When I received these from another Head-fi member as part of the review tour, I had to let them sit for a few days as my DAC has experienced some troubles. So, I unpacked them, went “oohhh…. ahhhh” over the box and the insanely good cables that came with them. Then about three days later I started listening to them. Now, these were a replacement as the original ones put on tour had a problem. The previous reviewer got to demo these for some extra time and burn them in before I got them. They are more than sufficiently burned in at the time of this review.



For this review, I will be using my Test Music microSD card attached to an iBasso DX220 MAX, an iBasso DX220 EX with AMP 8EX, and my Monolith 788. I will be using both Furukawa cables that come with the headphones and my own pure silver Litz cable consisting of 4 conductor 21AWG wire. The music in this review is an eclectic mix of the different genres all FLAC and Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon in 512bit DSD format.



For starters, make no mistake, these are TOTL (Top of the Line) headphones made by Meze in Romania. These are the first Isodynamic Hybrid Array Driver Headphones ever produced. They were designed and created by Meze Audio and Rinaro Isodynamics, two companies known for their creativity and innovation in their fields of expertise. These are planar magnetic headphones of the highest quality. Everything about them is high end. From the feel of the cans themselves to the earpads to the comfort level, high end. The headphones are impeccably designed and feature a slew of innovations within. Also, of note these headphones are completely assembled by hand. Here are some pics and numbers for those who care.





Manufacturer: Meze Audio www.mezeaudio.com

ACCESSORIES

• Case: High-strength aluminum suitcase with foam inserts
• Two sets of earpads included: one real leather, one Alcantara
• Cable options:
- 2.5m OFC cable, 4pin mini XLR plugs ending with 6.3 jack connector
or
- 1.2m OFC cable, 4pin mini XLR plugs ending with 3.5 jack connector
or
- 2.5m OFC cable, 4pin mini XLR plugs ending with 4 pin XLR connector

*Vegan option available upon request.



EMPYREAN TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Driver Type: Rinaro Isodynamic

Operating Principle: Hybrid Array

Ear Coupling:

Frequency Response: 4 – 110,000 Hz

Impedance: 31.6Ω

Nominal SPL: 100dB (1mW / 1 kHz)

Maximum SPL: >130 dB

Total Harmonic Distortion (THD): <0.1%

Weight: - 430g

MZ3 DRIVER SPECIFICATIONS

*PHYSICAL*

Geometrical Shape: Ovoid

Size: 102mm x 73mm

Weight: 82g

Casing: Fiberglass Infused ABS

*DIAPHRAGM*

Type: Rinaro ISOPLANAR©

Active Area: 4650 mm2

Weight: 0.16g

Acoustic Mass: 10.7 kg/m4

Lower Frequency Limit: 4Hz

Upper Frequency Limit: 110.000Hz

*MAGNET ARRAY*

Type: Isodynamic

Size: 75mm x 49mm

Magnetic Flux: 0.35T

Warranty Period: 2 Years

These are beautifully designed and extremely comfortable to wear.










As you can see, these headphones are top-notch and feature unparalleled engineering. After unpacking the unit, it was time to get down to business. Starting with the iBasso DX220 MAX using my own pure silver Litz cable with a 4.4mm connector. I began with Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama”. This song sounded amazing through the Empyreans. I head things that I never heard with any of the other headphones I own or have reviewed before. At the beginning of the song, in the left channel, I heard a melody that I never heard before. Also, one can hear an off-tempo guitar strumming in the background. It sounded as if I was in the studio with them. The piano and lead guitar were particularly beautiful, and the soundstage was expansive. These took one of my favorite songs of all time and made it new and fresh.

Moving on to “Celebration” by Kool and the Gang I found the highs a little pronounced, but the bass is excellent and headspace is superb. I was surprised by the tone of the highs so my next pick was for Emmerson Lake and Palmers, “Lucky Man”. The guitar was so vivid and clear it was surreal. The balance of tone in this piece is crazy. You can clearly hear the finger picks and the harmonies were spot on. Moving through twenty more songs I began getting a good feel for these. It was time for a more complicated track so “Tom Sawyer” by Rush seemed to fit the bill. Lee’s vocals are already high pitched so I wanted to see if the Empyreans would handle them nicely or make them sound shrill. I was pleasantly surprised that the highs did not sound as shrill as they did in the other song. I then cued up the iconic Beastie Boys “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right”. I wasn’t sure how this would sound on these, but I have to tell you…with a smile, this song kicked ASS on these headphones. Every single instrument was placed perfectly, the background cymbals were crisp, and the response was fast. The soundstage was prominent, and the texture of the sound was awesome. Thoroughly enjoyable!

