Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I'll be the first to admit that I never would have considered inexpensive headphones and earbuds to be any good, especially considering how good more expensive ones can be. Or so I thought. Granted, I could never afford anything costing several hundred dollars but I could sure dream, right? It turns out that in most cases, spending obscene amounts of money for headgear doesn't necessarily yield better results. And 1More, a maker of fantastic in-ears, is proof that a little money can go a very long way in creating a sound that would rival those costing ten times as much. Their new triple driver in-ear headphones makes a strong case for possibly the best bang-for-the-buck in-ears out there, especially considering the design. More on that later. And a special thanks to the 1More Team who turned me on to these buds. I did a review for the EO323 in-ears not too long ago here and found them to be a great sounding pair with just a few minor glitches. In that review I made a tongue-in-cheek comment about how the EO323's could be improved by having an armature for the midrange and another one for the treble instead of a single unit. Unbeknownst to me, they had already created such a thing so I was quite excited to give these a try when I received a pair in the mail. Thanks again, team! Instead of comparing the triple drivers to other brands, I'm going to focus on the attributes of this new design and will make some comparisons to the EO323's. Appearance - The packaging for these IE's is first-rate. It's obvious that 1More wants this to be more than a great listening experience. It comes in a box that resembles a classic book. Once you open the box, you're greeted to what looks like handwritten schematics on its design elements. Everything is packaged very nicely and great care has been taken in presenting all the pieces in the box. I've enclosed photos to show more details of its contents. I went into great detail on how the EO323's were built and the Triple Drivers are virtually built in the exact same way as the EO323's. They have the same great cloth woven cloth chord with a metal casing for the headphone jack at one end and the same high quality metal for each earpiece. This time, everything is metal (aluminum?) including the tube casings. The only plastic you'll find here is the casing for the 3-button remote and even that has a smooth, textured feel to it. The buttons are Apple-compatible but I cannot vouch for their function on Android devices. When I use them for my Chromebook, only the volume works. Lastly, the black and gold color of these new in-ears are classy, yet subtle. I prefer this to the white and gold of the EO323's personally. As far as the design of the Triple Drivers go, there are a couple things worth mentioning. Whereas the EO323's used a single armature for the mids and highs, the Triple Drivers uses two armatures for these ranges. Because of that, 1More had to increase the size and thickness of the tubes slightly to house those drivers. The casings for the dedicated bass drivers are also slightly larger than the ones on the EO323's. And it also has the same number of ports as well. I can only guess the size increase was for sonic reasons unless they actually updated the driver which I don't think they did. The only other thing I noticed is that the enclosed silicon tips are designed to fit flush with the tip of the tubes. Most tips, when placed on in-ear headphones, generally leave a little gap between the top of the tube casing and the the top of the tip. I find this helpful in getting the bud wiggled into my ears properly because it's more flexible. With this new flush design, the surface of the tube is right at the top of the tip so wiggling it in my ear takes a bit more effort and is much more exposed to ear wax. This isn't a huge deal but I do have to keep my ears extra clean and clean the top of the tube a bit more often. However, the Triple Drivers do come with three sets of Comply-like foam tips that are easier to work in your ears. "Blah, blah, blah, just tell me how they sound already!" My pleasure. First things first, these are an improvement over the EO323's. The Triple Drivers are more dynamic and even more balanced. Having two armatures makes the biggest difference here in terms of frequency extension and clarity. However, be advised that armatures are notorious for being revealing of the quality of the sound source. Great recordings will shine. Poor recordings will let you hear how bad they are but it's never at the expense of musicality. I listened to a few late 80's/early 90's recordings from the the jazz label GRP, which are horrible by today's standards (the recording process, not the music), and still found them pretty lacking but these in-ears could still reveal the essence of the music itself quite easily so it's not intolerable. Bass - Like the EO323's, the bass driver can reproduce the pace and speed of the upper bass and the thump of the lower extremities. A perfect recording for this test is Edgar Meyer's album 'Bass and Mandolin' featuring Chris Thile on the latter instrument. Edgar Meyer has extraordinary control over the dynamics of his double bass ranging from the most delicate plucking to the big rumbling bowings of the lower notes (especially that open low C string!). Almost every track has one or more of his many techniques that would test ANY earphone/speakers, etc. for their bass response. However, I find the bass drivers are just slightly less boomy in the Triple Driver as compared to the EO323's which is a good thing. In my opinion, it's almost perfect with no noticeable distortion, flab, bloatiness (is that even a word?), or sluggishness. But it can still thump. Amazing. Mids - as stated earlier, having a separate driver for the midrange made for the biggest difference. In the EO323's, I mentioned that the midrange was short of neutral. It just lacked a little presence in the vocals. I'm glad to say that this is no longer the case with the Triple Drivers. The mids are more distinct and midrange-centric instruments could really come through in all their glory. I wouldn't call the mids forward but they hover in just the right position within the soundstage. I've admitted that I do like a touch more forwardness but you can blame my profession as a pianist for that preference. But it's still oh-so-nice. Highs - since there is a separate driver for the highs, they have a bit more sparkle but it's definitely not a crisp sound. Overall, the treble is only a tad less rolled-off than the EO323's but it still manages to still have a warmer sound signature while maintaining a very nice level of detail. It's actually a perfect match for the mid driver and together, they really give the music a cohesive sound that doesn't appear to have any issues in general. Probably the best part of these in-ears. Conclusion - these are the first "musical-sounding" armature designed in-ears I've heard, but I say that not having heard some "audiophile-grade" in-ears from companies like Shure, Westones, or Sennheiser. But I'll bet these Triple Drivers get pretty darn close to them, especially for what you pay. 1More hit a home run on these with their better balance, sense of musicality, and how they reveal the music in a very natural sense. You may have to pay much more to get a better sound but like I said, it probably won't be by much.