[REVIEW] Future Sonics Spectrum Series: G10 and impressions thread

[maniac2003]

If there only was such a place closeby for me  

 

[Raketen]

After a couple weeks, the G10s have become my 'grab and go' pair. Especially since the westone silicone tips have made them a lot more comfortable. Really enjoying as all-rounders in terms of genre and source vs some other inears I may generally prefer, but either don't isolate decently, or incline me to drag an amp along.

 

[xuan87]

I tried out the G10 at LMUE this past Saturday, just want to share my thoughts:
 
The earphones themselves are very light, mostly due to the fact that they're made out of plastics. Instead of the glossy plastic found on the Atrios, it's now a matte grainy plastics, providing slightly better grip. I love the new cable too, which is a 4 wire round braided cable, instead of the usual cable that you see which will have all conductors protected in a single sheath. I think this cable is less durable, but it looks and feel different and better.
 
Soundwise, I have to profess that it's no longer my thing. While I was impressed with the Atrios so many years ago, I think my ears have changed their preference. Is the G10 an improvement over the Atrios? Yes it is, in most areas. Bass is still very very strong, and you can still get the subwoofer-like rumble that only FS can provide instead of the puny punchy bass that all BA pump out. The problem with the bass though, is that it becomes overpowering when it's not called for, covering up the mids unnecessarily. 
 
At the end of the day, it's a one-trick pony to me; If all I ever listen to EDM, I'll be using the G10 exclusively. But I seldom do, so I'll have to let this go.
 
Just a side note: After listening to the G10, I then tried the Alpha & Delta AD01. I was immediately surprised by how similar to the G10 it was tonally, except it has a more pronounced treble, and less bass presence. However, the AD01's bass still retain the same rumble as the G10, just less pronounced and much less bled through to the mids. When I commented this to LMUE's owner, he smiled and and said the AD01 was actually based on the Atrios when it was designed!

 

[Deviltooth]

As someone who listens to a ton of EDM I want to state that not all of us want a bass cannon.  Quite the opposite, I want to be able to hear and contrast every element of what can often times feature complex, interesting arrangements.  When I put on vocal trance I need to be able to enjoy the euphoric sounds of great female vocals.
 
Thread to thread there are often people trashing electronic music and it's been the same sour tune since the genre began.  As if somehow it's more noble to make your music with a brass instrument than it is to use a computer, mixing board, synthesizer et al... The truth is electronic music offers more options for complexity, variation and overall freshness than any other genre.  More can be done with a computer than with any single traditional instrument.
 
I'm tired of reading how V shaped or bass heavy earphones are right for the genre because although it's an accepted cliche it certainly isn't the truth.

 

[xuan87]

  As someone who listens to a ton of EDM I want to state that not all of us want a bass cannon.  Quite the opposite, I want to be able to hear and contrast every element of what can often times feature complex, interesting arrangements.  When I put on vocal trance I need to be able to enjoy the euphoric sounds of great female vocals.
 
Thread to thread there are often people trashing electronic music and it's been the same sour tune since the genre began.  As if somehow it's more noble to make your music with a brass instrument than it is to use a computer, mixing board, synthesizer et al... The truth is electronic music offers more options for complexity, variation and overall freshness than any other genre.  More can be done with a computer than with any single traditional instrument.
 
I'm tired of reading how V shaped or bass heavy earphones are right for the genre because although it's an accepted cliche it certainly isn't the truth.

 
Of course, this differs from person to person, but it is the truth for me. I love bass when listening to EDM, and in this aspect, the G10 is perfect for me. Gives me the feeling that I'm raving in a club 

 
I'm sure that there is someone out there who will love using the G10 with classical orchestra pieces and who am I to judge?
 
I'm not trying to trash electronic music, in fact I enjoy them and my first piece of auditioning music that I use when testing new gear is an electronic piece, because I've listened to it so many times I can instantly tell the characteristic of the gear just from how the song sounds like.

 

[simonm]

Just be careful comparing old, used Atrios to a brand new G10.  When Atrios decayed, they started to lose their sound significantly.  Ideally you'll want to compare a new Atrio MG7 to this G10, but since Atrios haven't been sold for a number of years I doubt there are any relatively new ones floating around.  I should know because I tried to find some after they were discontinued.
 
As you might've gathered, I was a big fan of the Atrio sound signature and owned many a pair over the years, but found their build quality to be sorely lacking.  At best I got up to a year's use out of each pair, but usually less.  I don't baby $200 IEMs but nor do I trash them.  They had a clear design flaw or flaws, being mainly that the rubber housing between the plastic shell and the cord became brittle, decayed and broke off over time.  I even tried various home remedies to slow this process by coating the rubber to slow its decay.  I probably owned about 6 or 7 pairs of them, losing about half at some point and the other half succumbing to the affliction described above.  I wrote to FS about this so they obviously got enough feedback to make improving build quality a priority for this relaunch.  And relaunch it is; the G10 both looks and is priced as an Atrio relaunch, with what seems to be an upgraded MG7 driver.  Interesting that they didn't keep the Atrio brand name them.
 
