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TRN V80 IEMs
01 / 08
TRN V80 IEMs
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Product Description
TRN has been getting a lot of love from the audiophile community for making value-priced multiple-driver IEMs that combine top-notch sound and design. The V80 model ups the ante with four drivers: two dynamic drivers and two balanced-armature drivers Read More
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keyboard_arrow_downccm220
197
Jul 23, 2018
Just got mine today and I’m happy to say that just out of the box, these are easily the best TRN IEMs to date. Some impressions and photos below.
Skip to bottom for tl;dr.
Packaging / Aesthetics:
The packing is exactly the same as every other TRN. You get the monitors, a cable and 2 replacement tips in the most minimalist cardboard packaging (Ignore the accessories, I took this for my Taobao review.)
Not terribly uncomfortable and certainly better than the V20 but I wish TRN would stop drastically changing their housing design every new release and in this case resulting in the only real negative I have to talk about. Simply put, these are not as comfortable as the V60. The V60 is extremely light and touched your ears slightly for extra support. The 80 is quite a bit heavier and your ears have to support all its weight from only the insertion point. Also the bigger nozzle is barely noticeable visually but you will notice a difference if you have smaller canals like me.
Sound:
With the stock cable, the V80 has a warm signature that is very pleasing to listen to. They didn’t overextend the BAs like the V10 which was a hot tuning mess with unbearably piercing treble. Instead, they took the successful mids/treble tuning of the V20 and added more detail with the additional BA.
However, the major highlight here is definitely the bass. The problem with the V60 was it essentially just added a dynamic driver to the V20’s setup in a closed housing. This completely overloaded the lows, drowning out everything else. The V80 not only improves the tuning of the dynamic drivers but adds 3 vent holes. The result is maintaining that punch but with far more control and an airiness that I’ve yet to hear at this price range. Soundstage is also vastly improved.
The trade-off is you lose some isolation but it’s not really a big deal unless you’re in very high noise level environments.
Pairing:
I have very little equipment available in China so I can’t really do much testing but I mean, it’s a $30 IEM. The gain from better sources is very minor but they sounded decent out of almost everything I plugged them into: Woo WA8, Mojo, Nextdrive Spectre, Hiby R6, Shanling M0, LG V20, Vivo NEX.
I also tried the V80 with a silver cable. Now I’m not an advocate of $500 cables for sound and certainly not for something at this price point but I do believe in audible differences between different materials and I highly recommend picking up a cheap silver cable with the V80. It ups the speed and creates a brighter sound bringing the V80 closer to neutral which I personally enjoyed more.
Conclusion / tl;dr:
The V80 is clearly the cumulative result of all TRN’s past products. It’s quite remarkable how far they’ve come since the V10. The V80 is not only the best TRN IEM to date, it is one of the best in this price range, period. You get an upgrade in detail of the V20’s already good mids/highs plus a phenomenally punchy and airy bass. If only they stopped messing with the shell design and just improved on something proven to work (ie. V60) but what’s here is already enough to challenge the likes of top budget IEMs like the KZ ZS6.
Skip to bottom for tl;dr.
Packaging / Aesthetics:
The packing is exactly the same as every other TRN. You get the monitors, a cable and 2 replacement tips in the most minimalist cardboard packaging (Ignore the accessories, I took this for my Taobao review.)
Not terribly uncomfortable and certainly better than the V20 but I wish TRN would stop drastically changing their housing design every new release and in this case resulting in the only real negative I have to talk about. Simply put, these are not as comfortable as the V60. The V60 is extremely light and touched your ears slightly for extra support. The 80 is quite a bit heavier and your ears have to support all its weight from only the insertion point. Also the bigger nozzle is barely noticeable visually but you will notice a difference if you have smaller canals like me.
Sound:
With the stock cable, the V80 has a warm signature that is very pleasing to listen to. They didn’t overextend the BAs like the V10 which was a hot tuning mess with unbearably piercing treble. Instead, they took the successful mids/treble tuning of the V20 and added more detail with the additional BA.
However, the major highlight here is definitely the bass. The problem with the V60 was it essentially just added a dynamic driver to the V20’s setup in a closed housing. This completely overloaded the lows, drowning out everything else. The V80 not only improves the tuning of the dynamic drivers but adds 3 vent holes. The result is maintaining that punch but with far more control and an airiness that I’ve yet to hear at this price range. Soundstage is also vastly improved.
The trade-off is you lose some isolation but it’s not really a big deal unless you’re in very high noise level environments.
