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Truthear GATE $17 IEM Review

Rate this IEM:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 10 2.8%

  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 8 2.2%

  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 25 7.0%

  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 313 87.9%
  • Total voters
    356
These are my first particularly informed audio purchase and gotta say for 20 bucks (plus 10 for the apple dongle) I'm really impressed, especially with the bass as I'd assumed IEMs would struggle with that. Might hear the shouty/harshness a little bit in certain songs but as a noob I'm not sure if its the IEM or the music.

Will say though, the included tips weren't for me. My left ear canal is pretty small and they're not pliable enough to mold to it well, so either too small to seal or too big for comfort. Currently tossing up between the Whizzer LT 100 I got as a replacement which molds better, or the stock tips from my old Oneplus buds, the ovular shape of which I find to fit my ears a lot better than circles.
 
Finally got around to opening the pair of these I bought at least a year ago. Maybe I got a dud pair but the sound of these is terrible. Glad they only cost $17. Tried on 2 different HPA's. Maybe they need some burn in.
 
jimmyjames8 said:
Tried on 2 different HPA's. Maybe they need some burn in.
Click to expand...
No burn in effect on these.

Do your Gates have a TRS plug or TRRS?

If TRRS, you need to be careful which HPA you use. Only "smart" HPAs with support for the inline mic/remote will produce the right sound.

Traditional HPAs will require an adapter to restore sound.
 
Last edited:
I have small ear holes and that has always been problematic so im using smallest tips. Plug is TRS.
 
jimmyjames8 said:
I have small ear holes and that has always been problematic so im using smallest tips. Plug is TRS.
Click to expand...

My problem is my ears are also small generally, and so the housing on many of these IEMs pushes on the outer part of my ear and causes soreness.

I bought these as a replacement for my moondrop chu 2’s hoping they might be fine but no. What’s annoying is they’re clear and you can see the apparent wasted spaced inside the housing? Or is that necessary for the tuning? It almost like they’re trying to make it look like it’s multi-driver or something
 
Shrek6 said:
My problem is my ears are also small generally, and so the housing on many of these IEMs pushes on the outer part of my ear and causes soreness.

I bought these as a replacement for my moondrop chu 2’s hoping they might be fine but no. What’s annoying is they’re clear and you can see the apparent wasted spaced inside the housing? Or is that necessary for the tuning? It almost like they’re trying to make it look like it’s multi-driver or something
Click to expand...
Have you tried this type of IEM?
1773974073129.png
They push the shell on the outside: very comfy, may not stay well put, but may work better in your case…
 
CedarX said:
Have you tried this type of IEM?
View attachment 518996
They push the shell on the outside: very comfy, may not stay well put, but may work better in your case…
Click to expand...
oh yes, many different ones. But I’m using a TWS adapter so they need to have replaceable cables. and also these tend to sound bad relative to the latest budget IEMs that measure well
 
Shrek6 said:
oh yes, many different ones. But I’m using a TWS adapter so they need to have replaceable cables. and also these tend to sound bad relative to the latest budget IEMs that measure well
Click to expand...
They don’t always sound bad: the one I pictured is DDHiFi Memory (~$120-140) which—to me at least—sounds very good. It is USB-C though, not BT (it also has an undocumented on-board PEQ).
 
CedarX said:
Have you tried this type of IEM?
View attachment 518996
They push the shell on the outside: very comfy, may not stay well put, but may work better in your case…
Click to expand...
do you happen to have any low cost recommendations for iem with this style/form factor? I have small ears and much prefer this sort of housing with single large diameter dynamic driver(~13mm) like fiio ex1 over the boxy shell like that of truthear gate, would be nice if there is something that has comparably low distortion.
 
Last edited:
Somafunk said:
On cheap iem’s that I’ve bought I have always found the supplied eartips to be pretty useless in achieving/maintaining a good seal but over the past few years I’ve been using a variety of eartips depending on the iem nozzle size, insertion depth, nozzle angle.

Below is my favourite collection of eartips that I use on my iem’s and can guarantee that I’m getting a good seal, I’ve spent £100+ on different types over the previous 5years and have a collection of the sizes I need from my preferred eartips listed below in a small plastic case, without a good eartip seal and comfort in the ear then it’s pointless pontificating about the iem itself.

