[RTodd]

Why does one always have to „reply“ to a negative review or always „protect“ ones beloved gear? Me, I really appreciate different and honest opinions in our all-so-subjective hobby! Thanks @discord!

Last week, I also had a brief listen to the Trifecta. I liked the sound coming from it and also find its design very classy, but for sure did not think it is worth the price asked. But then again, I feel almost no IEM is worth more than a 1000 bucks….

Thought about not replying for just that reason.

This review crossed a line that begged for a course correction, the part that bothers me is knowing there are people that have stated they enjoy the set a lot, and instead of just delivering the critiques, adding extra comments like the worst set of the year.

It is funny though, we can end up in a circular logic real fast. It is okay to post a negative review, it is not okay to post a negative review of a negative review, it is okay to point out the unfairness of the later, not okay to point out the unfairness of the former.

My post was appreciating the measured and positive answer to an opinion that was certainly going to stir up dander, did anyone really expect no responses.

 

[JS27]

Checking back in...some great impressions (both ways) that were a nifty read. Rockwell75....glad you love these/got your hands on them! Thanks for the shout-out in your impressions/review thread.

Most gear should have a mix of +/- takes.....and the feedback will get increasingly divergent along those lines the more "adventurous" the tuning. It's annoying when folks feel the need to either press a carpet-bomb of repeated criticism or pick up the sword and shield in defense of every nit-pick. But if folks are stating their piece and move on....all groovy.


I'm not surprised in the slightest that Trifecta is divisive .....even more so than the XE6 that I waxed lovely on as an early buyer. And it's Campfire, which gets a lot of cynically driven animus in my book. As said early on.....whether you love these or hate these....you're right. The only "-" that takes me back is the claim they aren't resolving. I don't hear Trifecta resolve ala' the TOTL stuffed full o' BA's IEM's and wouldn't expect that. A very laser-detailed presentation is a strong point of BA's.....and when you add in an army of them w/cross-over duty at multiple frequencies.....and neutral/forward presentation......no way, no how a mild-V, bloomy/warm DD set up is going to be a sonic match to that. But taken on it's own.....I don't think Trifecta lacks for resolution. In fact....even against full size cans to a price-point.....I think it does a spectacular job of pulling apart vocal tracks. Not saying it's the most juicy, romantic upper-mid vocal presentation.....but damn if I hadn't heard subtle, multi-layered vocals in many recordings I've not picked up on before outside of things like my Stax stack. Ymmv.

I'll say this for Campfire.....if you are much more an adherent of Harmon-based, bright/neutral, BA-based, multi-thousand "exclusives" dropping by the handful each month from whatever small team of exclusivey exclusive Hong Kong based yada-yada........rejoice. That's still where most of the market is. Pair with a $3K Early-MidAfternoon cable (the special Korean-only release with the purple trim only for maximum bragging rights please) and your cup runneth over. But Campfire pushed out something different. And even if you don't personally like it....and I don't love all the CA I've heard.....in general it's great for the market that there are more niche approaches off the mainstream. You may find a favorite in a more "exotic" Campfire, VE, or FIR release that you wouldn't otherwise. Everything has it's place and audience.

EDIT: I'm also surprised to hear feedback as being "slow". I listen to a bunch o' aggressive metal on the Trifecta and never got the sense it was struggling with pace. That's usually something I'm pretty sensitive to. As with resolution, Trifecta isn't dealing its deck in the same sonic manner as a high-end BA....get that 100%...just don't hear it as "slow".

My main "-" for the set is the average/at time recessed (depends on track/mix) mids presentation......but I understand the tuning approach. I'm just a filthy mids junkie and would have loved a more EXT/XE6 "mash em' all together" approach.

 

[MaxwellDemon]

Thought about not replying for just that reason.

This review crossed a line that begged for a course correction, the part that bothers me is knowing there are people that have stated they enjoy the set a lot, and instead of just delivering the critiques, adding extra comments like the worst set of the year.

It is funny though, we can end up in a circular logic real fast. It is okay to post a negative review, it is not okay to post a negative review of a negative review, it is okay to point out the unfairness of the later, not okay to point out the unfairness of the former.

My post was appreciating the measured and positive answer to an opinion that was certainly going to stir up dander, did anyone really expect no responses.

