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Truthear GATE $17 IEM Review

Rate this IEM:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 7 2.3%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 7 2.3%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 18 6.0%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 269 89.4%

  • Total voters
    301
Which makes these inexpensive IEMs all of a sudden quite pricey.
You may need to try a few to see which work best with your particular ear canals... but that's not an issue with inexpensive IEMs. It will be the same with expensive ones and that'll add up even faster.
 
Which makes these inexpensive IEMs all of a sudden quite pricey.
Not pricey, but yes, some additional costs. If none of the provided ones could give a good seal then you might need extra large. Two recommendations for 'bigger' ones:

- Divinus Velvet Wide Bore in L
- AZLA SednaEarfit Origin in L

Both have a wide diameter on the umbrella, but are very different in length aka insertion depth. Divinus short, AZLA long. They are not cheap, but after these you should have a better idea what you need (and might have ones already that work).
 
Yes, they were in the box. None of them gave a good seal.

Sorry you had that experience. They worked perfectly fine for me out of the box, and on the first try unlike the Zero:2's which involved more testing to get the right fit. I guess it comes down to individual variances, which could happen at any price point. Good to hear your foam tips worked well.
 
I just bought a pair from 拼多多 (Pinduoduo, a Chinese e-commerce platform) yesterday for 100 RMB (Approx. $13 USD) and just received today. The moment they made the first note, I laughed - and immediately regretted a purchase I made many years ago: my current only other pair of IEMs, the "QDC Fusion S", which I bought six years ago when I still believed in "Subjective sound impressions" and "Price represents sound quality". What I’m trying to say is, that the audio engineering industry has come a long way in these years - getting great sound has truly become much more affordable, and the standards for good sound have become far more transparent. Now, poorly tuned or non-cost-effective headphones have nowhere to hide. (No disrespect to QDC: just wild how much things have improved)
 
I just bought a pair from 拼多多 (Pinduoduo, a Chinese e-commerce platform) yesterday for 100 RMB (Approx. $13 USD) and just received today. The moment they made the first note, I laughed - and immediately regretted a purchase I made many years ago: my current only other pair of IEMs, the "QDC Fusion S", which I bought six years ago when I still believed in "Subjective sound impressions" and "Price represents sound quality". What I’m trying to say is, that the audio engineering industry has come a long way in these years - getting great sound has truly become much more affordable, and the standards for good sound have become far more transparent. Now, poorly tuned or non-cost-effective headphones have nowhere to hide. (No disrespect to QDC: just wild how much things have improved)

Heh. Sell the QDC and use the money to buy all of the popular budget 1DD models and you'll still have money left to start a hobby, maybe pick up an instrument or go on a holiday.

7hz Zero:2, Moondrop Chu 2, KZ ZVX Pro. You'll have different colours to choose from to match with your hat, like a stylish gentleman should.
 
using them with a "Girftu" CX31993 for Like 16€ from amazon and Android. Since I never used IEMs before I cannot compare but listening through my electronic playlist it's really enjoyable. Thanks for testing the "truth"-ears.
 
FOMO is a terrible thing, especially on something as inexpensive as these iems. I sometimes find the Zero and Zero 2 models a fiddly pain to insert and wrap round my lugs and my day to day noise-iems are the very cheap and very sensitive Betron BS10s which can be incredibly capable one minute and not good the next. I took a punt on these and just received them.

For such an inexpensive item, the packaging is imaginative and 'posh looking,' despite it being basically artfully presented card. A myriad of supplied tips to choose from almost defeated me, but I chose a mid size type and later, may try the next size up.

Sonics? Excellent up top for me, as I don't want a fierce 'sting' nor dullness/lack of air. Bearing in mind my hearing issues, a touch of extra in the mid kHz region is tolerable if not excessive and so far, the only possible thing I'd like to try is a touch more low bass, which the larger tips might just do. As they are, they're lovely with the Apple US spec dongle.

