1MORE Triple Driver Over-Ear Headphones – Audiophile made affordable

1MORE has done a superlative job in bringing great-sounding audio – the sort that’d keep audiophiles happy – to more mainstream wallets. While their headsets and IEMS are far from cheap, they deliver a phenomenal phonic bang for your buck. With beautiful packaging, usually excellent design and incredible sound at a more modest price, 1MORE has delivered another entry-level audiophile headset – this time as something that goes over your ears instead of in them.

As is expected now, 1MORE’s wired Triple Driver Over-Ear Headphones are a product that just oozes quality thanks to its metal and leather construction. The cup housings are made from milled aluminium, while the headband is made from metal. The headband is bedecked in plush leather, as are the cups, which are supported by ratchets that are made from plastic. The Y-frame that holds the cups is also plastic, supported by metal hinges that allow the headset to fold up rather neatly. While it’s a quality product that feels premium, I fear that because of the plastic supports, a misstep in the dark could lead to heartbreak.

The cups have a clear plexiglass window that shows off the headset’s namesake; it’s triple driver. The little window is covered with a trio of tridents that somewhat resembles a Biohazard symbol and functions as a bass reflector to reinforce the overall bass output. While the leather on the cups is plush, it’s a little too shallow, and you can feel the speaker against your ear. The cups are also a little too small for my liking and tends to develop hotspots. It means that any extended use becomes both warm and uncomfortable thanks to the clamping force. That makes them a little more on-ear than over-ear in my opinion. It’s a genuine pity because it made my sessions with 1MORE’s Triple Driver Over-Ear Headphones less enjoyable than they should have been, because they genuinely deliver a superlative listening experience for their class.

Most over-ears have one single dynamic driver in each cup. To make these qualify as triple drivers, they have a graphene-coated mylar driver, a ceramic tweeter for quickened treble response and the passive bass reflector for more depth and clarity in the lower end of the audio spectrum. They’re rated as Hi-Res, which means that they have a frequency range that goes beyond the limit of human hearing; 20Hz – 40kH. While I still think the Hi-Res push is a bit of a gimmick, there are those that claim that frequencies beyond our hearing change the feel of the audio, but I don’t really subscribe to that.

I do believe that quality matters though, so I’ve been tested the 1MORE’s Triple Driver Over-Ear Headphones with my range of DACs using my own collection of lossless audio, along with music from TIDAL. You don’t need a DAC or an amp, mind you; they’re happy to be powered by a phone if that’s your wont. I’m suitably impressed. 1MORE’s Triple Driver Over-Ear Headphones deliver detailed, dynamic, crisp audio. It’s not as warm as most consumer-centric sets, but it’s exactly not completely neutral either. There’s an exceptionally clean mid-range that’s best demonstrated by Steely Dan’s Hey Nineteen and Deacon Blues, favoured for testing because of how incredibly clear and clean the production on them. They sounded wonderful.

The low-end response is equally pure, with no echoing low notes or a thundering boom. There’s a definite punch to the bass response, with a slight low-end emphasis that doesn’t drown out anything else. That makes them unsuitable for reference work but makes for a fun listen. For testing bass, I used my go-to of Flight of the Cosmic Hippo (because really, I can’t get enough of Victor Wooten’s bass work on that). I also listen to Portishead’s bass-heavy Mysterons, with its otherworldly Theremin and those hollow drums kicking in nicely.

I felt that the highs are a little under-emphasised. When there’s not much else, the high-end is crisp as at the beginning of The Eagles Hotel California Live (from Hell Freeze over). When there’s a lot going on sonically, it’s harder to distinguish trills and hi-hats. That’s not to say high-end reproduction isn’t accurate, it just gets a little lost. There are little details from the climactic end of Arcade Fire’s Neighbourhood #1 (Tunnels), that while not entirely lots, are a little harder to pick out.

As far as accessories go, 1MORE is generous. In addition to the hard-shell carrying case, there’s a 6.35mm audio adapter and a soft carrying case. The cable that accompanies the set is encased in an anti-tangle Kevlar cheat and is a 99 percent oxygen-free copper cable. I’ve had much higher-end sets that ship with worse cables, so it’s a nice inclusion.

They have a recommended retail price of R3299, but prudent shopping and they can be had for less.