[PopZeus]

Nice. Any comparisons to the it00?

I wish they stuck to the old it series design instead of this one, or at least they could've not included that 'In Tune' text, lol.

Yeah, the IT01x shell is not as nice looking as the IT00, but the form factor of the IT01x is smaller and lower profile. Also, the area surrounding the mmcx connector is flat which is cable friendly. This is a pretty tiny IEM, all things considered. Roughly the same size as the YBF.

I can't do a real A/B test so I won't get into too much sonic nuance, but there's definitely no driver flex haha. Notably, the upper mids and treble are cleaner with the IT01x. This helps with the consonant range and the air. The IT01x isn't a wide staging IEM but the treble technicalities improve that sense of space. To me, the timbre sounds like a cross between a carbon driver and a pure beryllium driver. Bass on the 01x is a bit more textured than the 00 but it's a more even match, I think. Overall it sounds more refined to me, and I'm hoping it scales well with something like the Cayin N6ii.

 

[ian91]

A few more observations about the GK10:

• These have an unique degree of transparency throughout the FR
• The signature isn't warm, think room temperature (to my ear atleast)
• What's most impressive for the price is the dynamic range, very high to very low, you can appreciate it all
• Second to that is coherency and timbre
• Third is the inoffensive but equally exciting tuning
• I would say it can confidently manage nearly all genres
• I'm really liking what it does for jazz / instrumental / strings because of the deft tuning of the uppermids and treble, lots of resolution to enjoy here
• I can appreciate a very slight mids recession suggesting the tuning sits somewhere between W and V, learning towards W (I think!)
• It has the technical ability to handle electronic and bass-heavy music and do it justice (to my standards atleast)
• Given that all frequencies, including the bass, has a degree of transparency and in this case the bass has a subbass focus, lovers of midbass impact may be left wanting more. However, I'm very happy with this transparency in the lower frequency because it brings out the detail and texture. It also matches the character of the other drivers and frequencies sitting above it.

My acid test for most new equipment is Yosi Horikawa. Tracks Bubbles, Letter and Timbre. The GK10 does an incredibly admirable job of conveying texture and timbre on these tracks and has no problem conveying imaging information and layering. Stage is small-moderate (however ambigious and useless that label is), but it never becomes congested or limits my enjoyment.

Looking forward to the journey of burning these in! Maybe some of these observations will change / no longer apply? Who knows!

 

[Dsnuts]

A few more observations about the GK10:

• These have an unique degree of transparency throughout the FR
• The signature isn't warm, think room temperature (to my ear atleast)
• What's most impressive for the price is the dynamic range, very high to very low, you can appreciate it all
• Second to that is coherency and timbre
• Third is the inoffensive but equally exciting tuning
• I would say it can confidently manage nearly all genres
• I'm really liking what it does for jazz / instrumental / strings because of the deft tuning of the uppermids and treble, lots of resolution to enjoy here
• I can appreciate a very slight mids recession suggesting the tuning sits somewhere between W and V, learning towards W (I think!)
• It has the technical ability to handle electronic and bass-heavy music and do it justice (to my standards atleast)
• Given that all frequencies, including the bass, has a degree of transparency and in this case the bass has a subbass focus, lovers of midbass impact may be left wanting more. However, I'm very happy with this transparency in the lower frequency because it brings out the detail and texture. It also matches the character of the other drivers and frequencies sitting above it.

My acid test for most new equipment is Yosi Horikawa. Tracks Bubbles, Letter and Timbre. The GK10 does an incredibly admirable job of conveying texture and timbre on these tracks and has no problem conveying imaging information and layering. Stage is small-moderate (however ambigious and useless that label is), but it never becomes congested or limits my enjoyment.

Looking forward to the journey of burning these in! Maybe some of these observations will change / no longer apply? Who knows!

Actually they improve and get better as they burn in. They really start to strut their stuff the next day of burn in actually.

And you guys were thinking I was smokin something when I posted about how great these sounded.

