iBasso 3T-154

IBASSO 3T-154 IEM- An New tuning experience

IBASSO has been a well-known brand in the music industry and has been making great iems, DAPs etc which are very well known throughout the world. Founded in 2006, I has been gaining ground with their superior DAPS and DAC AMPS, dongle at most of the price segments. Today I am getting a chance to try their DAC AMP- IBASSO 3T-154 IEM.

DISCLAIMER-
This review is part of a IBASSO and Aural Cafe-organized tour in India, and I have not received any compensation for my thoughts. I am grateful to Aural cafe, Ibasso and Pradipta Sur bhai for including me in this tour. If you want to purchase it, you can buy it from the official product website from the link: IBASSO 3T-154 IEM

PACKAGING-
Its very simple but environment friendly. I loved the case made up of synthetic leather and hold the iem and case in a slightly tight manner. The Thank you letter on the top acted as an padding pretty much but nothing can happen to this iem for sure. I would love to see more padding being added to top. The foam holding the iems are of medium firm and could easily handle the some bumps. Lots of tips and a screwdriver were also present. An extra pair of 3.5mm plug was also present which can be replaced from the cable which is 4.4mm.


SPECS-

• Driver Configuration: 1 Dynamic Driver (15.4 mm with 3T Magnetic flux)
• Impedance: 16Ω ± 10%
• Freq Response: 7Hz-41Khz
• Sensitivity: 116dB/mW @1kHz
• Isolation: -26 dB
• Cable: 1.2 m with detachable 4.4mm and 3.5mm Termination

BUILD-
The iem are big and won’t fit easily into most ears. There is much more way to give but hey they fit me well but protruded a bit outside of the ears a lot. But that can be said of the weight as they are quite light on weight and made up of magnesium alloy (not don’t burn it please ). This counters the big size and well makes it comfortable on the long run

CABLE-
It’s a big and thick cable like I like it. There is good heft to it and the interchangeable plugs can be replaced with the included screwdriver which makes it much more secure and easier to replace too. There is a little bit of cable noise with movement but not much to distract from music.

NOTE: This iem was used with HiBy R4 and also PAW S1. I loved it with both of them but I used HiBy R4 more hence most of the review will be with that. Now HiBy is a neutral source mostly so you can change the source to match this iem which is nearly on neutral side.

SOUND IMPRESSIONS-

SUB-BASS-
Subbass has great initial hits which feels deep and impactful. It does go deep but not too much sub-bassy that can entice the sub-bass heads. There is extension of the sub-bass notes, but they are more well defined and easily recognizable among other instruments than going too deep. They have good attack speed, but the decay is also fast hence limiting the spread a lot, making it restricted to the middle of the head stage rather than spreading to the corners of the head stage. But the tonality is wonderful sticking to being slightly warm to neutral mostly. But even with sub-bass this good, the small details in the head stage still comes through.

BASS-
Bass is impactful dynamic and has wonderful tonality. The tones are slightly warm to neutral and tonal differences between different bass instruments are very easy to recognize. The notes are dynamic showing good height differences in the notes and you can know which notes are made form hitting harder while which are not. The notes base are small though, body is though good size and has good extension overall too. There is more presence of bass in the middle of the headstage and it also shows a good amount of depth in the headstage but not as of physical depth rather the presentation of the instruments right in front of you while the bass coming from a little below and behind the vocalist and instruments. The dynamics are so good that it feels great to listen to musicals.

MIDS-
Male vocals are great. There are great tonal differences between the vocalists. There is good roughness to their voices and its well defined. This makes the male vocals feel more real. Female vocals sound sweet and well defined. Their voices are much more defined given their tonal differences. They reach higher in the head stage too unless but in line with the head stage of the song. The vocals are dynamic and are more intimate in nature with the music eclipsing the singer. But the notes base is small, body is quite long and well-defined edges are also present. With that being said, the small nuances comes up easily and sss are more smoothened and wont feel sharp at all.

