TRI I3 Pro IEM Review
TRI I3 Pro IEM Review
Introduction:
TRI is a Chinese company located in Shenzhen China that is specialized in design and development of portable audio equipment’s such like Earphones and In-Ear Monitors and many more.
The TRI I3 Pro that I will now review for you is the upgraded version of the popular I3 In-Ear Monitor. The I3 Pro utilizes a Tri-Brid driver configuration, which is a combination of 1x 10mm Planar + 1x Balanced Armature + 1x 8mm diameter Composite Diaphragm Dynamic Driver that are located inside an 7050 aviation grade aluminum alloy shell with a 2-Pin connector on the top.
Disclaimer:
I would like to thank TRI for providing me the I3 Pro In-Ear Monitor as review sample. I am not affiliated with TRI or any third person beyond this review and all these words reflect my true, unaltered opinions about the product.
Price & Availability:
The actual price for the TRI I3 Pro is about $148,50 USD. More information’s can be found under the link below;
Package and Accessories:
The TRI I3 Pro came in a plain box in black color that was wrapped with a fancy blue cardboard sleeve that has the some brandings on the top and product related specification at the back surface.
Inside the box are the following items/accessories;
- 1 pair x TRI I3 Pro In-Ear Monitors
- 1 piece x 2-Pin Detachable Cable With 3.5mm Headphone Plug
- 5 pairs x Semi Transparent Silicone Ear Tips
- 3 pairs x Grey Silicone Ear Tips
- 1 pair x Foam Ear Tips
- 1 piece x Leather Case
- 1 piece x Cleaning Tool
- 1 piece x Print Material
The TRI I3 Pro came with a wide variety of ear tips that includes 6 pairs of semitransparent and 3 pairs of grey ear tips.
The leather case in brown color looks pretty stylish that has a magnetic lid and the TRI brand logo on the top.
Inside the box are also one a cleaning tool and cleaning cloth that are some nice additions.
Design and Build Quality:
The TRI I3 Pro is a solid looking In-Ear Monitor with its all-metal housing, which has a polished mirror like finish. It is surprisingly lightweight for an IEM with an all-metal shell thanks to the use of “7050 Aviation Grade Aluminum Alloy Material” that is more lightweight than regular stainless steel material.
Inside the Monitors is a Tri-Brid Driver configuration that is a combination of 1x 10mm diameter Planar Magnetic Driver + 1x Balanced Armature Driver + 1x 8mm diameter Composite Diaphragm Dynamic Driver.
The Monitor of the TRI I3 Pro shows combination of 3 parts, which are the faceplate (front part), the back part and the sound nozzle. The front part that is called the called faceplate has a shape that reminds me to those of a guitar Pena.
The back part has a pretty ergonomic shape that fits nicely to my average sized ear chonca. On the top of the back part is the sound nozzle that features a metal mesh on the top to prevent the insertion of unwanted particles like dust or earwax.
At the rear side of the back part are 4 small openings that helps to balanced the pressure, which can be build up while you insert the monitor to your ear channel. These vents are also very important for moving part like the planar and dynamic river inside the shell.
On the top of each monitor shell is a 0.78mm diameter recessed 2-Pin female connector that offers a tight connection to the male 2-Pin connectors.
The TRI I3 Pro comes with a 4core detachable cable made 5N purity Oxygen Free Copper (OFC) Wire material. The cable has a braided design, while the wires do show a TPU insolation in brown color with ultra-low microphonic effect.
The 2-Pin male connectors do have a metal housing with red and blue color indicators that surrounds the pins at the bottom.
Near the left and right connectors are heat shrink ear guides for extra comfort on the go.
There cable comes with a Y-splitter and chin slider made of metal. The Y-splitter has the TRI brand logo on the top.
The 3.5mm single ended headphone jack has a straight profiled metal housing that has the TRI branding on the top and a plastic strain relief for extra protection.
The overall build quality of both the monitors and the detachable cable are top notch that doesn’t show any imperfections such like burrs or gaps.
Fit, Comfort & Isolation:
The TRI I3 Pro is a fairly lightweight In-Ear Monitor that has a 26% smaller size compared to the original I3 pro. It fits nicely in to my average sized ear concha’s like mentioned before, while it builds up some ear pressure with the stock silicone ears tips. This issue can be solved with foam ear tips or with special Termoplastic Elastomer tips like the AZLA SednaEarfit Xelastec that works perfectly with the I3 Pro.
The passive noise isolation of the I3 Pro is on an average level that is suitable for the use in fairly noise environments such like a bus or a train.
Drivability and Pairing:
The TRI I3 Pro is relative efficient for an In-Ear Monitor that is equipped with a miniature planar magnetic driver, which are usually harder to drive than some Dynamic and Balanced Armature Drivers. The rated impedance is 15Ω and it has a sensitivity of 103dB.
