1More Triple Driver – The best 100USD you’ll spend

If you haven’t heard of this 100USD gem of an earphone, you’re really missing out. The 1More Triple Driver In Ear Earphone is basically unbeatable at this price point and is my personal top recommendation.

We would like to thank 1MORE for this opportunity to review the 1MORE Triple Driver In Ear Earphone. We received this unit free of charge. The Triple Driver costs 99.99USD – click here for more info!

People always talk about ‘giant killers’ on Head-Fi budget earphone threads, claiming that their latest Chi-Fi earphone is able to beat out some of the best in the industry. There have only been a few that convincingly made me feel this way. 1More’s mission statement is this:

 “1MORE is a premiere consumer electronics audio company headquartered in San Diego, California. Our mission is to deliver superior quality headphones at surprisingly affordable prices, disrupting an industry where price hiking and design shortcuts are the norm.”

They’ve definitely created a giant killer with their hybrid 1 dynamic driver + 2 balanced armature Triple Driver Earphone.

Summary for the lazy

Pros

-Probably the best sounding IEM you’ll get for this price
-Generous accessory selection
-Long and comfortable cable

Cons
-No detachable cable; It’ll be a hassle to fix if it breaks!
-Can something be a little too neutral and laidback? A user looking for something more aggressive and energetic might not like the Triple Driver as much.

Specs

Impedance:	32 Ω
Sensitivity:	99 dB
Frequency Range:	20-40,000 Hz
Rated Power:	5 mW
Weight:	18 g
Length:	1.25 m
Plug:	3.5 mm
In-line Remote Control:	Included

Packaging & Accessories 

1More have really cut no corners in the packaging department. The Triple Driver packaging is a very handsome and premium feeling cardboard box complete with foil stamped logos and magnetic box flap which satisfyingly unlatches to reveal even more goodies inside. Super impressed by the amount of effort for an IEM at this price range. I also enjoyed the book like feeling of the box, with a little passage about the story and design of the Triple Driver. You can really feel that 1More is proud of their creation.

Included in this set is of course the earphones themselves, but flipping the earphone panel will expose the myriad of other accessories, which includes a very generous selection of tips with clear labeling of sizes and types, a cable clip with airplane audio socket adapter, a classy looking faux-leather carrying case, and finally the user manual and a cute 1More bear sticker.

No expenses were spared on these accessories – everything is just as well built as the earphones themselves, and everything comes together as a cohesive and well done package.

Design and Comfort

The unit in this review is the ‘black’ version of the Triple Driver. Encased in a elegant subtle rose gold and dark purple hued metallic housing, it’s design gives a sense of understated class and sense of premium build quality about it rarely obtainable for this value. The earphone housing has a flared conical form, with the tapered butt end attached to a downward pointing metallic cable strain relief. The metallic nozzle, with just one opening covered by a wax guard filter is of pretty average diameter (fits with Comply T400 tips) which should make for a comfortable fit for most people. This earphone also comes with playback, volume control, and handsfree mic attached to the right earphone’s cable, also finely made with the rose gold coloured buttons.

The 3.5mm jack is a straight plug with the same ‘black’ colour as the earphones, with a small rubber gasket at the end serving as strain relief. The main length of the cable encased in a braided fabric like material while the 2 lengths diverging from the splitter are coated with TPE, and according to 1More, the interior copper wires are protected by Kevlar for better tensile strength and durability. From my experience, the braided cloth material is quite comfortable to wear and generally durable, although if you just throw it in your bag with objects that could catch onto the fibres of the fabric it may slowly damage it over an extended period of time. Microphonics of the cable is actually very good as it is made of soft, light, and shock absorbent materials. All in all a finely polished design with great sturdy and reassuring build quality.

Worn cable down, the rounded forms of the housing also provide for a very straightforward and comfortable usage experience – it’s also very lightweight and I barely notice it when its in my ears. Isolation is also good, even with a port for the dynamic driver as it is strategically placed on the inward face of the housing and as a result not exposed to any wind that might pass over it.

Sound

The first time I encountered this earphone in the wild was just at the new HMV flagship store in Causeway Bay. I thought to myself – “it’s a nice looking 1DD2BA hybrid earphone for just $800HKD. Meh, might as well try it out”, and I was blown away by what I heard.

Exploded view of the 1More Triple Driver

It’s a little hard to place exactly what kind of sound signature the 1More Triple Driver has, and through the process of this review I realized that I was a little too used to IEMs which leaned quite bass heavy and tended to have a W shaped sound. The Triple Driver was still very pleasurable to listen to, and eventually I realized that it actually has a very balanced sound signature.

The low end has a slight bass boost – big enough to make heavy dance and rock tracks have a satisfying banging bass line, but at the same time actually showcasing much restraint in that the bass is never the only focus. Bass impact is a little too soft for my own tastes (I’m used to IEMs like the IM50, Oriolus, and Dorado) but it’s sufficient enough that it is agreeable for use with all genres of music. There’s a very minor roll off towards the very very low end, but again – very balanced, just north of neutral bass with a bit more fluidity than excessive impact, with average speed of decay.

I feel that the midrange is one of its biggest strengths, exhibiting a neutral flatness, which means a richly textured and detailed presentation of the fundamentals of vocals and most instruments. There’s a gentle dip as it goes up towards the upper mids and highs, and so the sound signature tends be warm and relaxed sounding overall. However, it’s absolutely not dark sounding like the Sennheiser IE80, and with a very adequate amount of high end detail and shimmer thanks to the balanced armature drivers, it’s also brighter and more high detail oriented than the ATH-IM50. The highs sound slightly brittle at certain moments, but they’re never harsh and sibilant, and provide oodles of great high range detail, so I’m just grasping at straws for things to criticize at this point.

So you might be asking, are there even any flaws about this earphone? The answer is, I wouldn’t call them flaws, and while I would totally recommend this to everyone, my personal sound preference is something that’s a little energetic and exciting. The Triple Driver’s bass impact is a little too fluid and soft for my taste, and flat mids also isn’t my cup of tea – the earphones that I personally like all have slightly more boosted and energetic lows, mids, and upper mids / highs. There are definitely times when I felt that the sound was a little scattered and too laidback. The soundstage also isn’t the widest sounding with its average height and width, but honestly it’s sufficient enough for most listening.

Measurements

I swear I wrote all of this review before I measured it with the Vibro Veritas, and I’m happy to see that my analysis was decently accurate!

Not necessarily accurate past 10khz.

Final thoughts

I am totally behind 1More’s Triple Driver being the best sound that can be obtained for such a good price on the market right now, and combined with excellent build quality, and a nice comfortable design, I highly recommend this as a great purchase. There are some changes which I would want if I had to be really critical about things, but they’re not deal breakers. Ideally, it would have detachable cables, so that in the event of the cable wearing out or getting destroyed, these wonderful earphones could still be put to use by simply replacing the cable.

Basically, please recommend everyone to buy these because they’re the best 100USD you can spend on portable audio.