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

Product Information

Separation and layering is decent, instruments are generally separated quite cleanly but instruments in the lower midrange and male vocals are just kept to the back and are not very distinct. They didn’t try to reinvent the wheel here but opted instead to make incremental improvements in some key areas, especially technical performance. But for anyone looking for a more neutral and analytical sound signature, the Gems will provide all that they could want. Apart from that, OH10 appeared clearer and more detailed to the Meze RAI Solo, to the Moondrop Starfield and I really don’t have much to complain about them in here.

Their waterfall can be described as smooth and gentle, it is good in here, the only thing that bothers is a spike at 12 kHz.

While OH10 is not elevating the whole bass region that much, it still has the same thunderous type of bass, that is visceral, ruthless, like there is always a Drum’N’Bass party inside your head. Think about Fostex TH900/909 type of bass, think about Audeze LCD-4 driven by a Class-A amplifier type of bass, think about having a portable sub-woofer powered by your smartphone…that type of bass. Those 2-pin connectors are buried deep in their copper shells and you will need to apply a higher force to detach that cable.

P1’s housing is die-cast from a Zinc alloy and hand-polished, for a very nice look, and it is certainly built to last; in addition, the Zinc alloy is more rigid and has better impact resistance than aluminum, yet offers significant weight savings compared to stainless steel; so, it contributes to the sound signature of P1, and it feels less bulky in the ear. Their triangular shape is ergonomic, however, fit may be an issue for some due to their very small size, requiring a good ear tip seal to hold them in place. Besides the two earpieces and their cable, there are two sets of eartips, with three sizes (S,M,L) each; in the first set the color is black and it is named “Vocal Eartips”, apparently, giving an emphasis to the vocal part of a musical piece; in the second set the color is blue and it is named “Balanced Eartips”, obviously, designed to give a balanced version of what you are listening to.

Underneath are nine pairs of ear tips, another box containing the cable, and an unusual leatherette storage case. The nozzle itself is a bit short but it has a solid lip and I didn’t have any issues with eartips coming loose. P1 comes with two MMCX cables, one without and one with a microphone, which are both silver-plated 99. 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. Those looking for the warmest sounding mids may be left wanting for a bit more, as the performance is more neutral, leaning towards sharp and clear and not rounded-off or thick.