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

Product Information

The Gems are able to deliver a punchy low-end, although no one will accuse them of being bass-heavy. When the music calls for it, they provide the goods to nod your head or tap your toes. All the while they remain clear, fast, and snappy sounding. It’s an engaging sound signature that reminds me of the experience of listening to good monitor speakers, rather than massive subwoofers. The midrange on the Gems are a gem. This is not intended to be a pun, the midrange is very rich. All instruments plying these frequencies are richly delivered. Details Many, well distinct and pleasant – both on the highmids and trebles and on the bass. Definitely amongst the best parts of the product. Physicals​ Build Housings are made of two parts, one in resin the other in “aviation grade” metal alloy. According to Ikko this allows for lower eight and better frequency separation between the two drivers installed inside. What’s sure to anyone handling them is their convincing solidity, small size, and light weight. Wether the good sound results depend, or to what extent do they depend on the internal cavity – I admit – I am unable to assess.

I am not a foam lover at all, and that’s possibly the reason why I was so surprised on how well these foams apply to these drivers: trebles are “combed” like it happens with short-stem silicons and deep push, bass gets a bit less edgy, but both extremes do not lose detail in the process. Furthermore, i-Planet foams significantly improve in passive isolation ! It was pleasing to know that even small USB-C dongles and portable Bluetooth gizmos were able to awake subterranean bass notes in no time, OH10 were always engaging and hard smalling no matter the source, yep, I’ve heavily head-banged even out of a smartphone. OH10 has crispier treble than OH1 and I would not classify it as harsh. I have TFZ Secret Garden HD in mind too. Cheers!Recommended if you're looking for a very fun signature with monstrous bass and good technicalities. However, if midrange is equally as important, I suggest looking for something else. The vocal to my ears they are rather thin sounding and somewhat dry, but it doesn’t sound bad at all Spectrogram is super clean and is not showing weird driver behavior. You can also see their hot zones better; the treble appears sharper and more present in some areas.

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. Signature analysis​ Tonality General tonality is bright-neutral, timbre is dry-centric. The presentation is a mild reversed-L with rulerflat midbass, mids taking the lead role but without getting too “important”, supported but very nice, airy and quite detailed trebles. Coherence between the DD and BA drivers’ different nature is properly taken care of and the entire presentation is choesive and well merged. Does very well in the bass and technicalities department but not so much in the midrange and the treble. IEMs: 64Audio A18s, A12t, & N8, MMR Thummim, CA Andromeda 2020 & SuperMoon, ThieAudio Prestige, Monarch (OG) and Monarch Mk2, Subtonic Storm, AKG N5005, Oriolus Szalayi, SoftEars Twilight, Dunu EST 112, Penon Serial, Letshuoer EJ07M (Resin) and S12, Ikko OH10, Etymotic ER4XR & ER3XR, Technics EAH-TZ700, Fearless Audio Provence, Sony XBA-N3, TRI OG i3 & Meteor, HifiBoy OS V3, Tin OG P1 & T3+, Hidizs MD4, CCA C10, BQEYZ KC2, TRN M10, etc Music transitions smoothly into the midrange, with no unnatural bumps or dips. Vocals and instruments take a more dominant position in the mix as they aren’t being upstaged by a boosted bass section. Things sound smooth, clear, and well defined, with a moderately intimate presentation.They aren’t sounding like your typical hybrid IEMs and I know that IKKO has a cheaper alternative having pretty much the same drivers, I’m about their OH1 that I’ve reviewed almost two years ago, but that one wasn’t nowhere as fun as OH10 is. Its low-end delivery is indeed overdone, easily going to Mariana Trench levels, standing out a lot more often, but man…it’s so damn exciting and smile inducing, that I can’t get enough of it. Being hybrid, you can expect a slightly faster pace compared to dynamic only IEMs, a faster decay of the notes, a higher detail retrieval and transparency, but a somewhat hotter top octave that can pose a problem for some. I will be measuring them soon and I’m curious to learn more about them. Between the Obsidian and now the Gems, I’m sold on what IKKO brings to the table. They’re producing high-quality and unique IEMs that don’t deserve to get lost in the ocean of bland alternatives. The OH1S Gems should be on the radar of anyone looking for IEMs in this price range. IKKO consistently creates high-quality and great-sounding IEMs at affordable prices. What’s not to like? The design of the Gems really stands out. On the other hand, both OH1 and OH10 are very revealing with really extended highs. Now, I have to admit that the tuning of both OH1 and OH10 must be very meticulous; I never felt that the highs were harsh, but I also do not remember a case in which I thought that there is some roll off.