7hz Salnotes Zero - the "other" Zero

[Matias]

The announced Zero in orange with 3.5 mm mic cable is gorgeous!

 

[markanini]

I'm sharing my impressions of 7Hz Zero with the pre-applied red tips and the EQ settings below. I will include an appendix about how the 7Hz Zero performs with Truthear Hola tips.

Preamp: -1.6 dB
Filter 1: ON LSC Fc 350 Hz Gain 1.5 dB Q 0.470
Filter 2: ON HSC Fc 16000 Hz Gain -0.5 dB Q 0.330

I have to contrast this set against the Truthear Hola because it's closely matched in price and performance. 7Hz Zero doesn't do anything major that the Truthear Hola can't do, while Hola has more well behaved treble that's clear and extended, the 7Hz Zero give a little more detail retrieval, better treble extension and more engaging female vocal. Hola remains better at drum presentation, high SPL listening and general volume scalability. I bet most on ASR will prefer 7Hz Zero after EQ. But the difference is not large enough to recommend anyone to sidegrade if they already own either set. If you want good bass without EQ skip the 7Hz Zero outright.

In my final ranking I will give 7Hz Zero a shared first place with Truthear Hola, followed by Kiwi Cadenza, Moondrop Quarks DSP, and CCA CRA v2 in order from best to worst.

Appendix: Truthear Hola medium-large widebore tips supercharge the pluses 7Hz Zero has over Hola, even better details, treble extension and female vocals. Truthear Hola does hold it's high SPL and drum presentation strengths.

 

[Matias]

In case someone else was wondering like me, I asked 7Hz what is the Salnotes name: another company, colab, series or what?
Their answer "Salnotes is our sub brand cater for more budgeted products".

 

[Matias]

Now that Crinacle is measuring his colab IEMs with the new fancy 5128 HATS, comparing the Zero to the Dusk is so similar!

I use Spinfit CP145M on my Dusk and now hear that both have closer bass levels than with the original tips that came with the Dusk.

In-Ear Fidelity – IEM Graph Comparison Tool

Easily compare industry-standard frequency response measurements of hundreds and hundreds of IEMs.

crinacle.com

 

[isostasy]

Now that Crinacle is measuring his colab IEMs with the new fancy 5128 HATS, comparing the Zero to the Dusk is so similar!

I use Spinfit CP145M on my Dusk and now hear that both have closer bass levels than with the original tips that came with the Dusk.

In-Ear Fidelity – IEM Graph Comparison Tool

Easily compare industry-standard frequency response measurements of hundreds and hundreds of IEMs.

crinacle.com

View attachment 277529

No major differences than what was shown on the 711, unless I've misinterpreted what you mean?:

 

[Matias]

@isostasy yes, similar there as well, but the 711 coupler is lower resolution than the 5128, and still close on the latter as well.

 

[isostasy]

I'm sharing my impressions of 7Hz Zero with the pre-applied red tips and the EQ settings below. I will include an appendix about how the 7Hz Zero performs with Truthear Hola tips.

Preamp: -1.6 dB
Filter 1: ON LSC Fc 350 Hz Gain 1.5 dB Q 0.470
Filter 2: ON HSC Fc 16000 Hz Gain -0.5 dB Q 0.330

I have to contrast this set against the Truthear Hola because it's closely matched in price and performance. 7Hz Zero doesn't do anything major that the Truthear Hola can't do, while Hola has more well behaved treble that's clear and extended, the 7Hz Zero give a little more detail retrieval, better treble extension and more engaging female vocal. Hola remains better at drum presentation, high SPL listening and general volume scalability. I bet most on ASR will prefer 7Hz Zero after EQ. But the difference is not large enough to recommend anyone to sidegrade if they already own either set. If you want good bass without EQ skip the 7Hz Zero outright.

In my final ranking I will give 7Hz Zero a shared first place with Truthear Hola, followed by Kiwi Cadenza, Moondrop Quarks DSP, and CCA CRA v2 in order from best to worst.

Appendix: Truthear Hola medium-large widebore tips supercharge the pluses 7Hz Zero has over Hola, even better details, treble extension and female vocals. Truthear Hola does hold it's high SPL and drum presentation strengths.

Cadenza was popular in this headphones.com video too:

You placed 7Hz Zero and Hola above Cadenza, but still good to see how just one affordable IEM stacks up when the listeners have no preconceptions.

I'm personally disappointed the participants weren't confronted by any Etymotics

 

[Matias]

Very interesting video, and nice reactions from the participants. Thanks for sharing!

I did not know the Cadenza but seems like a lot bassier 7Hz Zero, with a slight more air too. But both share an incredibly similar mid range!

While I was researching, I noticed that both use a 10 mm DD, with Cadenza advertising the use of a Beryllium diaphragm, while Zero using N52 neodymium magnets. But seeing the peak in 12 kHz in the Cadenza I guess the fancier material did not help much to push the breakup distortion higher than the metal diaphragm of the Zero and its 13.3 kHz peak.

