iKKO Sapphire Mirage OH10S – Mellowing Mirage

For ratings, the OH10s is a solid 4 stars out over 5 stars

Pros;

• Low-end galore!
• Cozy, smooth laid-back sound signature with warm tonal balance
• Tall, expansive soundstaging width and height
• High quality, robust copper alloy build
• Sufficient amount of inclusions (ie; eartips, accessories)
• Priced slightly cheaper to its predecessor

Cons;

• Thin, supposedly marketed as “upgraded” cable
• Decent technical performance
• Slightly unrealistic mid to upper-midrange timbre
• Requires burn-in
• Comfy yet heavy housing

Introduction

Typically, at a start of a headgear review, most often it will take the audience to a journey to get to know the background of the brand. In this review however, let us start it off slightly with an unorthodox way by introducing to all a slice of history about the photochromic glass.

Photochromic lenses or glasses were first invented in 1966 by two genius chemist, the idea of this colour shifting glasses are founded by Dr. William H. Armistead and S. Donald Stookey at Corning Inc. Despite, their invention were only to be known for its commercial potential in the year of 1991, its existence was a growing demand globally especially with the blooming production of eyewears. These photochromic glasses has a special purpose compared to the typical glass which made it became a sought after material for sunglasses, these glasses are capable of changing colours from crystal clear to a dark hue when exposed to bright source of light (ie: sunlight, LED, etc). Which works as a protective shade against harmful UV radiation, exposure to excessive brightness which can affects the eyesight and much more.

Hence, some must be thinking, “What does photochromatic glasses has anything to do with an IEM review?”.

Without further delaying, with us this time is the iKKO Sapphire Mirage OH10S, the latest update on their best-selling IEM which was the OH10. iKKO has kept the same driver layout to its predecessor which is a hybrid single-dynamic driver (DD) and a single Knowles RAD-33518 balanced armature (BA) unit. There are subtle changes that are brought into the new OH10S such as the brand new titanium-coated single-dynamic, compared to the polymer with titanium coated dome diapghram on the previous model. The crossover circuit has also been replaced with a newer, much advanced circuit.

For your acknowledgement as well, the new OH10S are equipped with a brand new, fresher look and ultimately being significantly cheaper at only $181, compared to the OH10 which was above $200 at the time. iKKO has integrated the purpose of photochromatic glasses onto the faceplate of the OH10S, similarly to their more affordable model the Lumina OH300. As per advertised by iKKO, these unique glasses “protects high-fidelity components from harmful UV rays”. Thus, also made iKKO to become the first brand to introduce the usage of photochromatic glasses into the audio market. With all of that out of the way, let us go straight into today’s review!

Unboxing Experience

The iKKO OH10S is packaged in a fairly mid-sized box with a sleeve mechanism that slides out from the side, which is comparable to a size of the average comic book that is approximately measured 7.5 inches of length and 5.2 inches wide. In front of the box, is printed with glossy illustrations of the OH10S alongside iKKO’s branding and a Hi-Res audio certification logo. At the side of the box, you can find a specification label regarding the IEM while at the back are printed with all of the features on the brand new OH10S.

Upon revealing the content from the outer sleeve, was a hard cardboard box with an iKKO branding in front that opens up quite elegantly. Looking at the insides, users will be greeted with an envelope containing a warranty card with an appreciation foreword printed and an instruction manual, which ironically for the Lumina OH300. One guessed that is one way to reduce paper and ink waste.

Moving along, users will be directly greeted by the IEM itself resting neatly on a foam tray, there are also other inclusions included such as a premium leather case of unknown source (ie; might be from an animal or synthetic), which is similar to the one with the previous OH10, a gold-plated metal brooch with an iKKO insignia carved in the middle and a set of eartips which is hidden under the leather case. iKKO was generous enough to include 2 sets of eartips of multiple sizes which are of the same kind unfortunately, the only main difference was the colour. Not to forget as well, the main cable for the OH10S is also included which can be found inside the leather case that has a leather cable organizer strap, pre-attached on the cable.

