Truthear GATE $17 IEM Review

[josiah]

Have you tried the Zero tips? I found them a lot nicer than the Truthear ones. I ended up buying some Tri Clarion tips which I liked even more.

That fixed my issue. Thee Gate is now more comfortable... I feel so fickle.

 

[obsessive9119]

That fixed my issue. Thee Gate is now more comfortable... I feel so fickle.

Good fit and comfort are must-haves before the actual device can be heard/enjoyed IMO.

I’m stockpiling Tri Clarions because they’re cheap and fit me so well.

 

[DVinylfan]

Just got mine. Nice box! These are my first IEMs. There is a good selection of differently sized and graded tips here. I plugged them into my phone, found Neil Young's "Out on the Weekend" on YouTube. Wow! I never appreciated the echo on his voice in the opening. It's like having a perfectly treated listening room inside your head. Great.

 

[DVinylfan]

Wow. I've been on a sound quality quest for five decades. Then my phone and these $17 IEMs, and I'm transported.

 

[Dk33145]

I guess this is where IEMs and how they fit your ear come to play. No matter which of the included tips I used. They sounded lacking bass and off. The Zero 2's fit perfectly and sound better for me.

Mine were duds too. Sounded about as good as airplane ones. No bass and the treble was tinny. The solder work looks sloppy. Tried my Zero 2 back on and wow what a difference.

 

[obsessive9119]

Mine were duds too. Sounded about as good as airplane ones. No bass and the treble was tinny. The solder work looks sloppy. Tried my Zero 2 back on and wow what a difference.

When many people and tests rate an IEM as good and it sounds terrible to you, it’s almost always going to be a fit/seal issue.

 

[Dk33145]

When many people and tests rate an IEM as good and it sounds terrible to you, it’s almost always going to be a fit/seal issue.

I don't know if you noticed but that solder work on my unit is really not great and is touching the magnet, especially on the right. Clearly done by someone inexperienced and/or in a rush.

Edit: I pulled the eartips off my Zero 2 to try and not much improved. Bass is nearly non existent.

 

[staticV3]

I don't know if you noticed but that solder work on my unit is really not great and is touching the magnet, especially on the right.

The internal wire is insulated except for the last mm where it's soldered to the driver.

Soldering looks just fine from what I can see in your pic.

 

[ObjectiveSubjectivist]

Mine were duds too. Sounded about as good as airplane ones. No bass and the treble was tinny. The solder work looks sloppy. Tried my Zero 2 back on and wow what a difference.

Mot likely seal issues, I have similar problem with a lot iems where nozzle is too short or too narrow.
Sometimes bigger tips help sometimes not.

 

[Cadillacofminds]

People with one or more extra big inner ears, on Amazon can be found two cheap generic brand sets of tips marketed for the "Powerbeats Pro 2," one listing says the XL size is 14.42mm and Large 14.21, other says 15mm and 14mm. It's so surprising to come across tips with these claimed sizes. They're coming on Wednesday, I suppose I will want to share how these two sets work out for me with a left inner ear apparently pretty unusually big, a right one less unusually big.

 

[ObjectiveSubjectivist]

People with one or more extra big inner ears, on Amazon can be found two cheap generic brand sets of tips marketed for the "Powerbeats Pro 2," one listing says the XL size is 14.42mm and Large 14.21, other says 15mm and 14mm. It's so surprising to come across tips with these claimed sizes. They're coming on Wednesday, I suppose I will want to share how these two sets work out for me with a left inner ear apparently pretty unusually big, a right one less unusually big.

My ear canals seem to be also unusually big (or rather wide)
I'm the guy who needs ~6mm nozzle with XL tips to get secure fit and proper seal.

To me Dunu SS XL tips work very good.

 

[Cadillacofminds]

To me Dunu SS XL tips work very good.

Marketing for that shows a big difference between XL and L, my right ear is definitely not as wide as left and I don't want the two sides sitting at different depths, or I probably would have already tried this. If this one set I ordered actually has14.42mm and 14.21mm wide I am gonna be so surprised.

I bought the Dunu Divinus wide-bore set with very little tapering at the exit, 14.2mm Large, seems slightly too small for my left ear, or maybe a combo of not enough width, the exit being fat, and the material not that conforming.

 

[DazST]

I'm looking at getting a pair of these as my second foray into cheap IEMs (first pair being 7hz zero 2). I just want to check though if there would be any issue (ie reduced performance) with getting the version with a microphone?

 

[obsessive9119]

I'm looking at getting a pair of these as my second foray into cheap IEMs (first pair being 7hz zero 2). I just want to check though if there would be any issue (ie reduced performance) with getting the version with a microphone?

I can't say for sure because I haven't seen them measured, but I bought the mic version and they sound great to me.

 

[DazST]

Got a pair of these delivered yesterday (with mic). Haven't had much chance to listen to them yet, but first impressions are very good. They do fit and feel a bit nicer in my ears than the Zero:2, and the cable is definitely nicer. Even after a short listen I'm left wondering how these can be so cheap.

 

[DazST]

I found out last night that the cable I got with these (version with mic) doesn't work properly with my headphone extension cable. It has an extra groove on it (one on bottom) compared to a standard 3.5 (on top). Is this because I got the mic version or some other reason?

 

[sonitus mirus]

I found out last night that the cable I got with these (version with mic) doesn't work properly with my headphone extension cable. It has an extra groove on it (one on bottom) compared to a standard 3.5 (on top). Is this because I got the mic version or some other reason?

Yes, that is because of the mic version. The extra groove means it is a TRRS plug, and many headphone extension cables are TRS only. The contacts do not line up properly, so audio can drop out or not work at all. A TRS only cable or a TRRS compatible extension usually fixes it.

 

[DazST]

Yes, that is because of the mic version. The extra groove means it is a TRRS plug, and many headphone extension cables are TRS only. The contacts do not line up properly, so audio can drop out or not work at all. A TRS only cable or a TRRS compatible extension usually fixes it.

Thanks for that. The audio still "worked" but there was basically no vocals or bass. I'll see if I can get an adapter...or maybe just buy another pair of gates with the mic-less cable!

 

[sonitus mirus]

It can still pass audio because it is an analog mismatch, not a digital on off failure. With a TRRS plug into a TRS cable, the ground can be wrong, which causes phase cancellation, so center content like vocals and bass largely disappears. It sounds weird, but it is just wiring physics, not audiophile nonsense.

 

[staticV3]

AFAIK it doesn't have to do with phase.

Connect a CTIA headset to a TRS output and the microphone will now be connected in series with the earphones.

That causes low volume (voltage divider), and a drastic shift in tonality (impedance response of the mic).

There's another 3.5mm Aux headset standard called OMTP which doesn't have this issue and works just fine on TRS outputs.

But Apple wanted to do their own thing, so they switched around the ground and mic pins to create CTIA and over the years the entire industry has adopted this objectively worse version