TRN BA5

Intro:

The TRN BA5 is an all balance armature IEM with 5 drivers per side. Each side utilizes three 30095 BA drivers for highs, one 29689 BA for mids, and one 22955 BA for low frequencies.



Accessories:

The TRN comes in a small white box typical of of TRN's latest offerings. Accessories are pretty bare bones with 3 sets of silicone tips and a detachable 2 pin QDC style cable. The included black braided 4 core cable has metal plugs, inline microphone, and splitter, while the 2 pin housing is plastic. The cable also has preformed ear hooks.



Build Quality:

Build quality is very good with an all metal shell made from aluminum or magnesium alloy according to the product listing. The nozzle, however, is made of plastic and has a lip to secure ear tips. The finish is a little rough in certain areas and not completely uniform between the left and right shells. There is a metal grill covering the small opening at the center of the faceplate with a single trox screw located at the lower tip of the faceplate. The screw looks to be cosmetic only.



Fit and Comfort:

The smooth sculpted shells provide good comfort for extended listening. Although I found the shells a little bulky, I did not notice any pinching or sharp edges during listening. For me, the IEMs did not fit as securely as I would have liked possibly due to the bulk and shallow insertion depth. Sound isolation is average. There is noticeably more sound leakage in the BA5 due to the open vent design.



Sound Quality:

The bass is fast, tight, and controlled, but lacks the sheer quantity and rumble that bassheads would desire. The strengths and weaknesses of BA bass vs dynamic bass is apparent here. You are trading impact and power for more precision and detail.


Mids are more forward sounding and less recessed compared to many budget offerings in this price range. Mids are clean sounding but have good body so they don't sound thin. There is also good detail and resolution in the midrange.

The treble is well extended with good detail and crispness. There is nice airiness in the upper registers without any shrillness or sibilance.

The soundstage is large with excellent instrument separation which provides good cohesiveness between the musical elements and prevents complex tracks from sounding congested.



Conclusion:

The BA5 is a very well put together IEM. Good build quality, excellent tuning and great sound quality. These are a recommended get for those who like BA bass with smooth, clean mids, and bright airy trebles with superb soundstage.

For any questions, please respond down below and I will do my best to answer!

TRN BA5--$50 5BA entrant from TRN, whose prior releases have been hit or miss. Packaging and accessories are as minimal as you’ll find—literally just headshells, one set of M tips and a generic, slightly microphonic cable. Shells themselves are nicely done in a matte titanium and look more premium in person than in pictures; fit is snug and, considering the prominent vents on the shells isolation is good.

Very loud and sensitive, to the extent that some hiss can be heard at dead level. The BA5 is bright, with a generally balanced signature, which is not to say ruler-flat or bass shy—compared to other all-BA designs like the B5+, bass is surprisingly punchy and impactful, with well-sculpted notes and very quick decay; these deftly balance having good midbass quantity without smearing into the midrange. Mids are nicely forward and well-etched, while well-extended treble very closely resembles that of the TRN V80, which is to say energetic and highly extended, though somewhat sharp/strident, with the typical 2-4k ChiFi spike. Micro-detail is present, though these avoid the overanalytical quality of similar designs. Compared to similarly-priced hybrids, the BA5 are very coherent and well-integrated; however the timbre is somewhat hopped-up and artificial sounding, especially on electric instruments; these lack the smoothness of say, the Blon BL03 or BQEYZ and treble-sensitive folks should avoid (foams do help smooth the presentation). If, however, you find more accurate but less frenetic players like the T2 or the BL03 underwhelming, you’ll enjoy these.

Like the V80, soundstage here is enveloping and has impressive width and depth (though limited height); imaging and layering are okay but not class-leading—there’s a bit of “surround-sound” effect on more complex material which makes precise instrument placement tricky.

Like a high-alcohol craft beer with a lot of flavor but a little too much hops, the BA5 lacks the refinement to recommend unqualifiedly--as expected for the price point they use generic drivers, which account for the occasional harshness. That said, they have a lot of positives--I like these more than the recent KZ hybrids and are fun to listen to. Good value.

The TRN BA5 is the latest model from the company, following hot on the heels from the very successful V90 hybrid IEM. The BA5, as the name suggests, is an all-BA design featuring five balanced armatures per channel. The types used are: One 22955 bass driver, one 29869 mid-range unit and three 30095 treble armatures. This is, as far as I know, a unique configuration.

The BA5 comes simply packaged in the now-familiar small rectangular box similar to those from KZ, CCA and KBEAR. The IEMs are displayed in a card cut-out below which you will find the detachable 2-pin cable, two sets of eartips (the medium size being pre-fitted on the IEMs) and documentation. A basic set of accessories, but as expected.

The IEMs themselves are very well made, being crafted from CNC machined aluminium, (or magnesium, descriptions vary!). They have an attractive graphite finish and look as they will last a lifetime. The profile is triangular in outline with four triangular sections meeting in the centre of the earpiece, surrounding a small vent with a silver-coloured grille. The design is rather futuristic, resembling a Borg implant! It is unusual to see an all-BA design with a vented housing. The cable is the same type as supplied with the V90, employing a “Type C” or QDC connector. The supplied tips are dark grey with a red medium bore.