Specification

• Driver: 10mm Dual-magnet Titanium-coated single-dynamic driver, Knowles RAD-33518
• Impedance: 18Ω Ohms
• Sensitivity: 106dB/SPL
• Frequency Response: 20-40kHz
• Cable: 1.2 meter, 27um 4-core oxygen free copper (OFC), 3.5mm plug into 2-pin (0.78mm) connector.
• Tested at MYR850 ($181)

Purchasing Links and Where to Get

The iKKO Sapphire Mirage OH10S can be purchased from Red Ape – Headphone Store as they are the official distributor in Malaysia.

Shopee: https://invl.io/cljxt4j

Build and Comfort

Similarly to the OH10, the OH10S were built exceptionally well as the whole housing are made out of solid pure copper alloy, that does came in a hefty package which may weigh similar to the OH10, it reminds me to other IEMs that shares the same feature which is the Simgot EN1000. The pristine clear photochromic glasses allows us to view directly the design of the new crossover circuit, which I personally became fond of for its uniqueness right away. There are also small indicators for left and right on the PCB, apart from the obviously coloured black and red 2-pin connector socket. I could not test out the colour shifting effect despite had enjoying quite a lot of bright sunshine recently, seems like it requires an intense amount of light to be able to trigger the photochromatic effect from crystal clear to sapphire blue hue.

Moving on, as comfort goes the OH10S are an extremely comfortable of in-ear monitor, despite its weight and large sized housing. The provided eartips ensures a snug and secure fit, which overall this IEM could provide a good level of passive isolation as ambience noise are still audible quite clearly. This is due to the vent holes on the side and on the top of the IEM. Based on personal experience, I could wear the OH10S for at least a 2-3 hours straight before feeling a tad sore around the cochlea due to its sheer weight.

Cable

The included cable for the OH10S is said to be brand new by iKKO in their page and made out of fresh material. Judging from pictures and specifications that can be found online, also taking account of the outer looks it does look identical to the previous cable for the OH10. Perhaps, iKKO could give a clearer and detailed in-depth explaination regarding the supposedly “upgraded” cable rather than a broad general specification. Regardless, the cable is a silver-plated copper (SPC) OFC cable, that is shielded with a modestly thick PVC shielding and robustly made connectors on each ends. Overall, it is quite a thin cable but these do not tangle easily and resistant to microphonic effect as well even when used on-the-go.

Testing Equipment

• Letshuoer DT02 dongle DAC/AMP (1 Vrms@32 Ohms (SE) dan 2 Vrms@300 Ohms (Bal).
• SMSL Sanskrit 10^th MKII > Aune X7s (2018 ver.) Class-A Headphone AMP
• Laptop
• Smartphone

As can be seen through the equipments list, my opinions will largely caters dongle users only. DAP users and those with much refined equipments may yield different results.

Power Requirements

For power requirement aspect, the iKKO OH10S was a relatively categorized as an easy to drive IEMs. Although in that regards, it does still benefit from a much powerful source such as, dongles and portable amplifiers despite being rated at a measly 18 Ohm(s) and a sensitivity rating of 106dB/SPL. The OH10S seems to be resistant to high noise floor levels as well, for example when plugged into my regular source which is the Letshuoer DT02 dongle, the OH10S could only detect very minimal amount of hisses despite being on full volume with nothing played.

Using HiBy Music app, combined with the Letshuoer dongle with 3.5mm (SE) output which has a 1Vrms@32 Ohm(s) per channel requires me to crank up to 6-8 via the volume button on my smartphone, which is variable depends on the types of file played (ie; DSD, FLAC) that is a slightly more than most IEMs that I have reviewed in the past.

Initial Impression

The iKKO OH10S is one of those IEMs that needed a sufficient amount of time to settle in before it could work optimally, thankfully this IEM only needed a few 2-3 hours of burn-in. This may indeed be a serious, debateable topic to some but there is no intend to gain one’s trust. Based on my personal experience during the first 15 minutes with the OH10S, it was not that all impressive. Hence, I left the OH10S to continue play for another 2 hours straight on its own. This IEM has an intense shoutiness in the upper-midrange frequency, with a rather loose low-end slam but this effect has somewhat resolved quite wonderfully after the burn-in.

