Trinity Audio Atlas - initial impressions
Updated 1/3/16 with photos and correct US pricing (originally down at $100 rather than £100)
I purchased these as part of the Kickstarter launch for Trinity's latest in-ear monitors in the recent campaign, and took delivery in the new year. I climbed onboard the campaign based on the buzz around the previous Trinity IEMs (Delta and Hyperion), which have been very well received on Head-Fi. These are my initial impressions based on a solid burn in period and a few solid weeks of use on my daily commute and in the gym. I am still pretty new to this hobby and writing reviews, so please take everything with a pinch of salt - your own mileage may vary!
About me: newly minted audiophile, late 30s, long time music fan and aspiring to be a reasonably inept drummer. Listen to at least 2 hours of music a day on my commute to work – prefer IEMs for out and about, and a large pair of headphones when I have the house to myself and a glass in my hand. Recently started converting my library to FLAC and 320kbps MP3, and do most of my other listening through Spotify or Tidal HiFi. I am a fan of rock, acoustic (apart from folk) and sarcasm. Oh yeah, and a small amount of electronica. I am not a basshead, but I do enjoy a sound signature with a bit of body to it.
Tech Specs
Balanced Armature + 8mm neodymium dynamic drivers
- 5 x Interchangeable tuning filter system
- Impedance 16Ohm
- Sensitivity 110 +/- 3DB
- Frequency response 19 - 21000HZ
- 24ct Gold plated 3.5mm Jack
- 1.2M & 0.6M Cable with remote & Mic/1.2M Multi-braid cable (non remote/mic)
Unboxing, packaging and accessories
Excellent for the price range. The IEMs come in a lovely presentation style box that oozes class. The buds themselves are bundles with a nice triangular carrying case (pocket friendly), a selection of silicon and foam (Comply) tips, three different detachable cables (two with microphone), a shirt clip, right angled jack connector and two small steel tubes to hold the sound filters. The sheer volume of accessories puts many competitors to shame, especially at this price point.
Sound quality
Test gear
LG G Flex 2 (with and without Brainwavz AP001 mini-amp)
Sony NWZ-A17 (as above)
Sansa Clip+ (Rockboxed, amped as above)
Microsoft Surface Pro 2 (straight from the output jack)
Test tracks (mainly 320kbps MP3 or FLAC/Tidal HiFi)
Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats – S.O.B. / Wasting Time
Blackberry Smoke – The Whipporwill (album)
Slash – Shadow Life / Bad Rain (my reference tracks for bass impact and attack, guitar “crunch”)
Slash & Beth Hart – Mother Maria (vocal tone)
Richie Kotzen – Come On Free (bass tone)
Otis Redding – various
Elvis – various
Leon Bridges – Coming Home (album)
Foy Vance – various
Blues Traveler
Daft Punk – Random Access Memories (album)
Sigma - various
Rudimental – various
Rodrigo y Gabriela – various
Mavis Staples – Livin’ On A High Note
Filters used and initial impressions:
This is a filter-based earphone. For those of you who don't know what that entails, there are multiple small circular filters that can be swapped on the earbud that alter the sound signature of the music being played. These range from boosting the bass (the red filter) through a more flat "reference" tuning to a treble boosting filter. Think of these like manual EQ for your earphones - in practice, it allows the user to decide what their preferred sound is for their own personal preferences, rather than being stuck with one tuning for all circumstances. The filters come in their own small steel tubes which fit neatly into the carry case, so you can even swap them out on the go if you need to change the sound based on what you intend to be listening to that day. My personal preference sits between the orange filter (the second bassiest, with a mild V shape to the sound) and the gold filter (a smooth and neutral sound with a little bit of extra bass thickness), so the below observations are based on those two filters - there are three more, which add more bass (red) or more treble (gunmetal and purple) in varying degrees.. Whichever filters you choose, the sound quality is excellent. The detail retrieval and general tone of the IEMS is sharp, detailed and well textured. These particularly shine with female vocals - there is a lovely tonality to the sound, with plenty of high end detail you would expect from a headphone costing far more.
Highs
One of the strengths of the hybrid setup used in these IEMS (one dynamic driver and one balanced armature) is the treble reproduction. The signature can vary depending on the filters used, but for my preferred filters, the treble produced is crisp, clear and fairly detailed. It is more of a sharp treble than a smooth signature, with pronounced "bite" to my ears in the upper registers. The presentation never manages to drift into sibilance, but the edges of the high notes are quite etched, leaving a more raw and jagged impression than smooth and silky. My personal preferences tend more towards IEMs with a rolled off, smooth upper end, but the Atlas is no less enjoyable for its sharpness. For those enjoying a slightly brighter signature, the detail and energy on offer here will greatly appeal. Two other aspects usually driven by the treble characteristic of a headphone are the "air" and soundstage - in this respect, the Atlas has a decent feeling of airiness for its bracket, but nothing spectacular. The rawness and bite on show leaves a more lasting impression in that regard.
Mids
The Atlas has crisp sounding, well defined mid range, with a nice sharp crunch on guitar and vocals providing a good sense of energy to tracks that more laid back IEMs may miss. I liken this IEM more to a chainsaw than a rapier - both sharp weapons capable of making a cut, but very different in the way they do things and the damage they leave behind. Again, visceral is the order of the day - listening to Slash or some old school Bon Jovi through these definitely gets the blood pumping in ways that more detailed, analytical earphones may not. In terms of detail, the Atlas does actually provide a good level of fine detail in amongst the rawness, with instruments reasonably well separated on the soundstage so individual guitar work and bass lines can be picked out of the chaos of the moshpit in the middle if you concentrate. Vocals are a little more recessed than some of the more mid-centric IEMs I have been listening to recently like the Aurisonics range, but not so much that it overly affects the listeners enjoyment. While there may be a "final" layer of detail missing from the presentation, this is definitely an audiophile-friendly presentation, and the IEMs respond well to higher resolution audio files to sharpen everything up in your ears accordingly. On the flip side, the raw nature of the sound can also be good for papering over the cracks in any poorly recorded music, so it is quite a forgiving headphone for people without their entire catalogue in FLAC or high-bitrate MP3s.
