-IBASSO IT00 Ultra-Late Review-
TONALITY: 8.2/10
TECHNICALITIES: 7/10
CONSTRUCTION&DESIGN: 7/10
SOUND VALUE: 7.5/10
Disclaimer: This is a very late overdue review for a very simple reason. The IT00 was defective on arrival, MMXC issue with the connector. So i put them in my drawer and forget about them until I decide to open them up and resolder inner mmcx cables. It wasn't easy to open these up, but now they work great. So, I can finally write this review.
IBASSO doesn't need an introduction, they specialized in Digital Music Player but widen their products catalog like FIIO did and now create a variety of IEM including DD based one, hybrid and Multi-BA. Today I will review their entry-level IEM, the IT00.
CONSTRUCTION is as basic as it can get and something we are familiar with entry level product like KZ, TRN or Kbear. In fact, the IT00 look near exactly the same as the KZ EDX and use same basic plastic material, but it have a metal nozzle of better quality and use MMCX connector....of poorer quality? I don't know, but it's shaky in their implementation and feel cheap.
SOUND IMPRESSIONS
(using Xduoo X20, Xduoo XD-05plus)
TONALITY can be described as warm balanced V to softed W shape with important sub-bass boost and slight mids and treble boost. We can say V shape wannabe Harman target too. Smooth, thick, lush and bassy with borderline dark treble.
TECHNICALITIES are nothing to write about, well, everything have good dynamic weight, yet lack proper speed to achieve crisp snappy attack. Let's emphasize on the Dynamic flexibility, it's elastic and thick in layers, as well, transparency isn't bad and help overall precision of this soft-yet-weighty dynamic.
SOUNDSTAGE is quite wide and open enough, especially when their no big beat or big sub going on. Tallness is good too, but It lacks deepness, air and a sens of proper stereo articulation.
IMAGING is just average, it's more about layering and since they are thick, it will go overly saturated fast. Not completly muddy, but hollow with multiple instrument presence that lack proper definition and separation space.
BASS is near basshead level here, and it's warm and a bit sloppy, but weighty and addictive at the same time. It's near texture less and offers a juicy boom when needed. The punch is big but softened in atack, this permit a more natural transition into the mids, with gentle bleed and poor separation. The sub-bass being more authoritative than mid-upper bass, but all lower range being boosted, it offers a warm thick organic slam that swallow kick drum presence and doesn't feel very articulate. Again: basshead will love this without guilt, but when i go critical listening, i feel very guilty to enjoy something that immature.
MIDS are a bit recessed, as expected with V shape tuning, but it is still well layered and transparent enough to avoid being too dark in presence. Vocal and woodwind instruments benefit from the organic, soft tonality of the mids. Lower mids are rather thick too, which inflict even more on tonality warmth, thickness, lushness. Male and female vocals sound nice, but female vocals are sharper and have more presence, it's as well better extracted. It has an appealing sense of breathiness and a rather thick body. Again, due to average technicalities and pumped-up bass, the IT00 seems to try to be a master of POP music, which can include Soul, R&B, Rap and everything with slow rhythm, simple instrumentation and singer. With male singer, it's more touchy, but IT00 seem to really like HAYDEN THORPES last album ''Moondust for my Diamond'' which have a lot of retro synth bassline and other digitals instrument, this singer can go from soprano to tenor in it's singing so it show again the flexbility of IT00 tonality. An acoustic instrument like piano will not sound as good as ''digital instruments'', due to scooped attack lead and edge that affect proper definition and articulation.
TREBLE is inoffensive with a tweak, the tweak is a hint of spice in lower to mid-treble, while it doesn't really add air-sparkle and lack in natural decay, it permits the highs to not be overly dark and extract a bit of percussions presence there and there. For texture, it extracts some but this will be imprevisible and incomplete, violin suddenly lacking body in high register but not texture and vice versa, cello lacking natural texture in lower range. IT00 are made for long listening pleasure unless your are super bass sensitive, and it avoid being plain dull with a softened but balanced dynamic heft. Let's say it's a chiiiiiiiiill treble, friendly one that just wanna entertain you humbly, without going spectacular or analytical. Sure, it's a bit rolled off in extension, doesn't dig for you micro-details you ever heard, but still rich enough to make the music experience rich and immersive.