Another high performer with these headphones was Def Leppard. Everything from “Foolin” to “Pour Some Sugar on Me” to “Two Steps Behind” sounded as if I was right there during a rehearsal. Again, these headphones are made to sound amazing across any genre, that is for sure.

At this point, I have to mention the most impressive live recording I heard on these headphones and that was “Bohemian Rhapsody” from Queen: Live at the Bowl. This is another song I use to judge the quality of headphones as this is a great recording with a lot of complex sounds coming at you in this live show. The detail was outstanding! Everything from the audiences’ response to Freddie Mercury singing, to the harmonics, was out of this world. When Brian May’s solo came in I was taken back to seeing them live myself…and to Wayne’s World! I can’t type or read this without laughing. This song was my absolute favorite with these headphones. Period!

Other songs of note that sounded over the top were:

Yesterday – John Lennon

Turn the Page – Bob Seger

Fur Elise – Beethoven

Southern Cross – Crosby, Stills & Nash

Suite #1 For Unaccompanied Cello – Bach (Performed by Yo-Yo Ma)

(I just) Died In Your Arms Tonight – Cutting Crew

Serenade #13 for Strings in G Minor – Mozart

Desperado – The Eagles

America – Razorlight

Baba O’Reilly – The Who

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas – David Archuleta

Lift Me Up (featuring Rob Halford) – Five Finger Death Punch

I must give a special shout out to Tim McGraw’s “Don’t Take the Girl”. This song is also recorded exceptionally and everything about this track sounded amazing. The layering of sound and the texture brought out more emotion than I, or my wife, have ever heard and brought out with this song. The details of the steel guitar in the background and the placement of instruments was mind-blowing. If you do get to try these, I highly recommend this song, and I dare you to not get emotional during it.

WOW.

I moved on to the iconic “Dark Side of the Moon” by Pink Floyd. This timeless album is a staple of many audiophiles and spans generations. There is no need to focus on any single song here, they all sounded ethereal and the quality of the sound was superb. Everything had an amazing “studio-like” quality to it. As if…one were right there with the recording engineers for the entire album. I cannot really express the crazy smile I was wearing the entire time I was listening to DSotM. It simply blew me away. What I can say is that I have never heard this album the way I have with these. OUTSTANDING!

What I noticed with these is that they are extremely versatile and easy to drive. The bass has an amazing impact for an open-back headphone. It was surprising and I kept taking them off in wonder! I swapped out the DX220 MAX to use my PC as the source feeding into my Monolith 788 DAC and out the balanced XLR port. The sound was just as good as with the DAP but I did notice some things that I did not before. The most important to relay is that vinyl rips did not sound very pleasant with these headphones. They are very precise, and with that being said, you hear every single nuance of the recording. IF you ripped from a vinyl record, you would hear the scratching of the vinyl. Also, of note is something I am always reminding people about, your headphones are only as good as the files you play. These will pick up every “wrong” detail just as easily as they pick up the “great” details of a song. Keep that in mind when considering purchasing these. I found that if I excluded all the vinyl rips in my collection, I would still have thousands of hours of amazing playtime with these and never miss the rips. But I felt it must be conveyed in the review.

I went back and forth to the DX220 MAX and the Monolith 788 for the better part of three weeks. I hit every genre in my collection, and nothing sounded less than amazing. There were a few tracks where the highs were more pronounced but after comparing with my other headphones, I determined that it was the recording of the track that produced the sound. The Empyreans come with two sets of magnetic earpads. The leather ones produced a tighter sound but the cloth ones were a joy to use. Going back and forth from leather to cloth was the real joy here as it was so easy. I did find that wearing the cloth ones was more pleasing to my ears both sound wise and comfort-wise. You can wear cloth earpads for hours on end without discomfort.



FINAL THOUGHTS

Well as my time with these came to a close, my listening became almost desperate. I wanted to hear EVERYTHING in my entire collection but there was simply not enough time. Personally, I listen to a lot of different genre’s but with these, I found my two favorites were Rock and Classical. These headphones, to me, sounded like they were made for these two genres. I loved everything about the Empyreans. The build quality is fantastic, the comfort level is outstanding, and the sound quality is WAY above this price point. I found that anything I threw at these headphones came out sounding awesome. The sound quality this produces really is at the top of the heap. There are not many things I say that I enjoy enough to want to own in this hobby anymore. These are not one of those things.

I want these.

Bravo Meze…Bravo.

