Trinity Vyrus – initial impressions
Trinity Audio are a firm that have been making some serious waves on Head-Fi over the last 12 months with a range of Kickstarter-funded in ear monitors (the Hyperion, Techne, Delta and Atlas models), subsequently moving on to directly sold variants like the Delta V2, and the first in the new Phantom line, the Phantom Sabre. The buzz around this company on the forums here is such that when the first two models in their new range (the Vyrus and the Sabre) were both available for pre-order some time ago, I decided to pick up a pair of both to see what Bob and his team could do with some new drivers and a new design. From my recent review, you will be able to tell the I very much enjoyed my time listening to the Sabres, so when the single DD “baby brother” turned up in my letterbox I was wondering how the quite frankly tiny “budget” IEM in Trinity’s range would stack up. Despite being the same size as the cable end it is attached to, the 7mm micro-driver set-up certainly doesn’t suffer from little man syndrome – the sound, while different, was certainly impressive, as you will read below.
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 – 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. Not a basshead, but I do love a sound with some body to it. My ideal tuning for most IEMs and headphones tends towards a musical and slightly dark presentation, although I am not treble sensitive in general. Please take all views expressed below with a pinch of salt – all my reviews are a work in progress based on my own perceptions and personal preferences, and your own ears may tell you a different story.
Tech specs (from the Trinity website)
- 7mm Neodymium Titanium diaphragm Drivers
- Impedance: 16Ohm
- Sensitivity: 108 +/- 3DB
- Frequency response: 20 - 20000Hz
- 24ct Gold plated 3.5mm Jack
- 1.4M length cable x2 (memory wire and non memory wire)
Unboxing
Despite ostensibly being the “budget” model in the current Trinity series, the Vyrus still comes with what has now become the standard Trinity presentation box – a nicely designed fold-out cardboard package with a viewing window to see the IEMs sat in their foam cutout beds and product logo and specs along the front and back. The total accessory loadout is slightly less plentiful than the hiogher models in their range, but is still nowhere near sparse, with multiple tips ni single and double flange, along with some Trinity foam tips to round things out. The Vyrus also comes with two of the standard issue (and high quality) Trinity braided OFC detachable cables, one with memory wire, one without. There are also two small metal tubes containing the 7 different tuning filters used for tweaking the sound, a triangular Trinity carry case, a shirt clip and a 6.3mm stereo adapter and 3.5mm right-angled cable adapter as well. At this price bracket, the packaging screams both class and value for money, with enough tips to ensure a solid fit in the ear and different cable options to ensure that the Vyrus should be suitable for however you choose to wear them.
Build quality and ergonomics
Looking at pictures on the Trinity website, the Vyrus looks like a standard “disc shaped” IEM in the same vein as the Dita Answer and its older brother the Sabre. It’s only when you see the IEMs connected to their cables or up against something else that you get an idea of how tremendously small these things actually are. I can actually fit the whole body of the Vyrus (without filters) into the outline of my little fingernail, which is quite phenomenal for a detachable cable design. Add in the fact that you can also change the tuning filters via means of unscrewing the IEM nozzle and replacing it, and you get an idea of just how little space is utilised around the 7mm driver itself, with the IEM body being more or less spray painted on to the surface of the driver in sturdy anodised aluminium.
In terms of fit, the tiny size allows for a very comfortable fit for me, with the shells of the IEM pretty much disappearing into my inner ear, giving excellent isolation and a comfortable and secure fit for long term listening sessions. The Vyrus are designed for over-ear wear (and work best that way), but can be worn cable down if you are happy with a shallower fit. I find that I actually use a smaller tip size than I would otherwise utilise in order to get the best fit from these, with the size actually allowing a good seal with a smaller diameter silicon tip due to the insertion depth. In fact, using SpinFit (my preference, along with the included Trinity single flange tip that comes fitted out of the box), it can almost feel like the tip of the earbud is tickling the inside of your brain if you use one of the longer/larger SpinFit variants (a mistake I won’t be making twice). Allied to the supple and memory-free 2 pin cable, this is a supremely comfortable IEM for on the go listening, affording a higher than expected level of noise blockage and a very easy to seal fit allowing you to pop these in and out at a moment’s notice without the usual fiddling when putting them back into place.
