If the title did not give it away I am nowhere close to a professional reviewer or maybe even a competent one. If you want a really well done review of the 3 tribrids i will be talking about I highly recommend Crin’s wonderful work
Crin’s much better review
With that out of the way and if you are still here, then here is basics of how I am going to review. I am not really going to use too many audiophile terms besides the frequency sections and I am also not reviewing these stock in some cases. If I have the ability to change tips/cables to something I personally prefer I am going to do so and review each in the “best for me” light. If you don’t like it, don’t continue.
The challengers –
ThieAudio Oracle (type E tip and stock cable till I get some more .78 cables in)
Moondrop Variations (Spinfit CP155 and replacement cable from Riku’s list A3)
Dunu EST112 (type E tip and stock cable)
Accessories – Winner Dunu EST112
Broken down only into the accessories I personally care about the cable, tips, and case all other extras are just that extra to me, plus none of them have effective filter changes or anything of note.
Cable – Winner Dunu EST112
Dunu wins this one almost by default since Moondrop is disqualified for making the worst Moondrop cable I have ever dealt with and possibly cable over all I have dealt with. Moondrop’s attempt at making a multi connector is just dumb, cumbersome, and the gravest sin it does not even work all of the time… I am sorry the basic thing a cable has to do is actually work. Other then that it feels nice and the weight is not bad. ThieAudio’s cable is okay and if you are purely using it in 2.5 balanced mode then it is even good. If you have to adapt then it is a large connector on the end of another largish connector, which honestly makes it where it is not really worth it as a multi connector. Dunu’s cable is honestly amazing and I can kinda understand why they charge $80 US for it separately. The weight is as close to my perfect as any other cable, it feels fine even with the preformed earhooks, and the multi connector is easy to use/secure/small and shows that whoever works there understands IEM cables unlike a lot of other companies.
Case – Winner Dunu EST112
Dunu’s case is the only one you can store accessories in and the iem while not being oversized and just plain silly. Again Dunu understands where other IEM manufacturers do not seem to. Moondrop has done nearly the impossible again making a case that is vertical so the iem fits fine… but it is finicky and there is not a good way to store extra tips or anything else. ThieAudio has the largest case with one the smallest area to store the IEM… infact it does not fit without crushing the IEM against the foam they put in it… again in the largest case (but they do give you a cord to hang it from something…)
Tips – Winner Moondrop Variations
I don’t personally like Thie’s tips, but they are servicable. Dunu gets bonus points for some people by including spinfit CP100 tips, but I don’t care for the CP100, there actual tips are fine as well. Moondrop tips are good and honestly close to the final type E tips in comfort and they have foam tips that I don’t outright hate (high praise from me), so overall a decent offering. Really this one is close and none of them are quite as good as 3rd party tips.
3 Likes
Sound – Tie Moondrop Variations and Thieaudio Oracle
Again not a professional reviewer so i am just going to go over my personal experiences more then an in depth comparison. There are far better reviewers and forum members for that I personally recommend Crinacle, @Rikudou_Goku, @hawaiibadboy, and @Resolution for that kind of stuff.
This was going to be a very one sided slaughter originally with the ThieAudio Oracle murdering both the EST112 and the Variations and being proclaimed the fastest gunman in the west… but then I rolled the tips on the Variation and it suddenly became a shootout. For the record the EST112 is dead on the ground somewhere by the bar, but honestly it is not a bad set… just outclassed in what it brings to the table. Since it is dead I will go over it first.
Dunu EST112
The Dunu EST112 is a very nice set. Very neutral and balanced in its sound. There is little that sounds bad on it. The Berry DD is a very competent driver and handles high speed and highly technical bass really well. The BA is well tuned to be inoffensive and to fill the Mids with pleasing sound. The dual EST does a great job bringing life to the high end. But everything is just that little bit lacking. The bass is not at full as it could be, but very technical and very clinical, The mids are very inoffensive but also don’t take chances to really shine above the others. The highs are the beautiful sound I have come to love with EST drivers but just not as good as the others. They sing lovely, but they are not a virtuoso. If I only had one tribrid and I had not heard the others then honestly I could be really happy with this set, but unfortunately I had heard the Variations first and then Thie came.