Amen to that -- I feel completely okay with the criticism for Trifecta because there are really things that it doesn't do well. Still, as soon as the "The Worst IEM" title gets thrown about casually and just for flavoring... yeah, I am not sure what to take from that other than to agree to disagree.

 

[snapandslide]

Amen to that -- I feel completely okay with the criticism for Trifecta because there are really things that it doesn't do well. Still, as soon as the "The Worst IEM" title gets thrown about casually and just for flavoring... yeah, I am not sure what to take from that other than to agree to disagree.

@discord spcifically says at the multi kilobuck level - he is not comparing with a $500 iem. At that level (ie over $2.5k in my books) the standards and the bar we set for an IEM should be super high.

 

[MaxwellDemon]

@discord spcifically says at the multi kilobuck level - he is not comparing with a $500 iem. At that level (ie over $2.5k in my books) the standards and the bar we set for an IEM should be super high.

Worst IEM in Kilobuck range is still a very strong statement and one that is very heavy of expectations. It's fine if that's how someone feels, but using that as an objective statement is not really helpful. Of course, I am biased because I do love the Trifecta, but just sharing my two cents to it.

 

[Damz87]

Worst IEM in Kilobuck range is still a very strong statement and one that is very heavy of expectations. It's fine if that's how someone feels, but using that as an objective statement is not really helpful. Of course, I am biased because I do love the Trifecta, but just sharing my two cents to it.

He didn’t use it as an objective statement. Read it again:

So, with all that said and done, I found Trifecta to be the worst IEM that I’ve heard this year at the multi-kilobuck price level.

Clearly says “it was the worst IEM that I’ve heard this year at the multi-kilobuck price level”

 

[MaxwellDemon]

I think I'll just leave this topic about the statement and how it is being read because I still think it is a very strong statement. It is a good written impression overall, don't get me wrong. Everyone's mileage varies etc.

 

[aaf evo]

Worst IEM in Kilobuck range is still a very strong statement and one that is very heavy of expectations. It's fine if that's how someone feels, but using that as an objective statement is not really helpful. Of course, I am biased because I do love the Trifecta, but just sharing my two cents to it.

It’s no different to calling it the best IEM anyone has heard either. That also sets expectations.

At the end of the day it’s not that deep. I don’t think any Trifecta owner deep down inside thinks these are going to be unanimously praised and liked, so expecting heavy criticism to come with it is just part of the road when they’re priced and tuned as such. Every time someone posts something negative it doesn’t need to be cancelled and discredited.

I considered Trifecta to be the worst I had heard and I made that point known because it’s how I truly felt and didn’t feel the need to sugar coat it.

As long as those who own it are enjoying it then that’s all that matters.

 

[MaxwellDemon]

It’s no different to calling it the best IEM anyone has heard either. That also sets expectations.

At the end of the day it’s not that deep. I don’t think any Trifecta owner deep down inside thinks these are going to be unanimously praised and liked, so expecting heavy criticism to come with it is just part of the road when they’re priced and tuned as such. Every time someone posts something negative it doesn’t need to be cancelled and discredited.

I considered Trifecta to be the worst I had heard and I made that point known because it’s how I truly felt and didn’t feel the need to sugar coat it.

As long as those who own it are enjoying it then that’s all that matters.

Amen -- I don't think we are really disagreeing on anything other than people being surprised about the feedback. Everyone's ears do work differently and that's just how it is at the end of the day.

 

[broopa]

Just ordered a set and I can't wait to get them; this is going to be my first multikilobuck IEM. Ordered overnight so I can get in a quick listen before burning them in while dealing with family over new years weekend. Fingers crossed they actually make it here tomorrow.

 

[Rockwell75]

Worst IEM in Kilobuck range is still a very strong statement and one that is very heavy of expectations. It's fine if that's how someone feels, but using that as an objective statement is not really helpful. Of course, I am biased because I do love the Trifecta, but just sharing my two cents to it.