Thanks for reading!

This month I was sent a beautiful pair of the new iBasso IT00 IEM’s to evaluate and review. I have been anxiously hoping I would get to review these. I want to thank Paul@iBasso.com for sending them my way!


Specs

Type: Dynamic
F. Response: 10Hz to 35Hz
Sensitivity: 106 +/- 2dB
Impedance: 16 Ohm
Noise Attenuation: -26dB
Rated Power: 10mW
T.H.D.: <1%(@1kHz/1mW)
Plug Size: Gold Plated 3.5mm
Cord Length: 1.2m
Weight: 8.0g without cable
MSRP $69 USD at iBasso.com


Build Quality

These IEM’s are built in the same manner as all iBasso’s fantastic lineup. Strong, two-piece construction, with air vents on the inner sides. While I would not bang them around, they do feel like they can take a beating on anyone’s commute to work.


Pairing

For this review I will be using my iPhone 11 along with high resolution tracks being played off the Vox app. I prefer it to the normal Music app on the phone as it allows the playback of FLAC and WAV files. I will also be using my Test Music folder of 138 songs of various genres in WAV format to determine the breadth and scope of this IEM’s abilities. The music I test with is a combination of classic rock, country, heavy metal, classical, and EDM. Lastly, I will not be reviewing this as a sound engineer, but as a budget consumer.


Comfort

The IT00 comes with a good selection of tips. I have found that with like most iBasso IEM’s the wide bore seems to give the most impactful listening session. The shape of the units is very nicely designed and fit my concha almost perfectly. This IEM is an over the ear cable type, so please be aware of that before you buy.




Sound

So, let’s get down to the important stuff, how do they sound. First, I want to remind you these are a budget IEM with an MSRP of less than $70 USD. Prior to this the most affordable iBasso IEM was the IT01, which cost $99 USD. This more affordable model retains the iBasso house “sound” of punchy warmth with a great bass. I think the IT00 has slightly more bass impact than other models put out by the company in the past.

For starters I dropped in Pachelbel’s Canon in D. The iconic wedding song showed just how open these little IEM’s can get. The airy tune made my eyes open as some IEM’s I have played it on made it either sound too flat, or too “brassy”. That was not the case here at all. The dynamic sound brought this piece to life! After this I went on to my go to by the Allman Brothers, Statesboro Blues, Live at the Fillmore. Excellent sound for the price. The soundstage was genuinely nice for this live recording, and the IEM’s have a fast response and clarity. Next, I went into some EDM to see if the response really is as good as it seemed, and I am happy to say it was.

From there I went to one of my go to songs, Redemption Song by Bob Marley. The song was exceptionally clear, and you can hear every strum of Marley’s acoustic guitar on the track. Genesis’s Man of the Corner sounded fantastic with these IEM’s, and it was eye opening how good. The separation of instruments was genuinely nice for an IEM at this price point! The songs continued through Disturbed, Zac Brown, and then came Def Leppard’s Pour Some Sugar on Me. WOW fantastic. Again, you feel the bass in these guys. The beginning of the song hit like a hammer. A good hammer. The tonal balance is quite obviously bass forward.


Conclusion

I spent a month with these on my daily grind. They sounded better as time went on. The imagery improved as did the soundstage. The more burn in these have, the better they sound. Now let’s face facts, these are not the $1000 dollar IEM’s I usually review, however, for $69? These are a home run for those on a budget or those looking to upgrade from the standard earbuds that come with their phones. I was surprised at the price when Paul@iBasso.com told me.

These IEM’s fight way above their price point. I recommend these wholeheartedly and always remember to enjoy the music.

P.S. I originally gave these a 4 Star Rating, but that was from my notes before they were burned in. The difference between burned in and not is pronounced. These sub $100 IEM's absolutely shine. As I've said on FaceBook, these are the ones to beat in their price class.


Thanks for reading.

RAI PENTA BY MEZE AUDIO REVIEW
mezeaudio.com

Technical Specs:

Driver: PENTA-HYBRID DRIVER
(4 x Customized Balanced Armature and 1 x Dynamic
Driver working harmoniously together)
Frequency Range: 4Hz – 45kHz
Impedance: 20Ω
Sensitivity: 110dB SPL/1mW Sensitivity
Max Input Power: 30mW
Distortion: <1%
Stock cables: MMCX connector ending in 3.5mm, Rhodium-plated
Upgrade cables: MMCX connector ending in
2.5mm TRRS balanced and 4.4mm balanced as extra accessories
Warranty period: 2 years

This month I’m reviewing a beautiful pair of Meze Rai Penta IEM’s. I received a pre-release pair as a review set and was able to put them through the paces for a month. Before going into the review I’d like to give a little background of Meze Audio.

