TRN ST5

disclaimer: I was sent the TRN ST5 for review by a TRN representative.  I have no financial interest in TRN or any of its subsidiaries or distributors, nor have I received any instruction or remuneration for this review.   If you have an interest in TRN products please see their official store here.

 

Unboxing / Packaging:

The box for the TRN ST5 has a picture of the earpieces on the front of that package with the ST5 name and basic information beneath.  The rear has an exploded line drawing of the earpiece showing the driver configuration which is a nice touch as the all-metal shell prevents visualizing those elements.   Lifting the cover reveals the earpieces tucking in foam in the upper portion and the accessories hidden beneath a flap in the lower.   The Kit contains the earpieces, cable, a 6.35mm adapter, the 3 jack options, and 7 sets of tips.  Oddly for a package that contains interchangeable jacks, there is no case or storage mechanism provided for them despite lesser models shipping with a TRN pill-box style case that would be an easy addition to the kit.   For the asking price and especially with parts that need to remain with the in-ear to be able to utilize the features, a case seems like a requirement here.

 

Build/Fit:

The ST5 outer shell is all anodized aluminum.  In this case it is clear anodizing to prevent oxidation rather than colored so the result is a raw aluminum look with the added corrosion resistance of anodizing.   The shells are the standard semi-teardrop shape and are similar to other TRN models like the MT1 and TA-2 albeit a bit thicker front to back due to the materials used for the shells.   The face-plates have the TRN name emblazoned at the widest point of the shell and a swirl pattern around the name gives them a unique look.   All of the venting is hidden either on the under side (pin hole behind nozzle) or on the trailing edge of the face-plate adjacent to the TRN name.     The venting on the rear of the face plate is 3 parallel slots roughly 3mm in length and 0.5mm in diameter but only the bottom slot is cut to full depth with the top 2 being purely decoration and the bottom having a metal screen inserted behind the lowest slots to prevent particulates.   This vent is listed as a pressure equalization device while the pin-hole vent on the underside services the dynamic driver to allow cleaner movement.   With the front to back thickness being larger than some other models, the ST5 sits partially in the ear and partially on the ear with the face-plate largely resting outside the ear.  Despite the materials used and the size, fit was good and comfort was plenty good for longer sessions and weight is not particularly noticeable when worn.

 

Internals:

Having recently reviewed the TA2, the ST5 can be thought of as its bigger badder sibling.   The ST5 is still a hybrid like the TA2 but instead of the 8mm used in the Ta2, here we have a 10mm dynamic driver with a beryllium coated diaphragm and four armatures.   The cross-over between the dynamic and the mid-range drivers (Knowles 50600 armatures) is at roughly the same point as what was seen in the Ta2 so the dynamic handles sub-bass and mid-bass and hands off the armatures above that.  The Knowles 50060 drivers handles the mids and lower treble before passing the duties off to a pair of 30095 armatures in the nozzle that handle the upper frequency range.    Nominal impedance is 22Ω with a sensitivity of 120 dB/mW making the st5 extremely easy to drive if somewhat susceptible to hiss.   High potency sources are not needed and the ST5 is at its best with dongles or low-gain on more potent sources.

 

Cable:

The cable provided with the ST-5 is a pretty cool modular design.  It seems every maker has been dialing up a modular cable system of late with some being considerably more successful than others. I still wish one of them would do a 90° jack in a modular fashion as the one thing nearly all of the modular jacks have in common is lengthening the jack and creating a bigger lever.  Thankfully the TRN system is less that way than many others and is quite positive without being annoyingly complex.    There are 4 female contacts in the small plug at the end of the cable and a series of interchangeable jacks (2.5mm, 3.5mm, and 4.4mm provided) with the matching male connectors.  There are alignment marks on the casings that make swapping the jacks easy and as an added plus the jacks only fit at the proper orientation so you literally cannot get it wrong.    The snap mechanism is positive and I had no trouble with them coming apart when not desired but it was an easy enough task to swap them when needed.  Overall its a good design.  The cable itself is silver plated oxygen free copper in an 8 strand braid from jack to splitter and a 4 strand braid from splitter to earpiece.  There is a clear bead chin-slider and ear-hooks at the north end for better retention during activity.  Northern connections are hooded bi-pins with a stylized plug to match the aesthetic of the earpieces.

 

Sound:

Bass:

The ST5 starts off with a solid low-end that is mildly emphasized with a center at about 80Hz and gradual fall-back to either side of that.  The sub-bass begins to show a bit of roll-off in the mid-30Hz range and while some rumble is present the emphasis comes across as more of a mid-bass bump due to the limits at the extreme low end.   the mid-bass remains elevated above the baseline for its entire range and is a bit thick and less crisply defined than I would wish for which only serves to cloud the picture a bit.   There is plenty of mid-bass but a bit less of it with a bit better control of what is present would be a good trade.

 

Mids:

The mids do show off more texture than the mid-bass and the presentation is a bit cleaner which helps lower vocals cut through and gives guitar a bit more realistic rasp and growl.    Lower vocals have good weight and enough texture to sound natural while the push forward in the upper mids gives higher voices a bit more energy which result in better clarity at the expense of a bit of weight.  Upper voices stand in front of lower vocals as well due to the lift.  Strings have good character and to my ear this was the strongest suite of the ST5 as it did well with string quartet and orchestral works where instrument separation was key.    Piano needs a touch more energy in its upper range to sound completely natural but its lower registers are well represented here.

 

Treble: 

The ST5 shares the polite tuning we commonly see these days with a lift early followed by a fairly steep drop off above about 5kHz.  This gives enough top end for vocals to stand out but limits percussion snap and cymbals are a bit dull due to the cut in the mid and upper treble.  This is a tough tight-rope to walk and the treble shy are likely to enjoy the St-5 as it most certainly doesn’t offend.  The down-side is a bit more energy might help balance out that big lows and help tighten up the kick drum a bit as we have all the thump and a bit less of the snap present.   I tried to EQ the treble a bit but with the sensitivity already extremely high doing so worsened the hiss that was always present with some sources and made for a less than pleasurable listen.

 

Soundstage / Imaging:

The stage is well proportioned and honestly better than I had expected with tracks like Duran Duran’s New Religion (night version) showing off the space and movement very well.   Dimensions are not huge but the combined stage with above average instrument and stereo separation really aid to better imaging than one should expect at $59.    Movements are easy to track and fairly tightly defined in space with the exception of extreme lows which tend to be more general positions.   There is some mild compression as tracks get busier as well which for an in-ear that already sounds a bit thickened in the lows.

 

Thoughts / Conclusion:

The TRN ST5 isn’t a great all-arounder but it is quite good with genres it likes.  I found that piano concerto, string quartet, and most jazz were good listens on the ST5.  Rock and hip-hop that require a bit more punctuation to the notes were not quite as engaging as without a sharp edge they don’t sound quite realistic.   I think it is important to point out that at $59 this is a lot of earphone and its great to see this trend as this would have been a $199 model not very long ago.     The ST5 is certainly a good value if the signature matches your musical tastes, but you will need to buy a case to keep up with the jacks.