[genjamon]

Yeah, they were just barely spaced wide enough for my locking WBT RCA connectors.

[David C]

Not signed up for the tour but decided to pull the trigger on the Itube2. Should be here in a day or 2 (even went for 2 day shipping). Will be using between an Eastern Elect mini max DAC (with tube removed) and a Nuforce P9 preamp to a Bryston 14Bsst2 to PMC PB1i speakers. Will post observations in a week or 2

[Pez]

Looking forward to it! Feel free to post here on this thread. 

[Tyson]

Thanks genjamon, I would never have considered trying the boost setting on my iTube2, gonna give it a go tonight!

[Philistine]

Not part of the tour but bought one a few weeks ago.
Tried it as a tube buffer and preamp - it's insanely good for the price, the VFM is off the planet!  With the system I was using:
Squeezebox Duet - Roon
Tommy O'Brien DAC DAC
Musical Fidelity Pre6
Tommy O'Brien In Line Maraschino's
GR Research N2X

I preferred it as a Preamp on the SET setting, and will also try the 9dB boost setting that genjamon preferred.

[genjamon]

I'm not going to claim as gospel that the 9dB setting is the absolute preferred for me.  I didn't have nearly as much listening time with it as hoped - my weekend got out of hand while it was in-house.  So, I just had a series of shorter evening sessions.  And the 0dB setting was the first session of them all.  I would have liked to swap back to 0dB for another session before it left the house, after I'd had spent most of a week getting used to the sound.  I'll have a chance to keep playing when mine arrives and refine these thoughts.  But it did seem that I had a clear preference for 9dB - pending further verification.

[Tomy2Tone]

Home setup- microRendu>Pro3z>Lampi Atlantic dac>Melody AN845 integrated>Vapor Cirrus Blacks

Work setup- PC crap computer>Music Hall 25.3 dac>Sainsmart preamp>Folsom amp>Napa Acoustics na-208s monitors


I received the itube2 yesterday morning from genjamon and played it all through the night and have been listening this morning to various tracks with Roon on my iPad. I began with the itube in buffer mode with the set option and 3D switch in the down position. Bass was also in the down position which I believe is 0db. The first thing that struck me was how buttery smooth the sound was but with an increase in detail. Every track seemed to have a well balanced soundstage and separation of instruments. Female vocals especially were appealing, listening to Allison Krause and Stevie Nicks was exceptional.

Flipping a couple of switches did change the sound. I seemed to prefer the 3D in the down position over the other options. Seemed more balanced and detailed whereas the top position seemed to blur everything just a tad and the middle was ok but not as good as the bottom. The Set vs Push/Pull was close for me as it depended on the type of music I was listening to. Harder edged rock sounded better in PP and jazz/acoustical sounded a bit better in Set. Bass was also very stellar and I only had it in the lowest setting, which is down. Very detailed and the level of definition was impressive, probably what I enjoyed the most out of the itube2.

Where I thought the itube took a step up was when it was in preamp mode. Everything had more attack and slam and sounded more like live music. I had the volume on the itube maxed out and used the remote on the Melody to raise and lower volume. Both 0db and 9db sounded excellent, just needing to raise the overall volume a bit when on 0db. Crazy to think that an active preamp before the Melody, which to my knowledge has an active preamp section, would sound not only good but in some areas sound better.

I took home the Sainsmart preamp to see how it would fare against the itube in the home system and was surprised at how close each of them sounded. The Sainsmart is a cheap buffer/preamp that can take two of the 5670 tubes and that's what I've done with it at work. It's really just a preamp as there is no way to send the signal through without affecting the volume. After listening to the itube all morning I popped in the sainsmart and was really surprised at the level of detail I was getting. It sounded very similar to the itube in preamp mode, the sainsmart has gain but I'm not sure how much. On some songs I preferred the itube and others I kinda liked the sainsmart. Not really saying one is better than the other but if I had to choose it would be the itube2 because of its multiple options to achieve the sound you like. Plus the fit and finish on the itube is much better, the sainsmart is very diy looking and you have to attach your own power cord. Similarities in sound I'm sure come from the GE 5670 tubes that are used in each. It's pretty magical.

I'm going to bring the itube2 to work tomorrow and see how it sounds there but just wanted to write down my thoughts while everything was still fresh.

To be continued...

[mikeeastman]

Just received the i tube 2, I have doubts about this companies quality control as this is the 2nd of their products I've gotten and the left channel out doesn't work. The first was a i tube 1, which I ordered by mistake. What are the odds that 2 of their devices had a bad left channel, most be cable or something with my system, but I tried 3 different cable and nothing, but the same cables in right out all worked fine. Is it possible I'm missing something?  MY BAD SORRY, IT TURNED OUT TO BE AN INPUT CABLE WITH AN INTERMITTENT SHORT. A real PITA having to adapt RCA to XLR.

