Review - Tipsy TTROMSO Pine Stone Sea

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Also available on YouTube in Spanish: Acho Reviews YouTube

The Tipsy TTROMSO Pine Stone Sea (more on the name in a second) have been sent to me by Linsoul in exchange for me publishing this review. They have not made any special requests or comments, meaning that I will try my best, as always, to be as impartial and sincere as possible. However, as always, it is good to consider the fact that these IEMs have not cost me anything.

You can find the TTROMSO via Linsoul here:

Linsoul web: https://www.linsoul.com/

Linsoul Aliexpress: https://ddaudio.aliexpress.com/store/2894006

Linsoul Amazon EU: https://www.amazon.de/s?me=A166SV9QJZG8W0&language=en&marketplaceID=A1PA6795UKMFR9

Linsoul Amazon USA: https://www.amazon.com/s?me=A267P2DT104U3C&marketplaceID=ATVPDKIKX0DER

All of the above links are non-affiliate, as always.

Intro…

Tipsy is a brand of IEMs that I had honestly never heard of until Linsoul reached out to me about them. A brief search does bring back another few models from the brand but I honestly cannot comment on them as I have neither tried them, nor read anything about them. I see this as a positive because the less I know about a product before I listen to it, the less expectations I have, making it easier to avoid any preconceived impressions.

The TTROMSO Pine Stone Sea are priced at 80€ at the time of publishing this review which is not quite extreme budget level but is still at the more affordable end of things.

The name TTROMSO, according to the Linsoul page, is in honour to the town Tromso, located in the north of Norway, which served the brand as inspiration. I am not quite sure how the original town name Tromsø developed the extra T (maybe in translation?) and the addition of “Pine Stone Sea”, which I guess is in reference to the colour, does make for quite a mouthful when referring to them. Therefore, throughout the review, I will refer to the Tipsy TTROMSO Pine Stone Sea, as just “Tromso”.

Presentation…

The presentation of the Tromso is actually quite nice for a set of IEMs in this price range. I know I say that I am all for the budget being spent on IEMs and not packaging, but if the IEMs sound good and the presentation is good, then I am certainly not going to complain.

The box is fairly simple but has a nice cheerful colour scheme, matching the colour of the IEMs. Inside the box, the contents are also adequate for something at this price range.

We get the IEMs themselves, a cable that I am quite fond of, 3 sets of silicone tips, 1 set of foam tips, a storage bag, a microfiber cloth and the typical warrant documentation etc.

Build and aesthetics…

The IEM shells are hand painted and have quite a nice finish to them. Using blue and green as the colour scheme, they do remind me of the colours found in the Northern skies, and reflected onto northern waters, hence the “Pine Stone Sea”.

The shape is smooth, following a usual ergonomic shape, with quite long nozzles. I found that by using the medium silicone tips included, the fit was good and they seal quite deep, resulting in a passive isolation that is superior to usual. I used these on a few flights during this week and had no issues with being able to block out the drone of the engines.

The cable is also quite nice. It is a simple fabric covered cable but uses nice hardware (even though the 2 pin connectors are plastic), feels quite comfortable over the ear and I did not experience any issue with microphonics.

Sound…

(as always, the tracks mentioned in this section are clickable links, allowing you to open the song in the streaming service of your choice)

Starting from the lowest notes, as I always do, there is a little roll off as we get down to the lowest subbass frequencies. While these are not the most powerful of IEMs down in these ranges, they still have enough subbass to fill in the low end well and I didn’t really find my usual “Chameleon” to be lacking. Ok, they are not going to vibrate your eardrums but they are far from anaemic.

Moving into the midbass regions, there is a bit of extra presence here in comparison to my personal preferences, with them running a little over into the lower mids. I can’t go as far as to say that they sound muddy or that there is a lot of bleed into the lower mids, but they do present a sound signature that is not the cleanest in this regard.

Listening to acoustic instruments, such as guitars, basses, etc. This extra presence does give them a bit of extra body and warmth, trading a little clarity and detail for more of a pleasant and relaxed sound.

On tracks like “Free Fallin’”, the timbre of the acoustic guitar is not quite as I would expect it to be but it doesn’t sound bad. The difference in timbre of the acoustic guitar is more like I would expect when listening in different venues. Not that it is wrong, it is just a little different to what I am used to.

Moving into the mids, there is a bit of overlap like I just mentioned, again, it is not something that sounds bad, just a little warmer than one may expect. As we move up towards the higher end of the mids, while there is a little climb, there really isn’t much of a boost until we get to above the 4kHz mark. This does mean that vocals are also a little bit further back than I would like but, once more, they are not bad. The low end, combined with this smoothness around the 3kHz mark, adds to the overall smooth presentation of the IEMs.

As we start to get into the higher ranges, it is easy to notice that treble starts to roll off, however, it doesn’t just fall off a cliff. Personally I would like a little more sensation of air and brilliance up top, but once more, the Tromso is not terrible in this regard, it just continues with it’s overall sound signature.

The soundstage is about average for a set of IEMs, nothing extraordinary but not claustrophobic, with placement of images being fairly decent but without pinpoint accuracy. The details in general are there, they are just subtle and don’t scream “look at all this detail!”.

Conclusion…

I find that the Tipsy TTROMSO Pine Stone Sea, are quite a relaxing set of IEMs. If you are looking for a bright set of IEMs that scream detail at you, then these are not going to fit the bill, however, as a relaxing “enjoy” kind of signature, I find they work quite well.

I find they look good and are comfortable (which are obviously very personal opinions), performing at a level that is decent enough for their price if you are looking for this kind of sound signature.

The included accessories are not out of this world but they are more than adequate for something in this price range, although maybe a case rather than a bag would have been nice. Again, not really something to complain about.

All in all, I find that they are an overall pleasant package, both in sound and quality, that should be a good option for those looking for a smoother overall sound.