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7Hz x Crinacle Zero:2 IEM Review

Rate this IEM:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 7 1.4%

  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 13 2.7%

  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 67 13.7%

  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 403 82.2%
  • Total voters
    490
markanini said:
That's likely boosting the bass beyond what's intended by the manufacturers. Most will advise using a USBC to 3.5mm dongle in your situation, at least if you are looking to make an apples to apple comparison.

See the impedance graph posted here: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ruthear-x-crinacle-zero-red-iem-review.44865/
Click to expand...
But I used the same with the Zero:2. Same laptop (obviously) and also using the 3.5mm plug. With the Zero:2 the sound was flat and lacked bass, while the Zero Red has really nice bass. So if the laptop boosts the Zero Red's bass, why doesn't the same happen with the Zero:2. It makes no sense.
 
Batenxx said:
But I used the same with the Zero:2. Same laptop (obviously) and also using the 3.5mm plug. With the Zero:2 the sound was flat and lacked bass. Not so much with the Zero Red. So if the laptop boosts the Zero Red's bass, why doesn't the same happen with the Zero:2. It makes no sense.
Click to expand...
Sure it does.

The Zero Red's impedance rises into the bass, resulting in bass boost with Amps that have high output impedance.
The Zero 2 doesn't have that, so no bass boost occurrs.
TRUTHEAR x Crinacle Zero Red Impedance Measurement.png 7Hz x Crinacle Zero 2 IEM Impedance Measurement.png

It makes no sense only if you don't know Ohm's law.
 
Batenxx said:
But I used the same with the Zero:2. Same laptop (obviously) and also using the 3.5mm plug. With the Zero:2 the sound was flat and lacked bass, while the Zero Red has really nice bass. So if the laptop boosts the Zero Red's bass, why doesn't the same happen with the Zero:2. It makes no sense.
Click to expand...
Zero 2 doesn't change it's FR depending on output impedance of source while Zero:Red does, as @staticV3 already explained.
Anyway Zero 2 with proper seal should still have more bass than Zero:RED even at 75 Ohm output impedance:

graph.png


So unless your laptop has tremendously high output impedance, the difference you perceive is most likely 100% due to improper fitting of the Zero 2 to your ears.

If you like Zero:RED as it is now, enjoy them and it's all, otherwise try a good budget dongle with known low impedance.
 
staticV3 said:
Sure it does.

The Zero Red's impedance rises into the bass, resulting in bass boost with Amps that have high output impedance.
The Zero 2 doesn't have that, so no bass boost occurrs.
View attachment 356720 View attachment 356721

It makes no sense only if you don't know Ohm's law.
Click to expand...
I've just tried it with my smartphone and a tablet. Do those also have high output impedance? It sounds exactly like on my laptop. I will try other devices in the next few days, like an old mp3 player I have lying around in some drawer. But your explanation sounds reasonable and logical. Ultimately I can live with either explanation, whether it's the erogonomic differences which make the Zero Reds sound superior and richer or this bass boost.

But it makes me wonder: why did the manufacturer build it this way? I've had many in ear headphones over the last 13 years (though no IEMs) and all of them had this rich bass. So I was quite taken aback when the Zero:2s sounded so thin. This begs the question: is the lack of bass boost unique to the Zero:2s when it comes to IEMs or is it the other way around?
 
Batenxx said:
I've just tried it with my smartphone and a tablet. Do those also have high output impedance?
Click to expand...
Depends on which smartphone and which tablet.
Also most of these haven't been measured, so there's no info no output impedance.

Batenxx said:
is the lack of bass boost unique to the Zero:2s when it comes to IEMs or is it the other way around?
Click to expand...
The Zero Red is an exception in how it reacts to high output impedance.

You can find the impedance response of many different IEMs here and here.
 
Last edited:
mc.god said:
Anyway Zero 2 with proper seal should still have more bass than Zero:RED even at 75 Ohm output impedance:
Click to expand...
The seal was 100% airtight. So much that I caused a vacuum (as explained in my other post). Yet the bass was not nearly as heavy as with the Zero Reds. I've also tried other devices with the Zero Reds, like a smartphone or tablet. The bass is equally strong, so it's not my Laptop that causes this.
 
InfiniteJester said:
It may be the insertion depth. I'm not an expert at all, quite the opposite, in fact, but they do have the shortest nozzles out of my whole collection and they present issues I haven't had with any other set.

I cannot endure them when listening to metal, for example, they sound so harsh and, simultaneously, bloated and distant, that I cannot stand a single song. And that is something that you wouldn't expect at all after watching the frequency response. I tuned my other IEMs to the same target as the Zero:2, and I don't find them harsh at all. So it must be some kind of resonance in my ear canal due to the short nozzle and not a product of the FR on itself. Either that or there is a lot of unit variation, and my set has a different response, which I doubt.

I have read about several people having the same issue, so I think that it is not as incredibly uncommon as some would say.

Hard to think that a 19,66€ IEM could be so useless. I wanted to use them while traveling, because I'm not comfortable doing so with my more expensive IEMs, but they are not even worth it for that.

