Comparisons.

ItsFit Fusion

CustomArt Fibae 7 ($1100) – Right off the bat, Fusion sounds more modern, energetic and exciting whereas Fibae7 is slightly warmer and more Harman Target style neutral/reference-ish of the two. Fibae7’s bass is tighter, faster and has more precise definition and impact whereas Fusion has more sub-bass, fullness and fun dynamics. Fibae7 has natural, clean and neutral lower-mids whereas Fusion has a more fuller approach. Fibae7 has substantially more upper mids presence with a forward presentation than Fusion relatively. Fusion’s treble is more present and lively whereas Fibae7 has a more neutral and natural treble tuning. Both have nice wide soundstages but Fibae7 is probably a little wider and deeper. Fibae7 has stronger instrument definition and imaging owing to the Harman Target style of upper-mids tuning. Choosing one between them completely depends on one’s preference and liking.

Fearless Roland ($1000) – They are polar opposites in a way. Roland is a darker IEM whereas Fusion is energetic and lively. Fusion has more sub-bass as well as overall bass presence. Roland is quite reference like from bass to starting of upper mids. Post that, both have good upper mids presence but Fusion because of its livelier signature, has more resolution in the mids as well as overall. Fusion’s treble is way better extended and open whereas Roland has a sudden treble roll off post 5kHz. Fusion has a livelier open soundstage whereas Roland has a decently wide soundstage but because of it being dark, the feeling of openness is subdued.

Shozy Pola39 ($950) – This is a tough one! Both Pola39 and Fusion have their own characteristic treble character which is their strength and also what makes them uniquely cool. Fusion has a magnetostatic driver for treble whereas Pola39 has a dual EST driver. Both have a very good bass character and presence from their respective dynamic drivers but Pola39’s is a bit more present while Fusion’s is more controlled. Both have slightly fuller lower-midrange with Pola39’s being fuller than Fusion. Fusion has slightly more present upper-midrange in comparison. As a result, Pola39 sounds slightly warmer till the treble as compared to Fusion and then both of them gain their characteristic treble character. Pola39’s has more upper treble driven character making it more sizzly and airier whereas Fusion’s treble character is driven by its lower treble and isn’t as prominent with its upper treble, yet airy and open enough to be exciting. Both have a nice wide soundstage. Choice between the two is tough as they both have a similar take on a ballpark idea of sound but still quite different and cool in their own way.

BGVP EST8 ($799) – EST8 and Fusion are again quite different. Fusion sounds very modern, energetic and lively whereas EST8 sounds warmer. Both do bass very well but Fusion has a dynamic driver with higher resolution, nicer character and energy. Fusion has better mids with more resolution, better details and more liveliness. Fusion’s treble has more sizzle, sparkle and energy whereas EST8 is smoother, more natural and warmer.

ItsFit R3

I initially started writing solo comparisons but all of them were turning out to be the same because of R3’s reference tuning. So, I thought I’ll make it a bit fun, easier and shorter.

Competing IEMs – Tansio Mirai TSMR-3 Pro, BGVP DM7, Shanling ME500PE and Fearless S6Rui.

Here are different parameters arranged in decreasing order of quantity. It’s just the quantity without quality of parameter in the picture.

• Bass – S6Rui > 3Pro > DM7 > R3 > ME500PE
• Lower mids dip – S6Rui > ME500PE > 3Pro > DM7 > R3
• Upper mids presence – Shanling ME500PE > S6Rui > DM7 > 3Pro > R3
• Treble presence – ME500PE > DM7 > 3Pro > S6rui > R3
• Treble extension – R3 > ME500PE > DM7 > 3Pro > S6rui
• Soundstage Size – R3 > ME500PE > S6Rui = DM7 = 3Pro

NOTE – Make no mistake, the levels are comparative and relative. Overall R3 is a balanced set because most frequency bands are relatively well present equally. Yes, some IEMs have more bass quantity or upper mids presence because of boosting and individual preferences will vary, but R3 feels warm and natural when you listen to it. In a blind test, R3 will just come-off as a balanced set without you knowing of it being marked as a reference IEM.

Here is a comparison with another reference set I have in my possession. I’m taking the value out of the picture and only concentrating on relative sound differences.

Empire Ears ESR – ESR and EVR are 2 flat line style of reference tuned sets from Empire Ears. Since we have ESR here, let’s see how R3 and ESR play alongside each other. Comparing them back to back, I immediately heard more bass and fuller mids in ESR whereas R3 stays more neutral. R3 has slightly more upper mids presence compared to ESR. ESR has an abnormally high peak in the treble at around 8kHz which brings out a bit of sibilance in tracks sometimes. R3 stays very neutral here. R3 has more extended treble. Both have good soundstages but R3’s feels a bit cleaner whereas ESR’s sounds richer.

Conclusion.

ItsFit is not a new company as such. They’ve been re-shelling for the last 3 years while doing R&D on the side to develop their own products. What is amazing is that instead of choosing a safe tuning for their first products, they in fact got experimental with new driver tech in one and flat line reference style tuning in the other. Both are not easy to execute! R3 does better as a musical IEM than a proper theoretical reference style IEM (DF-neutral or Harman Target-neutral) but does fairly good if flat line reference style of tuning is your thing, especially for the price, where most other such IEMs are much more expensive. Fusion on the other hand is a very lively and exciting IEM which makes most genres of music feel extra special and is definitely one of the $1000 landmark IEMs for me. Also, both can be ordered as universals or CIEMs and you can take my word that their designs, shell quality as well as finishing is one of the best in the industry. Fusion definitely gets 2 thumbs up for a must try recommendation from my side! 😀

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Gear used for testing and review.

• Logic Pro X session with hi-res test tracks played through Universal Audio Apollo or Focusrite Clarett Pre X audio interface headphone out.
• Hiby R6 Pro
• Oneplus 7 Pro

Reference Songs list.

• Foo Fighters – The Pretender, Best of you & Everlong
• Coldplay – Paradise, Up in flames, Everglow, Orphans
• Dave Matthews – Shake Me Like a Monkey
• Ed Sheeran – Thinking out loud, Bloodstream & Galway Girl
• Chainsmokers – Somebody, Sickboy, This Feeling & Closer
• Twenty One Pilots – The Hype
• John Mayer – Slow dancing in a burning room, Stop this Train & Say
• Gavin James – Always & Hearts on fire
• Switchfoot – Meant to live & Dare you to move
• Linkin Park – Papercut, Somewhere I belong & Talking to myself
• Walk the Moon – Shut Up & Dance
• Lifehouse – All in all & Come back down
• Niall Horan – Slow Hands, Mirrors & The Tide
• Breaking Benjamin – Diary of Jane
• Karnivool – Simple boy & Goliath
• Dead Letter Circus – Real you
• I Am Giant- Purple heart, City limits & Transmission
• Muse – Panic station
• James Bay – Hold back the river