IK Multimedia ARC ON·EAR

Un bon petit produits mais dommage que la batterie soit si réduite...

La qualité de fabrication est excellente, la première fois que je l'ai branché avec mon casque : Wouah tout ce que j'écoutais me semblé plus clair, mieux définie, pour l'utiliser comme ampli casque il est très bien surtout qu'il s'adapte a l’impédance du casque fini le besoin d'avoir un ampli spécifique très onéreux quand on a un casque de 400 ohm.
Son entrée analogique est très pratique mais on peux également l'utiliser comme une carte son grâce à sa prise USB C.
Je ne peux plus m'en passé que cela soit chez moi ou dans le home studio d'un ami car il ce transporte facilement.
Le seule problème est l'autonomie de la batterie qui n'est que de 3-4H : juste juste ! Mais moi je l’utilise via l'USB pour l'alimenter et n'ai rencontré aucun buzz comme j'ai pu lire dans d'autre commentaire...
Au final un petit gadget bien pratique qui m'aide a aplanir la courbe de mon casque pour mes mixes !

Hello,
I was really excited to discover this little gadget.
On paper, it’s great, and indeed it sounds pretty good.

But in the end… what does this little headphone preamp actually do? It applies an EQ and a reverb… Enough to skew your mix? Probably… maybe not… a little…? Your call.

When it’s not plugged into the outlet, it works very well. Great! Wow, all the presets, you can choose your headphones, your studio monitors, and add a room reverb. Okay. It matches my expectations. Nothing to complain about.

But that’s not the problem. No, the real problem is that this device does not hold its battery. 3–4 hours of use and it needs to be recharged. So if you work many hours with headphones, you have to keep the device powered through its supplied USB-C cable.
And then, big problem, a buzz or a hiss (depending on where it’s plugged in) appears… At first, you don’t pay much attention, you’re discovering the gadget, but once you’re used to it, it becomes noticeable, stronger and stronger… and in the end, that’s all you hear… It becomes obsessive and you can’t focus anymore…

I tried several power sources:
My computer, my USB hub, my standing desk… Always the same issue. The noise is different, but there is always background noise. You might say my electrical power isn’t good, but I have a battery UPS that regulates all that. So no, that’s not it.

And if that were the issue, why isn’t it sold with a power adapter?

I used it for 10 days, and sent it back to Thomann, who has an amazing customer service.

Thank you Thomann, goodbye IK Multimedia.

I bought it to get hardware based calibration that I can use at venues. It's very sturdy, has plenty of functionality and even a high quality DAC that can be used with your phone or tablet as well. I dislike that you can not put your own profiles on it. That means your Headphones are either supported or not. (check before you buy) There is an option to request your model though.
I'm not sure how much I trust it because I tested it with several alternatives and they all sound different. The way, measurements are taken, the equipment used, the algorithm, smoothing and other factors make it nearly impossible to fully rely on it but it gets you in the ballpark.
Additionally you get a nicely cushioned bag and quality cables.

The ARK os well made solid and robust, sound quality was excellent. BUT a big BUT. I used AKG studio K702 listening through the different virtual speakers was good, was able to hear sound difference in all but quite honestly, I didn’t hear much difference from bypass and the ARC, nothing sprung out at me, like having to make any changes to my mix, so me thinks another useless, maybe if not so good quality headphones used, might have the wowa factor but if you are using £300 Studio monitor flat response phones, don’t waste your money. I was expecting to be wow thing.