GS Audio Impressions Thread
Oct 1, 2021 at 10:00 PM Post #811 of 1,414
Tbh isn't the Hana better tuned here? It's got less peaks in the treble and it's also better extended, so it seems like it would be less harsh on sensitive ears and have more airiness.
I don't have the Hana, so I can't comment on it's real-world performance, but I would be thoroughly disappointed if I spent literally twice the price of the GD3A and there wasn't any performance benefit. Especially since it's a single DD. GD3A is $86+S&H, Tanchjim Hana 2021 is $179+S&H.
 
Oct 1, 2021 at 11:29 PM Post #812 of 1,414
I don't have the Hana, so I can't comment on it's real-world performance, but I would be thoroughly disappointed if I spent literally twice the price of the GD3A and there wasn't any performance benefit. Especially since it's a single DD. GD3A is $86+S&H, Tanchjim Hana 2021 is $179+S&H.
Graph looks good for the price. Im curious about the gd5 and xinhs 1+4, hopefully they get graphed on a squig soon
 
Oct 2, 2021 at 1:53 PM Post #814 of 1,414
Graph looks good for the price. Im curious about the gd5 and xinhs 1+4, hopefully they get graphed on a squig soon
I'll just say that if I had been able to hear both the GD3A and the GD5 before placing my order, then I think I would have just ordered two of the GD3A. The GD5 is slightly more resolving thanks to the extra BA drivers, but the difference in actual performance is pretty minimal and the tuning of the GD3A is actually a bit more versatile. If your personal harmonic peak isn't at 6kHz, then you may find the GD5 more to your liking, but I'm having to tip roll to tame it. I did stick a metal mesh wax filter on them and that seems to be helping as well, but I doubt it's going to stay put long-term. They usually come off when I go to remove the tips.
 
Oct 2, 2021 at 2:20 PM Post #815 of 1,414
Graph looks good for the price. Im curious about the gd5 and xinhs 1+4, hopefully they get graphed on a squig soon
SD5 vs GD5 vs XINHS1+4.jpg
GD5 vs XINHS 1+4.jpg
 
Oct 2, 2021 at 10:44 PM Post #816 of 1,414
I wonder which one would be more harsh in actual use. The treble looks a bit smoother/less peaky on the xinhs iem but the upper mids also look pretty shouty on the xinhs. I also like that the mids are less scooped out on the gd5 but it does look like it is missing a little bass energy, and upper mid energy (for my preference) but it's too hard for me to tell without having it graphed against something I do own, like my starfields, etc. If I really had to guess I think I'd like the xinhs one more cause it looks more similarly tuned to the starfields, but it's kinda hard to tell.
 
Oct 2, 2021 at 10:45 PM Post #817 of 1,414
I'll just say that if I had been able to hear both the GD3A and the GD5 before placing my order, then I think I would have just ordered two of the GD3A. The GD5 is slightly more resolving thanks to the extra BA drivers, but the difference in actual performance is pretty minimal and the tuning of the GD3A is actually a bit more versatile. If your personal harmonic peak isn't at 6kHz, then you may find the GD5 more to your liking, but I'm having to tip roll to tame it. I did stick a metal mesh wax filter on them and that seems to be helping as well, but I doubt it's going to stay put long-term. They usually come off when I go to remove the tips.
How's the gd7b? I was also interested in that one
 
Oct 3, 2021 at 12:13 AM Post #818 of 1,414
How's the gd7b? I was also interested in that one
TL;DR: Neutral to a fault. If you've got money to burn and want a novel experience, they're very interesting. It's like strapping a set of reference loudspeakers to the sides of your head.

Without tips to enhance bass performance, it'll sound exactly like it graphs. Warm bass that manages to still have good dive, speed, and texture; very forward mids that treat male and female vocals equally; and highs that roll off in a very safe manner while still maintaining good detail retrieval. It's still got plenty of resolution and some pleasant twinkle in the highs, but that can be drowned out by the mids since so much media these days is tuned to be listened to through V-shaped earphones. I do still like them quite a lot, but that's mostly just down to personal preference. Similarly to the GD5, the GD7B are technically more resolving than the GD3A, but it's a pretty minimal difference and the staging is better on the GD3A and GD5 due to their mids recession and slightly better treble extension. I think the GD5 has slightly better staging than the GD3A, but it's also a fairly minimal difference there.