The instrument notes are quite dynamic and have a slightly warm to neutral tonality. They are quite different in their presentation but the definition is literally the best thing. Even the notes which are quite low in volume and to the entire edges of the headstage have their own dynamics. The notes are having a good base and body nearly equal in dimensions, but the extension is really good with reaching quite high in the headstage. The individual notes of the individual instruments are also quite well defined. The attack speed is great but the decay is slightly fast, but still lingers enough to leave a great taste in your mouth. The placement of the instruments is beautiful with accurate presentation of the instruments in the headstage. The instruments feel like having their own space yet, they feel cohesive. The separation is great of the instruments and their notes. The notes are quite easily defined and I love it. The instruments are mostly present surrounding the vocalists and the resonances that you hear from the headstage or the room make it a wonderful experience. You can literally feel the size of the stage where the music is being recorded or the orchestra music happening there. A very big expansive.

TREBLE-
Instruments here have a generally neutral tonality with very big dynamics. Their tonal differences are easily felt and even the height difference is easily recognizable. The energy of the instruments is really good just inking the line between excitement of the treble instruments like saxophone etc, when required and then making it just neutral enough to have long listening session. This change in energy is what makes this iem wonderful. Attached are the notes characteristics of good body and base and longer extension to the headstage along with beautiful separation and placement makes this a really good iem. The individual notes are also well defined with the room characteristics coming into play makes this a musical listening experience without fatigue.

VERDICT-
A wholehearted yes to this iem, I love this iem. A little improvement in the sub-bass could be great, which is nicely handled by EQ or even a cable change or get PAW S1 would do.

First of I use sophisticated music system including, streamer, ddc, Aes -> dac, amp, hifiman, senheisser for my daily dose of tunes and am quite accustomed to pretty realistic presentation of music. So my opinion about this iem IBasso 3T-154 from my years of experience based on this.

I am not affiliated to the brand but I want this review to help the brand tune the dynamic driver correctly as I think this has potential specially for Indian, US, European music, recorded before this current generation of EDMs, where mids have the utmost importance.

Fit:- Honestly inserting this iem in the ear canal was like 'fu**' too big, pls pull out.... Ibasso should fix this in next iteration. otherwise most people wont even bother to use it.

Sound Overview:- Perceived frequency response is inverted U shape. Both top end beyond 6k and below 80hz starts slowly rolling off. But the major problem laid at the 2-3k region, and it was severe internal resonance peaking randomly while playing tracks. These issues need to addressed first and if fixed, probably 90% job done. The driver should retain the existing musicality and nuanced mid frequency capability.

Bass: Good dynamism and excursion, air movement from the huge 15mm driver. Only it lacked volume/ loudness but it wasn't a issue in system as I played through dac, amps with powerful discreet output stages to pump power

Mids: Excellent but with resonance issue. The midrange is very nuanced and subtle changes in vocals and instruments gets picked up. But around 2khz area, resonance and peaks and whatever, something went wrong.

Treble: Nothing special, smooth relaxed. Decent sound stage as a 13k DD but falls off above 7k significantly.

So, frequency extension, proper tuning and optimizing the shape of the iem for easy insertion needs utmost attention from Ibasso.

Introduction
This is the iBasso 3T-154, and it is an interesting IEM in many ways. “3T” in the name means that the drivers in the IEMs are capable of having a maximum magnetic flux of 3 Tesla. “154” in the name refers to the diameter of the beryllium-plated dynamic drivers in the IEM.

I’ll just call it 3T from now on. Is the first and only IEM to feature a magnesium alloy shell as far as I know. And it is the IEM with the largest dynamic driver yet at 15.4mm. This driver size was used in earbuds, but according to my research it has never been used in an IEM. Correct me if I’m wrong. Having a few weeks to listen to them, they were reminiscent of listening to open back headphones in many ways.

The specifications of the 3T are on the screen right now. Pause the video if you need to. Now, let’s unbox the 3T and I’ll tell you more about it.

Build, Accessories, and Cable
The 3T is housed with magnesium alloy shells to reduce the overall weight of the IEMs. According to iBasso, using magnesium alloy shells are 36% lighter than aluminum alloy shells and 78% lighter than stainless steel shells. It has a replaceable gold nozzle design, which interesting reveals the 15.4mm drivers once you remove them.

