IKKO Audio Arc ITB05 Bluetooth Cable

Dobrescu George

Reviewer: AudiophileHeaven
IKKO ARC ITB05 Bluetooth Necklace Cable - Cyber Musician
Pros: + Stable connection
+ Good Connection stability
+ Good price
+ Battery Life
+ No apps needed
+ solid build quality
+ Comfortable to use
Cons: - You can hear the bluetooth compression at times
- No app can be a con, since you need to EQ from your music player app
IKKO ARC ITB05 Bluetooth Necklace Cable - Cyber Musician

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If you're into necklace style Bluetooth IEMs, ITB05 should be cool for you, as it has a pocket-friendly price of 129 USD. It will be compared to the Shanling MW200 (120 USD), FiiO UTWS3 (80 USD), and 1More Dual Driver ANC PRO EHD9001BA (150 USD).






Introduction

IKKO takes us once more by surprise with an efficient and high quality product, having a good price performance ratio for their IKKO ARC ITB05 Necklace Cable. There are many such necklace Bluetooth adapters, and all of them with their own performance and sonics, so usually we try to follow the one that has enough power output, along with the best price / performance ratio, as it is quite likely that for all of them, the Bluetooth protocol used will be the bottleneck for their performance.

It should be noted that I have absolutely no affiliation with IKKO. I'd like to thank IKKO for providing the sample for this review. This review reflects my personal experience with IKKO ARC ITB05. Every opinion expressed is mine and I stand by it. The purpose of this review is to help those interested in IKKO ARC ITB05 find their next music companion.



Packaging

First things first, let's get the packaging out of the way:

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We have a basic package with ITB05, as it comes with just the bare needs. Since this is a necklace style, there's no need for tips or many accessories, but there is one short USB Charging cable included in the package, alongside the paperwork.



Build Quality/Aesthetics/Features

The main ARC ITB05 unit is a lightweight, flexible necklace with Bluetooth receiver abilities, and inside it has a DAC, AMP, and a battery to power IEMs. The aesthetic is actually beautiful, and the unit feels high-end, well made and polished, with a beautiful look to the sides that become visible while wearing it. The neckband is soft, made of silicone, and the whole unit does not transmit much noise while you're wearing it.

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IKKO quotes a battery life of about 9 hours, which is pretty accurate for what I've been getting. The unit has 64mW at 32 OHMs, a rather high power for a unit that is meant to power only IEMs and earphones, so I'm happy to report that it does deliver well on most fronts. WE have a Silver Plated Copper Cable for ARC ITB05, and it uses Bluetooth 5.0 which has good overall coverage for all bluetooth devices.

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The Bluetooth chip inside has support for SBC, AAC, but also aptX and aptX HD, ITB05 becoming in the top necklace Bluetooth AMPs from what I tested to date. In fact, the unit has a pretty high quality DAC inside, the AKM4377 Hifi DAC chip, and it is fully balanced. Basically, it is equal to or better than most dongles and portables that run fully balanced to your IEMs, offering both good power, and a reliable connection for its bluetooth signal.



Sound Quality

The unit I have is equipped with 2-Pin connectors, good for driving all kinds of IEMs, including KB Aurora, IMR Audio Elan, Earsonics ONYX, TRN VX PRO, Tin T3 Plus and Moondrop Illumination. ARC ITB05 is fully able to drive all of those IEMS, and basically every single IEM that I tried with it. There's minimal background noise, only present if you really look for it, while the overall sonic performance is superb, detailed, clean, wide and has a ton of strength, a full bass, and good overall dynamics. I am surprised to find myself saying this, but ARC ITB05 actually sounds and works better than a high quality and well regarded piece such as FiiO BTR5 or BTR5 2021, which is still quite awesome, but less convenient to use in actual practice.

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The bass sounds pretty natural, without a particular enhancement, but it is fairly quick, snappy and has good punchiness. There's a certain sense of control over all IEMs I tested, the bass never rolling off or feeling too light for the IEMS. The overall signature of ARC ITB 05 is really neutral, so if you're looking for a lot of bass, you may need to engage some EQ, but given the good headroom it has for IEMS, you're unlikely to run out of headroom, and you should be able to add a few dB of bass where needed.

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We have a really clean, detailed and quick midrange with ITB05. There's a good sense of width and a fairly natural depth as well. The dynamics are surprisingly good in particular, and you can't really tell that you're using a Bluetooth necklace here, the bluetooth working really well for the aptX HD algorithm. This codec also has the least reliable signal, and you will lose the signal sometimes, if you forget your phone and walk to a different room, but for walking with the phone in your pocket, it is stable enough. I noticed a good overall tonality for both male and female voices, and a vivid presentation for guitars and pianos.