Darn it, I've just switched to the JCALLY JM20Max and 'imagine' there's more and slightly perceived 'harder' drive, even at low volumes (bloody imagination is a dangerous thing :) ).
 
What a bargain! This is the first thing Amir has reviewed that I immediately bought based on his review. No buyer's remorse for something that's only $17 even if they didn't do it for me. Sadly I haven't had time to listen to them much yet.
 
Sonics? Excellent... for me
Unbelievably good value- mine arrived last week after I ordered based on the specs- really good, thanks to all for the tip-off on these high-value IEMs.
 
I'm confused (I admit not an unusual state for me;).
I bought these from Amazon and they are probably the worst transducers I have ever listened to. Basically sound like an ancient $20 Japanese transistor radio with a 1" diameter speaker.
What gives?
 
I'm confused (I admit not an unusual state for me;).
I bought these from Amazon and they are probably the worst transducers I have ever listened to. Basically sound like an ancient $20 Japanese transistor radio with a 1" diameter speaker.
What gives?
Sounds like incomplete seal to your ear canal, or a TRRS headset being plugged into a TRS headphone output.
 
Sounds like incomplete seal to your ear canal, or a TRRS headset being plugged into a TRS headphone output.

Yep. None of the included tips provided an adequate seal for me.
 
Thanks for the tips on tips :)
Haven't experimented yet but will.
 
Shamefully I own Harman's AKG 5005, never really felt the bass was too much, after like two months with these Gates though I cut the bass today (a slope that starts at 187hz, down 3.7db at 10hz), much improved. The 5005's are definitely a bit harder for me to get a seal in my left ear than it is using the Gates, but it still sort of surprises me that I'm now one of these people complaining about the Harman curve having too much bass (this, even though I still need to buy bigger tips for these Gates, don't ever get a really great seal in my left). It has me wondering if crisper bass notes helps one to notice there's an unnatural amount of bass hitting the eardrums? I guess it could be my concerns about losing hearing in the bass frequencies is what's behind me cutting the bass, anyone have an opinion on if it's risky for one's hearing to be making up for a lack of bass hitting your body by elevating the bass hitting the eardrums (this is why the bass is elevated, right)?
 
I guess it could be my concerns about losing hearing in the bass frequencies is what's behind me cutting the bass, anyone have an opinion on if it's risky for one's hearing to be making up for a lack of bass hitting your body by elevating the bass hitting the eardrums (this is why the bass is elevated, right)?
Post #8 from this thread might be interesting in this context
 
It has me wondering if crisper bass notes helps one to notice there's an unnatural amount of bass hitting the eardrums? I guess it could be my concerns about losing hearing in the bass frequencies is what's behind me cutting the bass, anyone have an opinion on if it's risky for one's hearing to be making up for a lack of bass hitting your body by elevating the bass hitting the eardrums (this is why the bass is elevated, right)?
It doesn't have to be that malign. If you listen loud then frequency masking in the bass has a stronger effect, negatively affecting the fidelity.

Secondly, Harman studies didn't control for listening duration. It might represent an ideal "showroom" sound, but this might be less desirable for longer sessions. Reducing the bass might be addressing this issue. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Listener_fatigue#Vibration
 
Do you guys think that these also would be suitable for movie-watching and listening to university lectures?
 
Yes. The reproduction of bass and lower mids is good for watching movies (but would be even better with Amir's suggested EQ in that region) and upper mids and treble are represented very well for listening to talks/voices, both male and female.
 
Yes. The reproduction of bass and lower mids is good for watching movies (but would be even better with Amir's suggested EQ in that region) and upper mids and treble are represented very well for listening to talks/voices, both male and female.
I'm grateful for the answer. I'll order the Truthear Gate, black with mic. What do you guys think would be an ok 3.5 mm to usb-c adapter to go with the Truthear Gate? I would prefer if there's something in the same pricerange and performance as the apple adapter but available on aliexpress.
 
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