The 3T comes with lots of tips. It came with 4 sets of silicone tips, each set in different shapes and sizes. And also, two sets of foam tips, a larger pair and a smaller pair. You can experiment around with the tips to see which one you like most. I prefer the solid black tips from the stock tips. But after further experimentation, the Final E tips I had lying around fitted me best. The 3T also came with two extra nozzles, they are exactly the same as the ones on the IEMs, so I’m not sure why they provided an extra pair. It’s good to have spares though.

The 3T comes with a 0.78mm two-pin detachable cable, made from high purity silver-plated copper. The cable is quite chunky for an IEM cable, the wires, the splitter and the plug are all pretty large. You can swap out the plug to a 3.5mm or 4.4mm plug using the included screw driver in the package. Personally I would prefer a narrower and lighter cable, but this one is pretty decent considering the size of the IEMs.

Fit and Isolation
Initially, I was worried that the 3T wouldn’t fit in my ears as I have pretty small ears. I really wanted to like the Sony Z1R IEMs in the past , but they just did not want to fit in my ears due to the width of them. Luckily, 3T isn’t as wide and I have no problem fitting them in my ears. The magnesium shells are flared towards the outside, so that the part that actually fits in your ear isn’t that large. The largest part of the IEMs actually sit outside on the concha of my ears. Despite of the large shells they actually sit very comfortably in my ears, there aren’t any hot spots even with extended periods of use. I would say the 3Ts are comfortable IEMs to wear for me, thanks to its round shells and lightweight magnesium alloy shells. Although these look pretty huge. They are only about 9.5 grams per side.

The isolation of the 3Ts is below average in my experience. There are a total of 5 vents on the inner side of the IEMs, so don’t expect them to block out a lot of external noise.

Tuning
The 3T has a mostly neutral tuning and it is a highly detailed sounding IEM with slightly forward sounding mids. The driver sounds so quick and responds so well to minor details, it almost sounded like a planar driver. The mids and upper mids of the 3T are super resolving. It will pick up a lot of minute details in a recording, especially in the vocals. With a mostly neutral and natural tonality, I think the 3T will actually work great as a studio monitor IEM. Listening to them for the first time, it immediately reminded me of my Fostex T60RPs.

Bass
With 15.4mm beryllium-plated dynamic drivers, the 3T is capable of producing fast and impactful bass. However these are not your typical basshead IEMs. You will not get an overloading amount of bass on these IEMs. Instead you get a mostly neutral bass response will a slight boost in sub bass. Having a near neutral bass response, You won’t hear an exaggeration of lower frequencies like most warm sounding IEMs would. But when playing songs that asks for it, like EDM and Hip-hop music. The 3T will effortlessly and accurately reproduce the bass in the tracks.

One of my favorite tracks to test bass on is Hotel California by Eagles, from the Hell Freezes Over album. The 3Ts performed great and was able to reproduce those deep and rumbly drum notes throughout the song.

Mids
The mids are what stands out most on the 3Ts in my opinion, it’s super resolving and engaging. The mids are slightly forward sounding , which makes it excel in vocal-oriented tracks. The 3T has an emphasis on the upper mid-range, which to my ears make vocals sound airier and more echoey. I find it especially easy to pick up backing vocals, echoes and reverbs on the 3T due to the emphasis in the upper mids. In general, the 3T has a lot of clarity in the midrange.

I really enjoyed listening to Always Remember Us This Way by Lady Gaga from the A Star is Born Soundtrack. The track is really well mastered, and the 3T was able to reproduce the song nicely with Lady Gaga’s voice being super detailed and engaging. The echoes of her voice in the track was also nicely perceived with lots of clarity.

Highs
I think it is safe to say that the 3T is safe for treble sensitive users. The treble of the 3T is presented in a well controlled and precise manner. Symbols and high pitched notes in guitars sound natural with adequate resolution. There’s a smoothness in the treble that will allow hours of listening time without feeling fatigued. However, if you like a lot of sparkle and treble in your IEMs, you might find the treble of the 3Ts to be too conservative.

