[LCMusicLover]

Road trip this weekend -- IT07 had lots of headtime. Driven by my Plenue II mk2, just really nice. Excellent isolation from road noise as well

I really love these IEMs -- can't imagine spending the dollars it would take to beat them significantly.

I do enjoy my Volts almost as much -- same general tonality, but the Volts are a bit more relaxed, with a little more warmth in the mids. By comparison, IT07s are slightly leaner in the mids, and sound a bit more energetic. Pretty close overall

 

[LCMusicLover]

Road trip this weekend -- IT07 had lots of headtime. Driven by my Plenue II mk2, just really nice. Excellent isolation from road noise as well

I really love these IEMs -- can't imagine spending the dollars it would take to beat them significantly.

I do enjoy my Volts almost as much -- same general tonality, but the Volts are a bit more relaxed, with a little more warmth in the mids. By comparison, IT07s are slightly leaner in the mids, and sound a bit more energetic. Pretty close overall

My full-size cans get the most head time these days, so there are times when I don’t get back to my IEMs for days at a time, even weeks occasionally. As a result, I find myself being surprised when I switch back to something I haven’t listened to for a while. I suspect this is a fairly common thing.

Throat clearing aside, I was listening to a Beth Orton’s ‘Anywhere’, and I was really struck by how well the IT07s present the horns — great attack and edge. Her voice has a very unique character, and that really comes through clearly from the IT07s. (Same for Lucinda Williams.)

The horns are actually a clear differentiator between IT07s & Volts — attack is way more aggressive from 07s.

Vocals are less of a differentiator — biggest difference is the up-front-ness of vocals on Volts vs more 3d presentation from 07s where vocals can be more forward or further back depending on the track. In contrast, nearly all vocals are pretty up front from Volts. But I also hear vocals as more coherent and precisely located in the mix from 07s.

 

[samandhi]

My full-size cans get the most head time these days, so there are times when I don’t get back to my IEMs for days at a time, even weeks occasionally. As a result, I find myself being surprised when I switch back to something I haven’t listened to for a while. I suspect this is a fairly common thing.

Throat clearing aside, I was listening to a Beth Orton’s ‘Anywhere’, and I was really struck by how well the IT07s present the horns — great attack and edge. Her voice has a very unique character, and that really comes through clearly from the IT07s. (Same for Lucinda Williams.)

The horns are actually a clear differentiator between IT07s & Volts — attack is way more aggressive from 07s.

Vocals are less of a differentiator — biggest difference is the up-front-ness of vocals on Volts vs more 3d presentation from 07s where vocals can be more forward or further back depending on the track. In contrast, nearly all vocals are pretty up front from Volts. But I do hear vocals as more coherent and precisely located in the mix from 07s.

That is a sign of a great complete package IMO (not JUST the tuning). They almost seem to adjust themselves to whatever genre I am listening to for best results. YMMV

 

[Ahmad313]

My full-size cans get the most head time these days, so there are times when I don’t get back to my IEMs for days at a time, even weeks occasionally. As a result, I find myself being surprised when I switch back to something I haven’t listened to for a while. I suspect this is a fairly common thing.

Throat clearing aside, I was listening to a Beth Orton’s ‘Anywhere’, and I was really struck by how well the IT07s present the horns — great attack and edge. Her voice has a very unique character, and that really comes through clearly from the IT07s. (Same for Lucinda Williams.)

The horns are actually a clear differentiator between IT07s & Volts — attack is way more aggressive from 07s.

Vocals are less of a differentiator — biggest difference is the up-front-ness of vocals on Volts vs more 3d presentation from 07s where vocals can be more forward or further back depending on the track. In contrast, nearly all vocals are pretty up front from Volts. But I do hear vocals as more coherent and precisely located in the mix from 07s.

Very nice impressions ,
How about the soundstage between the two , which one has the most 3d/holographic soundstage ?

 

[ehjie]

Very nice impressions ,
How about the soundstage between the two , which one has the most 3d/holographic soundstage ?

