Tri hailing from China, a subsidiary of KBear has been making some high quality IEMs for the last few years, i3 lineup being the most popular. They had a shaky years inbetween but it seems they are up and ready to go again!!
Mostly known for their high quality tribrid and hybrid IEMs, Tri has recently launched a lower mid range planar IEM, Kongtong i2. Is this an sub-ordinate to the i3? Possible. Priced at $129 it houses a 12mm driver and interestingly comes in only silver colour. Unlike most other IEMs, this doesn’t have a 3.5mm version. It’s only available with 4.4mm cable which says a lot about the target audience. Tri isn’t playing around with the i2. It is dead serious about the Audiophile market.
I will be comparing it will the Hidizs MP145 Pro.
Get one from here:
UNBOXING AND ACCESSORIES:
Unboxing is pretty straightforward. Take the paper cover off, list the flap and we have the IEM in front of us. All other accessories are place inside a paper box under it. Inside it is the flap open carry case and the cable, 2 set of ear tips including a set of Tri Clarion tips, a cleaning tool and a cleaning cloth are placed inside it.
BUILD QUALITY:
Made out of Aerospace grade aluminium, i2 is a solidly built IEM with reasonably good ergonomics too. It has no semi custom like design but has the curves at the right places, helping with comfort and stability inside the ear. It’s longer nozzle offers deep fit, yes the Clarion tips aren’t going deep into the ear canal but they offer good traction inside the ear. It does resemble to Letshuoer DX1 but is smaller and considerably lighter. We have triangular patterns on the back which stands out from the crowd. It has two pressure releasing vents, one on the front, another aside the 2pin socket.
CABLE:
i2 comes with a good looking, aptly supple, and lightweight dual core cable. It uses 5N silver plated OFC strands. There are no memory issues to worry about and it doesn’t have any microphonics either. Yes, the cable guides are slightly on the thicker side but they don’t strain the ear. We get lightweight aluminum alloy jackets on the 4.4mm jack and Y splitter, keeping the weight considerably low. We get a chin slider too but it’s slightly on the loose side.
Let’s address the elephant in the room. Unlike all other IEMs in this price range, we don’t get a 3.5mm version and this isn’t a modular cable either. It’s not a bad thing for a proper Audiophile but this limits the consumer range to only a limited bunch because I believe there are a lot of guys who haven’t moved on from 3.5mm terminations especially when it’s still available with laptops and PCs.
PAIRING WITH SOURCES:
Pairing the i2 is reasonably critical too. It’s not w very demanding IEM but pairing this slightly warmer sounding IEM with a warm source might makes things a bit too muffled or you can say not resolving enough. Pair it with a neutral or a analytical source and this IEM puts out it’s true potential, offering a highly resolving and cleaner imaging. I used a few sources with this and except the warm sounding Hidizs S8 Pro it sounds fantastic with both Tanchjim Space and iBasso DC07 pro.
Try not to use it with budget $20 dongles, they will not be able to driver this highly capable IEM to it’s potential.
SOUND QUALITY:
Tri has no track record of planar IEMs but I believe in their tuning and they have not disappointed. This is beautifully tuned W shaped IEM that offers a lot in a small shell. It has a slightly warmish undertone while the whole spectrum is mostly neutral with a little bit of brightness here and there. This depends on the source too but I believe this is what this IEM is intended to sound like.
BASS:
The biggest problem I have had with planar IEMs was the way they presented the lows. Starting with MP145 and S12 pro we either got good mid bass or sub-bass and if these two are good their definition was sub-par.
i2 tackles all of these problems masterfully. It’s 12mm driver is just exceptionally tuned to offer very good sub-bass extension, superb rumbles, excellent mid bass body, superior layered delivery, high quality control over decay speed and doesn’t compromise with the air either. It already scores really high in my books. This kind of lower end control and definition is already rare with Planar IEMs.
It has very good mid bass body, it’s meaty and offers very good slam. Area on impact is aptly big, notes usually move in but can be dynamically directed upward too. i2 has good Back and foreground contrast with busy and fast tracks. There is no bloated feeling with upper bass notes either, exhibiting it’s superior technical capabilities. I seriously appreciate this kind of tuning.
MID RANGE:
Mid range is very good. Much better than many other planar based IEMs but it’s not as technically impressive as the lower end. It basically has a beautiful balance of tonality and technical skills. It’s neither dull or overly sharp.
Vocals have a slight bit of extra pop to them and we get very good tonality with both male and female vocals while maintaining high quality accuracy and precision. This helps with slightly better female vocal performance while male vocals are reasonably comfortable but could have been a bit of throaty. Both have very good texture, very good finishing definition and good note height too. Instruments are slightly less forward than the vocals yet they have very good clarity and the separation of back and foreground instruments in Z-axis is very good. No issues with finishing definition but if you are sensitive to a bit of extra energy, i2 might feel slightly tiring. We have no issues with upper mid energy but its slightly more agile and precise in the finishing region. Overall timbre and cohesion of this mid range is comfortably natural, it’s neither very organic nor dry.
HIGHS:
Highs are where these planar IEMs either go all out with the energy and agility or tend to dial it down to dark levels.
Again to my amusement, i2 has no such issues. It nicely balances the energy, clarity and calmness. We get very good agility and a lively presentation with very good extension up till the end. Yes, the upper treble is slightly less transparent, lacking a bit of energy but it’s still much more relevant than what we got with the S12 Ultra. It has much better layering and separation too. We get very good stacking of instruments, one behind another, staying clear of the background and foreground notes. i2 offers good amount of air between instruments. It has nice transparency with micro details without sounding lean or forward. I can barely ask for more.
STAGE AND IMAGING:
Imaging fo this 12mm Planar based IEM is fantastic. It has very good accuracy and precision with cue placements. Yes, the notes are slightly heavier at their bases but have no issues with agility as they offer very good clarity with background notes too. Most of the instruments are placed out of the head while the some vocals and all of the lower end notes are placed inside the head. It doesn’t have a lot of instruments upfront, most of them are placed in a X-axis and behind the ears. i2 has superb sonics too. It has very good clarity with background movements of instruments.
Stage size is big too. It has class appropriate height but has a wider and deeper stage. It’s aptly 3D like presentation.
COMPARISON:
VS Hidizs MP145 pro:
CONCLUSION:
I have worked on a lot of planar based IEMs in the $70-300 range and most of them are V shaped. Take the new Hidizs MP145 pro and Letshuoer S12 pro for example. They are highly capable but get tiring after a few weeks which is not the case with the i2. It’s aptly clean, as clean as these when it comes to finishing definition and doesn’t hound at the listener, offering a richer and more engaging presentation. It offers very good resolution throughout the spectrum while offering very good micro details. It has no issues with 3 dimensional imaging either.
I know, I know, $100-300 price range is flooded with planar IEMs as of now but the kind of balance this IEM offers is definitely special. It has very good sub-bass depth, offers very good rumbles, mid range is nicely balanced with good pop to the vocals while highs are aptly agile and extended.
I will go on to say that this is nearly flawless at just $120. I am mighty impressed. It will be interesting to see a i5 with a bigger stage, more evolved imaging and set of accessories.