They are a high-end audio manufacturer out of Romania. They have had enormous success with their beautiful “99 Classics” in hand-polished walnut and their “99 Neo” line. Their foray into the high-end came with the fantastic sounding and equally expensive planar magnetic Empyrean that sent a message…

Meze is here, and they’re here to stay.

Antonio Meze, a designer, founded the company in 2011 in Baia Mare, Romania. His concept is simple, beautiful sounding headphones made with cutting edge technology. He researched, learned, and experimented before coming up with the first of the stellar lineup, the 99 Classics. After they launched it seemed as if everyone on Head-fi.org either had a pair or wanted a pair. They have a huge following there and it’s well deserved.

I first came in contact with Meze at the 2016 NYC CanJam. I was working the convention for a manufacturer and ran across a really nice guy named Mircea who shared some of the same tastes in music as myself and he invited me to his booth. “Meze Audio?” I asked him, “what’s that mean”. He then told me the story of Antonio Meze and the lineup. I sampled the Walnut 99 Classics and bought them on the spot. Fast forward a few years, and another couple of shows where we’ve run into each other and here we are today.

The Rai Penta is their top of the line in-ear monitors that were introduced in 2018. They are a 5 driver IEM that features four customized balanced armature drivers and one dynamic driver working flawlessly together to produce an amazing sound experience. These IEM’s feature what Meze calls Penta Hybrid Technology. According to their website, this technology allows them to deliver harmonized sound frequencies without the problems of phases overlaying each other. The sound goes from the drivers through chambers CNC’d into the aluminum and out through the ear nozzles instead of using some manner of plastic tubing. In recent times some testers have had an issue with the harmonics bleeding within the plastic tubing.

Below is an image of the Penta Hybrid Technology.


Speaking of the anodized shell, I have to mention that these monitors are absolutely beautiful. I test a lot of IEM’s and I have to say, without a doubt, that these are the most comfortable and beautifully simplistic IEM’s I have tested to date. The rounded shell is smooth with a curve that fits perfectly in my conch. The CNC aluminum shell is emblazoned with the Meze logo and they use standard MMCX cables. They feel great in the hand AND in the ear.


As you can see in the visual, the ergonomic shape is brilliantly designed to fit in just about anyone’s ear comfortably. The solid aluminum body is milled with air chambers designed to perfectly deliver sound directly into your inner ear. This is accomplished by their PES System (Pressure Equalization System).


The Rai Penta has a low impedance of 20Ω which allows them to sound beautiful with just about every portable source out on the market today without hissing or noise filling the black spaces in your music tracks. According to Meze, these drivers are meticulously tuned to provide a super high-resolution response with a frequency range of 4Hz to 45kHz. Visually and physically beautiful, these were a pleasure to get to test.

The MMCX cable they come with is a high-quality silver-plated copper cable consisting of four wires, each with 20 strands of pure silver Litz. The included cable is terminated in a 3.5mm plug and the connectors are very well made to provide a lifetime of listening pleasure. As an aside, Meze also offers a balanced 2.5mm and balanced 4.4mm cable as an option.


For this review, I am using an iBasso DX220 on high gain, a volume level of 40, and the equalizer off. My standard Test Music microSD card is loaded with high-resolution FLAC files of the genre’s I listen to the most, classic rock, classical, acoustic rock, EDM, and country. After the initial test, I put the IEM’s through their paces with a batch of DSD512 files.

To start, I have to say that the clarity and tone of these IEM’s are pretty amazing. When listening to the Allman Brothers Band, “Midnight Rider”, the soulful notes are carried forward behind the signature guitar lick beautifully. You can hear the background bongo’s and second acoustic guitar playing even after the electric guitar begins the first solo of the song. I’m thinking to myself, WOW, great start!

Moving on through a few songs, I ended up on Carly Simon’s, “Nobody Does It Better”. The classic James Bond song from the movie with the same name. The blending of the full orchestral symphony with the drums and piano combined with her angelic voice took me to another place. Remembering the movie scene where Mr. Bond is chatting while looking at the Great Pyramid of Giza brought a huge smile to my face! The sound coming out of these little IEM’s is blowing me away, and I’m only 20 songs in! When the brass section in the song came in, my eyes popped open. It was like I was feeling the blast right in my face. Again, WOW.

