EPZ G20

A versatile Gaming focused IEM with lots of tricks

The EPZ G20 is a versatile in-ear monitor that successfully bridges the gap between gaming audio and audiophile listening. Designed primarily as a gaming IEM, it offers a detailed sound signature focused on accurate imaging—a crucial feature for competitive gaming where positional audio cues can make all the difference. However, for me what makes this a special IEM ifs capabilities of the 2nd cable provided a DSP enabled usb-c cable.

So I having been listening to the G20 for a few weeks, for me, what truly elevates the G20 to a higher level of versatility is usb-c cable both for gaming (as it’s easy to load gaming-specific PEQ profiles on it) but also for normal audio as the excellent channel matching and decent ‘stock’ sound profile can be easily tailored using the PEQ to personal tastes.

So, this review, like many of my recent reviews, is more focusing on the PEQ capabilities of these devices. The G20 is an excellent example, where a cable that is compatible with the Walkplay PEQ application and my new “DevicePEQ” tool can easily be pushed to new levels.

So, while I am impressed with the EPZ G20, there are a few things that I will highlight in this review that might be useful information before you buy one. However, before I get into those details, let’s see what you get in the box.

Unboxing and Build Quality

The EPZ G20 comes in a nice box with a typical Waifu girl on the cover, with some ‘hints’ at its gaming-focused design while audiophile appeal:

Removing the sleeve reveals the inside box:

Opening this box reveals the manual:

The manual also hides a waifu card:

Inside, you’ll find the G20 IEMs nestled securely in their packaging:

Underneath the G20 is a separate ‘storage box’ where the EQ cable is stored:

So, ultimately removing everything you can see, you do get a lot of value with the G20:

The contents include:

• EPZ G20 IEMs
• Standard 3.5mm analog cable
• USB-C cable with both inline microphone and a separate boom-mic
• USB Adapter
• Multiple sizes of ear tips
• Documentation

The G20 features a solid build quality with a comfortable form factor.

The shells are well-constructed with a nice weight that feels significant without being too heavy.

The design of the shell is functional rather than flashy, there is fine at this price point but nothing too special. But the G20’s standout feature is its dual-cable system, offering different connectivity options for various use cases:

Standard Analog Cable

The standard 3.5mm analog cable provides a direct connection to traditional audio sources. This cable delivers the G20’s default sound signature, which is already well-tuned with a focus on accurate imaging and detail retrieval, this was mainly the cable I used for my initial listening tests.

The microphone worked well on this cable, allowing me to take a few work calls while using this cable.

Ultimately, I did switch to the usb-c cable, and by default both cables provide the same sound signature, but of course with the usb-c cable you can change the sound signature.

USB-C Cable with Microphone

The USB-C cable is where the G20 shows its versatility, and while technically I loved this cable, I did have a few subjective issues with it.

This cable features:

• Digital connection for cleaner audio signal
• Built-in microphone for gaming communication

This boom-mic functionality is a unique feature for an IEM, clearly targeting the gaming market. While the microphone performs well for voice chat during gaming sessions and calls, I found that the weight of the microphone module could occasionally cause fit issues during active movement, slightly dislodging the IEM and breaking the ear seal. This was primarily noticeable when walking around, making it less ideal for mobile use with the microphone cable.

But I did start using it with a foam eartip (as in the picture below) which did help keep it secure. You can also remove the boom-mic attachment.

Unfortunately, there are a few other little things that annoyed me with this cable. Firstly, the other microphone on this cable seemed to be disabled even when I detached the ‘boom-mic’ from the cable. The cable is also too long for normal use at 1.8m, while I understand that gaming IEM cables need to longer than typical IEM cables, I thought it was worth pointing this out. Finally, partially due to its length and especially if you have the boom-mic attached, this cable tangles very easily.

But these are all minor quibbles rather than anything major.

Fit and Comfort

The EPZ G20 offers good comfort for an IEM in this price range, with a design that sits well in the ear. The shells have a nice weight that provides a sense of quality without causing fatigue during extended listening sessions. With the standard cable, the fit is secure and comfortable for long periods.

