Disclaimer: The IEM was bought with my own money; the opinions and impressions are on my own.
My bias/tuning preferences:
My target is something including the JM-1 (new meta) target with a bass boost and a low and pinna gain little boost for gaining more male vocals and presence in that part, so is something like a Neutral with a bass boost tuning, I like some sub/bass and not so much mid bass, but plenty to feel the bass thump and kick, is nice to have some wide and depth to enjoy live recordings and a holographic capability in the soundstage to ubicate all the instruments and enjoy the microdetails included in music, so yeah, I dig a natural timbre with some coloring in the bass but enjoy technical capabilities.
My usual music genres to go is Rock (Indie, Alt, Hard, Classic, Progressive, and other sub genres), Metal (Alt, Prog, Extreme, Death, Melodic, Core, Deathcore, etc), Hip Hop, sometimes Pop, Salsa, Classic music, and dig some other genres as an audiophile.
I don’t believe in audiophile myths like burn-in, so I previously used to put some pink noise before trying IEMs for the first time, but now I’m using IEMs OOTB (Out of the box) and enjoying them as it is, I believe and can confirm eartips and sources can change the overall experience you can have with an IEM, so a nice synergy between your transducer, your ears, your tastes and your source is a must to fully enjoy an IEM IMHO.
Introduction:
The TRN JAWS is the new flagship model of TRN with a
tribrid driver configuration, combining three dynamic drivers, four balanced armatures, and one planar driver with the objective of delivering the best technical, analytical but fun and musical experience into the world of IEMs.
The Jaws is the big brother in the sea themed IEMs launched by TRN recently, with a more than impressive 3DD + 1 PD + 4 BA config, delivering a perfect balance between a Technical beast and a smooth experience into the HiFi world, punching way above its level and making a revolution of sound for a modest and affordable price.
TRN Jaws is priced at 129.99 USD, and you can get it at Linsoul.
Sources used:
Dunu DTC 480 (my main source), Venture Electronics ODO, Tanchjim space lite, the included dongle dac from TRN (the chip is KT Micro), and my phone, an old Xiaomi Mi Note 10 pro with an internal dac/amp from ESS Sabre.
Services used:
My local files (mp3 320 kbps, flac, other formats), YouTube music, Spotify, Tidal. No equalization was used in the test of the IEM.
Here's a breakdown of its technical specifications:
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Driver Configuration:
- 1x 10.5mm Beryllium-Plated Dynamic Driver
- 1x 8mm PET Dynamic Driver
- 1x 6mm Titanium-Plated Dynamic Driver
- 1x 6mm Planar Diaphragm
- 2x 30095 Balanced Armature Drivers
- 2x 50060 Balanced Armature Drivers
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Frequency Response**: 20Hz–20kHz
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Impedance**: 27Ω
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Sensitivity**: 114dB
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Connector Type**: 0.78mm 2-Pin
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Cable Length**: 1.2m ± 3cm
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Weight**: 7.8g (earphones) + 10g (cable)
- **
Jack Type**: 3.5mm
Pros:
- Good bass shelf, is no basshead IEM by any means , but is some quality bass here!, the sub and mid bass is incredible fast, defined and resolving, delivering a nice thump and kick, in songs like CORSO by Tyler, The Creator you can feel that bass extension and presence to enjoy that genre and in songs like Dreamstate by Dayseeker the drum kick and bass guitar feels with zero bloat and a huge noteweight.
- The mid bass bleeds enough in this IEM and take a nice and enjoyable lower mid dip “into the sea” to giving to the pinna gain an excellent and smooth elevation into the male vocals, the female vocals and instruments are forwarded, well putted in place, the presence is so noticeable, is very crisp, clean, resolving and an imaging beast.
- Highs, so clean, extended, resolving, natural, crisp and with certain tracks not so sharp, with enough upper highs to feel al the plates and cymbals in the drums, the treble having that 6 mm planar is very well extended, and those 4BA add to the mix a treble extension, resolution and overall technicals who impress any audiophile who craves those micro and macrodetails retrieval...
- Technicalities: Is punching way above in this department, is very airy and it feels like an open pair of cans, not joking!, wide and depth soundstage, is a totally holographic and inmersive experience. I think this could be a gaming beast.
- The noteweight is a delight, you can feel all of the different instruments and details in the music and other mixes of sound (movies, other videos, podcasts, FPS and car racing videogames) and the quality of the natural and enjoyable timbre it have with zero BA or planar timbre to distract you from the overall sound.