I can chime in here. The IT07 has deeper staging therefore more close to an oval/circular rendering of the holo. imaging.
Whilst the Volts got a wider staging, but not a really deep sound field as the 07s, and elliptical.
Definition of Holo. imaging (clarity) pretty much the same, very defined, but since 07 is the brighter In ear headphone, one may perceive it to be clearer than the Volts.
I played both on the DX312...

 

[LCMusicLover]

I can chime in here. The IT07 has deeper staging therefore more close to an oval/circular rendering of the holo. imaging.
Whilst the Volts got a wider staging, but not a really deep sound field as the 07s, and elliptical.
Definition of Holo. imaging (clarity) pretty much the same, very defined, but since 07 is the brighter In ear headphone, one may perceive it to be clearer than the Volts.
I played both on the DX312...

What he said

BTW, the 'more coherent and precisely located' comes specifically from 'The Weight' by The Band. IT07s do Levon's voice really well, and clearly (to my ears) better than Volts.

 

[ehjie]

What he said

BTW, the 'more coherent and precisely located' comes specifically from 'The Weight' by The Band. IT07s do Levon's voice really well, and clearly (to my ears) better than Volts.

And while we're at it,

 

[ehjie]

What he said

BTW, the 'more coherent and precisely located' comes specifically from 'The Weight' by The Band. IT07s do Levon's voice really well, and clearly (to my ears) better than Volts.

I'll re-acquaint myself with this very fine track...

 

[samandhi]

I haven't been a bass-head for a long time now and I am not particulary fond of electronica, but this song on the IT-07 (and the DX311.2) is absolutely amazing. It gets even more amazing at around 3.50 minutes in then, shockingly again at about 5 minutes. This song really shows how deep these CAN go and still remain unoffensive or fatiguing in the lower end. I was amazed when introduced to this song (among others) with the IT-07:

 

[LCMusicLover]

I haven't been a bass-head for a long time now and I am not particulary fond of electronica, but this song on the IT-07 (and the DX311.2) is absolutely amazing. It gets even more amazing at around 3.50 minutes in then, shockingly again at about 5 minutes. This song really shows how deep these CAN go and still remain unoffensive or fatiguing in the lower end. I was amazed when introduced to this song (among others) with the IT-07:

Listened to it on Spotify Premium, and have to say I agree. Amusing that you have to convince Spotify that you're looking for something by Atrey instead of Atreyu

Track isn't really my cup of tea either -- I listen to a lot more ambient than electronica, and when I get close to that genre it's usually something mellower (Jarre or Tangerine Dream for example). But it was interesting -- thanks. Spotify tried to play some more Atrey after that track, but I declined with regrets after tasting a couple samples.

Some interesting bits in this track where there seem to be 'background' noises, like wolves howling. Cool that some sounds end up 'back' in the mix. I've always been impressed with the 07's ability to produce depth in the headstage.

 

[samandhi]

Listened to it on Spotify Premium, and have to say I agree. Amusing that you have to convince Spotify that you're looking for something by Atrey instead of Atreyu

Track isn't really my cup of tea either -- I listen to a lot more ambient than electronica, and when I get close to that genre it's usually something mellower (Jarre or Tangerine Dream for example). But it was interesting -- thanks. Spotify tried to play some more Atrey after that track, but I declined with regrets after tasting a couple samples.

Some interesting bits in this track where there seem to be 'background' noises, like wolves howling. Cool that some sounds end up 'back' in the mix. I've always been impressed with the 07's ability to produce depth in the headstage.

I am never opposed to listening to something even outside of my "preferred" listening because when you get to the level of having great gear, and if it is recorded well, some of those things can amaze you.

Yeah, I heard all kinds of different things going on in this song. And while the IT-07 aren't at say Senn HD800 level of detail retrieval, it IS all there and hearable (IMO).

 

[LCMusicLover]

...And while the IT-07 aren't at say Senn HD800 level of detail retrieval ...

Agree again

07s don't challenge my Utopia or HEKse for detail either. But definitely good enough -- I don't feel that's a deficiency. If I'm doing critical listening, it's at my desktop rig driving full-size cans. 07s are for 'out and about' or office listening.

I really enjoy them out of my FiiO UTWS5 BT adapters at work, music between calls. Also great while hiking and biking.

