Trinity Audio Engineering - VYRUS

Before launching into my review (headline – they are awesome!)  I’d like to say a little about customer service, and how Bob and Trinity excel in this regard also.


Things go wrong in life, and in the past 12 months I have had the misfortune to deal with BT, Oneplus, Hawkers and a few others. All of these required multiple emails, online ‘assistance’, badgering and so on to get a resolution.  When I had a problem with my 1^st pair of earphones from Trinity; it went like this:


1/ Email @Trinity


2/ Response from Bob within half an hour


3/ New earphones arrive 48 hours later.


No grilling or insinuations that I have broken them, no online forms, no waiting. Simply put; the best customer service I have experienced. I imagine this is because Bob is passionate about audio, producing excellent products, and getting them to us as he intended. Given the hassle we have all experienced when things go wrong,  such fantastic customer care is to be applauded.


Trinity Vyrus


I had the Hyperion previously, which I liked, but didn’t love. They worked, had good sound & the packaging/presentation showed that Bob has set his sights high. The Vyrus take things a step further in every way:


Presentation


Great packaging – feels like a premium product to open. The metal tubes containing the filters are gorgeous; at least to me! There is a lot in the box, and it shows there is real care in this product.


Design


One has to be a bit brave when you first push to connectors in the earbuds, but if they are lined up, you can be firm! Likewise, the filters screw in nicely, and feel secure. There are lots of filters in here, and you can read about how they differ here. Best way though is to hear each one. The earphones look clean, not too big or small and have a premium feel to them – a nice weight thanks to metal, not plastic housing!


Comfort


Fit in the ear well – better when the wire is looped back over the ear (there are 2 X different wires included). Great sound isolation whether you choose Comply or the wide range of others included in the box.


Sound


The big one – are they any better than similar priced earbuds? My price point is around £40 and I have spent heaps on trying to find good quality, cheap earbuds. They do exist, but these genuinely blow them out of the water! With the silver (Bass) filters with no damper; I cycled through my favourite tunes on IPod touch & Oneplus 3; in a variety of formats/quality.


The fidelity, ‘sound stage’, bass & clarity in on-point. They make me smile when a song kicks in, and one can hear a singer breath between notes; or previously unknown details you hadn’t heard. The silver filters seem to deal with folk/acoustic music fine too – don’t think you will need to keep changing them.


Playing through a Bluetooth adapter had no adverse effect on sound quality; even helping boost volume a bit for quieter devices (looking at you Oneplus 3).  


Summary


These are genuinely awesome earphones which are great value for money. It is clear that they are produced by a small company that is passionate about sound and their products . Add in the best customer care I have yet to experience, and the conclusion is simple – Trinity Vyrus are incredible earphones – they will make you smile!

Review of the Trinity Audio Vyrus.

 

http://imgur.com/gallery/vrOLJ

 

Keep in mind that this is my first review, and the only notable IEMs I have ever used are the Piston v3 and Hifiman RE-400. I'm using the included bi-flange tips as my preference.

The smaller brother of Trinity Audio Phantom Sabre. It's a bit bigger than the RE-400, but smaller than other IEMS in this price range. Now, for the review.

Wear type: Over-the-ear or cable down

Accessories (9/10) - Two braided removable cables, one with memory wire and one without. 2 foam tips (M/L), 1 bi-flange tips, 4 silicone tips (S/M/M/L), 3.5mm L-plug adapter, 3.5mm-6.3mm adapter, 7 sound filters, filter case, shirt clip, and an IEM case. My only issue with the accessories is that the removable cables are thin for my preference, but it's braided so it's okay.

Build Quality (9/10) - metal housing on the IEM and plug, strain relief for the 3.5mm plug, metal filters, braided cables. Again, 9/10 because the cables are thin.

Isolation (8/10) - find the right tips for you and bam, great isolation. It isolates more than my Piston v3 and Re-400.

Microphonics (4/10 cable down, 10/10 over-the-ear) - Microphonics is the susceptibility to cable noise. It has no cable noise if you're gonna wear it over-the-ear, but it has noticeable cable noise cable down, but it can be solved by using the shirt clip included in the package.

Comfort (9/10) - with its small housing, the Vyrus is really comfortable. Just pick the right tips for you. It's really light so it doesn't really strain the outer ear.

Filters explained as indicated in their site:

GUNMETAL (Smooth) = Natural. Offering a more balanced sound signature across the frequencies.

SILVER = Enhanced bass. Offering a V shape signature while retaining plenty of musical detail.

PURPLE = Treble. Offering a reduced bass signature with an focus on upper mids and treble.

GOLD = Perfect balance between gunmetal and purple filters.

SILVER (with damper) = Enhanced bass. Offering a V shape signature while retaining plenty of musical detail with smoothed treble

PURPLE (With damper) = Treble. Offering a reduced bass signature with an focus on upper mids and treble. (treble smoothed)

GOLD (With damper) = Perfect balance between gunmetal and purple filters (treble smoothed)

Sound Impressions(Relative to price) using the default filter (GUNMETAL)

Sound is subjective, and your experiences may vary. This is all based on my preferences.

Bass (10/10) - The Vyrus has a clean tight bass. It has a little more bass than RE-400, but a little less than the Piston v3. It's tight, clean and punchy. The bass is controlled and doesn't drown the mids, and it has ample sub-bass. The sound is a bit warm, definitely not neutral. And definitely not muddy. Though, for mid and treble centric people, it may be more than enough on some tracks. Definitely not for bassheads, but hey you can tune the sound using the filters anyway!

Mids (9/10) - The mids are clean, clear and smooth. Not as forward as the RE-400, but not recessed. I like it the way it is. I can really appreciate the vocals of Sitti in her song, Tattooed on My Mind. Midrange sounds full and rich, and presents good detail resolution. But I think it can be more forward like the RE-400. Mid centric people can appreciate it, but not want it. You can change the filters to put forward the mids anyway.

Treble - (8/10) - I'm a little sensitive to treble, so please bear that in mind. Good, and clean. It's definitely present, and not muffled. For me, it isn't sibilant, and very detailed. But on some songs, I can feel a bit of sparkle, which I can handle. The treble doesn't fatigue my ears. It's very detailed and refined. I find it similar to the RE-400 regarding the highs.

Others: It's very detailed, great resolution in all frequencies, good instrument separation and layering, better soundstage than my Piston v3 and RE-400(I used Bubbles by Yosi Horikawa as a test). Sound presentation is great for me, except for the little sparkle in the treble. I'm gonna experiment with other filters to find which one is perfect for me.

 

In the end, I preferred the undampened gold filters. It refined the treble a bit, and tightened the bass more while losing a bit of quantity. Quality > Quantity.