The Ultimate in Cheapskate Audio

[Robin L]

I've been the cheapest of audio cheapskates as long as I can remember. I can't tell you how much money I've wasted on cheap crap. However, I also found some gems What I'm listening to right now is not only the cheapest audio system I've ever owned, but also the very best. Needed a new smartphone, wife already was with Consumer Cellular, they had an offer for a second phone—Samsung A15 5—for free, charging $15 for access. ASR posted Amir's mind-blowing review of the 7Hz x Crinacle Zero:2 IEM:

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/7hz-x-crinacle-zero-2-iem-review.50534/

The IEM is $25, shipped with taxes and tariffs included. The lowest measured distortion Amir has measured in any transducer so far, full stop. The measurements of the Smartphones? Who cares, it sounds better to these ears than any other combination of bits of audio gear I have heard in my lifetime, including all sorts of high-end crap. If you actually into for the music, you want this. The super-isolated, full frequency response performance of the 7Hz x Crinacle Zero:2 IEM offers more detail, with less ear-burn, than any audio head-gear I've worn, the bass is better than anything I've heard, including loudspeakers.

To use the epigram from Shadow Ticket:

"Supernatural, perhaps. Baloney . . . perhaps not."

 

[SteveL]

Any smartphone, almost any no-name USB DAC-amp dongle, any of quite a number of cheap but excellent IEMs will not give you bragging rights, but will give you really excellent audio for private listening. It's my normal way of listening to music except if my wife and I want to listen together in which case I cast to my AV receiver.

 

[shuppatsu]

I have the Salnotes Zero 1, not 2. It doesn't have the insanely low distortion figures that the 2 has, but it's still really good measurements-wise. I still hate them. I've tried many tips, but they all accentuate my internal breathing and swallowing noises. It's not a cable thing because I still get it if I remove the cable. I thought it might be a venting thing, but last time I complained someone pointed out that there is indeed a vent hole. So maybe it has to do with the somewhat wide nozzles or the way the body sits in my outer ear. For the $8 or so I paid for them, it's no big deal. But more broadly it stands for the proposition that measurements alone can't tell you whether a device will work for you.

 

[Redacted]

I have the same Crinacle, and bought based on Amir's test (but mostly 'cos they are cheap enough)

I also have Truthear Gates which I keep in a bedroom - also good.

This is the big thing about all IEMs and headphones - whatever the measurements, they can sound quite different on different ears. This is why I won't spend a lot of money on them.

If you are always aware of breathing or swallowing when wearing IEMs, you may have a low-level infection or at least blocked eustachian tubes or nasal passages. Might be worth a check.

 

[shuppatsu]

If you are always aware of breathing or swallowing when wearing IEMs, you may have a low-level infection or at least blocked eustachian tubes or nasal passages. Might be worth a check.

It’s just these Zeros. I have a similar but lesser issue with Kiwiear Cadenzas. But I’m fine with APP2, Space Travel, Chu 2, and 64 audios.

 

[Robin L]

Have both, the 1 and 2. The 1 seems to have a flatter frequency response, like it for "analytical" sound. The 2 is easier to listen to long term.

 

[multiformous]

"Supernatural, perhaps. Baloney . . . perhaps not."

 

[MCH]

The problem is, how do you throw a party with that.

 

[SteveL]

Have both, the 1 and 2. The 1 seems to have a flatter frequency response, like it for "analytical" sound. The 2 is easier to listen to long term.

I alternate between the 1, which sounds just right to me without EQ, and (when I want more isolation) Ety ER2XR mildly EQd to sound nearly identical to the Salnotes. Both make me very happy.

 

[HalSF]

I’ve been super happy with the inexpensive Truthear x Crinacle Zero:RED IEM that was so positively reviewed here.

Right now I’m also happy with this thread’s Pynchon epigraph > Black Cat literary subtext.

 

[multiformous]

Glad to know my post wasn't a W.A.S.T.E. of time...

 

[Ropeburn]

I have those too. They're indeed very good, except for that painful bump between 3 and 5kHz, easily EQed away though. Unfortunately none of the plugs fit my ears properly, they simply won't stay in. Unusable.

That was that, went back to regular headphones. Much better physical bass anyway, which IEMs naturally can't deliver.

 

[Multicore]

Iems make my ears itch.