TRN Conch - Rough Waters Ahead
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- Опубліковано 26 лип 2024
- Many thanks to TRN Official Store for sending the TRN Conch, you can find it here:
www.aliexpress.us/item/325680...
Timecodes:
00:00 Intro and Close Up
01:34 Graph Chat
04:23 What is it?
04:57 FOMO
05:16 Fine Tuning
06:00 Is it my favorite $20 set?
07:08 Bass
08:04 Mids
09:04 Treble
09:40 Stage
Thanks so much for being the only reviewer I’ve seen who can pronounce the name correctly! Excellent review also. You saved me a bit of money with your take on treble.
I thought someone previously said I had it wrong. Conch, Dolce, and I am thinking there is another recent one that could have gone a couple ways. Thank you
Great review Paul. For the price the accessories looks so good!
They are
I have a set coming myself and your review kind of solidified my theory that the Conch's focus was spread out and makes it a good generalist set but not much more beyond that. The accessories alone make it worth $20, however.
We'll see, maybe you dig it more than I. I think the accessories are great, but the one tuning that will work well is between the nozzles they included.
Your experience matched mine, when straight out of the box. After about 40 hours of burn-in the highs are much milder, not fatiguing anymore, even after 5 hours of nonstop listening. As I use them now, with black nozzles and foam tips, they have nice staging and a pleasant, coherent, reasonably natural sound. I tend to listen at low to moderate volumes however. Well worth the price in my opinion!
Yep, they are subtly fatiguing at more volume and foam tips are going to take the edge off too. I think the trick is as you did, find you way with the black nozzle as that is the better one and thinking about it with foam tips should work. There are some sets that just push the wrong peak for my ears and it gets fatiguing. Not specific to Conch, Nuo was the same. If you got yours working for you, enjoy it.
Thanks for your review. I saw a review on FB and I immediately got it as I was so excited because of the overall package. I got scared by Paul's review but I found comfort in your burn-in experience. Really appreciate your feedback.
Hi Paul, if I already have the moondrop chu 2 and kz zvx, a step to improve the sound quality would be the kiwi iear cadenza or TRN conch, which of these two do you recommend for varied music?
I got it for $19, really worth it with all the accessories.
Yeah definitely getting a modular cable and the tip sets is most of that price. You got a bonus IEM and case.
I really like this iem. It's fun, engaging, good details...falls short to some of my other sets like sonus, kato, and hexa...but 25 dollars. So can't expect the world. The bass is just a little more than id like. I'm not a fan of bass. It's just not for me. I like a tame and quick bass. Just a prefrence. Other than that, it sounds good. I like the whole package and think it's a really great value. My chu 2 will probably never be picked up again now though cause I do think these sound better and they have a similar tuning. It does have great imaging too. Just not as wide sounding as other sets
Yeah the bass got me too. TRN has used some better drivers and better tuning so I was really hoping for the best. But yeah , its a nice set for the price.
@@PaulWasabii for sure. I think they're at least trying. I hope to see them try to improve and maybe compete with simgot in the single dd war. The potential is there at least
I think i even like this cable more than Simgot EA500. Both nossle construction and sound signature as well. 😮 wow.
Thanks for this Paul! I'm wary of calling anything a "hyped" set, but this definitely has its strong following. This one is actually only about $25 where I am, so a slightly better deal than at $35. But yeah, doesn't look like something you should get once you have the other budget bangers.
Like T3+ and EW200, it will have a following. If you have heard better TRN drivers, it sounds ok.
For accessories included it's still worth the purchase
The accessories alone cost $25 even if you don't like the tuning it's worth it
@@PaulWasabiiI mean this is tuned similarly to the ew200 for less so Ill buy this instead
Nice! I don't mind these very cheap sets saturating the market, the more choices the better
True, its a cool metal set with a modular cable. You don't see that everyday at the price point, but I do wish they spent a bit more time on the nozzle tuning.
@@PaulWasabiiyea true lol I'll just stick with one and forget the rest id bet it's cool for modding like you said
Was also bothered by the spicyness of the treble but noticed a few people online suggesting putting a small piece of foam (i made sure to use a very small piece of porous foam) in the red nozzle to solve that problem. Didn't seem to hurt the lows, mids and other technicalities. Would have been nice if it was like this out of the box, but at the same time the mod was simple
Yep, a couple people in the comments mentioned that as well. As I said, listen to the stage on black, try your foam and see if the size is about the same. That was where the red went off.
Very resembling Simgot design. Would love to see Ikko OH10S reviewed by you.
Resembles but I think its just a vent from their marketing. I am listening to OH300 right now but trust me, the email said I would really, really, love to review OH10S. I have the OH10.