The shell is slightly “opinionated” in that it has a slight ’lip’ so hopefully you can get a good feel for the shape with these comparisons with some other shells.

Note: it is not as large as the Truthear Zero Red but slightly larger than the other IEM’s have in this shell comparison.

The included ear tips are fine and help the G50 achieve a good seal, but it can benefit a little bit from some tip rolling, especially if you don’t want to use EQ but want to tweak the treble a little. I did enjoy it with the Foam eartips I had in the pictures earlier.

Sound Impressions

The EPZ G20 delivers a well-balanced sound signature that works excellently for both gaming and music listening and is delivered by both cables.

Bass

The bass response is controlled and accurate rather than overly emphasized. There’s enough low-end presence to give games and music proper weight and impact, but it never overwhelms the midrange. The bass extends well and provides good texture, allowing you to feel the rumble of explosions in games while maintaining clarity.

For music, the bass is tight and detailed, offering good punch for genres like rock and electronic music without bleeding into the mids. The controlled nature of the bass helps maintain clarity in busy gaming soundscapes where more bass-heavy IEMs will overload the midrange clarity.

Midrange

The midrange presentation is slightly forward, with excellent clarity that helps dialogue in games and vocals in music stand out. This tuning choice makes sense for a gaming IEM, as it ensures important audio cues and team communications remain clear and intelligible.

Instrument separation in the midrange is impressive, allowing for easy distinction between different sound sources. This quality translates well to music listening, where complex arrangements remain coherent and detailed. Later on when i did the measurement I spotted the reason for the excellent imaging as care was taken to make sure both the left and right have excellent channel matching, especially at this price point.

Treble

The treble is well-extended with good detail and air, providing the sparkle needed to accurately render high-frequency audio cues in games. There’s enough energy in the upper frequencies to highlight details like footsteps and weapon reloads without becoming fatiguing during long gaming sessions.

For music, the treble presentation adds a nice sense of space and detail to recordings, though it might be slightly bright for those sensitive to high frequencies. The good news is that with the USB-C cable and Walkplay Application, you can easily adjust the treble response to your preference using parametric EQ.

Soundstage & Imaging

Where the G20 truly excels is in its imaging capabilities - a critical feature for gaming IEMs. The spatial presentation is precise, allowing for accurate positioning of sound sources in three-dimensional space. This quality makes it easy to locate enemies in competitive games based on audio cues alone.

The soundstage is reasonably wide for an IEM, providing good separation between different elements in the audio mix. While it doesn’t match the expansiveness of open headphones, it offers an immersive experience that works well for both gaming and music.

PEQ Capabilities

One of the G20’s most valuable features is its compatibility with the Walkplay Application when using the USB-C cable. This functionality allows users to apply parametric EQ to fine-tune the sound signature to their preferences.

For example, here is the G20 within the Walkplay webapp which can be accessed here:

Walkplay also provides an Android only mobile Application which has similar capabilities.

The PEQ capability transforms the G20 from a good gaming IEM into a versatile audio tool that can be customized for different genres of music or gaming scenarios. Because I really like PEQ versatility, I decided to develop a new tool which supports most usb-c IEM cables and dongles that support including many other EPZ devices (like the recently reviewed TP13) and including most Moondrop and FiiO usb-c devices.

Device PEQ

So device PEQ has been designed to work directly within typical squig website based online web measurement databases. You can see it in the bottom left of this image:

With the G20 connected you can simply autoEQ your PEQ filter preferences to the target you want, either another IEM or a target like JM-1 in this case. Then you can push the changes, and that is it no entering any numbers or exporting and import files, it has been designed to keep it simple.

When you connect the G30 to your computer and load, for example, “Pragmatic Audio” IEM database: here then switch to the ‘Equalizer’ tab, you can click the “Connect” button, and this popup will allow you to select the G20 (called in this case a very generic name ‘USB Audio’):

The EPZ G20 supports up to 8 PEQ filters more than many of its competitors like the Tanchjim One or Bunny DSP (that only support 5) and more than the FiiO / Jade Audio JA11 which also only supports 5 filters.

