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Truthear GATE $17 IEM Review

Rate this IEM:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 8 2.4%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 7 2.1%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 24 7.3%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 288 88.1%

  • Total voters
    327
This was my donation. Happy to see the review come out. Thanks, Amir! :)

Gate has recently become my favorite ~20 USD IEM. Paired with a JM20 dongle it is unreal value.

Housing is cool looking, and while indeed cheap, at least it is very light and comfortable. Cable is excellent.

Edit: I leave this combo in my car all times for when I am away from home.

View attachment 439727
I Just listened to it pairing with the ugreen dongle and it sound terrible, thin bass, harsh at high hz. I'm waiting for the jm20 dongle to deliver, hope it make a difference, otherwise it just sound like its price
 
I Just listened to it pairing with the ugreen dongle and it sound terrible, thin bass, harsh at high hz. I'm waiting for the jm20 dongle to deliver, hope it make a difference, otherwise it just sound like its price
Hi

I just received mine and .. Triple WOW.. I would not have believed that SOTA in Hi-Fi could be so , yes, CHEAP (this is worth shouting for). Oh Wow.. The little things don't look cheap either, they fit my ear better than the Truthear Zero , an IEM, that, hitherto was to me the epitome of ROI. The Gates sound as good, I didn't bother any ABX or comparative listening.
After EQ, really small EQ (or not if you are not so that anal :)) this is as good as it gets.. Seal is excellent, Noise reduction, to my my ears is better than the the Zero Blue, when I use the smallest tip that comes with it... again, for me...

The bar has been raised ... :D no!! Lowered..

Best.
 
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I Just listened to it pairing with the ugreen dongle and it sound terrible, thin bass, harsh at high hz. I'm waiting for the jm20 dongle to deliver, hope it make a difference, otherwise it just sound like its price
The Jm20 won’t make a difference. As has been discussed throughout this thread, the Gate requires an excellent seal with your ear canal. I had a similar first impression as you, but once I changed to a wider and shorter ear bud the sound was transformed. Ideally I still feel, like others, that the Gate needs EQ, primarily for the bass, but its incredible headroom low distortion allows it with ease. I recommend you get the JM20 Pro dongle as this has EQ.
 
Very nice, very good sound with AutoEQ in Wavelet.
 

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The Gates are annoyingly good straight out of the box for me. To my ears they sit between the 7hz Zero and Zero 2 in terms of bass, which is just right - I find the Zero a touch light and the Zero 2 a touch heavy.

I didn’t like any of the tips, but the orange ones from 7hz fit like a charm for me. They’re so comfortable that I’ve started using them as my main headset for work meetings.

Between these and my fairly recently purchased HD560S, I feel like I’ve wasted a bunch of time, effort and money on EQ-able headphone setups. I’m now just running straight off an Apple dongle, and my WiiM + headphone amp setups are just gathering dust.
 
The Gates are annoyingly good straight out of the box for me. To my ears they sit between the 7hz Zero and Zero 2 in terms of bass, which is just right - I find the Zero a touch light and the Zero 2 a touch heavy.

I didn’t like any of the tips, but the orange ones from 7hz fit like a charm for me. They’re so comfortable that I’ve started using them as my main headset for work meetings.

Between these and my fairly recently purchased HD560S, I feel like I’ve wasted a bunch of time, effort and money on EQ-able headphone setups. I’m now just running straight off an Apple dongle, and my WiiM + headphone amp setups are just gathering dust.
I'd add that at $22 they are pretty damn good for IEMs = I bought a set. I'm happy.
 
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