Tripowin has a good selection of budget IEMs like the Olina and Cencibel, and now they’ve added an even more inexpensive option to their library. The Piccolo is a thirty-five dollar IEM, the same price as the recent BLON X HBB Z300 that was recently reviewed here on MajorHiFi. With Tripowin you can usually expect a good product, so let’s see if the Piccolo is a good option for the price.
What You Get
- Piccolo IEMs
- 2-pin 3.5mm cable
- 3 pairs of silicone ear tips S/M/L
- Warranty info
Look & Feel
Similar to the Z300 I just reviewed, the Piccolo has a fancy design for its price. On its surface is a striking silver finish, and the casing feels like aluminum. There’s a cool wavy pattern on the faceplate, and there’s a glossiness to the outside that makes the Piccolo very eye-catching. The fit isn’t as graceful, as the housing has a tendency to stick out of your ear more than you might like. It doesn’t sit within your concha, rather the housing floats above it.
Design
Inside of the Piccolo is an 11mm dual-cavity LCP dynamic driver. You won’t need any outboard device to get these IEMs to play at full power. Its impedance is low so any 3.5mm headphone jack will work.
Soundstage
It’s easy to say that it’s fair for the price, but the soundstage here is just really pleasant. While it expands wide enough to make an impression, it’s the dimension of the imaging that will stand out. The Piccolo has a pretty linear placement of sounds, but it does a great job at making each performance play in its exact space in the mix. Instruments are very easy to identify, more so with more minimalist tracks than grand compositions. It doesn’t have a lot of depth to offer, but spatial properties succeed with shape and wingspan.
Low End
There isn’t much meat on the bone here, but the bass presence is still notable. It has a very soft groove, but the mid-bass hits when it needs to. You can sense that the bass is dabbling in some rumble, but there just isn’t enough power there for the tone to really take off. Mostly, this is just a clean timbre with some supplemental color, but can’t express much with its level of gain.
Mids
Enough work is done in the mids to establish a fine balance. You won’t find much depth to the instruments or vocals, but there’s a fair amount of identity granted to each individual section of the mix. Not a tone of detail is expressed in the mids, but they get across the surface-level tone very cleanly. There’s a fine resolution to most instruments, and vocals are separated quite well. With a tick of gain applied to the upper mids, the Piccolo just feels effortless here, with a level of simplicity that’s easy to enjoy.
Highs
The treble is definitely the most pronounced region of this sound signature. There’s a brightness here that is more elegant than piecing, which makes for some crisper performances. High piano keys can even glisten without ringing out too far into the harsh territory. The amount of texture and control displayed here is admirable for a thirty-five-dollar IEM.
Summary
The Tripowin Piccolo is another great IEM that you can get for less than fifty bucks. Its bass and midrange aren’t much, but the imaging and treble response make it quite special for the price. They have a nice design to, and they feel good in your hand, but less so in your ear.
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The Tripowin Piccolo is available from Linsoul.
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