Bass
For the bassheads among you, the bassier filters provide a decent thump of sub-bass and mid-bass growl when required, so this can definitely fit the bill if you are looking for a 'phone with a pronounced bottom end. Compared to other bass-monster IEMs like the ASG series from Aurisionics, the bass is a little lacking in definition and the lowest notes of sub-bass, but that is just nit-picking in terms of the quality on offer here. Low notes present with a good rasp into "sub-woofer" territory, with more oomph being added to the mid-bass sounds as you change down through the filters (think of the emphasis being on the bass notes from Flea's Red Hot Chilli Peppers catalogue, rather than the sort of sub-bass you hear in the cinema having your fillings vibrated out of your head by the latest Michael Bay produced blockbuster). The beauty of the tuning filters allows you to select a default bass quantity for your earphones without having to resort to EQ, leaving the music unaltered by any digital effects and allowing a more "pure" sound. In terms of "bleed", the bass stays put in the lower registers and doesn't colour the main soundscape too much, so pumping the bass with the filters still allows the mids and treble to cut through the overall sound pretty well. Like the mids and highs, there is a certain rawness to the presentation which does give a good sense of drive to rock music and other up tempo recordings, pulling you into a live gig type vibe when listening to well mastered singalong classics. Live music also presents very well on these IEMs, complementing the sound very well.
Soundstage
Soundstage is a little above average for this type of earphone, and instrument separation and micro-detailing are both good, so you can hear the tiny details in between the main sounds and the position of all the instruments without blending into one another if you listen hard. Overall, this competes reasonably well with some of the Aurisonics ASG range I have had the pleasure of hearing, which cost around $300 more.
Amping / driveability
These respond well to amping, but are more than easy enough to drive from a phone or low-power MP3 player, so are a perfect pair for out and about or gym use.
Fit and build
These are quite a shallow fit (dependent on which tips you choose), so may not be preferable for those who like to insert their earphones directly into their brain. The isolation and security of fit is excellent though - more than suitable for a trip on public transport or a session in the gym. The cable is worn "over-ear", which allows for zero microphonics when using their default braided cable. The braided cable is one of the stars of the show, feeling on par with replacement cables you see on Amazon/eBay costing more than the total cost of the entire Atlas package. Soft, pliable and with zero cable memory, this is an excellent example of an MMCX cable done right - other manufacturers take note! The buds themselves are machined metal and look absolutely gorgeous - the matt black "stealth" look fits securely into your ears and looks very high class with the small engraved Trinity logo just about visible if you look closely. The earphones are also nano-coated inside and out to make them ideal for use in the gym and outdoors, as the splash proof coating should make them more resistant to sweat and the elements than other IEMs in this price bracket.
Summary
A truly excellent all round package at a price far lower than the quality on display deserves. The company is pretty active on Head-Fi and their website as well, with excellent customer service and a refreshing customer-friendly attitude and approachability. If you are in the market for IEMs at this price range and want a pair with multiple sound signatures, excellent ergonomics and impressive build quality and accessories, this is a good starting point for entry into mid-fi sound at a budget-fi price.
Comparisons
Flare Audio R2A
My previous daily driver, and an outright brilliant IEM for my personal tastes. The treble is sharper on the Atlas, producing slightly more perceived clarity in the higher registers due to the rolled off sound produced by the R2A. This helps with a sense of detail retrieval that edges it over the Flare as a general impression, as the microdetails being presented are just a little crisper in presentation, so tricking the mind into thinking they are more “there” maybe. Mids and bass are more raw sounding and feel slightly less smooth, with the Flare producing a slightly deeper bass extension in the super-low registers to my ears. Comfort wise it is fairly similar, although the tiny size of the Flares allow them to be worn in bed, so are better suited for situations like that. Soundstage is smaller than the Flares, which do punch well above their size in that regard.
Aurisonics ASG-1.5
As a sirect comparison with the bassier filters fitted, the quality of bass is similar between the two (the 1.5 edging it slightly in extension and tone), with the 1.5 having vast quantities more, which colours the sound significantly. For mids and upper register, the Atlas has a slightly more recessed but clearer midrange, and totally outclasses the 1.5 in the treble due to the additional BA being used.
Echobox Finder X1
My current daily driver. In terms of treble, the sharp presentation is more similar to the high end on the Atlas, but with a slightly smoother feeling overall. Bass on the Echobox can slam as hard (or harder) than the Atlas bass cannon filters, but has a leaner and more textured sound. Mids are similarly laid back on both, but different in presentation - the Atlas provding the raw edge and the Echobox providing a detailed yet smooth tone, which still manages to bring out emotion in a singer's voice - two different signatures, neither being markedly superior. Treble is edged by the Echobox team, but only if you prefer a very sharply defined sound. Build quality is also won by the Echobox team, but only just – to be fair, there isn’t much on the market that can compete with beautifully machined titanium as a housing, but the aluminium shells of the Atlas and overall cable and finish run it very close. To my ears, the Echobox has slightly better separation, possibly due to the less raw edge to the sound.
Good review.