Disclaimer: The Base Audio G8 sample was sent to us free of charge by Base Audio for the purpose of this review. It doesn’t need to be returned. The Italic parts are Base Audio’s description of the G8 IEM.
Base Audio
The Base Audio G8 earphone is currently being Kickstartered! and there is hope that this review might be able to put them over the top. Of course, as of me writing this, the campaign isn’t far from its goal. By the time this goes live, even though it will have 20 days left, it might already have reached its goal; therefor, ruining my dreams and making me cry into my morning cereal. Of course, on the other hand, that means I can recommend to you, dear readers, a great IEM without worry that the campaign won’t be funded, so, I suppose that is a win.
Base Audio is a fairly new company based out of Scottsdale, AZ. Base Audio was created by Joe O’Connor and Mike Eberly. Together, the founders have a combined 40 years of development, engineering and manufacturing experience. With an innovative eye for design, high quality products, and a zest for quality music. The creators continually strive to produce precision audio equipment, manufactured in the United States.They have one other headphone available, the Reflex G7. I haven’t heard it, but it has a few pretty solid reviews on Amazon, so it might be worth checking out. Let’s start looking at the topic of today’s review: the G8 IEM. Here are some Tech Specs for your perusal:
- Speaker – 9mm
- Sensitivity – 102 +/- 3dB
- Frequency response – 20 Hz – 20,000 Hz
- Impedance – 32 Ω
- Rated Power – 10mw
- Max Power – 20mw
- Connector – 3.5mm Jack Plug
- Color – Black / Polished Aluminum
- Cable Length – 1.2m
“The look and feel of the G8 Earphones by Base Audio is a great example of quality engineering built into a simple yet attractive design. You might notice the housing seems a little larger than similar earphones, which is due to the 9mm driver which is larger than similar products.”
The G8 is built with polished aluminum and while it doesn’t look or feel extraordinarily fancy, it does feel solid. It is a little larger than your average IEM, but it still fit comfortably in my ear. I never had any problem getting a good seal, but I know that can be a very personal thing so your mileage may vary there. With the impedance at 32 ohms and the sensitivity at 102, it isn’t very difficult to drive, yet it isn’t extremely sensitive either, so hiss should never be an issue with the G8 (if it is, I might think twice about your player). The cord is flat. Base Audio calls it tangle resistant, and so it must be, as I have yet to tangle it, and up to this point, there hasn’t been a cord that I couldn’t tangle. The only downside for me with the cable is that I like to drape the cable behind my ears, and it doesn’t always want to stay there. The cable is not detachable. It does have a mic and volume slider built into the cable, so you can turn down your music when taking a call. I can see that being useful for people with smart phones, but I wouldn’t know being that I hate them. Just as a note, I tend to be brief with the physical build part of my reviews. Please feel free to ask a question, if I left out something you would like to know.
Let’s talk about extras! It comes with a case.
Features:
- Premium Bass Reproduction
- Tangle Resistant Cord
- Polished Aluminum Construction
- Comfortable Lightweight Design
- Durable Carrying Case
Moving on… okay, it comes with a nice little, hard shell case, but that is it. It doesn’t have a big fancy box (I’m okay with that one), or come with multiple tips (the tips they come with fit me well, but again, my ears aren’t yours). While I would like to complain about the lack of the extras, for the price, I do find it hard to. Their whole mission seems to be to spend all the money on the product itself… on the sound, and to let the “extraneous” things fall by the wayside. This may be a sticking point for you, or it may not. Personally, I like their train of thought here. Of course, this is all moot if the G8 doesn’t have the sound to back it up.