I'm contemplating buying either the EW200s or the Ziigaat NUOs for traveling. I won't buy another 7Hz after this experience. Apparently, the NUOs have a deeper fit and much better soundstage at roughly the same price.
Click to expand...
Insertion depth was an issue for me and quite few others with the FiiO FH5, to the point where I bought some small o-rings from McMaster-Carr to put on the nozzle to help extend the insertion depth. The depth issue was mostly caused by interference of the shell with my crus helix, if memory serves. This nozzle may be too short for that kind of solution, though.
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/fii...rmature-drivers.882444/page-104#post-14695561
 
mikehoopes said:
Insertion depth was an issue for me and quite few others with the FiiO FH5, to the point where I bought some small o-rings from McMaster-Carr to put on the nozzle to help extend the insertion depth. The depth issue was mostly caused by interference of the shell with my crus helix, if memory serves. This nozzle may be too short for that kind of solution, though.
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/fii...rmature-drivers.882444/page-104#post-14695561
Click to expand...
You can also source o-rings from kits used for damping PC keyboards https://amazon.com/dp/B01N75JL0F
 
Batenxx said:
The seal was 100% airtight. So much that I caused a vacuum (as explained in my other post). Yet the bass was not nearly as heavy as with the Zero Reds. I've also tried other devices with the Zero Reds, like a smartphone or tablet. The bass is equally strong, so it's not my Laptop that causes this.
Click to expand...
We can only make assumptions based on graphs, and graphs say that with proper seal in most cases Zero 2 should sound even fuller than Zero:RED and in no way thin. We can't know what's going on between Zero 2 shape and your ears, but if you are 100% certain of a perfect seal maybe some strange resonance with you ear canals.
Well, unless you got a counterfeit Zero 2.
 
I tried out the keyboard damper o-rings that @markanini suggested, and they did help me with consistency of seal. I had to increase the gain +1 to +1.5 dB for 5 KHz and up to compensate for some perceived differences (I don't have a measuring rig), so I don't think it helped with max depth, but likely decreased the amount that shell interference would back them out during use.

IMG_1095.jpeg
 
I ordered these off amazon, still waiting on the Moondrop Dawn Pro dongle dac, but they sound pretty good listening to Qobuz on my phone via the headphone jack. So far I'm quite impressed for the price.
 
I had had a very hard time getting the Zero:2 to fit my ears consistently, despite having tried at least 10-15 different types of tips. I found this was mostly due to these IEMs having such a short nozzle. Even using o-rings wasn't helping because due to the nozzle being so short, using o-rings would cause pretty much any tip to fall off too easily, in my ear. I was about to give up on these, completely, until I ordered the new AZLA Origin tips. I ordered the pack of assorted sizes, as one of my ears usually requires a different size tip than the other (with the exception of the extremely deep insertion fit of my Etymotics), and these tips finally work for me with the Zero:2!! I'm sure they can be ordered from multiple places, but here is a link to where I got them. They aren't exactly the cheapest tips around, but I've had multiple tips from AZLA before, and they have lasted me for quite a while, and have helped me attain a decent seal with other hard-to-fit IEMs in the past, so I found them to be worth it. YMMV

 
KosherButcher said:
I had had a very hard time getting the Zero:2 to fit my ears consistently, despite having tried at least 10-15 different types of tips. I found this was mostly due to these IEMs having such a short nozzle. Even using o-rings wasn't helping because due to the nozzle being so short, using o-rings would cause pretty much any tip to fall off too easily, in my ear. I was about to give up on these, completely, until I ordered the new AZLA Origin tips. I ordered the pack of assorted sizes, as one of my ears usually requires a different size tip than the other (with the exception of the extremely deep insertion fit of my Etymotics), and these tips finally work for me with the Zero:2!! I'm sure they can be ordered from multiple places, but here is a link to where I got them. They aren't exactly the cheapest tips around, but I've had multiple tips from AZLA before, and they have lasted me for quite a while, and have helped me attain a decent seal with other hard-to-fit IEMs in the past, so I found them to be worth it. YMMV

Click to expand...
Yup - not sure if this model from Azla has the same dimensions as the ones you link but these are the ones that work for the Zeros for me - wide flange is needed due to the short nozzle as you say.

 
Jimbob54 said:
Yup - not sure if this model from Azla has the same dimensions as the ones you link but these are the ones that work for the Zeros for me - wide flange is needed due to the short nozzle as you say.

Click to expand...
I have those as well, but could not get a good fit with them either. The ones you shared might have similar dimensions for the main body of the ear tip, but the ones I linked to have a much longer stem, which was the aspect I found most important for getting a good fit with my ears. The Origins have a stem that extends past the body of the ear tip, similar to the way some SpinFit models do.
 
Zero 2 - Nozzle too short

I am trying out the zero 2, but it seems like they don’t have long enough nozzles to actually push into my ear canal. I also have the Reds and they fit in the canal.

Anyone else have this issue?

Thinking of trying the Chu 2 or Wan’er, sounds like the Chu 2 may have a longer nozzle?

Thoughts on this one?
 
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