Ultimate Ears Triple.fi 10 Earphones

Pros: Unbeatable efficiency, dynamics, neutrality and detail

Cons: Flat frequency response is against popular tastes, minor ergonomic issues

Summary: Ultimate Ears
Triple.fi 10 Pro in-ear headphones
RRP $US400

Overview
My overall impressions of the Ultimate Ears Triple.fi Pro headphones are of a superior set of headphones in an incredibly small package. The headphones have some practical and ergonomic limitations, but are probably unequalled in the clarity and power of their sound at this price point. Sonically they excel in the mid-range, bringing a hallucinatory precision to spoken and sung vocals.

Characteristics
The UE manual gives explicit warnings about listening to their phones at high volumes for long periods, and with reason. They are highly efficient - as any driver sitting right next to your eardrum should be - and as accurate as studio monitors worth thousands. My pair of UE phones pump out a lot of subjective volume relative to the volume setting of the amplifier (a Presonus Inspire D/A converter) and they reveal detail that was below my threshold of awareness when listening to the same music over both JBL studio monitors and Sennheiser PXC250 noise-reducing phones. Some of this very sharp 'analytical' detail, such as the small amount of EM interference or self-noise I discovered to be affecting my Presonus box, may be unwanted by casual listeners.

The frequency response graph provided by Ultimate Ears on their Web site is the oddest I have seen, with apparently huge peaks and valleys across the audible spectrum, but in actual use the Triple.fi Pro's input is conveyed without noticeable colouration at either extreme. I particularly enjoy the clarity of mid-range frequencies in these phones, as a lot of my listening is to spoken-word recordings. Bass is full, immediate and yet dry, entirely without the headachey, indistinct boom that is the first sign that you are listening to bad equipment. The casual listener might at first miss the flabby, boomy bass that dominates the output of cheaper phones and speakers. The Triple.fi Pro's flat response also means that your mileage will be strongly influenced by the source pushing the signal. An old Pioneer A-103 amplifier imparted a very warm sonority to my test music which I found sweet but over-coloured; the headphone jack of my mid-range CD deck pumped out a characteristically loud, hard-edged, cold but accurate version of the same music, creating an entirely different listening experience. These phones stand aside and let the music through in whatever form has been imparted to it.

Listening tests
As other listeners report, Ultimate Ears equipment easily reveals how well or poorly your MP3 music files were compressed. The more nuanced the recording, the more rewarding will be the listening experience with these phones. For example, Tolkien's _Lord of the Rings_, as dramatised and recorded by the BBC, includes some very subtle environmental sound effects behind the characters' dialogue which are inaudible through lesser equipment. Jazz recordings, which tend to be wide in dynamic range, with a well-defined soundstage and dry ambience, really sparkle. The processed vocals, gated drums and hard synth bass in Madonna's 'American Life', though not to my taste, have the satisfying punch and grit that only total clarity in a 'dead' listening environment (ie, your head) can generate. Pop rythym guitars have enough stereo width to curl around and hit you in the eye. Detail in this genre can also surprise. The otherwise silent drum kit's sympathetic snare vibrations with overdriven amplified guitars in Polvo's 'Monoloth' were never a feature of the piece until I heard it through the Triple.fi Pros. Kleiber's recording of Beethoven's 5th presents as a wide, detailed panorama of strings, brass and woodwind. The Vienna Philharmonic's instrumental sections speak from their places on the soundstage as if marked on a map. The deeper strengths of the Triple.fi Pros are revealed in vocals-only recordings, such as the work of The Fairfield Four in 'Lonesome Valley', an a-capella spiritual on the soundtrack album _O Brother, Where Art thou?_. These four male voices on close mikes are projected into your head with hair-raising emotional and sonic presence.

Ergonomics
In-ear phones are not suitable for all applications. Good luck monitoring your own singing or other vocal work on a digital audio workstation with these - you will only hear a thunderous buzzing transmitted directly from your skullbones, much as you would if trying to sing with your fingers stuck in your ears. Closed-design, traditional headphones are still the best choice for this kind of work. Microphone effect from the UE cabling was not noticeable to me, but the amplified creaking, rumbling and roaring of my own body were sometimes distracting in quiet listening sessions.

I suggest using these phones for mastering on a DAW or home studio, and for quiet, attentive leisure listening through an i-Pod or your hi-fi system. Your surroundings need not be quiet as you do this, however, because the in-ear design produces strong passive attenuation of outside noise, akin to that of foam earplugs. A choice of different-sized in-ear mounts is provided, and stiff wire inserts allow the user to hang the cables weightlessly on the ears.

Conclusion
The Triple.fi Pros offer audiophile-quality listening in a neat metal case the size of a matchbox. It is at first unpleasant to part with so much money for something so small, but I could not imagine a more strategic way to spend $400 on high-fidelity equipment. The Triple.fi's combined efficiency, dynamics, neutrality and razor-sharp detail massively outweigh their minor ergonomic irritations. For someone who needs to hear exactly what is in their music, whether this is a home recording project or Miles Davis at the top of his game in the late 50s, The Triple.fi Pros are the only affordable tool up to the task.