The TRI I3 Pro plays at fairly loud volume levels out of relative weak sources like Mobile Phones, Tablets or smaller sized DAP’s, however I highly recommend you to pair it with more powerful sources like Portable AMP’s or DAP’s with better amplification in order to hear the true potential of this quite capable In-Ear Monitors.
Technical Specifications:
- Driver Unit : 1x 10mm Planar + 1x Balanced Armature + 1x 8mm Dynamic Driver
- Impedance : 15Ω ±2Ω
- Sensitivity : 103dB ±1dB
- Frequency Response : 20 Hz – 30kHz
- Cable Material : 5N purity OFC Wire
- Connector Type : 0.78mm diameter 2-Pin
- Headphone Plug : 3.5mm Single Ended (TRS)
Sources:
- In Ear Monitor’s : TRI I3 Pro & Final Audio B2
- DAP/DAC/AMP’s : FiiO M11 PRO, FiiO KA3, Hidizs AP80 Pro, Apple iPad Air2
Albums & Tracks used for this review:
- Hayley Westenra – Odyssey Album (Dezzer HiFi)
- Dionne Warwick – Walk On By (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Sarah McLachlan – Angel (Flac 24bit/48kHz)
- Sertap Erener – Aşk (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Edith Piaf – Non Je Ne Regrette Rien (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Diana Krall – So Wonderful (DSF)
- Aretha Franklin – I Say A Little Payer (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
- David Bowie – Heroes (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
- Barry White – Just The Way You Are (Flac 24bit/48kHz)
- Isaac Hayes – Walk On By (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Sting – Englishman in New York – (Flac 24bit/48kHz)
- Eric Clapton – Wonderful Tonight (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
- U2 – Sunday Bloody Sunday (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Really Slow Motion – Deadwood (Deezer HiFi)
- Jo Blankenburg – The Magelan Matrix (Spotify)
- Lorde – Royals (Flac 24bit/48kHz)
- Massive Attack – Angel (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
- Toutant – Rebirth (Deezer HiFi)
- Gogo Penguin – Raven (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
- Photek – The Hidden Camera (Deezer HiFi)
- Portishead – It Could Be Sweet (Deezer HiFi)
- Charly Antolini – Duwadjuwandadu (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
- Chopin – Nocturn No. 20 In C-Sharp Minor (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Fazıl Say – Nazım Oratoryosu (Live) (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Vivaldi – Le QuarttroStagioni “The Four Season” (Deezer HiFi)
- Otto Liebert& Luna Negra – The River (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
- Armin Van Buuren – Vini Vici (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Lunatic Soul – The Passage (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Deftones – My Own Summer (Shove it) (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Metallica – Sad but True (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
- Opeth – Windowpane (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Megadeth – Sweating Bullets (Tidal Hi-Fi)
- Rush’s – Leave That Thing Alone (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Slayer – Angel of Death (Spotify)s
- Liquid Tension Experiment 2 – Acid Rain (Spotify)
- Yosi Horikawa – Bubbles (Spotify)
The Sound:
The TRI I3 Pro shows a mildly warmish tonality and has a colse to V shaped sound signature with prononced lows and highs and a slightly recessed midrange character. The bass is pretty deep, full bodied and warmish; the midrange is soft and musical, while the treble region is slightly bright, eneregetic and has good level of extension.
This review has been written after a burn-in process of approx. 50 hours. I have used the stock semitransparent silicone ear tips and the stock cable that are included in the standard package. Maine sources are the FiiO M11 Pro and iBasso DC03.
Bass:
The 8mm diamaeter composite diagphram dynamic driver of the TRI I3 Pro is able to produce some decent subbass depth and rumble, with adequate sens eof speed and good level of control.The tonality is on the warm, bold and soft, while the control is pretty good.
The TRI I3 Pro has showsn a good peroamnce when I have listen to tracks with complex bass passages such like Gogo Penguin’s “Raven, while the depth and rumble was quite pleasant to listen to with songs tracks like Massive Attack’s “Angel”, Lorde’s “Royals” or Photek’s “The Hidden Camera”.
The midbass region of the TRI I3 Pro shows slightly more intesity compared to the subbass region. It has an above average depth, impact and intesity, while the decay and contol is pretty fine for a Tri-Brid IEM at this price range. The midbass hits soft and doesn’t shows any remakable issues such like a midbass hump or muddienes/msiiixixngs.
The midbass are fairly pronounced, from instruments like the cross drum, up to the trumpets, while the general presentation is musical and entertaining. This makes the I3 Pro successful with genres like like Rock, Pop or EDM.
The bass of the TRI I3 Pro can be described in general soft, warm, full bodied and entertaining. The bass is neither very fast nor too slow and can be described as moderate fast and tight.
Midrange:
The TRI I3 Pro has a fairly warm midrange tonality with good level of transparency and airiness. It is a bit recessed due to the V shaped sound signature, while the general presentation is full body, soft and musical in this area. Here are no negative conditions such as sibilance or harshness, which makes the presentation of the I3 Pro ideal for longer listening periods.