I've never had an issue with people strongly disliking sets that I love-- this is somewhat inevitable, and has been true of every set that I've ever loved. Where the emotions get stirred up is when it appears as though someone hasn't made the effort to understand what it is that people really like about the set and aggressively dismiss it in a way that comes off as a slap in the face to those who do like it. There was a bit of that here. There have been some sets that I have really not liked (u12t and Mentor to name two) but I always tried to give them their due and praise them on their own terms. You might say "hey man he was just keeping it real we can't expect everyone to jerk off over IEMs all the time there has to be some healthy criticism" and I would respond of course-- but this is a human enterprise often involving deep emotional attachments and as such you can expect human reactions. This is why I put the following on the front page of the Watercooler thread:

"My personal ideal within the context of discussing gear is constructive and useful information within an overall climate of appreciation. When it comes to sharing impressions remember to use tact-- the gear you are trashing is probably loved by someone. People are not unfeeling stones so if you need to be critical stick to matters of fact."

 

[bluestorm1992]

I am only here for the ️, but also want to say one thing.

Whoever praises it so hard now, please keep your love for longer and don’t sell it after 1 month due to “fit issue” or the so called “shift in preferences”. If you like it so hard, there is no way the love is gone so quickly.

Just putting it here as I have seen plenty of such shill in the past and people benefiting from doing this because they manage to sell things at a high price at the end.

 

[HPLovecraft]

Cross-posting my impressions on Trifecta from my post in the Watercooler thread:

There’s been lots of positive talk about Trifecta this month, and although my impressions of it at SoCal CanJam a few months were really bad, I decided to give it a second shot and listen to for several days at my home. My listening impressions with it now are a bit different from my time with it at CanJam, but the differences are not necessarily for the better.

I’ll just start with the out of the box impressions when I received Trifecta back on the 23rd. Fresh out of the box, I heard a sound that is very warm (warmer than XE6) and incredibly bloated bass with everything sounded like it was playing behind a thin blanket with different instrument sounds melding together in the soundstage. So, that’s basically the same as I heard it the first time at CanJam, but a difference that I noticed this time was that the treble was not super peaky and fatiguing, and that’s with using the same setup (N8ii with W1 tips, although I’ve tried other tips as well) as I did at CanJam. So essentially, my out of the box impressions were that my music sounds downgraded, and not in a subtle way. Since receiving them on the 23rd, I’ve had them on a 24/7 burn-in and listening to them for a few hours each day and have now reached 110 hours of total burn-in as of this writing.

Now, after 110 hours of continuous burn-in, I’ll describe what I’m hearing at this stage and compared to some of the things I’ve read about Trifecta by other owners. First off, these have been touted as being “bombastic”, and while it’s certainly a bass heavy sound, along with that I’m hearing Trifecta as having slow-ish transients and just about average dynamic contrast, which is pretty much par the course for the Campfire Audio IEMs that I’ve either owned or tried in the past (Andromeda, Vega, Atlas, Solaris). So, it’s bass heavy but not really an energetic delivery of bass, and this lack of an energetic delivery can be said for the remaining parts of the frequency spectrum as well. In addition to the bass being slow, it’s also not controlled, and in comparison, I’m hearing my IE 900 as having a quicker and more controlled bass. I’m also hearing the combination of Trifecta’s big, slow, and not well controlled bass as being especially problematic for fast music that has lots of stuff going on in the track.

Moving to the midrange, I’m hearing this area as lacking in clarity and with less resolution when compared to my IE 900. The midrange also sounds muffled (going back to my earlier point of a thin blanket sound), and given that it’s recessed, the combination of all these descriptions for how I’m hearing the midrange make it sound unremarkable. Overall, I’d put the IE 900 as having a superior midrange by a good margin.

Next up is the treble and this area is the least resolving of all 3 areas of the frequency spectrum, and it also has the least presence. Treble is another area where I find the IE 900 to pull ahead very easily: more texture, more sparkle, more air, realism and just generally of a higher quality and I find that more impressive as the IE 900 is doing that while having only a single DD and pumping out a high-quality bass a well at the other end of the spectrum, whereas Trifecta has 3 DDs and is falling flat when it comes to treble quality while having muddy bass. Listening to "Enough to Believe" by Bob Moses, the 3:00 - 3:43 section of this track features a washy ride cymbal that’s playing in the background and gets progressively less noticeable as the section gets towards the endpoint. Playing this section of the track on Trifecta has the washy ride cymbal basically disappear as the section get closer to the end…yikes, not good, and this section of the track is better reproduced on the IE 900 again with the cymbal having more presence and with better resolution. Moving on to "Rhinoceros" by Smashing Pumpkins, the distorted electric guitar crunch in the 3:05 – 3:33 section sounds blunted and dull.

