It is no secret that the material something is made of affects its performance! Plastic is, and has been for quite some time, the preferred choice of material for making headphones. Even though, it isn't necessarily the best sounding, plastic is lightweight making it a good choice for sports headphones. When it comes to durability and sound though, nothing beats a metal body, which is obviously a lot more stronger and has the added benefit of making audio sound more natural and crispier.
Many people seek out earphones/IEMs with metal bodies for this very reason and, while they tend to be a little more pricey, there are affordable offerings to be had, including the Tripowin TC 01, which is a very comfortable and bass heavy IEM with 0.78mm 2 pin cable. The TC 01 is Tripowin's second IEM release - the first one being the TP10 (a 5 balanced armature driver earphone).
The Tripowin TC 01 metal shell has a mirror polish with an iridescent multi color sheen finish to it that changes color (from indigo, purple to amber) when seen from different angles. The nozzle neck is also metal and so is the perforated filter mesh.
The Tripowin TC 01 detachable 2 pin cable measures 1.2 meters long and terminates in a 3.5mm connector that is attached to a metal-looking plug with a transparent rubber strain relief. The 3.5mm connector is gold plated and integrates a small bump, which means the audio plug does not sit completely flush against the audio port.
Because of the preformed ear hook design of the cable, the Tripowin TC 01 earphones can't be worn straight down. They can only be worn over the ears with the cable running around the top and back of the ears. The y-split section of the cable measures 30cm long. If you prefer a straight down cable design, check out the Tin Hifi T2000 earphones.
The Tripowin TC 01 cable does not tangle easily and definitely far less than most braided cables, which is likely due to the rope cabling design. Instead of a regular braid, the Tripowin TC 01 cable has a twisted style similar to the twisted yarns of a rope. There is no microphone inline the cable, other than a cable splitter and plastic cinch for cable management. Both the cable splitter and audio plug look like metal, although it's hard to tell whether it's actually metal or hard plastic with a chrome metal finish.
The Tripowin TC 01 cable outer sheath is rubbery (not nylon) and reinforced at the top with a transparent rubber sleeve. The ear hook shape is flexible but, there is no memory wire; hence the ear hook shape does not bend into place.
Like all 2 pin cables, the Tripowin TC 01 uses 2 pin connectors, which have to be inserted in a particular way, although the TC 01 user guide does not explain this. One of the Tc 01 2 pin connectors has a red marking with a tiny blue dot. There is also a tiny blue dot on the other 2 pin connector. The red marking, basically, denotes the right earphone, while the blue dots denote the polarity of the pins - positive (+) or negative, which is important to note since it makes a difference to the audio output. The blue dot facing the pin side denotes negative (-) polarity and it's designed for orientation purposes. Both blue dots are supposed to be facing the same when inserting the 2 pin connectors into the earphones.