7Hz x Crinacle Zero:2 IEM Review

[Chyżwar]

Are you serious? Read measurements and reviews on here with comprehension.

Yes, I'm completely serious, I would like to read the results of reliable scientific research, not someone's subjective beliefs.

Underlying technology and number of drivers don't matter if frequency response and distortion are out of whack.

Show me the science behind this claim. Otherwise it's just something you believe in.


To be clear, it's not my intention to defend the audio industry and their ridiculous prices. I don't think that more expensive IEMs are always better or anything like that.
My claim (based on my subjective experience, experiments with EQ, and blind testing attempts) is that multi-driver IEMs probably have some properties that single-DD IEMs don't. These properties may be subjectively perceived by some people as better "separation", "layering", more "holographic" sound, etc.
And are probably not visible in frequency response graphs. I don't even see the point in talking about THD, THD is inaudible in 99% of cases, unless someone listens to single sine waves instead of music

Of course, I may be wrong, maybe the type of driver doesn't matter, but I would like to read some scientific studies on this subject, not someone's subjective opinions.

 

[IAtaman]

If it was a person i would be more careful but other misspells that don't intentionally point to satire or wordplay don't bother me as much as the point of a conversation should be larger than a typo.

If you at are receiving end, it is hard to judge if it is a typo or an intentional statement. I see no value in engaging in conversation with those who take pride in calling it harmon.

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

Yes, I am familiar with the shortcomings of the IE research. I also don't like how it sounds. I would not trust reviewers with their targets either though. Supposedly, Harman is working on a new IE target based on 5128, and hopefully they would be kind enough to share it with the rest of the world.

 

[Art of sound]

Yes, I'm completely serious, I would like to read the results of reliable scientific research, not someone's subjective beliefs.



Show me the science behind this claim. Otherwise it's just something you believe in.


To be clear, it's not my intention to defend the audio industry and their ridiculous prices. I don't think that more expensive IEMs are always better or anything like that.
My claim (based on my subjective experience, experiments with EQ, and blind testing attempts) is that multi-driver IEMs probably have some properties that single-DD IEMs don't. These properties may be subjectively perceived by some people as better "separation", "layering", more "holographic" sound, etc.
And are probably not visible in frequency response graphs. I don't even see the point in talking about THD, THD is inaudible in 99% of cases, unless someone listens to single sine waves instead of music

Of course, I may be wrong, maybe the type of driver doesn't matter, but I would like to read some scientific studies on this subject, not someone's subjective opinions.

If you at are receiving end, it is hard to judge if it is a typo or an intentional statement. I see no value in engaging in conversation with those who take pride in calling it harmon.

Yes, I am familiar with the shortcomings of the IE research. I also don't like how it sounds. I would not trust reviewers with their targets either though. Supposedly, Harman is working on a new IE target based on 5128, and hopefully they would be kind enough to share it with the rest of the world.

It's good to hear that you want Harman research to be public and hopefully it will be. Also good that they are going to do some randomized controlled studies based on the new 5128 rig. Some typo should not be a trigger word especially when it doesn't mean anything. Maybe something about my comment that says relying too heavily on the ie target that seems to be accepted as siblant triggered you more. I obviously didn't intend to confuse a company name to a generic word like harmony or agree to some common opinion. If that's all it takes then it's not a positive way to lead the chat

 

[IAtaman]

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.

I put on these earphones and turned on Earful and tried to see if I can figure out what is going on by going through the audible range and see if something stands out.

No success.

Then I tried various EQ settings from Autoeq.app, changing targets, importing to the EQ app, checking if it works. The one the came closest to acceptable was the Flat response with -7dB at 2000Hz, which made no sense.

So, as a last resort, I decided to EQ it not worrying about whether the EQ settings makes sense or not until it resembles something listenable for me.

This is what I ended up with:

Preamp: -4dB dB
Filter 1: ON LSC Fc 70 Hz Gain 1 dB Q 0.7
Filter 2: ON PK Fc 200 Hz Gain -1 dB Q 1.4
Filter 3: ON HSC Fc 1000 Hz Gain -2 dB Q 0.7
Filter 4: ON PK Fc 2800 Hz Gain -5 dB Q 1.21
Filter 5: ON PK Fc 3000 Hz Gain -3 dB Q 3
Filter 6: ON PK Fc 4000 Hz Gain -1.5 dB Q 3
Filter 7: ON PK Fc 6000 Hz Gain -3 dB Q 3
Filter 8: ON PK Fc 8000 Hz Gain -3 dB Q 3

This is ridiculous and makes no sense. But with these settings, it sounds OK to me.

What is going on - any clues?

 

[IAtaman]

It's good to hear that you want Harman research to be public and hopefully it will be. Also good that they are going to do some randomized controlled studies based on the new 5128 rig. Some typo should not be a trigger word especially when it doesn't mean anything. Maybe something about my comment that says relying too heavily on the ie target that seems to be accepted as siblant triggered you more. I obviously didn't intend to confuse a company name to a generic word like harmony or agree to some common opinion. If that's all it takes then it's not a positive way to lead the chat

Just last week I have been trolled by a gentleman who proudly calls the research hormon. Sometimes it is a typo, sometimes it is a moron - its hard to tell at times

 

[svosprey]

Are you serious? Read measurements and reviews on here with comprehension.