I’ve been reading about the soundstage being “big” and even so-called “holographic” on Trifecta, but in my experience the soundstage size neither big nor small, and instead I’d say it’s just about average and certainly not wrapping around the outside of head. More importantly than soundstage size is the quality of the stage, and basically what I’m hearing is poor separation, leading to different sounds melding together and essentially coming off as wall of sound. For soundstage quality, the IE 900 is again surpassing Trifecta with more noticeable separation and layering.

To start wrapping these impressions up, I’d like to re-emphasize the point that I’ve been trying to make the throughout my impressions, which is that Trifecta isn’t even as technically proficient or resolving as the IE 900, which is just a single DD IEM that costs $1,499. To me that kept raising the question thought my listening: What’s the point of 3 DDs in Trifecta when it can’t even compete sonically against a single DD IEM? Of course, even more baffling is the price of Trifecta for the sound that it puts out. So, while I do hear an improvement in Trifecta’s sound after 110 hours of burn in versus out of the box, the improvements ultimately weren’t enough, and my music still sounds downgraded but to a lesser extent when compared to day one. I’m sure there will be questions about source pairings I used, and of my 2 DAPs (N8ii, WM1ZM2), the WM1ZM2 was worse since it made Trifecta sound even more slow and gooier.

So, with all that said and done, I found Trifecta to be the worst IEM that I’ve heard this year at the multi-kilobuck price level. I found it overhyped and overpriced given its sound quality and since it can’t even compete against my IE 900, the asking price of $3,375 makes Trifecta even more egregious. I’ll be returning Trifecta to Campfire Audio for a full refund.

Thank you very much discord!! We need of all points of view before to buy something that is so much expensive! I need to read positive and negative points before a possible purchase. I will spend my money on another iem for sure

 

[MaxwellDemon]

I am only here for the ️, but also want to say one thing.

Whoever praises it so hard now, please keep your love for longer and don’t sell it after 1 month due to “fit issue” or the so called “shift in preferences”. If you like it so hard, there is no way the love is gone so quickly.

Just putting it here as I have seen plenty of such shill in the past and people benefiting from doing this because they manage to sell things at a high price at the end.

Somehow I doubt that'd happen with me (though call me out if it does!) considering Trifecta is slowly becoming the IEM that will likely tide me over for a while... Of course, never say never with this hobby!

 

[bigbeans]

Needless to say, surprised at all the activity that occurred last night. I liked @discord's critique (literally). Trifecta seems to consistently fail by the usual yard stick set by audiophiles.

For those curious about Trifecta, don't make the mistake I did regarding following the crowd. From when the iem was announced and following impressions of folks who heard it, I wrote it off completely and decided to order UM Mentor at CanJam Socal from Musicteck's booth. Andrew was tempting me with a good show-only price. After demoing Mentor (and assessing it was better than Traillii for my tastes), I went to Bloom's booth and asked about Trifecta. I was politely brushed off 'there's over a dozen folks ahead of you, it's unlikely you'll be able to secure a set, but please take a listen'. I did my audition and was caught off guard. My headfi buddies were sharing impressions about Trifecta and Mentor throughout the show. Everyone I knew (except @Rockwell75) were stunned how poor Trifecta was. There was some confusion as to whether the tuning was finalized or not, some even thought it was a prototype. Mentor was the crowd favorite and I think it's clearly a better monitor from a technical perspective. Yet Trifecta had something which I connected with. I auditioned Mentor and Trifecta once more just to make sure and the decision was made. I could appreciate Mentor for what it was but I couldn't put down Trifecta.

Of course, there are some issues I have with Trifecta. The sibilance (track dependent), poor choice of MMCX connectors, hiss due to crossoverless design, no CIEM, lack of treble extension, lack of sharp imaging etc... However the overall package is unrivaled to anything I've used so far. Will there be 'fit issues' or 'changing taste' in the future @bluestorm1992? Maybe, it depends what is released from now. However given the current offerings, Trifecta takes my heart.

Try it. It's certainly different.