The IEMs were left burning in for 100 hours to settle down the components, after which they were evaluated using a Hifi Walker H2 DAP connected via line out to a Fiio A5 headphone amplifier. Due to the unusual angle of the nozzles, I found I needed to us a smaller tip, so the stock tips were changed for JVC Spiral Dots (size M) and a 16 core silver-plated cable from TRN was used instead of the supplied cable.

The immediate impression of the BA5 was of balance. Being familiar with the sound of the 30095 treble BAs from experience with models from CCA, KZ and KBEAR, I expected a much brighter and incisive top end from the three treble units, but was surprised by the smoothness and extension of the treble, as well as its resolution. Another pleasant surprise was the strength of the bass. Whether it was due to the vented design or some other factor, the bass had much more depth and impact than the CCA A10 which uses the same single bass driver, and more than that of the CCA C16 which employs two 22955 units. The overall sound was, therefore, much warmer in tone and displayed a very attractive natural quality. Midrange, too, was impressive with no noticeable recession, in fact being a little forward in the mix but not suffering from bass bleed The soundstage, too, was impressive and opened up nicely during the burn-in period.

Bass was firm and well-extended, but was linear in nature with excellent resolution and free from overhang. It had the speed and detail associated with BA bass while at the same time having the warmth and musicality of a DD unit. The transient response here was incisive and clean, with the impressive percussion section in Ravel’s “Alborada del Gracioso”, performed by the Minnesota Orchestra showing what the BA5 was capable of, the bass drums and timpani displaying stunning immediacy and impact. The ability of the BA5 to reproduce subtleties came to the fore in Philip Riley’s “Awakening” from his “Visions and Voices” album. Towards the end of the piece, a solo bodhran is struck five times and the natural decay of the drum fading into silence was very well-rendered. The deep synthesised bass tones in John Flomer’s “The Ha of Myplys Myn” were well-textured and impactful, providing a perfect foundation for the complex rhythms and imaginative key changes.

The midrange continued in the same vein with a linear profile free of bass bleed and a tad north of neutral. Clarity and openness were the keywords here, enabling the subtlest nuances to be appreciated. Classical music benefited from this with a very natural timbre. The bright brass sonorities in Hamish McCunn’s “Land of the Mountain and Flood” performed by the BBC Scottish Symphony conducted by Martin Brabbyns shone out clearly from the orchestral arrangement and one could imagine the light glinting on the brass instruments which possessed a natural rasp and air, resulting in a very authentic sound. The many layers of keyboards in Camel’s beautiful instrumental “Selva” were laid open impressively by the BA5 and complemented Andy Latimer’s solo wonderfully well, with the guitar, placed high in the centre of the image, cutting through the production clearly with superb texture. The stereo imagery in Richard Burmer’s “Willow Song” was another example, with the various elements spread across the stage, each occupying its place in the production. The solo woodwind sample with its effective synthesised breath sounds was full of character.

The BA5’s treble was beautifully tuned, making this the most impressive implementation of the 30095 BA I have heard so far. Gone was the occasional metallic or “steely” timbre to be replaced by a natural and very well-extended response capable of resolving the finest details. Mozart’s “Eine Kleine Nachtmuzik” performed by the Vienna Philharmonic under Karl Bohm was beautifully portrayed with clarity and enabling the delicate counterpoint to be appreciated. The performance came over with verve and enthusiasm and was very entertaining. The impressive washes of sound in Robert Carty’s “Beautiful Attractor” from his album “In Neptune’s Wake” were almost overwhelming with a wealth of detail and precision and the whole panorama of sound filling the space between my ears!

Soundstage was first class with plenty of space and separation, and stereo imaging nicely rendered. Gerry Rafferty’s “The Right Moment” displayed excellent positioning with his voice in the centre and with good height and the synthesised accompaniment spread across the stage, producing a very effective atmosphere. The beautifully played first movement of the “Moorside Suite” by Holst in a string arrangement conducted by David Lloyd-Jones was another example with the various string sections clearly delineated yet coming together to produce a coherent whole.

The BA5 is an unreserved success. The tuning is very different from recent all-BA releases from KZ and CCA which possess a somewhat bright tonality and immediacy, but remain rather cold and analytical in nature. The BA5 is unashamedly musical in its presentation with a warmer cast to its sound, whilst still maintaining accuracy of timbre due to its ability to reproduce those harmonics which endow an instrument with its individual character. The overall effect is one of naturalness. The soundstage is larger than that of the KZ and CCA models mentioned above.

The bass performance is also impressive considering just one bass driver is used. I have been enjoying my music more with these than any other IEM recently and after all, that is what they are for! The BA5 is described as a “Reference Grade In-Ear Monitor”. I cannot disagree with this!
This item was supplied at a substantial discount by Gina from Senlee at Amazon.com. Product link:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B081HGWMG3/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1