[dharmasteve]

I cannot comment on the question of a KBEAR house sound as I do not have enough KBEAR IEMs to give an opinion on the house sound. I can also not comment on the KS1 as I have a set of the KS2 but not KS1.

If it helps you, my contribution is limited to the TRI IEMs and in that regard my opinion is that TRI does have two distinct presentations, one vinyl-like and the other more analytical in the manner in which music is presented. I use A and B only to illustrate the division.

To my ears the divide is as follows (decreasing price order):

Group A
Starshines
I3s
I4s

Group B
Starlights
Starseas

For me all of them make music enjoyable. Granted, as you go up the list (and price) the more technical they get and the greater detail you get, but not necessarily greater pleasure, in my view.

On all of the TRI IEMs bass is well implemented. Bass on the I4s is more than adequate, although not quite the sub-bass of the I3s. The sub-bass on the I3s is satisfyingly viseral, and the mid-bass is potent and bordering on huge but not quite overwhelming to my ears.

While the Starseas are rather more held back on bass, but not bass-shy, also helped by tuning switches. Clearly, the effect is to avoid bass that overshadows the other frequencies in order to have a brighter tuning. That tuning goes for the Starlights as well, except the Starlights' bass is much more potent than the Starseas' bass. In my view the technicalities on Starseas, Starlights and Starshines is high up there with some of the best IEMs available and certainly arguably some of the best price performance ratios. Which puts the Starseas at the very top of the price to performance league table in my view.

For me, the Starshines are BA bass tuning at its best. Bass which mimics DD bass, without the feeling that you miss anything (yes, DD bass moves more air) although it is the bass quality that stands out for me, definition on every note.

That is not to say the I3s and I4 fall short on higher frequencies, I think focusing on bass, takes away focus from the higher frequencies but there is plenty information in the mids (Planar on the I3s) and the highs to my ears. The test is to concentrate on one instrument, which has sufficient treble input on a track, say, a piano, guitar or saxophone and follow it through bass passages, that instrument may not be prominent when the bass strikes but the treble is clearly audible in all its detail on the TRI I3s. An example is "Beautiful Love" by Peter White:



My TRI journey began with the TRI I3s and I still go back to them and enjoy them and that goes for all the TRI IEMs. As @baskingshark once said, the journey is as much fun as the destination, or words to that effect.

Hope it helps, despite not comparing KBEAR with TRI.

Well appreciated description of the full TRi set. Although I don't have the Starlight now, in memory, they impressed me with the whole FR. Treble is not held back and the only word that fully describes them (from my notes) is 'exciting'. Top IEM.
I'm listening to the TRi i3 and the TRi Starshine right now, both 4.4mm in the HiBy R5 and Azla Xelastec L tips. The beauty of the Starshine, it's bass is just right, even though BA, mids are positioned perfectly and highs are totally non-fatiguing but have the enjoyment factor.
I love the Starsea's and unless I'm not listening to 2Paq or bass intensive music, which is not their forte, they have good mids and treble that suits classical music and most jazz perfectly. But for long sessions chilling out the Starshine is very much the one for me. The upper mids have a smoothness that means I can listen for hours. Very vinyl sound indeed, very hard to drive, but with enough juice they are something, my ideal old English record deck sound. Don't even try them with a mobile 'phone alone' though. The i3 started me on the TRi journey and they still hold up and the details in their mids are great, as is bass. Another one for long sessions. I don't know how or who tunes their IEM's but they should get an award.

 

[Capo Dei Capi]

I cannot comment on the question of a KBEAR house sound as I do not have enough KBEAR IEMs to give an opinion on the house sound. I can also not comment on the KS1 as I have a set of the KS2 but not KS1.

If it helps you, my contribution is limited to the TRI IEMs and in that regard my opinion is that TRI does have two distinct presentations, one vinyl-like and the other more analytical in the manner in which music is presented. I use A and B only to illustrate the division.

To my ears the divide is as follows (decreasing price order):

Group A
Starshines
I3s
I4s

Group B
Starlights
Starseas

For me all of them make music enjoyable. Granted, as you go up the list (and price) the more technical they get and the greater detail you get, but not necessarily greater pleasure, in my view.

On all of the TRI IEMs bass is well implemented. Bass on the I4s is more than adequate, although not quite the sub-bass of the I3s. The sub-bass on the I3s is satisfyingly viseral, and the mid-bass is potent and bordering on huge but not quite overwhelming to my ears.

