Do I even need to introduce the Oriolus Traillii? Well, just in case you’ve been living under a rock, this is the most hyped IEM in recent memory on Head-Fi. To date, there has not been a negative review or impression that I could find about the Traillii on Head-Fi. I repeat: not a single, negative impression. That’s truly uncanny, and suffice it to say that the Traillii’s reputation precedes it. Of course, that reputation might also have to do with the staggering $6000 - oops, scratch that - $6600 price tag, following a recent price increase from the manufacturer due to inability to keep up with demand! I think it's clear that the hype train for this IEM is real, and I've even had many readers predicting this would be the "end-all-be-all" IEM for me. Boy, does that put some serious expectations on my shoulders. But of course, I'm a reviewer. My job is to isolate and to assess an IEM's sonic quality devoid of the hype, thereby affording a more accurate, objective assessment of the IEM in question.
Fair enough. However the Traillii, like many other high end IEMs, are very much source dependent. Traillii is no exception and can sound from just good to splendid depending on the source.
I agree with @Francois_Russo’s point. The review is based on only one source, and I think that with any headphone or iem review, the use of multiple sources would be helpful to the reader, especially if the iem/headphone is difficult to drive, as the reviewer states.
The review also compares individual aspects of the Traillii with individual aspects of other iems (e.g. the bass is not as good as the bass on X, the treble isn’t as good as the treble on Y), but there aren’t any overall comparisons. Unless there are some ‘Frankenstein iems’ with the best of everything, it makes it difficult for the reader to decide if a different iem should be purchased instead.
I wish the review had been a little less angry, and a little more informative.
I have myself owned the Trialli for over two years now. Admittedly, I have ‘walked away’. I no longer need to even LOOK at anything else. EVER…Again. Currently paired with Lotto Gold Touch and Cayin N-8ll. There is no more need to ‘look’ elsewhere. Even now, after 2 solid years, NOTHING comes close to the ‘do it all’ ability of the Trialli. NOTHING. The Trialli does EVERYTHING Very Well, Not just ‘well’, but VERY well. This so called ‘review’, to me, seems to be somewhat ‘skewed’. The Trialli has ZERO issue with Treble OR Bass. So, I simply cannot ‘grasp’ what the reviewer is up to here…other than to somehow ‘try’ to cast ‘doubt’. Rest assured : HAVE…NO…DOUBTS. The Trialli HAS …NO… ‘shortcomings’. As in…>NONE.