[dharmasteve]

We though on this thread know the truth. There are very few here who have got a fully functioning it00 who would say the Blon 03 is better, I have two Blon 03's with good aftermarket cables and tips and I love them. The iBasso it00 is better though, with as much magic, more in fact. The Blon is not going to be king of the universe forever and for $69 the iBasso eclipses it. This thread tells the truth about things because so many people input into it. We are all different but we are all the same. BGGR is a great reviewer to me, a little challenging though.....but he will never get the time lots of us get per IEM. We know the truth about the it00 and that is enough. You can't listen to an IEM for a relatively short time and make a hefty judgement on it. Do you guys think the it00 responds to burn in?

 

[Poganin]

Does this have an order option for 4.4 cable? If not, anyone using 4.4 cable with this that can recommend? Thanks

Depends how much you'd like to spend. I am using it with a 3.5 mm NiceHCK C4-1 and I'm very happy. There should be an option for 4.4 mm too.

 

[dharmasteve]

Does this have an order option for 4.4 cable? If not, anyone using 4.4 cable with this that can recommend? Thanks

I would say when you get the it00 do not put the stock cable on if you you want to use a 4.4mm cable. I can't get my stock cable off now and have had to order a tool to try and help me get the stock cable off. I have gone into heavy training to become stronger and get the strength to get MMCX cables off.

 

[lgcubana]

yeah and sadly one word from him will be able to persuade many people into not getting it.

Supposedly my set arrives today, shipped from iBasso’s 3rd party, distributor in China.

I’m more Concerned about the driver flex; as this seems more rampant than the outright driver failure. Of my 30ish IEMs, I only have one with driver flex (One of the KZ ZS Series, can’t remember which one), but it wasn’t worth the shipping, to do an exchange; so I’m not so accepting of iBasso’s view that it’s an acceptable variance.

 

[SciOC]

Supposedly my set arrives today, shipped from iBasso’s 3rd party, distributor in China.

I’m more Concerned about the driver flex; as this seems more rampant than the outright driver failure. Of my 30ish IEMs, I only have one with driver flex (One of the KZ ZS Series, can’t remember which one), but it wasn’t worth the shipping, to do an exchange; so I’m not so accepting of iBasso’s view that it’s an acceptable variance.

Driver flex is that big of a deal to you? Interesting.

I'm totally meh to it. It's a fact of life with DD sets to me, especially in getting a good seal. That crinkling noise is annoying but it seems a bit like complaining that the wrapper of your candy bar was loud to remove to me. I get it with most single DDs and most hybrids that aren't vented a lot...

 

[RikudouGoku]

Supposedly my set arrives today, shipped from iBasso’s 3rd party, distributor in China.

I’m more Concerned about the driver flex; as this seems more rampant than the outright driver failure. Of my 30ish IEMs, I only have one with driver flex (One of the KZ ZS Series, can’t remember which one), but it wasn’t worth the shipping, to do an exchange; so I’m not so accepting of iBasso’s view that it’s an acceptable variance.

Of my 50+ iems, the only iem besides the IT00 that got driver flex is the TFZ My love 2019 edition. So it is extremely rare for me to get it.

 

[lgcubana]

Driver flex is that big of a deal to you? Interesting.

I'm totally meh to it. It's a fact of life with DD sets to me, especially in getting a good seal. That crinkling noise is annoying but it seems a bit like complaining that the wrapper of your candy bar was loud to remove to me. I get it with most single DDs and most hybrids that aren't vented a lot...

It’s not the driver flex popping, during insertion, specifically, that gives me pause. But that a manufacturer has looser acceptable tolerances, than the industry norm.

and if there’s enough reports of the same side having driver flex and subsequently losing it’s playback ability, there’ll be conjecture Linking the two. Then we’ll have another Urbanfun scenario

 

[IEMusic]

I get driver flex easily on maybe a third of my DD-containing IEMs, and can induce driver flex an almost all of them. I’ve been more instinctively cautious with handling my IEMs to prevent driver flex. So far, I have only had one IEM possibly (not definitely) fail due to driver flex.

 

[duaned]

After another 20 hours of burn it it's clear the ISN H40 still is the superior IEM over the IT00. I guess it should be, but that should NOT take anything away from the IT00. It is fantastic, particularly at it's price point.
Between the two the H40 is certainly more detailed, has a wider soundstage and cleaner, faster bass with similar extension and output in the sub bass dept. The H40 has more air and treble extension too, but no deal breaker there. And a bit more body to male vocals.
For a single DD the IT00 is the best I have heard and owned, and some of those are the Atlas, Xelento, TFZ No.3. It kind of reminds me of the F-Audio Major, but lighter.
I can report no issue with driver flex or channel imbalance on my pair at all.

 

[PopZeus]

Ah, so that squishy, crinkling noise that I hear when I insert the IEM is driver flex! I never knew why that phenomenon occurred. It's annoying but not the worst thing. To me it's like when a hinge on a headphone squeaks.