After that, I figured it’s time for “Stairway to Heaven”, the classic Led Zeppelin song. Jimmy Page’s guitar during the intro and the flutes were magical and when Robert Plant began singing, I was pulled into the studio with them. When listening to John Bonham’s drumming, it is difficult to resist finger tapping. During the big solo, it was as if Page’s monitor was right in front of my face. Again my eyes popped open with Plant’s, “And as we wind on down the road…” My god, his voice is ridiculous. It was like listening to the song for the first time in years. That’s the emotion that these IEM’s brought out. I often use this song to determine the quality of sound coming out of headphones and IEM’s. The separation of instruments along with the harmony can tell a lot about the tuning of whatever I’m using to listen to at the time. These are beautifully tuned and I have nothing but appreciation for the Meze engineers.

What I began to notice are the tightness of sound and absolute clarity. The highs were brilliant without being shrill, the mids come out with distinction, and the bass gives a welcome beat with an extra oomph that was surprising and pleasant. These are exceptional sounding IEM’s and I was thoroughly enjoying them.

Another song of note was when I changed it up to some EDM. I played Don Diablo’s, “Never Change” and was so engrossed in the song that I didn’t notice my wife come home from work until she scared me by sticking her face into mine! These things are so clear and precise it’s as if I’m in the studio, with full-size cans on, playing with the mixing board!

These IEM’s are definitely one of the most versatile that I’ve had the pleasure of testing recently. Every music genre I throw at them, they play flawlessly. Every note, whether it’s coming from a Steinway piano, or electric guitar sounds incredibly tight, and fast. The bass is punchy, and to me sounds like there’s an extra bump in its delivery. Once I began to really formulate an opinion on these, I decided to go a little heavier with my music tastes. Read that as bring on the AC/DC and Metallica! I use these two bands for my heavier tastes because their songs are iconic and classic as well as heavy. The Rai Penta played both “Hell’s Bells” and “Enter Sandman” like a champ. Before moving on to some classical tracks I had to play, “For Those About To Rock” by AC/DC. It was absolutely the right thing to do, as before the first line was out, my eyes were closed and I was singing along, loudly. There was no blurring of instruments here whatsoever. Angus Young’s lead guitar was distinct against his brother Malcolm Young’s’ rhythm guitar and Brian Johnson’s iconic voice. Yeah, my wife was NOT happy about this song playing, at ALL.

In her words, “the neighbors can hear you, and your voice sucks.” LOL

Yeah, whatever…

I decided to pull it in with some of my favorite classical music tracks. Beethoven’s, “Bagatelle in A Minor (Fur Elise)” sounded beautiful with every note resounding clear and precise. Bach’s, “Air on a G String” is one of my favorite pieces ever, and listening to it on the Rai Penta was amazing. The beautiful intro just brought me joy and again the separation of instruments was sublime. A few more songs flew by and the one I remember most fondly is Pachelbel, “Canon in D”. The song was evocative of the best of classical music all wrapped up in one precise dance of notes. Amazing.

I ended my two weeks of listening pleasure with Queen’s, “Bohemian Rhapsody”. I always use this as my last track because of the complexity of the song. So far these IEM’s have performed beautifully and they did not disappoint with Queen. Freddy Mercury’s voice, piano, and harmonization with the other members’ voices were just stellar. There really isn’t anything else to say about how the song sounded. It just sounded fantastic, classic, haunting, and beautiful. Now I had two weeks to write it all up…

Conclusion

It’s been a long couple of weeks that flew by listening to the Rai Penta’s. I smiled more than I have while listening to music in a long time. Often I had to stop tracks just to process how great they sounded. This is not normal for me, I usually approach testing headphones and monitors with one track after the other, a few times taking notes. This was different, very different. I became attached to these and started going off book. That is a rabbit hole for a reviewer and something I really refrain from doing. Going off your set playlist and just throwing random songs at something may seem innocent enough, but in reality, it makes your brain spin with either pleasure or changes your opinion of the item completely. Not so in this instance. I was happily going from genre to genre, from FLAC to DSD to Qobuz, enjoying the heck out of these.

I place these in my highest category, Pretty Awesome. You get a fantastic bang for your buck with these IEM’s. To summarize, the tone, bass, clarity, precision are all hitting above their weight class. The fit is probably the best universal I have ever put inside my ears, and they were so comfortable that I fell asleep on my side while wearing them. I highly recommend these IEM’s.

Thanks for reading.

This review of the iBasso DX200 is long overdue. I received my unit a year ago, long before it was publicly released. I have been putting her through the paces for a year now and am finally ready to share my thoughts and insights on the device.

