First of all, I would like to thank Zepp crew from Zeppelin and Co. for housing me and providing an excellent venue to audition the new iBasso IT07.
Introduction
It has been awhile since iBasso released their previous flagship IEM - the IT04. During this period of time, iBasso focuses a lot on filling up the gap in their entry level lineup. Various amazing models such as IT01s and IT00 had been released to fill up the gap. I "accidentally" saw the new flagship of iBasso - the IT07 is available for demo at Zeppelin & Co. yesterday and I cannot stop myself from heading there for an audition.
IT07 is powered by 7 drivers - single graphene dynamic driver is coupled with six Sonion BA drivers. Similar to a lot of flagships in the market, iBasso implemented changeable filters on IT07 to suit multiple sources, tastes and music genres.
Sound Signature
Coupled with the silver colour filter which is designed for balanced sound signature, the sound signature of IT07 is indeed well-balanced. The detail-retrieval capability of IT07 is a huge step-up as compared to IT04, which is more lush and warm. The house sound of iBasso can be still observed from the IT07, but with better imaging and clarity.
There is another two filters available for IT07 - black filter for dark and gold filter for bright sound signature. For those who have lower treble tolerance, black filter would be a saviour for you. It reduces the sparkle in the highs by bringing the stage slightly further from the audiences. Changing to the gold filter, the engagement level is one step forward. For those who want some excitements from IT07, gold filter will be the best choice without a doubt.
Lows
Powered by a graphene dynamic driver, the bass of IT07 is full and solid. It punches with satisfying amount of force. It has great efficiency - with small amount of power, it can fulfils your needs on bass. Despite having good rumbles from the sub-bass, the precision is well preserved. This is what I called as high quality bass - it satisfies your crave, offers excitements without sacrificing any other frequency spectrum.
Mids
The mids on IT07 is transparent. It is not as coloured as IT04. Because of this, the presentation is more airy and spacious. I find this to be a huge improvement. I think IT04 is a pair of good IEMs for casual listening, but not on critical listening due to the smoothening on the mids and highs. The IT07 addresses this weakness and it is one step closer to perfection.
Highs
The well extended highs is definitely one of the selling points of iBasso IT07. It is well-controlled - no distortions at super high frequency. This helps to maintain a good cleanliness in the overall presentation. There is good amount of air and space created by the highs. It is not fatiguing to listen to IT07 for long period of time.
Verdict
Personally, I find that IT07 has great improvements as compared to the IT04 in terms of sound and fitting. Does it worth the price? Well, to me, the improvements that you can find in IT07 definitely worth the price difference between it and IT04. It totally depends on how you appreciate these improvements.
The iBasso IT07 is retailing at SGD$1299. You can place your order with Zeppelin & Co. starting from now!
