7Hz x Crinacle Zero:2 IEM Review

[mc.god]

A decent dongle is cheap, an excellent one not expensive either. No reason to use junk 3.5mm out of a laptop or cell phone IMO.

Agree for laptops, but I use the smartphone 3.5 output, because I'm not concerned about max sound quality when on the move, generally on noisy bus using 5€ iems, and don't want to put strain on the usb-c connector of the phone. The phone output has all that i need, no hiss and decent volume (I listen moderately low) and I don't listen to music on the phone at home, so my dongles are dedicated to the laptop.

 

[mc.god]

The headphone outputs on Mac laptops are quite good. Maybe not up to driving the most power hungry planar magnetics, but for most cans, and most listeners, a dongle may be superfluous.

I have no experience with apple devices, if so good news for macbook users.

 

[misterdog]

I'd be shocked if you could notice the added battery drain of the dongle.

Some basic measured real world data suggests otherwise.

Xiaomi Poco X3, using UAPP android player > Apple DAC dongle > 7Hz IEM's.

Battery start 72%, after one hour with no other phone usage/screen off, battery 68%.

Then starting from the 68% charge.

Xiaomi Poco X3, using included android music player TRS jack output > 7Hz IEM's after one hour no other phone usage/screen off, battery 66%.

So 2% (ish, allowing for rounding errors) drain from native App and TRS jack out, yet 3 possibly 4 % drain using UAPP and dongle.

Obviously to get better data I should run both tests from a fully charged battery, and for four hours or so.
Whether the dongle or the App, or both are contributing to the increased battery drain ?

 

[staticV3]

Obviously to get better data I should run both tests from a fully charged battery, and for four hours or so.

Battery doesn't have to be fully charged, just starting from the same charge level should be fine.

But you should be using UAPP for playback both times.

 

[misterdog]

Post amended for clarity.

 

[Tell]

I'm thinking about buying a pair of these, want to have a listen how extremely low distortion sounds like! But anyone knows if there is any problems with fake copies of these on Ali or Ebay? I remember reading about some other IEM having this problem a few years ago so maybe those sites are not safe to buy headphones from?

 

[sharock]

I'm thinking about buying a pair of these, want to have a listen how extremely low distortion sounds like! But anyone knows if there is any problems with fake copies of these on Ali or Ebay? I remember reading about some other IEM having this problem a few years ago so maybe those sites are not safe to buy headphones from?

Just buy them from Linsoul. They are legit.

7HZ x Crinacle Zero: 2 | Updated 10mm Dynamic Driver IEM in Collaboration with Crinacle

The 7HZ Zero:2 elevates the original Zero with Crinacle-tuned refinement, stronger bass, and improved tonal balance. Its new 10mm dual-cavity dynamic driver delivers faster response, deeper impact, and clearer detail across 10Hz–20kHz. Enhanced with an upgraded silver-plated oxygen-free copper...

www.linsoul.com

 

[Tell]

Just buy them from Linsoul. They are legit.

7HZ x Crinacle Zero: 2 | Updated 10mm Dynamic Driver IEM in Collaboration with Crinacle

The 7HZ Zero:2 elevates the original Zero with Crinacle-tuned refinement, stronger bass, and improved tonal balance. Its new 10mm dual-cavity dynamic driver delivers faster response, deeper impact, and clearer detail across 10Hz–20kHz. Enhanced with an upgraded silver-plated oxygen-free copper...

www.linsoul.com

Ah I always thought that these kind of sites always had expensive shipping costs and that the risk of customs to where I live where quite high which Ali and Ebay don't have, but looks like the shipping is free at least, so maybe I should just take my chance on this then, thanks!

Anyone got any tips on a USB-C dongle with high SINAD and enough power to play these more than loud enough?
(Not that I need to play extremely loud, I just want the headroom to know that I won't ever reach clipping and that I can EQ if I feel the need to)

 

[jeffbook]

Ah I always thought that these kind of sites always had expensive shipping costs and that the risk of customs to where I live where quite high which Ali and Ebay don't have, but looks like the shipping is free at least, so maybe I should just take my chance on this then, thanks!

Anyone got any tips on a USB-C dongle with high SINAD and enough power to play these more than loud enough?
(Not that I need to play extremely loud, I just want the headroom to know that I won't ever reach clipping and that I can EQ if I feel the need to)

I use the Hidizs S9 Pro with this IEM powered from my laptop when travelling. I am very satisfied with this setup.

 

[misterdog]

Anyone got any tips on a USB-C dongle with high SINAD and enough power to play these more than loud enough?

Review: Apple vs Google USB-C Headphone Adapters

This is a review, detailed measurements and comparison of Apple's USB-C adapter to the current and last version of Google Pixel headphone adapters. The Apple adapter costs just $9 including one day shipping for free. The Google dongle costs $12. Not that any of these are large by any stretch...

www.audiosciencereview.com

The US version has twice the output voltage of the EU one.

 

[misterdog]

But anyone knows if there is any problems with fake copies of these on Ali or Ebay?

Linsoul store on Amazon, on a good day they are £ 20.00.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0CMZVZPCF/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?smid=A166SV9QJZG8W0&psc=1

If using Android you also need an audio player to stop the upsampling to 48Khz and whatever else Google decided 'might' be best.
UAPP works well.

