It’s not every day that you get to hear an earphone with three drivers in it. It’s even rarer to get to listen to one that costs less $100 or less. Even rarer still will you hear one that actually sounds good. Today, however, seems to be one of those rare days for me. 1More is a company that has been around for a while, and is now known for the high price-to-performance ratios in their products. The earphone I am reviewing today, the 1More Triple Driver, is no exception.

You can buy the Triple Driver off of Amazon for $87 here as of writing. MSRP is $100.

Disclaimer: This review is based upon a sample unit provided to me by a manufacturer or distributor in exchange for my honest opinion and un-edited words. I do not profit in any way from the writing of the review. I would like to thank Joe at 1More for sending me this review unit.

Preference and Bias: Before reading a review, it is worth mentioning that there is no way for a reviewer to objectively pass judgment on the enjoy-ability of a product: such a thing is inherently subjective. Therefore, I find it necessary for you to read and understand what I take a natural liking to and how that might affect my rating of a product.

My ideal sound signature would be an extended sub-bass with a leveled, but textured, bass. The mids should be slightly less pronounced than the treble, but still ahead of the bass. I prefer a more bright upper range.

Source: The Triple Driver was powered like so:

Nexus 6P -> earphones

or

Hidizs AP100 -> earphones

or

HiFiMAN MegaMini -> earphones

or

PC optical out -> HiFiMe SPDIF 9018 Sabre DAC 3.5mm out -> earphones

All music was served as MP3 @320Kbps or as FLAC.

I found my Nexus 6P to be sufficient to drive the 1More Triple Driver at near-peak levels of performance.

Sound Signature

Initial Impressions:

The Triple Driver sounds pretty lively. There’s a lot going on here, as 1More leverages their triple-driver setup quite well. The bass is definitely present and is paired well with the mids. The treble is slightly less emphasized than the upper-mids, but still articulates itself quite well in the mix. Bass impact is decent, as is rumble.

Treble: Songs used: In One Ear, Midnight City, Outlands

1More did a very good job tuning the treble. Not only is it quite articulate, but it is behaves well with the other parts of the music. This gives the treble a distinct but cohesive presence within the song. For example, the high-hats within Cage The Elephant’s In One Ear were clearly audible throughout the entire song, including the upper-mids-heavy chorus. This ability to remain distinct and dynamic within the mix really steps the Triple Driver’s treble above its peers’. Furthermore, during one of the bridges you can make out the whistling the lead vocalist’s nose makes as he inhales in preparation for the next verse.

The treble-bound synths of the intro to Midnight City were rendered quite well. The synths were not too aggressively placed within the mix, and had an appropriate hardness and speed to them. These same synths remained clear and distinct throughout the rest of the song, never smudging together or loosing their edge.

Daft Punk’s Outlands had a cohesive, but dark take to it. The upper boundaries of the treble, while present, we not emphasized, giving the song an edgier presentation than more treble-happy IEMs such as the RHA T20 and Macaw GT100s.

Mids: Songs used: Flagpole Sitta, Jacked Up, I Am The Highway, Dreams

The mid-range of the Triple Driver is quite well balanced. It is tilted towards being warm, but not so much that it compromises the integrity of the sound. Instead, music becomes warmer and more inviting. The guitars of Flagpole Sitta sounded electric, with a great bite to them. The vocals sounded a bit thin, but didn’t affect the overall enjoyability of the song.

The pianos of Weezer’s Jacked Up had a great tone to them, but were a bit too soft for my tastes. This is indicative of a medium attack and decay speed, something that can be enjoyable or annoying depending on your personal tastes. Continuing the trend from Flagpole Sitta, the guitars of Jacked Up had a great bite to them. Mid-range articulation and instrumental separation was great, rivaling that of several earphones far more expensive such as the Echobox Finder X1 and Accutone Gemini HD.

I Am The Highway was quite enjoyable as well. 1More tuned the 1–2KHz range of the Triple Driver quite well. This placed the vocals squarely in command of the song and prevented them from overpowering the gentle instrumentation behind them. Everything from light guitar-picking to snare kicks to the rythm guitar was clearly articulated in the background.

Bass: Songs used: Lights(Bassnectar Remix), Gold Dust, In For The Kill (Skream Remix), Leave Me

Sub-bass is both present and precise. Even during the intro of Lights, when the sub-bass is very quietly placed in the background, the sub-bass managed to maintain shape and presentation. However it remained quite polite for the rest of the song, settling for merely making its presence known, never intruding too far into the main “listening space”.

My experience with Gold Dust was a bit different. This song awakened the Triple Driver’s dynamic driver, demanding an impactful mid and sub-bass. The dynamic driver obliged, but didn’t go overboard. I got a good sense of depth from the bass, and had no complaints. While not quite bass-head levels of rumble and impact, the performance was good none-the-less.

Once again, the 1More Triple Driver exhibited a polite sub-bass in In For The Kill. While technical performance was quite good, as the bass retained shaping and texturing well, I did miss the rumble I get out of my Macaw GT100s.

Clarity: Songs used: Throne, Map of The Problimatique, I’m Not Alright

Clarity was quite good across all of my test songs, with the Triple Driver almost managing to maintain clarity across the chorus of I’m Not Alright.

Packaging / Unboxing

The Triple Driver has, by far, the best unboxing experience of an IEM I have tested under $350. The box is weighty in the hand, but not unwieldy. The side has a magnetic clasp and some clever texturing to make it look and feel like a book. Unclasping the magnetic flap and opening up the box greets you with classy scribbles of various sketches and formulas on the right, intended to give you a feeling of what it was like developing these IEMs, and the Triple Driver itself, with a mission statement beside them, on the left. Turning the page, so to speak, reveals the neatly packed accessories.