The treble of ARC ITB05 is the most surprising aspect of its sound, and the most pleasing surprise. It has a really airy, well extended and refined treble, with great overall sparkly ness and detail, giving music a ton of brightness where needed, and providing a very welcome sparkle where music needs it. ARC ITB05 is actually prone to revealing recording / mixing / mastering mistakes, so its neutral signature may be less recommended for those who listen often to poorly recorded music, but I found it to be perfect for all my rock and metal, all thanks to its quick speed and good overall sparkliness & dynamics.



Comparisons

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IKKO ARC ITB05 vs FiiO UTWS3 (129 USD vs 80 USD) - Thank you guts for making requests on what the competitors should be, I never would've guessed you were struggling to choose between those two, but the short version is that ITB05 has quite a bit more power than UTWS3, also better overall bluetooth range support, and in my general experience, the sound is more neutral, more detailed and cleaner, with more detail and a louder volume at maximum, where UTWS3 seems to be slightly limited placing them side by side.

IKKO ARC ITB05 vs 1More Dual Driver ANC PRO EHD9001BA (129 USD vs 150 USD) - Although 1More Dual Driver ANC PRO costs a bit more, it comes with ANC or Active Noise Canceling, and a pair of high quality IEMs, offering a more convenient package than IKKO, where you need to invest at least 100 USD more for reaching the same listening experience as 1More Dual Driver ANC PRO. On the other hand, you can take IKKO ARC ITB05 much higher, and I always recommend considering a separate DAC + AMP source if you have decent IEMS with good quality already. 1More Dual Driver has a smoother, warmer sound, where depending on the IEMS you pair with ARC ITB05, you will get better dynamics, better details and better overall resolution in general. If you're looking for a simple listening solution out of the package, I recommend considering 1More Dual Driver ANC PRO, while if you're looking for the pro / advanced version of the listening experience, I recommend going with IKKO's ARC ITB05 and getting a pair of high quality IEMS.

IKKO ARC ITB05 vs Shanling MW200 (129 USD vs 120 USD) - Shanling has basically the same product, but with different design, and with a different sonic performance. The overall build is pretty much the same, both units look awesome, and they work pretty much the same. The maximum power is much higher on ARC ITB05 and it will provide a more vivid, more dynamic, and more detailed overall sound, with more strength, better loudness and more power, also lower distortions at the maximum volume. The presentation is also much smoother, less airy and less neutral on MW200, sounding considerably more sparkly, more airy and more clean on ARC ITB05.



Value and Conclusion

I am willing to say that ARC ITB05 has excellent value, and for the price paid you're getting an excellent bluetooth cable, with enough power for most IEMS, and very low background noise, but with a fully balanced design. It has a pretty good battery as well, offering a reliable music listening solution, with good speed and dynamics.

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At the end of the day, if you're looking for a high quality Bluetooth Necklace Adapter with a neutral signature, good soundstage width, a sparkly, airy presentation with a neutral, 1856quick, but punchy bass, then IKKO ARC ITB05 is a really recommended BT Adapter with good build quality and comfort.
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M
Mikerules
Connectors on my model fit quite loose on two of 2-pin iems I tested. What was your experience? Do you know if shanling's or fiio's 2-pin models more stable?

Audio Fun

100+ Head-Fier
Pros: Overall tonality
No coloration neutral tonality
Stable single and connectivity
Excellent audio replay compare to original sound with cable
Bass punch and speed
Detailed midrange
Well extended and refined treble
Build
Light weight and comfort
Battery life
Cons: Not for sporting
No APP to do adjustments compare to others brands
Introduction
The IKKO audio are relatively young Chinese company, they developed wider range of audio products, the OH1 & 10 hybrid IEMs are especially well known. After that, they start to release some audio products, like the DAC/AMP, USB DAC, cable and Bluetooth cable. Today I am checking out their Bluetooth cable which is the Arc ITB05. The price of it is $129USD.

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Disclaimer
I would like to thanks Watson from IKKO audio for given this opportunity, and the review will be based on my honest opinion through the music I listen to.


Package & Accessories
The Arc ITB05 come with the large size box, there are the typical IKKO style illustration at the front cover with the brand name, model name and other information, whereas the specifications at the rear side of it. There is the black box after remove the cover. After open the box from the side, there is the bluetooth cable it self sit it in the foam, while the carry bag, charging cable and ear hook in the bottom of box.

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Accessories list
1 pcs x IKKO Arc ITB05 Bluetooth Cable
1 pcs x Carry Bag
1 pair x Ear Hook
1 pcs x USB A To Type C Charging Cable

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The accessories it come with is useful and reasonable. The leather carry pouch has well finished, it has fluffy material inside to provide the better protection.

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The ITB05 come with the USB A to Type C charging cable, the cable has green color finished in the braided. It also come with the additional pair of ear hook for providing the better wearing experience.

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Design & Build & Comfort
The ITB05 has beautiful design of combining the leather and metal materials.

