Tri iOne is Tri’s new flagship single DD iem that came out not long ago. They somehow flew under the radar as you can’t even find many reviews or measurements of them. In this review I will try to convey my feelings about them
Pros
- Premium Build and Accessories
- Somewhat Balanced Tuning
- Mostly Engaging and Exciting Sound
Cons
- Steep V-Shape Which might not Suit Everyone
- Peaky Regions in the Upper Mids and Treble can Sometimes Cause Sibilance or Feel Uneven
- Sucked out Mids
- Expensive
Disclaimers
Without boring you too much, I don’t necessarily have a sound preference. I tend to enjoy different sound profiles as long as they do well at what they intend to do. I try to be critic in my reviews but I might be somewhat biased one way or another (Recency bias, buyer’s bias etc.). Please keep these in mind. Also, Tri i Ones are loaned to me by Mahir. You can also read his review about them here. Other iems mentioned here are my own which I bought with my own money. If a unit I reviewed is given or loaned to me in the future, I will say so here as well.
Build, Comfort and Trivia
TRI Audio is a premium-leg of KBEAR. Back in 2018, when KBEAR was focused primarily on the budget segment of in-ear monitors, they designed a high-end pair with the support of a famous Japanese designer, they marketed it with their new brand TRI Audio. TRI released the brand’s tribrid flagship the I3 in 2019, which became an instant success for them. Ever since then TRI Audio is always focused on designing, producing, and marketing high-end audio gears that deliver impeccable performance at attractive prices. (Text taken from Hifigo)
Although this paragraph reeks of marketing, it is true that Tri is the premium leg of KBEAR and as i Ones are their flagship single DD, packaging and accessories are simply exquisite. First of all, they come with pure silver Wolfram Cable which is sold for 200 $ by itself. Well not quite, you can actually find them for 100 $ or even as low as 85 $ from different sellers. And the cable’s cloth sheathing is very thick and stiff which makes them hard to carry and manage. They don’t even fit the case easily. And I wish they had modular connectors or at least balanced choice at this price. Coming with only 3.5 mm is a shame really.
Speaking of the case, i One comes with a beautiful orange case which is different from the usual Tri cases. It is bigger and harder. Maybe harder to carry around too but also protects your iems better. 2 sets of tips come out of the package which includes Tri’s newest Clarion tips. Clarion tips feels nice and very comfortable but the stem is too wide so they come off very easily from other iems unfortunately. Lastly there is a black pouch with two slots to put ear pieces separately to keep them from hitting each other and scratching.
IEMs themselves have a solid metal build and are somewhat heavy. They are not the smallest pieces either. To be honest, most of the other single DD IEMs are more comfortable than i Ones, but they are still better than multi driver IEMs.
Sound
A few words about Clarion tips before I get into the sound. I liked the feel and comfort of them a lot and wanted to use them but eventually had to change them because they sounded too peaky. In the end I settled on Spinfit CP100s.
With that out of the way, let’s take i One’s sound in a whole package. They sound fun and engaging. Bass is punchy, no suprises there but also rumbles quite nicely. High level of bass bleeds into lower mids and make them quite warm. Maybe too warm, not my favorite to be honest. Mids are lower than the bass, so get overshadowed easily. Vocals are mostly unaffected but some some instruments, like pianos and electric guitars sound off from time to time.
Upper mids are forward and female vocals sound lovely most of the time. Then again there are some peaks which can make them harsh or sibilant occasionally. These moments are not very often but strangely they occur in the songs or parts I haven’t noticed harshness or sibilance with other IEMs. For example, one song I use to test sibilance is Otherside from Red Hot Chili Peppers. i One doesn’t sound sibilant in this song at all but sibilance occur well mixed songs.
When I shared my first impressions about i Ones, I told whoever tuned these probably didn’t use measurements, instead tuned them by ear. I stand by that statement. Because most of the time they sound OK or enjoyable even. But in the most unexpected times they offended me. Since it is impossible to try an earphone with all the songs on earth, it fails to become an all-rounder. Most of the modern genres are safe to listen to, but if the song you listen to consists of a wide frequency range you may feel they sound off.
Technical Performance
Technically, they are subpar in their price range. Maybe the driver is highly capable but it is really too hard to tell with this amount of bass. In the end I couldn’t pick up fine details I could hear with other IEMs. Maybe my high end headphones spoiled me too much, I don’t know. Anyway, perceived sound stage or head stage is pretty closed too. I’m not bothered by the stage characteristics of IEMs and headphones but I know some of you are. Imaging is alright. Timbre is also concerning because of this peculiar tuning unfortunately.
Tri i One vs BQEYZ Autumn with Bass Filter
I decided to compare them against my beloved Autumns as they are my most expensive single DD iems.
- Autumns are Harder to Drive, they have bigger drivers (13 mm vs 10 mm) in a smaller shell so they are more comfortable in my ears.
- Autumns have a V shaped sound signature with bass filters but i Ones are even more V.
- When volume matched Autumns have a more satisfying bass with better texture. However, i Ones rumble much more. Autumn doesn’t extend very well into the lowest of lows.
- Autumns sound noticeably warm with bass filter but i One is even warmer. Bass is more prominent on i Ones.
- Most of the mids on i One feels sucked out. Autumns sound more even although it has its own quirks in treble which makes them sound sibilant harsh occasionally. Tri i One also has its own peaky areas. One song sounds harsh on one and relaxed on the other. It really is a coin toss here.
- Upper mids are more forward on i One which benefits female vocals and save them from the being masked by the bass. Autumns don’t have such a problem and you can always change the filters if you want.
- Autumn is mostly pleasant in the treble but upper mids and lower treble becomes harsh more often than Tri i One. Bass level on Tri i One balances out the high treble level.
- Technically Autumns are clearer, airier, deeper and wider even with the bass filter. I think Autumns’ drivers are more capable but it is really hard to assess with i One’s tuning and I wouldn’t open up and mess with an almost 300 USD iems anyway. Imaging is decent on i Ones but, noticably better on Autumns.
Conclusion
TRI iOne misses the mark for a few reasons in my opinion. First of all, with their 279 $ price, they are too expensive. While budget iems are getting better and better with their tuning, it is really hard to justify a single DD with that kind of price even if they sound good. They are similarly priced with very well received Tanchjim Oxygens and more expensive than crowd favorites like Moondrop Kato and Tanchjim Hana 2021. I don’t even want to count the sub 100 $ competitors. While everything in the package feels premium, it fails to deliver where it matters the most; cable. I didn’t use the cable that much; first and foremost it should have been a modular termination one. Much cheaper IEMs come with modular cables these days
About the tuning of TRI iOne, it must have gone like this: they probably raised upper frequencies so it sounded bright. They wanted to balance it out by raising the bass but it became too bassy so they raised the upper range more. With a few back and forth they settled on the tuning but in the end, they forgot the mids deep in the chasm. That’s what I hear anyway. They are not offensive as much as I feared, but not very good sounding to be honest. Sometimes I wished bass to be lower, but that would make them too harsh. Sometimes I wanted peaks were not there but they sounded very musical from time to time. If they weren’t expensive, I would at least recommend these to the people looking for an exciting set but, oh well.
