iKKO ITB03 Heimdallr Review – A Good First Attempt

Pros — Solid build
– Very lightweight
– Warm-neutral tuning
– Four audio modes that provide noticeable sonic difference
– Strong Bluetooth connection
– Changing reconstruction filters alter presentation subtly but noticeably
– Good output power from balanced out

Cons — Ikko ITB03 has no carrying case in the box
– Fingerprint-magnet front
– Single-ended output is essentially useless
– Decent but not great battery life
– Slightly lacking in dynamics compared to certain wired alternatives
– No companion app, convoluted firmware upgrade process

INTRODUCTION

IKKO Audio has been slowly, but steadily growing into the audiophile scene over the past few years. The IKKO OH10 managed to snag a place in our Wall of Excellence, and enjoy a cult-following amidst those preferring well-tuned V-shaped signature.

As such, IKKO is now transitioning into portable source market, and the ITB03 (codenamed: Heimdallr) is its debut BT DAC/Amp offering. The competition is fairly stiff in this space, with the likes of Quedelix, Fiio, Shanling, and Radsone leading the pack.

Can the IKKO ITB03 stand out with its features and sonic performance, or will the first attempt be a forgettable one? Let’s find out.

Note: the ratings given will be subjective to the price tier. iKKO was kind enough to send me the ITB03 for evaluation.

Sources used: Pixel 4 XL
Price, while reviewed: USD$150. Can be purchased from IKKO’s official website.

PHYSICAL THINGS AND USABILITY

PACKAGING AND ACCESSORIES

The IKKO ITB03 doesn’t have a lot of extras in terms of accessories. You get three different cables: type-C to type-C, type-C to lightning, and a type-C to type-A cable. That’s about it. No carrying case in the package which is a bummer.

BUILD QUALITY

General build quality is good, as the ITB03 goes for the usual glass-and-metal sandwich design. The glass front and back attracks loads of fingerpirnts and smudges, so keep a microfiber cloth handy.

The right side of the device holds all the buttons. The volume up/down buttons are flanked by the enter/function key. At the bottom, there is the power on/off and menu key combo. More on this later. The left side hosts the microphone that can be used for phone calls.

The top of the device has the 4.4mm balanced and 3.5mm single-ended outputs. The single-ended output also acts as an optical output. At the bottom, there is a type-C port. On the top of the device there is a 64*128 px OLED display that shows some basic information. The back of the device houses the NFC chip for easier pairing.

Overall, the build quality is robust, and the OLED display adds a bit of flair in an otherwise utiliatrian design.

CONNECTIVITY AND FEATURES

As I am lazy to type out the specs, here’s a screenshot from IKKO Audio’s product page regarding output power and chipset specifications.

While the BT version is not the latest 5.2, 5.0 is absolutely fine as the improvements are mostly in power management. The ITB03 supports LDAC/APTX/APTHD on the bluetooth codec side, and can decode DSD as well as PCM upto 384kHz (not sure who’s using such high sample rate files though).

The biggest omission here is a companion app, which could have considerably increased usability of the device. iKKO could then stash some of the filter options and other settings into the app itself, along with allowing the use of basic or parametric EQ.

The ITB03 allows you to tweak certain aspects of the device, especially the sound. There are 4 different filters, and each alter the sound subtly but noticeably. Filters 1 to 4 are respectively: Sharp, Short-delay Sharp, Slow, Short-delay Slow. For this review, I stuck with Filter 1 (Sharp) for the most part.

You can also choose if the device should charge when connected as a USB device. There is Car Mode (turns on when connected to a power source, off when disconnected), brightness control at 6 levels, and four different “sound profiles”.

These sound profile offer various colorations, and they can feel heavy-handed at times, especially the “Movie mode” which adds some excitement into the sound by boosting bass, widening the stage, etc. The Music mode is default for wireless operation, while Game Mode allows driverless installation of the device to use with PCs.

However, the HiFi mode is meant for wired use exclusively, and unlocks high sample rate and bit-depth options using UAC 2.0 mode. Lastly, you can select gain level (low/high) from the menus, and that concludes the list of functions in the menus.

The ITB03 also allows upgrading the firmware. As of writing this review, version 2.0 of the firmware is out (it just got out like a couple days ago). However, I found the upgrade process overly convoluted, and I am fairly certain that less tech-savvy people will find the whole process very confusing. Another task that rests on iKKO’s hands.

