Vsonic GR04 Pro Flagship Quick Review

Vsonic GR04 Pro Flagship Quick Review

Thanks to Frogbeats for the sample

Brief: Yes they really put “Flagship” in its name.

Price: £89 is all I can see at present but I believe it may be coming at £72

Specification: Cord 51.181 Inches (130cm), Driver Unit 11mm CCAW Driver Unit, Frequency Response 10Hz - 24KHz, Impedance 50 ohms @1kHz, Input Connection 3.5mm 24K gold-plated plug, Max. Power Input 50mw, Noise Isolation Passive - Up to 90% of ambient noise*, Sensitivity 105 dB SPL/mW @1kHz

Accessories: 5 pairs of tips, some ear guides and a case.

Build Quality: Very good. The cable feels very sturdy as do the buds themselves. I cannot fault anything with the build and I should expect them to be capable of standing up to a mare than fair amount of abuse.

Isolation: Pretty good. They are a bit above average for a dynamic but nothing miraculous. As I frequently say I’m sure it’s enough to get you with a bus and for normal out and about activities. I used them on a bus happily. Still if you a daily tube user or about to visit New Zealand they wouldn’t be my first choice.

Comfort/Fit: Fine. Their shape gives me pause but in use I can’t say they caused me any trouble. It was a case of shoving in my ears and that was that.

Aesthetics: Call me a sucker if you like but i particularly liked the bronzy brown calbe on these. It looks great and is a nice change from the usual black/silvery gray without being gaudy. The buds too are a pleasant yet reasonably low key affair, i like.

Sound: Very good. I’d honestly like to leave it at that but I don’t suppose I can. These do everything very well and I can happily listen to them all day long but there is a problem. Well two. Firstly they need power to be their best and secondly their siblings the GR07 are just better in every way. These get so close to being great and that makes it all the more bothersome that they slip up here and there. The bass isn’t as tight as it should be and the highs get a little gritty, oh and they can get a touch sibilant too. I know I shouldn’t compare them to the GR07 which do cost a reasonable proportion more but I can’t help doing so and it’s a very unfair yardstick to use. Taken on their own merits they everything very well, particularly the mids but nothing is outstanding. I fear it may not quite be as even as some would like either, it’s a touch upper mid centric and while this makes for great vocals and suits Jazz super well it doesn’t suit everything quite so well. Splashy high energy stuff tends to over focus on the mid/high crossover and can be a little shouty. However if you feed it lots of power its low end comes to life more and evens out things a bit, should you do so it becomes one of the best all round IEM’s particularly if you like a large, full soundstage.

Value: Very good. Its biggest trouble its proximity to the GR07 which does everything better and when your spending almost that round £100 I’d really struggle not to say spend the extra and get its big brother. It also comes in at the SE215 price point and while id give outright sound quality to the 4 that’s some big brand name competition there. However should it come in at £72 then it becomes quite the steal and begins to set itself apart sound for pound wise.

Pro’s: Great all round sound that does everything very well, pretty cable.

Con’s: The GR07 just does it all better. Oh and its stupid name.