USB Audio Player PRO – Apps on Google Play

High quality media player supporting USB audio DACs and HiRes audio chips

play.google.com

 

[Tell]

Linsoul store on Amazon, on a good day they are £ 20.00.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0CMZVZPCF/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?smid=A166SV9QJZG8W0&psc=1

If using Android you also need an audio player to stop the upsampling to 48Khz and whatever else Google decided 'might' be best.
UAPP works well.

USB Audio Player PRO – Apps on Google Play

High quality media player supporting USB audio DACs and HiRes audio chips

play.google.com

Thanks for the tip!

But is that resampling a real audible problem? Atm I'm using GMMP and I quite like the functionality of it, and I'm not that keen on buying something else if there's not an audible reason to do so

 

[mc.god]

Apple dongle is perfectly fine but if you want still better sinad and more power Jcally JM20 at aliexpress is very good and cheap.
A free alternative to UAPP if you want to try direct usb access to the dongle bypassing android audio subsystem is Hiby music player.

 

[Tell]

Apple dongle is perfectly fine but if you want still better sinad and more power Jcally JM20 at aliexpress is very good and cheap.
A free alternative to UAPP if you want to try direct usb access to the dongle bypassing android audio subsystem is Hiby music player.

Ah yes the JM20 looks really interesting! Thank you

 

[JediMa]

OMG I got them recently and they were just ok but with these EQ settings they are fantastic.. BASS ftw!

 

[mikehoopes]

So (@amirm, et. al.), on a measurement-centric audio forum we're seeing vanishingly low measured THD levels for this product across the audible spectrum (to include sub bass) at 114 dBSPL, and yet we still have qualitative reports on the interwebs and this thread that the EW200 and other proximally-but-higher-priced earphones technically outperform this. What metric are we missing here to bridge the quantitative/qualitative gap? For transducers, it's not tube/last-gen-R2R-DAC second-order harmonic distortion preferences, like you'd find elsewhere.

Can we find an additional measurable correlate?

 

[Emlin]

So (@amirm, et. al.), on a measurement-centric audio forum we're seeing vanishingly low measured THD levels for this product across the audible spectrum (to include sub bass) at 114 dBSPL, and yet we still have qualitative reports on the interwebs and this thread that the EW200 and other proximally-but-higher-priced earphones technically outperform this. What metric are we missing here to bridge the quantitative/qualitative gap? For transducers, it's not tube/last-gen-R2R-DAC second-order harmonic distortion preferences, like you'd find elsewhere.

Can we find an additional measurable correlate?

For IEMs, there are still many problems with the metrics. There's variability in individual's ear canals, and the variability in test rigs too. And there's fit, comfort, seal and plethora of different tips too. It's not been sorted yet. Time will tell if all those problems can be adequately addressed, but if they can, it will be measurements that got us there.

 

[mikehoopes]

For IEMs, there are still many problems with the metrics. There's variability in individual's ear canals, and the variability in test rigs too. And there's fit, comfort, seal and plethora of different tips too. It's not been sorted yet. Time will tell if all those problems can be adequately addressed, but if they can, it will be measurements that got us there.

I get that there are ergonomic variations with IEMs in particular, but the bridge between qualitative/quantitative thresholds with transducer systems is ever-present. I’m convinced there are still measurements to be developed that can be standardized to help consumers identify better candidates for purchase.

If this particular one is shown to have such fidelity to the source, once tuned, are ergonomics, psychoacoustics, and cognitive bias really the difference- or can we find other measurable differences? Even this thread has many commenters with middling opinions of its perceived relative “technicalities”, despite its superior measured performance.

 

[SteveL]

I get that there are ergonomic variations with IEMs in particular, but the bridge between qualitative/quantitative thresholds with transducer systems is ever-present. I’m convinced there are still measurements to be developed that can be standardized to help consumers identify better candidates for purchase.

If this particular one is shown to have such fidelity to the source, once tuned, are ergonomics, psychoacoustics, and cognitive bias really the difference- or can we find other measurable differences? Even this thread has many commenters with middling opinions of its perceived relative “technicalities”, despite its superior measured performance.

If at your eardrums you are getting the frequency response you perceive as natural (it's really useful to have live acoustic music as a reference) with inaudible distortion at a realistic volume, you're all set. And you can get that with simple 1 DD designs for around $20, especially if you can provide a bit of EQ. Further spending gets you bling, or special attributes like extreme noise isolation (Ety).

 

[staticV3]

I'm curious if anyone using stock Equalizer APO would like to give my EQ a try.

For me it works a lot better than both Amir's and Maiky's filter designs. It adds that last 10% of realism without any noticeable drawbacks.

I've put the required preamp into the file name, but not into the actual filter settings.
That way, you can setup your EQApo config like this and only toggle the EQ on/off, without a change in overall volume:


I'm using MH755 eartips in S and an Apple dongle at 44.1kHz (keep in mind that filter response is Fs dependent).

Of course I'm aware of issues regarding HRTF and insertion differences, as well as good old unit variation, but thought that some of you may still enjoy the preset