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

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All the elevated treble energy remains restrained and smooth, so the Gems shine without too much sizzle. Where to Buy

The midrange is where the fun starts to happen. Especially in the lower mids, there is some uplift that makes the sound warm-ish and musical. There's a good amount of detail, a wide stage, and a really excellent instrument separation for the Obsidian. I would call the sound analytical for the most part, as in the middle of the midrange, there is a slight dip, and after it the upper midrange starts to rise again, and that keeps on going forward in the treble. Stringed instruments, trumpets, and classical instruments in general are presented so darn well, they are better than on most 500 USD IEMs. I don't know how, but the size, distance to the listener, texture, realism is absolutely spot on for those instruments. I've been testing Obsidian with Dethklok and their entire album Doomstar Requiem. Obsidian actually renders finer details and micro-details in an excellent fashion, with the upper midrange being fun enough for the sound. Guitar solos are natural with good textures and a colorful , vivid presentation. Overall timbre is on the cold, metallic and thin side. Not the most natural midrange presentation but is decently acceptable for a V shaped signature.

Headphone Amps: Benchmark HPA4, SparkoS Labs Aries, Flux Lab Acoustics FCN-10, Musician Andromeda, Burson Soloist 3X, Gustard H16, SMSL SP400 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. Technicalities: Shiro Sagisu – Hundred years war (02:24-02:57), a lot bigger soundstage on the N3 in width and depth. Details, instrument separation, imaging, timbre and overall coherency are also better on the N3.

In reality, OH10 are one of the most beautiful entry-level IEMs I’ve held in my hands. Their shells are carved on a CNC machine, they used pure copper and you can actually feel the added weight it brought to the table. OH10 are slightly heavier to usual aluminum or stainless-steel IEM bodies and that adds a feeling of a higher quality and confidence in a product. I’m a flashlight junkie and the best flashlights are using copper and I’m getting the same vibe from the beautiful OH10. The added mass, lowers the vibration of the shell at higher volume, seriously reducing the overall total harmonic distortion, for a clearer and more natural sound. Comfort: Here is where it struggles the most, as the heavy shells make the comfort pretty bad and is too fatiguing for me to use for over an hour. The Highs have sufficient air and sparkle. The treble is clean, as I stated earlier, it doesn’t feel unnatural. The energy, though, is not present. The Upper treble is a bit restricted but the overall sound that it presents to you…trust me…you will not be disappointed at all and OH10 has the capability to entertain you as long as you want it to.Resolution and detail retrieval is actually pretty good. But again, it will not compete when comparing to planar IEMs in this price range.