HiFi Mai Tai

My streak finally came to an end. Until last week I had posted something every week. Every week without fail and then last week came along. Between being ill and being on holiday (yeah it was a week of ups and downs) I didn’t manage to find the time for a review. But its time to put that disappointment behind me. Time to leave it in the past. Onwards and upwards and lets get started with the TRN MTX the latest (possibly final) addition to the MT family. A £6 single dynamic driver built upon an established ultra budget IEM. So lets get to it. Lets get to the Bartender’s TRN MTX Review.

TRN MTX Review – The Cocktail:

As a single dynamic driver the TRN MTX is as simple as it gets. This is the work horse of the IEM world. The Honda Cub of audio. The french fry of potatoes (or maybe that should have been jackets. There are just too many successful potatoes out there). With a fairly typical impedence and a slightly higher sensitivity these should be easy enough to drive and at this price point its certainly not worth going out and buying more equipment.

Drivers: 10mm Beryllium-coated dynamic driver
Frequency: 20 to 20,000 Hz
Impedence: 32 Ω
Sensitivity: 120 dB/mW

TRN MTX Review – The Taste Test Setup:

I do always think this setup is a little ridiculous for these ultra budget IEMs. If you’re looking at buying the TRN MTX then you probably aren’t looking to spend 10-15 times again on supporting equipment. I use this set up because I have it. If I was to build a TRN MTX package I would probably be looking at a simple 3.5mm dongle DAC and thats about it really.

DAC/AMP: SMLS M20
Cable: 4.4 mm Tripowin C-01
Eartips: Stock Silicon

TRN MTX Review – The Non-Audio:

I don’t know why I got these in white. I never get any of my electronic in white. In fact I don’t think I ever get anything in white. I don’t think I even own a white shirt. I definitely have several black ones and the TRN MTX does come in black. Getting the white one must have been an accident either on my part or on the shops. In my opinion (cue angry people) when it comes to electronics white is for washing machines or the washing machines that buy Apple products. Thats it. Nothing else. So perhaps its no surprise that I don’t like how these look. I am getting very strong washing machine vibes. Perhaps even full utility rooms vibes. These would be right at home between the washing machine and tumble dryer with a good view of the boiler.

However, just likely freshly laundered clothing these are pretty comfortable. Even with the nothing special stock silicon eartips. Not sure I am going to lose myself smelling them as always seems to happen in TV adverts (No real person does that do they?) and if I did smell them I would the slightly unpleasant clinically clean smell of cheap plastic. yeah so not smelling them but very comfortable having them in my ears all day. This has got to up there with the weirdest things I have written. What the hell was I thinking? Damn it forgot to hang up the washing and now it stinks. Gonna have to do that load again.

Anyway back to IEMs and back to the TRN MTX. Build next. Well these are probably not built to last. If they were a washing machine I would certainly be phoning up to get my product registered and that 5 year warranty. During my time with the TRN MTX nothing has gone wrong but the plastic does have that fragile brittle feel. These are only one drop away from oblivion so be careful to avoid the edge.

And finally accessories. I didn’t even look at the cable so no comment. I did use the stock eartips and these are best described as a standard budget offering. so really not a lot to say.

TRN MTX Review – The Audio:

Bass is definitively what this IEM is all about. Its the reason it gets up in the morning. Its the drive that gets it through the day. And the TRN MTX is not short of bass motivation. There is lots of bass. This is one IEM full of self confidence and determination. However, its competence cannot match its confidence. This is an IEM that has already been promoted to job it can’t quite do and now its stuck there. Okay that maybe a bit harsh. For the price the bass is very good. It does bleed into the mids. It can absolutely drown the mids at times. But its not really worse than any of this budget rivals. It does lack shape and definition but it has a good hit and generally some good presence. This is not a hollow box sound there is some body here.

As has already been alluded to the mids can suffer under the weight of the bass. This is a pretty typical v-shaped tuning and its the mids that are missing out. They just weren’t invited to the party. There is also a little softening in the mids. Sometimes guitars and other instruments lack a little bite. Its not like they are playing under water. Its not that bad. But its like having a jumper over your head. The tuning of the mids does seem to slightly favor clarity over weight but there is pretty decent weight and with the slight muffling not quite achieving the desired clarity.

The story of the treble is also pretty similar to that of the mids. Could be worse. Could be a tale as old as time. You know the story. The one where the cheap budget IEM dreams of greatness and is granted a glass treble to impress a prince but the treble is unbearably sharp and everyone is sad and some people are in pain. You heard that story? Well this is not that story. The TRN MTX does have an energized treble and it does have a sharp clarity to it but its never too much. At least its never too much for me. It doesn’t have loads of sparkle or loads of airiness. This is a pumpkin not a diamond chariot. But that’s no bad thing. Pumpkins are very much in fashion at this time of year.

