Trinity Audio Phantom Sabre

Just received mine a few minutes ago. Putting them through their paces before writing too much but will say the earpieces are quite a bit larger than the Vyrus. Fit nicely though and are comfy.

Filter colours are different from the Vyrus and unlike the Vyrus come in two different lengths. At an initial glance I don't think any of the Phantom Sabre filters have dampers in them (tbc) which imho isn't a bad thing.

Wide array of tips, same case and jacks, but this time in addition to the two standard braided cables (one over ear, one straight) there is also a cloth covered remote cable included.

Posting this up for the benefit of Ian and myself so it's handy:

SABRE FILTERS
RED = Enhanced bass. Offering a V shape signature while retaining plenty of musical detail
ORANGE = V shape signature with slightly decreased bass
YELLOW = Neutral + Offering a more balanced sound signature with a very slight increase bass over neutral with a great mid and high range sparkle
PURPLE = Neutral - Offering a more balanced sound signature across the frequencies.
GUNMETAL = Treble. Offering a reduced bass signature with an focus on upper mids and treble.


(had a quick dabble with the orange & purple filters. Orange sounds horribly bloated to my ears but the purple is quite nicely balanced, although I might like just a touch more sub-bass quantity. Could yellow be a winner?)

Hold on, the purple barrel is ok....

Just compared with my m100 and the yellow is kind of thicker than the V-Moda!! The purple brings a bit more clarity for me.

Edit: can't decide!! It's the seal that makes things difficult for me. It is an improvement on the Vyrus though. I did a direct comparison and it's a little more focused.

The barrels on the Vyrus filters are fatter so they're not useable with the Sabre. That's why I have problems with the seal .... the Sabre barrels are much thinner than the Vyrus.

I went back to the long barrels and a fatter bud with less force inwards and perhaps that seals better for me. It's quite difficult to get a comfortable fit for me. I can either use short barrels with slightly smaller tips but push in hard, to long barrels with slightly bigger tips and push in less!!!

I also wonder whether the two length barrels in the same colour sound the same. I think I might be getting slightly more bass from the longer barrels which means that there are TEN variations of sound plus all of those tips......

The difference in sound may be because with the shorter barrels, perhaps the seal might be less secure.

I'll hit bingo in the end I suppose. Too many choices.

Great impressions Ian & I agree with much of what you've written - both the good and bad! I'm away for a couple of days but hoping to add some of my own when I get back.

As I'll explain later I have found out that the non-memory wired cables are also good for over ear use. I'd assumed that they were meant to be used hanging straight down but with the shape of the IEMs the only way I can get a sensible fit that way is to swap earpieces around (left one in my right ear & vice versa). Glad I found that out as I find them much more comfortable on the tops of my ears and much like the (wonderful) Linum Bax cable I use with the FX850 the memory wire really isn't needed. Gravity takes care of things nicely.

And despite the comprehensive bundle of extras I have figured out another one that Trinity should be including. A tube of superglue. Getting a bit annoying having to glue **** together.

Needed to vent lol. And putting irritations to one aside.....the Sabre are seriously good sounding IEMs and any gripes quickly fade into insignificance when you start listening to them. More to follow.

Ah, so you've been using the non-memory wires already? Comfort is good with them and they are definitely easier for stashing away.

The biggest benefits I find with the memory wires are that they firmly stay put over your ears and if worn under clothing you can temporarily take the IEMs off for a bit and hook them over the neck of your top for safe keeping. Try that with the non-memory and they take a life of their own and next thing you know they're either hanging 2ft down the front or your top or have worked their way inside and have fallen down near your ankles!!

The plug arrangement is a weak point and I do wish there was a more positive physical connection when fitted e.g. a click like you get with an MMCX connector or spme sort of screw lock (probably too costly though). It's almost like manufacturing tolerances are just a bit too lax as the plastic parts never quite feel like they match up properly, so you start off with a real struggle to connect them so there is a 1-2mm visible gap and that can lead to the odd disconnect.With time they start to fit flusher but eventually may loosen up which can also lead to more disconnects. And once you get to the point where it annoys you enough to do something about it the glue comes out!!

