texture). Right? When a tuba hits a low note, the heaviness is really important. The weight is the bass. Grado claims that these earphones represent the recording, but what I really want is a good representation of the live music. I'm not convinced that this particular par of GR10's do that.

 

[rpade]

I have currently bought the GR10's to go with my DX50. Coming from Westone UM1's, I've got to say that the Grado's don't seat well in my ears (I have crooked, smallish ear holes), not much noise isolation. But when at home listening, they are quite comparable to higher end open-back headphones.
Also, they are sensitive as hell for source. I don't know if it's my DAP or my music (24-bit/96 kHz), but they hiss like hell.

 

[Spyro]

   
See, this illustrates why it's tough to read earphone reviews. To me, it's contradictory to say that the amount and texture is excellent, but then say it needs to be heavier (amount) and denser (texture). Right? When a tuba hits a low note, the heaviness is really important. The weight is the bass. Grado claims that these earphones represent the recording, but what I really want is a good representation of the live music. I'm not convinced that this particular par of GR10's do that.

I may not be good at describing what I am hearing.  Let me try with another example.
 
Etymotic ER4 really does extend down deep with bass but it is just bass tones with ZERO tactile effect of the bass.  It's a huge flaw for the listening experience.
 
I guess I am saying the GR10 does the same thing...but adds an airy fullness too, which is an improvement over the Etys and a step more in the right direction....but still lacks that WEIGHT that makes you sort of feel the bass note.  A sound or a bass presentation can sound "full" but not have the dense weight to its presentation.  That's kind of what we are talking about.
 
Hope that helps.

 

[willyvlyminck]

I know what you mean, but this Kind of feel you will find only in the IE80 and the JVC HA-FX200-E.

 

[Spyro]

No, there are plenty of IEM's that have nice full sounding bass.  IMHO the W40 is the most "audiophile" sounding universal IEM out on the market (with its 4 drivers) that still packs a punch with a full sounding bass and presentation.
 
Yes, of course I would love to own SE846 but for $400....I am supremely confident I have the best IEM on the globe right now with W40 having owned 20 -30 different IEM's over the years.

 

[willyvlyminck]

What did you do in the end Haptan? Did you get any help from Grado,maybe a new set?

 

[Haptan]

Ultimately, I returned them to the place I bought them (that's still in progress). But in the process of trying to figure out what was going on, I learned some things.

• I have to say, Grado support was fantastic. Somebody responded to my email on a Sunday (several times!). They were probably typing from their cell phone, and made a lot of typing errors. But damn it, they were helpful! That was impressive.
• The local distributer (in Germany) contacted me and offered to check the earphones to make sure they weren't damaged. They checked them and had them back to me quickly. They found nothing wrong. They were professional and helpful.

 
When I got them back, I used them for several more hours, at their request. But I didn't notice a change in the performance. I started doubting my sanity. And ultimately, I don't know what the problem was. The only thing left is to blame the seal in my ears. I asked my wife to "see if she could verify that the seal was good" and she looked into my ear and laughed at me. "They're in your ears. Does that help?"
 
So I dunno. I repeated the tone tests I posted earlier in this thread, and confirmed I was getting the same response. I really liked so many things about these earphones that I wish they had worked out. The sound I was getting just wasn't okay. For 400 Euros (29,857,912,834 USD), I couldn't accept what I was hearing.
 
That said, I'm jealous of those of you that have the GR10 and are happy with the sound. They just don't seem to be for me.