 

[samandhi]

Agree again

07s don't challenge my Utopia or HEKse for detail either. But definitely good enough -- I don't feel that's a deficiency. If I'm doing critical listening, it's at my desktop rig driving full-size cans. 07s are for 'out and about' or office listening.

I really enjoy them out of my FiiO UTWS5 BT adapters at work, music between calls. Also great while hiking and biking.

Very interesting that you are using them with the UTWS5! Do you find they they sound almost as good as wired, or are they just acceptable because you are out and about? I was going to buy the UTWS5 some time ago, but they have been unavailable for some time in the US (though recently they have been back in stock), but I didn't know how well they would push some flagship IEMs (or whether they would ruin the sound too much). I supposed it also comes down to synergy between the IT and the UTWS5?!

 

[LCMusicLover]

Very interesting that you are using them with the UTWS5! Do you find they they sound almost as good as wired, or are they just acceptable because you are out and about? I was going to buy the UTWS5 some time ago, but they have been unavailable for some time in the US (though recently they have been back in stock), but I didn't know how well they would push some flagship IEMs (or whether they would ruin the sound too much). I supposed it also comes down to synergy between the IT and the UTWS5?!

I find them to be 'good enough'. I had a bit of a wander through TWS-land, starting with some iBud knock-offs, then Cambridge Audio Melomania Touch, then UTWS3, and finally the 5s. And I find the 5s pretty close to listening wired out of the balanced jack on my FiiO M15 and Cowon Plenue II mk2.

I'm sure that, if I could easily A/B them wired vs on the adapters, the wired connection would sound better. Probably more about headstage and imaging, as well as timbre, than tonality. Luckily, the awkwardness of switching between a wired connection and the adapters makes that comparison fairly useless, so I can be perfectly satisfied with the 5s

Not true of the 3s BTW. There's a noticeable difference between the imaging produced by UTWS3==>IT07 vs UTWS5==>IT07.

I also have some Penon Volts (2-pin) which I can use with the 5s via a small 2-pin to MMCX adapter. They also sound very good out of the UTWS5 -- again, close to wired.

I really think the dual DACs in the 5s raise the sound quality significantly vs the UTWS3s. I'm actually not sure where the 3s do DAC -- on the Qualcomm chip? Whatever, imaging on the 5s is night-and-day better than on the 3s. And I almost never say 'night-and-day'. But to my ears, it was obvious 10 seconds into the first track when I was comparing.

BTW, for me, Sweet Thing from Astral Weeks by Van Morrison is the go-to track for evaluating imaging.

 

[samandhi]

I find them to be 'good enough'. I had a bit of a wander through TWS-land, starting with some iBud knock-offs, then Cambridge Audio Melomania Touch, then UTWS3, and finally the 5s. And I find the 5s pretty close to listening wired out of the balanced jack on my FiiO M15 and Cowon Plenue II mk2.

I'm sure that, if I could easily A/B them wired vs on the adapters, the wired connection would sound better. Probably more about headstage and imaging, as well as timbre, than tonality. Luckily, the awkwardness of switching between a wired connection and the adapters makes that comparison fairly useless, so I can be perfectly satisfied with the 5s

Not true of the 3s BTW. There's a noticeable difference between the imaging produced by UTWS3==>IT07 vs UTWS5==>IT07.

I also have some Penon Volts (2-pin) which I can use with the 5s via a small 2-pin to MMCX adapter. They also sound very good out of the UTWS5 -- again, close to wired.

I really think the dual DACs in the 5s raise the sound quality significantly vs the UTWS3s. I'm actually not sure where the 3s do DAC -- on the Qualcomm chip? Whatever, imaging on the 5s is night-and-day better than on the 3s. And I almost never say 'night-and-day'. But to my ears, it was obvious 10 seconds into the first track when I was comparing.

BTW, for me, Sweet Thing from Astral Weeks by Van Morrison is the go-to track for evaluating imaging.

Thanks for sharing. Some great information here! I still have the UTWS5 on my list. I wonder how well they would push the (notoriously hard to drive) Tinhifi P1?! I knew someone on here that used the iBasso CF01 with them and while they sounded PRETTY good, he said there wasn't much headroom at all (which also means it wasn't driving them properly either most likely).