So I am currently looking for a planar iem. And I am set on 3 options. There is the TRI I3 which is a hybrid that uses the dynamic driver for the low end, planar for the mids and 1 BA for the treble. There also is the Tin Hifi P1 and Toneking P10 which are pure planar iems. Does anyone have experience with them? I'll be using the E1DA 9038s as source/dac/amp with my Samsung S9 and poweramp.
So I am currently looking for a planar iem. And I am set on 3 options. There is the TRI I3 which is a hybrid that uses the dynamic driver for the low end, planar for the mids and 1 BA for the treble. There also is the Tin Hifi P1 and Toneking P10 which are pure planar iems. Does anyone have experience with them? I'll be using the E1DA 9038s as source/dac/amp with my Samsung S9 and poweramp.
I don't own any planars and am pretty interested in this technology too. But from what some of my audiophile friends who own planars tell me, they usually require quite a fair bit of juice.
Tin HIFI P1 has lots of reviews on headfi and other sites, it seems a bit bass light from reviewers so far, I'm not considering it as I'm a basshead. But I think of the 3, it is the most established and has been on the market for quite some time.
The Toneking P10 and TRI I3 just came out recently, so reviews are sparse. Found these early adopter reviews, but they need google translating unless you speak Japanese/Chinese:
I don't own any planars and am pretty interested in this technology too. But from what some of my audiophile friends who own planars tell me, they usually require quite a fair bit of juice.
Tin HIFI P1 has lots of reviews on headfi and other sites, it seems a bit bass light from reviewers so far, I'm not considering it as I'm a basshead. But I think of the 3, it is the most established and has been on the market for quite some time.
The Toneking P10 and TRI I3 just came out recently, so reviews are sparse. Found these early adopter reviews, but they need google translating unless you speak Japanese/Chinese:
I used to own some Isine 20s and loved them. But ended up selling them. But I wamt to get back to planars. So far the Tri I3 seems seriously good. I have read and watched some spanish reviews. Good impressions so far. And HBB has some on his way as well.
I've had the Tin P1 planar IEMs for a few months and enjoyed them plenty, but not enough to stop me from ordering the Tin T4's out of curiosity. In the interim, I got the FiiO BTR5 to go with it and my many other IEMs and pair my Note X+.
At first, the BTR5 didn't have enough power for the P1's. They didn't sound bad, but the top and bottom frequencies were definitely lacking. So, I dug up a silver balanced cable and gave that a shot. This combination (especially with foam tips) is quite astounding. My ears were not prepared for as big a jump as they got.
The mid range/vocals are still forward and the biggest strength of the P1. Bass is quick and with the added punchiness from the amp gives it nice thump. There's also plenty of extension and sparkle in the treble. Overall, the sound is extremely engaging and fun to listen to. The IEMs definitely prefer more volume, though.
In many ways it gives the Audeze Mobius a run for the money.
Balanced has nothing to do with it, you gave it more power. IEM's more often than not need more power than these puny sources most people in this thread use.
Right, the balanced output on the BTR5 pumps out 220mW, whereas the 3.5mm Jack only offers 80mW. That's the only reason the balanced is pertinent in this case.
Right, the balanced output on the BTR5 pumps out 220mW, whereas the 3.5mm Jack only offers 80mW. That's the only reason the balanced is pertinent in this case.
Right, and balanced gave it more power in this context. SE can do the same (duh), I'm just bringing up the point that people need to try better sources here more often before talking down on certain IEM's.
ohhh but my $50 DAP sounds like crap with it
ohhh but my laptop sounds like crap with it
ohhh my my phone sounds like ass with it
I've had the Tin P1 planar IEMs for a few months and enjoyed them plenty, but not enough to stop me from ordering the Tin T4's out of curiosity. In the interim, I got the FiiO BTR5 to go with it and my many other IEMs and pair my Note X+.
At first, the BTR5 didn't have enough power for the P1's. They didn't sound bad, but the top and bottom frequencies were definitely lacking. So, I dug up a silver balanced cable and gave that a shot. This combination (especially with foam tips) is quite astounding. My ears were not prepared for as big a jump as they got.
The mid range/vocals are still forward and the biggest strength of the P1. Bass is quick and with the added punchiness from the amp gives it nice thump. There's also plenty of extension and sparkle in the treble. Overall, the sound is extremely engaging and fun to listen to. The IEMs definitely prefer more volume, though.
In many ways it gives the Audeze Mobius a run for the money.
Well the 9038s I'll be using is an amazing dac/amp. I prefer it more than the Fiio Q5s with AM3D module. It's also balanced and outputs 1W of power. So I think source/dac/amp is sorted. I have read it pairs amazingly well with the Tin P1. But something about the TRI I3 has me wanting to click the buy button. But I really need more impressions and reviews as I don't want to regret it.
Balanced has nothing to do with it, you gave it more power. IEM's more often than not need more power than these puny sources most people in this thread use.
I'll have to disagree with you on this. In my experience most IEM's doesn't need much power to perform. As to every rule there's some exceptions though, but that's really just a few from my (dare I say quite thorough? ) testing through the years.
As a matter of fact too powerful sources are often a bad choice for IEM's as they can introduce background hiss without adding any real advantages. It's my belief that most modern sources (phones not included) can properly drive at least 90% of all IEM's.
I'll have to disagree with you on this. In my experience most IEM's doesn't need much power to perform. As to every rule there's some exceptions though, but that's really just a few from my (dare I say quite thorough? ) testing through the years.
As a matter of fact too powerful sources are often a bad choice for IEM's as they can introduce background hiss without adding any real advantages. It's my belief that most modern sources (phones not included) can properly drive at least 90% of all IEM's.
Re: IEMs and power requirements, some IEMs are legitimately hard to drive (my best example: Advanced GT3 Superbass). Even then, you don't multiple watts to run them, just a decent portable amp or most DAPs. But many are not at all difficult to drive.
Power also isn't the only thing that can go wrong with pairing IEMs to sources. There's also impedance and some cheap DAPs actually are known to have problematic frequency response issues. Some sources are also intentionally tuned differently: for example, the ALO CDM's DAC section is extremely smoothed out, and produces a much more colored sound than its tube hybrid amp section. Which is funny.
Anyway, the main thing is not to badger people about using the "wrong" source or cable to evaluate something, especially if you're expecting them to spend several times the cost of their IEM on cables and desktop amps. : )
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