Ice Cream Sweet With a Crunchy Bass – iBasso Gelato IEMS Review
iBasso Gelato is a $23 USD pair of Dynamic Driver IEMS or In-Ear Monitors designed to be the most affordable pair that lives and survives in the audiophile world. While the price tag demands sacrifices at every corner possible for the Gelato to exist, we will try to judge them as a product from one of the most popular audio manufacturers and see if they are fit to become part of your collection, even if it is just the beginning of your audiophile journey.
Introduction
iBasso is one of the largest audiophile manufacturers held in high regards by everyone who has heard their products. While the Gelato we’re reviewing today is part of iBasso Jr or Junior, a series of products that are made to appeal to an affordable, but fun and commercial line of lifestyle products, iBasso does make them, and I have fairly high expecations, which is why I compromised on my rule of not reviewing anything that’s too affordable, as usually the sacrifices made are a bit too big to bear.
As an Amazon Influencer, I earn from qualifying purchases, and using the purchase links in my reviews helps me maintain this website and Youtube Channel. Huge thanks to iBasso for providing us with the sample for this review.
Product Link
Amazon – https://amzn.to/4hXQTLM
Build Quality / Aesthetics
When I heard that iBasso was making a pair of entry-level IEMs I was suprised, but when I learned the price point I was downright astounded. This is because iBasso generally plays in the high-end range where their DAPs are considered the best of the best, most of the time being preffered above everything else in the market, so Gelato is an odd one, but starting with the design, iBasso built the Gelato around a 10mm dynamic driver with a 0.03mm CCAW Coil.
To make those easy to drive, the impedance is just 18 OHMs, while the SPL is 108 dB, so you can expect driving the Gelato from basically any source you may have around the house, including entry-level DAC/AMPs like iBasso DC07 PRO, or even iBasso DC03 PRO.
Transmitting the sound you have a high-quality audiophile cable that’s ended in a 3.5mm single ended jack, and which connects to the IEMs using 0.78mm 2-Pin connectors.
Fit / Subjecitve Usage
Starting with the comfort, iBasso used a cable that’s comfortable, free of tangling or microphonic noise transmission effects, and which works really well for the Gelato. They have a semi open design, having a rather large ventilation port which means that the passive noise isolation is not strong at all, around 10 dB of passive noise isolation, and Gelato leaks music quite a bit.
They also made a comfortable and ergonomic shell that fits well with my ears, but the included eartips do not offer me any kind of comfort and seal, regardless of the size. And this is a place where the low price can be felt, because a pair of ddHiFi ST-35 which I typically use will cost you around 9 USD, which although may seem low, is almost half the price of the Gelato.
This being said, the overall deal is still excellent, and there are cheaper ear tips out there you can use, but I found that Gelato works best with ddHiFi ST35, and I have the best overall comfort with them.
Sound Quality
Pairings – Although I have tried using the most affordable sources I could, to match the price point of the Gelato, I mostly have used the most recent sources I have reviewed as those allow me to have the most relevant input and I already had them on my desk, so I’ve combined the Gelato with Shanling EC Smart CD Player, FiiO BTR17, Creative Sound Blaster G8, Dethonray Listening M1, iBasso DC07 PRO, Astell&Kern Activo P1, and Hiby R6 PRO II. All of those sources are more than enough to drive the Gelato, and it is slightly sensitive to hissing and background noise, but I can totally overlook this given the price point.
Overall Signature – iBasso Gelato has all the advantages of a low-priced IEM with a commercial tuning, so you can expect to hear a sound that’s full, warm in the voices, a bit vocal in the presentation, and which has a fairly good amount of detail and resolution for the price paid. Given the semi-open design, we have a wide and airy sound with a wide soundstage, and a good imaging / instrument separation.
Bass – When I first plugged in the Gelato I thought it was going to be a basshead IEM or a V-Shaped one, because it has a deep bass with an excellent extension down to about 30 Hz, so you hear a lot of low-end rumble, punch and kick, music is always full and even a bit bloomy. This being said, there’s no extra upper bass or even mid bass, just a healthy amount of body and substance to music. There’s a smooth transition from the bass to the midrange.
Midrange – Both in iBasso’s own graphs and inside of my ears, Gelato has a somewhat mid centric, vocal signature with a fairly colorful and vivid presentation, a slight emphasis on female voices, emotion and sweetness / warmth of the sound. There’s a clear preference for the upper midrange, which gives a bit of extra brightness and air to counter the warmth and bold bass, so the whole midrange is fairly balanced, although voices are most certainly pushed to the front while everything else is pushed back a bit.
Treble – Gelato has a fairly bright lower midrange, and the top end rolls off gently and smoothly around 14 kHz, with the roll-off slope starting at 12 kHz. This means that rock has enough air and shimmer to be exciting, and pop music has a strong resolution / clarity without feeling limited. Gelato is fairly airy and open sounding from the design and you don’t need to worry about the treble too much.
PRaT / Textures – You can say that Gelato has a natural texture, it has a bit of texture, but it is nowhere near as harsh and fatiguing as most entry-level competitors, nor as smooth or lacking textures as the entry-level market generally can be. A good balance of having enough texture but not too much is how Gelato sounds like. More interesting though is how Gelato sounds pleasingly detailed for the price paid.
Loudness Saturation Gradient – Gelato provides a fairly consistent sound across all volume levels, but it gets more dynamic, more engaging and more bassy, with better impact at louder volumes. It holds its ground well up to the maximum volume, sounding really good even up to about 110 dB, with a sweet spot starting at around 80 dB. This means that for most people who listen at medium and high volumes, Gelato will be in its sweet spot for the loudness performance.
Soundstage – Thanks to a semi-open design and good acoustic engineering, Gelato has a really wide and holographic soundstage, with an excellent clarity and detail, being excellent for pop, electronic, rock and metal music. While the staging is a bit too forward and the voices a bit too forward for classical or jazz, Gelato does excellent with commercial music and will sound airy, clean and have a strong imaging / instrument separation for the price point.
Value and Conclusion
iBasso Gelato has literally one of the best price / performance ratios that you can find in the whole world, offering a sonic performance that is extra fun and pleasing despite being priced less than some of the smartphone cases and transport cases I purchased for my equipment in the recent weeks. The only drawback is the pair of eartips included by default, but you can easily get around that with a couple of extra USD when ordering the Gelato.
At the end of the day, if you’re looking for a high-quality pair of IEMs with a fairly vocal and punchy presentation, a bold bass with an excellent extension down low, and with a comfortable fit, iBasso Gelato will be happy to serve you as your first IEM, the cheapest IEM you own, or a backup unit that will always be there for you.
PROs
- Incredibly strong sonic presentation
- Clarity and detail are top notch for the price paid
- Comfortable
- High quality cable that is detachable
- Beautiful and simple design
- Likely the best price / price performance of any audiophile product
Cons
- Default eartips do not work well for my ears
Product Link
Amazon – https://amzn.to/4hXQTLM
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Full Playlist used for this review
We listened to more songs than those named in this playlist, but those are excellent for identifying a sonic signature. I recommend trying most of the songs from this playlist, especially if you’re searching for new music! The playlists are different for Spotify, Tidal and Youtube, and based on the songs I enjoy and are available on each!
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_cjBXGmwSHSdGcwuc_bKbBDGHL4QvYBu
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5J3oloz8Riy9LxEGenOjQ0?si=979ba4f082414be7
https://tidal.com/browse/playlist/330fd544-8e5b-4839-bd35-676b2edbb3d5
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