  • Resolving power: GD7B>GD5>GD3A, but actual differences are small and difficult to notice because of how much the mids can hide the treble in the GD5 and GD7B. If you aren't really listening for the details or you aren't treble sensitive, the details can be drowned out by the comfortably warm bass and mids in the GD7B.
  • Staging: GD5>GD3>GD7B
  • Bass performance: GD3>GD5>GD7B
  • Mids: GD7B>GD5>GD3A
  • Treble: GD5>GD3>GD7B
  • Genre flexibility: GD3A>GD5>GD7B, since the GD3A has a surprisingly safe tuning without the mids being recessed to a fault, it is more versatile in my opinion compared to the other two. GD5 has a flatter graph and the mids can sometimes hide some of the detail in the treble if you're not looking for it. The GD7B would require either EQ or a personal preference for a very flat tuning to be useful except in certain genres that benefit a lot from a very flat, "analogue" tuning.
At half the price, I'd say start with the GD3A unless you happen to like genres that benefit a lot from a very reference tuning with rolled off upper treble. The GD7B sound a bit like those single full-range driver tower speakers, but with worse treble coherence because they have more than 1 driver per side. Nothing really to be done about that if you're sensitive to it, but it's nowhere near as bad as some of the other sets I've heard, mostly because GS Audio has done an excellent job selecting a DD that is fast enough not to sound out of place against all the BAs.
 
Oct 3, 2021 at 4:51 AM Post #819 of 1,414
GS Audio GD5
Finally got my grubby paws on these babies.
Shipping took a while, but the wait was worth it.
(Here are some pictures, my phone camera sucks)
GD5_1.jpg

GD5_2.jpg

GD5_3.jpg

GD5_4.jpg

GD5_5.jpg

The build quality is impressive. The stock cable is adequate. I got the default shell design, which looks more sparkly in person. My right ear is a bit weird shaped compared to the left ear, so sometimes there is a bit of driver flex on the right side.

I have not had enough time to burn these in yet. People here say that it takes some time for the dynamic driver to open up. Can someone clarify how long it takes for these dynamic drivers to settle in?

However, out of the box, I can say that the dynamic drivers are already doing a great job.
Initial impressions - balanced sound, very coherent across the frequencies. Bass and sub-bass is definitely fast and present, but may not satisfy bassheads. Mids are clear, a bit forward and have an effortless presentation. Guitars and percussion instruments sound great in these. The details in the highs are present and not too sibilant. The positioning of instruments is good and there is a good sense of space. These are quite sensitive and can be driven quite easily by my phone and iPad. Overall, these are a great value.
 
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Oct 3, 2021 at 6:04 AM Post #820 of 1,414
GS Audio GD5
Finally got my grubby paws on these babies.
Shipping took a while, but the wait was worth it.
(Here are some pictures, my phone camera sucks)
GD5_1.jpg
GD5_2.jpg
GD5_3.jpg
GD5_4.jpg
GD5_5.jpg
The build quality is impressive. The stock cable is adequate. I got the default shell design, which looks more sparkly in person. My right ear is a bit weird shaped compared to the left ear, so sometimes there is a bit of driver flex on the right side.

I have not had enough time to burn these in yet. People here say that it takes some time for the dynamic driver to open up. Can someone clarify how long it takes for these dynamic drivers to settle in?

