[Bansaku]

I got my review unit earlier on in the week, and after a few days of breaking in I am ready to make some impressions. Simply put: WOW! As someone who has owned several eBay Chinese tube filters/pre-amps as well as tube rolling, I 'thought' I had a good impression of how the iTube2 would sound. I was dead wrong, and not prepared for absolute pure musical bliss!

iPurifier2--> iDAC--> iTube2--> iCAN SE = Magic!

The first thing I noticed was just how black the iTube2's sound was when added into the chain; I heard absolutely no discernible difference. That in itself is pretty remarkable. The came the sound itself, which hit my ears like a hammer. That weight, wow! It's not just in the low end, but the whole frequency range! I love weighted treble, and the iTube2 adds body yet simultaneously retaining any airiness, sparkle, and shine. Midrange becomes remarkably smooth, yet zero detail and texture is lost. And bass, that bass... Glorious! The iTube2 in no way boost the low end, rather enhances with added pressure, resulting in a harder hitting impact for the mid-bass and a more weighted sub-bass but no bloat or looseness whatsoever. In fact, bass detail in general has been increased! Lastly (for now) the soundstage and instrument separation/focus can be summed up in one word: Natural. While width, depth and height have been expanded, to a degree, the biggest change seems to be more to do with how the sounds "bloom" within the soundscape. It is rather hard to describe this aspect, partly due to the SET, Classic, and P/P options which change the behaviour of the sounds in the soundscape, and partly due to how each source track reacts, or interacts with the enhancements caused by the tube itself. I guess you can say it's magic!

I did hook up the iTube2 to my Lepy LP-2020A/ Mission Model 70 monitors desktop setup and messed around with the various settings. I love how the + (recommended) setting sounds, adding natural width to my setup and creating a more natural presentation. Later tonight, once the wife goes to bed, I am going to add the iTube2 to my TV setup which included a decent class A/B 20W receiver and a pair of Nuance N100's which sit flush with my TV. Can't wait to hear what the 30 degree setting will add! I still haven't figure out how I am going to include the iDAC and iTube2 to my home theatre setup (Yamaha Natural sound receiver and Klipsch RW-25 Icons). I opted for the iDAC over the iDAC2 simply because I didn't think I would need a digital input (nor DSD) yet here I am with my PC connecting to my receiver 15' away via digital.... I think perhaps I am going to have to cannibalize a few RCA cables and just run it across my living room (like the good'll days).

That's it for now. Things to do...

 

[Topspin70]

I got my review unit earlier on in the week, and after a few days of breaking in I am ready to make some impressions. Simply put: WOW! As someone who has owned several eBay Chinese tube filters/pre-amps as well as tube rolling, I 'thought' I had a good impression of how the iTube2 would sound. I was dead wrong, and not prepared for absolute pure musical bliss!

iPurifier2--> iDAC--> iTube2--> iCAN SE = Magic!

The first thing I noticed was just how black the iTube2's sound was when added into the chain; I heard absolutely no discernible difference. That in itself is pretty remarkable. The came the sound itself, which hit my ears like a hammer. That weight, wow! It's not just in the low end, but the whole frequency range! I love weighted treble, and the iTube2 adds body yet simultaneously retaining any airiness, sparkle, and shine. Midrange becomes remarkably smooth, yet zero detail and texture is lost. And bass, that bass... Glorious! The iTube2 in no way boost the low end, rather enhances with added pressure, resulting in a harder hitting impact for the mid-bass and a more weighted sub-bass but no bloat or looseness whatsoever. In fact, bass detail in general has been increased! Lastly (for now) the soundstage and instrument separation/focus can be summed up in one word: Natural. While width, depth and height have been expanded, to a degree, the biggest change seems to be more to do with how the sounds "bloom" within the soundscape. It is rather hard to describe this aspect, partly due to the SET, Classic, and P/P options which change the behaviour of the sounds in the soundscape, and partly due to how each source track reacts, or interacts with the enhancements caused by the tube itself. I guess you can say it's magic!

I did hook up the iTube2 to my Lepy LP-2020A/ Mission Model 70 monitors desktop setup and messed around with the various settings. I love how the + (recommended) setting sounds, adding natural width to my setup and creating a more natural presentation. Later tonight, once the wife goes to bed, I am going to add the iTube2 to my TV setup which included a decent class A/B 20W receiver and a pair of Nuance N100's which sit flush with my TV. Can't wait to hear what the 30 degree setting will add! I still haven't figure out how I am going to include the iDAC and iTube2 to my home theatre setup (Yamaha Natural sound receiver and Klipsch RW-25 Icons). I opted for the iDAC over the iDAC2 simply because I didn't think I would need a digital input (nor DSD) yet here I am with my PC connecting to my receiver 15' away via digital.... I think perhaps I am going to have to cannibalize a few RCA cables and just run it across my living room (like the good'll days).

That's it for now. Things to do...

I'm undecided whether to upgrade my original iTube to the iTube 2, but your review, plus a few earlier, is swinging me to saying yes.

I too use the iCAN SE but the one thing you mentioned that differed from my experience with the original iTube is the impact of the bass. Without the iTube, I felt the bass notes from the amp hit harder and was more punchy, but with the iTube before the amp, the bass had more texture, more definition, but possibly less rounded and hence a tad less punchy. Would you say this is the same with the iTube2?

 

[Robert777]

I am seriously considering adding an iTube 2 to bring a little bit of tube goodness to the solid state amp which I use to drive my TH900 headphones. That is if the tube is user replaceable anyway.

One concern of mine is that my amp shares some of the characteristics assosiated with tubes in that it is already quite warm, smooth and spacious.