COMPARISONS
VS KZ EDX (1DD-8$)
TONAL DIFFERENCE: The IT00 is more U shape with warmer mids due to ''romantic'' bass bleed and it have smoother less detailed treble, while the EDX is more W shape and fowards sounding with thigher punchier mid bass but some sub bass roll off and lack of density.
The EDX WINS:
-BETTER CONSTRUCTION due to well built 2pin connector vs weak MMCX of IT00 that encounter QC issue
-Better clarity and imaging (more details, less hollow instrument separation, less bass bleed
-Attack bite
-Timbre texture
-More treble information
-Deeper soundstage
-Faster attack (busy tracks are crisper and more articulate)
-Value (big time cause its 10 times less expensive than IT00)
The IT00 WINS:
-Wider Soundstage
-Smoothness (no lower treble aggressivity)
-Bass weight and sub-bass extension (can be considerate a drawback for some due to bass bleed-resonance)
-Wider layering
-More natural tonality and thicker timbre
-Sparkle-decay (less dry)
A-B'ing those 2 was very destabilizing because of how much detailed and bright is the EDX with a thinner timbre but overall better clarity, technicalities and attack. Here its weight slam against bright punch,as well as musicality personal target, one could consider the EDX shouty while the IT00 as hollow warm. Sounds Layers of IT00 are wider and fuller yet lacking the details and definition of EDX. In they end, IMO, their not a single doubt EDX represent a better value but a more detailed and technical beast that scale more with amping to than IT00 (which have an aquired taste tuning for warm head searching for laid back organic musicality).
VS MOONDROP ARIA (1DD-80$)
TONAL DIFFERENCE: IT00 is more V shape and warmer, while Aria is colder, crisper and more W shape. Timbre is notably thicker and bass is more boosted and weightier-sloppier in slam with IT00, in fact, it's quite troubling to compare those too, because it makes my beloved Aria even more ''nude'' than before, as if it's all skin and no meat, even in bass department! Anyway, if tonality isn't as lush and bodied as the IT00, technicalities are sure from another league here, resolution being notably higher, transparent layering and imaging, soundstage depth, treble extension and attack speed all goes to the Aria.
The ARIA WINS:
-Better technicalities (attack speed-control, resolution, precision, imaging, details etc)
-both sound spectrum end are fully extended
-can deal better with busy track and have more realist tone for acoustic instruments
-cleaner, airier, sparklier, snappier treble
-leaner bass extension
-better macro and micro resolution-definition
-more refined textured tuning
-bigger-deeper soundstage
The IT00 WINS:
-dynamic weight
-timbre thickness-fullness
-more bodied bass
-more natural (romantic) vocals
-less dead serious-sounding
-easier to drive
All in all, while their no doubt the Aria is more refined, balanced and better technically, I can see the IT00 as being preferred for it's lusher bassier tonality. Its less of a niche audiophile gems than Aria, but more accessible tonaly for the masses.
CONCLUSION
The Ibasso IT00 already has a solid fan base, and it's surely well worth it due to it's accessible (and musical!) tonality. While it lacks in the resolution department, it doesn't lack in dynamic weight and warm bassy fun. If you only listen to POP music, this will be a real treat!
Ibasso go All-In-Tonality and I'm honest when I see it's sometimes needed to just be able to enjoy the sun, like a child, without caring about the rest of the universe's complications.
Simply put: the IT00 is an IEM that is as much easy to love as it's easy to half-forget. Like a friend you see once in a while but always have captivating, anecdotical, funny talks with.
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PS: This defective review unit was provided to me by Ibasso, which I wanna thanks.
You can buy the IT00 for 69$ here:
https://ibasso.com/product/it00/
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For more honest and detailed audio review, give a look (and subscribe?) to my audio blog here:
https://nobsaudiophile.com/
