Accessories Review of Macaw GT100s in-ear headphones with MIC, with lots of pics!!!

[twister6]

This is a Review of Macaw GT100s in-ear headphones.
http://www.macaw.cn/, available on amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Macaw-GT100s-hifi-earphone-silver/dp/B00YMMB3E4/?tag=vectron00-20 and http://penonaudio.com/Macaw-GT100s

Sub $100 headphone market has been heating up for the last few years with a lot of very impressive releases, even priced as low as $10-$20. And it seems that a number of manufacturers continue to push the envelope, trying to introduce products with not just a great sound but also an upscale design and accessories. I just had a pleasure to test one of such products that literally left me in disbelief that it cost only $69. You probably already know what I’m going to say next – we are dealing with another Giant Killer here! As you can see, I'm very excited about this new GT100s headphone model, and here is why.

I usually start with a packaging description, but have a little confession to make. Often when I receive a new pair of headphones, I take the box apart to play around with a product first, and then put it back together to take unboxing pictures. As soon as I looked at the plastic box GT100s arrived in and saw a walkthrough guide with 8 detailed pictures of how to take it apart, I knew I probably won't be able to put it back together as neatly, and started to click those pictures away! It's clear this company put a lot of thought into the design, accessories, and even unique packaging with plastic stands/holders to keep GT100s shells up on a display level.

Beside unboxing instructions on the back of the box, there was also a message of “The first inverted dynamic driver earphone”. I thought I read this claim before from another headphone maker, but it doesn’t really matter since I usually don’t pay too much attention to marketing hype and rely on my own eyes and ears to judge the product. Careful examination of the spec also revealed a few clues, including a lower sensitivity at only 100dB which means it will require some boost in volume to drive them.

Unboxing.

Taking the box apart was fun, and once I was finished with GT100s and all the accessories out in the open, I quickly realized that based on just looks it punches way above its price point. Another conclusion I drew right away was about similarities with RHA T10i headphones, in terms of nearly identical bicolor hybrid silicone eartips (S/M/L with a black core), a metal holder fitted with 2 pairs of foam (non-Comply) eartips, and a stainless steel narrow plate with 2 sets of high quality screw-in filters. These were definitely NOT a filler or a budget accessories thrown in together to make it look like a premium product.

One accessory that stood out for me was a neat leather case that looked like a wallet. It had a nice quality soft leather with a wrap strap going all the way around where you just tie it to secure case closed. It even had a little round button emblem in the corner which comes apart when you unscrew it, probably symbolizing a nature of replaceable filters. This is not a hard case, but considering tough build quality of these IEMs – you don’t need too much protection.

Accessories.

Looking closer at the design, the first thought that popped into my head was: DITA! I know it’s crazy to compare $69 pair of GT100s to $650-$1k pair of well known flagship IEMs, but a nature of a solid stainless steel shell build, curved molded strain relief attached to it, circular stainless steel y-splitter – all that reminded me a bit of scaled down DITA the Answer. According to Macaw, they used a MIM - metal injection molding production technique, coincidentally found on RHA T10i as well, which begs a question if Macaw could possibly be their OEM?

Starting with a gold plated TRRS connector plug, it has a short and slim metal housing with a trimmed strain relief; housing is probably a bit too short for big sausage fingers. Cable has TPE rubbery coating which unfortunately is a bit stiff and has a memory effect. It’s not too thick or too thin and not springy, but memory effect is there. Y-splitter has a neat little round “tablet” shape, and right side of the wire going to the shells has a similar diameter in-line remote with a trimmed strain relief on each side.

That GT100s remote was definitely something I couldn’t keep my hands off. There is a mic pinhole on a side, but the button is actually the whole tempered glass piece with a logo inside of it. It’s a single universal button for Play/Pause/Call and skip music with double click. Call quality was good and I enjoyed using the button to control my FiiO DAPs supporting in-line remote operation.

This tempered glass round button with Macaw emblem inside of the remote is nearly the same (just a mm or two less in diameter) as tempered glass pieces on outside of the headphone shells. The shell has a brushed stainless steel finish with cable attached to a curving molded strain relief that naturally goes around/behind your ears and nearly eliminates the microphonics. At the base of the cable connection, there is a stamped L/R marker, and in the center of the shell there a pinhole port to pump the air out from their single dynamic driver.

For sure, the highlight of this design is a removable filter, and trusts me – it’s not a gimmick. I did recently reviewed KZ ED9 with interchangeable filters, but what you see here is a lot higher quality with a more robust design, down to a rubber gasket to keep it tight without coming loose/undone when you replace eartips. Typical of interchangeable filter theme from other manufacturers, you have a default neutral silver filter, a treble enhanced gold filter, and bass enhanced black filter, and as confirmed later – all with an added contribution to a sound shaping.

One biggie I have to point out, and this could be a deal breaker for some people, GT100s are heavy. Solid stainless steel design with a tempered glass inserts does come at a price of additional weight. Just for the reference due to all metal-build similarities, DUNU Titan1 shells weight 8g while GT100s is 16g, double the weight. If you take into consideration a shallow insertion fitment, limited mostly by the length of a filter/nozzle, you really need to be careful with a selection of eartips in order not only to fine tune a sound but also to keep these earpieces tight in your ears. It’s not the end of the world and I got used to it after awhile, but I did have to go through a number of eartips settling on either T500 Comply or original UE900 large size. I wasn’t too fond of included foam tips because they were soft, and Comply offered a firmer expanded fitment. I also had success with Titan large eartips (hybrid tips you can find cheap on Lunashops), but for me personally UE900 eartips were the best due to a firm large rounded cap. Also, with a larger eartips and a tighter seal, I experienced a little bit of driver flex in my left earpiece when using UE900 tips, while Comply was fine.