Soundstage & Imaging
The soundstage performance of the 3T is average. Although the width of the staging isn’t particularly wide, the imaging and instrument separation is impressive. Even in busy rock tracks, you’ll be able to hear a distance between the vocals and different instruments with great clarity. Many IEMs that are not resolving enough will often be perceived as a wall of sound when playing busy tracks. Meaning that all the instruments will sound like it’s coming from a single plane. That never was an issue with the 3Ts thanks to its highly resolving and transparent 15.4mm drivers.

Sources
I tested the 3T-154 with the DC07Pro, DX180 and the Shanling UA4. My favorite combination sonically was with the DC07Pro. I personally like a slightly warmer sound and the DC07Pro added just a slight touch of warmth in the bass of the 3T. Also mind that the 3T is a very sensitive IEM, so make sure to use a quieter amp for the best quality. I had some hissing using the UA4 balanced port.

Comparisons
Compared to the ER2XR, I immediately heard more upper bass quantity on the ER2. The 3T has much quicker bass and better sub bass presentation. Comparing the mids and vocals, both of them have similar clarity, but the 3T’s vocal presence sounds slightly more forward than the ER2. Comparing the treble, the ER2 has more detail in it, but the 3T has a wider sense of space in the treble frequencies.

Hearing the 3Ts for the first time, it immediately reminded me of the Fostex T60RPs. Comparing the two, the bass is actually very similar. Both of them have a very quick bass response. Comparing the mids, I feel that the T60RPs are a bit shouty on the vocals, sometimes it will sound a bit too fatiguing on modern pop and rap songs. The 3T, although is a bit forward sounding in general, it sounds more laid back than the T60RPs. Treble wise, the T60s have better extension. By comparison, the 3T has a smoother treble response.

Genres
I’ve tried many genres with the 3T and I found it performing especially well in classical music, metal, rock and vocal oriented pop tracks, thanks to its great driver technicalities and depth in imaging.

However, what sounded particularly bad was some old and poorly mastered recordings from the past. For example, some old albums from The Rolling Stones and The Beatles. They sounded flat and dull with the 3Ts. I’d prefer using smoother and warmer sounding IEMs if you listen to a lot of tracks like these. The 3T is picky on the source, if there are any flaws in the recording, it will be exaggerated.

Conclusion & Recommendations
In conclusion, the 3T-154 is a unique sounding IEM with unique features. While most IEMs in this price bracket feature a warm and smooth tuning. iBasso is aiming to provide us with something a bit different than what others are doing. The result is a pair of dynamic driver IEMs, that shares a lot of similarities with open-back headphones in terms of sound characteristics.

I would especially recommend the 3T for someone who is invested in full sized headphones, but are finding most IEMs sounding too congested to give these a try. I think they provide a sound experience similar to semi-open or open back headphones in the form factor of an IEM.

In general, if you are looking for a neutral IEM with great clarity in the mids, I think the 3T will be a compelling choice for you in this price range.



Disclaimer: The product was provided by iBasso for the purpose of the review.

IBASSO AUDIO 3T-154: THE IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE

DISCLAIMER: The iBasso Audio 3T-154 IEM is provided for free by iBasso Audio for review purposes. We are truly honored and excited for being this our first collaboration with iBasso Audio. We thank iBasso Audio for the Support.

Introduction: -

Today we will be reviewing iBasso Audio 3T-154 IEMs at Aural Cafe, which is their latest offering in Single DD Universe. Before we talk about the 3T-154 IEMs let’s talk a bit about iBasso Audio. iBasso Audio is a China-based Hi-Fi brand primarily known for coming with class-leading Hi-Fi DAPs such as iBasso DX200, DX300 and the legendary DX320 Max. For somebody like us who entered this hobby around 2017, we would like to say that iBasso Audio has been one of the oldest and strongest pillars of the portable Hi-Fi industry. They kept transforming themselves and coming up with innovative products to cater to the needs of ever demanding Audiophiles. What we at Aural Cafe are surprised about iBasso Audio is the agility and speed with which they come up with solid and super innovative products. They entered Hi-Fi dongles around 2020 and recently have come up with an Industry-leading dongle DC-Elite. They also surprised audiophiles recently by launching D16 Taipan, a 1-bit portable discrete DAC and PB5 OSPREY, a balanced portable tube amplifier. iBasso Audio also came up with a few solid IEMs such as IT-00, IT-07, and Infect IT-00 although being launched in 2020 is still loved and respected by Audiophiles all around the world.

