Great review and gorgeous shot. As a Z1R purist myself, I completely concur with your experience.After a week of owning the Trifecta, I wanted to share my thoughts.
I don't often make significant audio purchases, perhaps indulging once a year or two. My previous addition to the IEM stable was the Monarch MK II a year and a half ago to compliment the Z1Rs which I've owned since 2019. Only recently have been starting to feel that itch again but for something with a warm signature and some hard hitting, impactful bass. My heart was very much set on the FIR XE6 or 64audio Volur as the sets that would fuel my appetite for the years to come, both of which I have auditioned previously and was very much fond of. There was also the Fatfreq range which I had some curiosity towards, although my preference at this price point is very much to audition first before buying which wasn't a possibility here. Feeling the time was right and ready to take advantage of some sweet black Friday deals, I headed to my local dealer and was going back and forth, trying to decide between the Volur and XE6, until I was unexpectedly thrown a set of Trifectas to try.
As someone who ocasionally struggles to enjoy music without distracting myself someway or another, the second I popped the Trifectas in and hit play, I felt like I was melting into my chair truly encompassed by music. It created an experience like a relaxing evening with a glass of wine, without needing the wine. The sweet and thick bass, unique analog presentation, and expansive stage overwhelmed me, transporting me into the music in a way I haven't felt before. Make no mistake, this is no Harman-type IEM or something that will appeal to audio purists, but that's definitely not what is trying to be achieved here. That was quickly obvious to me. The abolsute 'wow' moment for me was teeing up The War On Drugs live album, having recently seen them in concert while on holiday and having a strong fondness of that moment in time. Nothing has taken me back to that concert as much as the Trifectas did.
The disclaimer here, I guess if you can call it that, is that I truly believe in diminishing returns in this hobby and haven't really heard much better than the Z1R or Monarch MK II for what they offer, therefore I was glad to part with my hard earned on something which offers a completely unique and different experience to those sets rather than trying to replace them. Having said that, if I was to go for a one-and-done, would I have chosen the XE6 or Volur, or even stuck with the Z1R or Monarch MK II over the Trifectas? I'm not so sure.
The cable does have a slider, its right above the gold, its a small white plastic thingy.I bought a pair and it arrived!
It's the most dramatic box opening that i've ever had!
Where do i start... With the bad things i guess:
They are tip sensitive in that with my normal favourites, the Moondrop Springtips, are a weird choice. I think it has something to do with the pressure and because there is no pressure vent other than forward. Thankfully i have a ton of tips to try. The Springtips do require a perfect insertion (way?) or you lose like 80-100% of volume and bass, everything gets super muddy, it's weird, it's like the pressure of the IEM is pressed backwards into them when you try to insert them more and messing it up. Maybe it has to do something with the driver flex they have, that only appears when i'm inserting them, not when i'm moving my head, so i could not care less about the driver flex. Currently i'm switching between Sedna Crystals and Spinfit W1 and they seem to not have that problem that the Springtips have. Thankfully that will be sorted out in a day or so, because (and that was it with the negatives):
They are super comfortable. WITH ALMOST EVERY TIPS. I had them in for23 hours and they just fit perfectly. I don't know why so many manufactures can't get the fit right, but these are a 10/10, the same as the Supermoon, they completely vanish.
I also like the cable, it's not a chonky one like the one from my Anni.
Now the most important thing: The sound.
Oh boy. OH BOY. It's not like listening to live music, it is live music. I got emotional like with no other IEM i've had yet, and only the Susvara (and to a lesser degree the 1266) on a 10k amp awoke these feelings.
It's not an unresolving IEM, but you can get more details for the price. The thing is, i don't even want to A/B the Trifecta with the Annihilator, it's exactly on the opposite side of the spectrum. I originally was shocked when i looked at the abomination of the frequency response graph of the Trifecta, but i have to say, it absolutely does not sound like it graphs. For me there is no shout in the midrange, no treble sharpness, no bass bleed that make the mids extremely uneven etc. Yes, these sound very unconventional but oh god, these sound fantastic. Soundstage is not only the largest in an IEM, it's also very tall. It's impressively big. You are in a concert hall listening to your favourite rock music and just don't care about any technicalities anymore that another IEM could have for the price. The speed feels real, the decay feels real, the not that extremely seperating ability feels real. When you are sitting (or standing) in any concert hall it's not possible to dissect every single instrument. My father was in a band and i visited his performances a lot and the Trifecta just warps me back to the time, same with big concerts like when i saw Iron Maiden or Nightwish. I close my eyes and i'm there again. The Trifecta makes the music just wash over you, engulfing you in it until the track, no, the whole album is over. I don't want to skip tracks with this thing, at the same time i want to listen to the next metal / rock song because i want to know how it sounds on the Trifecta. The bass is just a monster that has immense power when needed and leaves you just shocked at times. The timbre is... perfectly real.
This thing does want to play a bit louder than other IEM's, like being at a rock concert. Thankfully there is a sweet spot so i don't get blasted until i'm deaf. I actually did not visit a lot of concerts because of that reason, only the ones where i really wanted to experience the performance and knew that the band can actually sound good live.
These are hyper sensitive. I'm very happy that i have my RME ADI-2 DAC FS, this thing has an IEM output with an impedance of 0 ohms, so there is absolutely no noise floor or any interference. I can imagine that on a warm amp, or an amp that has a higher output impedance, this thing will get too muddy / warm with a audible noisefloor.
The Trifecta is the least IEM of all IEM's, like the 1266 is the least headphone of all headphones.
Yeah, this thing is a total banger. I'm so happy that i bought it. Thanks @Sajid Amit and @Rockwell75 .
I have to try to not tear up.
Edit: HA! FOUND ANOTHER NEGATIVE THING! The cable does not have a slider to prevent it from tangling! Absolut trash IEM, 2/10!