To make things short, this IEM possesses a Harman Target Curve or also commonly recognized as the V-shaped sound signature similarly with the previous OH10, at least if compared via on-paper measurements. Regardless the case, the OH10S are an engaging, laid-back sounding pair of IEM with a warm tonal balance and character. The low frequencies has real vigor in sense of delivery and slam depth while, the upper mids to high frequencies are fluidly smooth with zero sibilance with both ends of the spectrums equally emphasized. The midrange is slightly on the coloured side giving it an additional amount of warmth, body and note weight to vocals, instruments and etc.

One thing that stands out on the OH10S, is how expansive the soundstaging was which could be elevated from eartips rolling/swapping to memory foams which will be added into the review as we dwell deeper into its detailed sonic explaination. Other aspect of its technicalities are not the main key strength of this IEM but it definitely gets the job done as the OH10S seems to be more suited for those who are looking for an enjoyeable sound profile for daily casual listening or even just to add an another flavour profile in their collection.

Low Frequency (Bass)

Diving straight deep into the low frequencies, in one of the marketing statement made by iKKO mentioned that the OH10S has new “titanium-coated DD provides powerful bass. From time to time, this sort of sentence are commonly heard but never truly came true, but this certainly was not the case. The brand new OH10S delivers iKKO’s promise, providing a visceral bass delivery, tight and impactful slam with great extension and depth in the mid to upper bass region pristinely without causing any bleed or muddiness that might affect the rest of the frequencies. Despite, have not experienced with the previous OH10 to be able to compare it head-to-head, one was sort of understand why this IEM has gained so much love from audiophiles, bassheads and reviewers alike unscathed by time and technological growth. It is truly one of those timeless IEMs.

Starting from the sub-bass region, the OH10S is a decent performer within capable of rendering deep, rumbling low-end clean and delicately without any melding. Although, the rumble effect was slightly on the softer and polite side, rather than aggressively sending shaking waves to the bones. Sub-bass texture are mainly presented on the macro scale while on the micro side, it is more on the audible level rather than felt. For example, in the track Hollow (16 bit Remix) – Björk, deep rumbling sub-bass effect are easily rendered coming into the first 30-seconds into the song, at the lowest part of the bass which is around 30Hz the OH10S simply could not catch up with the track.

Furthermore, as we rise higher into the mid to upper bass region, the OH10S delivers it in a vigorous manner, bold yet controlled with powerful presence which was highly engaging. For instance, in the track Hunter – Björk, each bass slam was rapid and resembled a thick, enormous “thud” sound, which then followed through with great amount of bass depth and extension. Bass decay is on the slower side yet its maturedly controlled and will only linger longer when called upon, hence during rapid bass transients it would not meld together which often times the cause of congestion.

Middle Frequency (Mid)

Next, moving into the midrange of the iKKO OH10S, it can be described that this IEM has a slight coloured mids with its tonal balance is skewed more towards the warmer, natural signature. Presentation wise, are slightly recessed yet modestly engaging which is not a surprise considering the tuning is vastly based on Harman Target Curve. Nonetheless, that being said the OH10S exudes a clean, clear midrange without being affected much by any possible muddiness nor haziness.

The OH10S is a highly versatile pair of IEM, it could handle most acoustic tracks, orchestral or even vocal heavy tracks that it once cannot due to the intensely shouty upper midrange, but thankfully it can be resolved via a short period of burn-in process. Tuning into the usual track which is Whiskey Lullaby (ft. Alison Krauss) – Brad Paisley, the OH10S replicated the throaty and musky male vocal well with clear articulation between each lyrics, despite being averagely detailed with texture wise was on the softer side. Sounds from the acoustic guitar in the background sounded almost natural and organic, with only a slight amount of unrealistic digital sounding timbre was noticeable which was much present in vocals.

While female vocals on the other end sounded sweet, richly warm due to the colouration with very subtle amount of shoutiness. That is, given the circumstances if the OH10S is played with vocal heavy tracks such as Furiko (From THE FIRST TAKE) – Uru, apart from that the OH10S is more than capable to dish out its midrange quality.

