Review - Tripowin Piccolo

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TLDR version on YouTube: TDLR - Tripowin Piccolo

The Tripowin Piccolo were sent to me by Linsoul in exchange for the publication of this review. Linsoul have not requested anything specific and I will do my usual best to be as sincere and unbiased in my review as humanly possible.

You can find the Piccolo via Linsoul here: https://www.linsoul.com/products/tripowin-piccolo

As always, the above is a non-affiliate link.

To avoid being repetetive in my reviews, you can find all the info about how I create the reviews, equipment used, how I receive the products and how to interpret my reviews by visiting: About my reviews

Intro…

I have been putting off the Piccolo review for quite some time, mainly due to the fact that my last two reviews of Tripowin IEMs were not exactly positive, nor was my experience with them. However, it is only fair that I give them a try and, I have to say, they are quite a break from the last two models of theirs I tried.

The Piccolo are a budget set of IEMs, costing just over 30€ (in fact, at the time of putting together this review, they are on sale for less than 25€), that use a single 11mm dual cavity dynamic driver in each side. They are available in both silver and black, with the latter being the ones I received (in case you couldn’t see that in the photos 😉 ).

Presentation…

A white cardboard sleeve, with an image of the IEMs on the the front, along with the usual text etc., slides away to reveal a black box with the model in large white letters and some basic white circles.

The size of the box would suggest that we are going to receive much more inside that we actually do. Opening the box reveals the IEMs with their cable attached and a small plastic bag containing 3 sets of silicone tips.

While we could say that the Piccolo are rather short on accessories, we have to remember that these are an ultra-budget set of IEMs that cost 30€, so I really can’t find it in myself to complain. It’s true that other brands have spoiled us with content at similar prices but, even so, I still believe that the accessories should be way behind on the priorities list at this price.

Build and aesthetics…

The shells are a generic triangular type shape with rounded corners, in a matte black finish that has quite a texture to it. This makes them grippy and, while I personally haven’t found any discomfort, if the shells are large enough to touch your outer ear, then they may present an irritating sensation with use. The positive side is that they will not show fingerprints, no matter how many crisps (or potato chips for the US market) you eat before touching them.

The cable is another “nothing great but works” which is similar to the cables received with other Tripowin models. The included tips are also nothing special but the medium size worked ok for me and are what I have used for this review.

Sound…

All tracks mentioned are clickable links that allow you to open the reference track in the streaming service of your choice (YouTube, Tidal, Qobuz, Spotify, etc.)

As I said a moment ago, the sound signature of the Piccolo are a break from the last two models (Rhombus and Cencibel) I tried, taking away the extreme harshness I found with said IEMs. While the sound signature of the Piccolo is still a bit of an acquired taste, I much prefer it to those mentioned and I can’t say that I didn’t enjoy the time I have spent with them, depending on the music.

Let’s start off with the usual look at the graph in comparison to my personal preference target for reference:

And just so you can see what I am referring to, here are the Piccolo in comparison to the Rhombus and the Cencibel:

So, starting off with the lowest of notes, there isn’t a huge presence of subbass but there is enough for my tastes. I did find that it was very easy for the seal to break with the stock tips and the subbass (and midbass) dropped off dramatically, which is to be expected. The thing I found unusual was how easily the good seal was lost. The positive side is that the change is so noticeable that there is no doubt about having them sealed correctly or not!

In the midbass range, there is a little bump in comparison to my usual preferences but I did find this worked well for the low end of electric guitars and bass guitars. The Piccolo are not overpowering in my usual “Crazy” test for midbass, with the lower notes staying nice and clean, avoiding the fatigue that I find many times with midbass.

I find that the low end of the Piccolo works well for a lot of the older Blues recordings that I like to listen to, giving the electric guitars a nice bit of warmth without pushing them into the muddy category. The same could be said for older rock tracks, such as “Whole Lotta Love”, where it gives the bass guitar a nice body and warmth, however, I did find that I was wanting more in the upper ranges with these kinds of tracks (which I will get to in a moment).

The mid range is nice and clean, with a nice separation between instruments and vocal layers. Nothing seems to get lost, due to the midbass being rather clean and the upper mids having enough to bring vocals and instruments forwards to be center stage when needed. Going back to “Crazy”, the vocals of Daniela Andrade are still clean and clear, without having to fight the reverb of the low end of the guitar. Acapellas such as “These Bones” show warmth and power in the bassier vocals, while still being clear enough in the higher ranged vocals.

As we move into the upper frequencies, this is where the Piccolo lacks some life in my opinion. Not for all music, as I said previously, things like older Blues recordings, where the upper ranges were a little harsh (and frequently hissed) are cleaned up nicely on the Piccolo, smoothing them out and giving them more warmth and body in their presentation.

However, tracks that have more percussion in the higher ranges, such as rock, or just more modern music in general that has more presence in the upper ranges can come across, to me at least, rather dull. Saying that, there are tracks, such as “Code Cool”, that still manage to have sibilance break through. This is a shame as it is just the peak that is exactly where Patricia Barber’s sibilance resides, making it even more apparent due to the rather smoothed treble that surrounds it.

Conclusion…

The Piccolo are not a bad set of budget IEMs, I just don’t find that they work for all kinds of music. I really enjoyed them with my older Blues sessions, yet didn’t enjoy them as much with more modern recordings.

Saying that, I would take the Piccolo many times over the Cencibel or Rhombus, as I find that the tuning is more enjoyable (with certain music) than that of the previous models, as it is tamed at both ends of the spectrum. It is just a shame that certain frequencies can still break through on occasions and produce a little bit of harshness.

To wrap up, I have to give credit to Linsoul here. They never request or make any comments on my reviews (they never have) and after the previous two reviews I published of Tripowin IEMs, I was sure that they would not send me any more from the brand. Companies (brands or stores) being open to criticism and not taking offense is something that I value highly and it is nice to see that Linsoul prove once again, at least to me, that they are one of those companies.