Sound quality
Test gear:
Xperia Z3 Compact (via Neutron Player) / Sony NWZ-A25 / Sansa Clip+ (Rockboxed)
Cayin C5 amp
Microsoft Surface Pro 2 w/ iFi iCan Micro SE
Main 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)
Elvis – various
Leon Bridges – Coming Home (album)
The Chemical Brothers – Go (EDM tester)
Emile Sande – Our Version Of Events
Rodrigo y Gabriela – various
Mavis Staples – Livin’ On A High Note
Foy Vance – The Wild Swan
ZZ Top – La Futura
Chris Stapleton – Chris Stapleton
Tom Jones – Praise & Blame
The Winery Dogs – The Winery Dogs
General impressions on the sound signature
Describing the “base” tuning of an IEM with 7 different sound filters is always a little tricky. After playing with the various filter options, it seems that the Vyrus shares a similar philosophy to the Sabre in terms of baseline, with a signature somewhere between a shallow V and a W with the undamped gold filters (my current “go to”). One thing that strikes you immediately is how “big” the sound feels coming out of such a small housing – it is diffuicult to explain exactly why it feels so large, but the impression is there nonetheless. The bass is controlled, textured and reasonably generous in terms of amount and impact for something that is smaller than one of the buttons on my dress watch, with a midrange that is somewhere between neutral and slightly raised in terms of presence and a top end that is definitely a little north of neutral with the undamped filters (that famous Trinity “sparkle”). The detail and texture level is excellent for something at this price point, with a “big” sound and nicely portioned soundstage that belies its small size. The natural tonality is quite vivid, although this can be changed to warm and slightly fuzzy if you pick the bass blaster with damping filters out of the included pile. Overall, this is quite a flexible IEM for the price, and definitely capable of mixing it with IEMs in the higher price ranges when using the undamped filters to sharpen up the treble response.
Effect of the included tuning filters
The Vyrus comes with 7 tuning filters, based on the series of filters available for the Trinity Delta V2. The filters are ported to allow variable bass response depending on the size of the port (located at the base of the filter stem, about the same size as a pinhead for most of them), and also come in damped and undamped variants, with some of the filters having acoustic damping foam inside the barrel to attenuate the treble. This allows for a fairly wide level of flexibility, both with altering the “natural” sound of the IEM from bass bazooka to treble rapier, but also with changing the “feel” of the IEM from a clear and sharp sound to a warmer and bassier overall tone when mixing the bass adjustment of the filters with the additional treble damping. The filters are colour coded, using the following scheme:
- SILVER – this is the bassiest of the filters provided, with the most pronounced V-shape to the sound. This sits somewhere between the red and orange filter of the Phantom Sabre, and produces an impressive level of bass from the driver, at the expense of occasionally making it a little too omni-present and boomy on some tracks for all but the most die hard bassheads.
- GUNMETAL – this is the second bassiest filter, with a more neutral but still warmish tuning and a shallower V-shape.
- GOLD – this is my personal favourite, and also the most neutral of the filters for me, with a nice balance between airiness and definition in the treble while still retaining a solid and impactful bass that gives tracks some life without overpowering the lower end. Sound is close to neutral, with a little warmth from the bass presence and a little bite from the treble.
- PURPLE - this is the treble razor, with the least audible bass presence and a corresponding feeling of emphasis on the higher ranges. I am not a massive treble-head, so for me these filters thin out the sound too much to be enjoyable. This is the filter with the most audible detail and texture in the mid and high ranges.
- SILVER (with damper) – bass cannon with added smoothness and lower emphasis on the treble. This takes the bass emphasis of the undamped silver filter and blunts the treble portion of the V, accentuating the warmness of the sound. Detail feels lowest on these filters due to the combination of teeth rattling bass boom and rounded off treble. One of my least favourite filters.
- PURPLE (With damper) – this is the treble razor, with a more blunted edge due to the smoothing of the sharpest spikes in the high ranges. This makes the sound a little more palatable to me, but still too little bass overall for me to truly enjoy the sound.
- GOLD (With damper) – this is for people who love the signature of the undamped gold filter but just want a little less heat in the treble. Can feel a little less airy and detailed than the undamped gold depending on the track, but will be good for those who like the just north of neutral tuning of the gold but dislike the crispness of the treble and want a bit more warmth.
For clarity (and to avoid having to write up 21 different sound sections!), after various filter swapping I have decided that the undamped gold filters give my favourite sound “setting” for the Vyrus, so all observations on the sound given below will be based on using that filter unless stated otherwise.
