TRI I3 Review (1) – Smooth Operator

Pros:

Balanced tuning, coherent and organic tonality.
Big speaker-like soundstage.
Good timbre for a hybrid.
Good imaging.
Accurate bass.
Sublime mids.
Forgiving of poorly recorded material.

Cons:

Super large shells that are fingerprint magnets.
Questionable MMCX quality.
Average isolation.
Lack of treble sparkle for trebleheads.
Clarity and details not the best.
Amping is quite mandatory to wake up the planars inside.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Sumo-sized Shells, Silky Smooth Sublime Symphonia, Speaker-like Soundstage, Subdued Sparkle.

SPECIFICATIONS

• Driver: 1x 10mm Planar Magnetic + 1x Balanced Armature + 1x Composite Dynamic 8mm Driver
• Sensitivity: 103dB/mW
• Frequency response: 20 – 40000Hz
• Impedence: 15Ω
• Cable: MMCX detachable cable
• Tested at $149

PHYSICAL THINGS AND USABILITY

ACCESSORIES

In addition to the IEM, it comes with:

1) Detachable 3.5 mm stock copper cable (MMCX) – well braided with chin cinch. Minimally microphonic.

2) Two types of stock silicone tips in various sizes – white and grey ones. The white stock ones have wider bores whereas the grey ones have narrower bores. I preferred the latter as they boosted the bass a bit more for my personal preferences.

3) Foam tips

4) Velvet pouch

BUILD/COMFORT

The TRI I3 is seriously the largest shelled IEM I have come across in my past 30 or so owned or auditioned IEMs. The shell is not that heavy however, but in view of the large size, it is definitely not one for sleeping on, and there will be some element of protrusion from the ears. I have average sized ears and found the comfort level moderate.

I did not note any driver flex.

One thing to note is that the metal mirror like finish may attract fingerprints, so the OCD among us may not appreciate this. 

I’ve generally prefer 2 pin connectors to MMCX for longevity and even compared to other CHIFI with MMCX, the TRI I3’s MMCX connectors do not look very sturdy during cable changing. I’m not confident they can survive multiple cable rolling, so best to just put one cable on it and leave it be.

ISOLATION

Average isolation with stock tips.

DRIVABILITY

The TRI I3 is drivable from smart phones, though the sound is meh at best. Amping is quite mandatory to wake up the planars to help the TRI I3 scale to its optimal performance and hence achieve good soundstage, dynamics and details.

The TRI I3 doesn’t distort with ramping up the volume, so there is even a danger of turning up the volume knob to enjoy the music more (though this might not be wise for hearing health in the long term!)

SOUNDSTAGE

Height, width and depth of soundstage are huge, probably one benefit of the sumo-sized shells. Some instruments can be heard at the back of the ears on certain tracks. I’ve heard more expensive close backed IEMs with slightly wider soundstages than the TRI I3, but the TRI I3 has one of the more holographic soundstages in a closed back IEM around $150 USD. There are similarly priced open backed type IEMs with possibly larger soundstages than the TRI I3, but you get penalties in isolation due to their open backed nature.

One thing to note is that amping is quite mandatory to achieve this wide soundstage as the planars inside need some juice.

SOUND & TECHNICALITIES

The TRI I3 is a warm set, being just a tinge U shaped, with very good balance, coherency and tonality despite the highly unique DD + planar + BA configuration. The analogue like sound does help the TRI I3 to be pretty forgiving of poorly recorded material.

I found the TRI I3’s clarity and details to be above average but not classleading compared to some other midfi CHIFI eg Audiosense T800. Instrument separation and imaging are top notch on the TRI I3, assisted by the huge soundstage.

The timbre of the TRI I3 is very good, considering it is a hybrid. It won’t beat some well tuned DD setups (eg KBEAR Diamond, BLON BL-03) in the timbre department, but it comes pretty close. Note weight is moderate.

Bass:

The TRI I3’s bass descends linearly from midbass to subbass, so occasionally there is a lack of midbass punch, but I find the bass quantity adequate for my basshead preferences. 

Bass quality is speedy, detailed and accurate with moderate subbass rumble. Extension of subbass is not the best, but amping helps the extension and bass quantity to some extent. There is no midbass bleed to my ears.

Mids:

Mids are the star of the show. The planars handling the mids are truly special and superbly smooth. There’s a very slight lower mids recession with upper mids boost, but mids are overall detailed, clean and lush. The TRI I3 also avoids the usual CHIFI sawtooth upper mids peak, so they are generally very non fatiguing and smooth. (There’s an occasional 3kHz hump, but it isn’t harsh most of the time).

Treble:

The TRI I3’s treble is safe and non fatiguing. Trebleheads may not look at the TRI I3’s treble too favourably as such, and indeed there is some loss of details, sparkle and clarity in the treble frequencies compared to brighter CHIFI eg Audiosense T800. But I feel there is a tradeoff between a non fatiguing listen versus brightness and details, especially if you intend to have long listening sessions.

Sibilance in the TRI I3 is mild and quite track dependent. There’s a slight 8 kHz peak which gives some shimmer to cymbals that is not overbearing.

CONCLUDING REMARKS

The TRI I3 is a good entry level midfi CHIFI for those looking for a balanced tuning, coherent tonality and excellent soundstage with a non fatiguing listen. Perhaps only trebleheads and bassheads may find the tuning not to their tastes, but this can be an easy recommendation for most others in this hobby. The smooth planar mids are the star here, though it truly needs amping to shine to its true potential.

MY VERDICT

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DISCLAIMER

I bought the TRI I3 at my own expense from the HIFIGO Aliexpress shop: https://hifigo.aliexpress.com/store/5562139. A slight reviewer discount was provided.

Retails at $149 USD.

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