TRIPOWIN TP10 REVIEW :
SOUND: 5.5/10
CONSTRUCTION: 8/10
DESIGN: 6/10
ACCESSORIES: 6/10
VALUE: 5.5/10
TRIPOWIN is a new audio company that look very alike CCA company and sell for the moment only one earphones and one (nice) upgrade cable.
This is their story :
‘’OUR STORY :
Established. in 2019, TRIPOWIN is a premium design-minded Hi-Fi audio brand, steam from the passion and dedication to
provide the best-in-class acoustic quality products with budget price, ergonomic design, human-centric music experience.’’
This don’t tell alot so we will judge them from what they produce and proundly sale wich is the TRIPOWIN TP10, a multi driver earphones with 5 balanced armature. Priced at a competitive 70$ price, let’s see if it worth more than your visual attention.
You can buy the TRIPOWIN TP10 for 68.99$ from their official Amazon store
HERE
You can buy their excellent C8 cable for 29.99$
HERE
Disclaimer : I’ve been approach by Tripowin to review TP10 and KZ ZS10PRO. I wanna thanks them in advance for accepting my objective unbiased opinion.
SPECS :
Driver: 5 balanced armatures per side
- Impedance: 15 ohms
- Sensitivity: 98dB/mW
- Frequency Response: 20Hz to 40kHz
ACCESSORIES, CONSTRUCTION & DESIGN :
Unboxing is deceively similar to KZ or CCA one, with same box and presentation as well as same very minimal accessories, wich is a so so cable and 4 pairs of silicone eartips. At this price range, I would have love a better cable as well as extra memory foam tips.
CONSTRUCTION is well made, it consist of enormous metal + plastic housing that have a metal nozzle similar to KZ ZS10PRO I own. It feel quite sturdy and well crafted.
DESIGN in the other hand isn’t particularly well thinked due to absurdly big and thick housing. If you look at image of product stating this earphones are comfortable, you’ll see its a photoshop montage that stick TP10 cutted up shrinked image on a dude calm dude. To me this is a very serious issue with TP10 wich will make unusable this earphones for lot of people, and the one that will be able to fit them will most likely look ridiculous like me, because the housing with its long but thick nozzle and shape tend to protrude grotesquely from your ears. Eartips can help to some extend to avoid agressive discomfort, but not the one that are included. As well, the 2pin connector are the one that are used with ZS10PRO and ZSN, wich make it innapropriate for easy cable swaping, so, the earhook can make it even harder to achieve a proper fit.
ISOLATION is good due to having giant rock like housing stick in your ears, but its a back vented one, so sound leakage is kind of disastrously loud.
The TRIPOWIN C8 Upgrade cable is very nice, construction is top notch and worth the 30$ investmenté Its a real mixed copper silver plated braide cable. Flexible and well crafted, Tripowin C8 is an high end cable at budget price. The Balanced one I have do improve sound of TP10 to some extend by helping transient response and clarity.
SOUND :
First impressions was a violent shouty mid centric wall of sound that destroy my ears, so I throw this TP10 as far as I can and run away due to survival instinct. To note that I tend to listen to music loud, so, after some days of meditation about doing or not this review, i decide i will give them another chance at lower volume so I can have longer hearing lifespan for real audiophile enjoyment.
This do not really change my first impressions, but i discover the TP10 can be slightly more listenable with less agressive music or gentle instrumental. As well, using the upgraded balanced cable help a little overall clarity.
SOUNDSTAGE is average but not stock in your head, its more about widness than deepnest here.
IMAGING is average and do not have a natural spaciality, instrument placement do not sound right and layering is chaotic.
BASS is dry in lower end and lack natural extension Mid bass is bright with just enough fowarded punch to let body and weight give good impact. Timbre and tonality of bass sound artificial but the real problem is sub bass as the track LOCO from Vince Staples show, the kick is well enough bodied and fast, but when the sub synth line appear, wich is suppose to be super bodied, it sound off and annoyingly non transparent.
MID RANGE take about all space it can in TP10 sound presentation and make it for a bright overstocked presenation. Level of clarity is push fowards and messed up, so you have plenty of details showed in a congested shouty way. Thave vocal sound artificial and slightly metallic, it lack body and roundned, wich make them thin and grainy but very fowarded to. More their instrument more the presentation became unbearable and shouty, as well, this problem is accentuated at higher volume wich affect rather bad transient response. Male and female vocal sound as dull.
