[vsls]

I think until 100/150$ it's a reasonable value, it's the next real upgrade that will require over 500$

Yeah, lucky to those of you who still consider $100 to be "ruined", even $500 lol.

Yeah, I have always been on the budget-fi league so I wouldn't dare to go over $100 for an IEM since I don't have the necessary gear to really appreciate anything above that price. I don't own any real DAP so my phone is my source and I use IEMs only out of home as I prefer headphones indoors. So it's funny to be "ruined" at this price range and in this forum

Why aren't you using Tidal?

I rarely even use Spotify on mobile, I always prefer to browse my own collection for saving some data, poor 4G signal, and battery among other reasons so FLAC streaming would be out of the question!
I might have now to replace some of my albums into FLACs to see if there's any real difference.
Honestly and according to not my picky ears and all my previous gear, I could not notice any real difference between 320 and FLAC, so I'm happy to save some space and carry more with me!

 

[JKDJedi]

Yeah, I have always been on the budget-fi league so I wouldn't dare to go over $100 for an IEM since I don't have the necessary gear to really appreciate anything above that price. I don't own any real DAP so my phone is my source and I use IEMs only out of home as I prefer headphones indoors. So it's funny to be "ruined" at this price range and in this forum



I rarely even use Spotify on mobile, I always prefer to browse my own collection for saving some data, poor 4G signal, and battery among other reasons so FLAC streaming would be out of the question!
I might have now to replace some of my albums into FLACs to see if there's any real difference.
Honestly and according to not my picky ears and all my previous gear, I could not notice any real difference between 320 and FLAC, so I'm happy to save some space and carry more with me!

Download over wifi to your phone any of the 30 million tracks of your choice.. Win.

 

[Glasha]

Honestly and according to not my picky ears and all my previous gear, I could not notice any real difference between 320 and FLAC, so I'm happy to save some space and carry more with me!

I can hear a big difference between them, you just need to try again maybe

 

[Lidson Mendes Br]

Yeah, I have always been on the budget-fi league so I wouldn't dare to go over $100 for an IEM since I don't have the necessary gear to really appreciate anything above that price. I don't own any real DAP so my phone is my source and I use IEMs only out of home as I prefer headphones indoors. So it's funny to be "ruined" at this price range and in this forum



I rarely even use Spotify on mobile, I always prefer to browse my own collection for saving some data, poor 4G signal, and battery among other reasons so FLAC streaming would be out of the question!
I might have now to replace some of my albums into FLACs to see if there's any real difference.
Honestly and according to not my picky ears and all my previous gear, I could not notice any real difference between 320 and FLAC, so I'm happy to save some space and carry more with me!

I honestly also do not see difference in 320k and Flac, so I prefer to save space and have more songs on my Micro Sd

 

[dontcallmejan]

Visited a local store to try the N5ii demo.

This is in balanced mode.

The N5ii gave the IT01 good body and pushed the mids a bit more forward and made them a bit thicker. Sufficient air and sparkle but imo a bit smooth. Soundstage and imaging is crazy great for 100 usd.

The 30R is the more neutral of the two DAPs. Gave the bass of the IT01 a leaner sound, with great control and precision.
Mids are neither thick nor thin. Highs are airy and extended with great details. Soundstage and imaging is crazy too!

TLDR: loving the IT01 on whatever pairing lol.

 

[dbaker1981]

I should be getting mine tomorrow. I got tired of waiting on Penon and grabbed a pair off of amazon. Can’t wait to try these out.

 

[JKDJedi]

I should be getting mine tomorrow. I got tired of waiting on Penon and grabbed a pair off of amazon. Can’t wait to try these out.

Yup..waiting here too, still in China! Anyway, Just wanted to ask about the FiiO X5 iii, is this a good entry player and are there any reservations on its balanced output? Seems like a cool little outfit to pair w/ these iBasso .

 

[scotvl]

I should be getting mine tomorrow. I got tired of waiting on Penon and grabbed a pair off of amazon. Can’t wait to try these out.

