-
WANTED: Happy members who like to discuss audio and other topics related to our interest. Desire to learn and share knowledge of science required. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!
7Hz Salnotes Zero IEM Review
- Thread starter amirm
- Start date
- Joined
- Mar 30, 2019
- Messages
- 967
- Likes
- 1,598
Edited so it doesn't read as grouchy.
At this point you've seen the measurements. It's up to you to decide if they are close enough to a reference curve that you want to try out. (Also, "reference" for what? Are you doing professional work or are you in a roundabout way trying to ask what is the "best?") No IEM or headphone will be perfect and you have to decide whether the measurements show differences you can live with. Part of this is also due to the fact that the respective measurement equipment is not up to the level of that used for speakers so things are always a little hazy. The physical body itself is the biggest problem. IEMs and headphones are very person-specific because of your unique ear/canal shape so please don't expect universal results or ask anyone if something will be perfect for you. You simply have to do your research and try out what you think is best for the money you want to spend after it is said and done. If there is a good return policy, all the better.
That said, the two 7Hz Salnotes Zeros belie their price and seem to get you quite close to two of the most popular targets, what I'd call Harman 2019 and something closer to Harman 2016, the latter of which has been extremely popular lately. Some people think that the Salnotes work better for smaller ears, with the more expensive Truthear Zeros being better for bigger ears. (I have smaller ears and the Truthears are not an option for me.) But again, you've seen the graphs. Only you can decide if that is reference. Personally, I miss that super low end and have to adjust the Zeroes. In the end, the simplest way to think about this is that there are no IEMs that exist that are "reference" without EQ. Some, however, can be good enough. And, most importantly, as a whole IEMs are so much better than they used to be.
Last edited:
Tastes are very personal, but I can say that after listening to my OG Zeros (with very minimal EQ that I could easily dispense with) almost every day for over a year now, I'm still astonished by how utterly neutral, natural, and realistic they sound to me. It almost seems like cheating to be able to get this stellar quality of sound by plugging a $20 IEM into my phone.
I own both OG Zero and Zero2. I have smaller ears (I'm using orange silicone tips) and I'm listening on low volume levels (for some 
. I prefer Zero2 for its better stage presentation, added bass in FR is not bothering at lower volume level I'm listening at. Applying Amirs EQ preset makes small change for me and is not mandatory, I'm using Zero2 without EQ most of the time.
. I prefer Zero2 for its better stage presentation, added bass in FR is not bothering at lower volume level I'm listening at. Applying Amirs EQ preset makes small change for me and is not mandatory, I'm using Zero2 without EQ most of the time.Didn't even realize these were reviewed or that there was a v2 out. I used oratory filters inside of Realphones to correct these. Without that they sound too bass-light but otherwise pretty satisfying. I wouldn't say that they give me perfect translation as far as that goes but they're my primary headphone/earbud currently. The other ones I have are the Etymotic ER2SE and those are ok also. I guess I'm more of a speaker person if I had to choose. Either that or I've yet to find a headphone/IEM that rocks my world.
Try the Zero 2 and you should like it a lot. 25 USD, not much, worth a shot.
Similar threads