While the Starseas are rather more held back on bass, but not bass-shy, also helped by tuning switches. Clearly, the effect is to avoid bass that overshadows the other frequencies in order to have a brighter tuning. That tuning goes for the Starlights as well, except the Starlights' bass is much more potent than the Starseas' bass. In my view the technicalities on Starseas, Starlights and Starshines is high up there with some of the best IEMs available and certainly arguably some of the best price performance ratios. Which puts the Starseas at the very top of the price to performance league table in my view.

For me, the Starshines are BA bass tuning at its best. Bass which mimics DD bass, without the feeling that you miss anything (yes, DD bass moves more air) although it is the bass quality that stands out for me, definition on every note.

That is not to say the I3s and I4 fall short on higher frequencies, I think focusing on bass, takes away focus from the higher frequencies but there is plenty information in the mids (Planar on the I3s) and the highs to my ears. The test is to concentrate on one instrument, which has sufficient treble input on a track, say, a piano, guitar or saxophone and follow it through bass passages, that instrument may not be prominent when the bass strikes but the treble is clearly audible in all its detail on the TRI I3s. An example is "Beautiful Love" by Peter White:



My TRI journey began with the TRI I3s and I still go back to them and enjoy them and that goes for all the TRI IEMs. As @baskingshark once said, the journey is as much fun as the destination, or words to that effect.

Hope it helps, despite not comparing KBEAR with TRI.

I think what you mean is: "Its better to travel than arrive."

 

[mndless]

I think what you mean is: "Its better to travel than arrive."

Ralph Waldo Emerson — 'Its the not the Destination, It's the journey.'
Catherine Bybee — 'Sometimes the journey is the destination.'
Simon Rattle — 'Always the journey, never the destination.'
Srikumar Rao — 'There's no destination. The journey is all that there is, and it can be very, very joyful. '
Jamal Crawford — 'Sometimes it's more about the journey than the destination.'

Just a few related quotes I found in about five minutes of googling. I knew the one from Catherine Bybee already, though. I do think the quote from Shrikumar Rao is the most appropriate for Audiophiles, since even the arrival at a TOTL IEM is met with yet more yearning for the next experience.

 

[mndless]

Seems you got 50mw on SE and 200mw on balanced. The Starlights having EST´s, should be harder to drive than the specs imply, which would otherwise not be that hard although certainly not easy to drive either.

But the starseas should be easier to drive, both from the driver config and the specs (resistance and sensitivity).

I listened to my friend's Kinera NanNa v2.0 and I can confirm that the EST equipped IEMs are thirsty. Like, they'll sound fine on a modest amount of power, but if you have something with a high gain option that can dump about 200mW at them, they'll be very, very happy to reward you with the most astonishingly realistic treble. Usually these IEMs also just have high impedance to both act as a passive noise filter for your source, but also because they're trying to equalize the various sensitivities between all the drivers by bumping up the impedance of the other drivers or by switching to less sensitive drivers to try to match everything up properly. I sometimes wonder what kinds of crossovers they're using in these things, because I've seen some crazy designs for series crossovers for a 3-way system as an alternative to the traditional parallel crossovers, and trying to sort through what everything was actually doing to the signal just about melted my brain.

https://tubecad.com/2017/11/blog0403.htm
https://tubecad.com/2017/11/blog0402.htm

This dude is scary smart when it comes to audio stuff. I'm in awe of how much effort he put into these explanations.

 

[Zmue]

I’m very curious on the Starlight after watching Resolve’s latest comparison.

After some weeks of listening, I’ve come to the conclusion that the Monarch isn’t for me. I love the detail but it’s just way too mid-bass anemic.

I think I’ve realized I really enjoy V-Shape or close to it (FD5?) and now I’m looking for something that has some warm, visceral slam along with good upper detail.

Thieaudio’s Excalibur and Starlight seem really close in the lower region; that Star’s rather cavernous dip @ 5/6K and then that huge extension seem really.. interesting.

Any opinions or recommendations would be appreciated!

 

[mndless]

I’m very curious on the Starlight after watching Resolve’s latest comparison.

After some weeks of listening, I’ve come to the conclusion that the Monarch isn’t for me. I love the detail but it’s just way too mid-bass anemic.

I think I’ve realized I really enjoy V-Shape or close to it (FD5?) and now I’m looking for something that has some warm, visceral slam along with good upper detail.

Thieaudio’s Excalibur and Starlight seem really close in the lower region; that Star’s rather cavernous dip @ 5/6K and then that huge extension seem really.. interesting.

Any opinions or recommendations would be appreciated!