Sadly however I too feel that I've moved on from Atrio and IEMs in general.  The Atrios were good for a time.  They had a great, fun, dynamic sound with strong (yet more natural than moss) bass that suited the styles of music I liked; being mainly rock and some EDM, but really all styles sounded great.  The fact they lacked some mid to high frequency detail or sound stage didn't matter to me.  I liked their look (especially the coloured ones) and I enjoyed that I never saw anyone else that had them...is that vain?  I'm disappointed in the look and colour of these G10s.  Gun-metal grey is fairly drab...better than black maybe but I really liked the fun colours of the old Atrios.
 
Now however I'm older; I want more and I'm prepared to pay more to get it.  But in no way will I spend more than $200 anymore on IEMs with a 1 year warranty, especially without replaceable cables.  I hate having to clean them and their size made them prone to being lost, stolen or forgotten.  Now I'm much more likely to get some on or over ears and a decent portable amp to drive them.  If I don't want to carry this I've got US$40 Sol Republic Jax IEMs that sound great for their price and don't matter nearly as much if I lose them as FS Atrio v2 that costs more than 4 times the price.  I was seriously impressed with Sol's sound and build quality in the budget space.  They had a sound signature not too dissimilar to Atrio, definitely not as good but if you ever try a pair you might be surprised how good a US$40 pair can sound these days.  If Jax is anything to go by, Sol are making by far the best budget headphones in the market today.
 
Having said this I do wish FS well with this and I do want them to remain in the consumer IEM market as they have a lot to offer.

 

[Kunlun]

Well, I can say that with a fully broken-in G10 and two months+ of listening that the G10 does very nicely with orchestral music. I'd never put down EDM as a genre, but I'm not an expert in it.

I can say though, with my broken-in G10 that the midrange isn't intruded upon, partly because the G10's bass is more in the sub-bass. I find there's a difference between part of the frequency response being full, versus it intruding on other parts of the range. It has to do with control and detail, at least for me.

 

[Raketen]

Interesting- personally have to agree with Kunlun - only encountered a few tracks where I felt the bass response was inappropriate or swamped up the mids- maybe not as good as the ASG-2.5 at maintaining clarity there (been a while since I heard those, though), but not bad either (I would say even my old DT770 had more pronouncedly recessed mids). If these are "V-shaped", it is in a slight manner like the HD 25 or something IMO.
 
I'm not sure it's really fair to describe these as 'bass cannons' compared to the other bass inearsI have heard like the fx850, the ie80 and the cks1000, these have a much drier, balanced type of response without an obvious big midbass hump or disproportionate treble spike that those seem to have a tendency for. IMO that makes G10 very nice for just about all genres of music.
 
I think bass is an important element, especially electronic music since it can manipulate those frequences in a specialized kind of way- but relatively few inears I have tried fully express it the way the G10 can, and a lot of otherwise very nice models seem to either ignore it or turn it into a distended spectacle. There are some headphones that do it as well but with less emphasis, though, imo the ex1000 and dunu dn2000j.

Have not messed around with EQ on these yet, but I imagine they are fairly flexible?

 

[acain]

@simonm If you want a really good cheap iem that cost about $18 look at KZ's ED-9s or the ATEs. I purchased both and they can compete with iem's 10 times there price, there are dedicated threads for KZs products and they are outstanding especially for the price. I have been using the G10s for over a month now and I don't think there is to much low end I think it might sound like that to some people do to the mids leaning more on the warmer side.

 

[Lohb]

  @simonm If you want a really good cheap iem that cost about $18 look at KZ's ED-9s or the ATEs. I purchased both and they can compete with iem's 10 times there price, there are dedicated threads for KZs products and they are outstanding especially for the price.

Read this above this morning, picked up a pair this afternoon till I decide on G10 or Aurisonics' new one coming. Like the 2 sets of sound signature modulating tips. Thanks.

 

[maniac2003]

 Just got my G10's. Like them so far. I'm looking for some shorter tips (single flange), do the Westone tips fit?

 

[acain]

Westone and Shures fit

 

[Raketen]

I'm using Westone star tips... might have to trim them, if you're looking for something shorter than the stock tips, though some of the westone foams are short-ish.

 

[maniac2003]

Thanks, I ordered a Westone Star + True fit kit. enough tips to test hehe.

 

[mrchrisg]

A month or so in, and I'm still loving mine - the sound has opened up significantly.  
 
The bass is still ultra-deep and beautiful, but the sound is all around better and cleaner than previous models.  So good is the sound, I can't see myself looking at any other models for the next few years (if anything, it will probably be another pair of G10s!).
 
Kunlun - I listen to a lot of classical orchestral and these are perfect - they don't have any sibilance/harshness to the treble, unlike many similarly-priced headphones my friends own.  They are just non-fatiguing, and the sub bass adds a real hidden depth to pieces.  I also listen to a lot of deep electronic music too, so I really stress test these on various genres!