@@PaulWasabii Looking forward to it.
how do you think it performs compare to the 7hz zero especially on gaming performance. Im considering upgrade from the 7hz to TRN conch
I am probably the wrong one to ask but Conch isn't so much an upgrade but more of a relaxed flavor, not quite as bright or sharp as Zero. Maybe that is an upgrade if you get fatigued on Zero. Within similar price points, the well known sets aren't far apart, just different flavors.
How does this compare to the Simgot's EW200 in terms of Technicalities and Tuning?
Similar price, similar techs. TRN priced and discounted it correctly, that is where it competes. I didn't like either set all that much but EW200 is basically between the black and red nozzles with lower upper treble. Conch has all the accessories and people seem to be buying it for that.
@@PaulWasabii i appreciate the reply, i was stuck on which one to get but now this solidifies it, thank you!.
I was wondering, is the sound of Conch competitive to KZ Castor? Got the Castor but man, the value of the accessories seem really good.
Yeah, I think you can scan the comments here, most people are just happy to get the accessories especially if you are getting a discount. IEM is a bonus
Yeah, if anyone had tested these two, pls let me know!
Which Castor?
@@someoneusa the Harman one, but in the mean time I tested the Conch lmao. Ear-tiring/Fatigue comes after 1-2 hours of listening, consider upgrading to EW200 is the solution.
@@hailong6668sounds like you prefer a warm sound. I think EW200 will be just as fatiging, it's also a bright set like all the Simgots except for maybe the EM6L. Which is why so many people mod them. Ive got Castor Bass so I can't tell you about the Harman. Harman tune in general seems to be fatiging with so much energy in the mids/highs. You can easily mod the Conch. I LOVE bass but I found the red too recessed as Paul says. I do like the black though. Right now I've got med tape over the black nozzle until I find my filters, w/ foams. Or you can try TRN Orca for a warmer balanced tune. It's got the sound profile like a lot of the hyped warm-ish IEMs at the mo. I got mine on sale and with coins for $9. Just don't get the Waner. Sending mine back for the 2nd time and prob getting the ZSN PRO 2 which is tuned close to ZS10 PRO x, I actually heard it sounds better. Paul has a great review. If you want something more of a complete package, the Katacco is really good, cable, build, tips-clear/detailed sound with a warm treble and quality, impactful bass. Not at all a basshead IEM.
Did you burn these in? I found them shouty to start with but that calmed right down, now they sound superb, I definitely would not have given them such a harsh review, obviously sound is subjective I'm not arguing
They do get better but for me, the bass was still just a bit much. I used moondrop spring tips with the red nozzle and this seems to have fixed my issue with it but I still don't put them at louder volumes as that bass still becomes too much. What I will say is the driver sounds a bit snappier now. Idk if that even makes sense but like...hmmm. so like things moving around sound just like they're quicker to pick up. Like the driver is keeping the pace of the energy of the song. Am I making sense?
It is subjective and the only thing that matters is that you enjoy them. As I said, TRN has some nice DD, the one in Conch is ok. That price point is super competitive and hard to take a top spot.
Is this better than double filter olina in musicality, resolution and midrange?
No, Conch is a decent set on sale for the accessories and a cool looking set. Keep your Olina.
According to your graphs on squig link i think a 400 filter will suit the black nozzle better. Maybe too close to the red nozzle, but still...
I tried both and used both. I like both more than the red but it will come down to which works in your ear and your library. If you are very stage aware, you will notice the difference right away over red.
Nearly got these on BF. Decided to tu the pr2 instead
Cable is cool on Conch depending on your BF price. Some people got it for a very low price will be happy with it
I really like your reviews. I think your own ears betrayed you this time. 😅 These are quite possibly God tier in terms of cheap sets.
Yeah its possible. Everyone else likes it, and as you said, more generally appealing than EA500. I sent my Conch to Michael Bruce, he went on to make a mod for them that I have yet to hear. I would probably like that version.
@@PaulWasabii oh that's interesting. I was thinking this is the perfect IEM to try a mod on. If the driver is of decent quality it could really fix those issues you have with the sound signature. Let me know how it goes if anything interesting develops with the changes in sound.
hpw many pins are on the cable through the jack adaptors
4
A very high 8 kHz peak that’s not normal, I measured my unit and the 8 kHz peak is -3 dB (below pinna peak foam/silicon tip). So no treble fatigue or excess sibilance
Not sure, TRN's own graph shows a peak at 9k. As I said, it gets to me after a while. Will it bother anyone else? Maybe not.