After a week of owning the Trifecta, I wanted to share my thoughts.
I don't often make significant audio purchases, perhaps indulging once a year or two. My previous addition to the IEM stable was the Monarch MK II a year and a half ago to compliment the Z1Rs which I've owned since 2019. Only recently have been starting to feel that itch again but for something with a warm signature and some hard hitting, impactful bass. My heart was very much set on the FIR XE6 or 64audio Volur as the sets that would fuel my appetite for the years to come, both of which I have auditioned previously and was very much fond of. There was also the Fatfreq range which I had some curiosity towards, although my preference at this price point is very much to audition first before buying which wasn't a possibility here. Feeling the time was right and ready to take advantage of some sweet black Friday deals, I headed to my local dealer and was going back and forth, trying to decide between the Volur and XE6, until I was unexpectedly thrown a set of Trifectas to try.
As someone who ocasionally struggles to enjoy music without distracting myself someway or another, the second I popped the Trifectas in and hit play, I felt like I was melting into my chair truly encompassed by music. It created an experience like a relaxing evening with a glass of wine, without needing the wine. The sweet and thick bass, unique analog presentation, and expansive stage overwhelmed me, transporting me into the music in a way I haven't felt before. Make no mistake, this is no Harman-type IEM or something that will appeal to audio purists, but that's definitely not what is trying to be achieved here. That was quickly obvious to me. The abolsute 'wow' moment for me was teeing up The War On Drugs live album, having recently seen them in concert while on holiday and having a strong fondness of that moment in time. Nothing has taken me back to that concert as much as the Trifectas did.
The disclaimer here, I guess if you can call it that, is that I truly believe in diminishing returns in this hobby and haven't really heard much better than the Z1R or Monarch MK II for what they offer, therefore I was glad to part with my hard earned on something which offers a completely unique and different experience to those sets rather than trying to replace them. Having said that, if I was to go for a one-and-done, would I have chosen the XE6 or Volur, or even stuck with the Z1R or Monarch MK II over the Trifectas? I'm not so sure.
I bought a pair and it arrived!
It's the most dramatic box opening that i've ever had!
Where do i start... With the bad things i guess:
They are tip sensitive in that with my normal favourites, the Moondrop Springtips, are a weird choice. I think it has something to do with the pressure and because there is no pressure vent other than forward. Thankfully i have a ton of tips to try. The Springtips do require a perfect insertion (way?) or you lose like 80-100% of volume and bass, everything gets super muddy, it's weird, it's like the pressure of the IEM is pressed backwards into them when you try to insert them more and messing it up. Maybe it has to do something with the driver flex they have, that only appears when i'm inserting them, not when i'm moving my head, so i could not care less about the driver flex. Currently i'm switching between Sedna Crystals and Spinfit W1 and they seem to not have that problem that the Springtips have. Thankfully that will be sorted out in a day or so, because (and that was it with the negatives):
They are super comfortable. WITH ALMOST EVERY TIPS. I had them in for23 hours and they just fit perfectly. I don't know why so many manufactures can't get the fit right, but these are a 10/10, the same as the Supermoon, they completely vanish.
I also like the cable, it's not a chonky one like the one from my Anni.
Now the most important thing: The sound.
Oh boy. OH BOY. It's not like listening to live music, it is live music. I got emotional like with no other IEM i've had yet, and only the Susvara (and to a lesser degree the 1266) on a 10k amp awoke these feelings.
It's not an unresolving IEM, but you can get more details for the price. The thing is, i don't even want to A/B the Trifecta with the Annihilator, it's exactly on the opposite side of the spectrum. I originally was shocked when i looked at the abomination of the frequency response graph of the Trifecta, but i have to say, it absolutely does not sound like it graphs. For me there is no shout in the midrange, no treble sharpness, no bass bleed that make the mids extremely uneven etc. Yes, these sound very unconventional but oh god, these sound fantastic. Soundstage is not only the largest in an IEM, it's also very tall. It's impressively big. You are in a concert hall listening to your favourite rock music and just don't care about any technicalities anymore that another IEM could have for the price. The speed feels real, the decay feels real, the not that extremely seperating ability feels real. When you are sitting (or standing) in any concert hall it's not possible to dissect every single instrument. My father was in a band and i visited his performances a lot and the Trifecta just warps me back to the time, same with big concerts like when i saw Iron Maiden or Nightwish. I close my eyes and i'm there again. The Trifecta makes the music just wash over you, engulfing you in it until the track, no, the whole album is over. I don't want to skip tracks with this thing, at the same time i want to listen to the next metal / rock song because i want to know how it sounds on the Trifecta. The bass is just a monster that has immense power when needed and leaves you just shocked at times. The timbre is... perfectly real.
This thing does want to play a bit louder than other IEM's, like being at a rock concert. Thankfully there is a sweet spot so i don't get blasted until i'm deaf. I actually did not visit a lot of concerts because of that reason, only the ones where i really wanted to experience the performance and knew that the band can actually sound good live.
These are hyper sensitive. I'm very happy that i have my RME ADI-2 DAC FS, this thing has an IEM output with an impedance of 0 ohms, so there is absolutely no noise floor or any interference. I can imagine that on a warm amp, or an amp that has a higher output impedance, this thing will get too muddy / warm with a audible noisefloor.
The Trifecta is the least IEM of all IEM's, like the 1266 is the least headphone of all headphones.
Yeah, this thing is a total banger. I'm so happy that i bought it. Thanks @Sajid Amit and @Rockwell75 .
I have to try to not tear up.
Edit: HA! FOUND ANOTHER NEGATIVE THING! The cable does not have a slider to prevent it from tangling! Absolut trash IEM, 2/10!
