7Hz x Crinacle Zero:2 IEM Review

[hihat]

I saw someone say that it isn't the earphones that require burn-in but it's the brain that adjusts to the EQ of the set. I think that's true and I can now more happily tolerate what I previously experienced as the louder highs of the Zero 2. I rarely use an EQ anymore as it's inconvenient. Only very occasionally do I find myself wanting to use EQ.

Finally, I took a complete tolerance break from caffeine of more than a month. Absolutely zero caffeine intake for this period (no tea, no coffee, no Coca Cola etc.). I found that when I made myself a strong coffee (I'd estimate around ~140mg) after this tolerance break that I was unequivocally high. My body temperature rose so much I had to take some top layers of clothes off! I had a peak of over 2 hours where I was listening to Astral Projection and was so high that I could probably have gone raving without the need for any other drugs! It felt like it should have been illegal for how high/stimulated I was

For those of you who used to or still do listen to music under the influence you'll understand this effect. I was amazed at how being high from coffee made music sound so much better. I'm otherwise sober for many years but after taking a coffee tolerance break I found I could enjoy music so much more intently.

...craving a bullet style / cable down IEM. I decided to take a chance on the Tanchjim Zero Ultima.

The stock tuning of the Ultima is horrible...

For me the comfort and convenience of the Ultima is now a massive improvement. I don't care about detachable cables as I never replaced the cable in my 7Hz Zero:2 and I treat IEMs in this price range as consumables anyway.

This process has repeated itself. After psycho-acoustic calibration and a return to coffee drinking the Tanchjim Zero Ultima earphones now sound fantastic to me with their stock tuning. They disappear in my ears and are comfortable to use. I've ordered spares from Ali and this is the end of my interest in Chi-Fi IEMs. A high quality 9/10mm DD in bullet form is all I need. I'd recommend anyone to give them a try.

 

[Rusk Reeder]

Generally, I agree. I really do not care for the around the ear form factor. I got the Zero 2s because of the review here, and they do sound fine. I'm just not real enthusiastic about having ti fiddle with them.

I also did some research on why many of the behind the ear designs seldom have well-marked left and right channels. The consensus is that the Chinese manufacturers feel that left and right markings blemishes the earphone authentically. It's an aesthetician choice. And they feel that the consumer can figure out which is right and left by the way they fit around the ear. That is true, but I feel that clear right and left markings are better. Generally, the Japanese manufacturers have clear right and left markings.

Also, when the Chinese companies makes straight in, drop-down earphones, for which there is a market in China, they label them right and left clearly. There is also a demand for old-stle earbuds like Sony pioneered. These too have clear right and left marking.

I thought the whole phenomenon m8ght be because one can read Chinese from left to right or right to left. You can read in either direction. But this is not the reason. The reason seems to be purely aesthetic. The companies pride themselves in the aesthetician appearance of their products.

 

[abobobola]

Man what an iem. It's one of the products I've been most pleased by(and I've had a couple of iems up to 500 dollars).
Somehow had this idea that single dd just can't reproduce super high frequencies correctly and these prove this wrong for 20 dollars...
I get two distinct peaks though, and they are very consistent with Amir's gras measurement in magnitude. With a deeper fit these are 7.2 and 11 khz. I think these are resonance peaks as usual, they're just more pronounced than what I usually get(which also explains why they show up in dampened rigs as well) They tend to travel a lot depending on your canal length and insertion depth, some people (like resolve) hate these due to the first peak showing up at 5k, which is way more perceptually relevant and will actually ruin things unlike 8khz

I figured there are two things you need to do to make this iem incredible for yourself(it works for others too, but here it's more important than usual):

-Get these as deep as possible(which for me meant getting an aftermarket small and short wide bore tips)- like the pink ones they provide, but a lil smaller. Need a seal that won't make them travel in your ear as they slide out
-After step one, run a tone gen and look for two resonance peaks. One will be 5-8khz and the other 10-13. They differ in magnitude and width, but again, mine are very similar to Amir's measurements in width and magnitude. Don't do too narrow cuts, as they might travel a little depending on your insertion depth session to session, for me it's pretty stable as my baseline is as deep as they can get.

The magic is....after the resonance peaks, these just sound incredible. You arguably need nothing else(although I prefer less at 1-2.5khz matching 5128 df and maybe a little bass cut, though I might be alone on this one). Hella neutral, kind of a perfect iem for me. I had way harder of a time dialing in truthear nova for example, which in itself is great

 

[Tito]

i have peaks at
medium around 2700
big at 3300
and smaller to medium around 9000

no peaks from 10 to 13khz
and from 5 to 8 perhaps there were some smaller ones but nothing deserved of correction

 

[abobobola]

i have peaks at
medium around 2700
big at 3300
and smaller to medium around 9000

no peaks from 10 to 13khz
and from 5 to 8 perhaps there were some smaller ones but nothing deserved of correction

I'd guess you get two at like 5 and then the 9. That would put you into big ear canal and/or shallow insertion group.

As for 3k weirdness, people can get different ear gain peak. I heard many people say their eargain peaks at 2.6khz, so this area is too quiet for them on "neutral" iems and then 3-3.5k is too loud. Maybe your eargain is at a usual place, but like skinny? idk

 

[Wolven]

View attachment 524378

My exact setup. Sounds great only difference brown color IEM but same tips.

 

[abobobola]

My exact setup. Sounds great only difference brown color IEM but same tips.

I too am using these two devices together as I'm typing. We should make a group chat

My exact setup. Sounds great only difference brown color IEM but same tips.