First I would like to thank Paul from iBasso for all his support to the entire community over the last year. He and the iBasso Team have shown us all that a manufacturer with integrity can produce a DAP that is both affordable and comparable to players far above it’s price point. They have also shown us that they are the pinnacle of community based support which is now being copied by other manufacturers.

The firmware for the unit has been upgraded over the course of the year with improvements primarily coming from our friend @Lurker0. As time went by we found more out about the DX200…such as it’s amazing ability to decode DSD512 files and it’s superior DYI tinkering capability.

At last years NYC CanJam 2018 @jamato8 and I were able to preview the DX200 TI and were floored by its sound. I chose to not upgrade because I wanted to put the original unit through its paces…the unit that most people would come to love and enjoy.

I recently upgraded the firmware to Oreo 8.1 with Lurkers fix for Playstore and @WindowsX’s Fidelizer ROM. Doing so has improved the sound of the unit remarkably and I’ll go into that later.

Please note: I am not a paid reviewer, nor am I an employee of iBasso. I am just like you…a fan, an audiophile, and a working man with an expensive hobby/habit…lol.

So to begin, the DX200 High Resolution Reference Audio Player has the following product description:


Product description

Main Features
- Dual SABRE ES9028PRO DAC Chips.
- Bit for Bit Playback Support up to 32bit/384 kHz.
- Support of Native DSD up to 512x.
- XMOS USB Receiver with Thesycon USB Audio Driver, Easy to use USB DAC.
- Dual Accusilicon Ultra Low Phase Noise Femtosecond Oscillators.
- 4.2" IPS Screen (768*1280) with Capacitive Touch Panel, Bonded by OCA.
- Mini Optical Output and Mini Coaxial Output. - 8-core CPU. - 2GB LPDDR3. - 64G of Internal Memory. - 5G WiFi and Bluetooth4.0.
- Patented User Exchangeable AMP Card.
- Three Physical Buttons (Previous, Play/Pauses, Next)
- 150-Steps Digital Volume Control.
- Audio Formats Supported: APE, FLAC,WAV, WMA, AAC, ALAC, AIFF, OGG, MP3, DFF, DSF, DXD.
- Support for M3U Playlist
- 4400mAh 3.8V Li-Polymer battery (Play time varies depends on volume, music type, and AMP card)
Specifications
2.5mm Balanced Output:
Output voltage 6Vrms Frequency Response: 20Hz-20KHz -0.16dB Signal to Noise Ratio:125dB Crosstalk: -122dB THD+N: < 0.0002%, -114dB (64O@3Vrms)
3.5mm HP Output:
Output voltage 3Vrms Frequency Response: 20Hz-20KHz -0.16dB Signal to Noise Ratio:122dB Crosstalk: -118dB THD+N: < 0.00032%,-110dB (32O@1.8Vrms)
Lineout:
Output voltage 3Vrms Frequency Response: 20Hz-20KHz -0.16dB Signal to Noise Ratio:122dB THD+N: < 0.00025%,-112dB Screen Size: 4.2inch 768*1280 Battery Capacity: 4400mAh
Case Dimension: 5.1L x 2.7W x 0.77H (inch) 128.5L x 69W x 19.5H (mm)
Weight: 240g or 8.5oz


I have burned this unit in for somewhere between 1500 and 2000 hours. I began with AMP1, then 2, 3, 4, 4s, 5,6, 7, 8, and now I have been using the upgraded AMP8 thanks to the fine work by @Whitigir. Vince has been a pioneer with tinkering and improving the sound of this DAP as well as introducing us all to the DSD512 format. Before him, no one had a clue that this little unit had the sheer processing power to convert these files. Thank you for that Vince!


Packaging:

As with all iBasso products since the venerable DX100, the unit was packaged beautifully and securely. I’m not including pictures here because there are plenty of them available if you want to see how the box looks. Included with the DAP are screen protectors, a leather case, optical cables and burn in cable.

I recommend reading the DX200 thread to learn about its full capabilities and to upgrade to the most recent software immediately. Yes, it makes a huge difference.

Basics:

I have one single playlist that I use for all my reviews and auditioning of equipment. Every file is FLAC and chosen for its complexity and uniqueness. For the DX208W (DX200 with AMP8…the W stands for Whitigir) I had been using FLAC’s for most of the year, but have since converted the entire list to DSD512.

For listening I am basing my review on ALL the IEM’s I have used over the course of the year, including my old JH Audio Angies, my Traulucent OneplusTwo’s, and now the iBasso IT04’s. For headphones, this review is based upon my well burned in Audeze LCD2 NF.