 

[twister6]

Design details.

Fitment (w/eartips)

There is no doubt these are high build quality IEMs with a rather unique design and original accessories. There are some caveats with an extra weight that can give your ears a workout, and I personally wouldn’t recommend jogging or doing some intense running or jumping while wearing these. But the earpiece weight is manageable and will “disappear” as soon as you hit Play and start listening to their sound.

First of all, I did mention at the beginning these are not efficient due to a lower sensitivity which requires cranking up volume by a little bit. It is true, and I found that I had to raise a volume by about 10 ticks in most of my DAPs, but unlike some other low sensitivity IEMs that require amping, GT100s sounded great even driven from Low Gain setting. As a matter of fact, I was even able to drive it without a problem straight from my Note 4, though did have to raise volume closer to the top.

Starting with a base Silver Filter, I found a balanced signature with a bright detailed airy sound and slightly recessed mids. It definitely has “characteristics” of titanium driver with a great bass and bright/detailed uppers mids/treble. Sometimes it feels like you are listening to hybrid IEM with DD driving the bass and BA driver controlling bright and detailed uppers mids/treble.

I found extension at both ends of the spectrum to be quite good. Soundstage had an excellent width and depth, definitely above average. Also, a very good separation of instruments and vocals, sound never becomes congested, no matter how complicated music piece gets. You literally hear layering airy effect between sounds. Imaging is great as well, with a convincing placement of instruments and vocals in space.

Bass extends down to an intelligent sub-bass that comes out to play only when called upon. Sub-bass has a smooth textured layer that adds a nice supporting weight underneath of fast mid-bass punch. The balance between sub- and mid-bass was quite good. Bass is well controlled, tight (got much better after 50hrs of burn in), no bloat or spillage into lower mids. Here, it's all about quality rather than quantity.

With Midrange you will find lower mids to be thinner which takes away from mids body, but it's compensated by a very detailed upper mids which I found to be a bit recessed relative to low end and treble. The clarity and retrieval of details is great, almost on analytical level without being harsh or grainy. Vocals sounded great, though lack of lower mids warmth takes away from organic feeling.

Treble is crisp, detailed, with a great extension. It’s absolutely non-fatigue, though can get a bit hot with some of the tracks at higher volume. As a matter of fact, these are probably among one of my favorite bright detailed non-fatigued headphones I heard in a long time with an excellent tight low end and bright detailed upper mids. Considering I'm not a big fan of bright analytical sound and lately been preferring a thicker warm detailed sound, it says a lot about this compliment.

Trying it with different filters, I found Gold Filter setup to have a touch less sub-bass, and a little brighter upper mids with a slightly better treble extension. Sound became more neutral, but difference was still subtle to my ears. With Black Filter, I found a little more sub-bass and smoother upper mids/treble with a little less sparkle. Overall, I found filter changes to be subtle, focusing more on fine-tuning the sound rather than changing it drastically.

GT100s next to Titan 1

Compared to my other IEMs, here is what I found while using silver filter.

vs GT100s, Titans 1 has a stronger mid-bass punch, a more upfront upper mids (the same thin lower mids), upper mids/treble are a bit more grainy/harsher and sounds a bit less organic in comparison, treble has a little more extension, soundstage has the same depth but Titans are a little wider. Plus, you get a full isolation with GT100s vs none with Titans. But overall, sound has very similar "titanium" driver characteristics.

vs GT100s, IM03 has a slower mid-bass, with a little bloat in comparison, that spills a bit into lower mids, deeper sub-bass, thicker lower mids, warmer/smoother upper mids which are less detailed, mids are more upfront, treble has similar extension, staging has less width/depth. Overall sound is warmer, smoother, and not as detailed.

vs GT100s, KC06A has a deeper sub-bass, stronger mid-bass punch, thicker lower mids, less detailed upper mids, slightly less treble extension. When it comes to soundstage, it has less width and a lot less depth. Overall sound is smoother and not as detailed/revealing.

vs GT100s, B3P1 is more neutral, warmer, with a smoother sound, a similar soundstage width but a bit less depth, a little more sub-bass, but low end is not as tight. Thicker lower mids, smoother and less detailed upper mids, and a similar treble extension.

vs GT100s, A83 has a little more mid bass and overall low end is higher definition and more articulate, lower mids are a bit thicker, upper mids are a little smoother and more forward, and it has a similar treble extension. Same soundstage width but GT is a bit deeper. Overall, A83 has a more balanced and fuller body sound.

Conclusion.

I found Macaw GT100s to be a very surprising gem! Everything from a top notch build quality to a selection and quality of accessories including those quality filters screams a $200 headphone package. Tuning is not for those who crave smooth warm sound, but rather for audiophiles or music lovers who want brighter sound with more details and bigger soundstage without paying a price of settling with a harsh ear-fatigue sound. The sound can get a bit hot and could come close to a threshold but never reaches sibilance level or becomes unbearable during extended listening session. The only thing I wish for Macaw to consider moving forward is to optimize ergonomics of the shell, making it lighter and smoother. With a shallow insertion, right at the base of the shell where you attach the filter I wish they wouldn’t use that raised angled part which can hurt your ear a bit when you push on the shell for a better fitment. Of course, we all have different inner/outer ear anatomy so your experience will vary, and as a matter of fact with a right selection of eartips (Comply probably being the best bet for many people) – fitment is quite manageable. What it all comes down to is an excellent build quality and a fantastic tuning that punches in value easily at 2x-3x of its price. Definite highly recommend these, but want everybody to be aware of fitment and extra weight.