Note: You might expect PEQ to allow you to change the G20 to sound exactly like a different IEM, it isn’t quiet as simple as that, while you can get the tonality very close, the treble area especially will more than likely, still be significantly different due to, both the inaccuracies of measurements in that area and also the significant differences in peoples ear canals causing the treble ‘peaks’ and ‘dips’ to almost always be different in everyone’s ears, so don’t expect to make the G20 sound like the “Subtonic Storm” but you can for example us PEQ to make the G20 sound like “JM-1” or get the tonality close to your current favourite IEM.

Specifications and Measurements

Measurements

The measurements were taken using my 711 clone coupler, and you can find the full measurement data here.

Frequency Response

The frequency response graph clearly shows the slightly enhanced mid-forward tuning of the G20:

In the graph I have highlighted a controlled bass response (1), slightly prominent midrange especially in the vocal ‘presense’ region (2), and the well nice treble extension that provides detail without being too siliance (3).

Comparing the default DSP tuning with the analog table shows that the default DSP cable tuning is indeed neutral which makes applying EQ for specific games and for some audiophile tuning very easy.

Overall, I would describe the G20 from both cables as having ‘mid-forward yet comfortable tuning’ a great start to then further enhance with some EQ.

Comparisons

When compared to some of my other favourite midrange IEM (KiwiEar Orchestra Lite and FiiO FD15) and also with the Truthear Zero Blue 2 (with Foam eartips), the G20’s unique tuning becomes even more visible:

I highlighted 5 areas from the graph above:

1. Bass, So the G50 is not quiet Harman level but it has more bass than those typical ‘midrange’ focused IEM like the Orchestra Lite or the FiiO FD15
2. The Truthear Zero Blue 2 is the only one of these IEM with that typical mid-bass Harman ’tuck’
3. That slightly elevated midrange “presence” tuning is evident here - just a little more than the other IEMs
4. Though it has less presence in this region that the more Harman 2019 tuned Truthear Zero Blue 2
5. Finally, the G20 treble is nicely balanced, so not as emphasized as the Truthear Zero Blue

Distortion

The G20 shows impressively low distortion from both cables across the frequency spectrum:

When viewed as a percentage, the distortion remains well controlled:

Finally, I measured the distortion with the stock cable and the usb cable (sometimes usb DSP cables can have more distortion), but these were very similar:

These measurements confirm the clean, detailed sound presentation experienced during subjective listening.

Rating Explanation

The EPZ G20 earns a 4-star Pragmatic Rating due to its excellent combination of gaming-focused features and audiophile sound quality, with only minor issues with the usb-c cable preventing a perfect score.

Here’s the breakdown:

• Build Quality: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Solid construction with good materials)
• Comfort: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Comfortable for long sessions, slight issues with microphone cable weight)
• Sound: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Excellent imaging and detail, good balance across frequencies)
• Features: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Dual cable system and PEQ capabilities offer exceptional versatility)
• Value: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Good value considering the dual functionality for gaming and music)

The G20 is ideal for:

• Gamers who want accurate positional audio without sacrificing music quality
• Audiophiles looking for a versatile IEM with PEQ capabilities
• Users who need both gaming communication features and high-quality audio in one package

Conclusion

The EPZ G20 successfully delivers on its promise as a gaming IEM while offering sound quality that extends well beyond gaming applications. Its accurate imaging and detailed sound signature make it excellent for competitive gaming, while its overall tonal balance and PEQ capabilities through the Walkplay Application make it equally suitable for music enjoyment.

The dual-cable system provides excellent versatility, though the microphone attachment on the USB-C cable can cause minor fit issues during active movement. Despite this small drawback, the G20 represents a strong value proposition for those looking for a dual-purpose IEM that excels in both gaming and music scenarios.

For gamers who care about audio quality or audiophiles who enjoy gaming, the EPZ G20 offers a compelling package that bridges these two worlds effectively, earning it a strong recommendation at its price point.