[citral23]

This is *suspiciously* cheap

 

[martiniCZ]

That's about right I suppose

This is the essence of communism - blurring the differences between the poor and the rich! Almost half of my life we tried to do it in our country, so I have no problem with it

 

[unifutomaki]

Exactly, ST1 looks like a queen of a poor kingdom who has no money for diamonds, or he has a stingy king at home And BA5 looks like king without money for the switch, while the V90 is definitely an person of king pro!

So that's why I found the V90 strangely... familiar after looking at TFZs offerings

 

[martiniCZ]

But even a person can one day become a good king!

 

[goa604]

Ok no answers so i decided to pull the trigger anyway. V90 are on the way and TRN guys on facebook told me BT20S only had pronounced issues with hissing on V80 model. I ordered BT20S now and will probably update you guys with a definitive answer in 2 weeks.

 

[illumidata]

Best tips I’ve found so far for the V90s and my hobbit ears: Azla SednaEarfit Light (L!). Everything I’ve read about them, and wide bore tips in general, appears true. Bass has attained oceanic levels of depth, there’s a hint of a boost to vocals/upper mids and a whole load of air above the treble now. Much more isolation than I was expecting as well (I guess because of the very deep insert)...only problem is they’re incredibly hard to source in UK and all my lovely Symbios are pretty much redundant.

 

[oMalakai]

Alright, time to give my impressions about the TRN V90. I ordered them cos I kinda wanted an upgrade from my KZ ED16 and the V90 seemed really popular right now, and convinced me enough to get a pair. I've been using them for two or three days since then.

Build quality is nice, and comfort is pretty good too! Although I was removing the cable today and pushed them too hard apparently and I heard a slight crack from one of the shells...I hope I didn't mess it up. Besides that, all good there. The included silver cable is much more comfortable than the stock, black one too. Super flexible and light.

Bass seems to be better overall, in some songs seems to have less...but in others it definitely has more, and it feels more lively, and reaches deeper. I always tend to boost bass anyway but they definitely do not disappoint there.
Mids sound recessed tbh, specially when I went back to the ED16. Now, I know this is expected since it has a V shaped signature but not sure if I'm liking that much. Guess that my tastes have changed a bit and I do enjoy a more neutral signature now. Not too bad anyway but it does seem to impact some vocals and overall "presence".
Highs are interesting. They are way more lively than the ED16 and super detailed but it's kinda a double edged sword, since with some albums that are kinda bright, it gets tiring. For example. Rust In Peace from Megadeth, and Pantera albums that sounded really nice on the ED16, are overly bright here and I don't enjoy it much.

The V90 tho, seem to have a rather..."floaty" feeling on some instruments and drums, vocals. Airy. Not sure how to describe it but it sounds like some things are floating in front of me rather than being played right on my ears and that was very nice, never experienced that with the KZ. Separation and soundstage seem better too, and even on busy tracks, they seem to keep separation better too.

Now, the surprise was when I tried the stock cable, just in case... and realized that those very bright highs dissapeared! Now it sounds much warmer in comparison. Is it due to an impedance difference or something? Cos it's definitely less fatiguing to listen to them with the stock cable but at the same time, it loses some of it's magic so I'm not sure how to feel about it.

Those are my impressions so far anyway, and I wonder how they would sound with a better source, in the future. But yeah, that's how things are, so far. Not bad...but I'm not completely sold on them just yet!

 

[thebearded1]

For those of you that own the BA5, what are your thoughts on it’s timbre?

 

[martiniCZ]

The TRN stock cable has 1,5 ohm/channel resistance, while most of the SPC cables has around >0,5 ohm/channel. This has a impact on attenuation at 20 ohm earphones, FR graph cable does not change, but their drops power little bit. In addition, it seems to me that the stock cable has more channel crosstalk, because with SPC the stereo channel distribution sounds better and the scene seems wider to me. So with the stock cable sounds TRN's bit muddy to me for other then heavy metal. I understand that it may suit someone, but with foam tips I have a similar effect on SPC too, the way I do it is to turn the volume down a bit, or taking another, only DD earphones.
btw. I am listening to your Megadeth on V90 now and at reasonable volume quite interesting, thanks for the tip

 

[backdrifter]

For those of you that own the BA5, what are your thoughts on it’s timbre?