Highs
Anyone who has read my other reviews will know that I prefer a smooth and silky treble tuning over a more traditional emphasised or aggressive high range. Using the undamped gold filters, the Vyrus has good energy and sharpness in the treble without drifting too far into aggressive or sibilant territory. My initial thoughts on this filter were that I would find the treble just a tad too hot to be the final tuning choice I settled on, but after extended listening over a solid working week, I find that I miss the detail and sparkle when switching out to one of the damped or bassier filters. The treble has a good blend of energy and definition, cutting through the top layer of the frequency spectrum with a nice sense of bite. It is not the weightiest of treble presentations, but fizzes along nicely, cymbals crashing with good emphasis without sounding too splashy. Playing “Starlight” by Slash, the opening harmonics in the guitar line are crisply defined, skirting with becoming unpleasantly screechy for me but just managing to keep it under control, leaving the song sounding more potent as a result. The falsetto vocals in this track are handled with similar aplomb, with the lightness of the treble allowing the texture in Myles Kennedy’s voice to really shine, while still retaining the overall sense of liveliness. Comparing the Vyrus to the other two Trinity IEMs I have heard, it manages to harness some of the rawness and aggression of the Atlas’ higher end tuning and avoid any obvious hotspots while still feeling notably more etched than the superbly detailed but butter smooth high range of the Sabres. Switching to some EDM, “Go” by The Chemical Brothers plays superbly on these, the energetic treble accentuating the synth runs and euphoric chorus and making you want to tap your feet.
In terms of resolution, the miniature 7mm Trinity driver is capable of producing a surprisingly good level of micro detail for something in this price bracket, easily picking out the more “surface” detailing in the background of most tracks. To be clear, this won’t be as resolving or hyper-detailed as a $1000 set of TOTL in-ear solutions (or even the next model up in the line, the Sabre), but unless you are a fan of hearing every breath taken by the spider sitting in the corner of the recording studio on a vocal track, there will be plenty in the presentation to keep most people more than satisfied.
Overall, the treble feels sharp and enjoyable, adding a good sense of fun and vigour to rock tracks and a delicacy to acoustic presentations that is very moreish. In terms of things like “air”, the Vyrus never feels too open or aired out – the more etched nature of the treble doesn’t leave an enormous sense of space in the higher end of the frequency range, the very act of defining everything so sharply seeming to pull the borders of the treble slightly closer to the listener rather than letting it drift away into the ether.
Mids
Reading reviews of the Vyrus’ spiritual forefather the Hyperion, I was expecting the mids to feel slightly recessed in favour of the more “fun” V-shaped tuning the Trinity team were aiming for. Happily, the mids appear to have been lifted a little since the days of the greek naming conventions, and come across with a nice presence, somewhere between neutral and slightly forward depending on the track. Guitars and vocals are the stars of the show in this particular frequency band, with the crisp treble extending down to the edges of the guitar chords in most rock tracks and adding a dash of crunch that most generic cereal companies would be happy with. Using my go-to rock tracks, the bite and good (for a dynamic driver) pace of the driver keep the energy imparted in the treble going into the mid-range, with most heavy rock sounding very listenable.
Male vocals seem to play very well on the Vyrus as well, with an old favourite “What Good Am I?” and “Lord Help” by Tom Jones sounding as if the legendary Welsh crooner was singing directly into my ear, the timbre and soulfulness of his voice being very well portrayed with a nice thickness and body to the sound. Moving across to tracks by Emile Sande, the presentation thins out a little as it approaches the treble, leaving them sounding a little further back and less full-bodied in direct comparison between male and female voices. Detail levels in the mids are good, with a similar grasp of the surface sonic artifacts, but lacking just a touch in “final” levels of detail compared to more insightful (and far more expensive) IEMs in my collection. Stringed instruments and piano tones also come across well on the Vyrus, with the crispness of the highs polishing the harmonics on the acoustic guitar nicely, and pianos sounding very musical (if not 100% “real” in terms of accuracy – very few IEMs can manage that trick, to be fair). Orchestral music is also represented well with this particular filter, keeping a nice bite and texture to violins and cello notes all the way down the range. “Burning Love” by Elvis with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is a great example, with the violin accents coming across well throughout the song, and the relative lack of “weight” allowing the strings a good amount of room to breathe and bring some real freshness to the audio landscape.