Pairing:
I have very little equipment available in China so I can’t really do much testing but I mean, it’s a $30 IEM. The gain from better sources is very minor but they sounded decent out of almost everything I plugged them into: Woo WA8, Mojo, Nextdrive Spectre, Hiby R6, Shanling M0, LG V20, Vivo NEX.
I also tried the V80 with a silver cable. Now I’m not an advocate of $500 cables for sound and certainly not for something at this price point but I do believe in audible differences between different materials and I highly recommend picking up a cheap silver cable with the V80. It ups the speed and creates a brighter sound bringing the V80 closer to neutral which I personally enjoyed more.
Conclusion / tl;dr:
The V80 is clearly the cumulative result of all TRN’s past products. It’s quite remarkable how far they’ve come since the V10. The V80 is not only the best TRN IEM to date, it is one of the best in this price range, period. You get an upgrade in detail of the V20’s already good mids/highs plus a phenomenally punchy and airy bass. If only they stopped messing with the shell design and just improved on something proven to work (ie. V60) but what’s here is already enough to challenge the likes of top budget IEMs like the KZ ZS6.
TheContraptionist
447
Nov 29, 2018
Nice to see these back up for another drop. Pretty good earphone for the price. Here is an except from a review I posted about them a while back. Might help out some of you:
Sound:
While I generally prefer to listen at very low volumes, the V80 is best suited for mid to high volume listening. I found that as you increased the volume, bass presence increases disproportionately to treble and mid-range levels. At low volumes the V80’s treble is overpowering and splashy, and bass is simply lacking. Increasing the volume brings bass and mid-range presence up considerably more than the treble, so the V80 ends up reasonably well-balanced. Treble quality increases too, with it gaining a much tighter, more controlled presentation. While I do find this earphone tiring at higher volumes, since it was much more enjoyable that’s how I spent the majority of my listening time.
At a suitable volume, the V80’s treble retains a forward and aggressive nature, but is well-controlled with impressive extension. Upper treble is quite prominent giving the V80 a lot of sparkle to instruments and air to it’s sound stage, but at the same time ends up feeling somewhat lean and unnatural. Compared to another quad-driver hybrid, the KZ ZS6, I actually found the V80 at least as bright if not brighter, so I was quite surprised to see next to no one having issues with it. With the ZS6, “piercing” seems to be the main descriptor for it’s treble, something I could easily say about the V80. This presentation happens to be quite enjoyable to my ears, if not slightly over exuberant on some tracks, but you won’t hear me complaining.
The mid-range on the V80 isn’t as recessed as I have come to expect from hybrids in this price range and shows off a level of clarity and detail you don’t commonly hear in the under 100 USD field. Vocals are extremely crisp and clear, and while they come across somewhat lean or thin, there is a pleasant bit of warmth that keeps them comfortable and non-fatiguing. Sibilance is kept in check, only cropping up when it’s a part of the track. The V80 is revealing of flaws like that, and as such I recommend sticking with high quality source material. Tossing on some music from SoundCloud or Youtube will sound fine, but you’re notice the digital compression right off. Timbre I found overall fairly accurate, though not up to snuff with my baseline, the JVC HA-FXT90, with instruments sounding slightly lighter than they should. Still, for the price it’s handled well.
Bass is where the V80 kicks it into high gear. At low volumes it lacks impact and depth, but dial in some volume and it picks up considerably, battling the KZ ED15 for my self-imposed title of “best budget bass”. It is vivid, impactful, and full of dynamic range and texture. You need rumble for that explosion? No problem. Those speedy double bass drums tripping up your other earphones? The V80 is up to the task. Are the Prodigy’s grungy low-fi bass lines lacking texture? Not through the V80 they’re not. The bass presentation here is addictive and will probably have you seeking out tracks to challenge it. For something costing under 40 USD, the quality of bass on tap is impressive.
The V80 is no slouch when it comes to sound stage either. The quad driver setup gives it some excellent layering depth and separation qualities, letting sounds fly between channels with abandon. Imaging accuracy is a step behind the KZ ZS10 and AS10, but easily bests the BGVP DM5 which was vague at best.
If you like to listen loud and favour a vivid signature, the V80 will unquestionably satisfy.
Can read about other aspects here in the full review if interested: https://thecontraptionist.blog/2018/08/08/trn-v80-falcon-punch/
JoeBi
Sep 17, 2018
Eli35These are far better than ZS5, though the treble still has too much sizzle on most tracks for this treble sensitive guy. The Final Audio E2000 is smoother; it has good bass but not as pleasing that was as V80.