The softening that holds back the mids also effects the vocals. Female vocals in particular can sound a little muffled. I think male vocals are presented a little better. Generally, vocals are pushed forward a little. Not loads but a little. Tracks that already feature very forward vocals are pushed a little too far but generally this presentation works alright.

The technicals are nothing special and firmly as expected for this price range. Instrument separation is pretty average. Layers are not well distinguished and this can on busy tracks result in a sort of mushy sound. The sound stage has decent width but again nothing special.

With such middling technicals details don’t really pop. The bright character of the treble (the second line of the V) does help bring some details forward in the treble. Its not that everything is being masked its just that the sharpness and energy doesn’t really bring anything into the light.

TRN MTX Review – The AI Opinion:

This a new feature that I am trying out. How well will it work? I don’t know but here goes anyway.

In this section I have asked Google’s AI mode to predict a score for the to be reviewed IEM prior to publishing my review. To get this prediction I have asked that it predict a score based upon the scoring system employed by me here at the HiFi Mai Tai beach bar. That’s it. It is as simple as that. I could be doing myself out of the job here. But got to embrace the modern world etc. And if AI is gonna take my job I am going to go down fighting. Hopefully it proves itself rubbish and there is nothing to worry about.

So the TRN MTX. What does AI think?

I nearly forgot to write this section and that would have been a shame as these results are very interesting. Very interesting.

Across the board AI thinks much more highly of this IEM than me. It thinks that the Bass is could enough to complete with £80 IEMs and whilst I do think the bass is good value for a £6 IEM I don’t consider it an alternative for the BGVP Feather, Kinera Celest Phoenix Call and TRN Whale Shark which are currently the highest rated IEMs at the HiFi Mai Tai Beach Bar.

The disagreement between AI and I is very severe. I can only assume that some other reviews have been very positive and AI is preferencing these. It is also worth noting that generally reviewers account for the cost in their review and here at the HiFi Mai Tai Beach Bar we do not. I have explained in this a previous post (at some point) so if you need a little help be sure to check that out. Actually, I will be helpful and provide a link. We have the technology!

TRN MTX Review – Comparisons

There are loads of comparisons that I could have done as there are a fair few budget single DD IEMs that have made there way to the HiFi Mai Tai beach bar. CVJ Vivian, TRN Dolphin, Tangzu Waner Red Lion, KZ DQS, Moondrop Chu II etc. (Actually that might have been all of the ones not compared here). In the end I decided to stick to the ultra budget options of the ND NX2, KZ EDX Pro and KZ Gale. But this caused another problem as all of these essentially sound the same or at least have the same sound sort of tuning. Or atleast that is how I remembered them. However, I had very much misremembered. These IEMs are pretty different. So I guess there was no problem. Sorry about the confusion.

So first up the KZ EDX Pro. This is a much brighter IEM that really pushes the vocals. In comparison the TRN MTX seems pretty dark. The KZ EDX Pro has a harshness to the treble that is absent in the MTX. The bass of the MTX is also much fuller with a harder hit. So really choosing between these is pretty easy. The TRN MTX is a much more satisfying experience and given the age of the EDX Pro it marks the progress that has been made in the budget IEM space over the years.

The KZ Gale is also brighter than the MTX. To me the KZ Gale is an improve clearer version of the EDX Pro. If you like the brighter and leaner bass of the EDX Pro but want more clarity less harshness and all round better technicals than the KZ Gale is a good option. I do appreciate the extra treble energy of the Gale over the MTX and the speed of the Gale’s bass further adds to the energy. Maybe I would pick the Gale over the MTX but I would miss that hefty bass and generally more full sound.

And finally the ND NX2, the cheapest IEM at the beach bar. Generally, the NX2 sounds muffled in comparison. The timbre is further from the truth than the MTX. The MTX is the easy winner here.

TRN MTX Review – Overall

The TRN MTX are not budget warriors. They are not ready to fight in the pro leagues. These are amateurs that know it and act accordingly. Sunday league players that haven’t delude themselves into believing a single injury prevented them from playing in the world cup. In this sense the TRN MTX are all they need to be. Budget IEMs that perform as expected. Yes for more money you could get more. But equally for less you will probably get less. If you want to give IEMs a try or want a pair so cheap you never have to worry then these are a good option. But if you are looking for kingslayer then you may just have to keep looking.