- The shell is kind of small, not heavy at all, it has a mid-sized nozzle, so comfortable to the ears (I'm using the included TRN T, M size eartips), the seal it makes in my ears is perfect, and is zero fatiguing for long listening sessions.
- A premium packaging, full of accessories, the box is gorgeous, sturdy and well build, the inclusion of the TRN T eartips (I putted that tips as the stock I’m using with the IEM).
An excellent stock cable, with 2 cores, excellent quality, with a premium look and feel, to making honor to the IEM itself, the only thing I missed is the option of a 4.4mm jack to testing it with other sources.
- Is benefited of a warm source (dongles using the CX31993 chip) to improve a little the bass shelf and giving a little more musicality, but is not a must, is not a source dependant IEM.
- Easy to drive, a good and humble dac/amp with an approx. of ~30mW of power output is enough to crank the volume at a more than enjoyable volume.
Cons:
- Is a premium IEM with a price very apart from the TRN Shell or the TRN White Tiger, who are cheaper IEMs with just the BAs removed, a more smooth tuning, so maybe there's another option from the own TRN more appealing to more persons, this Shark is an IEM more appealing for an experienced audiophile or people looking for critical listening his/her/they music.
- The bass shelf is enjoyable, but maybe a little more of sub and mid bass is something I wanted more (you can boost it with eq, and this con is no more a “problem”, in fact, the Beryllium DD TRN putted in the Jaws is more than capable of it, with now plenty of good quality bass to enjoy your jams).
• Is a mid-high volume set, if you are treble sensitive maybe you can lower the volume a little to enjoy the Jaws, because at high volumes is kind of sibilant and fatiguing to my mild tolerance to treble spicyness.
Comparisons:
Kiwi Ears Aether vs. TRN Jaws:
The Kiwi Ears Aether, is the new "reference" IEM with a big planar driver by Kiwi Ears, with a similar tuning to the Jaws and a MSRP, in this case I have to give the Jaws the prize as one of my top IEMs currently in my collection, compared to the Aether, the Jaws have less bass quantity, but the quality and extension is better, the lower mids are better in the Aether, but the pinna gain and 2-4khz part in the Jaws is perhaps better, with more presence and zero thin vocals, both male and female vocals are more forwarded, the treble is curiously a little less sibilant in my ears at high volumes than the Aether, and the technicals are a win for the Jaws, but in the overall tuning, the Aether is a more enjoyable set for more persons, not only us technical-heads because of a more natural timbre and more musicality.
TRN Jaws vs. Simgot Supermix 4:
The Supermix 4 is a 150 USD MSRP iem (usually you can get it for less) with a very different tuning, but similar MSRP, the bass quantity in the Sm4 is better, but I have to give the Jaws the victory in this case, the quality in the Shark is superior, the lower mids in the Sm4 are maybe more enjoyable, but the pinna gain and the rest of the tuning is better in the Jaws, is more clean, resolving and crisp, and by my surprise is handling so much better the sibilance in a lot of music, definitely the Sm4 is starting to show its age, and that’s nuts because it was my previous point of reference talking about IEMs (previous to the review of this set and the previously mentioned KE Aether!).
TRN Jaws vs. KZ PR2 (Modded):
My KZ PR2 (modded), is praised as one of the best planar drivers IEM in the market. Period. It is crisp, clean, with a huge soundstage and treble sparkle, lots of air and openness. But come on, it is obvious the Jaws excels the Pr2 in all cases, the bass have even more quality, the mids are best in place, the noteweight, pinna gain and presence is more noticeable, the highs are more in place and better extended.
TRN Jaws vs. Dunu Kima 2:
The Dunu Kima 2 is a more vocal oriented IEM, at 120 USD MSRP. I previously reviewed and think of it as a more than capable IEM for its price, with a nice bass shelf, more mid and vocals oriented, with in certain tracks a spicy feeling who can be a reason to step down the volume knob a little to keep enjoying the music, in this case the Jaws excels as a more neutral with bass boost driven IEM, with a more “humble” but equally premium packaging, so I prefer more the Jaws in this case, is more of my jam.
Final score: 4.5/5
The TRN Jaws is an exciting, fun, analytical, resolving and a technical beast who punches way above its range, is such a good product by TRN making by them another banger of an IEM who satisfies the most experienced and technical craving of the audiophiles, but can grant for beginners into the hobby a more than wholesome experience into the world of HiFi without charging a kidney's worth for it. I’m putting my seal of quality and recommendation for it. Go Sharky!