iBasso Audio 3T-154 Is a single DD (Dynamic Driver) based IEMs launched in January 2024 as a part of their 17th anniversary celebration, yes 17th anniversary!!! The 3T-154 simply denotes the DD tech inside the IEMs. The 3T-154 utilizes a 15.4 mm large diaphragm for excellent soundstage and pressure along with a high 3 Tesla magnetic flux to take care of the dynamics. The 3T-154 makes use of a high-quality beryllium embossed diaphragm which is known for its rigidity and thus helps in minimizing distortion so that every note is precise and clean. Along with the big driver, the 3T-154 also makes use of high precision CNC diaphragm bracket, an N55 ND-Feb magnet along with Japanese Daikoku CCAW voice coil to present an IEM that not only sounds great but sustains for longer periods of usage. The shell of the 3T-154 Is made using high-hardness magnesium alloy to keep the chunky shell light and comfortable for long periods of usage and to also reduce the resonance caused by the big DD inside the shell to provide excellent stability while listening to your favourite songs.

The 3T-154 IEM is priced at 149 US$ and can be bought from iBasso's official website.



Specifications: -

• Driver Configuration: 1 Dynamic Driver (15.4 mm with 3T Magnetic flux)
• Impedance: 16Ω ± 10%
• Freq Response: 7Hz-41Khz
• Sensitivity: 116dB/mW @1kHz
• Isolation: -26 dB
• Cable: 1.2 m with detachable 4.4mm and 3.5mm Termination
• Weight: 18.8 gms. without Cable

Packaging & Accessories: -

The iBasso Audio 3T-154 comes in a medium-sized rectangular-shaped cardboard box. The outer sleeve is white removing which leads to a beautiful navy blue coloured box. On opening the box, one is greeted by iBasso 3T-154 silver-coloured IEMs. The upper layer of the box consists of IEMs and a very ergonomic bottle green-coloured leather carry case. iBasso 3T-154 Comes with a generous and very useful set of accessories which is placed inside the leather carry case. The 3T-154 accessories comprise one 3.5 mm and one high quality 4.4 Swappable Headphone plug, twelve pairs of silicone tips in S, M, and L sizes, two pairs of foam ear tips, one pair of spare nozzle filters and wait the list won’t end here the iBasso Audio team also provide you with a screwdriver which is very useful in changing the plugs of detachable cables it comes with. The warranty card and the quick start guide are also provided and can be found inside the black envelope stick just opposite the IEMs. Be provided with, the 3T-154 comes with a sturdy and soft detachable high-purity SPC cable with standard 2-pin, 0.78 mm plugs. The cable is lightweight and flexible thus making it easier to use while listening to music while commuting. For the unboxing video please follow this link:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/dDXWiY4oh2M





Build & Design Concept: -

When it comes to build quality, we at Aural café feel that iBasso Audio has used high-quality materials to make sure that the IEMs can last for a long duration of time. Despite being a 149 US$ item the iBasso Audio team made sure that the audiophile is provided with every high-quality accessory which is needed to use 3T-154 IEMs for listening to music on a day-to-day basis.

When it comes to fit, the 3T-154 IEMs feature an above-average size shell and won't be comfortable for people with small-sized ears. The team at iBasso Audio smartly makes use of magnesium alloy to keep the shell lightweight and easier for day-to-day usage. One can see lots of pinhole vents across the shell to keep the pressure while usage at the minimum best. The team at iBasso Audio tried their best to make an ergonomic shell but we at Aural Café would love a better design. We would also like to state here that audiophiles with big ears won't have any problem while using the item and the shell design also provides decent passive isolation making it easier to enjoy the music in loud places. All in all, we can say that the unboxing experience is very simple, complete and clean.




Sound Analysis: -

Credits: @aftersound

• Tonality: - One word to describe the tonality of iBasso 3T-154 is “balanced” across the frequency range with a tinge of musicality and warmth. The Lows, mids and high frequencies are truly balanced and play their role in a very simple yet very intoxicating way. The lows and mids have a sufficient soul with the high frequency being very fluid and organic. The timbre of the instruments especially is very natural and life-like with lots of resolution.

