TRUTHEAR x Crinacle Zero IEM Review

[USER]

The pedophile thing is very funny, but I hope most feel that that's a bit much. I tried to provide a real life example of why it's awkward as hell. I'm not saying for people to stop voicing their opinions, but maybe let's not fully lose sight of these interesting IEMs.

 

[Dialectic]

The pedophile thing is very funny, but I hope most feel that that's a bit much. I tried to provide a real life example of why it's awkward as hell. I'm not saying for people to stop voicing their opinions, but maybe let's not fully lose sight of these interesting IEMs.

I don't find it funny in the slightest. Whoever designed the packaging needs, at a minimum, professional help.

 

[Robbo99999]

I was about to buy these IEMs but declined on the ground that I don't want to be misidentified as a pedophile.

lol, don't be so sensitive, buy those mothers!

 

[amirm]

A bit about my experience with IEMs and comment about them not being as good as headphones. With IEMs, sound originates from inside of my ear and goes to the middle of my head. There is no externalization. With many headphones, instruments move a few inches away from each side of my ears. This can be quite delightful and is something I miss in IEMs. So if bulk, cost, and additional heating of my ears is not a factor, I wear headphones. In summer though due to heat, I switch to IEMs exclusively.

 

[asrUser]

I was not aware of the IEM culture before, but the incel- and pedophile-adjacent IEM culture is one that I find even more distasteful than the Veblen goods culture of mainstream audiophiles!

Seeing all those hate comments make me just . You guys just need to chill. There's only a nice artwork. So what? It's only artwork about fiction anyway.

 

[johnhopfensperger]

I just got them today. They sound like the eartips don’t go far enough into my ear canal. See for example the various blog posts by rinchoi on this subject, such as http://rinchoi.blogspot.com/2010/05/how-deep-do-you-insert-you-er4.html

I have the impression of peaky treble, rather than the rich harman sound I expected from the graphs. None of the eartips go deep into the canal like the etymotic sleeves.

(I have Genelec 8361 and Sennheiser hd600 for reference.)

 

[Robbo99999]

I just got them today. They sound like the eartips don’t go far enough into my ear canal. See for example the various blog posts by rinchoi on this subject, such as http://rinchoi.blogspot.com/2010/05/how-deep-do-you-insert-you-er4.html

I have the impression of peaky treble, rather than the rich harman sound I expected from the graphs. None of the eartips go deep into the canal like the etymotic sleeves.

(I have Genelec 8361 and Sennheiser hd600 for reference.)

Well that's interesting, and feedback of all types is of course welcome in these threads, people don't have to feel like they have to like this IEM just because it follows the Harman Curve, and indeed people should be honest about their experiences! I suppose the eartips are designed to extend to a certain depth in a certain sized (average?) ear canal, and the measurements on the "GRAS Dummy Head" show that the frequency response is good in that situation. Of course that doesn't mean you necessarily get the same result when you wear it.......it sounds like the design of this IEM does just not mesh with your anatomy, if I was to hazard a reason. Genelec speakers are obviously a good reference that you have, so you should certainly be aware of good sound, and the HD600 is certainly a non-offensive and generally very well balanced headphone for most people, so you have good exposure to good audio equipment......this IEM just doesn't mesh well with your anatomy which is unlucky, I'd say that's the reason. Unless you have a unit which is varying a lot from the average production unit. (But also, aren't Etymotics designed to intrude further into your earcanal than these IEM's anyway, so insertion depth might not be the reason for your experience, but still even with that being true it could still be that the Crinacle X Zero doesn't mesh with your anatomy).

 

[julian_hughes]

I would generally expect of people to have the mental capacity to separate concerns and attributes even if they come from the same product.

And compared to the preferences of people across the world who don't want products supplied with eroticised representations of children, your personal expectation matters how and why? Is your disdain more important than others' distaste for the sexualisation of children? This stuff arrives with the product. You'd never even know that by looking at it being sold on Shenzhenaudio or Amazon. For some strange reason they decline to show this stuff. Bu there isn't an opt out: you buy it and it arrives anyway. It is part of the experience of this product. Should we also bar mention of unboxing and accessories and comfort and reliability and only allow technical discussion of measurement? Of course not. This is a branded, promoted, packaged product. In a reasonable discussion of it we can express our preferences and experience of every aspect of it, with or without the approval of people who don't care about one aspect or another.

 

[frogmeat69]

Just had my pair delivered today, and they sound pretty nice to me, seem to be a great deal so far.
Amazon's delivery clowns, on the other hand, is a whole other story, . I thought the Fed Ex guy I got fired due to being a piece of shit at his job was bad, boy was I wrong. F'ing terrible.

 

[nothingman]

Seeing all those hate comments make me just . You guys just need to chill. There's only a nice artwork. So what? It's only artwork about fiction anyway.