 

[ZAXon 7]

looking forward for a comparison between GK10, GD3A/B, ZAS and AST...

 

[KutuzovGambit]

Unfortunately my GK10 has a bad channel imbalance, the right bass driver can barely be heard. I really liked what I heard but further impressions will have to wait until Penon has a chance to get it sorted.

Actually works out ok as I will be able to devote my attention to the NA2+ rather than being distracted by the GK10

 

[Dsnuts]

Dang that is not good. Hope these aren't gonna have too many QC issues.

 

[ian91]

Really hope for the sake of early adopters they don't, but I have to admit, I wouldn't be surpised...

 

[nymz]

Damn, you guys are making me pull the trigger on that GK10...

 

[brsdrgn]

My GK10 cleared the customs. So I expect it to arrive next week. I'll see how it goes as I'm also afraid about QC. I'm also very curious how the faceplate will look like.

 

[AmericanSpirit]

Yes I agree with detachable cable parts. Also, one of the reasons why they don't care about detachable cables is because of the quality that's offered to them. Workmanship is better than what most Chi-fi and even some Western brands offer, so they don't fail that frequently.

I have Sony's EXQ1 that cost like $1500 a decade ago, it sounded very good back then, still comparable to Starfield class up till now, but now the cable is falling apart, so at this point, I do hope if EXQ1 were equipped with pin connectors like most of modern IEMs have. 5 years use, no proble, but when it comes to a long run, the maintenance becomes the issue.

 

[AmericanSpirit]

looking forward for a comparison between GK10, GD3A/B, ZAS and AST...

I can do GK10 / ZAX / AST

 

[Barusu Lamperouge]

I have Sony's EXQ1 that cost like $1500 a decade ago, it sounded very good back then, still comparable to Starfield class up till now, but now the cable is falling apart, so at this point, I do hope if EXQ1 were equipped with pin connectors like most of modern IEMs have. 5 years use, no proble, but when it comes to a long run, the maintenance becomes the issue.

Yeah, detachable cables are always better. But Japanese audio enthusiasts don't seem to mind considering even today $1000 IEMs are with non-detachable cables.

 

[ZAXon 7]

I can do GK10 / ZAX / AST

that would be wonderful, i have the zax and would like to upgrade to the next tier, mostly in terms of tone and timbre accuracy

 

[AmericanSpirit]

that would be wonderful, i have the zax and would like to upgrade to the next tier, mostly in terms of tone and timbre accuracy

GK10 is shipped and processed thru US customs back in 7/19, hopefully, I can expect to receive it soon!

 

[ian91]

Further observations on GK10 (I hope you're not getting tired of these)...

They scale with amping.

I plugged them into the C9 amp that provides a ludicrous 4W balanced into 16ohms and appreciated slight background hiss in absolute silence (nothing that would put me off for electronic music), and then put on Infected Mushroom track 'No Line in MIDI'. I am not one for expletives but my first thought was:

Holy SH&"T this is incredible.

Immediate expansion in stage with bass and mids growing body and presence. Impact is full and clean and the whole signature has to a degree lost that 'light touch'. This is a similar effect that I have appreciated in the past with DD drivers and amp scaling, but there may be more going on here than just brute force wattage. My understanding is that the Shanling M8 (the source I was running from for my initial observations) also has a high output impedance (is this the right term? - please correct me if I'm wrong and apply the appropriate term to my reasoning) on its 4.4mm balanced input that might be affecting the FR, and when I switch to the C9 this could be solving the issue.

It's either to do with the high sensitivity of the IEM, the output impedance of the source device or the wattage I'm providing, or all three. I'm not technically proficient enough to reason any further. All I can say is, give these IEMs some juice and play with source pairings (that vary by output impedance).

What a step up! I simply cannot believe the value proposition that these represent. If you sleep on this...well, don't. I would hope in the coming days there may be more feedback that highlight the presence or absence of any further QC issues. If it appears that driver imbalance, or other issues, are a minority, I would say go for it and take your chances, knowing what I know now.