[Tyson]

First rule of troubleshooting - check the wiring.

[JakeJ]

I just received an original iTube from a friend who is not using it so now I can do some direct comparing between the two. 

Should be interesting.

Jake

[David C]

Not on the tour but bought an Itube2 and received it today and it has been running about 3 hrs. Running it as a buffer only (0db gain). Initial thoughts are really good. Female vocals are outstanding and the dynamic PRAT is very very good. Have it in the push/pull setting, Xbass on 6db and matrix in down position +. Very impressed so far. Great clarity and no hint of an overly rounded tube sound but a smoothness that still maintains the crispness and clarity that I like. Vocals really shine

Will put it through it's paces today (great excuse to not work on my taxes!!!!). More later, but a clear winner out of the box

SBox Touch (Bolder mods to power and digital output) > Eastern Elect mini max DAC with dexa op amps (no tube)> Itube2> Nuforce P9 preamp> Bryston 14bsst2> PMC PB1i speakers

[stu]

My review of the iTube2 will be short since my time with the tour unit was cut short due to family issues. I had to send the unit  to the next guy early.  So, the impressions I give here are initial impressions only, and may have changed if I had more time with the unit. But I did order one, so I will have a lot of time to make changes when it arrives.

System:  PS Audio Direct Stream dac
              PS Audio Direct Stream Memory Player
              CIA D-500 momo blocks
              GR research LS-9's
              harmonic technologies cables
              Triode Wire labs power cords

I first used it as tube buffer without gain and then with gain. I tried both SET and push-pull settings. I thought the sound was best with gain and on the push-pull settings.  The SET setting seemed a little dull in my system.  Since I have no pre-amp in my system, I wanted to try the pre-amp settings and see what the difference was. The pre-amp with gain setting gave the best sound of all, the music being more dynamic and life like.  This was with the push pull setting also.  I am sure when my unit arrive in a few days I will have time to play with it more and see if these impressions stay the same or change over time.  It will be fun and I look forward to it.
Thanks to Pez for the opportunity to try it out.

Mark
             

[Pez]

Stu,
Thank you for the review. I appreciate you taking the time to post your impressions. All our best to your family.

[Tyson]

Hmmm, so has anyone tried it out and NOT ordered one for themselves?   

[JakeJ]

Actually I think more people that are not on the tour have bought one.   Not even half way through the tour yet.

[groovybassist]

My turn to post an iTube2 review!

The review system consisted of the following:

Bluesound Node 2>Black Cat Silverstar 75>iFi SPDIF iPurifier>Mojo Audio Mystique v2+ NOS DAC>Mojo Audio Lucent Ribbon Interconnects>Karan KA-I180 Mk2 Integrated Amp or Clones Audio 25iR Integrated Amp>Zu Event Speaker Cable>Fritzspeakers Morel 6

I inserted the iTube2 between the DAC and the two integrated amps I had on hand.  The unit was on 24x7 during the review period – it runs warm, but not alarmingly so and cooled quickly once I turned it off.

I started off in Buffer Mode, with 0db gain.  Setting the tube to SET, I liked the increased body, palpability and dimension added to instruments.  These positive attributes were more prevalent when using the Clones amp vs. the Karan (no surprise here given the price and topology differential between these amps).  What I found was acoustic guitars and other acoustic instruments had their focus shifted lower a bit, balancing the sound of the instrument’s body with strings vs. a slight emphasis on strings without the iTube2 in place.  The Karan amp has what I’d call a chunky, percussive sound – its damping factor is a ridiculous >1800, so it controls your woofers like nobody’s business.  The iTube2 ever so slightly dulled the percussive nature of the Karan, but I still felt the positive attributes outweighed this small change in the Karan’s basic sound.  The Clones was simply better across the board with the iTube2 in place with these settings.

Staying with Buffer Mode, 0db gain, I cycled through “Studio” and “Push-Pull” settings for the tube.  Studio brought everything in line with the plane of the loudspeakers, negatively impacting the perception of depth and pushed some sounds hard left/right to the speaker locations – I’m an imaging freak, so this setting was a non-starter for me.  Push-Pull was a mix of SET/Studio, but I still felt SET was the better overall setting, so that’s where things stayed.

I use a spare bedroom as my listening room – it’s small, square and prone to lumpy bass response, but is well treated with GIK products.  I experimented with the XBass settings and didn’t like them at all on either amp.  They did indeed add bass, but I felt it overpowered the room and muddied up the presentation.  It’s likely a larger space would see some benefit from this function, but it just didn’t work with my room/setup.

