Ikko OH10 in-Ear Monitor, Detachable Design in-Ear Headphone/Earphone,10mm Dynamic Drive + Knowles 33518 Balanced Drive Dual Hybrid

Product Information

The most sensitive part of our hearing is also elevated, somewhere around 5 and 6 kHz musical notes appeared crisper and shinier.

Furthermore, both OH1 and OH10 are extremely comfortable; this is natural for OH1, as it is very lightweight. The vast majority of my listening was done with my iPhone paired to the IKKO Zerda ITM01 portable DAC/ amp and my portable rig comprised of a Hidizs AP 80 Pro DAP and a Chord Mojo.Pure copper cavity hybrid structure:It is made of pure copper combined with the acoustic driver design of the dual titanium driver, the internal harmonic resonance distortion is reduced, and the sound is more delicate and natural.

The overall build is excellent, and although the Obsidian is a bit on the large side, they are really comfortable once I place them in my ears. The B400 is slightly more controlled in the treble range due to the roll-off that smooth’s this area and makes it less detailed but very fatigue-free. With OH10, there is an overwhelming feeling of power down low, the air is heavier, it contains more air mass, lowest notes are more visceral and harder pounding. Overall, I’ve recorded a super-fun and wildly engaging sound signature, they have one of the lowest THD I’ve recorded so far, a fast driver recovery, a clean spectrogram and a smooth waterfall.The midrange of the Brainwavz B400 sounds fuller than those of the Ikko OH10 which shows less lower midrange depth but is superior in terms of overall clarity and detail in this area. The transition between the dynamic driver and the balanced armature is notable only for its transparency and is essentially unnoticeable. Rather than reusing the Obsidian’s ‘asteroids-and-foxes’ motif, this time she’s dancing along the roof of a nighttime cityscape surrounded by colorful pastel music notes and shapes. The OH10 which I will now review offers a detachable cable design with 2-Pin connectors and a dual Hybrid Driver Configuration which is based on 1x Knowles (Model 33518) Balanced Armature Driver + 1x 10mm Diameter Dynamic Driver with Titanium Plated Polymer Diaphragm. The B400 has the upper hand in terms of lower midrange depth and extension that makes it more successful with male vocals.

Overall, the frequency response of OH10 resembles quite a lot the Harman target curve that works phenomenal with fast and punchy music. This shows that the main thing in fitting is the ergonomic design of the earpieces and not their weight. The lower treble (presence) area sounds more detailed and has also better extension compared to the upper treble (brilliance) region that shows a smoother tuning and less extension. Guitarmass of Infected Mushroom ( Qobuz / Tidal) and Angel by Massive Attack ( Qobuz / Tidal) felt almost painful at times. The lower treble region of the Ikko OH10 is more accented and has also a higher level of extension compared to the Campfire Audio Comet which has a fairly noticeable roll-off in this area.

OH10 can’t outplay an all-armature IEM when it comes to speed and agility, but they will surely win that boxing round with its heavier punches. There is some amount of sub-bass, and a bigger amount of mid-bass, so I never felt some rumbling bass; however, the important thing is that whatever bass, whether sub- or mid-bass, is tight and well-controlled. None are carbon copies of other IEMs, and all stand on their own with unique sound signatures and construction.

I'm normally not big on super bassy tunings or more extreme v shaped tunings so based on some things I had read about the OH10s I was expecting them to be something I might listen to for fun occasionally or even end up giving away. There is no point in giving some music examples, as I will be arriving at the same conclusion that OH10 is clean, detailed and undistorted if you don’t go overboard with the volume.These are not a bass-boosted pair of IEMs, and they impart an impressive level of clarity and coherence. I should apologize in advance to IKKO, as I have them for several months now, but today is the biggity big day as I will carefully explaining what makes them so interesting and unique. OH10 are also quite sensitive to source noise, so be sure to use a cleaner output for the best results. The front part that we do describe as faceplate has a glossy surface with a unique surface pattern that gives the obsidian effect. They scaled nicely with a better source, amplification and source material, especially when it came to soundstage and detail retrieval.