A bit off topic for this particular thread, but Zeos's conclusion that the Kinera NanNa v2.0 are one of the best balanced Harmon tuned IEMs out there is very accurate. I've heard them and they require absolutely no EQ to sound absolutely fantastic. The Thieaudio Clairvoyance are similarly tuned, as are the Shuoer Conductor. The TRI Starlight v4 is the closest from the TRI lineup and has reviewed very well if you can handle the slightly more elevated treble. Unfortunately, I haven't had the pleasure of listening to the Clairvoyance, Conductor, or Starlight v4, so I can't give a first-hand accounting of how their particular drivers match up with their frequency response graphs. The main difference I can see from the Starlight v4 and the others is that it's upper treble extension appears to roll off a bit more quickly. Probably an inadvertent result of how they've crossed everything over, but it would make it more tolerable for the treble sensitive in the extreme high frequencies.

 

[ChrisOc]

A bit off topic for this particular thread, but Zeos's conclusion that the Kinera NanNa v2.0 are one of the best balanced Harmon tuned IEMs out there is very accurate. I've heard them and they require absolutely no EQ to sound absolutely fantastic. The Thieaudio Clairvoyance are similarly tuned, as are the Shuoer Conductor. The TRI Starlight v4 is the closest from the TRI lineup and has reviewed very well if you can handle the slightly more elevated treble. Unfortunately, I haven't had the pleasure of listening to the Clairvoyance, Conductor, or Starlight v4, so I can't give a first-hand accounting of how their particular drivers match up with their frequency response graphs. The main difference I can see from the Starlight v4 and the others is that it's upper treble extension appears to roll off a bit more quickly. Probably an inadvertent result of how they've crossed everything over, but it would make it more tolerable for the treble sensitive in the extreme high frequencies.

I believe Zeos made an error which I think another YouTube Audio reviewer picked up. As Zeos did when he read TRT instead of TRI, I have to say that was dreadful typeface used on the Starseas packaging. There is one and only one version of the TRI Starlights.

If you look at the screenshot below you will see how the error came about. The is no demarcation between the name TRI Starlight [and] 4 electrostatic drive units....

You may want to clarify that with @WendyLi when she gets back.

 

[alamnp]

Do KB EAR and TRI share a similar house sound?

I'm so impressed with the KS1's that I won that I'm seriously tempted to seek out a higher end iem from TRI.
The replacement for the TRI i3 that TRI teased over on Instagram is on my radar, can anyone here briefly compare the KS1 to any higher-end KB EAR or TRI (such as the current TRI I3 for example)?
It's the bass quantity (plenty, just right for me) and overall infectious/exciting nature of the KS1 that appeals most, but the SQ/$ is superb all round.

I am saving up for Starshine. I want Starlight, but it will take me two years... lol I will settle with Starshine.

 

[Barusu Lamperouge]

Hello, for those who have both Starsea and I3 which one you deem fit for someone who prefers bass boosted neutral signature and timbre+tonality. Also, if someone has Tin P1 then a comparison of all three would be extremely helpful. Thanks in advance!

 

[baskingshark]

Hello, for those who have both Starsea and I3 which one you deem fit for someone who prefers bass boosted neutral signature and timbre+tonality. Also, if someone has Tin P1 then a comparison of all three would be extremely helpful. Thanks in advance!

I think the TRI I3 is more suited for you. It has more bass quantity than the TRI Starsea (even when Starsea is put on the bassiest switch). TRI Starsea has 4 tuning switches from neutralish to U shaped to V shaped, but even on the bassiest config, it isn't basshead for sure.

The TRI I3 is a very coherent and balanced sounding U shaped tribid, despite the weird mismash of driver configs. It is smooth and generally not harsh, except for an occasional 3 kHz spike that can rear its head during poorly recorded material (with say trumpets) or at boosted volumes. One negative area on the TRI I3 is that is has a bit of lack of sparkle in the treble for trebleheads, and was deemed overly safe in the treble.

The TRI Starsea is very different in tonality from the TRI I3, with the latter being more warm and analoguish and thicker in note weight, even on the balanced switch where the FR is similar. The TRI Starsea is more “monitor” like and drier and leaner, especially when not amped or with inappropriate source pairing (has very low output impedance).

Timbre is better on the TRI I3 for the treble frequencies, though the TRI Starsea seems to have better timbre in the lower end frequencies handled by the DD, such as in drums and percussions.

The TRI I3 has one of the best soundstages at the $100ish price bracket (in width/height/depth) when amped, and it beats the TRI Starsea in this area. The TRI I3 is more “grand” sounding when amped and more musical and more dynamic, with more spaciousness. I think the TRI Starsea is slightly better in this technicalities, other than in soundstage.

