The Traillii Ti, the legend, how I lusted over thee
After wearing a friend down enough to convince him to sell, i bit the bullet and brought these beauties home. Having owned the JP Traillii for quite some time, I wanted to take extra time with the Ti before sharing impressions and comparisons. I can get overly excited day one, we all can, but I have to say I love them more and more. And more. They are simply mesmerizing. I may go out in a limb here and say that, for me, these might the best IEMs I’ve ever heard. Seriously.
After years and multitudes of new totl IEMs being released, the Traillii JP is still considered one of the best ever made. The tuning is phenomenal, stage size and space, nice balance of technicals and emotions. I wondered how it would be possible to make it better, and when I heard about the Ti version, and the price, I dismissed it as a money grab for yet another LE. I can tell you that is NOT the case here, it’s a big upgrade, and realistically I would call it the Traillii MK2, not just a cosmetic upgrade. There were a few things that I wised the JP had, and the Ti solves all of them, Oriolus was definitely paying attention to what it’s users were asking.
The shells are a gorgeous patina Ti, very soft and smooth with a matte finish. They are way lighter than I expected, hardly more than the resin, and they are totally redesigned, not just Ti. The inner structure is different shape, new wire and solder, and the drivers are placed differently inside. The outer shape has been improved, the back has a more ergo curve to it, and it actually feels smaller if you can believe it. The nozzle is a tad longer and better shaped, so finally I get a good fit, nice and snug, and far more comfortable and lower profile. Big upgrade there.
From a sonic standpoint the Ti is both a traditional Traillii tuning and a departure. All the emotions are there, the gorgeous sound that made the Bird so famous and lusted after, this is all there in spades. The Ti is just better, and not just by a little bit. It sounds a bit like the Bird, Storm and V3 had a baby, and took all the good parts of each. It’s more linearly tuned, but also more energetic. More passionate, powerful. I find it extremely balanced, with more forward mids, so gone is the distant vocals and guitars overly panned to the sides. But it’s even more grand, the stage is even bigger if you can imagine, it leaves the vocals right up front and then lets the details off in all directions. It’s more detailed, more clean. More micro detailed but also more macro, it’s huge sounding, massive. All aspects have been improved in SQ. Just the resolution is an upgrade, but never sacrificing the musicality.
The bass is insane now, much tighter and faster, punchy like hell and more textured. It’s more controlled and less boomy, and while maybe some people like the slower softer bass of JP the Ti bass is on another level. I’ve read that some people think there is less bass, I don’t find this to be true. I think it’s simply that the bass is so much tighter and taught that you miss the boom of the JP. The stock cable has a bit less bass presence but the IEMs themselves have a very similar amount of bass to me. They hit really hard and no one should be worried about lack of bass Mids are more forward, more detailed and more clear. The spatial positioning is off the charts, I can hear details with extreme precision with amazing depth, height and of course width. There is more room for everything to breathe, space between the layers, each aspect leaving the slightly smooth and smeariness of JP into a highly detailed yet vastly musical soundscape. Especially with heavy guitars I notice how much more cleanly
I can hear them, even on tracks that were previously a bit clustered and blurry. They stretch out in depth quite a bit, and the mids are faster too. Metal is mind blowing on these. Vocals are just as sublime as before, just bigger and with more body, and clarity. Treble is more refined, more revealing, more spacious. It’s crisper but not bright, slightly more analytical perhaps, but very balanced. The Ti isn’t brighter, it’s just more balanced. I found the mids of JP to be darker compared to the sparkle up top, making the sparkle more pronounced. Now the mids and treble are matching in clarity, brightness and details. Now I don’t hear the sparkle, I hear clarity and richness from the deepest bass to the airiest est floating trebles. If someone found the top end of JP to be bright, I feel this removes that feeling; and when your ears adjust the whole tuning is just more cohesive and balanced.
The stock cable is fantastic. It looks like the Bird PW, but this one is made by Oriolus, and uses Gold and Silver over the usual copper. It’s really a perfect match for the Ti. While it’s now burning in, and I am using the Orpheus, I may go back to stock. The Orphy makes things smoother, but there is something really special with the W89 cable that matches so well with the Ti. It’s also very pretty, the whole package is gorgeous.
It’s really easy to drive, but it does take a bit more power than the JP. As was the case with the JP, the LP6 AE is a match made in heaven. It sounds great with everything I’ve tried it with, but the LP6 is end game. Like stop searching, don’t pass go, and just listen to music forever. Yeah, it’s stupid expensive. This is the world we live in, and while I hate that; this is the first summit IEM I would say is actually worth its price. All my chain is insanely expensive, I’m sure many will dismiss all this. But I only have one setup, not tons of IEMs and towers of DAPs. That’s all I want, no need for more.
This isn’t some vanity project, or a mud in your eye limited edition bragging rights cosmetic “upgrade”. This is a whole new IEM, a full on successor. This is, without a doubt, the best portable audio setup I’ve ever heard. Game over.
So that’s where I’m at now. I’ve been searching for quite some time for a perfect IEM that handles all my vast library with ease. In fact the Ti has a way of sounding almost specialized for each genre I try it with, it’s certainly never boring. Start with the Traillii JP tuning and DNA, add the energy and clarity of the V3, plus the balance and technicalities of the Storm, and you might understand the Traillii Ti.
Sorry for the long rant, I just wanted to share