Vocals are pushed slightly in to the background if you use it with sources that do suffer from driving power, for example regular mobile phone dongles, tablets or laptops. This situations changes in a pretty positive and audible manner if you use the I3 Pro with more powerful sources such like a DAP’s or more powerful DAC dongles like the FiiO KA3.
The TRI I3 Pro shows a pretty good lower midrange depth, body and sense of warmth, which makes male vocals or instruments such like acoustic guitars or violas more realistic. Male vocals like Isaac Hayes, Barry White up to Sting and Eric Clapton are reproduced with a adequate level of depth and fullness, while the detail retrieval is pretty high for a IEM in this price category.
The upper midrange of the TRI I3 Pro is reproduced in a quite controlled and detailed manner that fulfils my expectations from an In-Ear Monitor at this price range. Female vocals do sound slightly more detailed compared to the male vocals, without to show negative conditions such like sibilance or harshness. Vocals like Dionne Warwick, Sertap Erener or Aretha Franklin do sound mildly warm, transparent and lively. It is possible to hear emotions and details such as sadness, sharpness and softness of these voices.
The instruments presentation of the TRI I3 pro sounds is in general more in the foreground compared to vocals. Instruments, for example pianos are slightly bright, pronounced and vibrant, while the brightness and intensity does increase from the lower midrange towards the upper midrange in a fairly controlled manner.
Acoustic guitars have warmish, bassy and musical tonality. The violins are slightly bright and fatigue-free. Other instruments like violas are warm and emotional.
Upper Midrange & Treble:
The TRI I3 Pro has a pretty energetic yet controlled treble presentation with a fairly bright tonality and good level of clarity and definition. The transitions from the upper midrange towards the treble area are in general relaxed and controlled when instruments do play with high distortion.
Since the upper midrange is pronounced, it is possible to hear details and extensions from violin to flute, from female vocal to the pianos.
The lower treble area is slightly less highlighted and detailed compared to the upper treble region. Instruments such like hi-hat’s in metal music do sound fairly pronounced, while the extension is a bit short. The lower treble tuning makes the I3 Pro sounds transparent and distant.
The upper treble area is one of the highlights of the TRI I3 Pro, which is quite detailed, energetic yet controlled. This area is able to produce a nice sense of airiness and sparkle, along with a good level of extension for an IEM at this price range. Instruments like crash and ride cymbals area pretty accented, and do show a better sense of extension compared to hi-hats.
The general treble presentation of the TRI I3 Pro pretty good for almost any type of genres from pop to jazz, from rock to metal music.
Soundstage & Imaging:
The TRI I3 Pro shows a soundstage atmosphere that is quite sufficient for a precise positioning and separation of instruments and vocals. Both the depth and the wideness of the stage are on a moderate level, while the space between the instruments and the neutral air do provide a fresh listening experience.
Comparison:
TRI I3 Pro (148,50 USD) versus Final Audio B2 (299 USD):
The Final Audio B2 shows a more neural tuning especially in the lows and highs where the TRI I3 Pro sounds more energetic and detailed. The subbass region of the I3 Pro shows a better level of depth and rumble, while the B2 has a slight advantage when it comes to the decay in this area. The midbass region of the Final Audio B2 is less highlighted and impactful compared to the I3 Pro that offers a better sense of dynamism in this area.
The Midrange of both IEM’s sows a slightly warmer than neutral tonality, while both vocals and instruments are more upfront when I do listen to the B2. The lower midrange of both IEM’s is pretty similar in terms of depth and body, while the TRI I3 has the slightly edge when it comes to the upper midrange area where it shows a better level of clarity and resolution.
The treble region of the TRI I3 Pro is in general more energetic and detailed compared to those of the Final Audio B2, which sounds fairly flat and somewhat muted in direct comparison. The I3 Pro has also the upper hand in terms of clarity, definition and extension.
The soundstage of both IEM’s offers a sufficient performance in terms of separation & placement of instruments and vocals, while the TRI I3 Pro is superior when it comes to depth, wideness and airiness of the stage.
Conclusion:
The TRI I3 Pro is a highly capable and entertaining sounding In-Ear Monitor with an interesting Tri-Brid driver configuration that is located inside a fancy and very robust looking monitor shell that will satisfy you with its affordable price. The key to get the best out of this IEM is to pair it with a good source, which make it even more interesting at this price range.
Pros and Cons:
- + Entertaining Sound Signature
- + Bass Response (Depth, Impact, Rumble)
- + Smooth and Clear Midrange Presentation
- + Treble extension and Detail Retrieval (at this price point)
- + Soundstage Depth and Wideness
- + Design and Build Quality
- + Nice accessory’s package
- – Slightly Recessed Midrange
- – Needs a Good Source to Show it True Potential
- – Stock Silicone Tips build up some ear pressure (solved with Foam or Azla Xelastec tips)
- – The Glossy Monitor Finish is a Fingerprint Magnet
Thank you for the Read!
