[liquidrats]

Unboxing @ Zepp. Did a short audition, and this is a very different beast from IT01.

 

[frix]

is it less V-shaped?

 

[liquidrats]

is it less V-shaped?

definitely.

 

[Animagus]

Unboxing @ Zepp. Did a short audition, and this is a very different beast from IT01.

Any driver flex?

 

[emklap]

definitely.

Looking forward to a comparison with the original IT01 version. This chinese review is hard to follow when using Google Translate.

https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/50502188

 

[Colors]

Interested in how these sound!

My complaints about the IT01 were:
- bad for anything except music (ex: watching shows)
- cable was really hard to disconnect from earpiece

Other than that, it was a steal for $99!

$199 is a whole other ball game though...you have the Campfire Comets, DM6, ER3XR/SE...

 

[dhruvmeena96]

Agreed, but someone pointed out IT01s is a single driver not dual driver. So IT02 wouldn’t accurately fit into their existing IEM naming convention.

Oh well, I care more about the sound than the name. It’s just an interesting topic.

I have high hopes for this model, as DLC drivers are generally regarded as the holy grail (even moreso than graphene). So I’m really excited for the IT01s to get in some people’s hands so we can get some reviews/impressions.

Hi slater

DLC is not holy grail and neither the graphene. How they made it matters.

Well compared to 5um of iBasso it01, they are now 3.8um thick

Which is a drastic 1.2um thin diaphragm with DLC coating which is good at young modulus compared to graphene.

And CNT of 1um is still way stronger than mylar of 10um whilst being equal weight at equal thickness and dimension(1um mylar weight same as 1um CNT or buckypaper composite).

Well, from my perspective I think they want to correct the pressuring issue(diaphragm compression while putting inside the anullar node issue(completely) and increase sensitivity.

@Paul - iBasso if I am correct

These will sound louder, somewhat tamed at mid bass compared to IT01 and extended subbass rise(mentioning rise in dB, nature of DLC coating) and linear mids compared to IT01 with nearly same level of treble with lower distortion and decay.

Because all these specs leads to this.

 

[Layman1]

Well compared to 5um of iBasso it01, they are now 3.8um thick
Which is a drastic 1.2um thin diaphragm with DLC coating which is good at young modulus compared to graphene.
And CNT of 1um is still way stronger than mylar of 10um whilst being equal weight at equal thickness and dimension(1um mylar weight same as 1um CNT or buckypaper composite).
These will sound louder, somewhat tamed at mid bass compared to IT01 and extended subbass rise(mentioning rise in dB, nature of DLC coating) and linear mids compared to IT01 with nearly same level of treble with lower distortion and decay. Because all these specs leads to this.

Damn, I love science

 

[dhruvmeena96]

Damn, I love science

LoL....

Ever heard Ocharaku(sorry, I know, this is iBasso thread) dual driver series.

They use two opposing driver in push push configuration and a tube from back driver in a very simple way to cancel very specific frequency(nearly all the peaks) from the front driver while making power handling double, zero roll off in bass and more clarity with nearly double volume, making it sound like headphones. Plus no BA and no coherency issues.

Do you know, why I love it01 more than it03 and it04(I tried it, and it was little bit mehh!!! No offence) because I tried STAX CD coherency check track and soundstage test track(opera), and due to multiple driver with hybridness(Ibasso really did very good job, but multi driver is very very hard to really master), it placed low end organ pipe very back(leading to artificial stage)

You won't notice on tracks, you may enjoy it, but these flaw comes in ear training tracks like Philips golden ear or STAX CD. IT01 never suffered from placements and nature, even if it had veil..

IT01s, if what I am expecting, can be a game changer.

Because IT01 was more than enough

By the way @Paul - iBasso you must check @CoiL iBasso it01 mod. Some serious work he did with tuning(woodies)

 

[dhruvmeena96]

By the way iBasso themselves mentioned on older thread that cable were expensive with older it01
Actually 80$

So if I take 60$ as base cable price and 5$ for box and case, the earbud with such a good tuning was still somewhat 40$.
Buckypaper or CNT(audiophile people use that word) is very expensive and hard to work, then DLC over it.

OK earbuds are now 130$(10$ for new cable)

That is 10$ more than 3 times and I think still better than dark plus sharp sound of Dunu Falcon(if it goes according to the above review, dont know the name, but I read it right now).