Dunu S&S eartips here

Divinus Velvet eartips in standard bore here

Penon audio silicone liqueur eartips here, I have black and orange

As a starter collection set of eartips at a good price for I’d recommend the Fiio HS19 set of eartips below, out of these you should get an acceptable/good seal with just about any iem

Fiio HS19 eartip collection here
Click to expand...
In addition to those, I also recommend the Kbear 07 tips, which you can get 5 pairs from AliExpress for 3 euros. A more comfortable version of those is the Nicehck C04 tips made of liquid silicone, which are one of the most comfortable and sticky tips that I can get a secure seal with. You can get 4 pairs of them from Ali for 5 euros. I also like the Tri Clarion tips, which create the most open soundscape. I just ordered 6 pairs of them for 3 euros. I usually use size L, but with the Dunu S&S tips I have to use size XL.
 
Sad to report that after nearly two years of no more than an hour per night use, one channel failed (went very low in level and it wasn't the cable), so I put them to one side and ordered another set from Amazon. This set was fine for a week or two and all of a sudden, the bass disappeared. I can't play at deafening levels in any case as my ears fatigue very easily now (along with their other issues). I returned to the more 'clunky' Zero 2 and all the bass came back and then some, so not an inner ear infection as I had all last summer!

This second set is well within the returns window, so I'm sending them back with much regret as I found them comfortable and easy to slip on and off and with a basically 'truthful' sound in my opinion.
 
DSJR said:
Sad to report that after nearly two years of no more than an hour per night use, one channel failed (went very low in level and it wasn't the cable), so I put them to one side and ordered another set from Amazon. This set was fine for a week or two and all of a sudden, the bass disappeared. I can't play at deafening levels in any case as my ears fatigue very easily now (along with their other issues). I returned to the more 'clunky' Zero 2 and all the bass came back and then some, so not an inner ear infection as I had all last summer!

This second set is well within the returns window, so I'm sending them back with much regret as I found them comfortable and easy to slip on and off and with a basically 'truthful' sound in my opinion.
Click to expand...
This is perhaps something you do not wish to do considering that you are sending them back, but in a situation where bass suddenly disappears like that I'd take a look at the filters. Chances are that they're gunked up, and that they can be (very) carefully cleaned up.

Unreliable filters is the main reason I prefer to not spend much on IEMs, as filters seem equally susceptible to gunk no matter the price point of the IEM. Knowles style filters are better in that regard as they are user replaceable. But on the flipside, due to their size replacing them is a tedious matter and they seem more susceptible to getting blocked.

Perhaps this is just a 'me' issue though, I tend to wear IEMs for many hours a day (often >8h).

Anyway, since I am in this thread again - this pair is still my favorite IEM out there. Thanks to their size, size and weight I often forget that I have them in my ears. The sound is good too, but too shrill for me without EQ. I really like them with EQ though.

Code: 
Preamp: -3.5 dB
Filter 1: ON LSC Fc 25 Hz Gain 2.0 dB Q 0.7071
Filter 2: ON LSC Fc 45 Hz Gain 1.5 dB Q 0.7071
Filter 3: ON PK Fc 75 Hz Gain 1.5 dB Q 0.7071
Filter 4: ON PK Fc 165 Hz Gain -0.7 dB Q 0.7071
Filter 5: ON PK Fc 1500 Hz Gain -1.0 dB Q 0.7071
Filter 6: ON HSC Fc 7500 Hz Gain -3.0 dB Q 0.7071
Filter 7: ON PK Fc 13000 Hz Gain -2.0 dB Q 0.7071
 
Does anyone know similar cheap IEM with a big longer nozzle?
I got some fitment issues, nothing major - different tips almost resolve the issue, but hey maybe there is something that is more suitable for my ears ;)
 
ObjectiveSubjectivist said:
Does anyone know similar cheap IEM with a big longer nozzle?
I got some fitment issues, nothing major - different tips almost resolve the issue, but hey maybe there is something that is more suitable for my ears ;)
Click to expand...
You might want to try foam tips instead of silicon ones.
 
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