Lower peak with Moondrop foam tip (no peak over 10 kHz), original silicon ribbed tip -1 dB (8 kHz), original black tip -3 dB peak at 8.9 and 11 kHz, it seems better to use black original tips
I got these, I really love them.. I don't see how you find them so cheap sounding? Real snappy, great mid bass.. It's real nice for what I use it for.. Psyche/dub sort of things.. Also 70s folk stuff.. It's great. BTW the micropore tape worked great on my Pr2's, sorted them right out.
They are ok, I sent mine to Michael Bruce and he modded them but never saw them again. He also didn't like them stock but the driver is very nice according to him. I'll get back to it eventually.
@@PaulWasabii excellent..btw, I cut up the foam from a set of flatheads into small squares, and stuffed them into the red nozzle using a tiny metal rod, so it's like an irregular cone in there pointing at the mesh from inside the nozzle. Nice result. Better then cutting little round pieces that fit well.
agree 100% 2 or the 3 tuning nozzles are too close and red kills too much the sparkle in the trebble so black+(foam or filter) is the sweet spot
Yes, red annoyed me and the other two were more than I can handle. But once you hear the black, you know what is missing on the red so just got to inch the black down with foam or filter as you said.
Try this. Moondrop spring tips with the red nozzle. Spring tips are the best match. Tames bass, increases treble
Where do you buy these filter materials, like, you said 350 filter, I have looked and looked, can't find such things, just really cheap stuff that harms the sound...someone recommended a 450 filter for my pr2's
I actually don't mind cheap stuff like 3M micropore tape. You can cover the whole nozzle or just part and its very cheap. The material that IEM makes use is usually called tuning paper on Aliexpress www.aliexpress.us/item/3256803866215765.html
@@PaulWasabii oh the tuning paper like people use on the back of a 40mm driver for a headset? Then I have to muck about with glue.. I will check out 3m micropore tape, and the link you sent.. We get pre-made filters metal and nylon here in Indonesia but it's junk, wrecks the sound, seriously.. whenever someone has something good like the tanchjim tanya filters they are gone in like an hour.. I ordered micropore tape just now.. Thanks for the response.
Well, after using moondrop spring tips with the red nozzle and burning these in more, the driver sounds snappier...idek if that makes sense at all. Like...hmmm...the driver matches the energy of the song. So like i listen to J-rock like EVE or a band like Nothing More, you get a lot of stuff going on at one time and the driver really does well at matching the energy here. The guitar sounds also have more bite to them which was a nice change of pace. Bass is still not what id like...ive tamed it with the tip change but if i go to louder volume...it still become an issue. I dont normally listen at loud volume so thats fine but it is definetly a weak point of this driver. Now, onto the clarity, its quite good now. The separation is great and the sound stage is wider with the tip change. So now things feel open which is nice when paired with its good imaging. It has really good macro detailing on this aspect...still falls short on overall resolution and detail to my favorite set, the sonus...but...it gives me something more fun and engaging when im feeling up for it. So ill definetly be keeping them. Theyll be a nice switch of pace in my rotation. I do hope trn builds upon this and delivers something better in the future. Cause i do think they can if they just try to refine their idea here. Cause the shell is quite nice, accessories are really good, and it seems they have at least have a good idea on where they want to go.
Glad you got them almost dialed in. I was listening to Sonus the other day, it is closer to what I prefer and I still like that one, now I have 2 pairs.
How would these compare to the mt4 pros?
Tough, I wanted to change both sets. If Conch was more like MT4 Pro, I'd probably like it more. Conch is actually a bigger V shape and maybe that is attractive to you. MT4 Pro isn't quite the same signature so kinda hard to compare those two, if you like more bass, more treble then Conch. MT4 Pro is leaner, shallower V.
@@PaulWasabii I see thank you!!
The shells are good, it has real modding potential.... just try to add some foam in the (black or blue) nozzles.
Yes, I put a filter on top, foam will do too. As I said, I had the urge to fix it and then got bored and fatigued. But yes, the Black and Blue are too far into trebles, so put something inside or on top and you will get better upper treble than red.
I used the foam tips with black nozzle. Reduced the bass a good bit. So that helped me. Tonality gets a little off compared to red nozzle...and treble gets a little peaky or shouty if that even makes sense. Like just certain parts get a little too much....hmmmm. maybe I'll get some filter to put in the nozzle to help. Idk. I like nuetral bright and even for me this is a little too spicy up top. Not terrible. I'm not saying it sounds bad... but fatiguing. I may just try picking up an ew200 though or an ea500. Probably jump to an ea500 tbh.
