TRN STM Review
🔥 Replaceable filters, value for money, fun sound
🧐 Not the clearest, definitely on the brighter side with the treble filter, only slightly more worth than price
Introduction
Picture this: a broke student casually sifting through audiophile products online, ever so mindful of the price tags which place the notion of change-able filters far out of reach. However, the mindless browsing stops as a certain TRN STM catches the eye, and under it the unusually low price of £20....
Unboxing
A classic Chifi unboxing experience which consisted of the most basic of boxes and extra tips but with the exception of an extra bag of filters as well as some free foam tips provided by the store.
Note: The instructions and manual that I received didn't even include which filter did what and I figured it out mostly through my own listening experience and reading other reviews!
Filters from TRN’s own website: https://trn-audio.com/trn-stm.html
Looks and Feel
The resin or plastic shell comes in either blue or green, I went for the green as it was more unique compared to what I already owned. The faceplate is pretty basic, nothing fancy or too ugly for my tastes. The earphones are very light and fit easily in the ears, though isolation is not the best. I find that the earpieces don’t really fit into my ears and just depend on the ear tips to stay in the ear. As these are so light, it’s not really an issue but that’s likely why the noise isolation is not as good as other earphones. I should also mention that the wire these earphones come with are pretty useless as while they’re meant to go over the ears for a secure fit, the STMs fit so far out of my ears that the hooks kind of go too high above my ear to provide any sort of stability.
Overall Listening Experience
I’ll give an overall review of the sound signature of the earphones regardless of filters, as I don’t think the filters affect the general sound too much. Think of the filters as sprinkles on top some dark chocolate ice cream. They’re certainly there but tasting the difference between rainbow or chocolate sprinkles might not be so obvious.
These are rather balanced earphones, with a slightly elevated treble. Compared to most consumer earphones at this price point especially, this is not all about the bass so if you’re a basshead, I’d look somewhere else. It’s certainly not lacking, but it’s not the star of the show, and certain bass-heavy tracks don’t hit as hard as they should. Vocals come through nicely and sound clear enough.
Let’s separate this into the different filters:
- Gold: V-Shaped
- This provides the most ‘fun’ sounding experience for this headphone. Bass is pronounced, though not heavily. This filter does what it says on the tin, it’s balanced, and as natural sounding as you can get out of this set. You can easily have a great time listening to rock and pop music.
- Red: Muddy bass
- These claim to emphasize the bass, which they kind of do. The bass sounds louder but does not hit any harder, not really giving you more of a thump to any back beats. However, it also seems to darken the whole listening experience and feels like it slows down the music while also making you feel like your ears need a solid clean due to how murky the songs sound. The worst filter in my opinion.
- Blue: Treble machines
- If you like it when things go pssshhhhh, you might prefer these. Treble is emphasized and the cymbals sound more prominent, while giving the earphones a slightly more airy feel. Not for the faint hearted, and also not very comfortable for long listening sessions.
Soundstage and Imaging
These earphones don’t really offer much in terms of soundstage, keeping the music very intimate. You can tell when certain instruments are are hit further or closer, but nothing feels far out. Imaging is also not the most coherent, and the highs can get muddied together with the mids when the music gets busy, though that is to be expected at this price point.
Final Thoughts
The STMs prove to be a fun starting point for trying different earphones. While they do not particularly excel at any one category, the fact that they have different tuning filters and also have a low price point could make these a good recommendation for people wanting a new set of earphones to experiment with different styles. You could perhaps use these to determine if a ‘V-shaped’ signature is what you want in life, or maybe you’d prefer to be brought closer to the vocalist, or you just want your ears to get blown off every time some drummer hits the crash cymbal. With the STMs, this is no longer a mystery!
Issue after one year
I suppose this should be expected with earphones this cheap and having an extra ‘moving’ part, but the right earphone started having an issue with the tuning filter screw-on where the filter would not be able to be screwed on tight, and would constantly be in a loose state. I might have just screwed on the filter too tightly one day and ruined it, but that’s how it is now. Just wanted to give you a heads-up that this could be an issue, and if you do end up getting these, be careful with the tuning filters!
Current Market Outlook - 2025
Another update for this review, if you actually made it this far. In 2025, I would not say that these earphones are worth the money anymore, especially after considering the build quality of those tuning filters. You can get much better quality earphones at the same price or slightly higher than the TRN STM, even with the same tuning changing technology now.