I have been evaluating the TRI i4 hybrid IEM recently. This is an interesting model from a new company and like the Tin Hifi T3, ifeatures a DD and a Knowles BA. Below are my impressions of it:
The TRI i4 is a new dual-driver IEM from a new company, featuring an innovative composite diaphragm bass driver paired with a high-quality Knowles balanced armature.
The i4 comes attractively presented in a dark grey box with the TRI logo. Inside the IEMs are displayed with the cable attached and below, a suede (or faux suede) buttoned pouch. Lifting up the inner card reveals the spare eartips which include two foam tips, two further black silicone tips in S and L size (the medium size being pre-installed on the IEMs) and set of three Spinfit-like tips with a yellow medium bore.
The bass driver is a dynamic type featuring a composite bio-cellulose diaphragm coupled with an aluminium-magnesium gold-plated dome. This should ensure a wider frequency range, enabling the crossover frequency to the Knowles armature to be shifted out of the most sensitive area. The earpieces themselves are beautifully constructed from CNC machined aluminium and are finished in an attractive metallic blue colour with a laser-etched TRI logo. The earpieces have channel idenification (hooray!) and a small vent below this marking. There is a further vent for the dynamic driver on the other side of the earpiece. The inner surface of the earpieces is subtly contoured which results in a very comfortable fit. The cable interface is of the MMCX type. Full marks for fit and finish.
I replaced the supplied cable with the one supplied with a silver-plated 8-core cable from KZ due to the fact that the angled connectors tended to force the earpieces out of my ears. The MMCX connectors fitted very securely resulting in a firm connection. I also replaced the pre-fitted tips with my go-to JVC Spiral Dots. Their wide bore and domed profile ensured a good seal in my larger-than-average ear canals!
The earphones were left burning in for 72 hours before testing and included tracks of white and pink noise, glide tones and other audio conditioning tracks. The principal equipment used was a Hifi Walker H2 DAP and Fiio A5 amplifier, via line-out.
The immediate impression was of a beautifully-balanced sound with a sense of refinement. I had experienced this before with the Tin Hifi T3, which also uses a Knowles armature. The overall profile was balanced or neutral, with a solid but reserved bass foundation and clear, detailed treble. The soundstage was very spacious with a pronounced three-dimensional quality. Layering was exceptionally good with densely-scored pieces revealing all their separate elements.
Bass
Though largely flat, the bass reproduction possessed good tonality, with texture particularly well-rendered. In this respect the bass resembled that of the Tin Hifi T3 which was voiced very similarly. The presentation was on the cool side of neutral which emphasised the excellent resolution, but the output did begin to decrease below the 50Hz region. The distinctive sound of the Buchla synthesisers in Suzanne Ciani’s “Birth of Venus” from her album “Seven Waves” was a perfect illustration of this. The texture and impact were impressive, creating a perfect backdrop for the lead melody and the swirling electronic effects, but a little more depth and warmth would have been welcome. There was an attractive natural and unforced quality to the presentation which resulted in a very relaxing listen. However, in more demanding material, the roll-off was more noticeable, for example in Boellmann’s “Suite Gothique” a brutal test of bass. This large-scale French organ piece benefits from a powerful bass and the TRI i4 just fell short. Engaging the bass boost on my Fiio A5 certainly helped to bolster the lowest frequencies and produce a more dynamic sound and that much-needed touch of warmth. The mid-bass had a similar coolness to the lower frequencies, and did not bleed into the mids.
Mids
The absence of bass bleed and the excellent transparency combined to produce an excellently-voiced midrange. With a more tempered treble than the Tin T3, this resulted in a “mid-centric” character. This enabled layering and detail to come to the forefront, and the midrange performance of these i4s was the highlight of their presentation. Clarity was also above average, allowing vocals to really shine. Eva Cassidy’s wonderful “Songbird” was a good example with breath sounds and other subtle cues adding to the realism, enabling all the emotion of the song to come through. The accompaniment was perfectly balanced with the vocals and the whole effect was very enjoyable. The tolling of the bell in Arvo Part’s “Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten” cut through the dense string scoring beautifully with its initial strike particularly well-rendered with a cold metallic timbre. The individual tones of the various string sections were beautifully layered and displayed excellent texture. Camel’s “Selva” from their album “The Single Factor” is an instrumental piece with many layers. The concentrated Prophet 5 synth strings showed good variation with the layering once again beautifully reproduced. Andy Latimer’s superb guitar solo floated over the top impressively with a perfect blend of aggression and subtlety.
Treble
As mentioned above, the treble was voiced more conservatively than in the Tin T3 which displayed a bright tonality. However, this did not detract from the i4’s ability to show detail, clarity and separation, all of which were excellent. Toru Takemitsu’s “Twill by Twilight” is a modern orchestral piece with influences of Debussy, Stravinsky and Ives. In the version by the Pacific Symphony Orchestra, the bright string sonorities and the clean and incisive woodwind tone clusters were superbly clean and clear and added to the atmosphere of the piece. Set against the orchestral accompaniment, this was very impressive and the character of the arrangement was preserved well. “Bhakti Point”, the second album from the late, great Richard Burmer, is an imaginative electronic album featuring his trademark attractive melodies. The title track begins with bright and crystalline percussive elements set against lush synth melodies and powerful drums. The excellent treble performance of the i4s depicted these beautifully while at the same time preserving a perfectly balanced sound picture.
Soundstage
The excellent transparency and clarity of the midrange and treble combined to produce a well-rendered three-dimensional soundstage with spatial and positional information clearly and precisely defined. It was easy to follow an individual instrumental strand even in a complex arrangement. The first movement of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No.4 was a perfect example. As the lead melody passed between the various woodwind instruments in a flowing fashion, each displayed excellent timbre and was accurately placed within the overall acoustic. Details of production is good recordings were reproduced accurately and added to the enjoyment.
Conclusion
Beautifully crafted and attractively presented with a good range of accessories, the TRI i4 also impressed with its sound quality. The dynamic driver and Knowles BA were very well-integrated. Occasionally a mild peak showed up in the lower treble which, I suspect, may be a crossover artefact, but apart from this, the voicing of the two drivers was very well matched, with the dynamic driver’s cool tonality and slightly reserved response making it sound more like a BA unit. This led to a very well-balanced, neutral presentation across the frequency range and reminded me of a full-range BA drive IEM. This coherence helped the music sound very natural. Unlike some other neutrally-tuned IEMs, the i4 possessed plenty of life and verve in its delivery with an entertaining, dynamic quality which kept me wanting to continue listening. This earphone produced a sound amenable to most genres, except possibly bass-oriented material, but I did find a bass boost on my headphone amplifier very effective in these cases. The i4 is an excellent maiden product from a new company and I look forward to their next release with enthusiasm.
I would like to thank Sunny from Better Audio US for supplying this item at a substantial discount.
Product Link:
https://www.amazon.com/earphones-Hi...I+I4+earphone&qid=1565794317&s=gateway&sr=8-5