• Lows: - The lows on 3T-154 are clean and tight and deep across the frequency but it's not super hard-hitting. We at Aural Café feel that the iBasso Audio team focused on the overall balanced tuning and thus the lows have an impact but are not as punchy as we expected. What we loved about the lows is that it is clean, tight, spacious and with a tinge of warmth that gives a very immersive feeling like one is listening to an open-back headphone all thanks to the 15.4 mm large Dynamic Driver. The mid-bass and the sub-bass both are balanced in quantity with the mid-bass being a tinge more in quantity. The mid-bass is tight and has a decent impact, engaging and goes surprisingly deep while listening to an underground genre of music. We really loved listening to the Timmy Turner (Sexroom & Paniek bootleg) remix on Soundcloud on Dethonray SG1 Gold. While listening to Heartless and Six Feet Under by The Weekend the Sub-bass has a decent layering and quality without overpowering the mid-frequency. We loved the way the lows are precisely tuned to prevent it from bleeding into the mids. We strongly feel that the use of high-quality DD with a high 3 Tesla magnetic flux and magnet is responsible for high-quality dynamics in low frequency.

• Mids: - The Beryllium embossed 15.4 mm DD plays a vital role in the mids frequency in the 3T-154 IEMs. The mids in 3T-154 are a bit forward but merge well with the overall balanced tuning of the IEMs. This kind of tuning gives a very immersive feeling which is quite evident when listening to rock music. The large 15.4 mm driver along with a big housing adds a decent amount of space and dynamics to the mid-frequency. The 3T-154 while listening to the famous Hotel California by the Eagles on Aune M1p made us feel as if we were attending their live concert. The high-quality beryllium embossed dd leads to very clean male and female vocals whereas the the tinge of warmth adds soul and musicality to the mid-frequency. The vocals surprisingly have lots of soul and emotions and don’t sound dry like many IEMs in this price range. This is evident while listening to “Skyfall” by Adele on Dethonray DTR1+. When it comes to lower mids this is a place we feel the 3T-154 Lacks a bit in body but then it's totally fine considering its price. While the upper mids are beautifully tuned with lots of body, brightness and effortless shimmer which is where the beryllium shows its magic. The team at iBasso Audio have made the best use of the beryllium embossed DD to add a bit of natural and organic shimmer which becomes quite fun while listening to the progressive metal genre such as “The Drapery Falls” by the Opeth on iFi Go bar Kensei. The drum has engaged nice kicks and the timbre of the instruments such as bass guitar and violin is very natural and life-like. The female vocals while listening to “Moh Moh ke Dhage” by Monali Thakur and male vocals while listening to “Cold-Mess” by Prateek Kuhad sound very fun, natural and soulful.

• Highs: - The highs on iBasso Audio 3T-154 are tuned in a very precise and controlled manner to keep up with the overall tonality of the IEMs. The tuning adds a subtle sparkle and shimmer without any harshness leading to a fatigue-free listening experience. There is no hint of shouty-ness or nasty peaks and thus very helpful for longer listening sessions. The lower treble is tuned in a very clean way with lots of articulated details while the upper treble is just average at best. We enjoyed listening to “Dhadak” composed by Ajay Atul and sung by Shreya Ghosal for the Bollywood movie Dhadak.

• Soundstage & Imaging: - The soundstage on iBasso Audio 3T-154 IEM is holographic yet immersive all thanks to the 15.4 mm DD and the large housing. The iBasso Audio 3T-154 will give a feel as if one is listening to an open-back headphone. The soundstage on 3T-154 is immersive, engaging with decent width and above-average depth which is quite visible while listening to “Thriller” by Michael Jackson. The soundstage of iBasso Audio 3T-154 also makes listening to the classical genre of music quite engaging and fun. To analyze the imaging capabilities of iBasso Audio 3T-154 we listened to the legendary “Time” by Pink Floyd on Dethonray Listening M1. The imaging on 3T-154 is just average in comparison to other IEMs in this price range.

