7Hz x Crinacle Zero:2 IEM Review

[zonk]

I own both these and the Zero: Reds. Both sets are as close to the same measured performance (probably within the uncertainty of the measurement system etc) so arguably identical. They don't sound the same to my ears even after EQ, but that is probably likely to HRTF rather than hardware differences.

So if you can only choose one, what's the general concensus, the Zero 2 or the Reds?

Soundwise I would tend slightly to the REDs, but they are very incomfortable for me, because of their nozzle size.

I personally prefer Moondrop May and Simgot EW300 because of their very compact size, both with a bit of EQ.

 

[rsqt]

I have 3 of the Zero:2 and all work perfekt. I also have the Reds but like the Zero:2 more. The bass is fantastic and with Tanchjim Space and Sabaj amp it sounds perfect. My horn system has to work hard for that sound.

 

[Bernard23]

I know a few people that use the 7Hz Zero 2, and no one had an issue so far. I have one by myself that works perfectly, but I don't use it very often.

Same for me, tbh I don't use either that much as I prefer others that cost more, possibly measure no better but I like them. Though I'd like to see Amir measure the Crin Daybreak, which is my new best friend.

 

[Tell]

The left bud of my second set of 7hz x Crinacle Zero:2s has failed the same as left bud of the 1st set (volume is lowered and sound is muffled). I'm back using my TruthEar x Crinacle Reds. I had a small preference for the sound and fit of the Zero:2, but I won't buy another pair due to failures. I have a pair of TxC Blues if the Reds fail.

I've had the same issue with my Zero2, seems like they're not of the highest wuality unfortunately. Got a refund and bought a new pair, their still good but then I don't use them anymore anyways since I bought a pair of Gates because of the looks and microphone cable.

 

[zonk]

I've had the same issue with my Zero2, seems like they're not of the highest wuality unfortunately. Got a refund and bought a new pair, their still good but then I don't use them anymore anyways since I bought a pair of Gates because of the looks and microphone cable.

To say they have not the highest quality that's a quite subjective opinion. IEMs are in general quite fragile, so a defect can happen to IEMs at any price point.

And if the volume on one side is lowered and sounds muffled is problaby caused by dirt.

 

[Berwhale]

I know a few people that use the 7Hz Zero 2, and no one had an issue so far. I have one by myself that works perfectly, but I don't use it very often.

I'm pretty surprised they failed the same way twice. I'm very careful with my equipment and i'm not commuting daily anymore, so they were getting less than half the use of my previous IEMs.

I do have another pair of Zero:2 that i'd bought as a backup pair for my daughters gap year travels around Asia (I also donated my Galaxy Buds Pro). So, I will give the Zero:2 another go at some point in the future.

 

[Berwhale]

To say they have not the highest quality that's a quite subjective opinion. IEMs are in general quite fragile, so a defect can happen to IEMs at any price point.

And if the volume on one side is lowered and sounds muffled is problaby caused by dirt.

I removed the filters and cleaned both the filters and the nozzles with isopropanol on my first set of Zero:2, I also tried different cables. It's not dirt, it appears to be an issue with the driver.

 

[Tell]

To say they have not the highest quality that's a quite subjective opinion. IEMs are in general quite fragile, so a defect can happen to IEMs at any price point.

And if the volume on one side is lowered and sounds muffled is problaby caused by dirt.

Of course we'll never know without proper data, but at that price I wouldn't be surprised if they had to save money somewhere, so maybe build quality on the driver? Because it's not dirt, I did check quite firmly before asking for the refund.

 

[Bernard23]

To say they have not the highest quality that's a quite subjective opinion. IEMs are in general quite fragile, so a defect can happen to IEMs at any price point.

And if the volume on one side is lowered and sounds muffled is problaby caused by dirt.

My Dunu EST 112 are built like the proverbial brick place to do your business. I've dropped them a few times onto hard ceramic floors, I've slept on them a few times, slept in them a couple of times and no change to them whatsoever. They're less fragile than the phone / dongle that drives them that have cracked, split, even died too. There's no inherent reason why they can't be made physically robust.

 

[Bow_Wazoo]

The Spiral Dots are a big upgrade in my opinion. An ingenious way to add reflections to the sound.

 

[ShadowBoxer]

There's no inherent reason why they can't be made physically robust.

You mean other than the 25X price difference between those two?

 

[Bernard23]

You mean other than the 25X price difference between those two?

You've taken my comment out of context:
"IEMs are in general quite fragile, so a defect can happen to IEMs at any price point."
I was pointing out that's not necessarily true.

In fact I have IEMs that are a similar price to the Dunu and they're as flimsy as the Zero, so...

Please follow the thread and you'd understand the comment better. Of course the price difference between these two devices will have some bearing, that's pretty bleeding obvious, but again that wasn't the point.

 

[ShadowBoxer]

Most people don't lose sleep over the durability of a $20 product. I own several pairs and have had no issues with durability with normal care.

 

[Blake]

I've found the durability of the Zero 2 to be great so far. I almost always sleep with mine for noise reasons, and I bought a few spare pairs because I expected to go through them, but I'm still on the first pair. They're almost two years old now! I should note that I've replaced the cable, but that was an aesthetics/tactility choice. I just prefer the Tripowin Zonie cables. Could some people's issues be due to the stock cable rather than the IEMs themselves?