Later... the E2000 is missing some from the top end, upper mids and tbd lower treble -- but EQ or presets helps. I noticed this on vibes/metallophones on Father John Misty "Mr Tillman."
Schorschi
106
Jul 25, 2018
First listening impressions: good and different from the other $30-40 earphones I know! Very sparkly, vivid, three-dimensional, natural sound with a good slam in the nicely textured and focussed bass that is very pleasant [to addictive] on my ears. Treble may be a bit much, not sure yet. Bigger stage than (my) average. Much more life in these than in my (replacement) V60.
These are definitely good, enjoyable earphones with a refined sound...and not the disappointment reported by some. A winner!
LifeOnMercury
53
Oct 20, 2018
If you own V20’s and you are comfortable with their plastic shells, IMO you actually don’t need to buy v80’s. V20’s and V80’s sound pretty similar. With the same eartips and cable (not the crappy stock ones), v80’s have a little more bass and slightly brighter highs than V20’s.
V20’s and V80’s have potentials, don‘t be fooled by their stock eartips abs cables. V20’s are one of the most neutral IEMs under $100 and V80’s are slightly more colored. I actually prefer v20’s over any other sub-50 Chi-fi IEMs.
G3n3r1c
216
Oct 21, 2018
Bob3600I own the KZ AS10, KZ ZS10, and the TRN V80.
Both KZs are far more detailed on the high end, and the ZS10 is quite bright. The V80 has a nice all-around sound in the mids and highs.
The bass on the AS10 is fast and tight, but not very strong or deep. The bass on the ZS10 is slow, boomy, one-note, and detached (odd). The bass on the V80 is powerful, all-encompassing, and colors everything with warmth.
Overall:
AS10s -- aiming to compete with audiophile products and pretty decent overall ZS10s -- many, many quirks; requires tip experimentation to get their best V80s -- really good deal for bass heads, but they let in a lot of noise in public areas and then they become shrill
Both KZs are far more detailed on the high end, and the ZS10 is quite bright. The V80 has a nice all-around sound in the mids and highs.
The bass on the AS10 is fast and tight, but not very strong or deep. The bass on the ZS10 is slow, boomy, one-note, and detached (odd). The bass on the V80 is powerful, all-encompassing, and colors everything with warmth.
Overall:
AS10s -- aiming to compete with audiophile products and pretty decent overall ZS10s -- many, many quirks; requires tip experimentation to get their best V80s -- really good deal for bass heads, but they let in a lot of noise in public areas and then they become shrill
Bob3600
201
Oct 21, 2018
G3n3r1cThanks for the complete comparison!!! Looks like I made te right move by selling the V80 and buying the AS10. If I had a bit more money I could own them both lol. What a hobby!!
Dee_Mann
4
Dec 1, 2018
For anyone wondering why their tracking number doesn't work; finally received an answer from support regarding the issue after 3 days or so of silence. The courier being used is Track 4PX, which comes directly from China. This drop DOES NOT ship from within the US. Once customs clears the package it should take about 3-8 days for it to arrive. Contact support until you get a response for more detailed tracking info.
Frogmeat
562
Dec 5, 2018
AzfotogLooks like mine are now in Ohio, maybe by Friday? No mail delivery tomorrow Nationwide.
Frogmeat
562
Nov 29, 2018
Supposedly my order shipped on November 19th, and same as a few others here, the tracking number does not work anywhere, and still no package. Anyone get theirs from the same ship date?
AnyColourYouLike
5
Dec 1, 2018
FrogmeatGot same ship date and emailed mass drop they said it takes 3-10 days through fedex and sometimes the carriers forget to scan the package. Guess they forgot to scan all our packages. I’ve still got faith it’ll come in considering thanksgiving was mixed up in there and if you don’t count Sundays it should be here today. Hope we all get em today
Frogmeat
562
Dec 2, 2018
AnyColourYouLikeThanks to @Dee_Mann , I found out these aren't coming via FedEx, but direct shipped from China, check a few posts above.
alexandros
92
Aug 24, 2018
Have a few 200 to 300 $ iems fidue,rose technics & dunu....just to name some...
But got carried away from the head reviews on these ones and joined the drop....
Hope this choise is wise enough and Head room wise those VRN iems will be up to my expectations......
expontherise
161
Sep 11, 2018
alexandrosif all else fails... IEMS you dont like always make great presents to those who dont care :D
Azfotog
7
Dec 1, 2018
Everyday I go to my mailbox thinking "today is the day" but each time I walk away disappointed.
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