Brise Audio IBUKI

Sound Analysis and Comparison.

I analyzed IBUKI sound performance using SP4000 LO with Brise Audio Wata amp and Orochi Mini IC, while playing a variety of test tracks, such as Agnes Obel’s “The Curse”, Sandro Cavazza’s “So much Better” (Avicii remix), C-Bool’s “Never Go away”, Ed Sheeran “Shape of you”, Alan Walker “Darkside”, Galantis “Hunter”, Iggy Azalea “Black widow”, Indila “Boite en argent”, Dua Lipa “Love Again”, Counting Crows “Big yellow taxi”, Bob Marley “Jamming”, David Elias “Vision of her”, Michael Jackson “Dirty Diana”, and SaberZ “Without your love”. The IEMs I received had already undergone proper burn-in for many hours before. In my comprehensive sound analysis of IBUKI, I used SpinFit W1 eartips because I found noticeable differences in sound across eartips and sources, which I will describe in the review’s follow-up sections.

After CanJam NYC, I borrowed Fu and BEP-001 w/Wata from Musicteck for review and took extensive notes during my testing and sound analysis. This time, I only received IBUKI, so much of my sound analysis focused on changes between the BEP-001 prototype many heard at the NYC show and the corresponding comparison to Fu, which is still fresh in my mind. That is a reason I would like to title this section of the review “Sound Analysis and Comparison”.

I hear IBUKI to have a balanced W-shaped sound signature with a very clear, detailed, natural tonality. The retrieval of details is on a high level, not analytical high, but with a high level of natural clarity, especially up top. The soundstage is rounded and expanded in all three dimensions: width, height, and depth. The imaging is close to 3D holographic, very natural and realistic without being exaggerated. The instruments and vocals have a very accurate, convincing position in space, without being centered or spreading and extending behind your head. The layering and separation of the sound are well done, with just enough air between layers to maintain a sense of expansion and prevent congestion or muddiness.

I wouldn’t call the tuning of IBUKI exactly coherent, where all the sounds blend in as if they were coming from one large dynamic driver, the way I felt BEP-001 was. Instead, you have a very distinct separation of lows from mids/highs, almost like you have a separate large sub-woofer under the bass driver, pumping the air, while still maintaining a very comfortable ear “pressure”. What I’m hearing is a mix of powerful, physical bass, very detailed, natural mids, and crystal-clear, natural, high-res treble. To my ears, all this still blends into a well-done multi-driver harmony, with a W-shaped sound signature that places a distinct emphasis on all three principal frequency groups.

In more detail, the bass has a very powerful physical presence, with a deep, elevated sub-bass rumble you can actually feel and a hard-hitting, visceral mid-bass impact that has plenty of fullness and bloom without overwhelming the rest of the sound. In my sound analysis observation, despite its physical nature, the bass of IBUKI doesn’t overpower the mids or the treble. The bass is a few dBs more powerful than in Fu, but it is handled very tastefully, without pushing the tuning into an L-shaped signature while still maintaining its W-shaped sound. Without a doubt, the physical DD bass of IBUKI is the star of the tuning, giving you a feeling like you are listening to large full-size speakers. Despite the elevated sub-bass rumble, the attack of notes still has plenty of articulate speed, and despite its fullness and bloom, the decay of notes doesn’t create muddiness that bleeds into the lower mids. Bass notes are well-controlled and separated from the mids. Overall, the bass feels multidimensional, dynamic, and layered, and its quality scales with more powerful sources. For those who tried the prototype at the CanJam NYC show, IBUKI and the BEP-001 bass sounded similar to my ears.

The mids are where you would hear more difference between the IBUKI and Fu. Fu is still more transparent, less colored, with a more neutral body (in the lower mids) and a more revealing tonality (in the upper mids). But IBUKI, unlike the BEP-001 prototype, has made a few adjustments, more toward the Fu tuning. BEP-001 had a fuller body with a smoother, more organic, and more musical tonality. IBUKI mids are a little more neutral, as I hear it, still natural, musical, very resolving, placed forward, but with a touch less coloring, making them slightly more revealing compared to BEP-001. You can call it fine-tuning; nothing is drastic, but this fine-tuning gave IBUKI an edge in terms of resolution compared to BEP-001, while remaining a bit more natural than Fu. Part of these changes is also driven by the perception of the upper mids, which are affected by changes in treble tuning as you move from BEP-001 to IBUKI.