Burn them in, they sound great out of the box but have a bit of boom in the mid bass and some grain and congestion in the upper mids that made them a bit fatiguing at first for long listening sessions for me. I noticed the bass tighten up and the mids clean up after about 50 hours. I'm about 75 hours in now and I have been blown away by the delicate details and instrument separation while still slamming out delicious detailed teeth rattling bass notes that I have never heard in some songs I've been listening to my whole life. They are very easy to drive and sound surprisingly good from Spotify on my note 4 but they really sound amazing and take advantage of the extra power and details from a dedicated DAP.

 

[dbaker1981]

Yup..waiting here too, still in China! Anyway, Just wanted to ask about the FiiO X5 iii, is this a good entry player and are there any reservations on its balanced output? Seems like a cool little outfit to pair w/ these iBasso .

I would recommend the cayin n5 mkii instead. IMO it is better all around. I had the x5 iii for awhile and was not impressed with the sound quality at all. Now the x7 mkii is another story but also a step up in price.

 

[scotvl]

I would recommend the cayin n5 mkii instead. IMO it is better all around. I had the x5 iii for awhile and was not impressed with the sound quality at all. Now the x7 mkii is another story but also a step up in price.

I'm looking for an upgrade for my FiiO x3ii with something that can play Spotify or Tidal and had my eyes on the X5 3rd gen but I've read that it sounds alot like the X5ii. I find the X5ii a bit bland dynamically for long listening periods compared to the x3ii with the IT01s and probably would feel the same about the new x5. How do you think the cayin n5 mkii sounds compared to the X5 3rd gen and how does the volume wheel feel compared to the buttons on the FiiO?

Editing because I forgot you didn't receive the IT01s yet.

 

[dbaker1981]

The Problem I had with the X5iii was to me it was very V shaped in sound. I had the X3ii as well and thought it had better SQ then the X5iii. When it comes to the N5ii The volume wheel and player as a whole is put together very well. And i can not comment on any with the it01 yet as mine arrive tomorrow.

I'm looking for an upgrade for my FiiO x3ii with something that can play Spotify or Tidal and had my eyes on the X5 3rd gen but I've read that it sounds alot like the X5ii. I find the X5ii a bit bland dynamically for long listening periods compared to the x3ii with the IT01s and probably would feel the same about the new x5. How do you think the cayin n5 mkii sounds compared to the X5 3rd gen and how does the volume wheel feel compared to the buttons on the FiiO?

Editing because I forgot you didn't receive the IT01s yet.

 

[Gee Simpson]

I've been reading quite a bit of this thread, and it seems the IT01s are a bit more source dependent than some other IEMs at this price point. Anybody have an idea how much mileage I would get out of the DragonFly DACs, or any other usb-powered dac/amp? I've noticed a lot of the reviews use DAPs as sources. I always have my laptop on me, so I don't have a need for a DAP, but if the the IT01s sound better out of that kind of technology I'll go that route.

On a related note, I've noticed a lot of IEM reviews use DAPs, and a lot of headphone reviews use DACs/amps of various sizes. Is there a reason for these different trends?

Honestly they are easy to drive. They sound fine straight from my Samsung S7 Edge (Exynos). I have recently bought the Fiio BTR1 amp/dac to pair up with my phone, as I have read that these scale well with more power so looking forward to hearing the difference between S7E on its own vs S7E+BTR1.

 

[JKDJedi]

Honestly they are easy to drive. They sound fine straight from my Samsung S7 Edge (Exynos). I have recently bought amp/dac to pair up with my phone, as I have read that these scale well with more power so looking forward to hearing the difference between S7E on its own vs S7E+BTR1.

And they're only 16 ohms..so should be really easy to drive. The BTR1 seems to be just a dac..so maybe not much difference? The amp portion is for Bluetooth.

 

[Gee Simpson]

And they're only 16 ohms..so should be really easy to drive. The BTR1 seems to be just a dac..so maybe not much difference? The amp portion is for Bluetooth.

I'll be using it through Bluetooth though.

 

[JKDJedi]

I'll be using it through Bluetooth though.

O.o really? Did Bluetooth tech finally catch up to wired dacs?