If that’s your starting position, then I’m probably wasting my time here, but 1) the point is we don’t think it’s nice artwork, 2) if you think it’s nice artwork, especially in this context, then that says a lot more about you than us, and 3) fictionalized depictions of children as sex objects are still depictions of children as sex objects. The idea that you’d defend it as “so what?” is just depressing.

 

[Robbo99999]

Just had my pair delivered today, and they sound pretty nice to me, seem to be a great deal so far.
Amazon's delivery clowns, on the other hand, is a whole other story, . I thought the Fed Ex guy I got fired due to being a piece of shit at his job was bad, boy was I wrong. F'ing terrible.

Cool to hear they're sounding good! (Gave you a like for your feedback, but not for you supposedly getting someone fired....sometimes you don't know the whole story of what's going on with a company & an employee, at any rate I wanted to make clear that I didn't give you a like for that.)

 

[asrUser]

The idea that you’d defend it as “so what?” is just depressing.

I just enjoy stuff like headphones, music and arts rather than "depressing". Don't like it? Then don't buy it. Amen

 

[someguyontheinternet]

And compared to the preferences of people across the world who don't want products supplied with eroticised representations of children, your personal expectation matters how and why? Is your disdain more important than others' distaste for the sexualisation of children? This stuff arrives with the product. You'd never even know that by looking at it being sold on Shenzhenaudio or Amazon. For some strange reason they decline to show this stuff. Bu there isn't an opt out: you buy it and it arrives anyway. It is part of the experience of this product. Should we also bar mention of unboxing and accessories and comfort and reliability and only allow technical discussion of measurement? Of course not. This is a branded, promoted, packaged product. In a reasonable discussion of it we can express our preferences and experience of every aspect of it, with or without the approval of people who don't care about one aspect or another.

For some reason you seem to assume that I like this kind of artwork. Here is the truth: I disdain it.
Still that is no reason to continuously reiterate an argument even to the point that it devolves into nothing more than verbal mud slinging.

I have seen more than one comment that is just completely devoid of any value adding to the discussion and does little more than throw childish insults at different groups of people. In my opinion this kind of behavior should have no place in any discussion between adults.
I have nothing against voicing disdain against the artwork, but many comments have gone way beyond reasonable articulation of criticism.

 

[Fregly]

To add to the thoughts. I just got them. They are solid! All my speakers are Revel and my NAD HP-50s (which were tested here) are EQed more or less to the Harman curve. Nothing about these makes them stick out from what I am used to. As it's impossible to AB at this point I can't tell you about minutiae differences tone-wise and that's fine! I don't see any disagreement with Amir's measurements. Ideally the measurements speak for themselves. Also, I think that they have pretty darn good "soundstage" for IEMs. There is separation of instruments/sounds. It's not that bad and I think the issue is overblown as the illusion of it--albeit more constricted--is still there. Sure they aren't like speakers or higher quality headphones but there is definitely a place of IEMs. (Now I have to compare them to my Etymonic ER2SEs--which I like.) I tried out the Malky79 EQ and I think that it makes them a bit smoother. It's not a dramatic difference but I think I will stick with it when I have the ability to EQ. Nonetheless it is great to have something super portable that does not require EQ. Would I use them over my NAD HP-50s? No. Upon a quick comparison the NADs sound feels a bit less strained --and, yes, the soundstage is wider; but then Amir thought the NADs were above average in that respect.

Importantly, they pass my bass test, which consists of the following:

Massive Attack - Angel: Representative of what I want bass to do well. If it can't make this sound good, I don't want it.

Laurie Anderson - My Right Eye: This is my test to hear bass quality. Before DSP, my speakers could not handle this track well as they would sound super bloaty. I think my NADs can handle this better, but the bass output is higher proportionally on the Zeros. This is not the fault of the latter as the NADs were EQ'ed. Still, these IEMs can handle it.

Billie Eilish - Bad Guy: Not really my music, but a great example of modern use of bass, which is so very different than music of the past. Here the bass is at the limits of what I like. Don't know if I'd want more bass than what these offer. That's a win in my book.

Critique:

I agree with others that the stem that goes into the canal may be too thick for people with smaller ears. I can see some women finding this uncomfortable.

And speaking of which, yeah, the whole Waifu thing is embarrassing. I hope the makers of these headphones see the sales potential that they have on their hands. Don't blow it! These should compete with the establishment such as JBL, Samsung, Apple, and AKG. Obviously, they are now distinguishing themselves with advanced tech such as noise reduction and EQ--rightly--but this is still an opportunity.

Case in point: I have an adult female friend that asked for headphone and IEM recommendations. I would certainly bring these up but I am not looking forward to having to embarrassingly explain the whole incel vibe of IEM culture.

I'm interested in what you think of them compared to the Etys, as you like both. Helpful reference point for me. Those curves are so different.