Bass
Moving into the audio basement, the bass is by far the hardest element of the Trinity sound to evaluate, given the fact that pretty much every filter affects the bass response in different ways. This can lead to a signature that is full and warm (even a tad boomy on the bass bludgeon filter) through to something that it thinner than a supermodel’s takeaway menu collection. The undamped gold provide a nice balance between quality and quantity, with the overall presence still definitely north of neutral, the left hand edge of the “shallow V” giving a good amount of sub-bass and a surprising level of impact and viscerality for such a small driver and housing. These won’t replace the Sony and Aurisonics range of in-ear subwoofers in a basshead’s IEM collection, but for someone who just want bass with a bit of quantity and a good level of detail and extension, these are just right. The bass on this filter is titled more towards mid bass rather than sub-bass, with the sub frequencies being present but a little less prominent in the soundscape as you extend further down and starting to roll off at the deepest end of the spectrum with some of the EDM in my collection like Emile Sande and The Chemical Brothers, but still having enough gas in the tank to handle something like “Arrival” from the Daft Punk “Tron” soundtrack with enough rumble to be enjoyable.
Running the gauntlet of other bass testers in my collection, “Hello, It’s Me” by Sister Hazel is first up on the sonic assault course. The smooth and rolling bass is presented well here, with a good level of “fill” to the sound and nice definition and texture to each note, the rasp of the bass strings being plucked sliding nicely into the mix as the song gets going. It isn’t as liquid or all encompassing as some IEMs I have used, but there is just enough to make the most of the wonderful bassline underscoring the rest of the track without reaching for the EQ, and the surprising level of impact form the bass drum hits moves enough air in the eardrum to add a good level of physicality to the song that is the hallmark of a good dynamic driver sound. Moving on to mid-bass and texture, “Bad Rain” by Slash also fares well, with the textured rasp of the bass providing a good blend of presence and texture to the track. Again, the texture is the thing that stands out, with the detail level definitely feeling higher than average in the lower registers. The final challenge for the bass is “Get Lucky” by Daft Punk, which comes across very well, only losing a small bit of presence at the absolute lowest notes of the bassline as it drops right down the octaves as the song gets going.
Like I mentioned in the filter section, if bass is your main point of interest, one of the silver or gunmetal filters will most likely allow you to find something suited to your preferences, but for those who like their low-end with a bit of impact and quantity but not to fill the whole soundscape, the gold filters should provide an excellent balance of the two. Overall impression is of a quality dynamic driver bass sound, with good impact on drumhead hits, nice texture and rasp to plucked bass notes and a more than capable technical ability.
Soundstage/separation
For a housing that is barely larger than the 7mm driver it is wrapped around, the soundstage is surprisingly spacious, with a good (if not overwhelming) sense that the music is being played outside the confines of your ears as well as inside. This applies mainly to the more treble-based sounds for me, with the width of the stage being more than adequate to make most songs sound uncongested. Layering is also very good for a single dynamic driver, with multiple guitar lines pulling themselves apart to be individually audible without too much strain from the listener. The overall stage isn’t earth-shattering in terms of size or 3D spacing compared to other IEMs in the Trinity line, but certainly presents a coherent and reasonably wide audio canvas for the listener to enjoy.
Isolation
Another surprise on inserting the Vyrus is the excellent level of isolation they offer for a very small and vented housing. The miniscule size of the shell and over-ear fit allow for a far deeper insertion than other IEMs in the Trinity range, allowing the solid metal casing to effectively block the entrance to the inner ear without ever feeling too intrusive (unless you make the same mistake I made with a large SpinFit tips, and accidentally give yourself minor brain surgery with the end of the tip after jamming them in a tad too far – I still can’t remember what chicken is supposed to taste like). With the right tips, these offer a great level of sound blocking with an easy and quick insertion and plenty of comfort.
Amping
Much like the other IEMs in the Trinity range I have tried so far, I have found only minimal (and probably placebo-related) improvements on the overall sound with amping. These are easily sensitive enough to be driven loud by most DAPs or mobile phones, so portable amping isn’t a necessity.