 

[SciOC]

It’s not the driver flex popping, during insertion, specifically, that gives me pause. But that a manufacturer has looser acceptable tolerances, than the industry norm.

and if there’s enough reports of the same side having driver flex and subsequently losing it’s playback ability, there’ll be conjecture Linking the two. Then we’ll have another Urbanfun scenario

I'm not sure that's what causes driver flex though. AFAIK it has nothing to do with tolerances.... I think it's more of how quickly you're inserting it and how much venting there is. If you insert it too quickly you're changing the pressure on that side and the air needs to go out the vent, if the change is too quick the driver will flex due to the pressure and the lack being able to equalize the pressure as quickly as you pressurize it. If they add more vents it can alleviate the flex issue more, but also have significant impacts on the sound. I'd prefer that manufacturers focus on the sound rather than trying to alleviate flex given its somewhat of a trade-off.

It's not really a design flaw so much as it's a predictable user issue that some IEM makers differ on how much they want to avoid it. For instance, OOTB I had no flex with my jade EA1. However, after adding the micropore tape over the main vent, I do get driver flex, but also much better bass response....

Ah, so that squishy, crinkling noise that I hear when I insert the IEM is driver flex! I never knew why that phenomenon occurred. It's annoying but not the worst thing. To me it's like when a hinge on a headphone squeaks.

Yep. That's driver flex!

 

[james444]

Yep. That's driver flex!

How to minimize / avoid driver flex during insertion:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/beyerdynamic-xelento.827372/page-129#post-15382216

 

[FSTOP]

Does this have an order option for 4.4 cable? If not, anyone using 4.4 cable with this that can recommend? Thanks

I have the FiiO LC-4.4C.
Don't have my it00 yet, but should in next day or two. Plan to use that cable with it. (have another 2-pin 4.4 bal cable for other iems). Both work well for me, using on ibasso dx160.

 

[james444]

Listeners who prefer warm vocals will no doubt have a blast with the IT00, since there's actually hardly any spill of bass into the lower mids, just pretty well-controlled warmth. But personally, I prefer my mids a little more neutral, so I'll probably try a front vent mod to see if that can improve things in that regard.

@james444
It would be great if you can find out how to tame that lower Mids warmth a little. I mentioned it when I compared between the IT00 and the NM2 that IT00’s lower Mids feels slightly too dense for my classical music playlists. Works great with vocal centric music for a late night listening session though.

I tried a few things to lower that mids warmth a little, but couldn't find a reversible and reliable solution. So, finally I ran out of patience and pierced the front vent, lol.

Well, that's definitely a viable solution, but since it's non-reversible, I recommend to proceed with caution! Oh, and pretty sure this will void your warrenty! With that said, most importantly, you'll need a very thin and sharp needle. I used a 40 gauge felting needle, which is thinner and sharper than any regular needle I know:

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=40+Gauge+Needle+Felting+Needle&_sacat=0&_sop=15

The mod itself is easy, the front vent is the one closer to the nozzle. The mesh behind it is quite sturdy, hence repeated (but careful!) piercing might be necessary. There's quite a bit of headroom between the mesh and the driver, so if you do it carefully, the risk of harming the driver is very low.

Anyway, this has lowered the bass range considerably on my IT00, and though there's still some slight mids warmth from a little bump around 300Hz, the overall sound signature is clearly more neutral now. Note that the mod still retains nice slam and sub-bass, which sounds more prominent than it looks in the graph imo. Overall, I'm very happy with the result and the IT00 sounds pretty awesome with all my test tracks now.

Again, this mod isn't for everyone and only recommended, if you know what you're doing... but if the stock sound is too warm / bassy for you, this might be the way to go.

(DF-compensated; grey = IT00 stock, green = IT00 tgx78 mod, blue + red = IT00 L/R front vent mod)

 

[tgx78]

I tried a few things to lower that mids warmth a little, but couldn't find a reversible and reliable solution. So, finally I ran out of patience and pierced the front vent, lol.

Well, that's definitely a viable solution, but since it's non-reversible, I recommend to proceed with caution! Oh, and pretty sure this will void your warrenty! With that said, most importantly, you'll need a very thin and sharp needle. I used a 40 gauge felting needle, which is thinner and sharper than any regular needle I know:

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=40+Gauge+Needle+Felting+Needle&_sacat=0&_sop=15

The mod itself is easy, the front vent is the one closer to the nozzle. The mesh behind it is quite sturdy, hence repeated (but careful!) piercing might be necessary. There's quite a bit of headroom between the mesh and the driver, so if you do it carefully, the risk of harming the driver is very low.

Anyway, this has lowered the bass range considerably on my IT00, and though there's still some slight mids warmth from a little bump around 300Hz, the overall sound signature is clearly more neutral now. Note that the mod still retains nice slam and sub-bass, which sounds more prominent than it looks in the graph imo. Overall, I'm very happy with the result and the IT00 sounds pretty awesome with all my test tracks now.

Again, this mod isn't for everyone and only recommended, if you know what you're doing... but if the stock sound is too warm / bassy for you, this might be the way to go.

(DF-compensated; grey = IT00 stock, green = IT00 tgx78 mod, blue + red = IT00 L/R front vent mod)

Awesome! I will try this tonight!