# Bose Triport IE



## Silvercans (Aug 9, 2005)

Source:
Ipod 30gb 

Amp:
NONE

Songs:
ELO Greatest Hits (I'm very familiar with this disk, and don't own many others)

Findings:
Bass:
Ok so I'm the type of person that likes clean tight bass, clear mids and highs (yeah I know this probably fits everyone's preferences, but I want to emphasis I like high quality but large quantities of bass that doesn't over power the mids). Do these Bose IEs deliver the goods? Well, yes and no. The bass is definitely there and induces a bit of foot taping, BUT (notice big but) it is slow, "thick" bass that you probably could cut with a knife if it were a tangible object . That said, I would have to say the bass is not detailed, rather smeared, though there is quite a bit of it.

Mids:
To summarize in one couple of words: slightly recessed. How bad you ask? Well, the mid frequencies are there but are hiding (somewhat) behind a veil, and again, has that "warm, thick" quality. I think it wouldn't be as bad if the bass was thinner and more detailed.

Highs:
This is where I think Bose really dropped the ball. The highs are not detailed at all and there is most definitely a steep roll off. It was bad enough to require the use of "trouble boost" on the ipod.

Conclusions:
So, are they absolutely horrible? No. However, (IMHO) I do not think they are worth $100, $50 maybe. A couple of things they have going for them is that their sound signature is not fatiguing in any way and as far a fit, they are comfortable. Overall, though, they fall short and leave a lot to be desired. If they only got rid of some that bloat and added some high frequency detail/sparkle...


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## The Blue Blur (Sep 14, 2006)

Good review. I saw those things at work recently and became curious about them. Damn these things for being so personal. It's not exactly like you can have a bunch of people passing around earbuds to see what they like better. The only benchmark I have is the Shure E2. They have what i'd call natural sound. Not very forward in the mid and highs, but quite detailed. They get me sort of hung up between what I want to hear and what I get to hear. Sometimes they suprise me, other times not. That may just be me intermittently losing the seal or me trying to rewrite the music in my head. For context I've only used them with computers and my shuffle, never a dedicated amp. I think my next pair of earbuds will be Ultimate Ears.


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## Silvercans (Aug 9, 2005)

Thanks for the kind words.

I also tried a pair of UE Super.Fi 5 Pros and honestly I couldn't stand them. What I don't get is how everyone under the sun rants and raves about them. To me they had exaggerated upper mids, little high freq response, and bloated bass. On par really with the Bose, but for $99, your better off with the Bose, even though I really recommend neither.

So far the best IEM's I tried were the Altec Lansing IM716 (much like the Etymotic ER-4S from what I have read). The only problem with them was that the bass was thin, but talk about being detailed yet not harsh, they definitely nice.

At this point I really don't know what to get. I don't want to spend $400 (  ), but I'm actually considering going with the Shure E500


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## The Blue Blur (Sep 14, 2006)

wow. So that's all psychoacoustics I've been reading about then? I don't remember where but people seemed to think the 5 Pros were great. I have a hang up about dual driver IEMs now. i really want to hear the difference.


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