Very true, I absolutely agree. I look back 2, 3 years ago and my sons voice is completely different. Trips me out in the best way possible.
Hello guys! Good luck y’all!
This is so true. My kids are all in their 30s, and I am a grandfather now, and they all grow up way too fast.
1st sneeze
GS AUDIO SE12 - The Electronic Flagship…for GS AUDIO
I was blessed with the chance to pick up a rare GS Audio IEM not alot of reviews and feedback on this one Soni thought I would share my impressions.
Pros:
- No expenses spared with a full compliment of Danish Sonion & Top End Knowles BA & Sonion EST drivers.
- Gorgeous Shells build quality is top notch you can see the nicely polished clear resin shells helps show-off the tech that went into the design build.
- 3D Printed sound tube chambers amazing design and thought went into the construction of the SE12 and you can hear the effort.
- BA Bass Slam very fast.
- Not a Treble Head IEM OR Bass head just lots of both with good extension on both ends. I would call this more like a U shape than a V Curve. Starting from the Sub bass with a very gentle glide down to the pina gain that climbs at 1K - 2.8K
- Sub Bass hits with authority when notes are present and nicely transitions into Mid bass
- Vocals are well done with the extra note weight of the lower mids and bass makes male vocals a carbon copy of a very well done Studio Recording very clear and clean. Female vocals have amazing micro-dynamics in how the SE12 reproduces the voices with the correct pitch of the singers voice to make that happen in elevation and tonality is funky cool!
- Every Album played on the GS Audio can give you the sense of the space the song was recorded in. Large Studio, Small Studio, Open Air concert or Jazz club this is very hard to do in a IEM.
- Stage on the GS Audio SE12 is surreal in all aspects best I have heard with something stuck in my ears. Great sense of space without making you feel overwhelmed. Not only the width is very, very good but sounds extend from that with a depth way outside your head.
- Vocal/ Instrumental Mix is well balanced , Vocals don’t over power the music and is neither recessed or forward.
Cons:
- EXPENSIVE $1000.00 ish
- As a OEM manufacture not a lot of exposure to reviews and sound impressions.
- BA Bass - Note weight is very fast not a lot of decay so Male vocals are clean and clear but also present themselves a tad thin. I prefer DD Bass and its added note weight and decay that makes Male vocals more husky and less edgy but again this is my subjective observation and shows more of my preference.
- The nozzles are ginormous not all tips are going to fit or work. A narrow bore tip stretched over this nozzle will make a very narrow funnel. Bass will be enhanced but stage will suffer.
- Tips OMG good luck. Because the IEM'S are chonky boys so are the ends. For me I had a very unique issue that I have never come across before with any other IEM. My normal selection AZLA Crystal, BGVP W01, KBEAR 07, all didn’t really work and the size was all wrong. A 14mm tip would be 16mm by the time it gets over the nozzle and did seal but that’s where the problem was for me. A AZLA ML 13.3 tip would fit in my ears but the seal so well that if you breathed or moved your jaw the sound would change from the ear tips changing shape.
After much trial and tribulation I found my happy place still using a wide bore tip and a very soft walled double flange tip. $1 ear tip from Alix. But I was almost ready to give up on the GS Audio SE12 because of this and something you should be aware of in case this happens to you as well.
- Sounds muddy and quite poor. Only some outputting some mid vocals with no clarity at low volumes.
- Needs power and higher volumes to start bring to life anything the SE12 can do.
Now let’s get into it a bit deeper with some techy spec stuff.
12 Drivers per side are used.
2 Sonion 38D Series for Subbass
2 Sonion 37 Series for Bass/Lower midrange.
4 Knowles Upper Mids/Treble
4 Sonion EST65QB02 for Ultra Highs
Slightly recessed 0.78 2 Pin port for a stronger connection with a matching cable.
Hello all: I hope my subjective audio impressions help you determine if this IEM might be for you.
I share my impressions as I hear them with my ears.
As all our ears are different shapes & sizes so what I hear as bright or bass heavy -you might hear as dull and Vise-Versa; just something to be mindful of.