• Synergy: - The iBasso Audio 3T-154 although housing a large 15.4 mm DD inside the magnesium alloy shell is surprisingly easy to drive and can be even driven by the most mobile phones available in the market. We at Aural Café give lots of value to the source and therefore will recommend high-quality sources to experience the real capability of the IEMs. After using several DAPs from Aune M1p, Dethonray DTR1, Dethonray DTR1+, and AK SP1000M we can say it goes best with neutral and balanced DAPs such as Dethonray DTR1 and Aune M1p in our case. When it comes to dongles, we tested them with Tanchjim Space Lite, Aune Yuki and iFi Audio Go Bar Kensei and we find it best goes with Aune Yuki for tonality, but iFi Go Bar Kensei gives a very clean and spacious presentation truly shows the capability of the unit. When it comes to the cable, the included stock cable does great justice to the tuning of the IEMs, so after-market cable is not really needed in this case still if you want to test, we loved SPC cable like PW Audio Saladdin which just adds a bit of bass impact and natural to the overall tonality of the IEMs. When it comes to tips, we tried it with stock as well as after-market tips so when it comes to the tips the iBasso Audio 3T-154 goes really well with the stock foam tips but it’s the blue silicone tips that go best with the 3T-154 as it helps in deep insertion and adds to the overall clarity and natural timbre. When it comes to the after-market tips, we feel the Spinfit CP145 goes well with the natural tonality of the IEMs.

Conclusion: -

We at Aural Café would like to conclude this review by saying that the iBasso Audio 3t-154 IEM which is being launched at their 17th anniversary celebration of the Ibasso Audio does total justice to their sparkling past and upcoming rocking future of the Brand. Although the 3T-154 comes with a very simple unboxing experience, then there is a popular saying that doesn’t judge the book by its cover, and it is totally apt in the case of the 3T-154 IEMs. We strongly feel that the team at iBasso Audio tuned the 3T-154 very carefully to present balanced IEMs to their audiophile fans and to give the experience of open-back headphones through a 15.4 mm high-quality Dynamic Driver. We also feel that the high-quality magnets and beryllium embossment played a great role in giving that immersive and clean experience without any harshness. The accessories provided are not just there for namesake but make sure that the IEMs can be used for a very long duration of time. On the other side, we would love it if the iBasso team could have reduced the size of the housing a bit so that audiophiles with small ears can also enjoy the 3T-154.

Non-Affiliated Link: -

• https://ibasso.com/product/3t154/
• https://hifigo.com/products/ibasso-3t154

The 3T-154 is a brand new and affordable, single dynamic driver earphone by iBasso. The rather strange name is a combination of the two key features, the 15.4mm diaphragm, a maximized size of diaphragm for an IEM, and the 3T magnetic flux for the best possible performance.

The beryllium-plated diaphragm possesses remarkable internal resistance and exceptional rigidity. Additionally, the embossing technology further enhances the diaphragm's rigidity, which drastically minimizes distortion while enhancing sound precision.

You can read more about the iBasso 3T-154 here.



Non Audio stuff

The 3T-154 uses high-hardness magnesium alloy as the shell material. Comparing the same volume, this magnesium alloy is about 36% lighter than an aluminum alloy. It also has stronger rigidity, impact resistance, reduces resonance caused by the unit, and has excellent stability.



Despite the use of magnesium alloy, the barrel-shaped, rounded ear-shells still weigh 18g each. They are also quite bulky and not that discreet looking either as they protrude outside the ear. However, the truth is that the actual wearing experience is not that bad and the 3T-154 is a mostly comfortable earphone despite its size and weight. Still you need to take a break from time to time and passive noise attenuation is not the best. The design is modern and futuristic, a great departure from the company's previous aesthetics. The 3T-154 is available in back and silver finishes.

The stock cable

The detachable cable adopts the standard 0.78 two-pin interface which makes cable replacement very convenient. A high purity silver-plated copper cable is included as a standard. The cable is soft and lightweight, it bends easily and it doesn't induce microphonic noise.

The 1.2m long cable features an interchangeable plug system with a newly designed 1.2mm pin cross-sectional area that is 2.37 times that of the standard 0.78mm pin. The package includes 3.5mm and 4.4mm plugs that get easily attached to the female socket of the cable. You can use the provided hexagonal screwdriver to fasten the screw of the plug but if you frequently change plugs, there's no need to worry about tightening the screw.