I think I have to buy these now...

Well one good thing about iBasso is that they listen a lot to people and help them a lot..

I was able to fix my iBasso dx200 without sending them, they guided me for everything on mail and I saw that they also gave the firmware to a certain modder..

So I have high trust on the work and the people there.

 

[Lurker0]

Two events happened yesterday morning: I've disassembled DX150 Oreo firmware and a courier brought a box from iBasso, with IT01s. Now, while DX150 users are believing that I'm working hard under my add-on to Oreo firmware, I'm listening IT01s and writing this text

Why? Because it's "A new view to my music", exactly as Paul has titled this thread.

Yesterday, after first brief listening, I felt that they were changing their sound too fast, and decided to warm they up with white noise. Today morning, I thought I'd continue listening them as a background to firmware work... But they are so much involving, that I'm only listening!

Experienced reviewers will tell you about bass-mids-highs etc. I'll not. But I can't resist to tell you how fast they are! My previous experience led me to hybrids: dynamic for bass and BA for the rest. Today I also tried Etymotic ER4P (balanced cable just arrived for them), and, after direct comparison, I prefer IT01s to etys in every single aspect!

I can't say they are perfect, but I don't hear anything that would prevent me to enjoy music. In contrary, with IT01, I couldn't stop thinking that they lack this and that, compared to my every day IEMs...

So, sorry guys, but right now I can't stop listening music - IT01s are so much involving!

I feel sorry, but I have to mention what is connected to IT01s: DX200Cu+AMP8+8 cores pure silver gold plated cable from Lunashops. So, YMMV, as usual

Isn't it the longest "review" I ever wrote here? IT01s forced me to share the impression!

 

[CoiL]

In contrary, with IT01, I couldn't stop thinking that they lack this and that, compared to my every day IEMs...

Interesting You say that. If You look at crinacle measurements @ IT01 and IT01S, then difference isn`t so huge imo to call them very different. S version does have more present 2-4kHz range but there is also higher 5kHz peak which could "disturb" some listeners.
Main good thing about S version is probably tamed sub-bass side response, which makes them more neutral sounding while not making mid-bass too prominent.
Yes, while I agree that FR graphs don`t show everything, they show quite a lot about differences between IEMs.
Here are FR graphs (should be measured with same systems as far as I know):

Spoiler: IT01 vs. IT01S FR graphs

I`m not here to talk about my IT01 mod (which I want to send for measurement) but a lot what I can see on IT01S graph resembles what I hear out of modded IT01. Maybe I`m hearing things wrong, idk. Will see how measurements turn out (probably next year).
What I wanted to say based on graphs only... imo S version could be tad cheaper. Yes, iBasso has put a lot effort on developing S version and I believe they are very very good... just that price difference with IT01 is tad too big leap if considering there are other really great offerings like DM6, Kanas Pro and some others that offer similar FR signature. While IT01 sells like hot cakes, I don`t belive S version will be so successful due to price tag and other competitive offerings.
Or... we could take this backwards - IT01 should have been higher priced maybe?

Btw, IT01S seems to be available through Penon: https://penonaudio.com/ibasso-it01s.html?search=IT01S

 

[Lurker0]

Interesting You say that. If You look at crinacle measurements @ IT01 and IT01S, then difference isn`t so huge imo to call them very different.

That's why I mentioned "how fast they are" and compared to ER4. In Russian audiophile forum, ER4 are considered as the standard IEMs for high speed metal styles. But fast IEMs reveal microdetails in any music that has them. For instance, past days I listened The Royal Philarmonic Orchestra "Hooked on Classics I/II/III" vinyl rips, with IT01s, IT04, SR1 and a little bit ER4. The worst result was with ER4: I'd say, dry and fatiguing. The overall impressions from IT01s and SR1 were very similar.

IT01 have more bass, but they sound smooth. Their driver does great job in IT04, but with support of 3 BAs. IT01s, for me, sound like IT02 would: good dynamic driver + fast BA driver. I think, real IT02 with a BA extending highs would compete with IT04, or even outperform them, due to less or even no filters involved. Also ergonomic wise: due to smaller size. Oh, and these beautiful nozzles with removable meshes, and no way for tips to slide out!