Underlying technology and number of drivers don't matter if frequency response and distortion are out of whack.

My tinnitus agrees with you. A million dollars to whoever can EQ that to counteract when I listen.

 

[erniebert]

Thanks for the review, @amirm.

If, on the off chance you could find some wide-bore eartips, perhaps could you try listening to these IEMS again? I have always believed the diameter of eartip openings attenuates the sound of in-ear headphones; therefore, to ensure this won't be a variable in the sound, I always use soft silicone wide-bore eartips.

Large, BGVP W01 eartips are my preferred eartips. The inner core is thick but the outer sleeve is very soft, and instantly creates an ideal seal. Bought a dozen pairs a couple of years ago from a Chinese seller off the online platform Shopee from my part of the world for approximately $1.15 per pair, with a free shipping vouchers during an 11.11 Sale. Every 2 pairs came with a small plastic case.

These tips are perfect for me.

 

[Pe8er]

Yes, I'm completely serious, I would like to read the results of reliable scientific research, not someone's subjective beliefs.

Sorry, I didn't make myself clear: read Amir's measurements and reviews with comprehension. If you compare his measurements of u12t vs any of the Zeros and then consider the price difference, you will get my point.

Show me the science behind this claim. Otherwise it's just something you believe in.

Brother...there's no scientific research needed here, it's just simple logic. I'll try to make it simpler because it feels like we're talking past each other: if a complicated and expensive design (A) has objectively worse performance than a simple and cheap design (B), then we can deduce that the complexity of design A does not bring it any benefit, may not be a factor or may be the cause of the worse performance. I don't need information beyond that to choose to go with Occam's Razor + my experience and settle on a simple and cheap design, which sounds objectively and subjectively (to me) better.

Since your subjective experience is different, go ahead, dig deeper and let us know how it goes. Good luck and take good care of your wallet

 

[nyxnyxnyx]

I bought and still have some affordable to "mid-fi" IEMs but I can't lie that ever since the days of Tin T2 (or even before that?) I keep seeing more and more IEMs that sound good (to my ears) yet keep getting cheaper and even come with better build quality. At first I still wanted the more prestigious, expensive IEMs to sound better/more impressive, but now with me caring less about audio and being less obsessed with "perfection", I gotta say that we're in a quite a golden age of portable audio.

I haven't tried the Zero 2 yet but I got the first one and boy it does sound quite great. I haven't touched the other IEMs in months now and I actually prefer the Zero more than most of what I have (and even more than a lot of what I demoed). 7hz's track record is very good so far.

 

[markanini]

Brother...there's no scientific research needed here, it's just simple logic.

What's with the obsession over granular target adherence then? If it takes that little for the model to "break", logically it can't be an excellent model. Add to that the frequently more favorable impressions shared on sets that diverge from the target somewhat, like Truthear Red. That's plenty of grounds to question a 100% deterministic approach to IEM FR, to the point of looking like nothing more than an expression of naive idealist sentiment, which is not rational. The price argument is just a red herring to distract from the fundamental issue at hand.

 

[Pe8er]

@markanini in my case at least it's not obsession, just a path I chose based on a mix of two factors - 1) knowledge of and trust into Amir's methodology and ethics and 2) my personal auditory adventures where every single headphone or IEM I owned, I liked a lot more when EQ'd to Harman target.

Mind you, I don't treat the target as gospel either - my ears are sensitive around 2-4KHz and I don't like that much bass, so I adjust these areas accordingly.

Of course the model is not perfect, but that's what we got, so I choose to respect it, that's all.

 

[DanTheMan]

The research with regards to number of drivers, types of drivers and diaphragms, expense of design, etc.. has been done a long time ago. It's the measured performance that matters. I don't remember when or where exactly but it's held up for decades as Dr. Toole wrote about it in Sound Reproduction. So it doesn't matter how you get to the destination, it's how close you end up. It's like guiding missiles. That books "lifts veils" FWIW regarding what matters in Sound Reproduction.

 

[Chyżwar]

The research with regards to number of drivers, types of drivers and diaphragms, expense of design, etc.. has been done a long time ago.

I don't doubt that audio companies have done research, but the problem is that we don't have much publicly available data on this topic.

And the measurement results are not completely consistent with my subjective impressions. For some reason I prefer the Blessing 2 a little more than the 7Hz Zero, just as I prefer the HD800 over the HD560s. And there are cases like the Truthear Zero Red, these headphones perform great in measurements, but for some reason I don't like their sound.
I don't question the value of the measurements, but at the end I use headphones to listen to music, so my subjective impressions are important to me

 

[DanTheMan]

unfortunately the data has been done but is generally behind a paywall. I’d bet if you searched you could find some of it without paying, but I’d suggest getting the book and get a strong foundation first. It’s the best bang for the buck.

