[Sarah]

The GR10s are quite hissy with a noisy/poor-quality source. Laptops don't tend to have very clean-sounding headphone jacks. Mine is the same way, sounds great from any portable player but really noisy from my laptop. You could always get a different source for your laptop - an add-on sound-card or portable USB DAC/amp or something... a higher-quality source will definitely help.

 

[willyvlyminck]

  Nice impressions Spyro.
 
Yes.   The GR8 is also made in Japan.  If you haven't tried the EQ-7, I think it's worth auditioning as I preferred in every category over the GR8.  Regarding the bass, I recall the GR8 having more but doesn't hold a candle to the EQ-7 with its transparency, and what really won me over - space.  I'll wait and see for the next round of impressions after the magical "100 hour" mark.  Depending on the outcome, I may just pick up the GR10, or own

According to some info I found the ortofon´s have the same technique as the Grado,just another outside package.The EQ-5 same as GR8 and the EQ7 same ás the GR10, In the meanwhile they working at a EQ-8, anyone know more?

 

[goodvibes]

Read the other thread. Same driver type soerced from the same facility but differences in all 4.

 

[willyvlyminck]

  Read the other thread. Same driver type soerced from the same facility but differences in all 4.

Rhx Goodvibes have a grear sunday.

 

[jackyzen]

Hi! I'm looking for a great quality dac or dac/amp to match this Grado GR10 (I have them since 1 week and love them). It's mostly to remove to noise from the PC I use at work and add a small bass boost. It's for 100% use at my job. It will be plugged in the USB port all the time at work.
 
There is some candidates that I spotted, since i'm a newbie in dac/amp gear, there is so much options and I don't know witch one could be the best match, budget is between 200-500$.:
- JDS Labs O2 280$ or the C5D 250$: great clean and dark background
- ALO Audio "The Island" 300$ : simple and small, could really love the big volume control on the top
- Fostex HP-A4 400$: great dac, clean background
- Ifi Idac 300$ & Ifi USBPower 200$: good dac/amp combo with USB noise cleaner
- On another thread, someone have suggested : Fiio E10 80$
 
Any suggestions? Thanks! 

 

[willyvlyminck]

You can also consider the Teac UD-H01

 

[jackyzen]

You can also consider the Teac UD-H01

 
Thanks for the suggestion but it's too big. I want something that is more discreet to leave on my desk at work. For now, i'm between 3 small models: The ALO "Island", JDS LABS "CE5" and the Fiio E10.

 

[ALSO]

RSA Intruder is superb, and works all the way the food chain.

 

[jackyzen]

  RSA Intruder is superb, and works all the way the food chain.

Yeah the RSA products looks very good and hi-rated, a friend of mine have a cousin who have the RSA "Predator" and he was very impressed by the product. For the Intruder, it's a bit too pricey for me 700$, the Predator 475$ is on my list too, but I worry about RSA DAC16bit/48...I was looking for at least 24/96. I'm sure the amp is very good, but those Grado don't really need a big amplification, i just want a little bass boost, a good DAC and a black (clean) background.
 
I'm a little peaky because I want something to fit with these Grado IEM, don't plan to use it with other headphones. Since I listen 80% of time the music at my job (between 3-5 hours), i want something good, small and discreet that I would leave on my desk, below 500$. The new Fostex HP-A4 seems to have a very good DAC, but there is not enough reviews at this time to tell. 

 

[willyvlyminck]

   
Thanks for the suggestion but it's too big. I want something that is more discreet to leave on my desk at work. For now, i'm between 3 small models: The ALO "Island", JDS LABS "CE5" and the Fiio E10.

If the Price is no Problem you can also consider the Meridian wich is super compact but have super Sound Quality.

 

[jackyzen]

I finally choose the little Aune T1 tube dac/amp to match thoses Grado GR10! Just ordered from Ebay, can wait! I heard that tube are a good match for Grado headphones, so I gonna try it. This is my first purchase for a dac/amp, so I hope it's gonna sound good and be fun to try different tubes!

 

[Spyro]

The GR10's are amazing with vocal and acoustic but a little on the lean side and, as mentioned, VERY picky with sources.
 
Grado's pricing arrogance annoys me.  The $400 price tag is grossly overpriced.  The W4R is a similar sounding IEM costing the same and is much better as a total product.  GR10's should be in the $250 category.  They must not sell many of them.

 

[proedros]

   
Grado's pricing arrogance annoys me.  The $400 price tag is grossly overpriced.  The W4R is a similar sounding IEM costing the same and is much better as a total product.  GR10's should be in the $250 category.  They must not sell many of them.

 
i wanna try GR-10 very much , i am sure i am gonna like it , but 400$ is too much ,you are right again spyro.
 
grado is taking advantage of its brand name imo

 

[willyvlyminck]

   
i wanna try GR-10 very much , i am sure i am gonna like it , but 400$ is too much ,you are right again spyro.
 
grado is taking advantage of its brand name imo

I feel the same,therefore I did obt for a Sennheiser IE80 wich now come really affordable in Germany.less than half the Price of the GR 10 for a product at least on the same Level.In Europe the GR10 cost 400 Euro wich is over 500 Dollar??, so way to expensive.

 

[ALSO]

The GR-10s run about US$310 in Japan, and periodically dip to US$280 on sale.  I picked up a pair at that price, and preferred them to the Westone 4Rs.  It's always a matter of taste, but I liked the GR-10's forward sound in IEMs I use on the go.