I gave some to my wife, kid, and sister, too, and my kid in particular was burning through her Koss IEMs frequently. She would refuse to use anything but her favorite model for comfort reasons, so I was regularly replacing them. Since I finally managed to get her to move to the Zero 2, I haven't had to replace them, and it has already been far longer than it would've been otherwise. My wife and sister haven't needed new ones yet, either.

All anecdotal, of course, and maybe I've just been lucky, but for me the ROI with the Zero 2 has been high. In the case of my kid, they're saving me money!

 

[L5730]

The second pair (gifted to my other half) have a brown tinged translucent cable vs. the black and more opaque cable on my earlier pair. I prefer the more rubbery feel of hers, but whatever. I bought a little case (ebay: 393483934411) to store them in. Just coil the cable around 4 fingers and pop it into the case. Tidy, stops tangles and unnecessary damage
Still very nice for an hour-long electric bus trip. Not perfect isolation, but good enough to cut out high-school kid chatter and general ambient noise. Boisterous laughter and screeching tends to cut through a bit.
Plenty of volume from Moto G55 phone 3.5mm jack.

Listening to the reduced music library on my phone in random play...things like Daft Punk's Get Lucky put a smile on my face. Such a wow presentation of that bassline.
A little EQ to drop the low end for a more neutral FR when listening in quiet places. These just sound great to me.

 

[caught gesture]

I bought a pair to use with my iPhone 11 Pro. I also purchased a lightning to 3.5 mm adaptor. Out of the box the sound from the IEMs is impressive. The only problem, and it is a big one, even with the iPhone volume at its minimum setting, the volume is too high for extended use. I wanted to stream from the Bandcamp app which has no controls. As soon as I went online, I found all the complaints about this problem with later model iPhones and third-party earbuds/IEMs. I tried all the workarounds suggested but the volume is too high to use safely without hearing damage. Anybody had the same problem and found a solution?

EDIT: Problem solved. The problem was the “Apple certified” adaptor. Thanks to everyone for their suggestions.

 

[mc.god]

I bought a pair to use with my iPhone 11 Pro. I also purchased a lightning to 3.5 mm adaptor. Out of the box the sound from the IEMs is impressive. The only problem, and it is a big one, even with the iPhone volume at its minimum setting, the volume is too high for extended use. I wanted to stream from the Bandcamp app which has no controls. As soon as I went online, I found all the complaints about this problem with later model iPhones and third-party earbuds/IEMs. I tried all the workarounds suggested but the volume is too high to use safely without hearing damage. Anybody had the same problem and found a solution?

I'm not a iphone user so tha only thing I can suggest that will surely work is to get a different dongle with hardware buttons for volume control.

 

[caught gesture]

I'm not a iphone user so tha only thing I can suggest that will surely work is to get a different dongle with hardware buttons for volume control.

That is the conclusion I’ve come to as well. Kind of defeats the value for money aspect of the IEMs having to spend on another gadget just to attenuate the volume!

 

[staticV3]

I bought a pair to use with my iPhone 11 Pro. I also purchased a lightning to 3.5 mm adaptor. Out of the box the sound from the IEMs is impressive. The only problem, and it is a big one, even with the iPhone volume at its minimum setting, the volume is too high for extended use. I wanted to stream from the Bandcamp app which has no controls. As soon as I went online, I found all the complaints about this problem with later model iPhones and third-party earbuds/IEMs. I tried all the workarounds suggested but the volume is too high to use safely without hearing damage. Anybody had the same problem and found a solution?

Do you still have the box the headphone adapter came in?

If so, check if the product code printed on it ends in "AM/A" or "ZM/A":

Review: Apple vs Google USB-C Headphone Adapters

EU model A2155 (0,5V) US/ Intl (hopefully full 1v) A2049 Unless there has been revisions of course Those are USB-C models. The lightning USA version is A1749. Dunno about the EU version

www.audiosciencereview.com

If it ends in AM/A, then you could buy specifically a ZM/A adapter on eBay for example.

At any given volume step on your iPhone, it would be one third quieter than your current adapter (due to EU regulations on hearing health).

 

[JRowland]

I bought a pair to use with my iPhone 11 Pro. I also purchased a lightning to 3.5 mm adaptor. Out of the box the sound from the IEMs is impressive. The only problem, and it is a big one, even with the iPhone volume at its minimum setting, the volume is too high for extended use. I wanted to stream from the Bandcamp app which has no controls. As soon as I went online, I found all the complaints about this problem with later model iPhones and third-party earbuds/IEMs. I tried all the workarounds suggested but the volume is too high to use safely without hearing damage. Anybody had the same problem and found a solution?

I have a 17 now but it’s pretty new to me. Had a 14 pro for awhile and use the Zero2 weekly. Sometimes I use the Apple us dongle, a JCally JM20 Max (which is hot), or a Hi Max something or other and I don’t experience your issue with any of them. I can get to a low volume with any of them, the Max steps much more per “click”. My phone asks me headphones or other device, I choose headphones and have set that up in the settings menu for my preferences. Do you get that headphones or other device prompt? I’m thinking it’s in one of the settings in your phone somewhere that the issue lies, I don’t think any dongle is hotter than the Max?

I just tried a lightning us dongle in my ancient iPad and could achieve a low volume.