Truthear GATE $17 IEM Review

[markanini]

Old post but, the treble issues I have with the Gate is not around the 2.5kHz area that most associate with the 'shoutiness' of the Harman 2019 target. My gripes sit somewhere way above that area.

Boosting the lower bass a bit and putting in dampening filters in the >5kHz region makes the Gate work for me. These filters together tilt the curve so that the power perceieved at 2.5k - 3.0kHz is lessened of course. But that is more accidental than anything, my main gripe with this set is really sibilance. The too lean bass isn't really a problem, it's only really something that I notice in electronic music.

Something like this EQ makes this set sound a lot more natural to me:
View attachment 445626

Fully agree. "Shouty" has become a catch-all for almost any treble issue, but minor elevations between 1-3kHz are often more tolerable than peaks above 4kHz in IEMs. Higher frequencies are far more sensitive to ear canal physiology, and erratic FR tends to worsen as frequency climbs, amplifying issues like sibilance.

 

[Cadillacofminds]

That bit of overshoot between 1-2KHz the graph the post above last has really bothers me

 

[Amperage]

I received my pair (along with Zero:2's) this weekend and, after testing them, have just voted Great. These rock - sound quality, design (I like their look), and overall package with the included cable and carrying pouch. Awesome value!

EDIT: I'd like to add that for me, these and the Zero:2's need no EQ as they are. I get they can be further improved with it to match the target, but subjectively, they're great stock.

Also, the GATE's shape makes the units sit just a millimeter or less deeper in the ear than the Zero:2's, and I did have to tinker a bit more with the latter's tips to find the best match (for me).

 

[sejarzo]

That bit of overshoot between 1-2KHz the graph the post above last has really bothers me

A peak filter at 1500 Hz, gain -1.5 dB and Q = 1.2 would remedy that.

 

[iGmole]

That bit of overshoot between 1-2KHz the graph the post above last has really bothers me

Luckily It's just a feature in the overall tonality. Easily EQable to hit the target or your own preference, and it's not like a painfully narrow, strong resonance that will sound obviously wrong and possibly even downright piercing or painful.

Funny thing about the Gate. Usually the treble region measurements do not precisely match what I am hearing except roughly for the overall treble level. But the 10kHz dip and the 13kHz peak perfectly match what I am hearing when doing EQ peak sweeps to hunt resonances. So I made corresponding tweaks with the JA11 dongle PEQ and now the treble is as smooth as they come.

 

[Cadillacofminds]

Been using PEQ, my post definitely not intended as a complaint people!

 

[Cadillacofminds]

@1337wafflezz What do you gotta do to extract one of listener800's graphs from his site?
I have nearly no understanding of trigonometry can someone tell me if there's a better way to fix the 1-2KHz overshoot than via two negative peaking filters?

 

[Honken]

Luckily It's just a feature in the overall tonality. Easily EQable to hit the target or your own preference, and it's not like a painfully narrow, strong resonance that will sound obviously wrong and possibly even downright piercing or painful.

Indeed. I prefer a slight dip there myself, about -1db at 1.5kHz q 0.7071. But even without that adjustment, the tonality doesn't really bother me in the sense that it's so off that it is making me think that this IEM is bad.

The excess energy post 5-7kHz bothers me enough to make me consider them unusable without DSP.

Lastly, I really do think that they are too lean in the bass region out of the box.

 

[Honken]

@1337wafflezz What do you gotta do to extract one of listener800's graphs from his site?
I have nearly no understanding of trigonometry can someone tell me if there's a better way to fix the 1-2KHz overshoot than via two negative peaking filters?

Like this???

 

[Billy Budapest]

A side note: I have found that the bass delivered by IEMs is much more visceral than that delivered by headphones. You can feel the bass to a certain extent—closer to what you feel from speakers and subwoofers—whereas I have never been able to actually feel bass from headphones. This could be due to bone conduction induced by placing the IEM in the ear canal, essentially a passageway through skull bones. Just a lay theory as I do not know exactly what mechanism is at work.

 

[iGmole]

A side note: I have found that the bass delivered by IEMs is much more visceral than that delivered by headphones. You can feel the bass to a certain extent—closer to what you feel from speakers and subwoofers—whereas I have never been able to actually feel bass from headphones. This could be due to bone conduction induced by placing the IEM in the ear canal, essentially a passageway through skull bones. Just a lay theory as I do not know exactly what mechanism is at work.

You are not alone with your observation. They do seem to make the whole ear canal buzz and vibrate. It surely some vibrations are transmitted straight to tissues via the tip. Edit: it just occurred to me that a bass shaker to my couch coupled with IEMs would make the best movie experience ever. Generally I like IEMs for movies because they go infrasonic, but a bass shaker would extend it to buttsonic.

 

[Cadillacofminds]

Like this???

Haven't figured out how to do this on my android here. He's got lots of really great ways to lay out the data.
I'm currently liking a +0.6db, 43Hz centered, Q3.4 filter, seems like your boost somewhere about there might be a bit more

 

[Cadillacofminds]

Just increased by low bass boost. The preferred bass boost for IEMs, is this only to make up for lack of bass notes hitting your body, is there any desire to compensate for a much cleaner bass note decay versus inroom? The boosted bass isn't dangerous as far as loosing hearing in this region?

 

[mc.god]

Haven't figured out how to do this on my android here. He's got lots of really great ways to lay out the data.
I'm currently liking a +0.6db, 43Hz centered, Q3.4 filter, seems like your boost somewhere about there might be a bit more

it depends on what you are using to apply eq on you android, like specific players with peq or system wide tools like Wavelet.
I'm only experienced with Wavelet, in that case you can export a GEQ file from squiglink and import it in Wavelet AutoEQ panel, I attached the GEQ file generated from eq settings posted by @Honken.

 

[Cadillacofminds]

I attached the GEQ file generated from eq settings posted by @Honken.

Posted where? I went to squiglinks, they have Listener's data, which is what I've been basing my filters off of, I can't get it to generate this type of delta or whatever it's called file like you posted, just some very long file that seems to be the frequency response.

 

[Honken]

...?

I included the sole peaking filter in my screenshot, it's on the left. -1.4db @ 1400Hz q1.7.

 

[mc.god]

Posted where? I went to squiglinks, they have Listener's data, which is what I've been basing my filters off of, I can't get it to generate this type of delta or whatever it's called file like you posted, just some very long file that seems to be the frequency response.

I think we are not understanding each other...
I simply went on listener squiq, clicked on 5128 and selected Gate and Harman 2019 for 5128 target

Listener's 5128 Database

Satiate your sordid squiggle yearning!

listener.squig.link

then clicked on Equalizer and replicated the settings shown by @Honken in his previous post, then clicked on Export Graphic EQ (wavelet) and get the file i attached.

Since wavelet wants GEQ files and not PEQ , that long file full of freqs and values is what is needed to replicate that single small peak filter.

 

[Cadillacofminds]

@mc.god Maybe it shows a lack of knowledge about psychoacoustics, but I'm currently using nine peq filters on Poweramp

 

[mc.god]

@mc.god Maybe it shows a lack of knowledge about psychoacoustics, but I'm currently using nine peq filters on Poweramp

I stated earlier that i only know about Wavelet and wrote hints on how to get the export file for it, since you didn't specify. As for Poweramp I don't know what type of file it wants so I can't be of help.

 

[Cadillacofminds]

@mc.god I had been on pages of the Squiglinks site before, but now I know a lot more about what the site is about, and how one uses it, thanks!