Accessories

The package includes a nice carrying case with a magnetic lid, a spare set of sound tubes, two pairs of memory foam ear-tips and four sets of different ear-tips in three sizes each. The extra sound tubes are just spares and not for fine tuning.



Drivability

Rated at 16Ω/116dB, the iBasso 3T-154 is really easy to drive and a high quality USB DAC dongle, like the iBasso DC04PRO, should suffice. However, the earphones scale pretty well and are also quite sensitive to source noise so don't be afraid to use one of your better sources. I had great results with the iBasso DX260. The 3T-154 was burned for more than 100 hours to let the huge driver loosen up.



Audio stuff

The iBasso 3T-154 is a balanced and rather neutrally tuned set of earphones. The overall tonal balance is very well suited for critical listening applications, the sound focuses on timbral accuracy and is dominated by great transparency and clarity, far exceeding the average of the category.

The low-end has very good extension and linearity without any significant mid-bass bloat that could lead to tonal inaccuracies. The 3T-154 does a splendid job at reproducing all the low-pitched instruments of the orchestra with the most realistic timbre and the correct pitch. The 15.4mm driver is large but very disciplined, the bass is tight and controlled, fast, crystal clear and well defined with excellent layering. What is the most striking aspect though is its punchiness and the really impressive physical impact. The bass is absolutely thundering but it doesn't overpower the rest of the frequencies because it is neutrally tuned. The use of the 15.4mm driver might add a little bulk to the ear-shells but it compensates with one of the best bass experiences you can get from an earphone at this price point.

The mid-range follows the same kind of formula with a balanced and mostly neutral tuning but with a generous upper mids emphasis. Nothing too sibilant or harsh but it does make this certain part of the frequency range to sound more prominent and focused than the rest. Resolution and transparency are more than satisfying for the category and so is the overall clarity and definition. The 3T-154 is not sterile or clinical sounding, the sound is flowing like spring water and the presentation is colorful and captivating with plenty of colorful harmonies, natural timbre and weighty textures.

The treble is airy and energetic enough without excessive sparkle or brilliance. This is a rather smooth and forgiving approach, however it doesn't compromise in clarity and definition. The timbre is still natural and realistic without any significant traces of artificiality or metallic sheen. The textures are not dry, as it usually happens with balanced armature drivers, and the sound possesses excellent coherency throughout the whole frequency range. The 3T-154 is suitable for listening to all kinds of music and it matches well with most sources.

The other most striking thing about the iBasso 3T-154, after its impressively dynamic bass, is the openness of the soundstage which reminds more of full sized headphones rather than budget friendly earphones. Wide open and spacious with satisfying depth layering and excellent imaging for the category, the iBasso 3T-154 offers a captivating listening experience that manages to communicate a realistic atmosphere.

Some fine tuning

Additionally, you can use different types of ear-tips to fine tune the lower-end. With the stock white ear-tips you get a touch of mid-bass warmth and more visceral textures while the blue/black ones result in a more neutrally tuned bass at the expense of some body weight. I have also tried the swallow black ear-tips but they didn't work well for my ears, they didn't seal so the bass was too anemic and lean.



Overall value

Unlike previous earphones by iBasso the 3T-154 follows a different tuning concept. As an example, it is not as fun and smooth sounding as the IT01X which has a warmer, more relaxed and bass prominent sound signature. The 3T-134 is more neutral and transparent with amazing dynamic range and stellar technicalities that far exceed the asking price. Truly enough, in a blind listening test you will easily believe that this is a much more expensive set of earphones than it actually is.

Conclusion

The iBasso 3T-154 has sonic and technical performance that far exceed the asking price. It combines balanced tuning and musical character with great transparency and precision, making it an ideal choice for both critical and casual listening applications. It might not be the most comfortable and lightweight set of earphones but it compensates with its stellar sound quality, the impressively dynamic bass and the surprisingly affordable price. This is a great set of earphones with excellent value for money.

The review sample was kindly provided free of charge.

The price of the iBasso 3T-154 is $149 and you can buy it from here.