So you do need an amp to bring out the TRI I3's big soundstage and lush planar mids, the planars inside are rather power hungry.


I don't have the P1 with me anymore, but IIRC, it is more power hungry than the TRI I3. And was more anemic in the bass than the TRI I3.

 

[Animagus]

Hey guys! Here's my review of TRI Starshine 2EST+2BA IEM. It has a fun, energetic and musically vivid signature with exceptional clarity and detail retrieval for the price. Have a read to know more. Cheers!

TRI Starshine​

 

[Barusu Lamperouge]

I think the TRI I3 is more suited for you. It has more bass quantity than the TRI Starsea (even when Starsea is put on the bassiest switch). TRI Starsea has 4 tuning switches from neutralish to U shaped to V shaped, but even on the bassiest config, it isn't basshead for sure.

The TRI I3 is a very coherent and balanced sounding U shaped tribid, despite the weird mismash of driver configs. It is smooth and generally not harsh, except for an occasional 3 kHz spike that can rear its head during poorly recorded material (with say trumpets) or at boosted volumes. One negative area on the TRI I3 is that is has a bit of lack of sparkle in the treble for trebleheads, and was deemed overly safe in the treble.

The TRI Starsea is very different in tonality from the TRI I3, with the latter being more warm and analoguish and thicker in note weight, even on the balanced switch where the FR is similar. The TRI Starsea is more “monitor” like and drier and leaner, especially when not amped or with inappropriate source pairing (has very low output impedance).

Timbre is better on the TRI I3 for the treble frequencies, though the TRI Starsea seems to have better timbre in the lower end frequencies handled by the DD, such as in drums and percussions.

The TRI I3 has one of the best soundstages at the $100ish price bracket (in width/height/depth) when amped, and it beats the TRI Starsea in this area. The TRI I3 is more “grand” sounding when amped and more musical and more dynamic, with more spaciousness. I think the TRI Starsea is slightly better in this technicalities, other than in soundstage.

So you do need an amp to bring out the TRI I3's big soundstage and lush planar mids, the planars inside are rather power hungry.


I don't have the P1 with me anymore, but IIRC, it is more power hungry than the TRI I3. And was more anemic in the bass than the TRI I3.

Thanks for your impressions! I thought so that I3 would be a better fit for me as opposed to Starsea.

Starsea look beautiful and have tuning switches but I'm also slightly worried about the switches in general where users have faced issues like jamming or breakage. Nozzles would have been better.

 

[baskingshark]

Thanks for your impressions! I thought so that I3 would be a better fit for me as opposed to Starsea.

Starsea look beautiful and have tuning switches but I'm also slightly worried about the switches in general where users have faced issues like jamming or breakage. Nozzles would have been better.

Ya i prefer tuning nozzles too. Can't say for the others, but my Starsea has been used for a few months and the switches are still okay, but they might be a point of failure with repeated switching. Though in practice, I think for these tunable IEMs with switches, most people will generally find a tuning switch they like and stick to it permanently. Even TOTL tunable IEMs still come with switches eg QDC Anole VX.

 

[Barusu Lamperouge]

Ya i prefer tuning nozzles too. Can't say for the others, but my Starsea has been used for a few months and the switches are still okay, but they might be a point of failure with repeated switching. Though in practice, I think for these tunable IEMs with switches, most people will generally find a tuning switch they like and stick to it permanently. Even TOTL tunable IEMs still come with switches eg QDC Anole VX.

Yeah. It's a YMMV kind of thing.

 

[dharmasteve]

Hello, for those who have both Starsea and I3 which one you deem fit for someone who prefers bass boosted neutral signature and timbre+tonality. Also, if someone has Tin P1 then a comparison of all three would be extremely helpful. Thanks in advance!

For any bass and even midrange focused music the i3 is far superior to the Starsea. The Starsea really shines in it's treble. Whilst some DD's give a better timbre, timbre is not always the most important thing, weight and thickness of note are very important for violins....the Starseas get that right. The i3 does not quite get the weight and thickness of notes in the high registers, in the way the Starsea does. For all Bass driven, pop, and generally most music the i3 would be a great choice. I have used it A/B'ing with the Starshines recently and although the Starshine is better in the highs, the i3 competes well with it's overall musical sound. If you can get them at a knockoff price in the sale due to the i3 pro being released at some point they could be a bargain. A Planar IEM with good bass is an unusual thing.