Does anyone have experience running either incarnation of the iTube with a warm solid state amp providing good results or does it all just become to smoothed ever?

Cheers.

 

[ngoshawk]

Appreciation tour unit in hand, and with Lawrance's help, this newbie (to home set ups such as this...) had it hooked running Stevie Ray Vaughan through my UM Martians...very sweet for a Friday night! Thank you @iFi audio

 

[Bansaku]

I'm undecided whether to upgrade my original iTube to the iTube 2, but your review, plus a few earlier, is swinging me to saying yes.

I too use the iCAN SE but the one thing you mentioned that differed from my experience with the original iTube is the impact of the bass. Without the iTube, I felt the bass notes from the amp hit harder and was more punchy, but with the iTube before the amp, the bass had more texture, more definition, but possibly less rounded and hence a tad less punchy. Would you say this is the same with the iTube2?

The summer before last I played around with several cheap (but decent) Chinese tube buffers/filters and preamps from eBay and did some rolling as well (including using the same GE tubes as in the iTube2). What you described is exactly what my impressions of the eBay tubes filters was.

Without a doubt, with the iTube2 in the chain every headphone in my signature has much better impact and weight, not just in the low end but the mids as well. Better texture, better definition/focus, more rounded, and much better impact and what I can only describe as the perfect amount of weight. Just enough to be felt but not enough to add nasty distortion (as in un-natural). Thus far, from classical to electronica, I never get the impression of having "too much". Like iFi advertises, it's magic! Ok, it's not magic rather great engineering! Judging by your impressions of the original iTube, and reading a few reviews here and there, iFi listened to you guys and gave the iTube2 some balls!

 

[Topspin70]

The summer before last I played around with several cheap (but decent) Chinese tube buffers/filters and preamps from eBay and did some rolling as well (including using the same GE tubes as in the iTube2). What you described is exactly what my impressions of the eBay tubes filters was.

Without a doubt, with the iTube2 in the chain every headphone in my signature has much better impact and weight, not just in the low end but the mids as well. Better texture, better definition/focus, more rounded, and much better impact and what I can only describe as the perfect amount of weight. Just enough to be felt but not enough to add nasty distortion (as in un-natural). Thus far, from classical to electronica, I never get the impression of having "too much". Like iFi advertises, it's magic! Ok, it's not magic rather great engineering! Judging by your impressions of the original iTube, and reading a few reviews here and there, iFi listened to you guys and gave the iTube2 some balls!

Thanks, that does it. I'm pulling the trigger on the iTube 2.

 

[ngoshawk]

The summer before last I played around with several cheap (but decent) Chinese tube buffers/filters and preamps from eBay and did some rolling as well (including using the same GE tubes as in the iTube2). What you described is exactly what my impressions of the eBay tubes filters was.

Without a doubt, with the iTube2 in the chain every headphone in my signature has much better impact and weight, not just in the low end but the mids as well. Better texture, better definition/focus, more rounded, and much better impact and what I can only describe as the perfect amount of weight. Just enough to be felt but not enough to add nasty distortion (as in un-natural). Thus far, from classical to electronica, I never get the impression of having "too much". Like iFi advertises, it's magic! Ok, it's not magic rather great engineering! Judging by your impressions of the original iTube, and reading a few reviews here and there, iFi listened to you guys and gave the iTube2 some balls!

I would concur with your assessment, and I have only had the tour unit for 12 hours. There is certainly a McIntosh-esque sound to be heard, and the iTube2 has made me appreciate the iFi Black Label all the more. Combined they are a stunning example of old-technology sound combined with new-technology solid state sound. I am thoroughly enjoying all IEM's and headphones I drop into the loop.

Superb sound, and the ability to fine-tune quickly to your tastes is a fabulous combination. I am thoroughly impressed with the iTube2.

 

[Painterspal]

I picked up one of these yesterday. Did a quick desk top test at the office, using my Shanling M5 as a source via line out and my Oppo HA2 as the amp, and was actually quite impressed. I mainly bought it to experiment with the sound in my speaker rig, but I'll likely test it further with headphones and will report back on any useful findings...

 

[Dixter]

@ ifi.... can you please put out a black version of the iTube2 ?? Seems like we have several folks who would like to mate the iTube2 to the idsd BL ... BLACK would be cool to have... please ?

 

[twiceboss]

Hi all, im considering to upgrade my iDSD BL to a better amp. I want a warm with xbass and spacious 3D to be paired with my HD800. Can you guys recommend me which iFi amp should I consider? iTube2? iCan SA? SE?

HELP! appreciated!

 

[Andrew Rieger]

Hi all, im considering to upgrade my iDSD BL to a better amp. I want a warm with xbass and spacious 3D to be paired with my HD800. Can you guys recommend me which iFi amp should I consider? iTube2? iCan SA? SE?

HELP! appreciated!

iTube 2 isn't an headphone amp. Its a preamp and a line level tube buffer.

 

[iFi audio]

iTube 2 isn't an headphone amp. Its a preamp and a line level tube buffer.

Needless to say, you nailed it!

 

[twiceboss]

iTube 2 isn't an headphone amp. Its a preamp and a line level tube buffer.

just bought iCan SA to stack with my iDSD BL, what kind of improvement if i buy iTube?

 

[Andrew Rieger]

just bought iCan SA to stack with my iDSD BL, what kind of improvement if i buy iTube?

It adds tube sound to your chain. It's way too complicated to describe improvements. I would read through this thread to get a better idea of what this adds. Tubes add a pleasant tonality to the music basically.

 

[Dixter]

if your not concerned with portability and want a " black tube amp " the iDSD works quite well with the WOO tube amps...