Hear me out. Try this. Moondrop spring tips plus red nozzle.
its either red witht he default tri clarion tips, or black+ foam tips for me. Blue tips not usable imo. Hurts my ears to much treble.. blue 1 mesh, black has 4 mesh, red has 8 mesh.
I like the look of it, but it seems like a direct upgrade to the Simgot EW200. Nice accessories, multiple tuning nozzles, it seems like a set that should control the budget market. Too bad the nozzles are sort of a farce.
For me i found the red nozzle made the bass to muddy and boomy, the black nozzle had much more clarity and balance, may also have been the Dunu s+s tips i used.
I'll pick up some of those tips and see. Been meaning to get some anyway to see if they'd pair well eith my hexa or sonus ...or even my Kato. Just to experiment
Yes, that is why I modified the black but I do wish they had tweaked the red one as its close. But you need to try the black to know what is missing with the red so I would encourage everyone to try all of them rather than gravitating to red.
Hey, try this. Red nozzle plus moondrop spring tips. I think I'm onto something bro.
@@LuciferArc1 i used the ea500 tuing kit 500 filter and black foam filters on the black nozzle with s+s tips running it on the warm sounding Ifi zen can is the best i've come up with, but i'll give your combo a try thanks.
@@LuciferArc1 i use them on my sonus opened up the soundstage even more....
is there any difference between 3.5 and 4.4
There is if your source device has different power on each output. On dongles, you tend to see 4.4 balanced having almost double the power available than the 3.5. That can matter, but 99% of sets in the Conch price range won't make a difference. You will notice it more on planars as they take more power to hit the same volume levels.
Is it much better than CCA CRA? Thanks
Than the original CRA, no. But I don't know what the current CRA sounds like.
@@PaulWasabii Thanks Bro
Interesting. There is reports of qc problems maybe you got a bad one. Because for TDM this set have what you hoped, tight bass nice highs etc.
Anything is possible and TRN has had QC problems.
Was thinking the same thing. This is the first I've heard of a bad driver, too much bass and/or too much treble on red nozzle. I personally like the 'look' of the stock black graph but will definitely try your mod if too spicy. I prefer warmer profiles, sensitive to too much treble. Wasn't expecting that at all. I LOVE bass, good, clean, deep, and plenty of it. But muddy bass?! Hells Noooo! I've got 2 sets coming so I'll see about the QC. After tip rolling to get some more bass out of the $5 TRN CS2, love the highs/Soundstage. Vocal forward, from what I recall, high mids graph similar to black nozzle. Also have the V80 which I modded due to so much treble, now it sounds great. I have a couple other off brand sets with TRN drivers which I also like and own a few red chain and t-tips. Hopefully these won't disappoint!
Just got it, 0 problems with qc ridiculous value i got it for 13 dollars. First impressions with the red filter very controlled tight bass and probably the highlight of this iem is the treble airy sparkly yet not hurtful, could listen for hours with the red,the other filter the bass becomes too clinical and the voices come forward loosing the atmospheric balance feel of the red. I guess there are some genres that benefits from that,anyway great set for what i paid.
@@PipeWatts-cl1so any comparison to other sets you own also what genres of music you listen to
@@PipeWatts-cl1so sweet!
Gonna buy these instead of the ew200 because of how much is comes with lol did the math around how much all the accessories cost added together and it costs as much as the iem not including the actual iems
Yes, if you are mainly buying it for the accessories, the modular cable is nice and it includes a full set of t-tips. That is the majority of the cost and you get a bonus iem with it. In that respect, better than EW200. I's probably prefer to listen to EW200, but better package with Conch
@@PaulWasabii ah I see! Thanks again I'll see about testing either thanks !!
didnt Fiio release a conch too 😂
Yep
How's the Bass. IM A BASS PERSON ..ANY SUGGESTIONS UNDER BUDGET
There is only one choice, Rosefinch. Conch is ok for the price, not really a big bass set.
do you like the simgot ew200 better than this set ?!
Of the recent ones, the sets that give me a bit of fatigue aren't my favorites. Conch and Nuo are similar in that respect. Won't fatigue everyone but the trebles have some energy. Then there are the others which are flavors of the same style, EW200, Polaris, Zero 2, Celest Wyvern which I prefer. I like Polaris and the bass switch. Better for me is a set I can use for a long time and not get a headache.
@@PaulWasabii thanks for the info and correct me if im wrong out of these sets you like the ones that are closer to your preffered tuning " thats what matters most of the time " and not because one got a better driver or has better technicalities over the others ?
Not good but not bad either for the price, accessories here is the main interest to be honest & IEM itself just bonus that come with it lol
Yeah, Redchain is a nice cable and I have a few sets of the medium t-tips, but never had the large, so those two alone make the discounted price worth it.