Comparisons
Fidue A65 – these are a single dynamic driver in the A6x series from Fidue, with a similar sized (8mm) titanium coated driver and small form factor. The A65 currently retail for slightly less than the Vyrus , but not by a drastic amount. The default tuning of the A65 is somewhere between an L and a V, with a decent amount of bass impact and extension and good definition on the treble. For simplicity, I have compared the sound signatures mainly using my preferred filter on the Vyrus (the undamped gold filter). Overall, the A65 is a little lower in overall resolution, separation and detail retrieval than the Vyrus, with a very slight fuzziness and lack of clarity through the higher registers in comparison. In terms of bass, the A65 has more in quantity than the gold filters and anything further up the spectrum, with only the “fun” filters giving a similar or larger bass hit. Mids are similar in presence, with the A65 producing the trademark Fidue emotion, compared to the more detailed and lively Trinity model midrange. Treble is similar on both, with the Vyrus having more of an edge in clarity and extension than the warmer A65. Build quality is pretty equal, with the sleek copper and aluminium housings of the A65 and its unusual triangular shape fronting up well to the tiny all-metal Vyrus. The only area where the Vyrus has a clear advantage in build is the cabling, with the detachable and top notch Trinity cable being a better long term choice than the nice but fixed Fidue effort. The A65 are certainly not a bad IEM, and punch above their price bracket themselves in terms of SQ, but compared to the Vyrus, even when switching to the most bassy and warm filters, there is just a little more in terms of detail and refinement that make it a clear win for the Trinity IEM.
Trinity Phantom Sabre – the Sabre is the next model up price-wise from the Vyrus in Trinity’s current range, running at approximately twice the price (£125 vs £60). While there is an audible bump in quality between the two IEMs, it is not as stark as you might expect given the price difference, with the main difference being the crystal clarity offered by the push/pull setup of the Sabre compared to the single 7mm driver in the Vyrus. There is also slightly more “blackness” to the background of the Sabre, which I presume is due to the lower distortion levels produced by the twin-DD. In terms of signature, the Vyrus and Sabre share a similar “base” tuning philosophy, with the Vyrus having the edge on tweakable sounds due to the use of the larger filters from the Trinity Delta series (7 filters, including the option to dampen the treble as well as adjust bass amount) compared to the 5 filters on the Sabre that mainly allow for adjusting the overall bass presence. Running the gold filters through both to allow the most “like for like” comparison, the Vyrus has similar bass levels, a slightly less flowing midrange (nut still good) and a slightly sharper and more etched treble compared to the beautifully smooth Sabre drivers. In terms of isolation and fit, the Vyrus wins hands down, with the deeper and more “universal” insertion and smaller shell size allowing for a more comfortable fit with pretty much any ear type. Overall, the Sabre are the better technical IEM, showing more smoothness and clarity (and a slightly higher overall level of perceived detail as a result), but the Vyrus doesn’t feel far off the mark, and has the option of the additional tuning flexibility with the added filters. If you have the money and don’t need the smallest IEM you can find, I would say go with the Sabre, but if you are looking for a hit of the Trinity house tuning at an even more affordable price, the Vyrus is a great place to start.
(Trinity Vyrus side by side with the Trinity Phantom Sabre)
Overall conclusion
Writing this quick-fire review of the Vyrus over a week of constant listening, I have come to appreciate both the excellent job Bob and his team at Trinity have done in tuning and manufacturing such a polished piece of audio gear, and also how “brain burn in” can really affect your overall perception and enjoyment of an IEM. Coming hot off the back of an extended listening period with the Fidue A83 as my “go to” listen, and with the impressions of the Sabre fresh in my ears, I wasn’t blown away with the sound of the Vyrus, noticing a comparative lack of detail and crispness compared to the other two IEMs. As the days rolled on, the benefits of the Vyrus’ basic tuning and overall sense of fun and energy stopped making me listen for what it was “missing”, and concentrate more on what it does bring to the table. The Vyrus is a lively, crisp and impactful shallow V-shaped IEM (in its undamped gold configuration), with excellent texture and a sense of fun that is sometimes lost with more “worthy” audiophile tunings. Does it have detail? Certainly. Does it provide good levels of bass and treble? Yes. Does the midrange bring out vocals and guitars well? Most definitely. Individually, I have heard plenty of IEMs that do some of these things better, but for this price, I haven’t heard anything yet that competes at the same level and can touch the Vyrus for overall listening enjoyment and just a sheer sense of fun. Plus, who else is crazy enough to design an IEM that is small enough for the detachable cable connector to be almost half the size of the main housing?! In terms of scoring, I have given these a 4.5 as there are individual things that other models in a close enough price bracket like the Sabre can do better, and I feel that some of the damped filters could use a little less damping to avoid blunting the sound too much, but on a price to performance ratio, these are a rock solid 5. Another great piece of engineering from the Trinity team, with great aesthetics, a larger than life (and certainly larger than housing) sound and a sense of fun that really can’t be argued with for the price.
@Qwertal23 Thanks for sharing your impression!