However, out of the box, I can say that the dynamic drivers are already doing a great job.
Initial impressions - balanced sound, very coherent across the frequencies. Bass and sub-bass is definitely fast and present, but may not satisfy bassheads. Mids are clear, a bit forward and have an effortless presentation. Guitars and percussion instruments sound great in these. The details in the highs are present and not too sibilant. The positioning of instruments is good and there is a good sense of space. These are quite sensitive and can be driven quite easily by my phone and iPad. Overall, these are a great value.
Burn-in is between, like, 2 and 30 hours for the DD. On the GD5 I didn't notice any more changes after a couple hours. Similar for the GD3A. GD7B took about 12 hours to fully break in. The GD5 and GD3A didn't seem to change all that much during burn-in. I think the only thing that really changed was that initial attack speed improved slightly and it got just a teeny bit deeper and richer, but it was one of the more minimal burn-in changes I've experienced. Surprisingly enough, I actually noticed more burn-in on the upper mids/lower treble BA driver. When I first started listening, some of the instruments sounded a little clunky, but after burning for several hours, that worked itself out.
 
Oct 3, 2021 at 9:08 AM Post #822 of 1,414
Does anyone have clicking/crackling membrane in their GS? Both of mine GD3A are doing that from now :/ Not much yet as AQ0 for example, but still...
Any idea is it gonna get worse?
It may be driver flex. Usually caused by the pressure when you are removing or inserting the IEMs, but it normally would not cause any damage to the earphones.
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/driver-flex.817502/
 
Oct 3, 2021 at 9:58 PM Post #824 of 1,414
To the owners of GD3A already, how does it perform into the streets of electronica generally for techno,atmospheric,dub,ambient,house,lofihouse? If anyone could share their experiences or thoughts would be great! Thanks.
Quite well, but it's not going to have the slam of sets that employ a higher excursion driver. Most of what I listen to is dubstep, electronica, glitch step, and atmospheric. I'd say they perform quite well. They outperform the Starsea, CKX, and Tape. The only IEMs I've had the luxury of hearing that outperform them by any serious margin is the Kinera NanNa 2.0. and I entirely expected them to far and away outperform the GD3A. They cost $900, if they didn't outperform I would be thoroughly disappointed. But I'd estimate that the GD3A gets you about 60% of the way there. If you are particularly concerned, though, I would recommend holding off until they release the GD3C. I'm pretty sure @RikudouGoku will be getting one, and I'll certainly be looking into them as well.
 
Oct 4, 2021 at 1:11 AM Post #825 of 1,414
If you want significant bass gain, including a little bit better slam, and you're willing to sacrifice some mids and a slight blunting of treble performance, I highly recommend the DioFit Standard Leakage eartips. I did have to modify my resin nozzles a bit to get them to stay on, since they have such a short stem on the eartips, but it was worth it. I used a cut off silicone eartip stem as a guide and used a very fine file to undercut and slightly shorten the existing flange on the nozzle to make it a sharper transition so it would retain the edge of the eartip stem better, and I also chamfered the top edge of the nozzle to improve ease of installation. I also flattened the top face of the nozzle just because. Now they stay on, though they still look a bit precariously installed.

TL;DR: buy the metal nozzle upgrade. It's worth it. Then try the DioFit Standard Leakage eartips, or the multi-flanged eartips. They're both pretty neat.

Edit: swapped over to the multi-flanged tips on the GD5 and GD7B because they impact treble performance less while still smoothing out harmonic peaks enough to tame the treble spike on the GD5. The multi-flanged tips also seem to improve staging compared to the standard leakage tips while still improving bass performance a bit. It's honestly really impressive to me that they manage both.

If you have the TRI Starseas, I can't recommend the Standard Leakage eartips enough. I tried both those and the multi-flanged on them and the standard leakage tips are better for that set and dramatically, and I do mean dramatically, improve their bass performance without wrecking the mids or treble. They sound so much better that they actually sound worth their price. Honestly, they're pretty close to the GD3A configured that way. I still think the GD3A are better, mostly because of their crazy cost/performance ratio, but the Starsea do have that incredibly unique spatiality to their sound that the GD3A don't have, where the sound seems to come from outside of the earphones. If you don't have the Starsea and can score them for cheap, get them and a set of the DioFit Standard Leakage eartips just for that experience. It's pretty neat.
 
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