micro iTube2

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This buffer is beyond incredible. At first I wasn’t sure about it, but I am glad I gave it some time to break in. I am powering my Polk LSIM 707 towers with a Peach Tree Audio class D amp. The amplifier is powerful but wasn’t warm enough. This tube buffer made the sound perfect. Huge sound stage, punchy bottom end.

It actually made my towers blend better with my subwoofer. I am a picky audiophile. Trust me, you will love this device. Play with the settings. As amazing as my audio sounded before, it took the overall sound quality to a much higher level. Make sure you give it about 50 hours to break in before you get the true sound quality.

The iTube2 is an amazing piece of gear.

I run it in the loop of a Peachtree Nova 300, through a pair of 4 ohm Tekton Pendragons. I use it in tube buffer mode w 9dB gain.

It came in the mail yesterday. I plugged it in last night and was utterly unimpressed. In A/B comparison, it seemed to do absolutely nothing.

I left it on all night. I woke up today wondering if I could get a refund.

Then I tried it again and was absolutely knocked out by the improvement in soundstage, punch, immediacy, mids and highs clarity & overall awesomeness.

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Perfect for my application! Have a solid state pre-amp that needed some flavor. This unit did the trick without extra noise and distortion. Some feel the change is subtle. I found it to be just the right amount. IFI has some clever engineers.

The addition of the Ifi iTube 2, has made my setup perfect and adds a flexibility for me to experiment. I am running an Airist Audio R-2R Dac hooked up to a THX AAA-789 heapdhone amplifier. This makes for a very analytical and dynamic setup that I do love. However, some headphones that I also love are a bit on the lean side of bass. Adding the iTube 2 in the mix has allowed me to enjoy these headphones for all music i push through it.

I set the bass to +12, regular amount of 3d+, and set the tube type to classic when I use my sony mdr-ex1000 IEMs. This is such a blast.

I have some Koss esp-950 electrostatic headphones. These are very resolving and clean to the max. For electrostats, these are known to be more tuned like loudspeakers. With this in mind they don’t have a very wide soundstage but have very good instrument placement. These too are a little light on bass. I set the bass boost to 6db, regular amount of 3d+ and set the tube type to classic.

Totally worth the price. I am using it primarily as a tube buffer – all three settings sound good but I like the classic best. I also am using the 3D component it is really great.

Will enhance your sound stage experience on any gear. you will be amazed! Give 2 weeks break in period before any critical listening and playing with settings. Instruments had their own space, rock solid images. Get up and walk around them. Of course for that effect your gear probably needs good synergy!

1st time to use this brand. Bought without auditioning, after reading so many rave reviews.
Sound was very good, soundstage expands sideways and sound stage deepens considerably. I was also using a new power amplifier so I cannot ascertain if the great sound was due to the latter or a combination of both.

Was surprised that this unit was that tiny…but it runs fairly warm, not sure if I need to raise it above the table high enough to facilitate heat dissipation.

One odd phenomenon:
This unit produces no sound if I turn it on 1st, before I turn on the power amplifier, DAC etc…
Now I turn on everything first, before turning on this unit. When the vacuum tube is ready (need to wait about a minute), when the tiny hole that shows red turns to yellow, then sound will come out of the speakers.
Not sure if other users have the same issue or not.

Pros – Simple setup, Easy A/B comparison of unaltered signal vs “tubified” sound. Ability to customize audio parameters to suit your current headphones from most any source, rather than constantly swapping headphones during your listening sessions.

Cons – While still quite portable, not battery powered like the iDSD & iDSD Black Micros for TRUE portability during travel.

Using this as a tube buffer stage and it works great by adding a nice smooth analog sound to digital. I recommend it for anyone who wants ‘tube’ sound on a budget.

If I had to choose a word to best describe the overall qualities of the micro iTube2, it would be magic. The power of apparently influencing events by using mysterious forces, a quality being beautiful and delightful in a way that sees remote from daily life, exceptional skill or talent!…if one is serious about their music, the micro iTube2 is a must have and should be your next upgrade!

It gave a nice concert hall sound…I had this going for probably five/six hours straight with no problem whatsoever…I really like this portable fairly affordable iTube2.

A few good points of the Micro iTube2:

• Very clear improvement of the sound, even in the case of expensive transistor amplifiers
• Improvement by: Raising warmth, Fuller and deeper sound.
• Interesting look, matched to a series of micro devices.

Kudos to iFi for designing and building a real solid unit. This is a great addition to a lot of systems that would benefit from such a device and is not really a gimmick more than an critical part of your music chain if it radically improves it. At the price of a decent pair of cables, it would be worth a try in your system if you buy from a place with a decent return policy.