A thanks to
@Colors for copping that (relatively cheap Trio) on CAM and meeting up with me so I can demo it. $1300 really is a steal and it has gone around enough times to think that it be borked or something. Surprisingly it just had some dings on the faceplates.
Think I call this one: Menage a trois. Apt title given how seamlessly the 3 different drivers interact with each other and producing pure bliss from that.
64 Audio holds a unique place for me, having taken my CIEM virginity more than 3 years ago (Wow time flies when you're preoccupied with critical listening every kilobuck iem you can get your hands on) I've hands down owned more of their products (Empire taking a second place) than every other brand out there, so obviously they're doing something I really do like their house sound.Of course price has always been an issue with their higher end lineup, but it's 64 Audio. I'll buy open boxed/used if I have to.To date Trio is the highest in the lineup I've had the opportunity to listen to and I would say it commands that price point and backs it up (Of course there are some caveats that I personally have given the market).
I've always been a pure BA boi for most of my audiophile journey, despite loving sweet DD bass. The draw of BAs being their speed in comparison, texture and decay be damned and all that. Then of course I found BA's better for mids and treble as well, I tried dabbling in hybrids, but bass bleed and coherency issues always pushed me back. The introduction of Tribrids brought me back, but between owning the Valkyrie and some mixed reviews in the initial batch, I cooled down to it again. It wasns't until the DMagic and MEST caught my eye, being a fan both, I realized that I just can't go back to BA bass, which coupled with coherency issues being more or less resolved puts me squarely in the hybrid arena with DD bass. Most of the all, the QDC and UM implementations really fall into my cup of tea without saying.
I noticed that the shell was different compared to the U series, this combined with the huge reduction in driver count compared to the u12t and the others a much better fit due to a more snug fit outside my canal as well as a much lighter weight. I still wish there was a lip to hold on to dips and a deeper insertion, but otherwise it's par for the course for my left ear. This took a bit more power to drive and I pushed to 45 on high gain on the 1A 4.4 output.
@Colors can attest to the crap eating grin on my face when I was going through more bass heavy tracks. Subbass extends deep, I actually thought the rumble was an external sound as opposed to coming from the DD for a couple seconds. Mid bass has excellent impact and slam, harder than the MEST, but not hitting my fatigure threshold at all. Despite all this bass, there is no bleed at all into the mids at all. Feels like the Apex is helping a lot since this kind of bass on another iem would make me rant to no end. If the u12t is well represented quality bass, the MEST being fun quality bass, the Trio is FUN quality bass (The Spongebob song kinda FUN). It has AUTHORITY, it RUMBLES and it SLAMS.
My experience with triple driver trbrids has been limited to the Valkyrie, so I honestly didn't expect much from the Trio's mids given that. Mids from a single BA driver? Sacrilegious! It would be thin at best and scooped out at worse. The to my utter amazement, was neither of those. 64 managed to make full bodied vocals come out from a single BA driver, no compromise at all which resulted in a bit more listening than needed. they're positioned slightly forward so that vocals come across as clear and more promiment. This leads to more of that Spongebob FUN with none of the issues I have with forward mids. Perhaps more of that Apex magic? I don't think I've ever had any issues or fatigure with 64 models that use Apex.
I'm going to keep this short, otherwise I'm going to be going on about good Tia Treble is forever. So uh, Tia Treble gud. That trademark Tia smoothness is also present, but this time affords some air and sparkle without any sibilance. FUN and smooth! I've always felt it was one or the other, but this is balanced in a good way that meshes with what they want to achieve in terms of a FUN signature.
Overall, the Trio is a W signature, similar to the MEST, but with a bigger emphasis on FUN and EXCITMENT, dialing both up to 11. It does it with only 3 drivers which is an impressive feat, since rare is the day 3-5 driver count iems end up being super impressive. If this signature was done on the MEST, I would most likely find it fatiguing for long listening sessions which more or less necessitates the inclusion of Apexon the Trio. And my impression line up with my experince with the tech being implemented, The MEST is lively enough by itself, but really takes a backseat to Trio. The biggest difference would the resolution, the MEST just takes that with no problem with more drivers handling the frequencies. For me, the Trio ends being similar enough to the MEST with the soundstage falling behind for a higher price point and I really can't see getting it as compliment or even over the MEST. If I still had the u12t, I would definitely be considering the Trio though.
MEST review is taking a bit more time than expected, there's starting to be a bit of hype getting off the ground and I want to completely sure that is not factoring into my impressions. Have a good Sunday!