The Playlist:

Queen – Bohemian Rhapsody, One Vision,
Rush – Tom Sawyer
Allman Brothers – Statesboro Blues, Melissa, Jessica, Ramblin Man, Whipping Post, Midnight Rider
Peter Gabriel – Sledgehammer
Kool and the Gang – Celebration, Ladies Night
Marvin Gaye – What’s Going On
Thin Lizzie – The Boys are Back in Town
John Lennon – Imagine
Dire Straits – Money for Nothing
Emerson, Lake & Palmer – Lucky Man
Beatles – Hey Jude, Let it Be,
Bachman Turner Overdrive – You Ain’t Seen Nothin Yet
Skid Row – I Remember You
Extreme – More Than Words
Gary Moore – Parisienne Walkways
Meatloaf – I’d Do Anything for Love (But I won’t do that)
Thompson Twins – Hold Me Now
Genesis – Lonely Man on the Corner, Tonight,
Def Leppard – Pour Some Sugar on Me
Kiss – Rock and Roll All Night
Jefferson Starship – Jane
Sinead O’Connor – Nothing Compares to You
Led Zeppelin – Stairway to Heaven, Fool in the Rain, Kashmir, Over the Hills and Far Away
The Righteous Brothers – Unchained Melody
The Eagles – Hotel California, Desperado
Bob Marley & the Wailers – Redemption Song
The Doors – Light My Fire
The Animals – The House of the Rising Son
Lynyrd Skynyrd – Sweet Home Alabama, Simple Man, Free Bird
Boston – More Than A Feeling
Metallica – Enter Sandman
The Bee Gee’s – How Deep Is Your Love, Stayin Alive
The Kinks – Lola
Dusty Springfield – Son Of A Preacher Man
Creedence Clearwater Revival – Fortunate Son, Bad Moon Rising
James Taylor – Fire & Rain
Gladys Knight & The Pips – Midnight Train to Georgia
Alabama – Mountain Music
Asia – Heat of the Moment
Black Sabbath – The Sign of the Southern Cross, War Pigs
Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band – Turn the Page
Crowder – Forgiven, Come As You Are
Pink Floyd – Comfortably Numb, Wish You Were Here
Beethoven – Piano Sonata #14 in C, Symphony #5, #6 and #9
Pachelbel – Canon in D

What I have found over the last year with the device is that it is incredibly versatile. Anything that I’ve thrown at it, it can handle. Not just play, it plays everything on this list way beyond the other players I’ve had in the past. I have heard nuances in this selection of music that I have never had the pleasure to hear before. That brings me into the next section of my review…sound.

Sound

Way back when I first received the unit I borrowed a Sony WM1Z and an AK380 from a fellow Head-fier to compare the DX200 to. I called it then, and I reiterate it now even more so…this unit sounds just as good as the both of those “premium” DAPs. Everyone’s ears are different and to mine, now that I have @whitigir’s modded AMP8, I believe the sound has surpassed both of them. The sound stage and separation of instruments is pronounced, the vocals are ridiculously clear, and the sheer ability to make any genre that I’ve thrown at it sound amazing are at the core of the DX200’s awesomeness.

I don’t care what genre you listen to, I don’t care what IEM’s or Cans you possess. There is an AMP that will fit your style and compliment the music you play. As with any TOTL DAP, the better the music the better the sound. That’s why I went from using FLAC’s to DSD512s for the DX208W.

With Classical, you can hear the bow on the violin strings, the vibration of the orchestral drumsticks and the pages turning as they play.

With Rock, you can hear small nuances in the background that previously were not heard and even the tapping of the guitarists on the fret boards.

With Country/Blues, I have had the pleasure to be able to hear when the vocalists are sipping a drink during the solos as well as inflections in their voices that I've never heard before.

This is incredible. There’s no other way to put this.

Conclusion

I can’t go into the science of this unit, because well…that’s not my thing. I just write about what sounds good or bad. With this one, iBasso did good…Real Good. The fact that this is a sub $1000 DAP for the basic DX200 with AMP1 and you get crazy sound is mind blowing. Once you start playing with AMP modules the cost goes up, but you still are getting way more bang for your buck than with any other DAP, hands down.

This unit has surpassed the old DX100, which was the top of the food chain for DAP’s 10 years ago.

Bravo iBasso, Bravo.

Here is my review of the iBasso IT04 Universal IEM.