What makes my ears happy as a sound signature is slightly more aggressive U shape. I love my Bass Sub and Mid Bass love it all actually; and in large quantity. With the Bass I prefer a faster decay the faster the better as to not bleed into the mids., I am treble sensitive and prefer a darker warmer replay with good extension and a more relaxed high end with enough sparkly details for fun.
I prefer the fast speedy bass of the Beryllium Coated Driver of my Xenns Mangird UP and KiwiEars Cadenza. Of course there are exceptions in the market - as I also find the bass of the Bio Diaphragm used in the Yanyin Canon special - has some special sauce like a 8" subwoofer that feels like a 12" Has the slam and some serious sub bass! And the super cool Copper Alloy Shell IKKO Obsidian OH10 does some magic to the bass.
My music Library is widely varied on my mood from; Poncho Sanchez, BB King, Jimmy Smith, Metallica, Great White, Cowboy Junkies, Pink Floyd, Adelle, Melisa Ethridge, Hania Rani, Vivaldi, Fleetwood Mac, Five for Fighting, Manskin, Poncho Sanchez, , Chopin, The Crystal Method just to name a few.
That dripple being said:
Now for a Completely Subjective Audio Review - And as such here is my take on the: GS Audio SE12
Sources: E1DA SG3 (ES9038), Shanling UP5 (ES912), TEMPOTEC Serenade X (ES9219) Geshelli JNOG J2 with AKM4493 chip. iBasso DX160 (Cirrus Logic CS43198)
DAP/TRASPORT: From Lenovo Laptop with Amazon Unlimited ULTRA HD, iBasso DX160 ,Samsung S22 Ultra with DSD Files.
Amps: XDUOO MT-604 tube amp and Topping A90D ( Final thoughts and comparisons )
I use all my gear with balanced cables and Input/Output from my gear.
LISTENING NOTES:
- Vocals are clear a tad thin on Male better on Female.
- Sub Bass goes really low and very clean but not pronounced or exasperated.
- The SE12 graphs with tons of lower and mid bass but because of the BA vs DD there is no excess of bloat to fast to give it a good thump. Kick drums sound not exciting to me.
- Mids are to my ears a tad recessed and vocals are a lot more energetic and forward in the mix still not to bright sounding to be sibilant but darn close. I think I am treble sensitive and sometimes the SE12 makes me turn it down not Up.
- Jazz and instruments sound natural but I still prefer more note weight on more tracks and kick drums for my tastes
- Sounds best on the warmer sources AKM J2 really brought out the stage , iBasso nice with the Cirrus Logic Chip
- Not great at all on the E1DA SG3 , The ESS on the TempoTec and Shanling ESS9219 chips a tad too resolving and clean - Subjective
- Not a fun listen at low volume levels at all and especially with lower powered sources! But turn it up and oh boy good times. So if you’re a low volume casual listener don’t bother with this IEM.
- Not a all rounder nor a endgame for me after spending a few weeks and back and forth with other IEM’s
- Gave the SE12 a 10 day listening break and went back and did more tip rolling / cable swapping with even less enthusiasm than initial impressions.
- Weird pressure build up ear tip thing kills me and makes we want to take them out. My ear shape? No idea but does not happen on any other set I tried and its really hard to describe.
COMPARISIONS:
LETSHOUER EJ07M Resin Custom Tuned w +3db Sub Boost.
- Instruments play further back in the mix less pronounced
- Male vocals have more weight
- Bass has more meat sub bass is BA tight but has more weight than the SE12
- Warmer than the SE12 for me vocals are more lush and the added weight of female vocals makes it sound more realistic
- Imaging is more intimate (Closer to the middle of your head) and the SE12 has the EJ’s beet on depth of stage
- Stupid Driver flex on the Ej’s makes it almost as annoying as the pressure thing on the SE12 Absolutly none on the UP’s
XENNS MANGIRD UP
- Male vocals even better than the EJ’s
- I can hear more clearly symbols and tings and bings in the highs over both the SE12 and the EJ’s
- Background vocals come through with better clarity on the UP’s FULL STOP.
- Wider than the ES12 but closer to the middle of your head (Not as much depth) as the ES12
- Bass has even more meat sub bass is still BA tight but has more weight than the SE12 and Ej’s
- All vocals are just so smooth on the Up over both the SE12 and Ej’s with more sparkle that enhances the vocals instead of competing with the singers defiantly this effect is more pronounced on the UP over the Ej’S and certainly the SE12
FINAL THOUGHTS:
The GS Audio SE12 is a very differently V tuned IEM. The GS Audio SE12 does not follow your typical Harman curve tuned IEM.