 

[student of history]

Holy smokes! Just got a pair. These suckers rock! Thanks Amir!

 

[levimax]

The package I received was a nice black cell phone style box with an outer sleeve with the offending image. I removed the sleeve and threw it away.

 

[frogmeat69]

Cool to hear they're sounding good! (Gave you a like for your feedback, but not for you supposedly getting someone fired....sometimes you don't know the whole story of what's going on with a company & an employee, at any rate I wanted to make clear that I didn't give you a like for that.)

Just so you know, I paid Fed Ex an additional fee for a specific 2 hour delivery time frame (between 5 and 7 pm) and to get a signature upon delivery, since the package was an expensive piece of medical equipment.
The driver dropped the package at my door at 9:15am while I was at work, tore off the label, waited until 4:45pm, scanned the label, and forged my signature.
I live in an apartment complex with 18 units, and luckily my neighbor across the hall heard the guy literally drop the package (medical equipment, mind you) at my door, so he came out and brought it into his place for safe keeping. When I got home, he told me when it was dropped off, plus I received a text letting me know when the label was scanned, and it showed the forged signature.
Now, what would you have done? Not complained? I didn't look for him to get fired, but it was one of many times he mishandled deliveries, as I was told by his supervisor, and experienced firsthand.

 

[Robbo99999]

Just so you know, I paid Fed Ex an additional fee for a specific 2 hour delivery time frame (between 5 and 7 pm) and to get a signature upon delivery, since the package was an expensive piece of medical equipment.
The driver dropped the package at my door at 9:15am while I was at work, tore off the label, waited until 4:45pm, scanned the label, and forged my signature.
I live in an apartment complex with 18 units, and luckily my neighbor across the hall heard the guy literally drop the package (medical equipment, mind you) at my door, so he came out and brought it into his place for safe keeping. When I got home, he told me when it was dropped off, plus I received a text letting me know when the label was scanned, and it showed the forged signature.
Now, what would you have done? not complained? I didn't look for him to get fired, but it was one of many times he mishandled deliveries, as I was told by his supervisor.

Tearing off the label and scanning the label at a later time to comply with your requested delivery time (whilst leaving your package at your door) is not correct, I agree. Also if he really did try to forge your signature then yes, that's not correct either - but oftentimes delivery people have an understanding with the recipient that they are ok to sign for their packages so they will sign for it in their own name....which I agree is not the same as forging your signature, if that's what you meant......I'd be surprised if he put in your name and then intentionally tried to forge your signature when of course he wouldn't have a cats hell in chance of knowing what your signature even is....so it sounds like he probably just signed for it himself on your behalf rather than actually actively forging your signature. But I agree that was a very poor delivery....I still don't quite agree on the sentiment of trying to get the guy fired....strong feedback is needed, these people are under a lot of time pressure, but they need to know where the lines are, and ripping off that label and scanning it later is already out of order. That would need to change, don't like the idea of trying to get him fired....but something would need to happen re feedback and resolution.

 

[Zaki Ghul]

I got mine today. Stupid packaging aside, I love the sound. I guess I'm an average Harman curve kind of person.

 

[frogmeat69]

Tearing off the label and scanning the label at a later time to comply with your requested delivery time (whilst leaving your package at your door) is not correct, I agree. Also if he really did try to forge your signature then yes, that's not correct either - but oftentimes delivery people have an understanding with the recipient that they are ok to sign for their packages so they will sign for it in their own name....which I agree is not the same as forging your signature, if that's what you meant......I'd be surprised if he put in your name and then intentionally tried to forge your signature when of course he wouldn't have a cats hell in chance of knowing what your signature even is....so it sounds like he probably just signed for it himself on your behalf rather than actually actively forging your signature. But I agree that was a very poor delivery....I still don't quite agree on the sentiment of trying to get the guy fired....strong feedback is needed, these people are under a lot of time pressure, but they need to know where the lines are, and ripping off that label and scanning it later is already out of order. That would need to change, don't like the idea of trying to get him fired....but something would need to happen re feedback and resolution.

Well, when you pay extra to have a signature required from the person receiving the delivery, and the driver wrote my name , in cursive, for the signature to release the package, I would consider that forging my signature, but maybe I'm wrong??
Also, I have been a delivery driver for about 30 years, for small and large companies, including Staples for 8 years, so I know the pressure of getting 100 deliveries done in a short amount of time, across many miles.
I also didn't plan on getting him fired, but my complaint to his supervisor seemed to be the last of many complaints, and wasn't the first problem I had with this driver.
You might wonder why I had his super's cellphone number? Because he personally called me to straighten out other mishaps, and wanted me to call him directly if there were any further problems. This time ended up getting him relieved of his duties.

Sorry to go off topic everone, just got mad earlier, and vented. And not trying to argue this @Robbo99999 , just stating why he got the boot.