High Frequency (Treble)

As we reach to the pinnacle of the frequency, iKKO has done their tuning quite wonderfully in the treble region with the new OH10S. This IEM possesses a superbly airy yet laid-back, smooth inoffensive treble with just the adequate treble energy, without losing its shimmer and brilliance upon feeded with music genres such as ACG (Anime, Comic & Games), K-Pop and so on. It is the sort of IEM that would not offend the listener even at higher listening volume and audience should not mistook it being a dark sounding pair as it is completely not the case.

Tonal balance of the OH10S treble is slightly on the warmer, laid-back nature which makes it great for casual long hours listening. Sibilance nor sharp, harsh edges that is usually the case for IEMs with these sort of tuning yet none to be found on the OH10S. Such as, Ignorance (Acoustic) – Paramore which is a regular track used to detect harsh, peaky high frequencies as the sibilance in this track is accentuated, the OH10S presents this track competently well without causing any discomfort. The sound of tambourine being hit at the background in the track has quite an unnatural timbre, which sounded slightly thin, a tad dull in terms of clarity and fell slightly short to deliver a crisp treble.

Technicality

In terms of technicalities, the OH10S could be simplified being not the sharpest tool in the barn. Detail retrieval were decent at best and only limited to macrodetails which are done quite well, but subtle nuances are barely audible. Hence, it might be a turn-off for someone who prioritize high-level detail rendering with pristine clarity to get the utmost best out of their music.

Other than that, separation and layering was also executed decent as best, as there are sufficient amount of space between elements (ie; vocal, instruments, percussions, etc) without causing much congestions or melding even with busier tracks such as METALI!! (ft. Tom Morello) – BABYMETAL. Although, the bass reditions in the background occasionally meld with the rest of the elements throughout the track. In Mad About You (Live at Koningin Elisabethzaal 2012) – Hooverphonics, due to it is lacking in soundstaging depth some elements in the track like guitar plucks on the southwest direction tend to meld with the violins.

However, the OH10S is impressive in its own separate ways, for example the soundstaging in this IEM was expansive and tall, especially when speaking of width size and height. It is a shame that it was not the same case with its depth, which was decent or average at best and prominent when playing through genres such as Jazz, Orchestral or binaural recordings such as Explorations In Time and Space – Jammey Haddad. Spatial imaging was sharp panning from multiple directions and able to catch up with sounds of moving objects for instance, in the track War – Jammey Haddad whereby there was a cymbal being hit rapidly while moving from behind, front, right to left in a chaotic manner. The OH10S was able to render it accurately with decent amount of clarity.

Thus finally,  the dynamic range test for the iKKO OH10S is categorized as above average. Utilizing the Ultimate Headphone Test – ABYSS Headphone dynamic range test as a reference. In which explained in short, a sample sound of a drum and a bell are played simultaneously as much as 7 counts, but only the sound of the bells will become quieter. Hence, from a scale of 7 counts, the OH10S wonderfully able to produce an audible 6 out of 7 counts.

Reversible Modification(s)

As promised, this particular segment is established to find out various reversible modifications that can be made to enhance the sonic quality in a particular way according to one’s liking. Thus, let us start it off for those who prefer thicker, stronger bass slam for the iKKO OH10S.

• FiiO HS18

These eartips are specifically made to enhance bass weight and depth for IEMs while being able to retain or even enhance soundstaging. For the OH10S, when paired with this eartips the bass department is increased by a noticeable amount in terms of depth and slam impact, the low-end became slightly looser and more evenly distributed compared to the tight “thud” slam with the stock eartips. The expansive soundstaging is retained but with slightly less air compared to the stock eartips due to the greater bass increase, which also even affect the overall detail retrieval and airiness by a slight amount through critical listening, otherwise clarity was not affected.

• Tangzu Tang Sancai (Balanced)

In my opinion, one of the best pairing for those who search for those who search for a slightly less low-end, much prominent midrange yet still balanced sounding all around with retained tight bass and expansive soundstaging. Despite that being the case, airiness was cut off but a tad amount due to its narrower bore to the stock eartips, but still above the HS18 in regards. Midrange and vocal separation is enhanced by a noticeable amount, plus vocals sounded slightly more prominent, richer and brought forward by pairing the OH10S with these eartips.

