7Hz x Crinacle Zero:2 IEM Review

[Palladium]

Would be interesting to know what kind of different transducer they use other than those used in 1k IEMs, if any.

Call me cynical but they can just claim anything they want since none of their market of True Believers numbering in double-digits tops is gonna teardown an internally fragile product.

Even it took quite some time for the market to expose the multi-driver scam on much cheaper KZs.

 

[LIΟN]

I got 7hzZero:2 today. I ordered this to give it to my brother. I just did a quick test before giving it to him.
It's not bad.

And it sounds pretty good when I listen to it by applying my personalized flat hrir to the IEM. But the decay on the lower end is a bit thin? Or it sounds blurry. (Absolute criterion because it's an IR of my ears that's already recorded.)
But this might be a matter of ear tips or wear deviation and most seem to be fine. It's affordable and good.

So I gave it to my younger brother with the brir file, and he is very satisfied.

 

[svosprey]

1) I don't need IEMs
2) I don't like IEMs
3) I ordered these IEMs

Ha, me too. We'll see.

 

[mc.god]

Call me cynical but they can just claim anything they want since none of their market of True Believers numbering in double-digits tops is gonna teardown an internally fragile product.

Even it took quite some time for the market to expose the multi-driver scam on much cheaper KZs.

This guy made an interesting job looking into some IEMs

https://www.youtube.com/@hi-friaudioman/videos

hope he can continue adding new models.

 

[Bow_Wazoo]

Wow...

My preset

 

[ngs428]

A little late, but...

7Hz x Crinacle Zero:2 IEM vs Truthear x Crinacle Zero:RED IEM
View attachment 335349
View attachment 335350

I had the blues, then go the reds, now the Zero 2 come out. I currently use my Qudelix 5k to parametric EQ my red's on the low end to mimic the bass adapter. I love how they sound.

Thanks for the graphs! Using these graphs, I see the reds have a little more disortion, but is it even audible? For the FR graph, other than <200Hz, the reds seem to comply better to the target. Then for <200 I am eqing.. I am not sure I am seeing enough here for another change, what am I missing? I see everyone here is jumping on them.

 

[Robbo99999]

Wow...
View attachment 336593

My preset

View attachment 336595

Looking at Amir's measurements you might want to make the 200Hz filter a Q1 filter rather than Q2 as the response is elevated from just over 100Hz up to 400Hz, so Q1 is more likely to cover off that whole area, could be worth a try. (or maybe Q1.5.....you could experiment with anything inbetween Q1 - Q1.5)

 

[Bow_Wazoo]

Yep

 

[Bow_Wazoo]

In this album, Zero 2 proves that it sounds incredibly authentic.
For me a single DD system is the optimum.

 

[ngs428]

Looking at Amir's measurements you might want to make the 200Hz filter a Q1 filter rather than Q2 as the response is elevated from just over 100Hz up to 400Hz, so Q1 is more likely to cover off that whole area, could be worth a try. (or maybe Q1.5.....you could experiment with anything inbetween Q1 - Q1.5)

Specifially I am using @staticV3 EQ for the Red's. I was moreso trying to figure out what i am missing by having the Reds. vs this Zero2.

Here is my EQ I am using...

 

[Berwhale]

I was moreso trying to figure out what i am missing by having the Reds. vs this Zero2.

You are not missing out on anything with the Trutherear x Crinacle Zero Reds, they are excellent and you can EQ to your hearts content with the Q5K. I have both the TxCZ Blues and the Reds and I only bought the Zero:2 because it cost the same as 3 pints of beer in the UK

 

[enricoclaudio]

Unfortunately I was not able to make this work for me.

It's too bright, almost chirpy, to such level that I can not use it for more than 5-10 mins.

No matter what I did, I was not able to fix it. Different tips; spin fits, comply foam tips, original tips, tips from other IEMs; different filters, high Q, low Q, high shelf - nothing worked.

If you had a similar problem and was able to find something that worked for you, please let me know. I do have this problem with some IEMs (I had it with the original Salnotes Zero as well) and would love to figure out what is going on.

Take a hearing test. It will show you which frequency is peaking and then with EQ you should be able to take that frequency down.

 

[Human Bass]

8khz peak is a common artifact of the inside of the tube where the mic is

Not a catch as such but no new IEM releases seem to be designed to optimize noise isolation. There have been a few with unvented designs (e.g. using multi-BA configuration) which could be better for isolation but they haven't been marketed as such and are not affordable like these Zero models.

I would like to see anyone try to compete with Etymotic by making a completely unvented IEM designed for deep fit with double or triple flange tips for best isolation. I think Etymotics are great but after years of listening even I've decided the region 1-2kHz is too elevated and EQ it down by 3dB. I've recently been experimenting elevating around 8kHz and preferring the added treble response here too. It gets it a bit closer to Harman 2019 but not quite, like this Zero:2. So I think there is room for a company to improve on Etymotic's tuning in a highly isolating deep fit IEM.