In a sea of similar sound signatures the SE12 stands on its own with the large amount extra energy from 80-450 hz bringing male vocals and tons of mid-bass presence into its sound signature. With the dip at 4500 makes it a less fatiguing listen from others I have tried but still packs lots of high frequency energy with Knowles BA & the smooth Sonion EST drivers
The BA drivers taking care of the Lows does not have the same energy as a Dynamic Driver in this implementation.
Mid bass has energy in spades but overshadowed by the forward vocals and the pina gain and vocal presence ins predominant in the overall tuning mix.
For me as I prefer a warmer smoother listen the UP just does it for me followed by the EJ’s and lastly the SE12.
The SE12 just has too much energy for me in the overall tuning. EQ’ing the ES12 making it warmer worked for me and made me enjoy its worlds more and If your not shy about doing that you can get some of the special stage the SE12 can throw out still and have a incredibly detail monster set.
If your preference is faster bass with zero bleed and forward vocal sparkle over note weight you will very much enjoy the BA/EST Implementation of the GS AUDIO SE12
Cheers TheDeafMonk.
F5 looks killer I am a sucker for purple
Second photo with IMR. There will be a review?
P.S. My first over 200$ purchase was IMR
Hmmmm less we forget?…some folk won’t!
My take on the whole thing is that it’s ambiguous. I have respect for the conclusion that IMR must have been founded using the scam money, but also the counter conclusion that Bob was not personally involved.
I know that:
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Even as someone who had never bought a new item from him, he gave incredible service to me when I had other people’s second hand IEMs on two different occasions. He’s provided the best service I’ve received from any company, even when I haven’t been a paying customer. He takes care of customers and has pride in what he’s made.
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It’s not a rule set in stone, but in my experience thieves/scammers don’t just do it once. Someone who gets a lot of money for free, and spends it, doesn’t want to work for the next pay out, they want to keep getting easy money. Since the Trinity scandal, (Bob says he had left Trinity by then) IMR (while admittedly having long delays and pm) has continued to deliver very expensive IEMs to people for years without taking the money and running.
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After sales service for actual customers is excellent and easy to find examples to read about: no questions asked replacements or repairs. In some cases upgrades. Not a necessary feature of a company if it was rooted in getting other peoples money in the easiest way possible.
So I largely had my mind changed on it by personal experience and observation.
Back to my starting sentence though… if the above doesn’t change someone’s mind I completely get that, and think that’s valid. It’s just another anecdote on one side, of a case that’s inconclusive in my mind.
It’s clear that Trinity Audio ran a massive scam, but we only have statements and observations and inferences from there on for people to decide if IMR was founded using that money, whether Bob was in on the scam.
If I get a set with WU TANG badges…I’m reviewing it no matter what brand it is on.
No, we have enraged U.K. audiophiles who dug into business and Tax records.
Let’s move on.
If you honestly want to go down the road of who, what and how much …I will.
It seems best at this point to be left alone.
Enjoy the music, trust your gut.
The drama in the hobby is already like a sport for Les Misérables
Misery loves company…lets ignore em so they only have themselves to rage/claim/insult and trash talk with.
What I am trying to say is…
Listen to some music.
Enjoy some good food
Interact with peoples who’s face you can touch and see…not pixels and pictures and walls of text like this.
I stand corrected - I didn’t realize it was more than conjecture.
It was years ago, the folks who were impacted moved on so outsiders not impacted …we should just move along (IMO)
If this is an IMR with WU TANG badges Ima review it and make no mention.
It has nothing to do with audio and if IMR is doing well then good for their customers
I just care about SQ,QA/QC…and that’s it
OMG I can’t show theese pics of your cute son to the wife she would have me unfixed LOL.
I’m looking at purchasing a yinlvmei dac/amp.
Does the m400 and a2 sound like tube amps? I’m talking about the manly thick warm tube like n3pro not the simp type of nutube like the c9.
M400 does have a warm lush musical replay. My Patreon got it from me and he loves it