TREBLE do not extend particularly far, wich is a surprise for a multi BA iem, its smoothed on top but emphased in lower and mid treble where the drop begin. Highs lack sparkle and decay, in fact, do not have any, and percussion, especially cymbals, can souned very splashy and agressive.
SUB BASS : 5.5/10
MID BASS : 7/10
MID RANGE : 6.5/10
TREBLE : 5/10
TIMBRE : 6/10
ATTACK-DECAY : 6/10
SOUNDSTAGE : 6/10
IMAGING : 5/10
COMPARAISONS :
VS AUDIOSENSE T260 (50$) :
The T260 is a dual balanced armature earphones using good quality Knowles drivers, perhaps the TP10 have 5 BA’s but they are of lower grade so let’s see how this two compare.
Construction of both is good for the price, but T260 with in term of comfort and fit as the housing is about 3 times smaller. As well, the included 4 cores SPC cable of T260 is better than braided copper one of TP10.
T260 have notably wider soundstage as well as more natural layering but TP10 have clearer imaging in an artificial manner. It have thicker bass with more weight and faster energic transient response wich make it warmer than dryier TP10, the mid bass is less separated from sub bass than TP10 but this give a more naturally bodied feel. MID RANGE is more organic, with better instrument separation and definition, vocal sound way fuller and more natural than more shouty-dryier-breathy and intimate TP10 one, whole mid range is more balanced and airy and do not stole upper range clarity. I enjoy vocal on T260 even if dynamic range can affect tonality sometime, while i jsut can’t enjoy any signers with the TP10. TREBLE is more extended with T260 and highs have more sparkle and decay, as well it show more micro details in upper range, the TP10 have more texture in timbre but more grain too, while timbre of T260 sound more polished and thicker.
All in all, T260 is sure more musical but slightly warmer and less resolved than artificial sound TP10. T260 have a warm W soundsignature while TP10 have a very foward mid centric one. To me, their no doubt that T260 is a more enjoyable iem as well as better all arounder.
VS TIN AUDIO T3 (70$) :
T3 is a hyrdi dynamic+BA drivers with well balanced slightly V shape soundsignature and good overall clarity and timbre, now lets see how it compare to TP10.
CONSTRUCTION is beautifully crafted with its all metal body and its more comfortable than ggantic TP10. As well, it look more sexy and included stock cable is a nice 8cores copper-silver that do not push you buying an upgrade one.
Soundstage is wider, deeper and taler with a more holographic out of your head feel compared to intimate fowards presentation of TP10. IMAGING being more spacious, we have more space between instrument separation and better sens of placement too, the TP10 compensate this with pushing details fowards but still sound congested.
BASS dig way deeper with the T3, it is rounder and more impactfull with good natural rumble that do not drown mids, punch is slightly softer than TP10 but with better timbre and sens of impact. MID RANGE is jsut a little more recessed than ultra fowarded TP10 but with better timbre, accuracy and separation, its less bright and detailed but more natural and balanced. TREBLE is not the most extended but still extend further than TP10 giving more sparkle and natural decay to high while TP10 overemphased low and mid treble make the highs shouty, metallic, artificial and splashy and micro details drown behing wall of sound.
All in all, T3 is more balanced, have good controled bass, have better timbre, more transparency, better clarity and spacility wich make it sound from another more refined league than brigther, fowards, faster and more agressive TP10.
CONCLUSION :
TRIPOWIN TP10 is a first attempt from an obscure (?) chinese company that should have begin implementing less balanced armature to perfect their tuning capabilities. My theory is that its from the same manufacture than CCA A10 but tuned by somebody that have hearing issue with vocal, so this explain that perhaps he do not hear properly how insanely fowards, shouty and agressive is the whole mid range.
We have with TP10 a great example of ‘’too much is like not enough’’, because their too much balanced armature in the body even if its super big, when we look closer, about 1/4 of housing space isn’t used, and perhaps the crossover boards explain why spacial acoustic isn’t take into account for proper sound engineering.
All in all, I hope this company will try to improve and listen from other negatives impressions than mine to create something WAY better than this, should it be in term of fitting ergonomic, sound balance, bass, mid range musicality, timbre, imaging, treble, attack (etc). In other word, I just can’t recommend these amateurish earphones to anyone with the exception of people with mid range hearing loss.
In other hand, I really enjoy the upgrade TRIPOWIN C8 cable they make and recommend it to anyone searching high quality 8cores braided silver+copper foil cable for the KZ ZSN, ZS10PRO and the like.