@@PaulWasabii Well... the price is tempting, can't say NO since overall package is good starter set. It's worth to buy without the 'feel of wasting money'
This set definitely isn’t in my wheelhouse. Ziigaat Nuo would be better strictly from a tuning prospective.
Yeah the tuning is just off center for me, for what it should be at the price. It will find itself to the right ears who see the value
TRN Conch are $50 on my country (because import tax), kinda have to think more logical to purchase this. Is it because how much accesories it carries or just because FOMO. I think I'll pass, there's much better choices out there to have.
Even if I consider to buy it just to use the cable and eartips it would've been cheaper just to get it separate purchase.
I will say that most people who seem to really like it, paid much less, got it at a great discount. But yeah, no need to overspend for a modular cable
These seriously compete with the likes of Simgot EA 500. They blow away E200 because of the accessories alone. Not to mention to my ears both the black and red nossle sound better than the Simgot E200.
I kinda said the same things on EW200, I didn't like that one much either.
The cable only $8-9 in Aliexpress. I want to buy it for my Khan but they can't ship to my country. Damn you government
I saw that as well. Generally the price is a bit more so I gave them a $12-$15 range on it. Its a nice cable actually.
@@PaulWasabii yes by the look in the video i assume the cable is similar to the Dioko's is it right? Cause i have the Dioko and i really like how the cable feel. Not too stiff nor too soft, not too heavy nor too light, just perfect for me 👌
(at first) your review left me disappointed because I first bought 5 units to resell and only then went looking for more professional reviews. Wrong of me, I know, but I'm glad I bought it first and then saw your review, otherwise I wouldn't have bought it.
I don't like KZ precisely because they are very aggressive earphones and so I identify with you, who claims that you have sensitive hearing.
Well, I opened a TRN conch today and I have it at the moment and I respectfully and happily disagree with your review!
Maybe I don't have as much experience as you, but I've tested much more than 50 earphones and the best headphone I've tested to date was the Letshuoer s12 pro, so I believe I have a good base (good, not perfect).
I liked the TRN conch even with the black ring tips, it's not perfect, but I really liked it. Very clear, sharp (in a good way) and electric in the guitar sound. EXCELLENT bass extension which I really didn't expect due to its hard material drive. I admit that such clear earphones are not my preference, I like the 7hz salnotes zero style more, but I still really liked it!
To make it even better, I just raised the bass a little (I don't consider myself a basshead) and lowered it a little in the 2-4k area, which I normally do on more aggressive earphones. I haven't tried the tips with red rings yet, but I'll probably like them even more.
You can really see from the graph that it doesn't have a good treble extension, despite them being present. On the positive side, the highs are not piercing like the KZ earphones, so I don't understand why you complained, given that you have sensitive hearing.
I have here a heart mirror pro still sealed (same driver material), earphone that I waited for over a year to find a good sale (I'm from Brazil and it costs 5x more compared to the minimum wage) and I know it will be better, but I don't think it's worth the price difference they have.
Its cool, this isn't a right or wrong thing. If you lowered 2-4k, that is what I did. Most people won't do that and want to know what it sounds like out of the box. The black is too bright and red is too dull. You found the happy zone between the two as I said. It was a nice set at the promotional price, that is how it will be remembered.
After listening all day, I discovered that I prefer the SalNotes Zero. I've tried the black, red, and blue, and none of them appeal to me. I don't like this colorful, energetic sound signature.
Zero was tuned Crinacle/Moondrop style which is super popular. TRN Conch is not quite the same and the nozzles didn't help me.
TRN conch's soundstage is just okay. 7hz zero, has one of the best soundstages for a iem under 50 dollars, along with ew200. But conch has more sparkle, but 7hz zero is relaxing for me.
The 20$ you're talking about costs only the cable 😂 people getting spoiled nowadays
You are correct today, but end of last year, Conch was that cheap when you had Ali coupons
Red nozzle and crank it up
Eh, modifying the black is still better and you can drop the pinna below the red but maintain the upper treble of black. You might get it cranked, but the red smashed the air out of it. It sounds quite different in that area from black.
Throw spring tips on em.
Hi Paul, if I already have the moondrop chu 2 and kz zvx, a step to improve the sound quality would be the kiwi iear cadenza or TRN conch, which of these two do you recommend for varied music?
You don't gain much in similar price ranges. If you want to try, I'd say cheaper CCA Polaris with switches so you can learn your preferences or Wan'er rather than Cadenza as Wan'er will sound more expensive than the price. If you can't hear any difference, enjoy your sets for a while and get used to the subtle differences.