@flysweep, which one of the two, the DBA02 and the GR07 gets better with amping?which of the above has more texture and detail, even if just slightly more than the other?
The DBA02 is BA based and i am tempted to try that first. Saying that it is Dual Balanced Armature, does it mean that one earpiece has 2 BA drivers? Also, the DBA02s are more musical than the GR07s, can anyone compare them to the ZEROs i have?i like more thin sounding iems, more like the 0s and not like the ZEROs.
Is the GR07 more of the 0s than the DBA02s?
The two amps I use (the Headstage Arrow & the Audinst HUD-MX1) are very neutral, transparent amps.. these don't lean to the warm or cool side of neutral, instead aiming to stay true to the source as much as possible.. they do a great job of preserving the signature of the phones used with them. Both phones sound EXCELLENT unamped from my iPhone 4. That being said, I'd say the GR07 improves more with amping. Note that it's not even close to a night & day difference vs. being unamped, but it's noticeable. The DBA improves too, but to a less degree.
Re: detail & texturing, it's really a toss up, between the two. The DBA's BAs provide abundant crispness & speed. This coupled with their slightly aggressive presentation helps in picking out microdetail easier. Once the GR07's drivers are burned in sufficiently, they show surprising speed, excellent end to end extension, well rounded timbre.. all this contributes to revealing top notch microdetail for dynamic driver while maintaining a smoother overall sound. I'd classify the detail retrieval for both phones at the top of their class (<$200), but they present that detail in different ways.
Both the DBA & GR07 have a very 3D quality to their sound. The GR07's calling card is it's ability to show the layers in music.. which it does better than any phone at it's price point, and arguably a price point above. Texturing is really a toss up too.. both texture wonderfully. The EVER so slight edge might go to the GR07 b/c it's got more bass presence, weight, and decay which helps to round the mids and bass.
It's quite tough to pit the GR07 against the DBA because they're phones with different signatures and aim to achieve different things in their presentation of sound. It really comes down to how much you value bass presence (b/c that is the biggest point of contention in the DBA for many). The GR07 has astonishing balance and neutrality.. reference level, IMO. It's tuned for stage use so listener fatigue shouldn't be an issue. The DBA is also a balanced phone, with a brighter, aggressive (yet smooth) sound.. this paradox in sound is precisely why I (and many others) like it so much. Rarely does one come across such a musical phone that is aggressive, but non-fatiguing at the same time like the DBA is (the caveat being: correct fit is of SUPREME importance with the DBA!).
I haven't heard the RE0 but feel like I have a fairly good idea of what they sound like based on the abundance of reviews here. The speed of the DBA will probably allow it to approximate closer to the thinner sound you like from the RE0 moreso than the GR07. The DBA's mids are by no means thin, though.. only comparatively to the GR07.. and even this is quite arguable. The GR07 is neither thin nor thick sounding.. it's really, quite freakishly, balanced and neutral across the fq range.
The things that would help make the decision easier are to know what kind of music you listen to & what kind of sig you're interested in. If you listen to music that requires more bass presence & longer decay (i.e.hip hop, reggae), the GR07 would be the better choice of the two.. though I am a hip hop head and listen to plenty of hp hop with the DBA.. gosh, I'm not making this easy.. lol.
I'd say the DBA is more akin to the RE0 than the GR07 is, but that isn't implying the RE0 & DBA share a signature. Others who have heard the RE0 & DBA could articulate better.
If you held a gun to my head and made me choose between the DBA & GR07.. you'd probably just end up pulling the trigger cause I would take too long to answer.. lol.