To @amirm :

On this point I'd really like to know what your take is on the impact of ear canal resonance? This could also be considered a "catch" by proponents of Etymotics, which insert so deep the resonance is pushed up into such high frequencies it becomes less intrusive (above 10khz). The argument is that the resonance peak is artificially created by creating a closed tube of your ear canal between the mic/ear drum and IEM, which isn't apparent in speaker/headphone listening, so detracts from sound quality. Hence the deep insertion to ensure it is as high frequency and least likely to be heard as possible.

With the IEMs you review is the resonance peak at 1/2 wavelength of the closed tube created in the canal something you perceive or find impacts audio quality? I believe the coupler you use has some kind of dampening so this peak isn't as pronounced as for example on @crinacle 's coupler, though it would not match up with what is heard anyway due to the length of everyone's ear canal being different.

For reference, Crin's measurement of Zero:2 (EQ is Amir's settings), showing ~6dB peak at 8kHz :
View attachment 335185

EDIT: In fact, is it possible to use the GRAS to measure noise isolation, for example by playing white noise and measuring the SPL with/without the IEM inserted?

 

[amirm]

It's too bright, almost chirpy, to such level that I can not use it for more than 5-10 mins.

Try pushing them in momentarily while listening to a bass heavy track to see if bass performance improves. If it does, you still have a fit issue.

 

[NoteMakoti]

Ooooh damn...

Can't wait to try this out myself. This is a 1DD IEM too, right? EQing the bass up on the Truthears is kind of a pain, but if they come through clean on these it'll really be something special.

 

[IAtaman]

Try pushing them in momentarily while listening to a bass heavy track to see if bass performance improves. If it does, you still have a fit issue.

Yes, I checked seal by checking bass. Even bass is sounding fine, confirming seal is achieved, the chirpiness is still there. I think I am gonna run this hearing threshold test to see where is the problem exactly as enricoclaudio suggested.

 

[DanTheMan]

Amazon says over 300 of these have been sold this month (through Amazon USA of course). Reviews are overwhelmingly positive as you would expect given the evidence. Unfortunately they don't ship for a week. I wonder what their profit margins really are? This might be the better way to go for these IEM companies instead of selling less than a handful of high priced jobbies (that do not perform as well) and perhaps never break. It's possible that the build quality on these is high enough that they never break if taken care of. The new Chu measure similarly as do the Hola (which I own) and the Chu 2 look to be very well made and the Hola are definitely built well enough to last for years. In any case, it would be interesting to know. The build quality doesn't have to be that great. Just good enough. This is raw material pricing and you can just order more if something goes wrong if you're disinclined to repair. Same goes for the Hola or Chu 2 for that matter. I can't wait to get mine and hear if they do the job 3% better than the Hola. Graphically they should. In all actuality, you can own all three for the price of a Moondrop Aria which was a strong budget choice 2 years ago or so. It was praised many times over and now it looks lacking--though not dramatically so. Anyway, it's nice to see high sales for all of these. The kids who are really into music sure have it easy now compared to what I had: the only thing decent I could have was a Koss (not really on this level) and I passed it over because I didn't think it was a good brand. I bought a Sony instead and I'm sure now I could have done better.

 

[Art of sound]

Or just convert their favourite IEM's FR response on a random rig to a target, but thanks for sharing anyway.

fyi amir also uses Diffuse field target to eq iem’s and not harmon’s IE target which is generally agreed as bad research and confronted to sean olive more than once

Most IEM listeners have set their own targets on 711 rigs but most bought are the ones that agree with the +10db tilt of the DF target where the treble from 2k onwards is generally sloping down. I guess you can try this yourself with an iem instead to using amir’s EQ on any one of the recommended iem’s like truthear hola or red or zero2

 

[Grobbelboy]

fyi amir also uses Diffuse field target to eq iem’s and not harmon’s IE target which is generally agreed as bad research and confronted to sean olive more than once

That’s false. For one Amir does use the Harman in-ear target. Aside from that there’s no general agreement about bad research at all. This all just stems from Crinacle personally not liking the treble of Harman IE and having some anecdotal evidence that his Professional Reviewer friends don’t like it either, from which he then reverse engineered the argument that the research must be bad. The research admittedly hasn’t been done as thorough as for over-ear, but that doesn’t make the reasoning of Crinacle any less nonsensical.

 

[IAtaman]

fyi amir also uses Diffuse field target to eq iem’s and not harmon’s IE target which is generally agreed as bad research and confronted to sean olive more than once

You misspelled Harman.