Source for the review - Sabaj DA3.
Songs used for the review
Vivaldi - The Four Seasons [DVD-A] 96-24 (album)
Jim Keltner - Improvisation
Eric Clapton - My father's Eyes
Nah Youn Sun - My Favorite Things
Inception - Dream Collapsing
Steve Strauss - Youngstown
Stimulus Timbre - Expression
Diana Krall – Let's Fall in Love
Trevor Jones - Clear The Tracks!
The DALI CD - Zhao Cong , Moonlight on Spring River
Baba-Yaga, for orchestra, Op. 56
Rebecca Pidgeon - Grandmother
Sara K - Maritime
Trevor Jones - Promentory
Patricia Barber - Regular Pleasures
Dire Straits - Brothers In Arms
Dire Straits - Your Latest Trick
Dave Brubeck - Take Five
Marcin Przybylowicz - Go Back Whence You Came
James Horner - Going After Newt
Hans Zimmer - Dream Is Collapsing
Hans Zimmer - Molossus
Harry Gregson - Emergency Launch
Shpongle - Shpongle Spores
Dizzy Gillespie - Could it Be You
Dominik Eulberg - Bjorn Borkenkafer
Trentemoller - The Forest
Kryptic Minds And Leon Switch - Ocean Blue
Nirvana - MTV Unplugged In New York (Album)
Xiomara Laugart - Tears and Rumba (2015) [192-24](Album)
Xiomara Laugart (2006) Xiomara (24-96)(Album)
Xiomara Laugart (2010) La Voz (24-88)(Album)
Steve Strauss – Just like Love – Stockfisch(2005) SACD (album)
Plug - Drum 'N' Bass For Papa 2CD-1997-FLAC (album)
Specs
1. Product Name: TRN X6 6 Balanced Armature In Ear Earphone
2. Brand: TRN
3. Model: X6
4. Earphone type: In-ear
5. Impedance: 58Ω
6. Earphone sensitivity: 96dB/mW
7. Frequency range: 10-40000Hz
8. Plug Type : 3.5mm Straight Plug
9.Cable Length: 1.25m
10.Color: Black
11.Whether with cable: Yes
12.Earphone interface: 2Pin Interface
13.Whether with mic: Optional
14.Whether can replacement cable: Yes
15.Driver unit: 6BA Balanced Armature driver unit
I bough X6 from alixpress for 62$.
I had TRN V80, they had aggressive but pleasant sound with some types of music. I sold them and decided to try their new pure BA model.
Packaging
is the same like V80, 3 pairs of silicone tips and black cable.
Build, fit and comfort.
The build is solid, they are made from resin but the body is 90% empty, however they feel durable and well made.
The fit is very good, the shape is nice.
Comfort is great the first 3 hours, after that i feel some sort of discomfort, i think they are a little big for me.
Isolation
The isolation is very good but not great because of the empty body.
Overall sound signature.
Midrange focus with bass and treble one step behind.
Bass
The bass sound linear but under the mids in quantity. The bass is tight and fast but is not well textured and sound lifeless, it lacks dynamic range and it need EQ to show up, overall not very good.
Mids
The strong point of that earphone, the mids are forward, in the middle part of the mids they have the most energy (around 1khz), that makes the midrange non fatiguing, with a touch of lushness and musical sounding. I find the mids very good with vocal music and for TV shows and movies.
Treble
The treble is under the mids in quantity similar to the bass, the quality of the treble is not very good, it sound somewhat dry and papery, the articulation in the upper treble is not there. Lack of extension and precision. Not a very good treble overall.
Soundstage and imaging.
The soundstage is normal size, is not big, not small also, the imaging lack precision, i assume that treble tuning and the lack of upper treble have something to do with that.
Detail retrieval and transient response.
Detail in the mids is good, in the treble they lack detail, bass is tight and fast but it lacks texture and dynamic range.
Comparisons.
With Hisenior B5+
B5+ has more bass, the mids are even more forward and the treble is well extended and articulated. B5 sound warmer because of the bigger bass and more mids (especially lower mids), but at the same time the bass is more dynamic and natural sounding, despite the added warmth B5 is more detailed and natural. Treble on B5 is clean sounding and extended compared to X6 and in general. B5+ has all knowles drivers, X6 uses some generic Chinese drivers, probably that is one of the reasons why there is such a contrast in the performance between the two.
The soundstage on B5 is bigger also the imaging is very precise and well distinct, a lot better than X6.
There is no comparison here, the B5+ sound like a high end earphone compared to X6
With Massdrop Nu Force EDC3
First time when i made a comparison i though that they play at the same level with some differences.
I was using the X6 with balanced 8 core silver plated cable and the EDC3 with the stock cable.
I put some good balanced cable on the EDC3 to remove any possible advantage of the X6.
With the balanced cable the EDC3 is way better than X6, with the stock cable the sound was veiled in the mids with hazy unrefined treble (the stock cable must be complete trash), but with the balanced cable the treble is very improved and the veil is lifted.
Overall EDC3 has similar tonality in the mids with better articulation and quality, also the bass is more and better on EDC3, better dynamic range and texture, the treble with the new cable has no haze anymore, very neutral and articulated.
With Etymotic ER4S . . .
Lets not go there, it will get ugly
Conclusion.
I like them for podcasts and TV shows, for music they are not my thing, i have a lot better earphones for music.
For the money they are not very good.
Have a good one.