At first I thought they were too bright but I think there's been some burn in and now they sound quite balanced to me. By comparison, the BLON BL-03 is warmer and a bit fuller in the bass, but the BA5 sounds more "correct" to me. They're damn good, in my opinion. They've been my "daily driver" since I got them. No amp needed. They sound great straight out of my phone.

 

[citral23]

Just received the BA5, and out if the box I can say it sounds "correct" in every regard to me.

The global signature is rather cold, it's closer to a T2 than a BL-03 if you like, soundstage is above average for iems.

I listen mainly to jazz, so I'm picky on timbre and again it sounds on point, if on the cold side of the spectrum, but not shouty or metallic like KZ.

Very good clarity and detail, without harshness, but I'm calling it a bright iem. Doesn't seem overwhelmed by busy be-bop tracks, instruments separation remains above average and it remains coherent.

Not a "wow" effect but a good analytical iem for me, but this is very early, I'll report cons when I find them.

Tips are very good, for once. I used a qdc black 8 core yin*** cable on it, looks good.

 

[thebearded1]

Just received the BA5, and out if the box I can say it sounds "correct" in every regard to me.

The global signature is rather cold, it's closer to a T2 than a BL-03 if you like, soundstage is above average for iems.

I listen mainly to jazz, so I'm picky on timbre and again it sounds on point, if on the cold side of the spectrum, but not shouty or metallic like KZ.

Very good clarity and detail, without harshness, but I'm calling it a bright iem. Doesn't seem overwhelmed by busy be-bop tracks, instruments separation remains above average and it remains coherent.

Not a "wow" effect but a good analytical iem for me, but this is very early, I'll report cons when I find them.

Tips are very good, for once. I used a qdc black 8 core yin*** cable on it, looks good.

Thanks. I’ve owned the BA5 for a few weeks. Love them. I’m curious to other timbre opinions, as I feel they aren’t quite correct, when listening to classical/piano. Can’t really put my finger on it, so it could be my imagination.

 

[jibberish]

Good to know that the BA5 works with qdc connector cables, I've got a pretty nice qdc cable I bought for a TFZ IEM thinking that it would fit, but it didn't. So it'll be good to toss it on my BA5 when it arrives. Speaking of, I ordered my BA5 6 days ago and it still hasn't shipped

 

[BadReligionPunk]

I love my BA5 for Jazz, Jazz Fusion, Female Vocals and Orchestral Game/Movie soundtrack. Timbre is good. Not a lot of weight to anything so maybe that's whats throwing some off. Everything is fast and clean to me. Imaging, separation and stage are all really good. Its the best TRN I have listened too. They leak like a mofo and they don't isolate, but at lower volumes in quiet areas they kill. I ditched the stock cable for the KZ ZSN copper cable which measures at 0.3 ohm, and have currently ordered a 16 core Kbear QDC.

 

[citral23]

Thanks. I’ve owned the BA5 for a few weeks. Love them. I’m curious to other timbre opinions, as I feel they aren’t quite correct, when listening to classical/piano. Can’t really put my finger on it, so it could be my imagination.

While I find the timbre quite good on jazz piano, I fired some classical following your comment and wasn't super impressed.

This may have to do with the jazz sounding super warm (everything tube back then in the late 50s/early 60s at contemporary records), while classical often sounds quite cold, which the BA5 exacerbates.

To me it's acceptable, but won't win any contest, and for classical I'm much, much more into mid-centric earbuds anyway (like the moondrop nameless, on the cheap) for the gorgeous timbre and wide soundstage that no iem matches.

I like classical on speakers and earbuds are like small speakers

If isolation is needed, I'd use a single DD with good resolution and neutral sig like the tin T2, maybe T4 (haven't heard it yet)