Note: I will update the article accordingly once I have finished the firmware upgrade and used the ITB03 for a while.

HANDLING AND OPERATION

Carrying around the ITB03 is straightforward: put it into your pocket and just go about your day. iKKO has told me that a carrying case is in development, and I wish they also consider throwing in a shirt-clip there.

General usability is a mixed bag. First up: pressing on the power button for two seconds takes you into the menu, and pressing for longer (about 5 seconds) turns the unit off. Meanwhile, double pressing the function key opens up Google Assistant/Siri/Bixby, but single-pressing doesn’t seem to do anything.

From an UX perspective, I would’ve preferred single-pressing the function key to get into the menu, long-pressing it to get out of menu, and allowing the user to choose if they’d like the double-pressing to trigger assistant option.

Another issue I have is the placement of the volume buttons, which are above and below the function button. They also serve double-duty as skip forward/backward buttons (long-pressing them does that). While navigating through menus, it’s annoying to shift the thumb up and down constantly while avoiding pressing the function button.

Lastly, I am not a fan of the tactile feedback the buttons provide. They are too stiff, which is good to avoid mistakenly pressing them, but adds up to the chore.

BATTERY LIFE

IKKO ITB03 has a 650 mAh battery inside with 8 hours of advertised battery life. In practice, it lasted me a bit more than 7 hours in LDAC mode. Note that battery life will vary depending on several factors (codec used, gain level, IEMs or hedphones used etc.).

Recharge time is fairly long at 1.5 hours. So with regular use, you have to charge once every 2-3 days, which is about average for a product of this class. I wish iKKO put in some fast-charging mode or a beefier battery to distinguish its product, but alas.

TECH INSIDE

iKKO opted for a pair of AKM AK4377 DAC chips in a dual-mono configuration. This chipset is frugal, and often used in portable DAC/Amps since they offer fairly good performance in a compact format.

As for the op-amp, Ricore RT6863 has been used, which is another power efficient solution, albeit sound quality is not the most impressive. i expected iKKO to use 2 or these op-amps, one per DAC channel, but it appears that only 1 is being used, so I suppose that the built-in amp section of the AKM chips are also being used in conjunction with the dedicated Ricore op-amp.

SOUND QUALITY (OBJECTIVE)

The ITB03 has a warm-neutral, inoffensive signature. it pairs well with all types of IEMs, though the lack of macrodynamic punch might be a negative for those who need great bass slam and proper dynamics.

The biggest negative is the anemic output from the single-ended out, so I’d highly recommend going balanced if you plan on using the ITB03 as your daily driver.

Staging and imaging is not spectacular, but not bad either. The issue is stage depth, which is lacking compared to certain higher-end DAC-dongles. Fortunately, there is no noise or hiss, so even sensitive IEMs fare well.

SELECT COMPARISONS

ITB03 sounds smoother than the Fiio BTR5 in BT mode, and in wired mode it’s a bit less energetic in the upper-mids and treble while having a denser bass response. Shanling UP4 is slightly more aggressive sounding than both of them, but in the end, overall technicalities and dynamics are similar.

It’s splitting hairs between these three, but I personally like the design of ITB03 the most. Fiio BTR5 has the most powerful output, and the companion app is handy. It also has the OLED display as ITB03. UP4 is my least favorite one in this comparison, as I find the volume wheel somewhat finicky at times, and a lack of display makes operation cumbersome.

Battery life is better on the UP4 in single-DAC mode, though then you are sort of only half-using it. Overall, with a companion app, ITB03 would probably give the BTR5 harder competition. As of now, if you find the BTR5 more energetic and want something smoother, the ITB03 is a good option. Just know that you are stuck with the on-board functions.

CONCLUDING REMARKS

It’s often difficult to transition from one kind of manufacturer to another. So, for an IEM maker to focus on sources, there is always some hurdles involved, along with the trials and tribulations of a first-gen product.

iKKO nailed the overall aesthetics of the ITB03, and manages to provide a sound that’s on par with the competition while offering a different flavor of things. Unfortunately, the lack of an app and the generally confusing UX and operation bares the unpolished nature of a debut product.

Nonetheless, the iKKO ITB03 performs within the margin of expectations, but doesn’t exceed them. It’s utilitarian without being exciting. That remains the next big challenge for iKKO – to come up with a source product that blows past the competition. Once it manages to do so – color me intrigued.

MY VERDICT

3.5/5
A good first attempt with some rough edges.

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