Hi! Welcome to Lachlan Likes A thing, a show where I take a thing and see whether or not
I like it. Now the thing we're looking at in this video is the VSonic GR07 in-ear earphones.
Now this review has been a long time coming and in many ways it's actually a bit late
to be making this video because apparently there is a new version of these earphones
which is just around the corner. But until that arrives I've seen some good discount,
kind of clearance prices on the current version of the VSonic GR07 and these are some of my
favourite earphones so they're still well worth looking into. Now one note about the
pair of VSonic GR07s in this review is that my pair is a version of the original MK1 version
of the GR07 and sine it's release there's been a MK2 version which apparently sounds
slightly different and also has different ear hooks. There's also a bass enhanced version,
and I actually haven't heard the MK2 or the Bass Enhanced, but considering how much Ilike
the original version, I think I'd be very happy to recommend either of the two new versions
as well. Now when it comes to dynamic driver earphones I'm always really interested as
to what material they've actually used in rhe diaphragm of the dynamic driver because
different materials have different strength to weight ratios, they have different performance
and so you'll find that different materials will affect the sound of the earphone. With
the GR07 they've actually chosen to use a biocellulose driver and what that basically
means is that they've taken microbes and gotten them to grow an artificial plant fibre onto
a substrate or scaffolding into a diaphragm shape, and that's a really advanced and really
cool approach to making dynamic drivers that only a handful of companies have employed.
Most notably Sony used it in their flagship Sony R M - sorry, the Sony MDR-R10 headphone,
which is now a very rare and very expensive collectors item. There's also Fostex who've
used biocellulose drivers in both their OEM headphones designs for Denon, in the D2000,
D5000 and D7000 which are really well regarded headphones, as well as in their current lineup
of premium headphones, the TH600 and the TH900, and so this is really advanced stuff and apparently
VSonic has managed to license the same technology in the GR07. Now if you want to read more
about the biocellulose drivers inside the GR07 there's a really cool writeup over at
Head Fi about it and I've linked that writeup in the description of this video. It's really
cool stuff. In the meantime let's have a closer look at the GR07. Now there's a lot of things
that I quite like in the design of the GR07. For one thing even though the earpieces are
made of plastic they are quite sturdy and well built. Another feature that I really
love about the GR07 is that the nozzle is also made out of stainless steel and has a
ball joint. So you can actually pivot it - if you can see that - you can pivot it to find
a position in your ear that's most comfortable - which is really cool and it's very unique
to the GR07, I haven't actually seen that in any other earphone. The other thing about
the GR07 is that the cables are quite nice and thick but they're not so thick that they're
are heavy and kind of, you know, swing around too much. The Y joint of the headphone is
quite chunky and well built, and the headphone jack on the other end, the 90 degree jack.
even though again it's quite substantial and nicely built, it's still quite low profile.
So overall you know, this is a really practical and well thought out design and I really quite
like it. As you can see the GR07 uses ear hooks which means that the earphone must be
worn over the ear, so just with the cable running around the back of your ear like so.
Now that helps eliminate any kind of cable noise from the cable and I have to say it's
quite a comfortable design, especially with the adjustable nozzle. Now apparently the
MK2 version of the GR07 uses a different kind of earhook which is thicker, and I can't really
comment as to the comfort of that. I find the GR07 version one very comfortable, but
the one thing I do note is that if you're going to go running with these earphones the
earhooks do have tendency to flop out from over the ear, which can get a little annoying
sometimes. Other then that I think it's quite a comfortable earphone. The other thing to
note about the GR07 is that it's not a completely sealed design, there are a number of ports
on the earphone, so isolation isn't perfect, it's not going to be as good as some of the
balanced armature sets, but it's relatively decent for a dynamic driver earphone. Now
as far as earphones go I have three favourite earphones which I consider to be really good
value for money and have a very balanced and neutral sound and one of them is the VSonic
GR07. The other two are the HIFIMAN RE-400 and the Sony MDR 7550 and I have review on
these two as well if you want to check that out. Now as far as the GR07 goes it's the
one with the most kind of V-Shaped signature of them all so although it's quite balanced
it has slightly more kind of emphasis on the bass and the high frequencies. The bass is
very punchy, it's well textured, it extends really deeply, just really detailed bass.