• Acoustune AT02 and Hillaudio Ergo Pro

Both of these eartips are memory foam eartips with medium density, in my personal experience this is also my favourite pairing next to the Tangzu Tang Sancai. As the foam eartips, brought greater and natural treble extension, soundstaging and also much well separated alongside the Tangzu Tang Sancai, with the previously known downsides of the OH10S was with the lack of soundstage depth which has became deeper and much more balanced with an airier ambience overall.

Bass department became prominently lesser in quantity but not in short of quality, as it is still tight, rapid and better dispersed or distributed in other word. Midrange still remains lush and rich yet noticeably airier but with lesser and lighter note weight.

Comparison(s)

• Penon Globe (1DD + 2BA) – $329

With both are bass-oriented IEMs, the Globe delivers a much greater sub-bass reach  and depth compared to the OH10S with its sub-bass focused tuning. Layering was a lot more pronounced and definedly detailed thus, bringing more clarity especially in tracks like Another Chance – Hikaru Utada where there are a lot of subtle bass transients that truly test the capabilities of these IEMs and the Penon Globe came triumph.

Midrange was slightly more pronounced, pristine and life-like compared to the OH10S as the OH10S sounded much digital and less natural to the Globe. Separation was marginally much more well-separated on the Globe with vocals in it’s independent and isolated space with complimented by the rest of the elements being neatly placed compared to the OH10S which aforementioned does suffer from a slight congestion.

Treble on both IEMs are smooth and more on the laid-back nature but the Penon Globe being a tad edgier especially within the 5k~8kHz region while the OH10S was a lot smoother, duller. Both presented commendable amount of airiness, but the OH10S edges it by a slight margin. Once again, the Globe sounded much detailed, benefitting greater clarity from the dual-BA setup but with a tad narrower soundstaging yet much evenly distributed and holographic soundstaging and spatial imaging compared to the OH10S being thinner in depth and less accurate. Overall, the Penon Globe is a greater, worthwhile deal compared to the OH10S which does justify its price gap.

• Audio Technica ATH-IM02 (2BA) – $299

Despite being a much older pair of IEM, the IM02 does trumple the OH10S in multiple regions. For example, in the midrange department the IM02 presents vocals a lot effortlessly, with fuller and richer organic timbre and greater sense of separation between the instruments and other elements. Although, the IM02 is not intended to please those who prefer brighter tonality as some folks might mistook a “detailed” pair of IEMs are most often regarded as “bright”, it still delivers macrodetails and micro sublte nuances in music much clearer, greater clarity to the OH10S due to its flatter sound signature.

Regardless, the obvious weakness of this IEM was the soundstaging, that is a lot cramped and smaller compared to the OH10S that has an all-around expansive soundstaging capabilities, as the IM02 is originally an on-stage equipment for live performers. However, that does not deter the IM02 being a much sharper and accurate IEM in terms of spatial imaging.

Apart from that as well, the OH10S delivers greater bass performance despite both being an equally presents it bass slam in a tight and rapid manner. But the OH10S overall will definitely please those who prefer a much laid-back, engaging and warmer tonality compared to the flatter and truer neutral sound signature with the IM02

Conclusion

All and all, the iKKO Sapphire Mirage OH10S is an impressive pair of IEMs, it was a shame that I could not compare it to its predecessor the OH10. But looking from the frequency response graph it does not look vastly difference from each other, of course without any guarantees on my behalf. Yet it should be a similar resemblance with subtle differences due to the updates on the design and the upgraded driver unit with a much user-friendly cheaper priced to the previous OH10.

While boasting a robust, unprecedented build quality with a solid rating of sound quality, the OH10S could catch up well and deliver its job wonderfully with most genres that one could thrown at with its laid-back, warm and relaxing tonality. That being said, to get the most out of this IEM, it is recommended to let it settle in for a solid one hour or even more amount of playtime as it could sound severely shouty out of the box. Plus, the OH10S is also an IEM that benefits well from a much powerful source but that does not mean one should have to spend kilobucks amount of their hard-earned cash in search of the perfect source for this IEM.

Regardless, I would like to take this chance to send my appreciations to Red Ape – Headphone Store for sending a demo unit to make this review possible. Hence, huge shoutout to them for their generosity. Thus, with that will wrap up my review for this time. Till we see on next time!

Additional Test Tracks