To begin I was given a pair of these to show at the iBasso booth at the 2018 NYC CanJam. I was never asked to do a review but here I am…

First let’s talk about the design. They went with a dark acrylic shell with a conch flange for stability. The shell is slightly bigger than the IT01’s and IT03’s which is due to the 3 balanced drivers and 1 dynamic driver. They come with iBasso’s CB12 braided hybrid copper/silver balanced cable along with a single ended adapter cable. The package is very nicely presented and like all the other iBasso products you get the feel that you’re holding an item way above its price point.

I have paired the IT04’s up with my iBasso DX200 DAP running the latest Lurker firmware. For song’s I have used my standard FLAC testing playlist consisting of:

1. Queen – Bohemian Rhapsody
2. Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here
3. The Allman Brothers – Dreams
4. The Allman Brothers – Statesboro Blues (Live at the Fillmore East)
5. The Allman Brothers – Sweet Melissa (Personal Favorite)
6. Pink Floyd – Comfortably Numb
7. Rodrigo y Gabriella – Hanuman
8. Iron Maiden – The Number of the Beast
9. Judas Priest – Living After Midnight (Remastered)
10. Dio – Holy Diver
11. Queen – Who Wants to Live Forever
12. Queen – Another One Bites the Dust
13. Jesse Cook – Havana
14. Five Finger Death Punch – No One Gets Left Behind
15. Dean Martin – The Way You Look Tonight
16. Pachelbel – Canon in D
17. Beethoven – Piano Sonata #21
18. Tokio Myers – Human by Rag’n Bone Man
19. Kongos – Come With Me Now
20. Lynyrd Skynyrd – Free Bird
21. Asia – Heat of the Moment
22. Stevie Ray Vaughan – Little Wing
23. Simon & Garfunkel – The Sound of Silence
24. Led Zeppelin – Stairway to Heaven
25. The Ramones – Blitzkrieg Bop
26. Van Halen – Eruption
27. Puddle of Mud – She Hates Me

I use this playlist with every DAP, IEM, and headphone that I sample. I allowed the IT04’s to burn in the entire week before the 2018 NYC CanJam before putting them in my ears again. The difference between the IT01 and the IT04 is wonderful. It sounds more open and detailed without being “airy”. It is definitely a different animal than the IT01’s that’s for sure. The tuning is completely different and I found myself head bobbing more than I have in a long time. I found a smile and with closed eyes I can just imagine what a fool I looked like…

But that didn’t matter, it sounded good… real good. I was able to discern the positions of the band members in some of the songs and usually I need my higher end JH Angies or my old Tralucent 1Plus2’s for that. So they get another positive check for that. Moving down the playlist some songs were out of this world such as Five Finger Death Punch’s “No One Gets Left Behind”, Queens’ “Who Wants to Live Forever” and the Allman Brothers “Statesboro Blues". Each of those songs took me to another place and time. It was pretty awesome.

I had these IEM’s in my ears for the entire playlist, not taking them out even once. I was concerned with the little conch flange sticking out…that it would bother me. However, you don’t even feel it and it does sit comfortably in your ear. Where the IT01’s can be slept in, if you so choose, these aren’t so good at that. Because of the added drivers, the shell is larger of course. While small in comparison to other IEM’s, it still sticks out of my ears just enough to be noticeable when you are lying down on a pillow. (I can fall asleep in any position with the IT01’s in my ears).

In conclusion, I found these IEMs to be very enjoyable. They are lively, addictive, and sound fantastic with the DX200. It is really like they’re made to go together…and you know what…they might be. I’m not an audio professional, I’m a regular guy who loves music, plays a few instruments, and tells it like it is. I think this IEM is definitely better sounding than the IT01 (of course) and the IT03. I also think it sounds better than my Heir 4Ai’s, and it comes right after my JH Angies…I find myself using these more and A/B’ing them more than I expected to. They are supposed to be in the $499 zone of pricing and should be available for purchase soon.

Thanks for reading.

Fantastic 2.1 speaker setup that I've attached to a modded Creative X-Fi Music card.  Powerful bass, excellent (although wired) remote, and great sound quality. I definitely recommend!

Total package price was $450 for the mahogany cups, Symphones v4 Magnum Drivers, Lambskin headband, and removable silver hybrid cable with Neutrik connector.
 
Amazing soundstage, clarity, and detail in these. They sound better than much higher priced cans and after a lot of help on here from some great members I found out who made these and I couldn't be happier. I loved these for the sound quality and craftsmanship before knowing who orchestrated their conception and execution and am simply and  happily stunned by the work.
 
Steve from NYC