None of your individual preferences seem to be well outside the realm of “within normal limits”. If you heard those blind without knowledge of price or prestige, your preferences may very well change or they may not. I thought that the original 7hz zero was ear murder. I also enjoy the Hola. On the grand scheme of things, they are not that different. A couple of low q adjustments and they are pretty much the same, but either the fit or those adjustments are over ranges that mean a lot to my brain. That doesn’t mean that the research is useless by any stretch. I tend to prefer more mid bass, less lower treble and more upper treble than the Harman research. That’s me. You seem to be on the opposite side preferring a brighter signature. I’d say just know your individual preferences and tryout some autoEQ settings to hear if you actually prefer something more Harman and adjust further to find ‘you’.

 

[Robbo99999]

I put on these earphones and turned on Earful and tried to see if I can figure out what is going on by going through the audible range and see if something stands out.

No success.

Then I tried various EQ settings from Autoeq.app, changing targets, importing to the EQ app, checking if it works. The one the came closest to acceptable was the Flat response with -7dB at 2000Hz, which made no sense.

So, as a last resort, I decided to EQ it not worrying about whether the EQ settings makes sense or not until it resembles something listenable for me.

This is what I ended up with:


This is ridiculous and makes no sense. But with these settings, it sounds OK to me.

What is going on - any clues?

I think you've got a defective unit. You've had other IEM's right?

 

[Jean-Paul Petrosyan]

I own a12t (custom variant of u12t), original Zeros and red Zeros. My humble opinion: blue Zeros sound great (albeit a bit shouty in upper mids for my ears, blame my tinnitus), red Zeros are perfect for me and a12t are embarrassingly bad in comparison. Upper midrange and treble are nowhere to be found and there is way too much bass (even with the m15 apex module). They sound muffled, heavy and wrong. All the detail is squashed, vocals sound unnatural, guitars don't have bite…The only redeeming qualities of a12t are 1) the looks and 2) the comfort and noise cancellation, since they're molded to my ear canals. But still, I never use them because I can't stand them without EQ and it's a big pain in the butt to fiddle with the Qudelix 5K on the go in comparison to the tiny USB-C dongle I use with red Zeros.

My advice: let go of this "dragon". I'm telling you from my very expensive mistake of an experience — u12t only seemed amazing to you because of the atmosphere generated by the price tag, the context and the looks. I remember when I tried them the first time in a super fancy IEM store in a fancy area of Scottsdale, AZ, they sounded amazing. But when I flip between my a12t's and red Zeros at home, that magic is replaced by a sobering and painful realization that my brain was tricked by the atmosphere of that fancy place.

If you have 2K burning a hole in your pocket, spend it on records or travel. We have more than enough proof that expensive in-ear jewelry is not worth it.

The custom variant is effectively a different IEM altogether, though. And I've heard/read that it's rather frequent for customs to sound worse (subjectively) than universal variants. Which is a shame, since there was a time when I dreamed of getting myself a custom fit IEM for that sweet fit stability and consistency (a huge problem for me).

The latter is my biggest gripe with these recent budget wonders - they all seem to have a very girthy nozzle (I guess it's a necessity from an acoustic standpoint?) and/or an awkward shell size/shape. I'd be happy to pay 5 times more for improvements in this area and 2-3 times more for a (subjectively) better visual design.

Are you serious? Read measurements and reviews on here with comprehension.

Underlying technology and number of drivers don't matter if frequency response and distortion are out of whack.

Could it be that at this point we might have a significantly lower distortion with a single dynamic driver than with any multidriver/hybrid/whatever that employs BA drivers? I'd like to learn more about typical levels and patterns of distortion characteristic of "planar", electrostatic/electret and other types of drivers. I've had a suspicion for some time now that their use may even be detrimental, and not just because of the more obvious stuff like uneven impedance curves, lower efficiency etc.

 

[Chromatischism]

Are you serious? Read measurements and reviews on here with comprehension.

Underlying technology and number of drivers don't matter if frequency response and distortion are out of whack.

Yup. Drivers are a means to an end.

 

[IAtaman]

I think you've got a defective unit. You've had other IEM's right?

Yeah maybe. I will get another one to see if that makes a difference. And yes, I do have other IEMs.

 

[nawfal07]

I’ve decided on this Zero:2 to be my first ever IEM, now on its way for $17.95. This is for when I’m at work.

I’m using a slightly older iPhone with a lightning port, so I’ve also been looking for a lightning to 3.5 mm adapter. I know the Apple dongle measured really good but it’s limited to 48 kHz (and probably resamples everythng to that).

I found Jcally JM60L with ES9038Q2M chip (interestingly the same chip in my Eversolo DMP-A6), anyone here using it? What do you guys think of it?

JCALLY JM60 JM60L USB AMP & DAC Type-C / Lightning To 3.5mm Adapter CableJM60L Lightning

Buy JCALLY JM60 JM60L USB AMP & DAC Type-C / Lightning To 3.5mm Adapter Cable on HiFiGo, and you can enjoy a year warranty and the best after-sales service.

hifigo.com

Thanks in advance.

 

[Matias]

@nawfal07 should be good. A shame there are so few measurements of dongles out there, only a few very best are measured here by Amir but the are tons being released every month in the market.