(I assume the 8 kHz peak in both is canal resonance of the measuring device)

 

[markanini]

I guess the fancier material did not help much to push the breakup distortion higher than the metal diaphragm of the Zero and its 13.3 kHz peak.

This can be modified by tip bore width alone.

 

[posvibes]

I never, ever thought I would end up at high-end hi-fi at the end of a twined IEM Cable, a cheap smart phone and Spotify streaming service.

I have the Hexa's, prefer the Zero's, but can't tell you specifically why, and will get a pair of the Salnotes for risk amelioration just in case in the slightest chance they outperform the zero's.

I don't want to come across as a twitchy brand fanatic stalker type, but it is a kind of momentous discovery for me, and the economics simply astounding.

Thanks to Amir initially, but to all the others here and the opinions and thoughts shared went a long way to getting me here.

 

[IAtaman]

I did not know the Cadenza but seems like a lot bassier 7Hz Zero, with a slight more air too. But both share an incredibly similar mid range!

View attachment 278304

Neither did I and I thought oh, that is interesting as well so got a pair today.

That 8K and 12K peaks, they are not measurement artifacts, they are really there. And they are piercing for me - I would not use them for more than 5 min without EQ.

I thought HF hearing gets worse over time. It sounded super wrong to my old ears, how did those youngsters liked this without EQ is beyond me.

 

[Dazerdoreal]

Neither did I and I thought oh, that is interesting as well so got a pair today.

That 8K and 12K peaks, they are not measurement artifacts, they are really there. And they are piercing for me - I would not use them for more than 5 min without EQ.

I thought HF hearing gets worse over time. It sounded super wrong to my old ears, how did those youngsters liked this without EQ is beyond me.

To my experience, people with untrained ears are usually not able to identify if 10k+ treble sounds right, especially in short listening sessions.
Instead the sheer amount of very high treble itself will often be perceived as a sign of quality.

Marketing also utilizes this in saying that the frequency response goes up to 40k etc.

(Not saying that my own ears are "trained" in this aspect. I have still big trouble to EQ that region.)

 

[posvibes]

So I have had the Salnotes 7Hz for a couple of weeks. It took me a little while to find tips that fitted my ear firstly and secondly fit the Salnotes, it took some doing going through my collection of disparate and previously discarded tips. But I found a pair that were a bugger to fit, they are those tapered arrow kind of tips.

Subjectively, the Salnotes are fine and non-eq'd, straiht out of the box but I still prefer the Crinacle Zero's by a long shot and even the Hexa's over the Salnotes.

I find the Salnotes just a little coarse, a little granier by comparison to the other two. But if the other two models didn't exist, I could live with these as well. I think dollar for dollar the Salnotes are even better value than the other two models. If I was to travel overseas for instance these would be my travel iem's both for good sound and should I break them or lose them the loss would not make me feel financially guilt ridden.

 

[posvibes]

Oratory1990 updated his EQ database, now including the 7hz Zero.

Wow, now this a whole other beast with this EQ setting. I am definitely a Hartman junkie.

 

[fjhuerta]

No in-ear should cost $20 and sound THIS good. It sounds far bettter, to me, than my AKG N5005s. This may be my favorite in ear ever, actually, regardless of price.

 

[posvibes]

7Hz Salnotes, with and without EQ have now moved into second position behind the Truthear Crinacle, displacing the Hexa's to a distant third, as I grow used to their sound.

 

[Matias]

7Hz Salnotes, with and without EQ have now moved into second position behind the Truthear Crinacle, displacing the Hexa's to a distant third, as I grow used to their sound.

You will probably like this one then.

TRUTHEAR x Crinacle Zero IEM Review

Although I would be curious about better fitment. If they are anything like the Qkz Hbb single DD set then NOPE lol those are so uncomfortable. They both fit me fine but they are very similar. Nozzle dimensions are identical, and quite wide (5.7 / 6.7mm on the lip) which some people have...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[Dazerdoreal]

It seems like the upcoming "Project Red" by Crinacle is going to become a more refined 7hz Zero. He recently updated the frequency reponse to a "3.0b" version which is, according to him, probably going to be the final version.
I guess it will become a Truthear release since the 200-1000hz range looks very similar to the "Truthear Zero" (similar bump @350hz).

In-Ear Fidelity – IEM Graph Comparison Tool

Easily compare industry-standard frequency response measurements of hundreds and hundreds of IEMs.

crinacle.com

Just wanted to tell you that I was right.

 

[GPJ]

Nice video and I am in agreement with what he's saying. Harman bass is too much for me and probably why I prefer the Salnotes Zero over the Truthear Zero. Going to grab the RED. Thanks!

Edit: Just ordered directly from Crinacle.

 

[johnp98]

No in-ear should cost $20 and sound THIS good. It sounds far bettter, to me, than my AKG N5005s. This may be my favorite in ear ever, actually, regardless of price.

I was thinking of getting an entry IEM and these as well as the Truthear x Crinacle Zero:RED certainly stood out.

Anyways I made a poll and a separate thread to see what the general consensus was on the best bang for your buck headphones were if you wanted to vote / chime in.