iFi iEMatch+ 3.5mm Male to Female Headphone Jack In-Ear-Monitor Audio/Optimizer/Attenuator

Before I explained why I like this gadget, let me first go through my initial scepticism about iFi’s concept of IEMatch. Such scepticism has now been dispelled. My iFi Gryphon has built in IEMatch, so I tried it out. It seems to have added some resistors to the output power so that on my Shure SE826 (9 ohms) I need to turn up the volume control to 100%. If IEMatch is off, I needed to turn down to 86%. For my Astell & Kern AK T8 (16 ohms), it is 97%/86%; on my Aurisonics ASG2.5 (41 ohms with built-in 22db noise attenuator), the control has to be turned to turbo (more than 100%) before it is loud enough. (The results are similar either on Apple Music or on dff or dsf files, all playing through my android phone.) I do agree with one other reviewer that when IEMatch on my Gryphon switched off, the low is boomy (monotonous) and the mid is exaggerated (irritating) but how do I know if this is not just their marketing trick: make it sound less ideal when IEMatch is off so that people think IEMatch works. After all, before I got my Gryphon, I have been listening via these IE headphones on my AK240 with 2/3 volume and do not have a problem. Then my legacy Grado RA1 headphone amplifier came into the picture. Connected to the AK240 and Grado RS1 (32 ohms), the volume is deafeningly loud if the volume control is turned beyond the 9 o’clock position (AK240 in line-out mode). If turning the volume control of AK240 down and the RA1 up, the low is lost and the mid is too bright. So I bought this gadget to dampen the output of my AK240. The result? I give the gadget 5-star because it allows my legacy Grado to pair with HiRes players instead of just CD players. I can now play my RA1 with output control at 9-12 o’clock and gives very pleasant sound. My Aurisonics ASG2.5 (41 ohms) has been OK with my iFi Go Blu. Unlike the Gryphon, it does not have IEMatch built-in, so the volume control needs to stay below 80% or the sound will become irritating. And so I thought Go Blu can only give OK but not good sound. Adding this gadget? I again agree with the other reviewer who said “the entire presentation became coherent with instrument separation, transparency, details (no sibilance or harshness in the top end) and a punchy bass.” Is this gadget for you? If the sound levels change excessively when your device’s analogue volume control barely turns, this gadget should help. For devices with digital volume control, my AK240 does not need it but my Go Blu performs very well on my Aurisonics 41-ohm headphones. It also sounds different on my Shure and A&K but not as significant as the Aurisonics. Anyway, if you find your mobile set up does not sound good when turning the volume control up, do not blame them until you have tried this output impedance attenuator.

I bought the IE Match to use with very sensitive IEMs, I regard anything over 105 dB/mw as highly sensitive. It reduces hiss and with some of my IEMs, particularly models that are all balanced armature designs the sound is improved.

First off there is no airplane adapter with the 2.5mm version. Second the balanced version is maybe a little overpriced. However it works exactly as it should and allows me to use my sensitive iems with my mains powered amps. Without this gadget I get annoying hiss and with it, on high setting I get no hiss. So I recommend it if this is what you may wish to do.

I rarely if ever do reviews; but this little device made such a difference to my setup! I have a pair of campfire andros and use these with a portable Dac/amp that has a reported output impedance of around 0.9ohms. Prior to using the IEMatch i could barely turn up the volume on my DAC (with my phone at 100% to ensure no resolution loss). The sound was very boxed in with a boomy low end and a very exaggerated forward mid and recessed treble. I was in fact about to sell my andros at this point in all honestly as I only ever use them portably when I'm working away. I thought I'd trial this as this as any attenuation could perhaps help. So I plugged it in, set it to high and played some tracks - immediately there was a night and day difference! I mean huge difference; the entire presentation became coherent with instrument seperation, transparency, detail (no sibilance or harshness in the top end) and a punchy bass. Now, some may argue this is an exaggeration, but remember, this is impedance matching a low impedance load. Andros are typical 12ohms at 1 kHz which means a decrease in load impedance on the amplifier as frequency reduces (can cause output stage instability on some amplifier designs) and obviously increase in impedance as frequency increases ( normally not an issue) but the resistance swing can significantly affect the frequency response as a result of amplifier instability. So, with this in mind the IEMatch has stabalized the output as well as increasing s/n ratio resulting in an audibly cleaner sound and frequency response. Simply put, music is a joy to listen to now. I think they may not be for every scenario (and I haven't tried other sources/loads) , but for sensitive IEM's this literally saved my portable system.

I recently bought myself a pair of custom IEMs (the Ultimate Ears UE5 Pro) with an impedance of 21 Ohms. My drum module (my main audio source in my studio) as well as my audio interface both sounded dull, muffled, lifeless, and had plenty of white noise and hiss. Turns out I had an impedance mismatch: both my audio sources have a much higher impedance than my IEMs, causing them to sound rubbish (by comparison, using a dongle straight out of my phone sounded great, because the output impedance is so low). Rather than spend £100-200 on a dedicated headphone amp (expensive, cumbersome, annoying) I took a punt on this little dongle, and while it's expensive (still much cheaper than a full headphone amp) it WORKS. All the hiss and white noise is gone, and most importantly the audio is clear and rich, the way it should be. It basically solved my impedance mismatch issue by giving me an output of < 1 Ohms, which is exactly what my IEMs need to work properly. I had to crank the volume on my module (naturally) but this doesn't matter at all. So if impedance mismatch is your issue (as it was mine) this could very well solve your problem. I figured that if it didn't work, I could easily return it. But to my surprise and delight it's worked superbly! Let's just hope it lasts...

I ordered the iEMatch+ after I had hissing issues with my IEMs on my audio interface. Upon arrival, packing as nice and even came with ear defenders...which is a strange but welcome inclusion I guess? The overall build of the iEMatch+ was good, though not amazing. The switches on both ends especially felt cheap, though the casing itself felt decently premium. After plugging it in, it did indeed solve the hissing issues - however, it came at the cost of severely impacting the frequency response of my IEMs (Truthear Nova in case you were wondering). Treble frequencies sounded fine, though bass frequencies sounded noticeably weaker. If it was cheaper, it would have been an acceptable trade off. However, at almost £50, this is a really tough sell. At that price you might as well buy a DAC that won't hiss to begin with. Ended up returning it as I just couldn't justify keeping it and having a £50 hole in my wallet because of it. If you're dead set on using your gear with a specific source, then I guess this does the job? Otherwise, look into using a different source.

Bought the 4.4mm version as was getting some major white noise/hiss on my recently purchased iFi Go Blu when paired with my Campfire Audio Holocene IEM's - this instantly solved the problem, background is now pitch black, superb at what it does but a little peeved that I need to spend another £69 on top of the £169 already spent on the Go Blu

Ordered this on the strength of reviews I read on here. I purchased it to fit between a AudioQuest DragonFly Cobalt and a pair of Audio Technica ESW-9 headphones. The sound was excellent as it was but I thought I could go one better by purchasing this device. Sadly it did nor work out for me. Not only did the volume decrease, which as an attenuator I expected it to do but the sound became somewhat worse, producing exactly the opposite results to what I wanted. There was a sort of raspiness and sibliance was far more pronounced in my experience. On my iPad via the headphone socket there was a microscopic change. And finally Amazon have described it as an amplifier, it is NOT an amplifier. Not for me with the aforementioned headphones/DAC combination. Returning for a refund.