For those more familiar with the BEP-001 prototype from the NYC show, the treble rendition will probably be the biggest change in IBUKI. BEP-001 treble had a rather natural definition with a more relaxed sparkle, basically being smoother, not rolled off, and rather scaled down relative to Fu. Fu treble was more revealing, with a greater lower-treble presence and a more energetic crunch. IBUKI’s tuning update positioned its treble somewhere between BEP-001 and Fu. There is more lower-treble presence now in IBUKI than in BEP-001, but it was achieved by introducing a dip before the 5kHz peak to accentuate it further. Meaning, you are going to hear the energetic crunch, more than in BEP-001, but not as intense as in Fu. Also, the control of the lower treble in IBUKI will depend strongly on the selection of eartips; in my case, narrower-bore tips smooth out the lower treble. This will vary depending on your sound sensitivity and ear anatomy, so I would strongly recommend rolling the eartips here. Also, just to be clear, I’m not talking about fatigue or sibilance. IBUKI’s treble is very carefully tuned to avoid all these artifacts. I’m referring more to the tuning of the IBUKI, where its treble is positioned between the analytical clarity of Fu and the natural, relaxed clarity of BEP-001, and depending on the eartips and source selection, IBUKI treble can sound more natural or have a bit of a metallic zing. Both Fu and IBUKI have an excellent treble extension, noticeable in the long tails of cymbal crashes, with longer sound decay without being chopped off. Both also have a well-controlled airiness that contributes to their very good layering and separation of the sounds, though Fu has slightly more air between the layers, while IBUKI has more note density and weight. Furthermore, both have a super-black, deep background, making details pop out of the darkness with a clean transition of notes between on/off states.

Interconnect Cables

When I had Fu and BEP-01 for sound analysis, along with the Orochi (copper) Mini IC, I also received the Shirogane (silver) Mini and Murakumo3 (copper) Mini ICs for testing, since I was curious about how they affect sound with the Wata amp. Despite being a short interconnect cable, there are actually some noticeable changes in sound you can spot even in a blind test. Worth mentioning, Brise Audio places a lot of emphasis on the need for a proper 4.4mm BAL IC cable with an interconnected ground, since some manufacturers connect only the balanced signal pairs, not the ground between the connectors. I didn’t have the other two ICs with me during IBUKI testing, but the changes should be applicable, so I would like to mention them here again.

Of these 3 IC cables, Orochi had the most natural tonality, with excellent bass extension and impact, slightly smoother mids, and a slightly relaxed treble intensity. Shirogane changes the tuning to make it more revealing, especially in mids, with less coloring, giving the sound more transparency and a little more sparkle in treble. Murakumo3’s tonality is somewhere between Orochi and Shirogane, with similar bass impact, a naturally revealing tonality (in the upper mids), and similar treble sparkle as with Shirogane. Murakumo3 also slightly expands the soundstage and has the blackest background of the 3 IC cables.

Eartips rolling.

The selection of eartips is always crucial for any universal in-ear monitor and will significantly affect the sound, particularly the bass impact and treble energy, depending on the seal. The insertion depth, often controlled by the eartips’ design, will also affect the soundstage expansion and imaging. Due to a large opening in my ear canals, I usually opt for the largest eartips to achieve a better seal. Also, please keep in mind that eartips impressions are subjective and will be based on the anatomy of your ears. My suggestion is to build up your eartips collection and try each one with every new IEM you get to find the pair that yields a perfect sound for your ears.

Azla Crystal 2 – a little zing in lower treble, although less than in OG Crystal; 2’s bore opening is a bit narrower, which could explain it.

Azla Xelastec 2 – 2 and OG lower treble have a similar, crystal clear, slightly energetic zing.

Azla Max – the soundstage narrows slightly, but treble is a bit more natural, less zingy. Also, mids gain more weight.

Eletech Baroque – big open soundstage, similar treble to Max, crystal clear, natural, less zingy.

Symbio W – more mid-forward sound presentation, crystal clear, more natural treble, with less zing.

SpinFit W1 – open soundstage, deep textured bass, natural, detailed mids, clear natural treble – the most natural treble to my ears.

Narrow-bore eartips, to my ears, give the treble the most natural presentation and less treble zing. Relative to my ear anatomy and how I hear with these IEMs, W1 was the only pair of eartips I preferred with IBUKI.