The last bit of gluing was actually cable related too but at the other end. Whilst unplugging the Sabres from the new DAP the metal housing that surrounds the 3.5mm jack came off when I pulled on it and then went up over the spring part and along the cable. Fortunately the wires themselves were still intact so I could remove the gold part of the jack from the DAP but the DAP has a metal guard rail on it that made access a bit trickier that it should've been.

Terrible late night phone pic here

Very easy to fix though as it appears the metal housing is affixed to the jack using hot glue so a few spots of the trusty superglue have hopefully fixed things permanently.

But these niggles do start to add up especially when you also factor in the issue with the tips, which in some cases can be incredibly ill fitting (had two come out in my ears now) - a one size fits all approach simply doesn't work for a range of IEMs with different nozzle widths.  And whilst I can make some allowances with the Vyrus and Sabre due to them offering great SQ whilst also being (relatively) inexpensively priced I would absolutely not be so accepting with one of their higher end IEMs. The more you spend the more your expectations grow in all aspects and without a doubt I'd be exercising my right to return if I experienced these issues on a pair of IEMs I'd just spent a couple of hundred quid or more.

I had considered pre-ordering a PM6 during the Black Friday promo but cable concerns got the better of me and my experiences with the Vyrus and now the Sabre make me feel like I made the right choice. Unfortunately until something changes I think this is as high up the Trinity ladder as I'm comfortable going. Pity really as I suspect the PM6 and Hunter might just be a wee bit special. 

But back on track, the Sabre do not disappoint at all when it comes to how they sound. Easily on a par with the best IEMs I've owned and sound a lot more headphone-like in their presentation than most. Next post will be a lot more positive (I promise!!).

The cable does tangle a lot. Although I quite like that as I find untangling it quite therapeutic

I don't find fit with these much of an issue at all but as I think I mentioned in a PM they seem to fit the dimensions of my ears quite well and the cartilage on my outer ear takes the weight, rather than the tips. I'm lucky I guess but I'd say comfort is even better than it was on the Vyrus.

I noticed the following announcement posted on HF (originally from the Trinity Instagram page). Gives me hope that good news is to follow re. the cables. and the other things they have planned could be worth keeping an eye on too.

It read okay at 2am this morning.....but now you've said that I can't read the announcement without my inner voice doing it in the style of Yoda

I have high hopes that the connectors will be overhauled too. I was half asleep but I think someone posted to ask about them and Bob said more will be revealed in the next few days. Whilst not admitting anything he didn't give a flat denial either.....so if that's not a 'hell yes!' then I don't know what is lol.

Also think there was some mention of them offering generous trade-in / upgrade offers to existing owners - will have a hunt and see if I can find it. May have been sleep browsing by then and dreaming it...

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I think I mentioned in the Vyrus thread that my cheapo mobile phone sounded like it might have a bit of a high output imepdance as it made everything sound overly thick and bassy. Well I found the culprit. Hidden away in the Google Play app it seems there are some audio enhancement settings they are applied system wide inc. the Qobuz app. I've never touched them (didn't even know they were there) and in their wisdom it seems Motorola enables them out of the box. And the preset they opted for?  'Extreme bass'.....no wonder the orange barrels sounded so horrid on the sabre!!

The emphasised bass did at least paper up some of the roughness in the audio playback though and going back from the Pioneer DAP (returned for a refund today) it's a bit of a come down.

Very interesting, Mark. It seems that Bob is reading around and picking up on comments made. Sign of a good company IMO.


I really don't like the cable connection at all. Seems we're not the only ones. I also think that the barrels are too narrow for many people.. it would be nice if they changed that as well TBH, although it might well change the sound.

I was wondering if I could find a piece of rubber tubing to put around the barrels before putting the tips on. That would make them fatter.