Upon request here are my thoughts comparing the GR07’s with the JVC HA-FX700’s…
As far as fit and isolation, the Vsonics win hands down in this area. The isolation differences are not substantial but the JVC does offer less of it. Fit is the big difference, not that the JVC’s fit bad but rather they are pretty heavy, causing fatigue and becoming uncomfortable after long listening session; whereas the GR07’s are light weight and disappear in the ear. I think the JVC’s have a better cable in that it rolls up and stores easily without tangling, except it is a two piece which I can’t stand since without the extension it is too short and with the extension too long.
Comparing these two sound wise was very interesting, especially since the GR07 is more monitor like and accurate in presentation and the JVC’s are… well it takes a lot more words to get to the bottom of the JVC presentation. I’ll just start by saying it is unique, enveloping, sensual and not always accurate for placement cues and sound staging. The JVC’s wooden housing and wooden drivers really do some beautiful and strange things. More on that to follow.
The FX700 obviously has greater bass emphasis than the GR07. This bass helps add heft and weight to notes providing excellent instrument realism. The FX700 also has very prominent treble which helps to provide a great sense of detail but can produce some very sharp notes. In contrast the mids can obviously sound recessed on some songs, sometime less so in others but where they do sound recessed can affect vocal timbre. The GR07 is more balanced across the spectrum but in contrast have much more forward mids and (believe it or not) refined and smoother treble. This is of course in direct comparison with the JVC’s and I now have 100 hours on the Vsonics.
To really explain these differences in these phones, it is less about bass, mid and treble sound signatures but more about how those affect timbre, soundstage and placement cues. This is where it gets interesting. I used 4 songs and I’ll refer to them as song #’s 1, 2, 3 and 4 for simplicity’s sake.
In song #1, The JVC’s place you further from the stage than the Vsonics; so while all instruments were further away from you, cymbals (due to the brighter treble), backing vocals and bass lines would jump out towards you. While the soundstage with JVC’s was wide, it was also enveloping due to these pieces of the music jumping forward and around you. It was perhaps a less accurate presentation than the Vsonics but it was more sensual, if that makes sense. In contrast the GR07 had more realistic instrument placement and cues. Cymbals were not brought forward but placed appropriately behind other instruments and backing vocals were placed further back than the JVC’s, next to the lead singer if not quite behind.
In song #3, both had great crunch and bite with electric guitars, however where the GR07 places them front and center, the JVC’s sound noticeably more distant. The distortion guitar in this song is very mid oriented and it is one of my tests for how recessed mids may be. The GR07 also appropriately places instruments with drums behind the singer and guitars but the JVC’s have a hall like presentation with reverb , placing you further away from the performance with certain treble and bass based queues jumping forward and surrounding you.
In songs #2 and #4, the GR07 once again displays more realistic instrument placement, whereas the JVC’s have more noticeable heft and weight to notes helping to sell the realism of the instruments (especially acoustic and bass guitar), except in vocals which sound less realistic in song #4 due to their recessed mids. The JVC’s at times could sound very intimate, as if you were amongst the musicians and the Vsonics placed everything with more forward projection, while still remaining close to the staging.
I think the JVC’s definitely earn their rep as kings of instrument timbre and envelope you with hall like reverb that can be intimate and spacious at the same time but sound staging and instrument placement aren’t as accurate when compared to the GR07, which also does vocals (in general) and drums (as a whole) better than the FX700. For me, at this moment in time, I find these two phones about equal in preference but for mostly different reasons. We’ll see if that changes over time.
-- I'm sure the GR07 is a fine IEM; reports by ClieOS, Esanthosh & Shotgunshane seen to point that way.