In terms of treble there's a certain kind of thinness to the treble. So for lack of
a better word it sounds kind of papery to me, it's somewhat dry, it's well textured
kind of treble. Now some people actually find the treble on the GR07 a little sibilant,
so for the MK2 version apparently they took the edge of the treble just a little. I can't
really comment. I haven't heard it myself, but I do really like the treble on the GR07.
Now comparing the GR07 with the HIFIMAN RE-400, the RE-400 has a overall, a kind of smoother
sound to it. So it's slightly more bassy, slightly more rolled off in terms of the high
frequencies. The HIFIMAN RE-400 offers better noise isolation because it is a fully sealed
design and in terms of absolute value for money, because of the HIFIMAN RE-400's $99
price point it's very very good value for money. I do find the overall that the GR07's
build quality is just a little bit better. I like the cables more on the GR07, I like
the adjustable nozzle which is a really nice touch and also just in terms of comfort with
the earhook design I do like it more, but in terms of absolute value for money the HIFIMAN
RE-400 is pretty unbeatable. Now in comparsion with the Sony MDR 7550 I think the 7550 has
a slightly warmer sound to it, just a bit more mid-bass kind of throatiness. In terms
of treble the 7550 has a bit more of a peak to it, so it's just a little more aggressive,
it makes female vocals and violin, kind of string instruments, stand out just a bit more.
But overall I actually think the treble response is a little textured and a little less detailed
than it is on the GR07. Now where the 7550 really trumps the GR07 is in terms of soundstage.
I think the 7550 has a really open and kind of natural soundstage in comparison with the
GR07 which I think can sound just a little closed in at times. Overall though the 7550
is a much less practical earphone. It costs more to begin with, even though it has detachable
cables and quite a nice build to it, the design is quite fussy is much more fussy to take
in and out of your ears quickly, noise isolation is very poor on the 7550 and it's much harder
to use outdoors both because of the noise isolation and also because the way it sticks
out of your ears can tend to get very bad in terms of wind noise. So overall I think
the GR07 is much easier to recommend. Now as you know I collect a lot of gear but if
I was on a desert island and there was electricity or whatever and I only had one earphone the
VSonic GR07 would probably be that earphone. I think it's a really well rounded earphone,
it's nice and comfortable, it's a really excellent package with a very capable sound. Now one
thing I'd love to see is a version of the GR07 with a metal body as opposed to plastic.
I think that would help open up the soundstage a little and just reduce the resonances, but
overall I think this is a very competitive earphone and competitive even with the several
hundred dollar multi armature earphones that I've listened to. I think overall the VSonic
GR07 is something that a lot of people need to listen to to realise that you can get really
excellent performance at around, you know, $100, $150 dollars. The HIFIMANRE-400 is something
I also feel very strongly about in that regard. Now as I mentioned before apparently there
is a new version of the GR07 which is just around the corner, I don't know anything about
it other then that and so I'm really excited to get my hands on it and have a listen as
soon as it's released so if you haven't already, subscribe to my channel and you'll know when
that happens. As for the current version of the GR07, the MK2 and the Bass Editions, they,
I've seen them floating around for discount or kind of discontinued pricing so if you
want a bargain I would snap up, sorry, I would snap up a pair of these as soon as I could.
These are really great earphones and I'm really happy to recommend these. Anyway thanks for
watching this video, please click the 'Like' button if it's helped you. You can talk to
me at Facebook at facebook.com/lachlanlikesathing or on Twitter @lachlikesathing and happy listening!