 

[dhruvmeena96]

That's why I mentioned "how fast they are" and compared to ER4. In Russian audiophile forum, ER4 are considered as the standard IEMs for high speed metal styles. But fast IEMs reveal microdetails in any music that has them. For instance, past days I listened The Royal Philarmonic Orchestra "Hooked on Classics I/II/III" vinyl rips, with IT01s, IT04, SR1 and a little bit ER4. The worst result was with ER4: I'd say, dry and fatiguing. The overall impressions from IT01s and SR1 were very similar.

IT01 have more bass, but they sound smooth. Their driver does great job in IT04, but with support of 3 BAs. IT01s, for me, sound like IT02 would: good dynamic driver + fast BA driver. I think, real IT02 with a BA extending highs would compete with IT04, or even outperform them, due to less or even no filters involved. Also ergonomic wise: due to smaller size. Oh, and these beautiful nozzles with removable meshes, and no way for tips to slide out!

the speed of driver is because of Decay, spectral decay and the distortion. there is nothing like speed, it is just that, when you take away unwanted echo(like perfectly damped studio room) everything sounds fast.

These driver are too fast as i was asking my old professor about a 3.8um thick 10mm dia buckypaper weight. He told me that they measure it with standard of copper. A buckypaper weight 15% of copper(the dimension of block are same, then comparing 1kg block of copper is equal to 150grams of buckypaper) whereas mylar layered block is 40%(400grams).

so comparing old 5um mylar to new 3.8um CNT/buckypaper do make great difference in whole transient response, distortion

@CoiL 5kHz peak only annoys when there is a distinct decay to it(the triple ringer decay is 2.4kHz, 6kHz and 8kHz).

Ety ER4 were never great for speed. ER4SR and XR were good but still not great. They were just great for pure neutrality which made you feel like that. Speedy IEM were Shozy Star II, Shure SE846, KSE1500, Alpha and Delta D6, Ocharaku co Donguri Kaede dual equalizer, Ocharaku Flat4 Akeyaki super Balanced, TFZ King Pro(only this in whole TFZ....this was pinnacle of TFZ....better than Secret Garden)

special mention goes to iBasso It04(Hybrids dont fair that good as BA and Dynamic are very different, but their Dynamic seriously kept up, until or unless you didnt go for the Organ pipe resonance music which drops too low)

Bosendorfer Imperial C0-major Black keys timing or speed of detailing of low end(which some may call texture) used as test

well actually i sourced all these earphones and was working with some classical musicians(indian and western) in india for making my own headphones as a DIY. so we took the recording of extreme low Bosendorfer Imperial(if you need one, i can PM that)

EtymoticER4 was not able to keep up with the speed and total crunch of low end and mid range resonance, but actually distorted badly
ER4SR faired good
iBasso IT04 was amaziing on whole low end texture, but sounded disjoint or the blend was not present when compared to mid range resonance(its like it is too clean to show me naturalness or as if their was some decay inconsistency while switching the cross between dynamic and BA, but only slight and was way better than Fiio FH5)
IT03 was failure as the above problem was severe
IT01 was too great, but distorted or flexed, dont know exactly, it was for short period of time.
TFZ king Pro was the only one which came on top, for rendering that(only IT01 came near, but bleed was present and was issue)

others are out as they surpassed the test

Shozy STAR II was fabulous


well we tested Headphones too(actually these were important)

My benchmark is Organ pipes, Extreme complex choir vocals, and Cymbal live
then i use STAX CD for finishing test

so under 100$ alpha and Delta D6 is better spec wise and clarity but no detachable cables
iBasso it01 does 90% of it plus gives more relaxing and enjoyable sound.

then it03 which i didnt like for many tracks, kinera IDUN was better

and then It04, lovely clean and still enjoyable. It can get my silence sound(microphone hiss due to air) enjoyable, which is still a very hard feat.

well seeing that graph, i think i have to buy these

(@CoiL and @Slater i am economically good and stable now, thanks for standing up for me back then when i was selling my earphone(old talks))

@Paul - iBasso

i want to ask

please test it01 and it01s with https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLq8E3fMago2JPdU_deYcQPYnnxzl1ZbNG

and tell us in which exact part these excel

as frequency response and specs dont tell the whole story

 

[crinacle]

IT01S (red) vs IT01 (black, new sample measured on the same day):