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The ITB05 cable has two housing which is made by aluminum alloy material with mirror finished. The two housing has the leather strap winded around. The right housing features 3 buttons for remote control. The led light is located at the middle button, while the microphone is located at the side of the upper button. The USB Type C charging plot is also located at the right housing. There is the IKKO brand logo sports on the right housing in silver front.

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The neckband is made with leather finished in dark brown color.

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The cable is made with single crystal copper gold plated material in rubber-ish finished. There are both of 2 pin and MMCX version available. Overall the design is beautifully made.

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The build quality on the ITB05 are really good, especially the material used is way above its price range. The two metal housing do not have any sharp edges or glue around the joints. The sketch leather show the good craftsmanship. Both of the connector do not have sign of wear and tear after I swapped few times of cable.

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The comfort on ITB05 are pretty good, it look heavy, but it is surprisingly lighter than I thought. The neckband is soft enough to wear it around your neck, the two housing are well balanced. The cable can be adjust easily, the additional ear hook can provide the better wearing experience.


Control & Paring

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The control both the ITB05 are quite easy to understand.
Top button (near the neck band) is:
Volume down (press one)/previous track (long press) button.
Middle button is:
Play/pause/call answer or ignore (press one)/turn on and turn off (press for 3sec)/paring (press for 5 sec while shutdown) button.
Bottom button (opposite side to the neck band) is :
Volume up (press one)/next track (long press) button.

The first time pairing of the ITB05 require the users to pair it manually, by pressing the middle button for 5 sec while shutdown will enter the paring mode, then you can connect it through their devices. After this, when you turn on the ITB05, it will automatically connect to your devices when the Bluetooth is on.


Connectivity & Latency
The connectivity on ITB05 are pretty stable in most of cases, but there will be some of single lost when you are on public transport, shopping centers.. which is acceptable.

The latency on ITB05 are quite significant while gaming, but not at all when watching movie or listen to music, probably just about a millions seconds.


Driving power & Battery life
The driving power on ITB05 is powerful enough to driver my Final audio B1 and E5000 by using 25% of volume.

The battery life of ITB05 are really good, it has capacity of >280mAh. Which IKKO claims for provide 9hrs of play back, after my personal testing it provide 9hrs and 20mins of play back time by using 20% of volume through iPhone 12. The charging process take about 1.5hrs.


Operating distance & microphone
The Operating distance on the ITB05 is around 6 meters. It has stable connection until 5 meters, after that the single will not be as stable as before 5 meters.

The microphone of the ITB05 can provide clear and detail voice with good amount of bodies without sounding robotic.


Technical specifications:
Dac Chip: Dual AKM4377
Bluetooth Version: 5.0
SNR: 120dB
TNR: 0.001%
Output power: 64mW@32ohm
Charger input: 5V 500mA
Battery capacity: 280mAh
Working time: 9 hours
Support format: SBC, AAC, aptX, aptX HD



Sound

Paring

I connect the ITB05 to the Oriveti OH300, Final audio B1, BGVP VG4, Penon Orb, IKKO OH10, pair it with iPhone 12 and Fiio M11. The conclusion of the sound is based on the sound comparison between the ITB05 and stock cable.


Overall tonality
The ITB05 has a neutral tonality with out any coloration or weird emphasis, which will be effect to the original sound. It has good bass punch and speed, detailed midrange, along with refined and extended treble.

Bass
The bass are presented in clean manner, the sub bass has average extended and decay speed. The bass has above average punch and impact. It has good levels of detail and clarity. The bass are well controlled and clean.

Mids
The midrange has close to neutral with no overly coloration. The lower midrange has fair amount of bodies and sound clean and highly detailed. The upper midrange are well done. It has good levels of transparency and detail. It sound lively yet smooth.

Treble
The treble are extended well and slightly bright. The treble are well refined and control. The upper treble has good amount of sparkle and airiness. It has good levels of crispness. The detail retrieval and clarity are above the average.

Soundstage and imaging
It has above average width and depth.
The imaging are well done.



Conclusion
The IKKO Arc ITB05 Bluetooth cable are well build with nice looking. It provide stable connectivity and good levels of comfort. The sound on ITB05 is able to provide how the original tonality is. There are decent bass punch, great midrange detail, well tuned treble. Overall the cable is the really good deal for people who looking for the Bluetooth cable. Thank you for reading, Happy Listening!!

IKKO Audio official website: https://ikkoaudio.com/?ref=1
IKKO ARC ITB05 produt page: https://ikkoaudio.com/product/ikko-itb05/?ref=1

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Last edited:
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Audio Fun
Audio Fun
Thank you for reading. I haven’t tried out other Bluetooth cable, but the ITB05 has impressed me a lot already by the sound of it. Have a great Christmas!
h1a8
h1a8
I can't get the aptx hd to work. I have lgv60. in developer options I choose aptx and it works. I choose aac and it works. But when I choose aptx hd, it switches back to aptx.

Any solution to this?
M
Mikerules
How did it work with Penon ORB? And why is not good for sports?
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