TRI Audio iOne Review

Mahir Efe Falay

2 years ago

TRI Audio is the company known for it’s mid-high tier iems and TRI Audio iOne is not an excemption. While Starsea, i3 pro and Meteor signal their shift towards the average customer, it’s a happy and successful shifting.

Below are first looks. It appears like we are having two different iems in one body. Clarion tips concentrate everything, enhance low ends and lead it to the famous car audio brand house sound. Balanced tips lead to hifi path which cater to audiophilia with nice tonality, layering and 3d imaging.

Pros__

High res bass

Timbre is neutral to warm

Soundstage is large

Cons__

Not fantastic technics

Cable is bulky

Not that bright (subjective)

With Clarion M

Presentation is forward and full of life. Bass in Limehouse Blues are with nice resolution and slight bumpiness. The clarinet is smooth and HM like 3d. Recessed mid segments aren’t a big issue here. The vibrato echoes bring Bubbles in mind, somehow small bubbly resonances here. And the drummer’s cymbal extensions give me a detailed but somehow dry experience.

Feel Good INC unleash its bass potency (1st) Nasal and cryptic Damon Albarn is with me now. Its been a long time since I heard him properly like that. Soundstage is somehow large and the strings in the second part of the track aren’t drowned in bass.

The Last Garrison is giving me a hard time. The already not so good layering is taking its toll here by hiding (okay not totally) the essential synthesizer line beneath. But separation of all sorts was and is good even with ipad pro. We will see it after pumping it up with dx300 power.

Slipshod is more like Feel Good INC here. But basses are pounding in your head and high clarity is giving you a tasty fruit.

With Balanced M

Transparency is striking now. As well as background resolution which is important in a live jazz club experience. Basses are nicer and the clarinet is smoother. Extensions are more life-like. And the vibrato resonances are too. They aren’t looking anything like the dropping small sized balls in Bubbles. And finally the keyboard sounded over-smooth and lost its texture IMO..I guess the eartips are doing what their names indicate. I am hearing nothing is beyond anything with those tips.

Feel Good INC has deeper basses with more resolution than Clarions. Bass punches result with more weight. And Albarn is not so negative here. The hip hop section is full with life. Strings, drums, violin effect, back vocal and Albarn himself isn’t getting mixed up in the end of the track which is a good point.

Last Garrison’ synthesizer is truly visible (hearable) here with those tips and the track is full with energy, punch and wide soundstage. It reminded me of THHİFİ Character in this track. Oh the resolution is above %75 and you can hear the main singer in texture.

Slipshods basses lack punch but clarity, layering and vocal monitoring capacity is sky high now.

Box, TRI Audio iOne and the Cable

Box is a huge and styish box, decorated with artistic elements.

iOne is somehow large, metallic and properly vented shell. Eartips are replaceable along with its cable. But why would you change the cable if it is coming bundled with TRI Wolfram cable?

Cable is thick and strong looking X cored Wolfram cable. Cloth covered and 2 pinned. You can read its details here: https://keephifi.com/products/tri-wolfram

SOUND

Clear and low end dominant in dx300 M gain. I can’t say the same for L setting. Its becoming more smooth jazz friendly and every instrument is flowing like a calm river. And 3d imaging + extensions are worthy of attention. Clappings are weighty too. Air between sticks hitting the drum is observable. This is so audiophile so far. But the only caveat is it’s soundstage width.

However with the Driving, which was performed in a stadium, that stage widened up and started to cover much more. Instrument presence remained whether tiny or large. This helped its naturalism and kept violins metallic and drums leather.

Dupstep is impressive even with its balanced eartips because of it’s neutral to dark timbre, ability to project thumpy bass when needed and wide soundstage now with its amazing clarity.

The Electro Suite is a better match for it than Driving. Live wide soundstage is a major plus here and Octopuses whispers lurking around you show its layering ability. Crowd control is great when the orchestra is attacking. Your mind can explode when the meteor hit the ground near 04:00 and have a very strong explosion first, have rich layering beneath

Playing God is beginning with meticulously crafted strings and a drum that is vibrating with its tactile feedback even with its balanced eartips. Soundstage is pretty wide here and instruments doesn’t meld into each other. It was like the Electro Suite in this regard. AND the bossa nova is soo lovely before the ending. Tonality is helping it great.

Despite low end dominance I mentioned numerous times above, the low is pretty recessed in Jason Mraz. I am hearing a forward presentation and melancholic exaltations to a beautiful lady here. His nimble vocals tonality and sibilance free nature is a huge help here in the experience.

Gaming

With Clarion tips you can have heavy basses and so so gaming listenings. But to use it with gaming, Balanced tips are the only way. They successfully combine critical and fun gaming listening.