ThieAudio Oracle
Thie came and did everything the Dunu could do, but just a bit better. The 10mm polycarbonate DD is something of an oddity and has quickly joined the ranks of drivers I look out for when looking for IEMs. It is fast and nimble while also bringing a fullness that the tuning of the Berry driver in the EST just didn’t. The mids are tuned just that little bit hotter, but it also brings just that little bit of extra life to them while still maintaining an excellent balance of overall sound (I think it probably needed the extra to balance out the bass and highs). The highs sparkle and sing like beautiful twinkling starry night calling out to you to listen to the detail and richness of the sound but fading away as you look to the rest of the sound just as easily. Ephemeral seems to be a quality I can easily put here. The whole sound is beautiful and very well in balance. Then there is Moondrop…
Moondrop Variations
I was originally going to say that the Variations is lovely but unbalanced and works extremely well for very certain tracks, but overall not for a lot of tracks… I was. Moondrop’s own tips and final type E tips do this IEM a disservice in my eyes. The sub bass is powerful and impactful in a way that is unique to this shootout, but it might have been too much for too many tracks… was my conclusion. With the CP155 oh how does this change. It does not lower the sub bass, but elevates the rest of the bass to a very powerful sound bringing an excitement that none of the rest compete with. The mids are beautiful and vocals, especially female vocals are top tier… was my conclusion… And it still is, if anything there might be a hint of taming in the mids that make it even more refined while still being lovely with the CP155. The highs have a sparkle and shine that honestly with the CP155 bringing out just that little bit extra compete with Thie on almost the same level, almost. But this is not a balanced IEM bringing out exactly what the music calls for and only that. This is an IEM that forces it’s vision of what the song could be on to it. Does it work with everything… no. When it does work though there is a magic that really just can not be compared to or competed against at least not in this three way.
2 Likes
I’d have to test it, I think @Rikudou_Goku did, but if I recall properly, the Dunu EST 112 cable doesn’t have the greatest resistance rating. I could be wrong about. Maybe he can chime in if he remembers. I Love DUNU’s interchangeable connection system. Best in the business. I personally recommend the DU03 cable that comes on the Zen and SA6. Hands down the best cables I’ve owned with interchangeable connections.
1 Like
The Zen and SA6 uses the DUW-03 cable. The EST112 uses the DUW-02S and measures at 0.49 with the balanced connectors and 0.54 with the SE connector.
Still is far better then the others in comfort, weight and use so I stand by my conclusion for me at least.
2 Likes
Thank you. I’ll edit my post. I forgot it was DUW-02 and not 02.
I take great pride in the fact that I am sure my way of explaining things is going to trigger some audiophiles to no end.
Not trying to change anyone’s mind. I thought it would be good to get all the facts out there. Most people probably don’t care about resistance anyway. Never mind I said anything.
Gonna get some popcorn, watch and enjoy. 
Continue sir!
For people who care deeply about resistances and things like that your comment is valuable and honestly I am glad you brought it up.
1 Like
Awesome impressions. I enjoyed reading them. Thank you @TkSilver Great job!
I completely agree with the Variations/Monarch alternate tuning of most IEMs. They have carved out a tuning niche that I now require in my collection. I do agree with the sentiment that these IEMs aren’t perfectly suited for all music genres, but the genres that can take advantage of their tuning differences sound incredible on these sets and my collection would not be complete without at least one.
Your findings also highlight how necessary and important tip rolling is. An IEM you might think is meh, might become your endgame with the right tips.
A great tip collection is essential if you want to get the most out of your IEMs.
1 Like
What surprised me the most was that after rolling the CP155 a lot of the tracks that I didn’t care for on the Variations became better… noticeably. None of the excellent tracks became worse. Which is interesting to me since I did try a few different narrow bore and wide bore tips on the Variations and didn’t find that effect happening until the CP155. So happy I decided to give the CP155 a chance after disliking the CP100 so much for comfort and fit.
Unfortunately much like pads there may be a really good tip that might not work for someone due to fit or comfort. but then again the same could be said for IEMs and headphones in general if you don’t like how something feels then how good it sounds becomes somewhat irrelevant.
1 Like