In terms of 3D Holographic, I experimented with this quite a bit, but ultimately settled with it out of the circuit as well. The default setting for loudspeakers was better than the +30 setting, increasing depth for me more than width, but it robbed some of the density of images.  The Karan amp especially highlighted this – it has a tonal density to it that really places instruments in space.  When engaging 3DHolographic, the space did get larger/deeper, but the tonal density I love in the Karan went down a notch and images became more amorphous.

Then I went to Buffer Mode, with +9db gain and everything got better.  SET now had not only the added body and dimensionality, but the chunkiness and percussiveness of the Karan amp was back in full force.  I liked everything about this sound, but…there’s always a but…I started to hear some raspy distortion on transients and the Karan’s volume control had very little usable range before everything got really loud.  Unfortunately the +9db setting was overloading the input stage on the Karan.  I switched to the Clones to see if this setting worked there.  The Clones volume control had more usable range than the Karan, but the raspy distortion during transients on the Karan went to full on crackling on the Clones.  Although Buffer Mode with +9db gain sounded the best overall, I was unable to use these settings.  Sigh…

At this point I switched to Preamp Mode, 0db gain and the volume pegged.  There was definitely more gusto to the presentation vs. Buffer Mode.  It was a propulsive, in-your-face sound, but I felt like it was maybe too much of a good thing.  If you can imagine 5 performers on a stage as balloons, with some space between them, Preamp Mode struck me as blowing up all of the balloons until they touch each other – bigger yes, bolder yes, but lacking some of the finesse and space between instruments that makes up a credible soundstage.  It struck me as cramped and I just wasn’t able to relax into it.  I also felt like the spread between the softest and loudest passages had actually narrowed a bit – i.e. if 1 is the softest sound in Buffer Mode and 10 is the loudest, I felt like those numbers were more like 2 and 9 in Preamp Mode.

After playing around with all the settings in Preamp Mode, I ended up back where I started – Buffer Mode, with 0db gain, tube set to SET, XBass and 3D Holographic out of circuit.

To me, these were the settings which provided the best clarity, increased body and dimensionality, improved timbre, improved sense of the acoustic space in a recording, and best balance of relaxed, yet propulsive sound.   While the amount of these improvements varied between the two amps I tried, and there were other very slight trade-offs here and there, they were all present to varying degrees and improved the overall sound of both amps.

So there you have it – something that is modest in cost, has some cool features that may improve specific aspects of your system and which improves the overall sound of very different amps at very different price points – well done iFi!

[dburna]

Thanks for this, Groovy.  I am on the tour, so I will be able to answer this for myself, but my big question is this: "does the iTube2 do enough as either a buffer and/or preamp to preclude the need for a more involved pre-amp altogether?".  I haven't had a pre-amp for a while as my system is a pretty stripped-down digital-only affair, but I have wondered from time-to-time whether I should experiment with a pre-amp again.  Am hoping this would fill enough of this "unmet need" (if it even exists) that another big box would not be required.

-dB

[JLM]

Thanks for this, Groovy.  I am on the tour, so I will be able to answer this for myself, but my big question is this: "does the iTube2 do enough as either a buffer and/or preamp to preclude the need for a more involved pre-amp altogether?".  I haven't had a pre-amp for a while as my system is a pretty stripped-down digital-only affair, but I have wondered from time-to-time whether I should experiment with a pre-amp again.  Am hoping this would fill enough of this "unmet need" (if it even exists) that another big box would not be required.

-dB

I'm in a very similar position and would like to gather a sense for this quandary as well.

[rodge827]

At one time I had an all digital set up with a TBI amp. Inserting the iTube mk1 between the Dac and amp in 0 buffer mode made a world of difference. Imaging, detail and tone where greatly enhanced. Without the iTube  mk1 everything sounded lifeless with a small congested soundstage. The iTube2 should bring an all digital rig up a notch or two, but as always YMMV.

 Chris

[groovybassist]

db:

Used as a buffer, the iTube2 made a positive improvement to two variants of my system, one of which had a pretty pricey amp.  There's no way to be certain without trying, but I'd expect it to make a positive contribution to a "preamp-less" digital rig. I found it to be transparent and add a good dose of reality to playback in my system. These sound like things that would align with the system you described.

Both of my amps have gain stages I couldn't bypass, but as I was working with the iTube2, I also thought it would probably be pretty kick-ass set in Preamp mode and hooked to a power amp, for a compact, inexpensive, high performance little system. Hopefully someone will get to try it that way soon.